Official MTB / Mountain Biking Chit Chat

[Sh0rtBus]

Just got a new bike for my anniversary in February. Haven't really had a chance to ride trails but hoping to next weekend. No good pics at the moment but my wife got me a 2014 Specialized Crave Comp 29'er. Much better than the 2005 Rockhopper Comp I had before it that unfortunately got stolen. Will get a couple pics up soon.

Until then....here's a couple Google pics to tide over the masses.....

 

[hpiguy]

First road bike ride was great, and I'm hooked; road biking is awesome! I covered 12.2mi in 52 minutes, and me and one other mtb guy broke away from the pack and lead the group pretty much the whole way. It is WAY different than what I had in my head, and a shit load of fun IMO. Don't get me wrong, you suffer, but with a group it's just so much different. Me and the other mtb guy took turns leading and drafting, and encouraging each other to push, makes a BIG difference, at least for me.

This was my ride for the evening, but probably not the bike I'm buying. Huge thanks to Dave and Pam at Smoky Mountain Bicycles for loaning me the bike and introducing me to something that I didn't even think I could survive, much less like. :mrgreen:

My Strava report for the day

Bike Ride Profile | Evening Ride near Franklin | Times and Records | Strava

 

[C*H*U*D]

First road bike ride was great, and I'm hooked; road biking is awesome!

I bought my first road bike just for training. Never thought I would enjoy it much, but felt it was a necessary evil. I was hooked within the first few miles "thumbsup"

If a local criterium pops up this summer, I highly suggest you give it a try...total rush.

 

[rockhugger]

Glad you liked Road Biking so much... "thumbsup""thumbsup"

Is anyone following the Tour Of California? They were in my town for 2 days (stages), the first stage of the race went right by my house and continued to ride on a bunch of roads that I've been riding for most of my life. Stage 2 time trial went by the lake that we crawl and MTB at called Folsom Lake. Pretty cool to watch. "thumbsup"

Here is a link to some info if anyone is interested:
AMGEN Tour of California :: Stages

 

[hpiguy]

C*H*U*D - once I get in shape, I'm going to look at the Tour De' Franklin this fall. I don't think there are any crits ran around here, but I'll check.

rockhugger - I loved it, it's what we do on the motorcycles every Saturday, with no motor. :mrgreen:

Went by the shop today and nailed down my first road bike purchase ever, should be ready on Friday and I'll throw up some pics. I can hear Dave cussing my moto brake setup now. LOL

 

[Natedog]

Hpiguy, what brand and model did you buy? Congrats and post pics of it on your first ride!

 

[hpiguy]

Thanks Nate! I bought a leftover 2013 Trek 1.5. I had road the 1.2 last night, and don't get me wrong, it was great, I just went up a level for the Tiagra groupset knowing the road bike will see a lot more miles than the MTB. I'm no racer, so the slightly relaxed H2 geometry on the one series felt great to me, it's a bit more stable than a true race bike, and I was comfortable within about five minutes on the bike. To me, that's all that really matters with a bike, if it feels right then that's the one. Had it not felt good, I'd have been driving over to the next town to ride an Allez.

 

[Natedog]

Nice, I did same picked up previous year's Specialized Secteur for great deal, it was the most comfortable fit and ride of all the road bikes I tested. Well except for carbon Roubaix that was like $6000...Secteur is basically aluminum Roubaix, same geometry. Congrats and enjoy!

 

[Brandon]

Hey... what happened to the MTB thread

 

[Sh0rtBus]

Hey... what happened to the MTB thread

Seems it went on down the road! :mrgreen:

 

[hpiguy]

^^:lmao: There are mountains to cross on the road too. I'm going to hit the road biking pretty hard (3 times a week or so) for a couple weeks, then take the mtb out and see what kind of difference it's made fitness wise. They're working on my local trails anyways.

 

[Lentsnh2012]

My local state park has recently gotten about 15 miles of Mountain Trail/Enduro trails built by CAMP-SORBA and after checking out some of the trails, I have the biking bug again. Unfortunately, just like the R/C hobby, you loose touch with how much the hobby/sport has evolved if you have been away from it for a while.

In my younger years, I competed in dirt track BMX and loved it to death. I competed for about 3 years before I lost interest- somehow golf and baseball took over. I rode a highly modified GT bike (back when they were their own company). I rode street for a little with that bike too.

