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I much prefer an approach shoe for use with flat pedals over a dedicated MTB flat shoe. Now caveat, I clip in for all my trail rides. I only use the approach shoes for commuting, but they grip my flat pedals really, really well being made from the same grippy rubber used in rock climbing and flat shoes. They are more “boot like” and seem to be of higher quality than flat shoes which seem to borrow too many construction cues from skating and fashion.
The only drawback that I can tell is that they are a bit less stiff than a dedicated cycling shoe, but for me this doesn’t seem to be a problem since I use large platforms. They also have a more open tread pattern which might not grip your pedal quite as well but will give you better purchase when you need to hike a bike.
Anyway I use these for all my city riding, and my feet don’t bother me on rides up to an hour or so just getting around. Might be worth a try if you really are unsatisfied with the flat pedals available.
This is a good test:
Take your wheel off, inflate to between 20 and 30 psi based on your best judgement. Grasp the tire with both hands, with the web of your thumb and forefinger of each hand overlaying the tread. With your full body weight, press down as hard as you can and try to feel the rim (without squeezing with your fingers). Given all your weight and strength, you should be able to just feel the rim. If its too easy, add a few lb/in² and try again. Too hard, let a small amount of air out.
This should be the correct pressure for optimal traction with tubeless tires, without bottoming out on roots and rocks, given proper technique. If you are riding trails that are appropriate for your skill level this should be a good starting point, and only add pressure if you find yourself bottoming out.
I find that for my weight of 160 lb, this is around 20 psi. Because I ride a hardtail or rocky terrain, I cheat a bit and put 18 in the front and 22 in the back, for a little extra grip up front and a little more rim protection out back.
Don’t worry about weight loss at first – track your progress in terms of miles and hours each week with a bike computer or a smart/fitness watch. Try to do more hours or more miles each week, this will increase your metabolism and you will burn more calories during all activity. Strava is a great tool that I use as a training log, sometimes I’m feeling down on myself and I look back through my training log and I’m like “hell yeah I’ve done so much good riding lately and I’m doing more than last month.”
Basically give yourself kudos for doing bigger and bigger rides, because that is measurable progress and its not debatable. Your weight will decrease much more slowly, and will be highly variable week to week because of hydration, digestion etc, and if you obsess over it too much you’ll feel too many little setbacks that can be discouraging. Getting fitter through mountain biking is a positive reinforcement feedback loop – the more you ride, the more you can ride.
That is: weight loss is your long term goal, but you can keep up your motivation by seeing progress in your milage or time and reaching short term goals.
In the northeast I see most guys clipped in regardless of travel length, with XC type pedals (not an spd w/surrounding platform) because the terrain is so chunky that 1) You want to be clipped in to keep from being bucked off and 2) you need minimal pedals to avoid striking on a rock.
I will ride as long as its above 15° F and there is sun. (Without sun, 20-25° F is my limit.) I have a lot of experience dressing for the cold via cross country skiing and what works for one works for the other. Gore waterproof shoe liners, keeping a light down jacket in a small pack or bar bag, and an extra pair of gloves really help. Also, never use a camelbak in the winter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be0fdXHD1fe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Once I had a 29er with thru axles and discs I warmed up to the idea of getting a cyclocross bike with thru axles and disc – I thought I’d have some wheel compatibility. NOOOOOPE.
Currently I have 4 thru axles bikes in our stable:
15×110, 12×142
15×110, 10×141 “boost QR”
15×100, 12×142
12×100, 12×135The roof rack adapter situation is treacherous, and I would love to be able to let my wife borrow a wheel if she needs to.
My other issue is with most brands only offering the high end spec on carbon frames. What’s so bad about XTR on an aluminum frame with top of the line suspension? Why only GX or SLX with aluminum? If I can get great parts and save a boat load of cash by getting an aluminum frame, I’ll take that every time. I’ll gladly take the cash and aluminum frame to Kingdom for the weekend with the wife. Beers are on me
Totally with you on this one. Trek discontinued my bike, the Superfly. It is aluminum with a fox 32 fork and XT drivetrain. I’ve been riding the pants off it and when I look around for what might be my next bike when the frame is eventually cracked and the fork is clapped out I come up with no good options. I don’t like building bikes up from parts because its too expensive.
