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I hear you, I had a bike taken piece by piece aver a couple days. My university had a no bike in room policy so I had no option but to lock it outside. They finally let me take it in when it was nothing but a frame and rear wheel.
I agree a dropper post would be easiest to steal, someone would just need a multitool and housing cutters, I bet 30 seconds or less and it could be gone. It’s small and expensive.
An off size/different driver would be best but other than custom made I’m not sure where to find them. Hopefully someone has a good suggestion.
I did the same with 2 bikes both being 2006 Santa Cruz Hecklers. I would do as others have suggested and replace the whole thing, cassette, chain, chain ring, derailleur and shifter, which is what I did. I also went with NW chain ring and clutch derailleur and to be honest I usually leave the clutch off and haven’t dropped a chain. But I could just be lucky with that one, its best to have the clutch.
I was worried about the cassette not fitting with one of the bikes due to the 2006 hope hubs but it was fine. The other bike I turned into a 27.5 with modern hubs so no worries there….
I grew up riding in Maine and in certain areas the trails would follow the power lines for miles. Back then we mostly rode atv/snowmobile trails and they followed the power lines because they were direct and easy. I’m not sure who owned the land but I never had an issue. The trails were usually rocky, ledges, mud pits, your typical Maine trails… Where I currently live I wouldn’t bother trying to ride the power lines. There are much better riding options.
I’m sure it really depends where you live. It could be a fun adventure or it could be overgrown madness
Where i live the closest decent bike shop is about 2.5 hours away so in the past couple years I’ve bought 2 used and 2 new bikes online.
With the used bikes it’s a bit of a risk not knowing if the person is trustworthy, if there posting inaccurate picks, plus it’s hard to gague the condition from a picture. Lucky those 2 bikes were pretty good.
The 2 new bikes have been really good. I got great deals on both and because they were previous year models there were good reviews online.
But if I we’re buying a current year bike and paying full price I think a test ride would be in order.
Growing up in western Maine we rode mostly old forgotten town roads and atv trails. There are a few dedicated riding trails/areas in western Maine/NH white mountains area. There is some lift access ski area stuff. If you want to be adventurous you can ride XC on snowmobile/atv trails to Canada. But the riding wont be great. If it were me taking a trip to New England I would probably stick to VT where there seems to be a lot more MTB infrastructure/culture.
We bought a 1999 GMC conversion van a couple years back for 2k. I stripped out the back and built a bed with drawers, added a linoleum floor, cooler, tv, etc. Its got a hitch rack for 2 bikes. I love it for road trips. It only gets 18 mpg but you save on hotels, food, etc. I even drive it to the local trails so we can change in the back. So, if your looking to keep your current car and want a dedicated biking vehicle a cheap van is a pretty good option.
I really like my Intense , I picked it up a 2015 last summer at a big discount. They have a very similar VPP suspension design to Santa Cruz, it might actually be the same suspension design. I’ve read that Intense licensed the VPP design from SC for some of their previous year bikes, not sure about mine though. So if your looking for the same feel at a discount it might be the way to go.
That’s a good question. I recently got into making videos after I got a gopro for a bday present. I wouldn’t say I’m good at it but I’m learning and I get better with each attempt. Once I started making videos it changed the way I watch them and I have picked out a few characteristics from the ones I consider to be the best.
Generally most good videos open with a nice wide panning shot to bring you into the setting.
I notice a lot of short videos string a bunch or 2-3 second clips together and alternate between fast and slow motion with longer segments between the sections of short clips.
I personally try and start the video at the beginning of the trail and end at the end, but I really don’t think this matters.
Lots of different angles helps, although follow cam friday guy does really well with one pov, but he rides with some really good riders that are great fun to watch.
Some sort of storyline to keep the audience interested.
I think it comes down to is connecting with your audience. Seth from Seths bike hacks connects to his audience well without using the above techniques too much. I think his narration and sort of “who cares” kind of style is appealing to a lot of people. Although he is a good rider he’s not trying to be “cool” or the best, he is more real and trying to helpful. I think this appeals to a lot of people.
Again, I think its connecting to your audience, and that can be done in a bunch of different ways.
There are probably hundreds of videos on youtube that can help you with your manuals and wheelies better than I can try to explain. I personally like videos because it brings the visual aspect into learning and I’m more of a visual learner. GMBN has some good manual videos.
I’m no expert at the manual but If you want my 2 cents I like the down and back explanation. Lower your chest down and then move back over the back tire in a L pattern. Do it quickly and smoothly, you also have to get pretty far back to keep the tire up. Your rear brake is your best friend in wheelie and manuals. Practice a lot and don’t be afraid to crash. We all do it (crash), and the more you do it the better you get at it.
On a side note I think it would be useful to teach people to properly crash. Its a worthwhile skill in many sports to hit the ground and not hurt yourself. Watch some skateboarding videos where they ollie 10, 20+ stairs and crash and roll out of it at the bottom, just to get up and do it again, amazing.
Oregon state university Bend campus. That would be a great place to go to school if you like to ride.
Also, University of Montana Missoula has some great trails in the valley.
If you find yourself in NH check out the descents down hurricane mountain in N. Conway. One heads down hurricane mountain itself and is a wild ride. Another option is to ride down to Mt Cranmore ski area and then your choice of line decending down the ski area.
There are also other options as well as if you ride along the ridge line from the top of Hurricane Mtn.
I don’t run a guide my, or my wife’s, 1x bikes. They are set up with narrow wide and clutch derailleur. We ride mostly in Alabama which is pretty smooth. But even on visits to more technical trails I cant remember dropping a chain. For racing I bet it would be worth the piece of mind.
I agree with Aaron, Ive done a couple 1x conversions with a narrow wide chainring and clutch derailleur and have not had any trouble. I guess if your riding hard downhill you might get it to skip off but like I said I haven’t had any trouble with trail riding.
I’ve always replaced my cassette with my chain/chainrings. As I understood it a worn cassette will stretch your chain, not sure if this is true but a new cassette is relatively cheap.
