Official mountain biking thread

13270268:asian_allen said:
I'm riding an alloy 650b stumpy wishing i had the enduro 650b instead. My main gripes are the steepish head angle and too low bottom bracket. it's something like a full inch lower than the enduro and 68 degrees on a 6 inch bike is just silly. I really rushed into the purchase of my stumpy and i now wish i had thought it through more. I bolted on a 160mm pike, offset bushings on my shock, and am looking into 170mm crank arms as well to dial it in though, and i think i'll be pretty happy with it then.
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I want an Enduro too but can't justify it with my Endorphin. Ok I could totally justify it, but I have other priorities, mainly a road bike.

The Pike fucking rules over any other fork I've been on. I absolutely love mine. Damn good choice.
 
My 650b enduro comp is my favorite bike I've ever ridden, hands down. It gives me so much confidence while hitting every single type of terrain. The geo is amazing for riding downhill. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a one bike quiver that can effortlessly go from 30ft tables to 30mile xc rides.

It fell off my roof driving 85 on I5 on the way home from thanksgiving so it's all busted up right now and needs new parts. The fork, frame, wheelset and shock are all completely fine though. :) That fucker half backflipped off my roof, bounced, double backflipped and then skidded to a stop going 85mph and it doesnt have a scratch on it. It's a fucking tank! (the roof-rack broke and the handlebars took all the impact and bent ~80degrees on each side)

I need to get it fixed, biking keeps me sane...
 
Duly noted gents. Yeah I'll probably be going the enduro route. cant be that much slower uphill at the rate i go and i can imagine it just unleashes on the way back down.
 
I'm selling a DT swiss e2200 wheelset if anyone is interested. I'll consider any offer.
https://www.newschoolers.com/forum/thread/799418/DT-swiss-e2200-wheelset---Will-consider-any-offer-

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13271379:asian_allen said:
this is my nightmare.
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my bike fell off of a roof rack on the highway once... but not completely. just the strap holding the rear wheel on decided to snap so my bike totally pivoted around my front fork's dropouts that were holding my bike on. my bike slammed on the side of the car, scratching the car and bending my crankset.

surprisingly, my fork (a rigid carbon fork) was totally fine, despite its dropouts taking the full weight of my bike swinging down. specialized chisels are solid forks!
 
13275128:DrZoidberg said:
What exactly happened here? Resin infusion or something else? This is sick.

Also are you vac bagging in a ziplock bag? Is this a thing/why haven't I been vac bagging a shit ton of stuff if this is a thing?
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Thanks for the stoke man!

In the picture, that's one of the footbeds being vac-bagged. I bagged them inside of large ziplock bags, used ziplock bag material as peel ply on the mould side and the bag side, then I used scott blue shop towel as a breather cloth. It's pretty hood but hey, it works! I'd definitely use this method again, but if I ever have my own garage I'll definitely stock a few legit materials.
 
So you just attached a valve to the ziplock bag? I was wondering how you put the resin on. Just apply then put it in the bag and pull a vacuum, or was it some type of infusion process? I've got a vac bag, but I've never done resin with it cause it's slightly too small for surfboards and I've never needed to fabricate anything else.

So... mountain bikes... I've done it twice. It's super fun.
 
13275333:DrZoidberg said:
So you just attached a valve to the ziplock bag? I was wondering how you put the resin on. Just apply then put it in the bag and pull a vacuum, or was it some type of infusion process? I've got a vac bag, but I've never done resin with it cause it's slightly too small for surfboards and I've never needed to fabricate anything else.

So... mountain bikes... I've done it twice. It's super fun.
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do it again, then again, then again. then you'll realize it's skiing on dirt. then you'll weep for your bank account, give it a proper burial, and start purchasing bike stuff AND ski stuff.

fuck. bike stuff is more expensive. i haven't bought a single ski thing in the past ~9 months.
 
13276152:MEDSKI_ said:
do it again, then again, then again. then you'll realize it's skiing on dirt. then you'll weep for your bank account, give it a proper burial, and start purchasing bike stuff AND ski stuff.

fuck. bike stuff is more expensive. i haven't bought a single ski thing in the past ~9 months.
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Haha I started biking because its the close thing to skiing during the summer and fall. I also thought it'd be a one time investment and then super cheap....hahaha. So damn expensive
 
13276152:MEDSKI_ said:
do it again, then again, then again. then you'll realize it's skiing on dirt. then you'll weep for your bank account, give it a proper burial, and start purchasing bike stuff AND ski stuff.

fuck. bike stuff is more expensive. i haven't bought a single ski thing in the past ~9 months.
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That was my impression. Going through tress is super fun, especially since I'm from new jersey and you really don't get to ski trees unless it actually snows a lot. Looked at prices for bike stuff though...
 
