Official mountain biking thread
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californiagrown
Active member
13368853:mike759 said:
You have a walmart mtn bike. doesnt mean that you cant have a ton of fun on it, but you are going to have to come to grips with the fact that what you have is a POS. Dont expect it to perform the same way as your friends' bikes.
If you want to adjust the fork, go to your local bike shop and ask for some air to be taken out. you should be using all of your travel(meaning you should bottom out) on the roughest parts of your ride. Not a harsh, clanging bottom out, but you do want to use all your travel, it's there to be used.
But seriously, just go out and have fun. Dont worry about your bike. I would suggest not putting any money into it though. If you can rip on that, then when you do upgrade to a "real" mtn bike your head will explode with how much harder you will be able to rip.
californiagrown
Active member
13368891:mike759 said:
"walmart bike" is a term. not necessarily to be taken literally haha.
can you even adjust the air in that fork? Curiously, how much did you pay for it?
NinetyFour
Active member
13368908:slothking said:
Fucking hot. Getting sweaty over here.
What sealant and system are any of the tubless crowd here running? Thinking of going orange seal for my Farley.
Slush
Active member
13356754:stupendous-man said:
You lucky dude you! I wish I could be digging right now, especially in such a nice set of woods! Must have quite a big hill if your gap is that size
I can't find anywhere to build trails, every place I find is either 100% flat or I build for like 2 weeks then get kicked out :/
californiagrown
Active member
13368902:mike759 said:
Get a different bike. Seriously. i would really reccomend not putting any money into it other than the bare minimum to keep it rolling.
If you really dig MTBing after doing it for a while, save up and buy a decent used bike. FWIW you could have gotten a pretty decent hardtail used for $500. you can get a pretty decent full suspension used for $1000.
stupendous-man
Active member
13368915:Twinipz said:
That right there is my backyard haha, just squeezing everything all the fun I can out of my parents' land until I'm done with high school. I see you live in NY, I'm not sure how forest access is on the other side of the country but out here its all about knowing the logging roads. The deeper you go, the less likely it will get discovered. I would recommend joining up with some local riders, I guarantee there's more good trails than you think that are already established around you.
NinetyFour
Active member
Has anyone here had their Rockshox solo air collapse before, and even if you try inflating it won't come back up? If you have, the fix is simply flipping the bike upside down, removing the allen key plug on the air side of the fork, then gently and slowly depressing the schrader valve on the other side (if you poke it to fast lubrication oil will shoot everywhere), then re install the plug and inflate the fork back to it's recommended setting via the fill valve on top.
I had both of my bikes in the shop tonight for some inspection and service, as I haven't rode my Farley through the wet and muddy spring for a month and some, and my Cobia has sat all winter. Both bikes have a solo air fork, and both of them had this issue. Apparently common on Blutos (according to MTBR forums, also how I discovered the fix), but all solo airs are susceptible.
I don't want to go into full detail about the mechanics of the issue because I would need to look at a parts diagram to fully understand it. But it has something to do with all of the air leaking to one side of the air spring and a red sticky grease is usually at fault. I think Rockshox has manuals available for download online, I'll check that later.
Hopefully that's helpful to some of you, I think the solo air system is very common in Rockshox's fork lineup. I know I was freaking right out because it was just a ball kicker to see both of my beauties like that. Both bikes are in my house for the night so I can keep an eye on them. I'll let you guys know if anything goes awry again!
I had both of my bikes in the shop tonight for some inspection and service, as I haven't rode my Farley through the wet and muddy spring for a month and some, and my Cobia has sat all winter. Both bikes have a solo air fork, and both of them had this issue. Apparently common on Blutos (according to MTBR forums, also how I discovered the fix), but all solo airs are susceptible.
I don't want to go into full detail about the mechanics of the issue because I would need to look at a parts diagram to fully understand it. But it has something to do with all of the air leaking to one side of the air spring and a red sticky grease is usually at fault. I think Rockshox has manuals available for download online, I'll check that later.
Hopefully that's helpful to some of you, I think the solo air system is very common in Rockshox's fork lineup. I know I was freaking right out because it was just a ball kicker to see both of my beauties like that. Both bikes are in my house for the night so I can keep an eye on them. I'll let you guys know if anything goes awry again!
Leafman
Active member
Got back from New Zealand not to long ago and goodness are the trails good. Rode over 700 miles and 80,000 foot of climbing in 5 weeks. Sell your soul, divorce your wife, send the children to the orphanage do what you gotta do to get there. Turning down a job offer in Wanaka last October is my biggest regret in life. It's the most beautiful place I have ever been.
