Mountain bike riders?

[zipper]

Moved my oldschool Trek mountain bike inside from the garage. It has been a while since using it. 2 feet of snow outside and Willow wanted to ride. She bought this trainer and uses the Zwift app to ride.

 

[I_squared_r]

I've been riding for 3 years now and the last year I found myself getting more into it. I have a 2018 cannondale jekyll 3, a 2020 santa cruz tallboy, and have been riding a 2015 gt force expert in brazil.

 

[tabbibus]

@tabbibus Man n+1 is strong to resist! That storage area (and the bikes) look amazing!

I road my trusty CAAD9 on the road for the first time over the weekend. Forgot how much I enjoyed that. Only did a few miles, but still got over 500ft of elevation gain, and quickly realized how REALLY REALLY out of shape I am.

I want to get a Mt. Bike pretty badly. Used to ride with a buddy on his spare all the time, and really enjoyed that. Would love to get the soon to be 10yr old a decent off road setup as well, so we can ride together. Different friend bought a Mt Bike a couple years ago and wants to get into riding more as well. Just gotta find that money tree to make it happen

Road biking scares me! Cars hit harder than trees and rocks. ha

Biking (road or trial) is definitely a money pit, just like boating

 

[tabbibus]

We have some really nice trails here in the Kansas City metro, nothing downhill. I was given a Trek Marlin 6 (hard tail) a few years ago so I've been slowly upgrading it (free frame, so cheaper then buying new) RockShox Silver Recon and new gear sets. Works for the trails around here. A bunch of us over Spring Break are headed down to Arkansas to ride down there. Which has some amazing trails, they also built a nice single track place outside of Springfield MO that's supposed to be pretty amazing.

Bentonville? That place is amazing, I hear.

 

[I_squared_r]

Questions for the group...

1) When should a full suspension bike be considered? I haven't felt limited by my hardtail for the trails I ride and some are pretty good downhill/bumpy trails. I'm sure it would help in some spots on the trail, so wondering where that tipping point is to go full suspension?

2) What pedals are you riding with? Clipless, clipped, toe clip? What do you like/not like with your setup?

Full suspension should be considered when you want to go to the next level and ride more difficult trails. Or you just want to try something new.
Pedals, for sure get some quality platform pedals with good bike shoes. I use shimano saint pedals and Fiveten freerider contacts. This was a game changer for me.

 

[JBehrens]

Questions for the group...

1) When should a full suspension bike be considered? I haven't felt limited by my hardtail for the trails I ride and some are pretty good downhill/bumpy trails. I'm sure it would help in some spots on the trail, so wondering where that tipping point is to go full suspension?

2) What pedals are you riding with? Clipless, clipped, toe clip? What do you like/not like with your setup?

1. I would say that when you start to feel limited or that you have reached the max of what you are able to do on the hardtail go for a full suspension bike. Making the jump is huge and can improve your riding but the big mistake that I made was in the quality of bike. Once you jump into full suspension things get expensive fast, I had a relatively high end hard tail and went to a budget full suspension but it felt more like a downgrade, sold that bike and bought a used Bronson a few years ago and never looked back.

2. Flats are the best, I ride the Crankbrothers Stamp 3L's, they have a ton of grip and I can put the foot down for making tight turns.

 

[tabbibus]

Agree with with above. Full squish if you wanna get really rowdy. But I know some mad lads that ride gnarly trails on hard tails. So there is no hard and fast rule.

I ride flat pedals exclusively. I tried out crankbrother clipped in pedals for some time but I never liked it. Flat pedals gives me more freedom and are in my opinion, more fun. I use the stamp 7 large pedals and love them. Toe clip, don't. Unless you have good life insurance. lol.

 

[jocolo21]

YT Capra 2020 took it to Veil last summer had a blast but most of my riding is Santos in Ocala Fl and Alaska

 

[2kwik4u]

Road biking scares me! Cars hit harder than trees and rocks. ha

I stay away from city centers, and high traffic areas for the most part. Country roads are generally pretty tame in terms of traffic and crappy drivers.

I've cycled through downtown areas of Louisville, KY, Philadelphia, PA, San Francisco, CA, Cincinnati, OH, and a few others. About the only way to stay alive is to assume everyone is intent on killing you, and they're all blindfolded. Head on a swivel and constant vigilance. There is a certain "rush" to it, but it's not something I go out seeking.

 

[Cambo]

Upgraded the downhill rig 2018 Intense M16 expert super smooth in the bike park

 

[I_squared_r]

Upgraded the downhill rig 2018 Intense M16 expert super smooth in the bike park

View attachment 143466

Nice! The intense bikes look real nice. Maybe 1 day i'll go to the N+1+1 and buy a DH bike. Maybe sooner than later because i've gone bike crazy the past year lol

 

[AZMark]

Questions for the group...

1) When should a full suspension bike be considered? I haven't felt limited by my hardtail for the trails I ride and some are pretty good downhill/bumpy trails. I'm sure it would help in some spots on the trail, so wondering where that tipping point is to go full suspension?

2) What pedals are you riding with? Clipless, clipped, toe clip? What do you like/not like with your setup?

1) If you’re good with what you have for the terrain you ride then don’t worry about it. Do a demo day or rental on a full suspension and see what you think about the feel.
It’s so rocky here I can’t imagine riding a hard tail.

2) Clipless (meaning clipped - spd or others) will make you a better rider.

 

[AZMark]

My current (albeit vintage) rides:

2011 custom S works Stumpjumper


2006 Iron horse 7 point 7 freeride bike

 

[AZMark]

I’d challenge all of you that are riding flats on anything but lift-served terrain to try clipless for a while. I used to be the same way for several years with nice flat pedals and downhill or skate type shoes.

Once I got used to the clipless I feel way more in control of the bike, I never bang my shins, and in 10+ years I’ve never had them come unclipped when I didn’t want them to or gotten stuck in them when I needed out fast, it’s just automatic.

Edit: now I have floundered around like a stupid ass trying to get a foot or two clipped back in on sketchy terrain but that’s no biggie. I use shimano XT that have a little mini platform around the clip that buys you a few cranks to get your shit together in that situation.

 

[2kwik4u]

@AZMark I 100% agree. I spent so much time on the road with my feet clipped in that I had a hard time adjusting to platforms off road. So much so that I would regularly "pull" my foot up to fast and literally step off the pedal.

I will say I fall at least once a year with clipless pedals. Usually I simply forget I'm clipped in and go to stop and then fall over. It's a slow motion lean to a fall to a land. Rarely hurts anything more than my pride.

 

[tabbibus]

Little shreddit from today

 

[I_squared_r]

Mistakes were made on this ride because I wasn't feeling 100%.

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[tabbibus]

Love the view. Some days it be like that. Hard to find the flow. Still looked like tons of fun

 

[AZMark]

Mistakes were made on this ride because I wasn't feeling 100%.

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That’s Brazil? That’s a really cool looking trail.

 

[I_squared_r]

That’s Brazil? That’s a really cool looking trail.

Yeah it is. Tomorrow we're going to sanandu bike park Mountain bike | Sanandu | Brasil for the weekend. Then maybe at the end of the month going to montanha azul and/or belo horizonte. Also theres another downhill trail 30 minutes south in another small city.