13276152:MEDSKI_ said:
do it again, then again, then again. then you'll realize it's skiing on dirt. then you'll weep for your bank account, give it a proper burial, and start purchasing bike stuff AND ski stuff.

fuck. bike stuff is more expensive. i haven't bought a single ski thing in the past ~9 months.
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13276168:californiagrown said:
Haha I started biking because its the close thing to skiing during the summer and fall. I also thought it'd be a one time investment and then super cheap....hahaha. So damn expensive
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Feeling these sentiments so much this year.

Not going to get into specifics, but the short version is by this upcoming March, I will have gone from having a total of 2 bikes in July 2014 (one hardtail each for my wife and myself) to a total of 8 bikes between the two of us with a high probability of more in the future. I just really love riding bikes.

Shit's an addiction; cycling that is. And like a ski quiver, there are so many different types of bikes for different uses. Although I find it much harder to justify overlap in a bike collection that a ski quiver.

Fatboy's will be rolling next week. I am waiting on the last 2 components and then it's time to build.

I still have not yet skied this season, but got out to Tiger one last time right before the snow hit. No one in the lots when we hit the road climb at 9am and we saw a total of 3 other riders the whole day. Such an awesome past year of riding here in the PNW and the getting is still good. Upper trails are likely closed for the season now.
 
13276229:division.bell said:
I still have not yet skied this season, but got out to Tiger one last time right before the snow hit. No one in the lots when we hit the road climb at 9am and we saw a total of 3 other riders the whole day. Such an awesome past year of riding here in the PNW and the getting is still good. Upper trails are likely closed for the season now.
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But the snows gooooood!!
 
Ski season in PA started off super strong in mid November, but has since turned into a bag of dicks. I took a brake from sketchy bumps laps the past two days to get out on my bike again.

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My friend john coming out of some techy gnar

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nice tetnus-covered bridge we came upon

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shred sled photoshoot while enjoying a mid-ride beer. Yes, my saddle is 357563 feet high. I'm a lanky mofo.
 
13278496:Bakerpow said:
But the snows gooooood!!
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And I skipped the new snow and long lift lines today to instead start building my Fatboy's. I have a few things left to finish on the builds, but I'll probably be breaking in the fatties instead of skiing tomorrow as well.
 
The plus side of 4 days straight of rain and no more snow meant great riding once it got cold and hardened up again. Had a fun day yesterday on the trails where I grew up riding. It's super fun to ride in a place where you know every inch of every trail, down to the placement of each rock. If winter's gonna shit the bed I'll make the best of it
 
I've been out a few times through the holidays to the local inner city singletrack. I'm only biking a portion of it right now, because it has some sections that I think may be far too technical for winter riding. The portion that I am riding is pretty virgin right now. There has been a few hikers on it, but I'm the only one who's been biking. I wish I could give you guys a summary of what it's like riding in snow, but if I did it would be a novel. Really, you just have to accept the fact that everything is extremely variable.

The Farley has been performing quite well. One of my rides was in -28C ambient. Amazingly everything worked smoothly except the brakes. I'm not sure if any hydraulic brake would work well in those temperatures though. The Bluto, without winter parts was surprisingly working quite smooth. The drivetrain has been great, but I do wish I could put something smaller than a 30T chainring on it for really soft snow but I can't. To offset the tough pedalling though I'm picking up a tubeless conversion asap to drop nearly a pound from each wheel. That should help a lot.

Here's a shot of the Farley with my Blazer in the parking lot.

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^ I absolutely love the looks of that bike.

I will have some pictures of some more 4.6" fatness tomorrow. I just need to run the shift cable/housing and trim both hydraulic cables down to size on each bike and they will finally be complete. So damn ready.
 
13281361:division.bell said:
^ I absolutely love the looks of that bike.

I will have some pictures of some more 4.6" fatness tomorrow. I just need to run the shift cable/housing and trim both hydraulic cables down to size on each bike and they will finally be complete. So damn ready.
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Thanks! And I'm hyped to see your bikes. They will be something else. Aha the only bike out there that might compare in awesomeness would be like a Salsa Beargrease Carbon build.
 
A few teaser pics...

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...with flat pedals, untrimmed shift cable and zipties, AND 2 tubes at around 390 grams each. I should be in the low 28lb range when I go tubeless. The tape and tire sealant will add some weight, but I'm hoping to lose 1.5lbs give or take going tubeless.

First real rides will be this weekend.
 
13284102:Bakerpow said:
where are you planning on breaking them in?
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Great fucking question.

This weather blows...lots of rain heading our way. Forecast is 4-6 inches for my area tomorrow. Not fucking cool.
 
