0 points (view top contributors)
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I was just in CO for a family vacation. I wasn’t motivated to ride but I have a couple observations that may help.
1) You can ride to the top of at least 2 14ers, Mount Evans (soon to be renamed Mount Blue Sky) and Pike’s Peak. Both have roads to the top but I’m sure better on a road bike. Pike’s Peak is near Colorado Springs.
1a) Remember that it thunderstorms every afternoon on the top of these mountains. Above 11,500 feet in elevation you will be the tallest thing on the mountain because there will be no trees. So don’t be a lightning rod. If you go to the top of 14ers plan to leave the summit by very early afternoon. That means if you want to hike Grays and Torreys Peaks you start hiking from Georgetown at 6:30am.
1b) I am not sure why Georgetown is the preferred starting point for Grays and Torreys Peaks, we went to Loveland Pass twice and it looks like an easier hike from there.
2) I stayed in Keystone, which has a bike park and gondola access and I visited Breckenridge. Breckenridge was fancier but it was mobbed with people. I saw so many bikes coming down the hill and having to stop for people just walking up the mountain and bikers who were sitting down on the descents. In Keystone, I never actually saw anyone come down the mountain because the lift didn’t open until 10 but people had more serious bikes and kit. On that observation alone, I would avoid Breck bike park in favor of Keystone. Can’t comment on any other parks.
3) We were in CO for 5 days. Two days had very little driving but the three with driving didn’t bother me much. The views were stunning the entire time.
3b) The height of the mountains is almost confusing. Assuming you land in Denver, mountains dominate the horizon to the west but you are already at 5,000+ ft. So a 14,ooo ft mountain doesn’t look as big as you would expect. Then when you are at a lake at 11,000 ft a 14,000 ft mountain looks like 3,000 ft. I guess it makes sense but it felt weird to look out the window of the condo and think, if you kidnapped me and I woke up here and you said we were in Shenandoah Virginia I would believe you until I walked up two flights of stairs and got winded.
4) Elevation – you will be at minimum 5,000 ft but there are resorts at 9,000 plus if you want to get acclimated. It looks like Breck Epic takes place between 9,500 and 12,000 ft.
I did this when I was first installing my brakes. The thing that really chafes is I was using a torque wrench and was only at 4-6nM. Eventually that bolt fell out but was easy to replace at Home Depot and I got some spares in case it happens again.
Try a tire insert. Minimal weight penalty with rim protection. Was able to seat mine with a regular floor pump.
I will preface by saying that you should know the difference between pain and soreness. Soreness is good – you are working your muscles. Pain is bad – can lead to real injury.
So I am heavy but have been riding for 4 years pretty consistently. I have lost no weight but have been in good shape at times. I had been riding to work last year. 50-100 times 13 mile round trip. Now I didn’t lose weight because I was so hungry that I would eat a meal at 3am just to be able to get back to sleep. But I was in good shape.
Regardless of how much skill you have being in shape makes riding more fun. When you get to the top of the hill and feel good, the ride down is the pay off. If you feel bad, the ride down is just survival.
Not in great shape now due to some injuries and no reason to ride to work. On a recent ride I was looking forward to a series of seven tabletop jumps to work on. They were on the last trail of the day. I cramped immediately before them. Had I been in shape, I would have done them twice. They were the pay off for a 15 mile ride.
I suggest joining and asking the CAMBA facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1465611037041784/
Ask the people who ride the same trails as you do. They can probably point you to what is in stock at the LBS too.
I am also from NEO. Sounds like you ride Hampton/East Rim or maybe Medina/Austin Badger. You may want to consider a full suspension to have a little more differentiation from your current bike. Then you will have the option to ride the hardtail for fitness or sketchiness.
When I ordered my new frame, I was about to pull the trigger on an On-One Big Dog (steel hard tail with modern geometry) but my wife said that is like your other bikes and convinced me to get a full suspension frame. She was not 100% correct because the geometry of the Big Dog is very different but she wasn’t all wrong either.
And while it is true that the downhills go by too quickly in NEO, the level of confidence on a FS with pretty good fork and shock is amazing compared to my old entry level hardtail. That said. I still haven’t broken my PMs on the Hampton Hills advanced downhill from 3 years ago, when I was training to go to Jakes Rocks.
I already have the derailleur. So the upgrade would be less than $100. I also am not comfortable ordering from eBay. Would rather go with an online bike shop.
The microshift upgrade does not need to be expensive. I went with the 8 speed with clutch. It is 12-42 and all steel. It is under $100. And cheaper if you have cable housing and chain already.
I think the new 9 speed stuff has 11-46 cassette. That gets my vote.
That is the opposite of what I would expect to hear. I would have thought it would have been more supple but blows through the travel to easily.
