Mountain Biking 2017!

[BS Slarver]

I can confirm @Jersey Skier can hold his own on the slopes and he also offers up great MTB deals as well.

 

[Superbman]

If you already own pumping, manualing, rear-wheel drift and skid maneuvers, and legit bunny hops at will, than that added security and efficiency of being clipped in (up and down the hill) is the icing on the cake (Aaron Gwinn, Richie Rude, and Nino Schurter ain't wrong, of course!).

However, if you are the sort of person who started mountain biking one day Long ago without a BMX/ MX background in early adulthood and have been clipped in for most of that time....you probably have no idea how weak your skills really are, and what's more, how nearly impossible it is to learn and master those skills on SPD's.

I'm mostly pointing a finger at myself here. As someone who made it to DH late in the game, I've had a painful few years finding out that what I thought was skill was really very well mastered bad technique, toughness, and above average fitness. I'm trying to get back to the basics and really learn the skills, so for the next few months I'll probably be all flat pedal all the time. Chances are, full time/ long time SPD'ers on this forum are in a similar boat as me...and haven't realized it yet.

Not you, though @Jersey Skier, I know you got mad bike skills (I'm being serious here-Jersey Skier kills it on a Bike...probably on skis, too, but I don' t have any first hand verification of that!).

I can confirm @Jersey Skier can hold his own on the slopes and he also offers up great MTB deals as well.

Yeah, I figured. He does also run a great Bike Shop.

 

[Jersey Skier]

I can confirm @Jersey Skier can hold his own on the slopes and he also offers up great MTB deals as well.

Yeah, I figured. He does also run a great Bike Shop.

Thanks guys.

Spent the afternoon wandering around the woods looking for my lungs. I think I left them here last season.

Note: Flat or clipped in, the line is a little to the right.

 

[Monique]

Note: Flat or clipped in, the line is a little to the right.

View attachment 22571

"I don't know what you're looking for, but it's a little to the right ..."

 

[Yo Momma]

How many here rode toeclips back in the day?

Hee hee hee... "...back in the day?...." still riding em for my commute! LMAO Too many diff shoes needed for rain, mud, snow, cow manure.......several sets can dry while I wear another the next day............ if you ride enough, for commuting dry, clean shoes trumps pedaling efficiency any day..........

 

[AmyPJ]

I used toe clips, but I didn't ride much back then. My real foray into MTB wasn't until I moved to UT in June of 2014. I attempted a ride near Snowbasin on a crappy Trek intro bike and it was NOT pretty. Went and bought my current (soon to be sold) Trek a few weeks later and haven't looked back!

 

[coskigirl]

Got out for an hour on my steed today. Technically very easy but played with gearing and the dropper post which was fun. Oh and I got the Kuat rack assembled and installed all by myself yesterday.

 

[Monique]

Yet another person waxed poetic with me Saturday about the + size tires. He said it makes the outer diameter of the tire almost the same as a 29er, to which I responded that this must increase the wheelbase esp. on smaller bikes, to which he said no, not necessarily.

I dunno. They still look ridic to me, but it's silly to buy a bike you want to last at least 5 years without considering whether the 27.5+ size tires are a fad vs a universal improvement. I thought 29" was a fad when it first started ...

 

[cantunamunch]

I still think it's funny that you lot are calling them 27.5 when in fact they are smaller than my 27s

 

[Monique]

I still think it's funny that you lot are calling them 27.5 when in fact they are smaller than my 27s

I just call them whatever everyone else around here calls 'em!

 

[cantunamunch]

I just call them whatever everyone else around here calls 'em!

..which just makes it funnier, you know.

And as to fads, shall we talk bottom bracket so-called "standards" yet ?

 

[Jersey Skier]

Yesterdays ride started with some fun rocky trail

Which ended with me somehow getting my left foot hooked by this root at speed.

 

[AmyPJ]

Are you OK?

I finally got out on my new Trek Fuel yesterday on a REAL ride, and boy, is it nice!! It's going to take some getting used to the wider bars, though. They are 4 inches wider than my current bars. Climbing at slow speeds over obstacles is proving to be a challenge as I must be over-steering. But downhill is FUN!

 

[Tom K.]

I finally got out on my new Trek Fuel yesterday on a REAL ride, and boy, is it nice!! It's going to take some getting used to the wider bars, though. They are 4 inches wider than my current bars. Climbing at slow speeds over obstacles is proving to be a challenge as I must be over-steering. But downhill is FUN!

LIke any trend that started out making sense, the wide bar thing has gotten a bit out of hand. Going too wide for your personal shoulder width can put your wrists and shoulders in an awkward position, "locking you up" a bit.

My approach with any new bike is simple. Ride the stock bars for ~10 hours. If they still feel too wide, cut 10 mm off each side. Repeat until happy!

Note: If you cut your own bars, and they are carbon, it's worth a trip to a hardware store to buy a really fine hacksaw blade.

 

[Monique]

Are you OK?

I finally got out on my new Trek Fuel yesterday on a REAL ride, and boy, is it nice!! It's going to take some getting used to the wider bars, though. They are 4 inches wider than my current bars. Climbing at slow speeds over obstacles is proving to be a challenge as I must be over-steering. But downhill is FUN!

On my first ride with my downhill bike, which was a big jump in handlebars at the time, I hit the bar against a tree on a tight trail, which forced the brake lever closed, which resulted in a face plant. But I've never done anything like that since.

 

[Crank]

I had a really bad crash last summer on a group ride on some trails I was unfamiliar with. They were cut very tight in an effort to keep motorized dirt bikes out. I was jamming down a side hill trail trying to catch the group and slammed my right handlebar into a tree which launched me off the trail and down the hill to my left onto a bunch of rocks. Lots of scrapes and my hand hurt like hell where it was holding the bar.

Probably should have stayed home that day and done an easy spin around home. It was a Sunday morning after a bar gig with my band and while I can usually get up and go in the morning, I am riding on 4 hours sleep and always a bit out of it.

This was at the Jungle Jam in NJ if anyone is familiar with those trails you know they are super tight.

 

[Josh Matta]

sounds like you need a chain saw......

Just because you can ride 800m wide bars on a trail, doesnt mean a Dirt bike can go on them.....

 

[Josh Matta]

Are you OK?

I finally got out on my new Trek Fuel yesterday on a REAL ride, and boy, is it nice!! It's going to take some getting used to the wider bars, though. They are 4 inches wider than my current bars. Climbing at slow speeds over obstacles is proving to be a challenge as I must be over-steering. But downhill is FUN!

more than likely your position is more rearward biased......or the new geo is slacker.

If naything wider bars all things being equal will make the front end wander less....but my guess is your new bike has a slacker HTA than your old bike, and that is making your bike wander.

 

[Monique]

sounds like you need a chain saw......

Uhh. Don't know about the rules on the east coast, but around here that would be pretty seriously rude. You don't get to rearrange trails to make them easier, harder, or more fun. Whatever's there, you ride it or you walk it as-is.

 

[Josh Matta]

yeah I cut out handlebar grabber from trail made back in the days prior to 700mm bars.....and gladly tell people I do as well. I also take out man made guide stones. There are plently of way to make trails harder and more challenging, but trying to snag people bars/pedals should never be one of them

Trails are designed around bikes, the bikes have changed. Luckly basically the entire state was on low, long slack, short stem, wide bar hype long before I ever got here. but honestly no reason to keep riding a trail designed around a 120mm stem 600mm bar bike, when beside getting though intentionally tight places they do nothing better. If the OG trail designs had the bike we had now, there is no way those old trail would be narrow.