What I thought my first bike was:
What my bike actually was:
20″ wheels, 1×6 drivetrain, gripshift! (I was 7)
Mine was way more purple though, and I had the post higher and the bars lower but you get it. I rocked a green ninja turtle helmet.A lot of the folks I ride with run the DHFs in 27.5×2.3 or 2.8 and love them. They go a little faster than me on the downhills since they have a lot more travel but it seems like a good tire for gnarly descents and for technical, rocky climbing. None of those guys race though; I think the DHF’s are a little too much for XC (for my style of riding, which is to make time on climbs). DHF’s are very crash/flat resistant and however slow they roll there’s nothing slower in a race than crashing. Despite their durability I have seen 2-3 sidewall tears in my group on the DHFs at Blue Mountain and at Ringwood Park. That’s not a tread pattern issue really and these guys push it pretty hard.
One thing about the DHF’s is that although they have tall, durable knobs, they are relatively closely packed. These can pack up with mud (in trail conditions that you should avoid anyway).
Honestly the riding around the hudson valley is great. The big granite boulders remind me of home.
Cheers
SeanI don’t know about the pinned rims thing – very few tubeless setups depend on a seal between the actual rim and the tire bead, they depend on a seal between the rim liner or tape and the bead. Think about it: Stan’s or Orange seal tape will seal a spoke hole, that’s much bigger than the seam at the rim. If a tubeless ready tire installs on the rim so that its tight and does not shift around, then you may be able to convert to tubeless.
I do not recommend simply building up the rim bed with many layers of tape because this adds weight, absorbs sealant, and forms a squishy, non-durable surface that the tire will not seal against well.
Now just to clarify, tubeless ready rims often have a bead socket, or a raised ‘shelf’ near the rim sidewall which forms a tight fit for the tire. When you fill the tire with a compressor, the bead is forced outward into the socket or onto the shelf (making a distinctive popping sound). This prevents the bead from moving toward the center of the rim bed and burping air. You can sometimes get a tire to seal at the shop but will burp air when turning.
Anyway, pretty crappy on the point of Specialized not speccing a MTB, even an entry level one, with non-tubeless rims. We’re not talking about hybrids or commuters. Nearly everything in Trek’s product line is tubeless compatible, even their sub $1000 entry level road and mountain bikes. Same deal with Raleigh, which is not nearly as premium as Specialized. Also, it looks like most of the Rockhoppers have 135mm quick releaseand not thru-axle / boost, so its going to be difficult to find affordable pre-built wheels unless you know what to look for used. In addition the head tube on this bike looks to be 1/8 non-tapered.
Not to give you buyers remorse, but the combination of outdated features and standards on this bike makes me recommend firmly against upgrading anything. I’m not saying its a bad bike though, definitely ride it and enjoy it for what it is. So what if you bought some tubeless tires? They are probably good quality tires and when you wear down the OEM tires you’ll have quality spares ready to go. Just don’t go shopping for new wheels, or a better fork. Thats money that should be saved for the next bike or for travel costs.
For anyone shopping for a bike, create a features checklist. Here’s mine:
Thru axles (15×110/12×142 because that’s what I already have)
Hydraulic discs (mineral oil because i have spare pads, the bleed kit, and fluid)
Tapered headtube and fox fork in X travel (again, already have the tools and fluid)
1x drivetrain (brand doesn’t matter but I avoid XD drivers because again, trying to maintain compatibility)
Tubeless ready wheels and clearance for my desired tire sizeOnce I have that features list, I just shop until I find the bike that meets every requirement within my budget and not worry about color , brand, or other emotional considerations.
I’ve been really, really loving my Maxxis Forekasters 2.2″. I have them on the front and rear on my hard tail. 18 psi front 22 psi rear. I don’t use a faster-rolling tire on the back because a lot of the climbing in my area is technical and without squish in the rear I need the extra mechanical ‘hook’ in the back to step-up over square-edged rocks. Anyway I’ve found them to really improve my riding (over the Maxxis Ikon 2.4″). They grip better on both mud and rocks, but not better on hard pack (but anything grips well on hard pack so…) I ride terrain that’s got muddy stream crossings / wet roots all year and these tires have pretty much stopped me from spinning out / improved my riding a ton. I recently podiumed in semi-wet conditions on this setup, on this course with a lot of steep climbing. They are still fast rolling and efficient despite being grippy, I’ve recently done 40 and 50 mile days on them. They are slightly slower on pavement on the way to the trail but who cares. Note that slightly narrower tires can grip better in the soft stuff – sounds counter-intuitive but you want your tire to sink in and bite.
