Official mountain biking thread

13182750:gapersarefriends said:
what's the difference between snow and dirt goggles? would using my eg2s be bad downhilling?
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no difference but ski goggles tend to have more padding meaning theyre warmer. iv used my io goggles before when.
 
I just rigged up a bright headlamp inside of my go-pro chest mount and about to go on my first night ride in the forest! I've only ever gone in the treeless foothills of Boise when the full moon lights up the trail in the summer. I'm going by myself and its freezing out so hopefully everything goes well. I'm riding one of the easier all mountain trails that ive ridden countless times. I did it by taking the closing mechanism off and putting a rubber band around the light and upsidedown housing. It seems like it will light up the trail perfectly and I'll also have a dimmer light on my helmet to light up where I'm looking. I'll let y'all know how it goes
 
Not sure if anyone else saw this on Vital yesterday, but this is worth the watch. I'm beyond jealous of this trail, especially since it appears to be in the middle of a town. That fun of a trail with that kind of convenience would be pure heaven.


13187243:asian_allen said:
This was from the closing weekend of our lift access bike park! I'd do anything for one more run but i guess it's just about ski season now. I think this was worth 8th on strava too, whatever that translates too in real life.
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Yup, definitely going to bring my bike next time I drive back to MN.

I've heard so many good things about Spirit's bike park and I can't wait to get back up on the north shore. There's some damn good singletrack hiding in those hills. You ridden any?
 
13187508:tBatt said:
If you're gonna ride at night, do it with a decent light.
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The two 120lumen china lights worked fine, I'm not about to drop a bunch of money just to ride at night but more light would be nice. That said, the experience was pretty damn spiritual! It was really spooky being a few miles off into the woods by yourself at night. I started thinking about people watching me from the woods and stuff like that but as long as I was pedaling it was all good. The downhill was insane! Riding a tight twisty all mountain trail at night was such a different feeling than during the day. I've ridden it enough to know where ever rock/root is and whats around ever corner but it felt like a whole new trail in the dark. The iron-man go pro light ended up working really well. I'd highly recommend going for a solo night-ride if you've never done it before, just dont forget to leave a note so your buddy can go scrape your frosty ass off the trail in the morning if you're not back.
 
13182750:gapersarefriends said:
what's the difference between snow and dirt goggles? would using my eg2s be bad downhilling?
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Really they are pretty much the same but some dirt goggles have wider outriggers to accommodate a full face helmet as well as having posts in the lenses (which are usually cheaper and clear) for tear offs. Any goggles will do the job if you're willing to have the lenses potentially scratched to hell.
 
whats standard for waiting to hit the trails after the rain? Been steady little bit of rain for the past 3-4 days. Today, steady drizzle all day.

Wanting to go ride tomorrow but don't wanna destroy the trails.
 
13188390:theBearJew said:
whats standard for waiting to hit the trails after the rain? Been steady little bit of rain for the past 3-4 days. Today, steady drizzle all day.

Wanting to go ride tomorrow but don't wanna destroy the trails.
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Really depends on the trail. How it was built and maintained, and most specifically how it drains.

Does the trail hold water in a few select areas, or all over the place after a rain?
 
13188406:division.bell said:
Really depends on the trail. How it was built and maintained, and most specifically how it drains.

Does the trail hold water in a few select areas, or all over the place after a rain?
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I'm not sure, its my first time going to this area.
 
13188466:asian_allen said:
Duluth is nuts. I've ridden a bit of the new stuff but not all. Looks so fun, i end up at spirit most of the time when i head up there though. chairlifts, haha.
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I spent a week riding random trails between Duluth and Grand Marais one summer.

There are some really fun trails in the hills above Grand Marais. I don't remember exactly which trail it is, but once you climb most of the way up, the trail switches from dirt to rock as you get above the trees. Ridiculously slick in the rain, but so damn fun to rip all the way back down to town. If the rundown bike shop is still in town, they could probably point you in the right direction (it's pretty much straight up into the hills from town).

I imagine you weren't fortunate enough to ride lifts at Lutsen then before they closed their summer operations down? That place was so sick to bike at and could be a huge draw if they invested in it.
 
Got a free $200 roof rack today by warranteeing my old one and got to keep the old one (it still technically works). Yay.
 
Rode Frog Lake in the Idaho earlier this week. Ran into snow halfway up but were still able to ride the whole loop. Ended up having heeps of cold weather mechanicals I would have never expected. The trail starts around 5,000 feet and tops out just shy of 10,000 feet. The trail itself was pretty unreal, especially the last two miles. It would have been a lot more fun without the snow but it made for a good adventure. Anybody in the area should check it out.