Running inserts in both tires. Somehow I managed to ding the rear rim. But this weekend I hit a square rock that I didn’t see. I hit the ground faster than I remember. But I am glad I had a front insert for that one.
I am less worried about holding air. I want to protect the rims.
Lessons learned from trying to turn an entry level bike into an on-the-cheap legit trail bike.
I had converted to 1x with wide rims and hefty tires with the intention of adding a dropper post, short stem, wide bar and air sprung fork. But I made a mistake – I forgot to put my new chain on and chewed up the brand new wide-ratio cassette. This lead to a lot of trial and error to fix that problem. Then a little stick jumped up and killed my rear wheel and derailleur. Just as soon as that was fixed my free hub imploded. I have fixed everything but it will never be the bike that I want it to be and I will not be putting that new fork and cockpit on.
So what did I learn? Inexpensive is good – cheap is bad. It isn’t just chain retention, a clutch derailleur would avoid the chain such issue that I have. There is such thing as too much tire. That last one is hard to tell when buying tires online. The grip is nice but I am so much slower and it is so tiring.
Follow up question: I just found out my frame is designed for a 34t ring and a 42t cog. How much am I messing with things if I go smaller on the ring or bigger on the cog? This may make my decision for me.
I also found that the Alivio is the cheapest 24mm hollowtech crankset with bolt on rings going (not counting questionable stuff on Amazon, Alibaba or eBay) and is in either 96/64 bcd or 104/64 bcd and narrow-wide chainrings are easily found. I think I am going with that, it will be cheaper all in than just the cranks in SLX or Aeffect.
Thanks for all the feedback. Really helpful.
As to range, I’d sooner use a smaller chainring than add weight with a cheap 12 speed. I never use the 30/11 when riding trail on my current bike so that ratio wont be missed if I go with the narrower range 12-42 I’d use a a 28t.
You could always use a boost frame with a conversion kit on the rear wheel.
I think the Octame One Prone and NS Eccentric are both still non boost. NS available in steel.
To answer your actual question:
1) completely remove axle and freewheel, if necessary. Keep the nut and cone in place on one side so you have a starting point for reassembly.
2) confirm you have all parts and none are damaged (note: some hubs have different sized bearings and different count on the left and right)
3) clean and grease
4) insert axle from back side to plug the hole just to the race then add a good amount of grease this will help the bearings stay in place. Once you have one side done carefully switch sides with the axle
5) when the second set of bearings are in place gently push the axle the whole way through and install the cone.
You want it to be tight enough that there is no extra play but not so tight that the wheel won’t spin.
I replaced my driver yesterday on a deore hub using this method and my bike is finally up and running. Ready for the season.
Good luck to you.
I’m about half way through my build and am at the point of second guessing every decision. I know I am going to end up with a better bike than buying a complete build but it is way harder to get every little piece than I thought. And would cost more if i had not found great deals on every part so far.
It would have been easier to buy a Marin, Polygon or Vitus.
I like 20F. Trail is frozen at that point and it isn’t too hard to get the body warmed up. The bigger problem is daylight hours. If trails close the temp doesn’t matter.
$500 is a difficult price range. Everything is compromised, which is sad to say because it is a lot of money to spend on one thing. Plus you need helmet, water bottle and maybe some clothes.
The bike that has piqued my interest lately is the On-One Bootzipper 29 Cross Monster. It is an old-school steel mountain bike with a rigid fork but with drop bars and it will cost about $1,000. For me, it would be a great option for commuting and dipping my toes in cyclocross. There are also some nice trails around that it would work great on (but would be terrifying on the rest).
I think I only rode new trails on two occasions in 2019.
West Creek – Parma OH
This was most satisfying because I helped build it and I was able to share it with my family (kids, wife and parent). It is not technical but built to be sustainable. A great addition to Cleveland riding.
Jakes Rocks – Warren PA
Had been before but tried some new-to-me trails. Overall great experience. Had high hopes for Black Snake – a DH only trail but was too white knuckle to truly enjoy on my XC oriented hardtail (did not make a single double and skipped the non-optional drop). The climb back on Devil’s drop was brutal even with my super bailout 22×40 gear combo. I was spent after that. I guess my favorite was Seneca in the downhill direction.
I guess I am the only one that feels this way.
You are mistaking me not liking the situation for not understanding the situation.
Counter point: https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-columns/local-bike-shop-inventory-challenges/
<p style=”text-align: left;”>LBS will not be getting my business unless I want custom wheels. They have nothing I need in stock and I can find deals. What else do I have to do on the train to and from work?</p>
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Can you imagine going to Autozone and asking for parts and they say, “no we don’t have calipers for your two year old Camry.” Blame the industry for too many standards but I can’t be the only person who feels this way.</p>