Anyways, I would like to ask for everyone's opinion on what bike brand/style would benefit me the most. I'm totally lost on what to get. I weigh 275 and am 6'7", so I know I'll probably need a full suspension frame, especially with the Enduro trails they have here. I've heard that they can get pretty aggressive.

I've been looking at Specialized, Trek, Niner, and Marin but, I don't know what to look for with equipment.

Thanks for helping me out!

 

[wilbywise]

All 4 of those brands are rather reputable and you should be safe there, Marin being the lower end/budget bike. However there are a few questions you need to ask yourself, What type of Enduro guy do you see yourself as? The hardcore guy who will go balls to the wall down a trail or jump/drop, or brake through and hit the the techy section that might have easier/safer/ maybe faster line? You can get away with a hardtail to save a few bones but if you can manage to spend the extra I would go FS. I would start out looking at the lower-medium travel XC/Cross Country bikes that range 125-140mm, that could be a little cheaper and easier to ride for some people. For instance I like to spend time riding technical terrain that is borderline DH with jumps and drops so I went with a little more travel front and rear (Enduro/Freeride) bikes. I am riding the 2013 Trek Slash 7 with 160mm front and rear and has been a great bike for the past year. Other options you may run into is wheel size, original 26" wheel is eventually branching out to other methods for control and maneuverability. You have 650B and 29er to throw in the mix and I can tell you tons and tons about it, go test one out if you can! I can type days about what you want and what you need but find a dealer that will let you ride one, it is a great help. If you have another other questions feel free to ask, this is just a quick tip from an ole Trek grease monkey. "thumbsup"

 

[Lentsnh2012]

All 4 of those brands are rather reputable and you should be safe there, Marin being the lower end/budget bike. However there are a few questions you need to ask yourself, What type of Enduro guy do you see yourself as? The hardcore guy who will go balls to the wall down a trail or jump/drop, or brake through and hit the the techy section that might have easier/safer/ maybe faster line? You can get away with a hardtail to save a few bones but if you can manage to spend the extra I would go FS. I would start out looking at the lower-medium travel XC/Cross Country bikes that range 125-140mm, that could be a little cheaper and easier to ride for some people. For instance I like to spend time riding technical terrain that is borderline DH with jumps and drops so I went with a little more travel front and rear (Enduro/Freeride) bikes. I am riding the 2013 Trek Slash 7 with 160mm front and rear and has been a great bike for the past year. Other options you may run into is wheel size, original 26" wheel is eventually branching out to other methods for control and maneuverability. You have 650B and 29er to throw in the mix and I can tell you tons and tons about it, go test one out if you can! I can type days about what you want and what you need but find a dealer that will let you ride one, it is a great help. If you have another other questions feel free to ask, this is just a quick tip from an ole Trek grease monkey. "thumbsup"

I was looking at Marin with that in mind. Just in case it isn't up to par (highly doubtful, but you never know) or I just don't ride very much, I wont be into the bike for much, but will still have the quality.

Until I get comfortable with the bike and know the trail sections, I'll probably be riding by the jumps and drops. I'll eventually get up to the steep jumps and drops.

I think that my local bike shop is hosting an event later this year at the state park and they will rent out Trek bikes for the day. I may have to take advantage of that opportunity. Coming from a solid BMX bike, I guess I could stand a hardtail, but I much prefer a full suspension as I am much bigger than I was. Plus, I feel that it can be more of a universal bike. I think that this CAMP-SORBA has taken over more than half of the Alabama state parks and has built trails in them. Chewacla State Park in Auburn just happens to be the bigger one due to it being near a college.

So I don't look like a mental patient when going into the store, what size bike should I start walking towards? I'm sure that the guys at the store will direct me further to the right bike, but I would like to have some knowledge of what I'm looking for/at. 8)

 

[rockhugger]

Hey... what happened to the MTB thread

Tell us what axial has been working and no MTB's will get hurt!!!
We will hold MTB thread ransom until we get "something fast"

 

[lunatick]

One of my local tracks

 

[wilbywise]

I was looking at Marin with that in mind. Just in case it isn't up to par (highly doubtful, but you never know) or I just don't ride very much, I wont be into the bike for much, but will still have the quality.

Until I get comfortable with the bike and know the trail sections, I'll probably be riding by the jumps and drops. I'll eventually get up to the steep jumps and drops.