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Bottom of the valley

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Start of the snow

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Clogged bikes

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Prototype Shimano inner ice tech cooling fins

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Trail navigation, around 25cm of snow

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Top of the ridge

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Looking into the Frog Lakes

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Nearing the end of the trail
 
13188619:theBearJew said:
Markham Park, Florida
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Holy shit I used to ride here every weekend when I lived in Florida- its a trail where it really doesnt matter if its wet or not, like all other trails in FL its not all dirt . Just be careful on the wood features. That trail is badass, if you like jumping amd stuff theres a little expert section that is unreal
 
13189230:DGski said:
Holy shit I used to ride here every weekend when I lived in Florida- its a trail where it really doesnt matter if its wet or not, like all other trails in FL its not all dirt . Just be careful on the wood features. That trail is badass, if you like jumping amd stuff theres a little expert section that is unreal
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Sick. Can't wait to get out there. Didn't go today, rode to the beach instead. Looking forward to riding out here when I get the chance. Will post some stuff when I finally get out there.
 
13188466:asian_allen said:
Duluth is nuts. I've ridden a bit of the new stuff but not all. Looks so fun, i end up at spirit most of the time when i head up there though. chairlifts, haha.
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I found some more Downhill trails at piedmont/ brewer. Had an epic over the bars with scorpion and tomahawk. the whole back side of medropolis is full of trails i still need to explore.
 
13194224:asian_allen said:
Might have to be a next summer thing at this point man.. Less spirit more trail, less daytripping cuz of the Ringer too haha
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You ever head over to Copper Harbor?
 
13194224:asian_allen said:
Might have to be a next summer thing at this point man.. Less spirit more trail, less daytripping cuz of the Ringer too haha
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You ever head over to Copper Harbor?
 
i want to get into dh type stuff, and i noticed the specialized status 1 is 2600 bucks on their website. is this a good bike for this money, or could i get a better used bike for the same amount of cash?
 
13195798:gapersarefriends said:
that does look killer, but the budget is maxed out at 2600+pedals
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For sure, I just love the Maestro suspension design...

and 27.5 absolutely kills it
 
13195805:gapersarefriends said:
yeah it is a super sick deal, my buddy has a glory and it rips
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Giant has the best of both worlds because their factories build bikes for other companies, so they have the rights to a lot of proprietary technology, which is why the maestro design is so damn awesome.
 
13196875:immas said:
Wow. There's a guy who raced Northstar this season, every DH race he was there, on this custom hand pedal bike. This dude is my inspiration.

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Damn, that's a sick pedal bike. I haven't ridden Northstar since high school but I used to do the downhill races there and I can't imagine that bike making it down any of the trails there, let alone the tight, steep trails they hold the races on.
 
13196915:ThaLorax said:
Damn, that's a sick pedal bike. I haven't ridden Northstar since high school but I used to do the downhill races there and I can't imagine that bike making it down any of the trails there, let alone the tight, steep trails they hold the races on.
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He raced Livewire on this. I asked if I could take my lunch later so I could catch him on the course. Man does this dude rip.
 
13196931:immas said:
He raced Livewire on this. I asked if I could take my lunch later so I could catch him on the course. Man does this dude rip.
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I don't know how Livewiere is nowadays because I haven't ridden there since 2007, but when I used to ride there, there was a stretch of the trail that was definitely too narrow for those two horizontal rear wheels to fit through the tight switchbacks of the trail. Either way, that's awesome.
 
Some shitty cell phone pics from some recent rides here in WA.

View of Mt Rainier from a viewpoint on the climb to the top of Tiger

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Mt Rainier again, same location

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Snoqualmie Valley 30 minutes before the rain started

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Approaching the drop in on Flowtron

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13197001:NinetyFour said:
Apparently my monster truck Farley 8 made it in. Picking it up Saturday morning. Hyped!
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Haha, I was actually just thinking about that the other day as it had been so long since you posted that you bought one. That's awesome that it's finally arrived. Definitely get some pictures and post-ride thoughts up when you're able.

I still can't decide which fatbike to go with. No Farley's in the shops close to me, it's all just Fatboys.
 
So I don't have any pictures of the Farley as I don't have a smartphone, and I forgot the GoPro at home. I'll try and get some tomorrow! Anyways I picked up the Farley and went for a two lap ride here:

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It's definitely a technical XC singletrack. I do most of my riding here, because it's inner city on a valley wall. There are a lot of tech uphills and flats, with short and straight descents. I've probably ridden over 1000km there now.

---

The bike handled the technical stuff very well. It's extremely nimble yet stable at low speeds. The descents were a little strange at first because when you're really moving on the bike, it's hard to break it off of the line you're on. The tires just have THAT much rotating mass. The thing climbs like no other. I didn't slip once on any of the loose gravelly and leafy climbs, and that was mashing some higher gears. You could really go to weird places if you were pedaling smoothly in the lowest gear.

