Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Trips, adventures, bikes, equipment, etc.
Post Reply
User avatar
trogg
Posts: 145
Joined: 21 Jun 2008, 7:52pm

Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by trogg »

hi,
I was toying with the idea of doing the Pennine bridleway (not cycleway) next summer on my Trek 7.2fx Hybrid, however I've found very little information on the condition of the trail.
My main concern is will my wheels be strong enough (Bontrager 750 alloy 32 hole rims) and if so , what tyres should I be looking at ?
Has anyone done this trail ?
I'll be 50 years old with a dodgy knee so walking more than a couple hundred yards is not an option, I will also be carrying camping equipment and clothes etc.
I was also thinking of getting this wheel cw dynohub :arrow: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/atb- ... aid:581967

I have been looking at some youtube video's of the Bridleway and I'm not at all convinced that a Hybrid is suitable, plan B would be to rebuild my Giant terrano although I prefer to use my Trek fx because it is already set up for me.

cheers
boing boing
rilem
Posts: 13
Joined: 20 Aug 2010, 9:52am

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by rilem »

I have done sections north of Hebden Bridge recently and some bits are what I regard as full on mountain bike territory. This may be because the ground is appallingly wet and muddy at present but I think I would still prefer fat knobbly tyres when/if ever it is dry again. Not sure if your wheels would be up to it either if you are carrying camping gear.

(I appreciate there will be rough stuffers who will may disagree... )
rilem
Posts: 13
Joined: 20 Aug 2010, 9:52am

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by rilem »

Another thought - I personally couldn't ride a loaded bike up several of the hills, eg. north out of Hebden bridge, Settle and Clapham for instance, and these would probably involve more than a few hundred yards of pushing.

Going the other way, I could barely ride the descent south into Settle recently due to the slimey conditions, on a full suspension mountain bike but with dry weather knobbly tyres.
User avatar
NATURAL ANKLING
Posts: 13780
Joined: 24 Oct 2012, 10:43pm
Location: English Riviera

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,

trogg wrote:hi,
I was toying with the idea of doing the Pennine bridleway (not cycleway) next summer on my Trek 7.2fx Hybrid, however I've found very little information on the condition of the trail.


After seeing your post, I am interested in the trail, silly days of walking pennine way draw me back.
BIG pity that the web sites dont grade the trail with some sort of code so at a glance I could determine if I will enjoy or manage?
And the contractors and regallia clad suitees who take the money and grin alot, but leave a partly completed trail with poor signs.
Soon the end of trail or parts of it dissapear into the brambles, never to be finished?

trogg wrote:I have been looking at some youtube video's of the Bridleway and I'm not at all convinced that a Hybrid is suitable, plan B would be to rebuild my Giant terrano although I prefer to use my Trek fx because it is already set up for me.
cheers


What is a Hybrid? I used to have one at school, built it myself five speed freewheel brazed onto a sturmy archer three speed hub, complete with flat bars twist grip and downtube friction changer, phillips frame.
When only the rich kids had double clangers, ten speed was the buisness, ist day at school the droping jaws :D
Find your most comfortable bike and set up the others with same stats- saddle nose - reach - etc,etc.
That way jumping onto any of your bikes is a cinch.
If your carrying luggage to that extent then youu should prepare youself for any terrain, always feels freer to me to camp and travel over any terrain.
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
User avatar
trogg
Posts: 145
Joined: 21 Jun 2008, 7:52pm

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by trogg »

rilem wrote:I have done sections north of Hebden Bridge recently and some bits are what I regard as full on mountain bike territory. This may be because the ground is appallingly wet and muddy at present but I think I would still prefer fat knobbly tyres when/if ever it is dry again. Not sure if your wheels would be up to it either if you are carrying camping gear.

(I appreciate there will be rough stuffers who will may disagree... )


Looks like I've underestimated this trail, mountain bike it is then :wink:

rilem wrote:Another thought - I personally couldn't ride a loaded bike up several of the hills, eg. north out of Hebden bridge, Settle and Clapham for instance, and these would probably involve more than a few hundred yards of pushing.

Going the other way, I could barely ride the descent south into Settle recently due to the slimey conditions, on a full suspension mountain bike but with dry weather knobbly tyres.


Hmm, looks like I will have to do a reconnaissance on these areas (Hebden Bridge/Settle/Clapham) without camping equipment.... not even sure how I would carry luggage on a mountain bike :?

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,

trogg wrote:hi,
I was toying with the idea of doing the Pennine bridleway (not cycleway) next summer on my Trek 7.2fx Hybrid, however I've found very little information on the condition of the trail.