Here's my current setup. Need to switch to a 1x10 and go tubeless but other than that it rides like a dream!

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13281361:division.bell said:
4.6" fatness
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Yup...was able to finally run the shift cables and tune the derailleurs this morning which allowed us to get up into the mountains to play in the new snow before the pineapple express rolls in with the 4-6 inches of rain.

Probably ran tire pressure around 8-10 tops and was able to play around in compact snow and powder. So much damn fun.

Fatboy's

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His

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Hers

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Fatboy frame with stock carbon fork and integrated headset

Fatboy SL wheelset with XD driver

Ground Control 4.6 x 26 tires

E13 TRS+ BB and Crank came with the frameset

Sram X1 drivetrain

Race Face 30t N/W ring

XT Brakes with 180mm Icetech rotors

Thomson seatposts and 50mm stems

Mine has a Chromag Acute bar

Hers has a Race Face Turbine bar

And currently running some Surly lightweight fat bike tubes until I go tubeless on both
 
Those fat boys look awesome! Their is a kona shipping facility/rep who lives in Bham. Iv done a fair bit of carpentry on his house in the last two years. If he asks for more work I might ask for a bike in payment...lol. I'd love to rip some corn on that baby.
 
More fatbike fun yesterday; this time on dirt and not snow, finishing up on the dual slalom track was a great way to end the ride. This bike is ridiculously fun to ride.

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I'll be doing trail work tomorrow/Saturday at tiger if anyone wants to come out and join. My first time doing any trail work, so I'm excited to lend a hand and put some of my own flavor into the trail...and test ride sections, that'll be super fun!
 
^Really digging the fatbikes above, if only we had more snow in WA!

Anyways, Does anyone have some tips for skinnies? I keep having my back wheel fall off going around kinks. So yeah any tips?

Thanks
 
13291216:division.bell said:
More fatbike fun yesterday; this time on dirt and not snow, finishing up on the dual slalom track was a great way to end the ride. This bike is ridiculously fun to ride.

View attachment 747431
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If you didn't clear the table at the end it isnt legit :p How do those things corner with such low tire pressure?
 
13291216:division.bell said:
More fatbike fun yesterday; this time on dirt and not snow, finishing up on the dual slalom track was a great way to end the ride. This bike is ridiculously fun to ride.

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Wicked build!

I'm in same boat as you, skiing sucks right now. I have more pow days on my bike than total days skiing so far.

Here's a little eye candy from the last two months

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Tiger mountain sunrise early November

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West Tokul sunset looking towards Fall City

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Coral Pass ride on Veterans day

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Epic fog at Tokul this last Wednesday

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Awesome picture of my friends dog above flowtron

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Bought a new bike, Crave SS and Frankensteind some gucci parts from my co workers. Traverse SL wheels, Brain with carbon steerer, and a Thomson bar. The whole build is at $1000 so far, not bad.

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Bought one of these for the stumpjumper and my goodness what a difference it made. I've spent quiet some time on the Inline, DHX and the X-Fusion Vector. The Monarch walks on all of those, brings so much more life to the bike. Quite expensive but very worth it, and you can service it yourself if your're not a muppet LOL consumers...

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Dog leash saddle fix. Broke the rails off of the seat

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This showed up in the mail yesterday. Going there for five weeks to ride in February. Should be fun.

Happy riding everyone!
 
13292126:division.bell said:
^WA has been magical for biking this "winter". Awesome pictures.

What shop do you work at?
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I'll give you a hint, it's in western Washington and we deal Specialized
 
Just bought myself a used Bronson frame to cheer myself up during the shit snowfall this winter. Would have liked a Nomad or Process 153 but found the Bronson at an OK price and my current shock will transfer onto it along with the rest of my parts, then I'll probably fit a -1 angleset but I'll try it first.

Next SL cranks bought at the end of summer will go on there, and a new wheel build with Chinese carbon rims if I have the cash for them.

Next summer will be good.
 
was digging at the Tiger trail work party yesterday. the new trail is steep, rowdy, featured, and looks to be a ton of fun. Seriously gonna be an awesome trail.
 
Cracked my '12 legend a while back, just got a new frame. Looks pretty dandy if I do say so.

Marz. 888 RC3 ti

Fox RC4

Saint cranks and derailleur

Hope M4s

Spank Spike rims on Chris King hubs

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Trail conditions in western WA right now are absolutely fucking perfect. I had the best day on two wheels since the last day somewhat comparable that I can recall 10 years+ ago. Just under 15 miles of solitude and singletrack with hero dirt and eerily silent woods. The skiing may suck, but the trails are impeccable. Get some.

Off topic:

Spotted a dark blue Legacy wagon in the new Duthie lot this afternoon with an NS and other ski/bike stickers. What were you riding?
 
