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I’d have to agree with bike nerd about jumping into the mtb scene clipped in on a xc racer BUT maybe the trails you’ll be on are much more forgiving then what Im used to. I would say work on your slow technical skills like slow balance, hopping the bike over low obstacles, getting your weight back over the rear wheel on steep desents, if any. Ride different conditions and weather, be prepared to crash it will happen and better ya are at crashing less chance of injury. Tire pressure is a science in itself and can make a easy ride hard or a hard ride easy so read up and experiment. Learn something every time you ride as I never think I’m good at trails I just think I’m always improving my skills. Its a different discipline and much more rewarding. I gravel ride on occasion and the g bike gets me on the road once in a great while just for a short rip from the house is all. Dont be discouraged with fitness change either . I know a roadie will crush me on a 50 but i can still just up and do a 30 mile road or gravel ride however there is a good chance he or she would be discouraged on 1000ft elevation gain in a half mile over rocks and roots on a path no wider than a foot. Enjoy it, if you have trails and take a liking chances are you wont be riding road much more.
Plus tire modern hardtail, so many dont know where to begin but slacker is not better for climbing. My hardtail has 68.3 headtube angle and trust me it gets the climbing done. Full sus, thinking santa cruz tallboy
So cool to hear the input from all of you. I agree you have to push to gain the fitness you want or need to increase the fun. No doubt the better the fitness the easier it is to have fun and not suffer as much. I have always have had that competitive mind set through life so it drives me to just be better. A younger guy I ride with occasionally kind of keeps me in check with my fitness and sometimes I let my chasing him take some of the fun out of riding only of my own doing. On the other hand when I’m boosting small gaps, riding wheelies, pulling manuals ( I so badly want to master) I hope he sees the fun side of riding he might have lost some touch with. Guess there has to be enjoyable balance between the push and the fun. All of your comments certainly have helped me understand better the time and effort I put into riding.
Made some good points. For me it has been a lot of pressure to ride harder and longer and have these ridiculous heart rates. I like the mentality with if it feels good let er rip and if it doesn’t take it easy and enjoy the scenery. Also about not being a all day event or everyday at that matter. Time to except the fact that I’m not keeping up with kids anymore and just stay fit and be happy I can even still do this sport. Maybe if I play it right I’ll be lucky enough to ride trails well into my senior years.
Being able to ride everything on a hardtail I’d have to say no. 160 front travel min and rear close for next ripper. Although it has to climb like a goat, and all those bikes are soon to come. Tired and old but still shredding ,its gonna be aggressively plush. No reason a 180 travel bike cant climb like a 120
Just to funny!
Thats funny! I was just dreaming of a full suspension bike and tapped in
I’d agree with you need to sit on the bike and ride it. I myself plan on getting a full squisher at some point but right now im in the middle of upgrading my trek hardtail. When I sat on the bike the first time I knew It was a whole new game changer. Main brands are very good bikes so between fit and feel and price of course you’ll know its the bike. Look for better grade components also, at that price range there are a lot of nicely equipped bikes.
As Alvin said ,it depends on tire , weight of rider, conditions and more. I would search singletracks and see what others say but 20 – 25lbs is typically a good starting point. I find a half psi or one psi makes a noticeable difference. Ya think about only having 20psi then adding or taking a psi or two, its noticeable.
South mountain in eastern PA is the mountain range the local mtb riders get to ride where I live. A true mountain bike trail system. Look them up if your in town and check um out. Don’t concern yourself with any weather at the time the trails are open always and only damage is what the trails will do to you. Double black diamond rated they are and you will either love them or hate them depending skill level. Being a old bmxer I’d love to ride trails where dirt was formed and precious but for now popping off rocks into more rocks is my fix. Some may think that doesn’t sound like any fun but its all us locals know and a slick rainy day in the rocks puts sparkle in your eye for some. Sure wish my timing was better on the ride and I could have rode with the mom that showed up just as was finishing. She had to be a well seasoned rider is all I know because I’ve seen guys walk their bikes out on a damp day saying its way to sketchy for us. Oh yeah and its good to hear some can ride the trails in the rain and if you cant ,a trainer or beers it is that day
Wow, thats certainly not something I would wanna ride in. Those type trails must be extremely hard to maintain and lots of hours to keep ridable. Our trails only require a tree to be cut away or built up to ride over if its to big. Not really much maintenance just cut in new when ya can and ride um. You just have to love riding rocks.Typically you will get between 4 to 8 miles tops in because of how much climbing you do at a average speed of 4mph.
Heres one for ya, went out in rain today and just excellent ride and when i get back to the car here comes a older mom with the minivan heading out for a ride.These trails are no joke in good conditions and then add rain. Was just a drizzle but trails were already wet. Clipping in it was apparent she knew what she was doing. She was getting it done ,no regrets. Hats off to her and be safe
Easy bike nerd, simply saying a little rain is kinda fun. We dont have flow , soft trails in eastern pa, what we have is mountains. Trail builders just move rocks around and utilize fallin trees for some ridiculous obstacles. They themselves ride in any weather and wont entertain help building the trails but tell you enjoy them. Soft flow trails Im sure know-one would ride ,we all no better unless ya never built any trails. Like bmx jump building, you have to earn the right to even ride their trials so why would you wreck them. If you rely on a bike shop to do the ridiculous amount of hours needed to keep a mountain working at it best , absolutely do not get it muddy but if care for it correctly after every ride you’ll certainly get to experience more. If you wait for perfect conditions you will only ever end up wanting to ride. Gravel biking is equally as fun in the rain and some mud. Shred it all
Super easy to install, much easier than a tube. Check out FTD site and watch a vid. There are a lot of other inserts out there but price and design are hard to beat with this one.
Super easy to install. If you can do tube these are easier. FTD was the same concept as the bibs in dirt bike tires which i also use and are amazing as well. They add a small amount of weight is only downside i can think of but its nothing compared to how much better the bike works.
No affect so far, if anything its good reason to stay strong in the lungs.
Well lets see since i purchased a c-dale topstone that will be my first choice. I’ll have to agree the tire size, rigid frame and fork and bike weight make it a gravel bike. Didnt get a whole lot ride time on mine since the weather is sloppy and in the cold i prefer my trusty hardtail with plus tires but i had g-bike on trails where guys were riding full sus that was completely unnecessary.The g-bike is snappy and quick and a completely different experience from my h-tail and that was my reasoning for getting one. Like ya said about handling certain terrain ,it is limited but if you get on some smooth single track with bikes costing three times as much and full sus, they going to have their hands full with a good rider on g-bike. For rail trails or canal paths there is nothing better, just flat out rips and can lay down some serious miles.
Have to agree time is a big factor in my riding as well. I myself try to drill skill work while I ride. I also like to lay down the miles, have hard climbs, and last but not least have some fun while doing all above. Such a great sport and community
I’m still on the rekon 2.8’s that came on bike new with 40 rims. Great ride but thinking of goin to 2.6 with some tough sidewall same as rekon reinforced. Also gonna run some sort of insert in rear for rim smacks.
I’d have to go along with Phonebem and keep it fun and simple. Racing is fun but can definitely lead to burn out then all what you have worked for is kinda useless. Thinking Ill train hard when I can but more importantly just ride for fun and keep progressing at a pace that wont spoil the drive to be better.
