More mountain biking

Mike_H

autos are better - WRWD508
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Grand Rapids, MI, United States
Summer is almost over, and I haven't been doing much Jeep work. Driving it a lot, enjoying the hell out of it.

I have been riding my bikes a lot. I made the mistake of testing a single speed a buddy of mine picked up. Took exactly 5 minutes to get hooked. I found an old Van Dessel Buzz Bomb for sale after a couple weeks. Already set up single speed and rigid. Gave the guy 130 bucks for it.

20190627_214329.jpg


It was full of old tech... Narrow, flat bars, long stem, 1 1/8 straight steerer. It did have hydraulic brakes, 29er tires, and sliding dropouts. I have a hard time leaving stuff alone, so like anything else, I had to Mod it. I rode it a couple times to make sure it was good enough for me.

Then I stripped it all the way down. The orange is the factory color, revealed by removing the nasty spray paint the previous owner used. I cut some vinyl at work for the new decals. I built a new wheel set for it, so I could run a 2.3" tire in the rear (Maxxis Ardent Race) and 2.6" up front (Maxxis Rekon). It got a new bottom bracket, stem and bars. Put a Carver carbon fork up front (rigid). I had to design some dropouts for it to accommodate the 12 x 142 rear spacing standard. I'm running 2:1, 34T chainring and a 17 T cog. It's a blast! Flies up hill and with the big tires, goes pretty good down hill too.

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This whole bike building thing is getting addicting. This weekend, I sold my old GT and put the money toward a Niner ROS 9 frame I found on Ebay. It will be a full build. Debating on 27.5+ or 29er wheels. But I'll use a 140mm fork, 1 x 11 drivetrain, dropper post, and a smattering of carbon. Hoping to have a slacked out, long, Hardtail, All Mountain bike that is around 26 lbs.

A built ROS 9...

P4220548-810x608.jpg


Gonna be a slow build though. I'm not going cheap on this one.
 
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Have any of you guys tried electric mountain bikes yet? Having ridden a lot of electric on-road bikes (and enjoyed them very much), I'm thinking that electric assist might be really fun when tackling some incredibly tough terrain off-road.

Just curious :)
 
Have any of you guys tried electric mountain bikes yet? Having ridden a lot of electric on-road bikes (and enjoyed them very much), I'm thinking that electric assist might be really fun when tackling some incredibly tough terrain off-road.

Just curious :)

The professionals racing enduro at Erzberg use E bikes to prerun
 
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Have any of you guys tried electric mountain bikes yet? Having ridden a lot of electric on-road bikes (and enjoyed them very much), I'm thinking that electric assist might be really fun when tackling some incredibly tough terrain off-road.

Just curious :)
That’s like the angry eyes grill of the hardcore mountain biker world 🤣🤣

I think there is a place for them for injured or older riders who just want to ride mountain bikes when they otherwise couldn’t. There is also concern about trail access with E-bikes.

Sarkis
 
Most of the single track loops around here have prohibited e-bikes. The price of entry is a deterrent for me.

I went mounting biking at Park City, UT a few weeks ago. It was my first time biking west of the Mississippi. . . . what a blast. I followed one of the trails (forgot name) in to PC, so had to cut back through the neighborhood to get to the lift. The brief urban assault run made me realize that had I grown up in a mountain town, that my body would be quite battered from sports injury. The instant downhill speed was addicting. . .

20190727_170746[1].jpg
 
Have any of you guys tried electric mountain bikes yet? Having ridden a lot of electric on-road bikes (and enjoyed them very much), I'm thinking that electric assist might be really fun when tackling some incredibly tough terrain off-road.

Just curious :)
No. I think e-bikes are good for commuting, but I don't want a 500 Watt E-bike tearing up the same trail I'm trying to pedal up. Now, you want to get an E-bike and go run it around the dirt bike trails? Have at it. I think that would be a blast.
 
Summer is almost over, and I haven't been doing much Jeep work. Driving it a lot, enjoying the hell out of it.

I have been riding my bikes a lot. I made the mistake of testing a single speed a buddy of mine picked up. Took exactly 5 minutes to get hooked. I found an old Van Dessel Buzz Bomb for sale after a couple weeks. Already set up single speed and rigid. Gave the guy 130 bucks for it.