I think that my local bike shop is hosting an event later this year at the state park and they will rent out Trek bikes for the day. I may have to take advantage of that opportunity. Coming from a solid BMX bike, I guess I could stand a hardtail, but I much prefer a full suspension as I am much bigger than I was. Plus, I feel that it can be more of a universal bike. I think that this CAMP-SORBA has taken over more than half of the Alabama state parks and has built trails in them. Chewacla State Park in Auburn just happens to be the bigger one due to it being near a college.

So I don't look like a mental patient when going into the store, what size bike should I start walking towards? I'm sure that the guys at the store will direct me further to the right bike, but I would like to have some knowledge of what I'm looking for/at. 8)

The Trek Demo days are definitely fun to go and check out, get there early so you will have a chance to ride the bike your looking for! Manufacture sizing will vary through each company but they are mostly in the same ball park, you will be looking at an XL more than likely. You could even go to you local bike shop and tell them to forward the message to the Trek rep to bring an XL for that demo day. They would have absolutely no problem with doing that if you are truly interested. Sounds like you are looking into the higher travel bikes, 160-180mm is a good place to stay around. That way you can still pedal a few miles without beating yourself up. Many brands also downsize a little on their higher travel bikes too, so keep that in mind! Being 6'4 I borderline squeeze into the Large category. So it sounds like a Specialized Enduro is right up your alley or maybe even a Trek Slash, hope you find your new best friend! You can also check Pinkbike.com for local bike sales & parts, it is a great source of MTB info too! "thumbsup"

One of my local tracks

That is one cool setup! Does the wood berm get slick from all the rainy weather there? We use chicken wire/traction tape/or roast it here when it rains in the south!

 

[Natedog]

My local state park has recently gotten about 15 miles of Mountain Trail/Enduro trails built by CAMP-SORBA and after checking out some of the trails, I have the biking bug again. Unfortunately, just like the R/C hobby, you loose touch with how much the hobby/sport has evolved if you have been away from it for a while.

In my younger years, I competed in dirt track BMX and loved it to death. I competed for about 3 years before I lost interest- somehow golf and baseball took over. I rode a highly modified GT bike (back when they were their own company). I rode street for a little with that bike too.

Anyways, I would like to ask for everyone's opinion on what bike brand/style would benefit me the most. I'm totally lost on what to get. I weigh 275 and am 6'7", so I know I'll probably need a full suspension frame, especially with the Enduro trails they have here. I've heard that they can get pretty aggressive.

I've been looking at Specialized, Trek, Niner, and Marin but, I don't know what to look for with equipment.

Thanks for helping me out!

Lucky you on the state park building and maintaining sweet mtb trails!

I'd recomment a hardtail, probably 29er wheel size at your height weight and just starting out. I have ridden some high end full suspension bikes and don't like them, I prefer hardtails and rigid (for the less rocky rooty trails). Hardtails will save you lots of money that will result in much better components on the bike you buy, make you a better rider (learn to pick your line), and you're not sure that you're going to stick with this...although you should. Use the bike, along with diet change and core strengthening exercises to get your weight down where it should be. "thumbsup" Later when you've dropped the weight, gotten in shape (and stronger), and you're sure you like it, you can look at full suspension bikes. You may find that your trails, you, the terrain, etc. you may not want full suspension.

 

[jsowens]

One of my local tracks
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My god that looks fun!

 

[Sh0rtBus]

Lucky you on the state park building and maintaining sweet mtb trails!

I'd recomment a hardtail, probably 29er wheel size at your height weight and just starting out. I have ridden some high end full suspension bikes and don't like them, I prefer hardtails and rigid (for the less rocky rooty trails). Hardtails will save you lots of money that will result in much better components on the bike you buy, make you a better rider (learn to pick your line), and you're not sure that you're going to stick with this...although you should. Use the bike, along with diet change and core strengthening exercises to get your weight down where it should be. "thumbsup" Later when you've dropped the weight, gotten in shape (and stronger), and you're sure you like it, you can look at full suspension bikes. You may find that your trails, you, the terrain, etc. you may not want full suspension.

I agree here. I'm 5'10" and 250 and wouldn't trade my hard tail for anything. My second one even. Full suspension is too bouncy for me and makes riding less enjoyable. Can't go wrong with a Specialized either.