On another note finally got to fill out a W-2 under Specialized this year which is pretty pimp tight. Bikes are sweet!
Some eye candy
Ti Miro bike park, Morrinsville/Hamilton
Paeroa sunset
Jungle action, Te Aroha
Above the National Downhill Track, Whakarewarewa Forest, Rotorua
Corners Track, Rotorua
The best track in the world, every corner is mint and the dirt is something out of Narnia. It's like riding a skatepark. A genuine bobsled run all the way down for 2km.
More corners goodness
Get your 650 ABCDEFG outta here bitch
Rainbown Mountain, Rotorua
Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Mount Ngauruhoe in the back
Eskdale Mountain Bike Park, Napier
Skyline Walkway, Wellington
Skyline Walkway, above Wellington
Makara Peak Bike Park, Wellington
Kaiteriteri Bike Park, Nelson
Awesome little figure eight feature at Kaiteriteri, Nelson
Beech Forest on the Old Ghost Road, Lyell Range
More beech forest, Lyell Range
Lyell Range, Old Ghost Road
Croesus Knob to the left and the Tasman Sea down below, Greymouth
Toyota love, 79 Series Landcruiser, Harihari
Sunrise with the Southern Alps in the back, Fox Glacier
Craigieburn Forest, Canterbury Region
Craiegiburn forest approaching Castle Hill, Canterbury Region
Castle Hill, Canterbury Region
St James Cycle Trail, Hanmer Springs
A true backcountry epic, 80km bush track
You can barely see the trail cutting through the thigh high grass
Bike coraled up at the Stanley Vale Hut
Lake Guyon, St James Cycle Trail
Waiau River Valley, the most beautiful place I have ever been
Wilds horses in the Waiau River Valley
Last couple Kilometers of an 80km epic
Avalanche Peak, Arthurs Pass
Richmond Trail, Lake Tekapo
Awesome singletrack above Lake Wanaka, Sticky Forest Wanaka
Melina's Ridge Track/Station, Lindis Pass Region
Welcome Rock, Garston
Welcome Rock
Coronet Peak DH Track, Queenstown
Rude Rock! Queenstown
Top of Pack, Sack, and Track, Queenstown
Lake Tekapo Sunset
Message me if you have any questions on the locations and trails. If you go with a couple buddies you could make it some what price point. The food and plane ticket would be the only expensive parts. Camping is pretty much free game everywhere and everybody there is extremely friendly. Hope this gets you guys stoked and motivated to make the pilgrimage there.
Happy Riding
EP
On another note finally got to fill out a W-2 under Specialized this year which is pretty pimp tight. Bikes are sweet!
Some eye candy
Ti Miro bike park, Morrinsville/Hamilton
Paeroa sunset
Jungle action, Te Aroha
Above the National Downhill Track, Whakarewarewa Forest, Rotorua
Corners Track, Rotorua
The best track in the world, every corner is mint and the dirt is something out of Narnia. It's like riding a skatepark. A genuine bobsled run all the way down for 2km.
More corners goodness
Get your 650 ABCDEFG outta here bitch
Rainbown Mountain, Rotorua
Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Mount Ngauruhoe in the back
Eskdale Mountain Bike Park, Napier
Skyline Walkway, Wellington
Skyline Walkway, above Wellington
Makara Peak Bike Park, Wellington
Kaiteriteri Bike Park, Nelson
Awesome little figure eight feature at Kaiteriteri, Nelson
Beech Forest on the Old Ghost Road, Lyell Range
More beech forest, Lyell Range
Lyell Range, Old Ghost Road
Croesus Knob to the left and the Tasman Sea down below, Greymouth
Toyota love, 79 Series Landcruiser, Harihari
Sunrise with the Southern Alps in the back, Fox Glacier
Craigieburn Forest, Canterbury Region
Craiegiburn forest approaching Castle Hill, Canterbury Region
Castle Hill, Canterbury Region
St James Cycle Trail, Hanmer Springs
A true backcountry epic, 80km bush track
You can barely see the trail cutting through the thigh high grass
Bike coraled up at the Stanley Vale Hut
Lake Guyon, St James Cycle Trail
Waiau River Valley, the most beautiful place I have ever been
Wilds horses in the Waiau River Valley
Last couple Kilometers of an 80km epic
Avalanche Peak, Arthurs Pass
Richmond Trail, Lake Tekapo
Awesome singletrack above Lake Wanaka, Sticky Forest Wanaka
Melina's Ridge Track/Station, Lindis Pass Region
Welcome Rock, Garston
Welcome Rock
Coronet Peak DH Track, Queenstown
Rude Rock! Queenstown
Top of Pack, Sack, and Track, Queenstown
Lake Tekapo Sunset
Message me if you have any questions on the locations and trails. If you go with a couple buddies you could make it some what price point. The food and plane ticket would be the only expensive parts. Camping is pretty much free game everywhere and everybody there is extremely friendly. Hope this gets you guys stoked and motivated to make the pilgrimage there.