After seeing your post, I am interested in the trail, silly days of walking pennine way draw me back.
BIG pity that the web sites dont grade the trail with some sort of code so at a glance I could determine if I will enjoy or manage?
And the contractors and regallia clad suitees who take the money and grin alot, but leave a partly completed trail with poor signs.
Soon the end of trail or parts of it dissapear into the brambles, never to be finished?

trogg wrote:I have been looking at some youtube video's of the Bridleway and I'm not at all convinced that a Hybrid is suitable, plan B would be to rebuild my Giant terrano although I prefer to use my Trek fx because it is already set up for me.
cheers


What is a Hybrid? I used to have one at school, built it myself five speed freewheel brazed onto a sturmy archer three speed hub, complete with flat bars twist grip and downtube friction changer, phillips frame.
When only the rich kids had double clangers, ten speed was the buisness, ist day at school the droping jaws :D
Find your most comfortable bike and set up the others with same stats- saddle nose - reach - etc,etc.
That way jumping onto any of your bikes is a cinch.
If your carrying luggage to that extent then youu should prepare youself for any terrain, always feels freer to me to camp and travel over any terrain.


Yes I agree with you with poor signage and lack of maintenance, a mate of mine had at accident on an NCR which had been washed away :( and it caused me to have severe pain in my ribs because of it ..... although that was because I was laughing so much :mrgreen:

as for my Hybrid, again yes, I have more or less turned it into my mountain bike .. if fact a lot of the parts on the Hybrid are off my mountain bike which is why the mtb is in bits at the moment.

thanks both for your input, had a word with the wife about doing this and she said " how old are you ?," "you can't hardly walk never mind push your bike up a ****** mountain", "what am I supposed to tell the kids when you're dead ?" amongst other things...... so I take it as a 'yes go ahead' 8)

No actually I'm going to find a camp site(with wife and kids) near Hebden Bridge and do a bit of 'taster' .

thanks again :wink: going off to have a look at some more 'you tube' videos now :shock:
boing boing
Merry_Wanderer
Posts: 1002
Joined: 31 Aug 2012, 9:33am
Location: North Leicestershire

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by Merry_Wanderer »

I rode a tiny bit of the PBW in May this year and combined it with the PCW in a 3 day trip from Settle to Leicester. It was dry and warm at the time and hadn't been raining that recently. I was in a group of 6 and 4 of us were on MTBs with the other 2 on hybrids. My MTB is a basic cheap and nasty Giant Yukon Hardtail bought new for £300 5 years ago and I had 26 x 1.5 inch Bontrager Hardcase 'slicks' on it.

The bits of the PBW that we rode were between Holmfirth and the Trans Pennine Trail and then further south around Rowarth in the High Peak. The grassy off-road bit south of Holmfirth was easy but the part further south around Rowarth was pretty hard work on stones and small boulders. Wider tyres would have been useful and the two friends on hybrids struggled, mainly because of their 1.25 inch wide tyres. Having lock-outs on the front forks made the on road riding more enjoyable as did carrying the absolute minimum of luggage - we we staying in B&B's and a Youth Hostel on the route and I got all my spares and clothes etc in a 7 litres rack pack and a small bar bag.

I can't say what the rest of the PBW is like but if I was doing it I would put some knobblier or wider tyres on my bike or combine the best bits of the PBW with the best of the PCW for a slightly easier ride. The PCW was fantastic, far more enjoyable than the C2C.
User avatar
trogg
Posts: 145
Joined: 21 Jun 2008, 7:52pm

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by trogg »

Thanks for your post Merry wonderer, I had a quick look at the PCW but decided against it because I just don't like roads, well it's not the roads but the traffic on them, on country lanes I either end up stopping to let someone past because I'm holding them up or the vehicle coming towards me gets very close to me when passing... buy I do enjoy the bits between :D
You said you liked the PCW how much of it did you do and what was the traffic like ?
Thinking of perhaps doing a bit of both, although I really need to find out which parts of the PBW are to be avoided if using a Hybrid so I can plan a route.
cheers :wink:
boing boing
User avatar
nickp
Posts: 37
Joined: 9 Oct 2007, 11:12am
Contact:

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by nickp »

Well in my exerience you could usefuly avoid the whole of the PBW from Uppermill through to Hebden Bridge on a hybrid. I've cycled bits of it on a hybrid with 32mm tyres, bits on a hardtail with 1.75in tyres and all of it on a full sus MTB with 2.1in tyres. After recovering from the double vision on the hybrid, I came to the conclusion that having some suspension and wide tyres was better and having a rear shock was even better! There's no doubt you COULD ride it on your hybrid but as an enjoyable exercise day after day having something in your front forks would make it bearable. And that's without considering carrying camping equipment.

Specifically? The bit from the gate above Ogden Reservoir down to the M62 viaduct going north would be uncomfortably challenging on a hybrid. Then the bit up from Hollingworth Lake and short stretches from the Halixax Road through to Summit would have you sinking in the mud. Then London Road under Stoodley Pike would be another bone shaker. I'd be impressed by anyone without suspension riding all the way down to Walsden down those single track zigzags, but then I'm not much good at that sort of thing.

