[fat_boy]

^^+1. I use a Maxxum Swiss Gear Notebook Backpack. I have been using it for four years and it works great.

[fat_boy]

I don’t know the exact location, but Mt. Dora is almost two hours away per yahoo maps. If I am going to drive that far I might as well go to santos. I was hoping it would only be about an hour away like the trail in New Smyrna which is my current favorite.

[fat_boy]

I have that shock on my parker. Its simple, easy to set up and seems pretty low maintenance. Its not very plush for small bumps, but works pretty well for bigger ones. This is my first full suspension bike so I don’t have much to compare it to. Here is a link to mtbr.com reviews. They may be able to give you more insight.
http://www.mtbr.com/cat/suspension/rear … 38crx.aspx

[fat_boy]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I had read that tread/lugs on some shoes needed to be ground down to facilitate easy entrance and exit form the mallets. I ordered some Pearl iZUMi X-Alp Drift shoes. They look like they should work pretty well.

[fat_boy]

Those are awesome grips. I have been using them for about a year on my bike. They are great for jet skis too. I used them for three years when I had my yamaha superjet. Pretty much all of the stand-up ski riders use those grips.

[fat_boy]

That’s really cool. I would like to do one of those sometime.

[fat_boy]

Is that an OH-58 in sheriff department colors? Looks like you have two sweet rides.

[fat_boy]

I am in the space coast and my name is aaron.

[fat_boy]

I use a giro hex. The ventilation is great as it practically has little scoops built into it. Plus, I think it looks neat.

[fat_boy]

"trailrider247" wrote

after reading these posts it sounds like your re-using the connecting pins and thats whats causing your chain to break.

ah ha. I am reusing the pins. I’ll go get some power links so that i can fix it right this time.

thanks everyone.

[fat_boy]

The chain wheels and cogs look good. I built the bike 9 months ago so i don’t think anything is worn yet. I don’t do any power shifting to lower gears. That just seems like a bad idea.

I don’t usually stand and power up climbs, but some time i don’t choose a low enough gear for the climb or rider in front of me suddenly slows. i stand up and power though the climb instead of shifting to a lower gear.

Looking at the chain this morning i see that the chain is breaking in the same spot. Maybe that link of the chains is messed up. I am going to replace that link with some of the spare links i have.

[fat_boy]

i think i may order the chain you listed and keep my current one as a back up.

ah, i forgot my weight. I am 205 lbs. Come to think of it the chain breaks when the rear suspension is getting a workout (ie. powering though a climbing out of saddle plus large roots). Maybe i need to just develop a sit and spin approach to climbing.

[fat_boy]

sounds good but can i use a 9 speed chain on an 8 speed setup?

[fat_boy]

I ride a lot of urban for cardio as well as a little urban freeriding. I usually run for cardio, but i like biking more than running. Now i just need a second set of wheels to put my kenda k-rads on so i don’t eat up my nobbies.

[fat_boy]

I just bought a set of sram attack shifters for when my shimano shifter dies completely. I was looking for shimano stuff, but the only thing i found in 8 speed was either used(ebay) or shimano’s low level stuff. From what i have read the sram attack shifters are supposed to be pretty good and they were only $50 from pricepoint.com.

[fat_boy]

Thanks CP, i looked over the dérailleur just to be sure and all that stuff it fine. The problem is definitely in the shifter itself. Even though the shifters look practically new they are from the late 1990s. The issue is not terrible(yet anyways) and the bike is ridable, but i think i’ll keep an eye open for a good deal on a new shifter. The annoying thing is trying to find an 8-speed shamano shifter pod that is separate from the break lever.

[fat_boy]

I drove 30 miles today with my bike on the rack and everything performed flawlessly. This rack is so much better than my trunk mount rack. It’s completely solid and i am very happy with the way it turned out.

[fat_boy]

"GALAXY" wrote

4130 chromoly steel is really strong,I’d wonder about the rack tubing before the 3/4 rod…

Right. The mounting rods are really strong. The only movement in anything is from the rack twisting a little when i push the bike towards the front or rear of the car.

[fat_boy]

"ChiliPepper" wrote

[quote="fat_boy":wzkz0yv1]My photography skills are lacking. There is actually two mounting rods(one near each bike wheel). If you look carefully at the third pic you can see both of them. The fourth pic is just a close up of one mounting rod.

yes i will be at the hash saturday night. btw, any ideas on how to get xmas lights on a bike?

Damn bro, its not your photography skills, I just cannot see. I now see the two bolts where I thought you said you were going to mount them a while back. Do you think they are going to be strong enough, especially compared to the actual square insert that hold those carriers to the receiver hitch? Just curious.

As per the lights, just hang them to your bike, and then plug them up to Dirtweed to juice them up for a while. I was going to hang my chili pepper lights on my rig, but i am not sure the weather is going to hold out bro. They are calling for 60% showers that evening. That would be a bummer. You do know that they are going to be bar hopping as well? Anyways, nice set-up bro! Been doing any riding?[/quote:wzkz0yv1]

The rack is more solid than it looks and was made to hold 2 bikes, but I will use a nylon webbing strap from the top tube of the bike and hook it to my engine hood to ensure wind does not cause too much of a bending moment on the mounting rods, bumper or the rack itself. This way the mounting rods will mostly be supporting just the weight of the bike and rack which they will do easily.

I don’t think i am going to bother with lights bc I spent most of my play money getting the new rack together. Oh yes, i know about the bar hopping and am looking forward to it. I don’t mind rain as long as its not cold. Rain+cold=suck. This week is my final exam week so I have only been riding urban around my house 2-3 times a week. The cool thing is since the semester is over I have plenty of free time to bike until next semester starts up again in January.

[fat_boy]

"ChiliPepper" wrote

Great job bro, but I have one question for you…..

How is that rack going to hold up to twisting/shifting to the left or right? It looks like from your pics that there is one bolt clamped to the rack. Traditional carriers use a tapered or squared receiver inserts (not sure to the exact name of those inserts).

My photography skills are lacking. There is actually two mounting rods(one near each bike wheel). If you look carefully at the third pic you can see both of them. The fourth pic is just a close up of one mounting rod.

yes i will be at the hash saturday night. btw, any ideas on how to get xmas lights on a bike?

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