Any mountain bikers??

[chaseman]

Just got back from an awesome couple of days riding the DH at Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The evening before the first day of riding I went to check out some of the trails, and ended up flying over the bars off a tabletop jump (pics of my knee, etc., will follow).

I decided to ignore the pain and get my money's worth on the uplift, and the resulting couple of days were simply great fun. No serious crashes, and not a single puncture either!

 

[chaseman]

There we go, a nice gash in my knee after the over-the-bars fiasco (see above post)

 

[iamdenialNJ]

There we go, a nice gash in my knee after the over-the-bars fiasco (see above post)

View attachment 279862

I feel your pain. In the past two months I've had six stitches and on my first bike ride 3 weeks ago I gash it open. I have not been riding for 5 weeks now. Air that thing out man! Make a quick recovery.

So, might be selling my glory for a more uphill friendly bike as I don't like depending on people for shuttles. Any people have have recommendations for a coil freeride/dh bike (160-180mm travel) with front derailler capabilities? I'm 200 all geared up.

 

[chaseman]

I feel your pain. In the past two months I've had six stitches and on my first bike ride 3 weeks ago I gash it open. I have not been riding for 5 weeks now. Air that thing out man! Make a quick recovery.

That sucks man! Injuries suck. My knee looks a lot better now, and I was able to keep riding for the next couple of days (although it was pretty painful). Now it's time to rest it and fix up before the next ride!

I saw a few people riding both the specialised fsr and the status; both of those look pretty sweet. Also, a nice commencal wouldn't go far wrong in what you're looking for.

 

[boethius]

Gary Willis is a mtn bike enthusiast. He has videos of some downhill rides on his site. Awesome bass player too!

 

[Mark Reccord]

I feel your pain. In the past two months I've had six stitches and on my first bike ride 3 weeks ago I gash it open. I have not been riding for 5 weeks now. Air that thing out man! Make a quick recovery.

So, might be selling my glory for a more uphill friendly bike as I don't like depending on people for shuttles. Any people have have recommendations for a coil freeride/dh bike (160-180mm travel) with front derailler capabilities? I'm 200 all geared up.

There are literally about 40 bikes that fit those criteria. 6-7" travel, slackish angles. How much you wanna spend?

Intense Uzzi
Yeti ASR-7
Giant Reign X
Specialized Enduro or SX trail
Intense Tracer2
Trek Slash
Santa Cruz Nomad
Rocky Mountain Slayer, etc.

Some are beefier than others, but all can be built with a coil shock. I ride a Tracer2 with a 160mm 36, an Angleset and a dropper post with a relatively beefy wheelset (2.5" Minions on EN521 rims). Running an air shock right now but if I was doing a lot of extended DH riding I'd switch to a coil. The head angle with the Angleset in -1 mode is about 66 degrees, which is plenty slack. It's beefy enough to handle our gnarliest DH tracks and I wouldn't hesitate to ride it at Whistler with a coil and beefier rims. It actually descends (and flies) better than the Uzzi VPX it replaced and goes up things far better than it should. 33 pounds.

For your purposes, I think something like that could work or if you wanted to bias towards DH a bit more, something like the Uzzi. Intense bikes are spendy, though.

 

[iamdenialNJ]

Thanks for the recommendations. I guess I have a lot of homework to do. Maximum would be $2500.

 

[bassteban]

My '09 XL Enduro is still FS...

Edit: FAR below $2500

 

[Mark Reccord]

Thanks for the recommendations. I guess I have a lot of homework to do. Maximum would be $2500.

I'd say your best bet might be a used Nomad with a beefy build. Lots of them around and can be had for good prices.

Bassteban's Enduro could work (assuming it fits) but it would definitely be a bit more biased to the XC/trail side of things than a Nomad or equivalent would be.

 

[bassteban]

Bassteban's Enduro could work (assuming it fits) but it would definitely be a bit more biased to the XC/trail side of things than a Nomad or equivalent would be.