The ride is really smooth when you're seated. It still feels hardtail but without the extreme harshness. The rear tire can get bouncing pretty good if you're up and weighted forward in some rough stuff, but I think this could be fixed with a lower tire pressure. The Bluto fork controlled the front wheel super nice through everything, no bounce or anything weird there. It could be a hair softer though so I'll let a few PSI out of the Bluto when I get a chance.

Components are really good. The wheels and tires are beautiful and I'll be converting them to tubeless as they're TLR, sometime this winter. The Sram X1 drivetrain is all time. The system shifts extraordinarily quickly and smoothly. It has a great gearing range for the bike with a 40T front ring. I never even touched my lowest or highest gear today. The only thing that kind of sucks on the Farley is the Avid DB 3's. I actually like my Elixir 1's better, they modulate smoother, and make no noise. The DB 3s are pretty squeaky and loud if you're on a steep downhill you need to slow up on. This should come as no surprise though...

All in all I'm glad I bought this beast. I'll keep ya guys updated on it after I pound on a few more KM's, and toss some pictures up tomorrow.
 
Woops, I have a few things more to add (as if I haven't wrote enough shit already). The frame, fits me great. My waterbottles however, do not fit so great. The top tube carries a pretty steep angle creating a small front triangle. I'll have to switch to lower profile bottles. The frame is also ready to accommodate a front derailleur as Trek is just frame sharing between the 6 and 8 obviously. I hate the look of the empty front der mount, and the open holes for the internal cable routing. Hardly a big issue though.
 
Recently rode up to a spot that overlooks the lake in my town, unfortunately it was foggy and raining by the time i got up there.

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Also, i was wondering why if i stopped pedaling for a second and then tried to pedal again, the chain spins but it doesnt move the back tire so somewhere along the line its not connecting with the gears and i would have to stop and spin the pedals until it caught, they quickly hop on to keep it going..

any idea? Trek 3700 i don't have the cash to upgrade bikes so im gonna fix up what i have.
 
13201351:asian_allen said:
couldn't get any friends to commit to a trip. bummed i didnt make it, from what everyone tells me its on another level up there
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I'd highly recommend it
 
13201795:Chubbs. said:
Recently rode up to a spot that overlooks the lake in my town, unfortunately it was foggy and raining by the time i got up there.

IMG_0312_zps17a4f5ac.jpg


Also, i was wondering why if i stopped pedaling for a second and then tried to pedal again, the chain spins but it doesnt move the back tire so somewhere along the line its not connecting with the gears and i would have to stop and spin the pedals until it caught, they quickly hop on to keep it going..

any idea? Trek 3700 i don't have the cash to upgrade bikes so im gonna fix up what i have.
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is the bike old? sounds like there is something wrong with the pawls in your rear hub.
 
13201795:Chubbs. said:
Recently rode up to a spot that overlooks the lake in my town, unfortunately it was foggy and raining by the time i got up there.

IMG_0312_zps17a4f5ac.jpg


Also, i was wondering why if i stopped pedaling for a second and then tried to pedal again, the chain spins but it doesnt move the back tire so somewhere along the line its not connecting with the gears and i would have to stop and spin the pedals until it caught, they quickly hop on to keep it going..

any idea? Trek 3700 i don't have the cash to upgrade bikes so im gonna fix up what i have.
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Sounds like a new hub
 
13197007:division.bell said:
I still can't decide which fatbike to go with. No Farley's in the shops close to me, it's all just Fatboys.
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Decided on a Fatboy. I'll hopefully get an order in this week.

Now it's just a matter of deciding between the Pro or Expert. I can get a killer deal on the Expert but need to see what kind of deal I can score on the Pro before deciding. Might be better off running with the Expert and upgrading a few things instead of throwing down the cash for the Pro.
 
13204448:division.bell said:
Decided on a Fatboy. I'll hopefully get an order in this week.

Now it's just a matter of deciding between the Pro or Expert. I can get a killer deal on the Expert but need to see what kind of deal I can score on the Pro before deciding. Might be better off running with the Expert and upgrading a few things instead of throwing down the cash for the Pro.
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So I never did get out on my second ride this weekend. It rained and sleeted pretty hard here so I just hid inside...

As far as Farley vs. Fatboy goes, I really don't think you can go wrong with either. I liked the Fatboys I had seen at one of my LBS but in the end I couldn't resist the killer deal on the Farley from my regular shop. The one nice thing about the Fatboy is it's frame capacity for the much larger 4.7" (I think they're that big) tires.

As far as Pro vs. Expert goes, they're both of similar spec to the 8 vs. 6. I went with the 8 because I was considering having the bluto on the bike so I could ride it comfortably year round, and the sram 1X11 system as you know is a dream. It was a better deal to. Other than that the 6 was still a pretty nice bike all things considered and I wouldn't have hesitated to buy one if I didn't want as many features.
 
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