Happy Riding
EP
californiagrown
Active member
13382873:Sklar said:
Yea but the way i look at is its all about slowly progressing. Hit the small jump lines and when you are sending them past the landing and can style out the .05 seconds of air, move on the medium sized stuff... and so on and so on. Also, Duthie is the first time i have ever actually scoped lines for MTB and thought about how i would actually ride something. Because laps are so short you can memorize each line- the speed required, how are where to set up etc.
Also, there really isnt anything highspeed that ive seen at Duthie, so the consequences are relatively low... all things considered.
*TURBONERD*
Active member
Holy shit Etienne I'm drooling.
NinetyFour
Active member
Just bought an Orange Seal kit for my fat bottomed girl. It's definitely the hype sealant right now, and it should work super nice with the Jackalope wheels. Hopefully I can shed some weight and rotating mass out of the wheels with the conversion.
Mr.softcookie
Member
rtl32
Member
What do you guys know about the Giant Reign?
I ride mostly really technical trail/am stuff, a little xc, and will dabble in park and downhill (nothing too serious, won't ride as if I'm on an 8 inch bike). I'm 6ft 200 lbs, so I would ride a large.
Thinking about getting a 2012-2014 reign used from pinkbike. I would want to buy a bike, and an slx (maybe mixed with ct) groupset (2x10, cranks, chainrings, shifters, brakes, etc) and put that on instead and sell the stuff I booted. Either a 32mm 120-150, or 34mm 130-160mm Talas..Probably going to get a Fox Dhx 5.0 air shock unless someone convinces me to get the coil, but I will be on an XC team in my high school so I am kinda avoiding going too big or burly on stuff and being a goon there. I have no idea what is good or not in wheels, and I know that can be a money pit so I'm just gonna check out each option individually and not get my heart set on anything before I can even find them. Probably going to get a cheap or used dropper post as well
What do you guys think? Doable for 1500-1600 if I'm smart about it?
I ride mostly really technical trail/am stuff, a little xc, and will dabble in park and downhill (nothing too serious, won't ride as if I'm on an 8 inch bike). I'm 6ft 200 lbs, so I would ride a large.
Thinking about getting a 2012-2014 reign used from pinkbike. I would want to buy a bike, and an slx (maybe mixed with ct) groupset (2x10, cranks, chainrings, shifters, brakes, etc) and put that on instead and sell the stuff I booted. Either a 32mm 120-150, or 34mm 130-160mm Talas..Probably going to get a Fox Dhx 5.0 air shock unless someone convinces me to get the coil, but I will be on an XC team in my high school so I am kinda avoiding going too big or burly on stuff and being a goon there. I have no idea what is good or not in wheels, and I know that can be a money pit so I'm just gonna check out each option individually and not get my heart set on anything before I can even find them. Probably going to get a cheap or used dropper post as well
What do you guys think? Doable for 1500-1600 if I'm smart about it?
NinetyFour
Active member
13388638:Tanner-D said:
That's what I like to hear! And for my scenario, the fatbike, it's really not all that expensive seeing as a single tube is around $20.00 CDN. Plus I've heard people tossing out weight savings from 1.5-2.5 lbs which is a dickload of weight to shed from your wheels. I'll bring home the fishscale tomorrow to get a base weight on the bike, then I'll do the conversion and weigh it and report back with numbers.
cydwhit
Active member
13388899:rtl32 said:
Dude, I bought a 2012 reign complete used off PB for 1200 last year that was incredible. Sram x9 fox 34, pretty nice component set. I loved that bike so much. Get a dropper for sure. Mine was incredible, could goat its way around xc trails but point it downhill and it would ruuuuuuun. Felt as fast as my old Glory on full on DH race trails, even rode some free ride with it. Man, I miss that bike, Bike thieves are the worst.