My local trails are a teenage drinking hangout, and they smash all their beer bottles on the trails. I’m constantly rolling through glass but I’ve not had a single puncture on glass or on the rock gardens in my area. I use orange seal endurance sealant and bontrager rims. I top them off before each ride but they only seem to lose 1-2 psi over the work week so its solid.
Cheers,
Sean
Team SetantaStay away from marginal gains, or vertical changes (IE, more expensive/exotic materials) and try to make lateral moves.
I have an 21″ trek superfly and I think its a little over 20 lb. If your frame is not a lightweight model, or if you ride an XL, its hard to save weight by swapping components. Carbon bars and seatposts are a big NO in my book because they don’t save that much weight, and carbon bars break easily in a crash. Carbon posts don’t break often but when they do they tend to end up inside you. Professional road riders rarely ride carbon bars, because they are expected to get back on their bike immediately after crashing, and road bikes need to meet a minimum weight anyway. Carbon wheels are great. Rotational inertia is a thing – lightweight wheels are great in road racing because it allows you to accelerate with less effort – in mountain biking that’s less important but it’s still a thing. Light carbon wheels do tend to be stronger than light aluminum wheels, especially with the trend to wide rims.
I don’t think tires are a good place to save weight. Lightweight pedals are great, but stick to steel spindles, ti is strong but I’ve seen a lot more broken ti spindles than steel. Better to use a lightweight platform, or an XC style clipless pedal with quality stiff shoes, than to use chunky enduro style shoes and clipless pedals with platforms.
I think 1X is a good way to save weight – there’s a marginal gain from ditching the components but in spring XC races and in cyclocross, a 1X setup collects less mud, which is a major savings in weight during an event. By the same token 1X is about a million times easier to clean, and because its generally cleaner all the time it lasts longer and its a cost savings. Foam grips are an OK weight savings for XC but you need lock-ons for anything spicier.
Ditch the backpack/camelbak. Carrying water, food, and tools on your back is dumb. Keep the weight low, in bottle cages, keep your spare tube and tools in a seatpack or even better, above the bottom bracket. Tie your pump to your downtube (where it can’t hurt you). Put gels/snacks in your jersey pockets. I like to stash gels/blocks under my leg grippers for races, its easier and safer than reaching back. Another trick is to lick clif blocks and stick them to your (clean) top tube. A camelbak sometimes is a necessity for a hot, technical race where you need to drink more than you practically could with bottles, but if you use it put ONLY water in it and distribute the rest of your essentials elsewhere. The only time I may carry a backpack is when I need to carry backup cold weather gear, or I’m packing a picnic on a chill ride, but a frame bag is way better for that anyway. If you don’t like riding in lycra kit, and can’t imagine riding without a backpack, try a hip pack instead.
Upgrading components is something I do as parts wear out. My SLX shifter failed after 2 years and I replaced it with an XTR part – not to save weight but the feel and functionality was way better (3 clicks down, 2 clicks up). Sometimes an “upgrade” can be a savings, when I needed to replace my drivetrain it was cheaper to order the parts for a 1X setup than to replace everything for a double.
When I can’t stay on-line on technical black trails or I can’t focus then I switch to a blue or green trail and hammer the climbs. You feel productive getting a good workout in even if you’re not riding with style.
Improve my descending.
Learn to ride steep slopers and drops.
I did a few XC and CX races in 2017, and only road races for 2018 – I want to get away to more MTB races.
Improve in rock gardens.
No stitches.
I race cyclocross in addition to XC and road so I have a solid cleaning routine that gets the bike back in top shape in 15 minutes.
First rule: Brush, don’t flush. You have muck ON your bike, you want to brush it it OFF your bike, not flush it through every part. The last thing you want to do with a muddy bike is to blast it with a hose. Most of the grit will flow over and into your hubs and bottom bracket.