This is true- I actually prefer the feel of my 05 Gemini's slacker angles, as well as the geometry of my old SS(69 head, SUPER-laidback seat, long everywhere. It's a fire road recliner). Just throwing it out there... I really need to get the damned thing on the bay.

Went for a little jaunt this morning- feeling tired from the weekend in Tahoe. Did an inadvertantly-epic/nearly-got-lost ride on Friday & the flume on Saturday. Lots of drinking in between...

 

[Mark Reccord]

This is true- I actually prefer the feel of my 05 Gemini's slacker angles, as well as the geometry of my old SS(69 head, SUPER-laidback seat, long everywhere. It's a fire road recliner). Just throwing it out there... I really need to get the damned thing on the bay.

Went for a little jaunt this morning- feeling tired from the weekend in Tahoe. Did an inadvertantly-epic/nearly-got-lost ride on Friday & the flume on Saturday. Lots of drinking in between...

Your Flume Trail Pics aren't working for me.

I think I'm in the realm of a bit too slack on the T2 now. I think I'm going to go back to the 0 degree headset setting for regular riding. I just got my 36 back from warranty service and for some reason there is now 10mm more stanchion showing than there was before. The Fox guys said not to worry about it, "you now have a 170mm fork!" but that bit of extra A-C plus moving to the -1 setting has got my front end a bit wallow-y at low speed. That being said, it was confidence-inspiring on a very steep, sketchy DH section this morning, so maybe I'll get used to it.

 

[bassteban]

Try again...

 

[elgecko]

I feel your pain. In the past two months I've had six stitches and on my first bike ride 3 weeks ago I gash it open. I have not been riding for 5 weeks now. Air that thing out man! Make a quick recovery.

So, might be selling my glory for a more uphill friendly bike as I don't like depending on people for shuttles. Any people have have recommendations for a coil freeride/dh bike (160-180mm travel) with front derailler capabilities? I'm 200 all geared up.

Wow dude. In the short time you've been riding, you've gone from XC to DH. Welcome to AM, the happy medium!

 

[bassteban]

Link Removed

Redneck/trailer trash bike rack. Fits in my pick-em-up truck.

 

[Mark Reccord]

Try again...

Nope, still just a little .jpg icon. Maybe a Chrome issue on my end?

Here are a few pics from my pre-work ride on wednesday:

Sunny in the city, foggy as hell in the hills. The other pictures were taken at the crest of the hill directly above the center of that grey car in the background.

City? What city? Normally a nice view from here.

They don't call it the Avalon Peninsula for nothing! The mists of Avalon. Riding in the fog is awesome. So quiet. I've done solo night rides up here in the fog. It's spooky.

Couple of really tough (up) and/or fun (down) moves on the rocks right behind my bike. You can't see them but there are two steep steps there. One is ~4' and near vertical and the other is a bit smaller, less of an incline but with a narrow line between two holes. The rock is super grippy though so traction is awesome, unless it happens to be wet...

 

[bassteban]

The pic issue is likely mine.. I see yours though, Mark- nice!

 

[fokof]

Finally brought something to take pics:

Our usual trail was blocked by water from a Beaver dam , damn !

(2nd photo)

 

[S.Harrison]

I've been riding since 1991. Primarily in the Wissihickon Valley/Fairmount Park (WISS!!) in Philly or Nockamixon in Bucks County, PA. Rides are a KHS xc~304 with Shimano drivetrain, Syncros cockpit and X-fusion/Manitou suspension as well as an Access (Performance house brand) XCL hardtail with SRAM X-7 drivetrain, Titec cockpit and Rock Shox Tora SL fork. Both wear Sun/Shimano wheels, Avid mechanical disc brakes and Eggbeaters. Both were purchased as frame-only and then spec'd/assembled by me.

My singlespeed is my first mountain bike, a 1991 DiamondBack Topanga that I sold in '98 and reacquired two years ago.

 

[bassteban]

Liking the single speed- I believe I have the same bars on the family tandem.

 

[S.Harrison]

The bar on the SS is actually a Syncros off of the KHS with an old Club Roost cross brace.