British Built Bike at its best...
- 10/10
- 1999
- See Moda Website
What we love...
- Effortless to ride
- Ultra Light
- Well Balanced
Moda Canon Mountain Bike Review...
When I was a kid, I wanted a bike. Just like all of my other friends! They all had mountain bikes as that was the in thing in 1989, they had all put their BMX’s in the shed and asked Mummy and Daddy for one.
Most Saturdays, we used to go in the Co-operative Department Store in Long Eaton. In the toy department was a Raleigh Mustang Mountain bike. It had been alarmed and security tagged, but that didn’t stop me from trying to get on it to make sure that it was the right size for me, ready for my upcoming birthday.
It never came and instead my Dad had bought me a Raleigh Racer in a light yellow, I was a little disappointed but spent many years of my child hood hanging around with my friends and doing my paper round on it.
Recently I have taken up cycling again, a few years ago I used my birthday money to purchase a £35 Tesco mountain bike. Lets just say you get what you pay for and I found it hard work and far from enjoyable. When I decided I was going to lose a bit of weight last year, I went out and purchased a Hybrid Raleigh bike from Costco, the enjoyment grew so I spent a little more money on a Scott Mountain Bike an then a Carrera Carbon Fibre Road Bike, now I love cycling and spend more on a single bike than I did on my first car!
When Bike Pedlars of Retford let me borrow there Moda Canon Mountain Bike to take around the Ridercoaching series course at Rother Valley it was bloody difficult to give it back…
Overview...
Moda is a British Built brand of bikes, who, to be honest, I have never heard before. Since attending quite a few Mountain Bike races there names keep popping up on some of the riders jerseys and bike shops seem to have more and more of these beautiful looking bikes.
So one Sunday morning, Bike Pedlars invited me down to trial there course 1 week before round 1 of their winter series at Rother Valley Country Park. The shiny, white grey and red bike was lifted out of the bike rack and handed to me. It was spotless.
First thing I noticed was the weight, it was light! This bike was fitted with American Classic wheels with Rocket Ron Tyres, there was a space ready for my Garmin Edge 500 and all I had to do was search for the Cadence/Speed sensor already fitted to the bike.
A quick ride around the lake gave us our warm up, ready for the course that Ridercoaching had laid ahead.
The first section was hard work, up hill avoiding mud ruts and sludge but the gearing was easy to select changing when requested. This beautiful bike was no longer clean and mud free.
The second section went across the top of the hill towards the old ski slope, I suffered a little with chain suck but a few light kicks cleared the mud quite easily.
There was only one way to go down the Ski Slope and that was downwards, it looked smooth from the top, it was far from it. Ruts, mud holes and ramps helped increase my heart beat and the twitches that my backside were producing, hitting the back brake would but me into a slide and the fronts put air between the back tyre and the ground, it was a case of balancing the brakes, even so the ride down was exhilarating and extreme fun.
The remainder of the course gave us a very varied terrain, from jumps to logs, to a ford that would have been scary to drive through let alone ride through. My heart rate monitor it a massive high at one point, but this was down to one of the locals slipping over and jumping out of the mud in front of me, it was like a scene from Shaun of the Dead, definitely made me fill my pants!
All in all the bike was very easy to ride, felt comfortable and easy to adjust. Maintenance on the bike looked easy and the suspension was just right. The bikes weight is great, and easy to carry around, I did notice due to the lightweight of the bike I was taken with the wind a couple of times, but nothing to be worried about.
Additional Information...
The Moda Canon comes in quite a few frame sizes, so I would get yourself to a specialist bike shop (smaller the shop, the more passionate the owners = your buying something thats right) to try each of the frame sizes, Moda offers quite a large range of bikes including Road Bikes. The designs of the bikes are amazing, I love some of the matt colours on the road bikes.
Have a look at some of the races to see where the Moda Bike team will be attending, the guys are very helpful and talkative.
What Would Go Well With It...
I sound boring now, but get yourself some good safety gear, never buy a cheap helmet and if you can spend around £50 on something quality. Get yourself a nice Garmin Edge computer, the 500 is sufficient for most riders, the 510 is the latest model with dual satellite receiving and bluetooth live track.
Then get yourself a nice bike rack for the car, thule do a great range of accessories to fit most vehicles. Remember! The more you spend the better quality something will be, if you buy cheap, you buy twice!
Disclaimer...
We are not affiliated with Moda Cycles in anyway and have not been paid to write this review. By clicking on links within this page, we may receive a small commission.
