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Can’t speak for everyone but most MTB’ers I know/ride with seem to be pretty open-minded people. We’re all out on the trails because we like riding bikes so for me, sexual orientation doesn’t play into it.
Would be interesting if there were some gay MTB clubs though.
The biggest one I’ve seen in my area (Western NC) is the Ridgeline DH Reroute in Dupont State Forest with 5,097 people as of today. Super popular trail and it’s tough to get a clean run. My best time involved a few passes I had to slow down for, still proud of my time though. Top 40!
Agree with hbelly13. Mason, Honzo, or Fuse would all be great. I just built my girlfriend a Ruze with a paint sample frame. She loves it! Plus tires are great for beginners and the penalty in rolling resistance is minimal. Personally, I still prefer a 29er with about a 2.4″ tire on a wide rim.
I live/ride in CLT as well and I think continuing on a hardtail would be a great choice for you. In that price range a hardtail will be lighter and less complicated, no rear shock to service, no bushings or bearings to replace, etc. A hardtail will make you better at line choice, jumping, technical climbing, etc. It won’t hide holes in your skills like a full squish. I have a full suspension (Evil the Following) and a steel hardtail and I only pull out the Evil for trips to Pisgah and even there the hardtail is still a load of fun. My hardtail has similar geometry to the Kona Honzo which you could pick up locally at Queen City or the The Cycle Path. http://konaworld.com/honzo_al_dr.cfm
It has good brakes, a dropper seatpost, and a nice sram 1×11 build.
An alternative with even better value is the On-One Parkwood which is pretty similar to the Honzo or a Canfield Yelli Screamy. http://www.on-one.co.uk/c/q/bikes/mountain-bikes/parkwood
Finally, I could throw you together something custom to suit your budget! PM me if you have any interest, hopefully I’ll see you out on the trails here in town!
I run about 20psi in the front 25rear in most conditions locally (Charlotte NC) in Pisgah I bump it up a couple PSI to protect my rims so maybe 22f 27 rear. Keep in mind though I’m running rims that are 10mm wider and high volume tires with fairly stiff sidewalls.
I’d guess your pressures are pretty good as they are. You can always knock them down one psi at a time until you start to get tire squirm. Lower pressures are helpful in soft conditions.
People like to rag on Strava but for me personally it added a lot of fun and motivation when local trails started feeling a bit stale. It is really fun to set goals and work your way up the leaderboard or just try to beat your old PR’s. It also logs your mileage so you can try to set a total mileage goal for the month. If you have any riding buddies you can have friendly competition among each other even if your schedules do not align and keep each other accountable.
The second thing I started back up recently is night riding, it increases your riding window and makes old trails exciting.
Last thing is riding a decent trainer or even on the road if you don’t have time for the trail. It’s no singletrack but it will make you feel good throughout the day and will make you stronger on the trail.