What you need:
Work stand
Soft nylon brushes in assorted sizes
Water bucket
Simple Green
Dummy hub pulley
Pedro’s chain pig
Lube
Hose or spray bottle
Towel, sponge, or rag
Bonus: air compressor or booster pump.Wait for all that mud to completely dry. Usually it will dry on the drive or ride home from the trail anyway. Brush the seatpost clean and mount it in a work stand* then remove both wheels and install a dummy hub pulley to keep your chain off your frame and off your thru axle. Brush all the dried mud off with a dry brush. Get as much as you can, especially around the stanchions, bottom bracket, downtube and tires.
*If you have a dropper post, cover the post with a clean rag to prevent scratches.
Fill your water bucket and add a little simple green. Dunk your brushes into the mixture and scrub the whole bike from top to bottom, starting with the grips and saddle and ending with the drive train. Attach the pedros chain pig and fill to the line with non-dilute simple green. Turn the cranks with one hand and keep brushing the chain ring and rear mech and pulleys with the other hand. Now move on to the clean the tires, rim, and cassette. Try to keep track of what brushes went where so you don’t spread grease around and create more work for yourself.
With the hose or spray bottle, lightly spray the bike with water to remove the simple green mixture. Aggressively flush the chain to remove the undiluted simple green, its acidic and will damage the steel if left on for hours. Bonus points, use a joe-blow booster pump, compressor, or compressed air bottle to blast water off and out of the chain. Wipe frame down with a dry rag/sponge/towel. After air drying, re-lube the chain, pedals, and thru-axles and reassemble. Get your brushes ready for the next wash by scrubbing them against each other in the wash bucket.
Pro-tip: keep your grips, levers, saddle, and handlebar tape clean. Sweat and oil builds up on those parts and can cause you to slip. Keep all of your bike wash stuff together in one place so you can get started quickly.
As a racer do I my “work” on the road bike. When I’m on the XC bike I focus on descending skills and cleaning technical features and climbs for most of the ride. I ride better when I’m not on my limit, and it’s better for me to save some energy for those explosive efforts it takes to climb over boulders or rock spines.
When I know the ride is past the half way point, that’s when I let loose and Hammer on the climbs. By that point I’m well warmed up physically and mentally. If there’s a fire road on the way out or I’m riding home from the trails then I empty the tank there.
Sean
Climbing technical terrain requires requires precise application of force.
IMBA, more like NIMBY. A bunch of IMBA folks came in and rerouted some of our trails in Sprain Ridge Park. Blue Mountain and Sprain Ridge are known for challenging, technical trails, including some that are fall-line or straight-up boulder piles. In the Northeast, we have very rocky soil, good vegetation, and consistent rainfall which means that trail erosion is just not a big deal. I am not some anti-environmentalist but our dirt is just tougher than yours. We do not need IMBA coming in and nerfing our trails to some national safety and environmental standard which does not suit our needs.
In rocky Northeast single-track I always wear full finger gloves from Handup. I don’t care how hot it is – you need them more when your hands sweat to keep a good grip on the bars. Same on the road.
The other important piece are crank boots – small plastic covers that fit over the end of the crank at the pedal eye. These prevent rocks from gouging up your cranks, which can lead to cracks and fractures that can get you really hurt.
Also eye protection with good coverage is important for branches and thorns.
I always wear a helmet because as a racer and commuter I basically live on a bike. Even though my commute is low risk, my exposure to risk of falls is constant so I wear one (and always wear full finger gloves to prevent slipping off the controls which could cause a crash).
However I don’t shame other commuters for not wearing one – they have their reasons. An unfortunate fact about helmet use when commuting is that your most likely accident is a head on collision with a car, which is a total overmatch in kinetic energy. At that point you’re dependent on the cars crumple zone. That leads to a larger point that helmets really prevent lacerations and fractures and only partially mitigate concussions.
Now one thing I don’t get is why it’s totally accepted to not wear a helmet while cross country skiing. I go as fast as I do on mountain bike on similar trails between rocks and trees. But if a Nordic trail center made helmet use compulsory I’d protest. ????
