Hardtails on hard trails: the Liteville H-3 in Finale Ligure, Italy

For those who haven’t had a chance to head down to Finale, here is a quick description of what the trails are like. Mostly you’ll find rough Downhill courses or flowing trails, and due to this it has become a very popular place for mountain bikers. Riders usually prefer to be shuttled as their focus is on gravity and downhill fun.

With pizza and bikes on our minds, we drove down and were excited about mild temperatures and no signs of frost on the ground. To our delight, the town had already settled down for the off-season, which meant there was plenty of trail and time to test out the H-3 and see what it could do.

We slept in late, and prepared ourselves for the long pedal upwards. It took us around 2 ½ hours and a lot of gels, but we had finally made it. I was really happy that I was riding a hardtail, even though I was on plus tyres, because losing the rear shock made slogging up that climb that much easier. Now the part I was anxious of: the downhill.

The other guys that were with me were riding Enduro bikes, which meant they were flying down the trail. It took me a bit, but soon I realized I could let go of the brakes and pick up some speed too. Due to the fact that we didn’t have a guide, we ended up getting lost, but we made it home just before dark. With only one flat, on the uphill, we called it a successful day, which we celebrated accordingly with pizza and beer on the beach.

I was already getting strange looks from other bikers who saw me load up the H-3 on the shuttle. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I could swing all the trails. The only thing on the menu today was rough Downhill track like Madonna de la Guardia. However, because I had gotten used to the bikes stiff rear end, I was able to ride surprisingly well. I was very thankful for the plus tyres which absorbed some of the chatter and larger hits that normally are taken care of by the rear suspension. My opinion: the H-3 is potent and can handle much more than I thought. Of course the lack of rear shock was noticeable, especially because the rear wheel had more a tendency to ‘buck’ instead of rolling with the punches. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, but what else should I expect riding a hardtail on a Downhill course? Still, I was very impressed with the H-3’s performance and due to its slack head tube angle, low top tube and thick Maxxis Rekon+ 2,8” tyres (my personal recommendation to those who ride plus) the bike rode unbelievably well on extremely challenging terrain.

We probably could have titled this post “Who gets hurt first, the bike or the biker?”, but I have to say the bike definitely beat me. The Liteville H-3 handled the rough terrain well, but it does require a lot more of the rider. Just remember: when loading the H-3 on a shuttle be prepared for some strange and questioning looks.