The hills are alive with the howl of canti's...

The first production mountain bikes used a style of brake called a cantilever - these gave the mud clearance that was needed but unless they were set up by a professional they didn't work that well and they howled like a banshee. As opposed to when they were set up by a professional, where they just howled like a banshee. I remember walking my 1990 Hard Rock Sport down a beautiful flowing trail in a tranquil valley in the Lake District because I was embarrassed about the noise I was putting out and worried that I'd give kids in adjacent villages nightmares.

Twenty plus years on technology has moved on, but you still find canti's on road-style bikes that need wider tyre clearances. I took my canti-equipped cyclocross bike out on the singletrack last night and I'm happy to report that they're just as sketchy as ever...

Rigid forks, skinny tyres inflated to 60psi, narrow drop bars and weak brakes lead to an interesting ride. Line choice is everything, although sometimes as you ping around the trail it feels like the bike is making that choice for you, and don't even consider that short-cut across the off-cambered roots. It's a mentally absorbing way to ride as you have to be very aware of what's coming up. I was feeling beaten up by the end but both the bike & I survived, and I was pretty happy as I managed to ride almost everything on an 18k singletrack / fireroad loop that I normally ride on a mountain bike, the exceptions being half of the rock garden above and a position-critical line after a steep-ish drop that I wasn't sure I could pull off and wasn't prepared to commit to. My times were generally around 20% - 40% slower than my fastest times on a mountain bike, but I managed to beat a personal record on one fire-road climb and come within a second of another on a singletrack climb.

Now all I need is my wrists to stop throbbing and the tinnitus to clear...