Official MTB / Mountain Biking Chit Chat

[northkona]

Figured you guys would like this blast from the past bike. I wanted to start exploring for more crawling spots as I'm bored with my yard rocks and would like to find some spots closer than an hour away. I was big into cross country mountain biking in high school. My first job was working at a bike shop building and maintaining bikes of all sorts. I'm a schwinn guy but that shop didn't sell schwinns. So I'm 1997 I was 14 and went to the local schwinn dealer and bought just the frame of this Schwinn Homegrown full suspension. I then built it and pretty much worked for free that summer because I got the parts and my boss let me work them off lol. I raced cross country for two seasons until now got my license and th rest is history.

I literally haven't ridden this bike for 17 years. Got a wild hair across my butt to hit the power lines up behind my house and look for some good crawling lines. So, I loaded up the ascender, some water, strapped on my old biking shoes, aired up the old speed max tires, put my helmet on and set off looking. Clipless pedals and all!!

Man, I'm out of shape but had a blast! Didn't find anything great for crawl spots. Ever since the gas pipeline went in, the trails went to crap And are very overgrown. So there are only small outcropings of ledge. Had a little fun and hope to start riding a little more for some exercise too. Here's SMS pictures of Lynn old beast. I'll never sell it because I'll never be able to afford the quality of bike this one is. Even though it's old, out dated, 8 speed cassette, and fairly heavy I love it. Rides very nice and I still like the "sweet spot" suspension design.

Here's a few pictures...

Ben

I nearly bought an Ibis Szazbo back in about '96 ... until I rode it .
Your Schwinn is a pretty cool bit of MTB history but the fact that the suspension only worked when you were sitting down was a bit much for me to handle , I was not a URT fan.
But what do I know , I instead bought a Cannondale Super V1000 with a Headshock ! haha , now that was a turd of a suspension idea !

 

[bryco13]

Best part about a URT design is the ability to run it single speed without issue.

 

[rupps5]

Some days you just have to ditch the bike.

 

[gdb85]

Hey fellas haven't been around much and thought I'd update this thread. Been riding and doing some Demo's the last 5-6 weeks and settled on a new "whip", lol. I ordered a Pivot Mach 5.5 a couple weeks ago, red or black didn't matter, whatever would come the quickest. I got caught between inventory shipments, no red or black frames until the end of the month, quality control, assembly, shipping, blah blah. So patience is not a virtue I possess and customer service says they do have the "10th Anniversary Edition" ready to ship. Checked it out a couple times and pulled the trigger, picking it up today. Really nice bike, check out their website.

Now I used to use Photobucket to post pic's but that ain't happening since they went all nazi & stuff. Anybody that can help a computer stupid guy post pic's some other way I would appreciate it. I'm fully aware of the "Pic's or it's a lie" thing, lol.

 

[hpiguy]

Congrats, few things in life as good as NBD!! (new bike day :mrgreen

I've been off the bike for the most part lately with work and life getting in the way. But I finally got out today for a while. Ran into a friend, rode together for a bit, then split off. Saw some wildlife, enjoyed the views, and the perfect weather we're having right now. Leaves are falling rapidly here, yellow jackets all over foraging knowing cold weather is right around the corner. Still battling whatever sinus / cold crap I've had for what seems like forever, but dammit man was it good to get out. "thumbsup"

Always cool to see what current and wind can do over time

 

[wrightcs77]

My new ride. Hasn't ridden my old bike in two years. Have put on 34 miles on singletrack this week.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[hpiguy]

Well, I got out today for a ride at Jackrabbbit. The weather here is PERFECT, and it was good to be back on the SS too. Mid week rain and mild temps since made for hero dirt, temps were nice, and it was one of those days where you felt like if you just never got off your bike, all would be right with the world. I only stopped to take one picture, rare for me. Time to bump up my gearing too, I'm spinning out on the flats.

 

[hpiguy]

Scored some new 30mm wheels thanks to a friend, and my LBS. Went by yesterday and picked up the extra pawls and springs to convert the rear hub to 108POE, new cartridge for my Drop Line dropper post, a new bottle of Orange Seal, and a restock on my favorite in ride sports drink. Needless to say, I'll be riding tomorrow. :mrgreen:

Before

After

Other stuff

 

[Chiphead]

108POE!! Damn! I do love the nearly instant engagement of my Hadleys. I would like to try the Onyx hubs next.

 

[hpiguy]

Wide rims are where it's at, I really dig the shit outta the new wheels. Completely changed the feel of the bike too, just so much traction available. But, everything has it's limits, and I found 'em, and crashed in spectacular fashion for it. It's going to be alright though, the wheels are fine. :lmao:

 

[hpiguy]

I got out yesterday with a friend before the monsoon set in for two full runs down Kessel Run at Fire Mountain. I don't think I made the six parsec time, but we had fun anyway. Like a lot of the stuff out here, it's ALL up, and all down, and not much in between.

 

[Aleksks]

I'm just starting to get into mb, when I was younger this wouldn't phase me as much, but at 63 I'm kinda leary of some of the technical aspects of going down hill

 

[AlNor]

I bought my first mountain bike last May. Now cycling is my favorite sports activity. There is nothing better for me than riding a bike to relax and keep myself fit. Of course, I had to learn a lot of new stuff about bicycles as I was clueless about repair, details, storing, cleaning, etc. It is great that there is a great number of useful videos and articles. This source https://www.bikertricks.com/ turned out to be a real find for me. I know that this season I will feel more confident during my bike trips.

