My name is Andy Keys. I’m a graphic designer originally from Gravesend, Kent, now based in London, and I’m passionate about mountain bike riding. I’ve been into mountain bikes since 1997 when I had a Silverfox hardtail that was great for ripping around the Kent countryside and later, the mean streets of North London when I moved back to the city for a new job.
I’ve had a few bikes. Some were stolen, such as a Ridgeback that was lifted from outside a pub in Hackney (I know, silly boy). I popped down to Brick Lane market on the sunday after and found some toerags trying to sell it on. They’d bent the top tube to get the D-lock off; in doing so writing the bike off… idiots.
I bought a Kona Hahanna in 2003. I’d always loved the geometry of a Kona bike, especially the Fire Mountain and Lava Dome, but I couldn’t afford one of those bad boys. The Hahanna was great for an entry level bike. I loved the look of the size 16 frame with a long seat post, and upgraded Marzocchi EXR 100mm forks. A great friend of mine who sadly passed away a few years ago, gave me his XTR rim brakes which helped to pimp the little red bike out even more.
A lot of my friends from Gravesend were into BMX and had built dirt jumps in their local woods. I will always remember the first time I saw someone on an old skool MTB take on some double jumps. I was amazed that he could do that on a mountain bike!! That must have been around 2002. Not long after that I started going to P.O.R.C (Penshurst Off Road Cycling), and blasting down the top section of the 4X course with my mates. The track was only to the first switchback as the rest of the course was incomplete until just recently. Any way we loved it. But it made you sick to see better riders clearing downslopes that I hadn’t even realised were there… like, “so that’s how you do it!!” I was clueless really. At that time I saw my first proper full-suss bike. Not the crappy ones out of Halfords with dodgy shocks, but a bad bit of kit that is the Orange Patriot. That bike was awesome… not only that, the owner knew how to ride it too. Down at Penshurst that lad would literally get a crowd watching his crazy gap jumps. About the Patriot, he’d say, “It’s like a magic carpet ride!!”
2003 was the first time I visited Cwm Carn. The DH track hadn’t been built but back then the Twrch trail was a challenge, still is. A gang of us travelled down from Gravesend and camped on a cold and rainy April weekend. I bought a set of Tioga 2.1 tyres from Ashfield Cycles for a tenner and I was away. The first time up the Twrch climb was an eyeopener! I’m not sure but probably 60% of the group never managed it to the top. Some had mechanicals, some gave up, some got lost and were found by others scrabbling around in bushes!! I feared for the sheep. But the lucky few made it to the top in the driving rain, only to realise that the descent was probably nothing like any of us had experienced before. The rocky terrain was nothing like the chalk of Kent but everyone smashed our way down. Except for me that is. The rain had washed away the glue on my grips, so they kept coming off in my hand, leaving me unable to turn the bars or have any control whatsoever. This was a problem but as I’m sure you’ll find out in future posts I’m not very good at realising potential dangers. On the final descent I was ripping along only to have my grips come off the bars at a critical moment and I career off the trail and down the mountainside. Luckily there aren’t too many cliffs on the Twrch trail so the only injuries sustained were minor. A taste of things to come though. I do learn the hard way, I must admit. I did learn however to use lock-on grips.
The Kona got stolen from outside a supermarket in 2004. So it was again time for a new bike. A friend had recently bought an Orange Ms Isle but I was not able to afford such a great bike. I settled on a GT Ruckus with Hope disc brakes and a Marzocchi Dirtjumper 3 fork. Great for Penshurst and I visited Afan for the first time and I was very pleased with how the bike performed. The disc brakes were a revelation. It was but a little heavy though, especially at the front. Perhaps the DJs were not such a good idea. Anyway it was done now and I had to prepare for a bike trip to Chamonix in September 2004. How do you prepare for something like that? I went to Afan and rode The Wall and a new trail called White’s Level. I loved the trail centres and I still do; the final descent of The Wall still rules.
Chamonix was a different ballgame. There were a few of us out there, with a MsIsle, a Cannondale Jeckyll, me with the Ruckus and a lad with a Kona Stab. I was like, what is this machine? I´d never seen a downhill bike before and I must admit, I didn´t get it. But what I did get was a severe baptism of fire. We set up camp and headed into Chamonix to have a look around the town. As soon as we saw the lift though we got all excited and decided to hop on. The lift attendant looked at us as though we were mad. None of us had gloves or helmets on, let alone padding. At the top of the lift there was only one way off the mountain. Down some fireroad that was made of rocks so big that they shifted around as you rode, like riding in soup. Our mate on the Jeckyll shot off and as I came gingerly round a corner, saw him on his hands and knees, as though looking for something. He´d come off and managed to smash his nose on one of the rocks. The first ride on the first day!! That was the end of his riding! We got him down eventually and the medical centre was right next to the campsite so he was well treated in there by the French nurses. He got released and spent the next few days holed up in his tent with two bandages up his nose that combined with the blood looked like two burnt chips. I must say I didn´t really enjoiy riding in the Alps on the GT. The bike and certainly the forks were not designed for that type of terrain. The forks were so heavy it was a nightmare having to pull the front end up every 30 seconds to avoid a water channel. After the third or fourth day of riding I really couldn´t hold on to the bars anymore. I was done. I didn´t really touch the bike for a couple of years, the experience at Chamonix had put me off. I had other hobbies and pain didn´t appeal to me.
True all-mountain slayer, with the motorway slayer in background
But circumstances change. In 2007 I was invited to Aston Hill by the same friends I´d been to Chamonix with. They´d continued to ride and the one with the MsIsle had recently got an Orange Patriot 66. I had a few runs on the GT, and then this lad asked if I fancied a go on the Patriot. Woah! From that moment on I was instantly smitted with full suspension. I was amazed what I could do on that bike. I went striaght home and ordered myself one of the first Specialized Pitch full sussers to arrive in the country. The brown Pro one. A great bike but one that need to be upgraded to get the best out of it. First thing was a dual ring chain device, then some better brakes and wheels. Also a 160mm Fox 36. These upgrades transformed the Pitch into true all mountain bike. Took that bike to Les Arcs two years running and also to Morzine . It could handle all that I could ride and it still wasn´t over built for trail centres, uplifts and mini DH back in UK. Those that know, know!
In 2009 I decided I´d like a more DH-orientated machine. I checked online and found a 2007 Commencal Supreme Mini DH that I´d always liked the look of. The price was excellent and soon I´d swapped the parts over from the Pitch and sold that on. I also sold the 36s and got myself some 180mm coil Totems. The bike was definitely an improvement on the Pitch for DH duties but due to my crap knowledge of bike mechanicals I managed to trash my shoulder on pretty much the first outing on this bike. I´d torn the tendon off my rotator cuff so went through physio then surgery then more physio, until it eventually healed about nine months later.
My first foray into DH proper, the Supreme Mini DH
Which brings me onto my current bikes. Just before my operation I bought an 2010 Orange Five frame and had Bromley Bikes transfer all my kit from an old second-hand Giant Anthem I´d been using for XC. I didn´t get to ride the Five until a few months later after my shoulder had started to heal.
Best of British
A few months on, and I´d survived risk of redundancy at work. At that time as well, my gran died and left me a little money, so I decided to replace the old Commencal Mini DH with the new design 2009 model.
The upgraded Supreme. Smoother, slacker, faster... well kind of
After doing a couple of the Pearce Cycles DH series in 2010 I realised I needed to up my game when it came to jumps and getting airtime so my most recent addition to the stable is a DMR Sidekick with Pikes that I´m using for London DH and the local BMX tracks. I´m hoping i will help me grows some balls when it comes to jumps, drops, gaps and stepdowns.
The Sidekick at Peckham BMX track
So there you have it. My current mountain bikes are the 2010 Orange Five, the 2009 Commencal Supreme Mini DH and the 2007 (I think) DMR Sidekick. I will post pics and some thoughts and opinions on these special bikes over the coming blogs, alongside my opinions on rides, races, uplifts, bits of kit and probably loads of other randomness. I hope you will enjoy it!
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