View attachment 110490

It was full of old tech... Narrow, flat bars, long stem, 1 1/8 straight steerer. It did have hydraulic brakes, 29er tires, and sliding dropouts. I have a hard time leaving stuff alone, so like anything else, I had to Mod it. I rode it a couple times to make sure it was good enough for me.

Then I stripped it all the way down. The orange is the factory color, revealed by removing the nasty spray paint the previous owner used. I cut some vinyl at work for the new decals. I built a new wheel set for it, so I could run a 2.3" tire in the rear (Maxxis Ardent Race) and 2.6" up front (Maxxis Rekon). It got a new bottom bracket, stem and bars. Put a Carver carbon fork up front (rigid). I had to design some dropouts for it to accommodate the 12 x 142 rear spacing standard. I'm running 2:1, 34T chainring and a 17 T cog. It's a blast! Flies up hill and with the big tires, goes pretty good down hill too.

View attachment 110491

View attachment 110492

View attachment 110493

This whole bike building thing is getting addicting. This weekend, I sold my old GT and put the money toward a Niner ROS 9 frame I found on Ebay. It will be a full build. Debating on 27.5+ or 29er wheels. But I'll use a 140mm fork, 1 x 11 drivetrain, dropper post, and a smattering of carbon. Hoping to have a slacked out, long, Hardtail, All Mountain bike that is around 26 lbs.

A built ROS 9...

View attachment 110494

Gonna be a slow build though. I'm not going cheap on this one.
Nice rebuild! Excellent job on the paint restoration!
 
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Fixie! How does that work downhill? I haven't ridden a fixie.
So a fixed gear has no coasting option and a real fixie has No brakes. The pedals are constantly moving all the time. In a downhill your speed is only going to increase. To get this puppy to stop you pull up on the strap on one Side of the pedal and the other side you push down. This is called “skidding”. In the beginning it’s hard to get use to fixed gear because of the no coast option.
 
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Nice resto @Mike_H . My son and I restored a 98 Gary Fisher Big Sur. Turned out well but not as nice as yours.

I’m in the market for a XC/Trail bike with 130/120 travel. Terrain is different here in WA. Will try a little downhill. Plus I bent the front wheel of my Kona in Durango a few weeks ago.
 
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That’s like the angry eyes grill of the hardcore mountain biker world 🤣🤣

I think there is a place for them for injured or older riders who just want to ride mountain bikes when they otherwise couldn’t. There is also concern about trail access with E-bikes.

Sarkis

Gotcha. I know nothing about mountain biking, so I was just curious. I seem to see lots of e-bike mountain bikes these days, so I was wondering what the deal with that was.

I know for on-road bikes, the e-bikes are a blast.
 
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Nice resto @Mike_H . My son and I restored a 98 Gary Fisher Big Sur. Turned out well but not as nice as yours.

I’m in the market for a XC/Trail bike with 130/120 travel. Terrain is different here in WA. Will try a little downhill. Plus I bent the front wheel of my Kona in Durango a few weeks ago.
I'm sure it was just as nice, if not nicer. The pictures make it look a lot better than it really is... The whole good from far, far from good thing.

Are you in the mountains of WA or the desert? If you're in the mountains, I'd go with a slack HT like I'm building, or full squish. Depends how technical your trails are... Narrower and more technical will favor the HT, IMHO. A more wide open trail, with higher speeds will favor full suspension.

Depending on your budget, you can get some really nice frames from the UK, where the slack Hardtail is much more common. Commencal Meta HT AM, Stanton Slackline, and the Pipedream Moxie were all on my list.
There are some smaller guys in North America that make them too Check out the Reeb six-fidy as an example. RSD is another. The Niner I bought is a good example too, but that particular frame is out of production and they don't really have anything to replace it.

In the desert, you're probably looking for a hardcore XC bike. It would be hard to beat the Niner AIR or SIR 9. I have quite a few friends riding those frames. They are bad ass.
 
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So a fixed gear has no coasting option and a real fixie has No brakes. The pedals are constantly moving all the time. In a downhill your speed is only going to increase. To get this puppy to stop you pull up on the strap on one Side of the pedal and the other side you push down. This is called “skidding”. In the beginning it’s hard to get use to fixed gear because of the no coast option.
That would be weird...but I thought single speed was weird too...until I tried it!

Truth be told though, I'm imagining a full size adult on a tricycle, going down hill. It doesn't end well in my imagination...
 
