Which bike for Isle of Mull ?

[ruthshep2]

Hi,

I'm new and appear to be computer incompetent as i cant find where to start my own thread / question?? so sorry before i even begin ... but I'm after some of my own "which bike?" advise....

I own a road bike and a cyclo cross bike - i bought the latter in the hope that it had the benefits of being light like my road bike and could cope with hills* like a mountain bike.

* to make up for the fact im RUBBISH at going up hills.

My question is which to take on holiday - I'm off to the isle of Mull and surrounding areas for a few days cycling**. but i cant decide which will be better. the cyclo bike has better gears (see below) so to help me with hills it gets a vote, but its chunky tyres will be slower on the flat/down hill where i love to whizz along on my road bike. im worried ill be out of breath even on the flat trying to keep up with the others due to my chunky tyres - do they make much difference of 60miles rides?? - surely they do.

**so not madly hilly, but slow steady climbs which is plenty enough to get me out of breath and questioning why i signed up for this :/

Cyclo:
chain ring - 50/34
cassette - 32/11 (9 rings)

Road bike:
chain ring - 50/34
cassette - 28/11 (10 rings)

 

[ColinJ]

If you are not going to be doing any off-road riding but want the lower gears of the CX bike, why not put normal road tyres on the CX bike for the holiday?

OR ... See about having an 11-32 cassette put on the road bike?

I cycled on Mull and the mainland nearby a couple of years ago. You might like to read my ride reports HERE, HERE and HERE.

 

[biggs682]

@ruthshep2 you are one lucky person to be going to the Isle of Mull its one of my all time favourite locations

As for what bike to take last time i went i took my 80's Marin BearValley with smooth road tyres and managed fine so cyclocross bike should do it with ease although there are some long steep climbs if i remember rightly

But be warned take loads of spare innertubes as when i went nobody on the Isle sold them !!!

And the roads were quite rough in places

but most of all enjoy it

 

[Crackle]

Gears will be more important than tyres. There's not much of Mull is flat, especially if you head around the West coast, so take the bike with the lowest gears and do as per Colin's suggestion. You might want that 32, though there's not much in it.

Great riding though.

 

[broady]

Loved riding on Mull (and most of the other islands too).
Would your current road bike derailleur handle a 32 cassette? If so, buy one!
I did find myself using the 32, but then if I only had a 28 I'm sure I'd have still got up still and my bike was fully loaded for the week.

 

[AndyRM]

@ruthshep2 you are one lucky person to be going to the Isle of Mull its one of my all time favourite locations

As for what bike to take last time i went i took my 80's Marin BearValley with smooth road tyres and managed fine so cyclocross bike should do it with ease although there are some long steep climbs if i remember rightly

But be warned take loads of spare innertubes as when i went nobody on the Isle sold them !!!

And the roads were quite rough in places

but most of all enjoy it

Not even Browns in Tobermory? They sell everything else!

Like you say, there are some punching climbs and duff roads, but the scenery is second to none so well worth it.

Are you a golfer @ruthshep2? Because Tobermory golf course has to be seen to be believed. It is easily the hardest course I've played.

When are you going? It gets very, very busy in the school holidays because of that Ballamory TV show.

 

[biggs682]

Not even Browns in Tobermory? They sell everything else!

Like you say, there are some punching climbs and duff roads, but the scenery is second to none so well worth it.

[USE.

i dont remember them having them but they might do know i brought a pump from there as mine had so much use it fell apart

and the scenery is great at each twist and turn

 

[ColinJ]

As an aside - if anybody fancies joining me on a ride round Mull on 3rd September, 2016 then hop over to THIS THREAD.

 

[AndyRM]

i dont remember them having them but they might do know i brought a pump from there as mine had so much use it fell apart

and the scenery is great at each twist and turn

Can't remember to be honest, but they started hiring mountain bikes a few years back so I reckon they've got some stashed.

 

[biggs682]

Can't remember to be honest, but they started hiring mountain bikes a few years back so I reckon they've got some stashed.

well it was 20 years when i was last up there

 

[PenttitheFinn]

I haven't cycled on Mull, but I don't think the hills are that steep, but some are quite long. The roads on the southern half of the island are quite good in places, but with quite a few pot holes, and the problem could well be that you spend a lot of the time admiring the scenery and therefore could easily find a pothole (spare tubes needed). The wildlife is as good as anywhere in the UK, and at one time had the highest density of Golden Eagles of anywhere in Europe, now they are in decline but the White Tail Eagles are very common. My advice is to take a pair of compact binoculars, and spend some time watching the Lochs, Dolphins, Porpoises and Otters can be seen regularly, and you will almost definitely see several Eagles. Have a good one !

 

[rualexander]

I haven't cycled on Mull, but I don't think the hills are that steep, but some are quite long.

There are lots of very steep roads on Mull, maybe not very long but definitely steep.

 

[PenttitheFinn]

There are lots of very steep roads on Mull, maybe not very long but definitely steep.

As I said I haven't cycled there, but certainly on the Southern end I would suggest that the lowest gears mentioned by the OP would be OK. The longer climbs I am thinking about are through Glen More. Not sure if my weak "flat Suffolk" legs would agree with me though

 

[AndyRM]

There are lots of very steep roads on Mull, maybe not very long but definitely steep.

The climb out of Tobermory heading to Dervaig is a killer!

 

[Crackle]

Not even Browns in Tobermory? They sell everything else!

Like you say, there are some punching climbs and duff roads, but the scenery is second to none so well worth it.

Are you a golfer @ruthshep2? Because Tobermory golf course has to be seen to be believed. It is easily the hardest course I've played.

When are you going? It gets very, very busy in the school holidays because of that Ballamory TV show.

I've played it twice. Fantastic course, great scenery but as an occasional hacker, impossible. I think I gave up keeping count, especially at that ridiculous hole with a valley between the tee and the green. Great fun though.