MTB - Ben Lomond

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 VS4b 28 Jun 2018

Has anyone ridden this ?

i've been persuaded to do this with a mate in January! and im worried i may have bitten off more than i can chew....

My worries:

I have a carbon XC hardtail not a full sus bike

I haven't ridden much MTB and no mountains/trailcentres, i live in the flatlands and tend to ride my roadbike much more than my mtb

Im not very fit having had a long lay off the bike, but am now working on that.

Its a scottish mountain in January!

im mainly concerned about the bike and the level of my mtb skills tbh...

 Pids 28 Jun 2018
In reply to VS4b:

Its fine in the summer, there will likely be snow on it in January, the hike a bike through the snow will be horrible. And its very likely there will be wind. Lots of wind.

There are better places to go in January with a MTB.

 Rob Kelly 28 Jun 2018
In reply to Pids:

I wouldn't go near it on a bike in January. In the warmer months when the snow has cleared it's great fun, although set off early or late to avoid the crowds. I'd also highly recommend a full sus and being confident on red routes at trail centres, there's some pretty rough sections (although you can obviously walk these if needed).

 drpetermorgan 28 Jun 2018
In reply to VS4b:

went up ben lomond in wet and windy conditions 12 days ago. there was one guy on a double sus bike getting to the top (pushing) as we were descending , he later passed us on quite a technical and rocky bit and was having a great time. His girl friend was running along with him. In January it would be awful probably.

Rigid Raider 28 Jun 2018
In reply to VS4b:

No need to worry about the type of bike, we were carrying our full rigids up mountains then riding them down before suspension had even been thought of.  You don't NEED suspension although it makes riding downhill less tiring.

As others have suggested, riding down a big mountain in winter conditions would challenge the skills of even the most experienced rider so you can be certain that you'll have a few falls. That's assuming the conditions even allow you to get up it in the first place.  

 TobyA 28 Jun 2018
In reply to VS4b:

Why January? Ben Lomond is likely to have loads of soft snow on it, at least up top. If you've got a fat bike it might be rideable in parts but bloomin' hard work I'm sure!


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