I'm sure it was just as nice, if not nicer. The pictures make it look a lot better than it really is... The whole good from far, far from good thing.

Are you in the mountains of WA or the desert? If you're in the mountains, I'd go with a slack HT like I'm building, or full squish. Depends how technical your trails are... Narrower and more technical will favor the HT, IMHO. A more wide open trail, with higher speeds will favor full suspension.

Depending on your budget, you can get some really nice frames from the UK, where the slack Hardtail is much more common. Commencal Meta HT AM, Stanton Slackline, and the Pipedream Moxie were all on my list.
There are some smaller guys in North America that make them too Check out the Reeb six-fidy as an example. RSD is another. The Niner I bought is a good example too, but that particular frame is out of production and they don't really have anything to replace it.

In the desert, you're probably looking for a hardcore XC bike. It would be hard to beat the Niner AIR or SIR 9. I have quite a few friends riding those frames. They are bad ass.
There’s lots of XC (100+mi) and Downhill here. Eastern WA. For XC Riverside Park. For Downhill Beacon Hill and Mt Spokane, thus the direction of a XC/Trail bike, full suspension. I’m listening to you though. Any suggestions are very welcome.

I’m looking at this Niner (2016 Jet 9 Full Carbon used). $2000
8D193B93-A5E2-4699-9A4F-BD34ACA5A368.png


LBS wants to put me on this 2019 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp Carbon $3375 marked down from $4200
E7A7CD0A-484D-44FC-B07D-1EBD99CD6B86.jpeg
 
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Oh, the G Fisher. We threw some semi road tires on it.
5C15F190-E6AE-49DC-B1FC-44C0A677E4FB.jpeg
 
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There’s lots of XC (100+mi) and Downhill here. Eastern WA. For XC Riverside Park. For Downhill Beacon Hill and Mt Spokane, thus the direction of a XC/Trail bike, full suspension. I’m listening to you though. Any suggestions are very welcome.

I’m looking at this Niner (2016 Jet 9 Full Carbon used). $2000
View attachment 110659

LBS wants to put me on this 2019 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp Carbon $3375 marked down from $4200
View attachment 110661
Both look like nice bikes, though I feel you pay more for specialized, just because it's a specialized. I'm not a huge fan of full squish. Been a Hardtail Rider my whole life. It just seems too complicated for a stupid bike, ya know. Setting sag, compression, rebound, etc. I think that is why I like the single speed I built so much. It's simple. Reminds me of when I was a kid. You want to go faster? Pedal harder. Need to go up a hill? Stand up and pedal harder.

I get it though. If I lived where you did, I'd be looking at full suspension too. Just like Jeeps... Gotta build your bike for the trails you ride!
 
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Both look like nice bikes, though I feel you pay more for specialized, just because it's a specialized. I'm not a huge fan of full squish. Been a Hardtail Rider my whole life. It just seems too complicated for a stupid bike, ya know. Setting sag, compression, rebound, etc. I think that is why I like the single speed I built so much. It's simple. Reminds me of when I was a kid. You want to go faster? Pedal harder. Need to go up a hill? Stand up and pedal harder.

I get it though. If I lived where you did, I'd be looking at full suspension too. Just like Jeeps... Gotta build your bike for the trails you ride!
I’ve been going through the bikes you mentioned. All unknown to me. I needed this! Now I just need money! What’s new?
 
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That would be weird...but I thought single speed was weird too...until I tried it!

Truth be told though, I'm imagining a full size adult on a tricycle, going down hill. It doesn't end well in my imagination...

You reminded me of this guy. He’s on a fixed gear passing the road bike race. His feet were causing resistance on the pedals and acting as brakes. As soon as he lifted his feet off the pedals the bike started to accelerate fast.

Fixed gear is dangerous but so much fun. Back in 2009-2012 there was a ride called Critical Mass here in Los Angeles every month on the last Thursday there would be Thousands of bikes in the street we would ride for HOURS all around LA. There was a big hill we had to go down. A guy in a fixed gear bike was going to fast he couldn’t stop and slammed into the wall. He unfortunately passed away. When your learning to ride fixed gear I recommend brakes until you get used to it.
 
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MB is pure fun … down hill is crazy fun. Allot of quick thinking and movement.... I did that down in the south island, had a blast
 
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