I think I'd be travelling light-ish on a mountain bike and using B&Bs. If its all as good as the stretch local to me it'll be a great trip.
User avatar
trogg
Posts: 145
Joined: 21 Jun 2008, 7:52pm

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by trogg »

Thanks nickp ,
Looks like I could get off the PBW at Uppermill and travel a few miles along the road to Marsdon where I could join the NCR68 into Hebden Bridge and back on to the PBW, but if I decided to use my MTB I would most likely stay on the Bridleway.
I need two new tyres for my MTB anyway, and I'll need to sort out the front suspension :( never got on with it though, whenever I hit a lump or hole at low speed the forks would dive , throwing the back end up and catapulting over the bars :roll: ended up leaving it on the hardest setting (no lock-out) .
Camping, that's something else I need to think about, the reason I wanted to camp was I wasn't sure how far I would be able to travel each day, if I couldn't make it to a camp site I would 'wild' camp, although I would prefer a nice hot shower at the end of the day :D B&Bs would need to be booked.

There's a battle going on between my head and my heart ....
boing boing
Graham_Clark
Posts: 1
Joined: 3 Dec 2012, 10:48pm

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by Graham_Clark »

Just to add possibly more confusion to your choice... the PBW across the Dark Peak is also much more MTB (un) friendly. The section from Glossop to Rushup Edge may be a bit much if you find it hard to walk very far pushing your bike, also have a look on YouTube etc. for Roych Clough. The road option isn't much better either I'm afraid.
If you want any more info about the South end let me know.
Merry_Wanderer
Posts: 1002
Joined: 31 Aug 2012, 9:33am
Location: North Leicestershire

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by Merry_Wanderer »

Hi Trogg

The PCW was just a suggestion. We did all of it from Settle to Ashbourne (then carried on via Derby to Leicester) minus the couple of bits of the PBW and as for traffic there was almost none. By far the busiest part of the rides were the tiny parts we did through towns - Hebden Bridge, Colne and Holmfirth and these were approx 0.5 of a mile to a mile long.

Whatever route you do I would seriously recommend travelling as light as possible. It will make the cycling much easier and above all...FUN!
Simeon
Posts: 337
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 11:14pm

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by Simeon »

There plenty ride photos of the Northern part of Pennine Bridleway from Long Preston up to end of Pennine Bridleway near Kirbky Stephen on the South Lakes Group website at this link http://www.southlakesgroup.org.uk/photogalleryhomepage.html It is possible to do northern bit on hybrid but be prepare to walk some sections.
User avatar
NATURAL ANKLING
Posts: 13780
Joined: 24 Oct 2012, 10:43pm
Location: English Riviera

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Simeon wrote:There plenty ride photos of the Northern part of Pennine Bridleway from Long Preston up to end of Pennine Bridleway near Kirbky Stephen on the South Lakes Group website at this link http://www.southlakesgroup.org.uk/photogalleryhomepage.html It is possible to do northern bit on hybrid but be prepare to walk some sections.

Hi,
WOW 8) , terain looks :evil:
Could do that all day, Iam on my way :wink:
Seriously I'd come just for the cakes :)
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
User avatar
trogg
Posts: 145
Joined: 21 Jun 2008, 7:52pm

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by trogg »

sorry for the late reply,
Graham, I've had a look at some videos :shock: and if 4x4s can't get up them hills what chance will I have :D
I will contact you if I decide to do the PBW if you don't mind 8)

Merry Wanderer, whether I do the Pennine bridleway or not you've convinced me to try the cycleway, in fact I'm going to a 'taster' once the weather warms up a little, looking at doing some of the hardest parts of the PBW and combine it with the PCW to make a round trip, perhaps camping nearby.
At least this will let me know if I'm up to the challenge.

Simeon, some great pictures there :D I've put on half a stone just looking at them :D I noticed a road bike being used, was that on the Pennine bridleway ?
I have bookmarked that website, just what I'm looking for. Got in-laws living just north of Blackpool, occasionally I bring my bike up with me, I'm very tempted to ride around the forest of Bowland .

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
WOW 8) ,
Seriously I'd come just for the cakes :)


so, now it's a fight between my head, heart and stomach :( I know which one will win :D


My biggest problem now is going to be 'walking', I will be seeing my Physio on Monday and I'll be asking about getting a knee brace, in the past I've been told that they cause the muscle to waste away around the knee but I think as long as only wear it when walking it shouldn't be a problem... we'll see :?

Maps and books are on my Christmas list :wink:
boing boing
Simeon
Posts: 337
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 11:14pm

Re: Pennine Bridleway on a Hybrid .... possible ?

Post by Simeon »

Trogg,

Yes it possible to use a normal touring bike on the Pennine Bridleway north of Settle. For us locals who are lucky enough to like in the area is the opening up of several new tracks as bridleways and the building of the pennine bridleway bridge over the River Ribble which open up several new day rides to try out around the area.

With signposting for the northern part only going up in last 12 months, alot of tracks which are use by the bridleway are not mark on the older OS maps.

The northern bit of bridleway is best done north to south as day ride starting and finishing in Sedbergh, which is over wild boar fell up to Garsdale Head, there gps route files of this link http://www.southlakesgroup.org/routes/sedbergh-route4.html To download a gps file click save link in your brower to down load the file.

For local cafes worth stopping at visit my Cyclist's cafe website at http://www.cafe.southlakesgroup.org/

Simeon
Post Reply