So, I rode pretty hard for like four years, sold the bikes to fund skiing, then bought a reign last year, had it stolen at the end of last summer, now I'm thinking of getting another ride, looking for a used 6-ish inch bike for around $1300, if anyone has any leads or suggestions I'd much appreciate it, I'm leaning toward another reign, I've really like the feel of maestro in the past.
 
13305899:division.bell said:
Awesome purchase man! Going to be making any changes to the build or leaving it as is?
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Thanks! I'm stoked for it. Haha I'm scraping up the budget as is so probably not for a little bit. Maybe wider bars off the get go, but initially not a ton. Coming from my old Blur, even its stock components are a huge upgrade for me. Would love to buy carbon rims as well, but thats another wish list. People apparently have been bitching about the DB Inline shock on Pinkbike, but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm fucking amped really
 
13305949:JuliusJ said:
Thanks! I'm stoked for it. Haha I'm scraping up the budget as is so probably not for a little bit. Maybe wider bars off the get go, but initially not a ton. Coming from my old Blur, even its stock components are a huge upgrade for me. Would love to buy carbon rims as well, but thats another wish list. People apparently have been bitching about the DB Inline shock on Pinkbike, but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm fucking amped really
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I'm running the DB Air CS on my Endorphin. Awesome shock that has exceeded any expectations except reliability. I've never been a fan of Fox's rear shocks so I jumped at the chance for something different. The DB Air really has been more than I could have hoped for performance-wise in a rear shock...but that durability leaves me wondering.

First ride on the bike was at the beginning of August and during a ride in early November the shock lost all air pressure and wasn't able to fully extend to it's maximum travel even when maxing out the air pressure. A call to Cane Creek was exceptionally disappointing as they do not personally support the DB Air shocks themselves and instead force you to seek out a factory repair center. Thankfully it was under warranty (1 year only by the way) and I was back up and running at no cost. Can't say I'm looking forward to the next issue though. If something similar happens again after the 1 year warranty expires, I'll probably be looking at a Monarch.

My wife has been running her DB Air CS on her bike as well for the same amount of time except with no issues to speak of. So who knows. Run it until it dies and/or the warranty or your patience expires.

13306532:SamtheEagle said:
This thread makes me want a fatbike
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Do it. They are more fun than you can imagine.
 
i'm doing a race this sunday on a fatboy I'm renting. never actually ridden a fatbike for its intended purpose - only for parking lot shenanigans while on the clock.

actually pretty excited. did this race last year with skinnies... sucked ass. stoked because I'll actually finish and I like where the race is being held.
 
13306571:division.bell said:
I'm running the DB Air CS on my Endorphin. Awesome shock that has exceeded any expectations except reliability. I've never been a fan of Fox's rear shocks so I jumped at the chance for something different. The DB Air really has been more than I could have hoped for performance-wise in a rear shock...but that durability leaves me wondering.

First ride on the bike was at the beginning of August and during a ride in early November the shock lost all air pressure and wasn't able to fully extend to it's maximum travel even when maxing out the air pressure. A call to Cane Creek was exceptionally disappointing as they do not personally support the DB Air shocks themselves and instead force you to seek out a factory repair center. Thankfully it was under warranty (1 year only by the way) and I was back up and running at no cost. Can't say I'm looking forward to the next issue though. If something similar happens again after the 1 year warranty expires, I'll probably be looking at a Monarch.

My wife has been running her DB Air CS on her bike as well for the same amount of time except with no issues to speak of. So who knows. Run it until it dies and/or the warranty or your patience expires.

Do it. They are more fun than you can imagine.
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How easily serviceable is cane creek's stuff? I've done rebuilds on all my fox and rockshox stuff without all too much trouble. I'm not really familiar with the internals of the DB Air, but a similar thing happened to my rp2. It had something to do with air getting stuck in the negative chamber. I just released all the pressure from it with a shock pump, opened it up, replaced seals and regreased, put it back together, and I was on my way. Having to do it again now would take me all of 15 or 20 minutes. Just wondering if CC's stuff is as easy to work on.
 
13305299:division.bell said:
Off topic:

Spotted a dark blue Legacy wagon in the new Duthie lot this afternoon with an NS and other ski/bike stickers. What were you riding?
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That's me, I'm on a black hardrock and usually have a black diamond Seth Morrison pack on.
 
13307562:DIPED_IN_SAUCE said:
That's me, I'm on a black hardrock and usually have a black diamond Seth Morrison pack on.
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What trails were you riding?

We rode grand ridge that day and I only noticed the stickers on your car when I got back to my vehicle, which was parked a few spots away from you. I definitely did not see your car when we got there though.
 
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