 

[cul8tr]

It's been 6-8 yrs since I rode consistently. 4-5 days a week back then. With covid and Damazon it has killed any free time that I did have. I might get lucky and get on the bike once every month or 2. I just recently picked up a Kona Remote 160 (ebike). I have to say that this is a blessing. At 57 I can ride and not kill myself. I got this to get back into riding shape and it helps. Once I get my legs and lungs back I'll get my analog bikes out and ride them. It's still hard for me to get done with work in time to get home and go ride. I go when I can. I really miss riding my mtn bikes.

 

[Shinook]

I'm just starting to get into mb, when I was younger this wouldn't phase me as much, but at 63 I'm kinda leary of some of the technical aspects of going down hill

Slow down.

Most serious injuries and crashes happen when people are going faster than they should for their skill level. Despite what you'll hear trail side, most features don't require a ton of speed to clear or ride. You can clear a lot of technical features with proper body position, brake control, and bike setup. If you watch people ride really technical terrain blind where there are a lot of steep technical features, they aren't sending it warp speed, they are in control and riding slower than they would on other trails and modulating their speed. I've ridden in some of the steepest places in the United States and watched talented riders unfamiliar with their terrain slow down on near 45% slopes to prepare and line up for features, then roll them smooth and in control. The ones sending it at warp speed either know the feature already or are out of control and overconfident.

There are exceptions, of course, for things like large gaps and such. In those cases, if you aren't comfortable with a feature, walk it. Most people will walk features in their life at various points and I've watched elite mountain bikers get off and walk features because they weren't feeling confident that day or weren't up for it.

 

[hpiguy]

Slow down.

Most serious injuries and crashes happen when people are going faster than they should for their skill level. Despite what you'll hear trail side, most features don't require a ton of speed to clear or ride. You can clear a lot of technical features with proper body position, brake control, and bike setup. If you watch people ride really technical terrain blind where there are a lot of steep technical features, they aren't sending it warp speed, they are in control and riding slower than they would on other trails and modulating their speed. I've ridden in some of the steepest places in the United States and watched talented riders unfamiliar with their terrain slow down on near 45% slopes to prepare and line up for features, then roll them smooth and in control. The ones sending it at warp speed either know the feature already or are out of control and overconfident.

There are exceptions, of course, for things like large gaps and such. In those cases, if you aren't comfortable with a feature, walk it. Most people will walk features in their life at various points and I've watched elite mountain bikers get off and walk features because they weren't feeling confident that day or weren't up for it.

^^THIS! Know your limits, and don't be ashamed to admit it. The rider that walks today, lives to ride that feature another day.

I've walked plenty of stuff in places like DuPont and Pisgah, that most riders would ride down. I just don't get to ride that stuff often, so if I'm not feeling it, I walk.

 

[Shinook]

^^THIS! Know your limits, and don't be ashamed to admit it. The rider that walks today, lives to ride that feature another day.

I've walked plenty of stuff in places like DuPont and Pisgah, that most riders would ride down. I just don't get to ride that stuff often, so if I'm not feeling it, I walk.

That's my neck of the woods! I live in Pisgah Forest about 10min from The Hub Last two years haven't seen me ride as much but I've been getting back in the swing of it as the days get longer!

I sure will miss Butter Gap though...I wish I had more time to ride it before they re-route it this summer, sadly I had surgery and took 2 months to recover

 

[hpiguy]

That's my neck of the woods! I live in Pisgah Forest about 10min from The Hub Last two years haven't seen me ride as much but I've been getting back in the swing of it as the days get longer!

I sure will miss Butter Gap though...I wish I had more time to ride it before they re-route it this summer, sadly I had surgery and took 2 months to recover

Not gonna lie, I'm kinda jealous. Some of my rides out there border on a religious experience. It is God's country after all.

I'm way out of riding shape, but trying to get back to it. If I ever get back to Pisgah shape (that's a whole nother level of fitness LOL) I'll hit you up and maybe we can get in a ride sometime. Never got to ride Butter Gap. Did do upper Black before it was re-routed though. Sheesh, was a brutal hike a bike up though.

Hope you heal up soon man. I had a shoulder bolted back together in '09 that's been giving me fits lately. And I know the GF is gonna make me go to the ortho. :lmao:

 

[cul8tr]

New 510 Freeride Pro shoes. I thought I'd give them a try. Well they are no where near as good as the original 510 shoe from way back in the day. Originals were like super sticky glue on the pedals. New rubber compound not even close. 3 rides and they just don't seem to stick to the pedals. I may just wear them a while off the bike. Maybe they need to break in. My 20yr old 661's have better grip than the new 510. I wanted to support my lbs but I wish I would've got the Ride Concept Tallac. The shoe I wanted. At this point I feel like I wasted $150. I'll wear them out and about then try them on the bike again. I have some tire prep from kart racing days. I may try it on the soles.

I've been looking at some new knee pads. Locally I don't ride with them but I should. My body doesn't bounce back like it use to. If I go elsewhere to ride I'll be taking pads just in case.

 

[OutLore]

Likely no riding for me this year - a partially torn rotator cuff and iliotibial band syndrome put a stop to that real quick. :sad: