OT - Mountain Biking

Lowcountrygamecock

I need some new bike advice. I ride 70% highway, 10% dirt roads, 10% trails and 10% hilly bike parks. Usually ride once a week, 15-20 miles, mostly flat land with small hills. I’m riding an old, cheap trek 820 right now with 26” tires.  The same guys I run 5K’s with twice a week and usually outrun will smoke me on a bicycle. They’re all riding 29” mountain bikes. I’m looking to upgrade in the $1200-$1400 price range. Most of these guys are riding giant or trek mountain bikes. I get lost looking at mountain vs gravel vs hybrid etc.  any suggestions? 

xfire_ATX

First off... Wrong time to buy a bike the market has never been this hot.  Just left my bike shop to get the Rear D looked after with my crash this weekend (see above) and where he once had ~100 new bikes on display- he now has 3 new bikes and ~70 bikes in for repair.

Second.. I would look at Craigslist and FB Marketplace for a good used bike.  That price range can get you a 2-3 yo pretty good bike.  Here in ATX we actually have a FB bike selling group which is pretty good.

Now what kind of bike-
70% Highway- This equal a road bike, Gravel Bike or a Hybrid Style
10% Dirt Roads- Gravel Bike, Hybrid
10% trails- Smooth trails?  Hybrid would be a good bike, Actual trails MTB.
10% Hilly Bike Park- again depends on obstacles a Hybrid or MTB.

80% of your rides are on road - look at a decent Gravel Bike
20% of your rides are on dirt- Maybe a Good Hardtail with a second set of wheels.  One set is more hybrid style for the road and gravel and one set knobbier and wider for the trails.  Look for 27.5" or 29" wheels.
What I would not do based on your comments is invest in a full suspension, your just pushing weight and parts to fail for not much need.

Ozzie_Isaac

Cornholio said:

I’ve gotten in ~40mi and ~5k of climbing in since Friday. Perfect way to blow off steam after a difficult week with my mother in law passing away last Wednesday.

Sorry for your loss, my condolences to you and your family.

On a better note, gorgeous pictures.  Looks like a fantastic place to ride?

Ozzie_Isaac

Here is a picture of my son racing the Gravity Downhill series at Bootleg Canyon in NV.  This is the easy end of the course.  He won the overall for the season in his age/class.

Cornholio

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Cornholio said:

I’ve gotten in ~40mi and ~5k of climbing in since Friday. Perfect way to blow off steam after a difficult week with my mother in law passing away last Wednesday.

Sorry for your loss, my condolences to you and your family.

On a better note, gorgeous pictures.  Looks like a fantastic place to ride?

Thank you, it was quite abrupt and my poor wife is devastated.

I am super lucky to have good trails within riding distance from home. The pictures are from Santiago Oaks here in Orange County. I actually grew up riding the same area but the trails have improved immensely since the early days. Mountain bikers have led the charge for trailwork and maintenance there for the past 10+ years so a lot of fun and challenging trails.

Your son looks like a beast on the bike, awesome! Such a good sport to be involved in. I don’t race much anymore but do enjoy the extra competition when I do. I’ve never ridden in the Vegas area but have a riding friend who transplanted there and he loves Bootleg. On my list of places to ride for sure. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Cornholio said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Cornholio said:

I’ve gotten in ~40mi and ~5k of climbing in since Friday. Perfect way to blow off steam after a difficult week with my mother in law passing away last Wednesday.

Sorry for your loss, my condolences to you and your family.

On a better note, gorgeous pictures.  Looks like a fantastic place to ride?

Thank you, it was quite abrupt and my poor wife is devastated.

I am super lucky to have good trails within riding distance from home. The pictures are from Santiago Oaks here in Orange County. I actually grew up riding the same area but the trails have improved immensely since the early days. Mountain bikers have led the charge for trailwork and maintenance there for the past 10+ years so a lot of fun and challenging trails.

Your son looks like a beast on the bike, awesome! Such a good sport to be involved in. I don’t race much anymore but do enjoy the extra competition when I do. I’ve never ridden in the Vegas area but have a riding friend who transplanted there and he loves Bootleg. On my list of places to ride for sure. 

Bootleg DH course is pretty intense, especially the top.  I ran the race course a few times and my arms and legs were smoked by the end.  Hardest 3 miles I have ever done on a bike.  His roadie friends give him a hard time, but let me tell you, having raced cross-country, downhill, especially at Bootleg is more intense.  It is like a 7 minute full out sprint.  You loose focus for a second and you will crash.

They have a lot of mellower Enduro type trails that are super fun too.

As far as trail building, mountain bikers have done amazing things.  From building trails, maintaining trails, and keeping areas clean.  That is the only way we will keep our trails.  People are constantly trying to shut down trails around here.  It amazes me, I would much rather have kids on trails than in malls, or Circle K parking lots.

U_tarded

Been getting some good mileage in thanks to no work travel from covid restrictions.  However, I’ve never seen the shops and trails so busy.  It’s unreal out there, if I was in the market for a bike there is going to be some good deals on lightly used stuff in the next 6 months or so.  Our local search and rescue has been extremely busy stay safe out there folks! 

Cornholio

I’ve ridden the past three days in a row, my legs hurt! 18 miles and 2300ft climbing did me in today.

Ozzie_Isaac

Just had a friend build me up a new downhill bike.  Heading to Angelfire next weekend!  Pretty excited.

Spaightlabs

That my friend is both a work of art and serious terrain eating machine.  Looking forward to seeing some pics from your trip.

When in doubt, air it out.

Ozzie_Isaac

Spaightlabs said:

That my friend is both a work of art and serious terrain eating machine.  Looking forward to seeing some pics from your trip.

When in doubt, air it out.

Thanks!  I am super happy with the overall build. The color combo came out really nice, and was actually total luck.  My friend had the frame and we pieced it together with parts from other builds.

Cornholio

I don’t like bottles or tools on my frame so I am a pack guy. I also drink a lot of water so I need to carry at least 50oz for my shorter rides and a bit more for longer rides. My current Camelbak can hold 100oz so it’ll still be used for all day epics but I was looking for something a little lighter.

I tried an Osprey hip (fanny) pack and hated it. It didn’t hold enough water, was awkward to drink from while riding, and the worst part was how uncomfortable it felt on me. It bounced around and felt like it was pulling on my waist below my beer belly. 

Took the fanny pack back and will be giving this Thule pack a try. It hold 2.5 liters of water (~84oz), feels comfortable due to minimal weight and a lower center of gravity, and the hose stays in place with a cool magnetic strip. 

xfire_ATX

I just got the Osprey Hip Pack, most of my rides that will hold more than enough water and I wanted the pack off my shoulders.  I have a 100 oz Camelback I've had for 4 years or so that I will still use on days I know I need more water.

Pros and Cons to both setups for fit and feel.  I've only done ~4 rides or so but I am liking it off my back 

Cornholio

xfire_ATX said:

I just got the Osprey Hip Pack, most of my rides that will hold more than enough water and I wanted the pack off my shoulders.  I have a 100 oz Camelback I've had for 4 years or so that I will still use on days I know I need more water.

Pros and Cons to both setups for fit and feel.  I've only done ~4 rides or so but I am liking it off my back 

I just didn’t like the hip pack I tried (Osprey) at all. It felt like too much pulling on the one strap and drinking from it was awkward while riding. Some people hate shoulder strap packs but I don’t mind them at all and don’t like bottles on my frame. I thought the hip pack would be an improvement and it just felt awful to me on the climbs and bounced on the rowdy downhills. Totally an individual preference thing. 

U_tarded

Cornholio said:

I don’t like bottles or tools on my frame so I am a pack guy. I also drink a lot of water so I need to carry at least 50oz for my shorter rides and a bit more for longer rides. My current Camelbak can hold 100oz so it’ll still be used for all day epics but I was looking for something a little lighter.

I tried an Osprey hip (fanny) pack and hated it. It didn’t hold enough water, was awkward to drink from while riding, and the worst part was how uncomfortable it felt on me. It bounced around and felt like it was pulling on my waist below my beer belly. 

Took the fanny pack back and will be giving this Thule pack a try. It hold 2.5 liters of water (~84oz), feels comfortable due to minimal weight and a lower center of gravity, and the hose stays in place with a cool magnetic strip. 

I’m in the same boat I drink a lot of water.  I use a Dakine Drifter 10L it has enough space for an all day ride or my usual 15 mile trips.  100oz bladder that sits low keeps the weight in the right spot.  The hip strap is kinda of weak but it has nice venting to keep some airflow across your back so you don’t completely roast.  Also, the bladder warranty is amazing mine developed a pinhole leak and they warrantied it no questions asked and it’s like 3 years old.  

BigGreenKev

Cornholio

Put new rubber on the rear, Maxxis Dissector 29x2.4wt. Felt good, especially since my DHRII it replaced was pretty worn. 

Also got the ShockWiz put back on to dial in my suspension after losing a few pounds. 

Ready to hit the bike park in a couple days!

Ozzie_Isaac

Ok, so my son rode the Devinci and loved it.  He was way faster on it than his other bike.  So, I sold some other toys and bought an Intense M16.  Loving the slack angles, can't wait for next trip to a downhill park.

Cornholio

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Ok, so my son rode the Devinci and loved it.  He was way faster on it than his other bike.  So, I sold some other toys and bought an Intense M16.  Loving the slack angles, can't wait for next trip to a downhill park.

Daaaaaaaang! Nice DH rig. Congrats

I just gave the owner of my LBS the green light to order me a RIPMO v2, they are on back order for at least 6+ weeks. That’ll give me enough time to finish saving up and make the wife happy so she doesn’t care about what I spend on my build, 

Cornholio

Snow Summit was rad on Thursday, still a bit sore. No spills but I need better park gear/protection to gain some more confidence on bigger jumps. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Cornholio said:

Snow Summit was rad on Thursday, still a bit sore. No spills but I need better park gear/protection to gain some more confidence on bigger jumps. 

Nice!  Protection is very nice, especially when you have to go to work the next day

Ibis makes some really nice bikes, I've never been on a Ripmo, but heard good things.  I lucked out on the M16, my LBS owner used to race DH and has a good relationship with Intense.  He got me their last built up M16 in my size.  They are just starting to build up more 2020 bikes, but nothing available yet.

I saw you have a Shockwiz.  How do you like it?  I have heard they work, but can be difficult to get setup initially.

xfire_ATX

This is my alert on the GPS today.. hot as ______

Cornholio

@Ozzie_Isaac The ShockWiz is pretty cool, especially if you are not a suspension expert like me. I found it super easy to setup on both my fork and shock. I put it on my fork when I first got it and left it on there for at least a dozen rides getting it dialed. Each time you make an adjustment to your suspension you start a new “session.” It’ll tell you to add/remove spacers, increase/decrease rebound, etc. based on the results. 

I am doing another round of it on both my shock and fork since I’ve lost some weight and ride a little harder than I did in 2018 when I first started using it. My shock is nearly dialed then I’ll put it on my fork and save the settings so I know what pressure and clicks to keep everything at. 

Would I buy it again? Yes, I like accumulating toys for my hobbies and mountain biking is at the top of my hobby list these days along with egging. Sure you can rent them from shops but you really need several miles at each setting to get good readings and it’d be tough to get it set right in just a few days or even a week (unless you are already close to a 100 score right away, I just wanted to try a lot of different local trails I ride often to really get things setup good). If you have a friend with one even better, I’ll be loaning mine to my riding buddy soon but he also gave me a brand new Fox digital shock pump so it’s worth it to me. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Cornholio said:

@Ozzie_Isaac The ShockWiz is pretty cool, especially if you are not a suspension expert like me. I found it super easy to setup on both my fork and shock. I put it on my fork when I first got it and left it on there for at least a dozen rides getting it dialed. Each time you make an adjustment to your suspension you start a new “session.” It’ll tell you to add/remove spacers, increase/decrease rebound, etc. based on the results. 

I am doing another round of it on both my shock and fork since I’ve lost some weight and ride a little harder than I did in 2018 when I first started using it. My shock is nearly dialed then I’ll put it on my fork and save the settings so I know what pressure and clicks to keep everything at. 

Would I buy it again? Yes, I like accumulating toys for my hobbies and mountain biking is at the top of my hobby list these days along with egging. Sure you can rent them from shops but you really need several miles at each setting to get good readings and it’d be tough to get it set right in just a few days or even a week (unless you are already close to a 100 score right away, I just wanted to try a lot of different local trails I ride often to really get things setup good). If you have a friend with one even better, I’ll be loaning mine to my riding buddy soon but he also gave me a brand new Fox digital shock pump so it’s worth it to me. 

Thank you for the response.  My buddy owns an LBS and he tried renting one out, but he found similar to you.  Folks needed them for to long to make that business model work.

Cornholio

Had to take a week off to let a wound heal but got back at it today for a nice warm ride. Got my rear shock dialed so time to move the ShockWiz to the fork.

11.6mi 1600’ up today..

KiterTodd

Cornholio said:

Had to take a week off to let a wound heal but got back at it today for a nice warm ride. Got my rear shock dialed so time to move the ShockWiz to the fork.

11.6mi 1600’ up today..

How has that ELEMNT been working for you?  Mine was great for the first year but for the past year+ has been an unreliable piece of crap.  They messed up the firmware and still seem to not get it right... seems they are pushing me a new update every couple weeks and it's not any more reliable.

In my case, on the bike it seems to record accurate mileage and GPS track, but when I sync it to Strava it totally sh*ts the bed. Half the tracks are completely wrong with points on other continents. Many files are noted as corrupt and the entire Strava sync fails.  I use an iPhone.  You have any better luck?

It just blows.  There are so many rides when, you know... you are motivated by the track/speed you are leaving behind.  Looking forward to seeing how you did after your ride, etc.  Then you finish up and get squat. It's 100% unreliable for me now.  Don't trust it. Their customer service is unresponsive and I'm not sure what else to get.