As soon as I get some more steady income I'm probably going to grab another. If I'm doing real well financially I'll go for the 27.5 one but otherwise the older ones are super fun. I'm a huge sucker for giant bikes and especially the reign. Good luck!
mikeystark
Member
13388899:rtl32 said:
It's a fun bike but definitely not the fastest bike when it comes to climbing and for those super long rides, great for someone looking to get into park and downhill riding. I have my 2013 in perfect condition on sale on pinkbike right now http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1749653/
division.bell
Active member
13389263:NinetyFour said:
Orange is my choice as well. It seems to stay in liquid form much longer than the Stan's does, which keeps the clumps from accumulating and bouncing around in the tires. I've seen a fist sized clump of dried up Stan's come from a tire, while I've never seen anything substantial from a tire using Orange.
I'll finally be converting my Fatboy tires this weekend as well. I picked up 2 quarts of Orange to have on hand for tire swaps, and will need 1 full quart for 4 Fatboy tires alone. I need to pick up some sort of wide tape and I'll be set. I'll get some before and after weights for both bikes posted. Hoping for 1-1.5 lb reduction per bike.
Looking forward to tubeless though as I did pinch flat my front tire on a ride during the best part of the descent. A few patches, and the first of 10 total minutes pumping trailside with my mini pump later, and I was wishing I had done the conversion much sooner.
Fatbikes and snow are what's in store for tomorrow as the snow has temporarily returned to the dismal PNW.
NinetyFour
Active member
13389317:division.bell said:
That's what I gathered from all of the comparisons. Plus Orange's nanites to help seal punctures, no way was I buying glitter and adding it to some Stans as some people claim it's, "pretty much the same thing".
For your tubeless conversion how about are you sealing the lightening holes in the rim? A split tube, or gorilla taping the rim strip in?
I'm pumped to convert the Jackalopes. They're going to be a pretty nice, hassle free conversion. I weighed the bike tonight with all of the gear I normally have on it (two bottle cages, my saddle bag, taillight, headlight, pedals) and it came in on the scale at 32lbs 14oz. The bike is definitely a little heavier than I thought, but that's okay. I think it's going to be my main ride for the summer.
NinetyFour
Active member
Got bored tonight and wanted to ad some protection to the bike because I'm OCD like that. I used some clear vinyl mask to shield the top tube from my feet when I kick them over:
Then I made up a super nice chainstay protector out of an old tube:
I also lathed up some frame plugs to go in the unused front derailleur cable routing holes.
Then I made up a super nice chainstay protector out of an old tube:
I also lathed up some frame plugs to go in the unused front derailleur cable routing holes.
californiagrown
Active member
13390224:special-J said:
can you do the can can?
NinetyFour
Active member
13390224:special-J said:
I think it's every time, because I'm a seat high guy (I wish we had some gnarlier terrain here that warranted a dropper, or lowering my seat). If I mounted the bike from behind I'd smash my balls trying to slide onto the saddle. Then again I'm riding XC so maybe I don't have any?
Loco-Deer-Slayer
Active member
Anyone have experience with these wheels? http://eastoncycling.com/product/havoc-26/
Read a couple reviews of people trashing them / aren't really intended for DH.
Read a couple reviews of people trashing them / aren't really intended for DH.
*TURBONERD*
Active member
13390546:Loco-Deer-Slayer said:
I have no experience, but the fact that there's a DH version of that wheel makes any claim of this model being useful for DH smell fishy to me.
JuliusJ
Active member
13390438:NinetyFour said:
Haha what? Just tilt the bike to the side and get on like a normal person...
13391638:Twinipz said:
That would be sick! When you make your documentary, you should only use footage of you riding the trail and not use any voiceovers/interviews, and then add music. I would watch that documentary
FuckAllOfYou
Active member
oh new whip as well
yes I am an xc racer fuk off
yes I am an xc racer fuk off
NinetyFour
Active member
13391923:BarakaAllahuFika said:
Weren't you on a fully rigid Niner before? That's going to be quite the drastic change. That's a hot bike though.
division.bell
Active member
13390054:NinetyFour said:
Stan's also does a great job sealing in my experience, but Orange is the superior sealant by far.
I'm going with tape and sealant. Just need to see what my options are locally and ditch the tubes.
13391923:BarakaAllahuFika said:oh new whip as well
yes I am an xc racer fuk off
Nice ride. Which year/model Epic is that?
Scotty_Boy
Member
Bought this Enduro Comp 650b last Monday.