Thing is... that first year, it just worked. No issues. It'd "ping" 15 seconds after a ride when it uploaded a perfect track to Strava. 

Cornholio

KiterTodd said:

Cornholio said:

Had to take a week off to let a wound heal but got back at it today for a nice warm ride. Got my rear shock dialed so time to move the ShockWiz to the fork.

11.6mi 1600’ up today..

How has that ELEMNT been working for you?  Mine was great for the first year but for the past year+ has been an unreliable piece of crap.  They messed up the firmware and still seem to not get it right... seems they are pushing me a new update every couple weeks and it's not any more reliable.

In my case, on the bike it seems to record accurate mileage and GPS track, but when I sync it to Strava it totally sh*ts the bed. Half the tracks are completely wrong with points on other continents. Many files are noted as corrupt and the entire Strava sync fails.  I use an iPhone.  You have any better luck?

It just blows.  There are so many rides when, you know... you are motivated by the track/speed you are leaving behind.  Looking forward to seeing how you did after your ride, etc.  Then you finish up and get squat. It's 100% unreliable for me now.  Don't trust it. Their customer service is unresponsive and I'm not sure what else to get.

Thing is... that first year, it just worked. No issues. It'd "ping" 15 seconds after a ride when it uploaded a perfect track to Strava. 

While I’ve never had it upload my rides incorrectly I have had the Strava upload issues. It seems lately it gets hung up so I have to “retry” it to get it to upload to Strava. Once I do that it uploads within seconds.

I’ve also had an issue where texts stopped being displayed on my Elemnt. Not a huge deal but it is nice to see a text preview to know if it’s something worth stopping and pulling my phone out to respond to. 

I’ve had the opposite experience with customer support. I sent an email about the text issue and they have been very responsive. There is one guy assigned to my “case” and he offered to send me a new unit just because the text issue.

I do agree it seems that their updates have gone down some rabbit hole where they unlock new bugs but luckily my device has still been tracking rides and I am not losing any data. 

Legume

Almost embarrassed to post given all of the experienced riders and high end hardware posted here.  ~28 years ago I had a low-end Trek and some big ideas, but never really got into it.  I was living at the base of Mt Tamalpais and had all the opportunity but it mostly ended up being a city bike.

I’m finally back around to wanting to give it a go and at least start riding some local fire and forestry roads.  Finding a full suspension at a reasonable starter price has been tough, there just aren’t that many used larges out there with 29” wheels, not many with 27.5 either.  I’ve been stalking Craigslist for a while and finally pulled the trigger on a meticulously maintained and upgraded 2011 Giant Anthem X3.  I’m hoping to get out on it this weekend. So much to learn about brakes, shocks, etc., it’s a little overwhelming for now.

Cornholio

Legume said:

Almost embarrassed to post given all of the experienced riders and high end hardware posted here.  ~28 years ago I had a low-end Trek and some big ideas, but never really got into it.  I was living at the base of Mt Tamalpais and had all the opportunity but it mostly ended up being a city bike.

I’m finally back around to wanting to give it a go and at least start riding some local fire and forestry roads.  Finding a full suspension at a reasonable starter price has been tough, there just aren’t that many used larges out there with 29” wheels, not many with 27.5 either.  I’ve been stalking Craigslist for a while and finally pulled the trigger on a meticulously maintained and upgraded 2011 Giant Anthem X3.  I’m hoping to get out on it this weekend. So much to learn about brakes, shocks, etc., it’s a little overwhelming for now.

Nice Craigslist find! The used market is tough right now because so many people are getting into/back into riding. Looks like it has a dropper post too which is definitely nice to have on the downhills. 

Brake bleeds are pretty simple depending on the manufacturer, some require special fluid too. For the fork/shock setup you just start with setting the air pressure so you have 20-30% sag, plenty of YouTube videos to walk you through both and always good to read up on your particular model. 

I’m sure you knew this but Mt Tamalpais was the birthplace of modern mountain biking, cool stuff out there to read/watch regarding the Repack riders who started it all. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Legume said:

Almost embarrassed to post given all of the experienced riders and high end hardware posted here.  ~28 years ago I had a low-end Trek and some big ideas, but never really got into it.  I was living at the base of Mt Tamalpais and had all the opportunity but it mostly ended up being a city bike.

I’m finally back around to wanting to give it a go and at least start riding some local fire and forestry roads.  Finding a full suspension at a reasonable starter price has been tough, there just aren’t that many used larges out there with 29” wheels, not many with 27.5 either.  I’ve been stalking Craigslist for a while and finally pulled the trigger on a meticulously maintained and upgraded 2011 Giant Anthem X3.  I’m hoping to get out on it this weekend. So much to learn about brakes, shocks, etc., it’s a little overwhelming for now.

Nice score!  The Anthem is a great bike for XC.  Never to late to start again