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Any mountain bikers??

#1,401
Here's one of the runs through some of the spring bloom I did the other day. I'll post more when I edit them down. Turned out pretty good. I'm going to experiment with mounting my gopro to my seat stem for some rear facing footage too. Will try to shoot that this week. This is just a simple little downhill with some fun scenery. I have a couple of other trails that I shot that are zippy little singletracks. Oh yeah, watch it in HD. :)

 
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#1,408
paste said:
Man you Californians have some sweet scenery. Im curious if all those tracks are actually taken care by somebody or are they just being trampled down by cyclists before the weeds take over?
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Most areas have volunteer riders that will do trail maintenance from time to time. I'm not sure about Chino Hills though. It's state park, so it might be different or it might just be normal trail wear. I suspect the latter because there are trials that I turned down that basically dissipate into overgrowth.
 
#1,410
What's up, everybody! I haven't posted on this thread in a few months. I got a little depressed last season because I broke my arm going into what turned out to be a great summer for riding. By the time I got healed up (mid-September) I was only able to do a couple of rides before the winter that never ended hit us in NY. Now that it's finally starting to warm up, it won't stop raining long enough for the trails to be ridable. ARGGHH!!! My Kona has been dormant for too long, and seeing how I only bought it last May, I have to make up some time!! Here's to a new year!

(I am slightly jealous of you guys/gals who can ride most or all of the year:) )
 
#1,411
MakiSupaStar said:
Second time I've ridden this single track. There are definitely areas that I can go faster. Super long and fun. Good trail to get cornering practice on. This is another one at Chino Hills State Park.

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Some of the videos open up right away and others require going directly to YouTube to view. This one wouldn't open to view.
 
#1,412
mtb777 said:
Some of the videos open up right away and others require going directly to YouTube to view. This one wouldn't open to view.
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That's bizarre. Maybe because it's HD? I have no idea why that happens though. I saved it out the same way as all my other ones.

Here's another one I shot of a single trail. I was experimenting with splicing two different runs on the same trail with two different camera angles, one mounted to my handlebars and another mount on my seat post. It's a little slow in the beginning because it's mostly uphill. It starts speeding up at the 5 min mark.

 
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#1,413
Man, this is the one thread that may keep me here. The 456 has a mystery creak that may have gotten fixed last night- whilst swapping pedals w/the Gemini, I found the SS's were not super-tight, AND seemed to emit the *mystery sound* as I broke them loose... Was too beered-up to test ride, maybe later this morning.

I will need to do a nice movie critic job on Maki's latest... Now where are the flippity smilies?
 
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#1,415
I've been spending a ton of time on the road bike lately, but today I got to get out on the MTB for close to 3 hours. I've been seriously considering dropping $$$ on an xx1 or x01 group on ebay, so as an experiment I spent the whole ride in my 24t granny gear. I only spun out of my 24x11 once and only used my 24x36 a couple times. Wolf tooth has a 26t narrow-wide that will replace the 2x spider and rings on my SRAM crank. I think I might just go cheap-o 1x10 until the new SRAM x1 group sets start popping up used. Then get a 30t WTC ring in addition to the 26t to use with a 10-42 cassette.

It was actually very nice to never touch the front shifter, letting the left hand man the dropper switch only really helped me get a good flow going.
 
#1,416
kai_ski said:
I've been spending a ton of time on the road bike lately, but today I got to get out on the MTB for close to 3 hours. I've been seriously considering dropping $$$ on an xx1 or x01 group on ebay, so as an experiment I spent the whole ride in my 24t granny gear. I only spun out of my 24x11 once and only used my 24x36 a couple times. Wolf tooth has a 26t narrow-wide that will replace the 2x spider and rings on my SRAM crank. I think I might just go cheap-o 1x10 until the new SRAM x1 group sets start popping up used. Then get a 30t WTC ring in addition to the 26t to use with a 10-42 cassette.

It was actually very nice to never touch the front shifter, letting the left hand man the dropper switch only really helped me get a good flow going.
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For the past couple of years I've been sporting the 1x thing on each of my bikes... 1X9, 1X10, Single Speed :D ... all have a 32t chainring. I've got a Race Face narrow-wide on my Bandit29 FS bike (non-clutch derailleur), so far with no issues ... and a regular e13 chainring on my TransaAM 29'er HT (non-clutch derailleur); which is now starting to drop the chain every-so-often, so I'll be going to a narrow-wide chainring for it too. As for the SS ... a regular 32t Truvativ Stylo single speed chainring; no issues of dropping the chain since it's always taunt.

After talking to a couple of guys who have XX1 drive trains ... I'm pretty sure XX1 or X01 isn't for me. Since none were totally bowled over about it. And none really use all the gearing. How I see it ... you've gotta shift a lot and use all the gears for it to be a worthwhile investment. A big issue I see is the price vs. durability/longevity ... cause when you think about it, both the XX1 & X01 are rather pricey alternatives to a 2X setup, even at half the current prices. Using myself as an example, I predominantly ride in 3-4 gears (occasionally on a ride using some of the smaller cogs, and rarely the 1st/largest cog) ... so I'd be dropping $$ each year on a new one ... even half of $325 for a cassette each year is spendy IMHO. Then there's the thin 11-speed chain ... And if you're a masher like me ... it's gonna wear a lot faster.

Even with being a 1X rider ... I just don't see having an extra gear or two to be worth it in the end for me. Plus how I see it ... if I'm dropping to a 42t cog ... I'm just about to be hiking the bike anyway. :D
 
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#1,417
I went mountain biking for the first time on a course the other day and my chain and gear area absolutely got trashed with dirt and sand. Which brands of chain cleaner, degreaser, and lubrication do you guys recommend? Too many brands out there. I heard WD-40's a no-no for bike chains?
 
#1,418
paste said:
I went mountain biking for the first time on a course the other day and my chain and gear area absolutely got trashed with dirt and sand. Which brands of chain cleaner, degreaser, and lubrication do you guys recommend? Too many brands out there. I heard WD-40's a no-no for bike chains?
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... the lube I use is Rock N Roll Extreme Lube. Invalid Link Removed

I used to use White Lighting Clean Ride (self cleaning lube with wax) for the drier conditions and White Lighting Epic Ride for the wetter conditions. However I stopped using them ... mainly because I suspect the Clean Ride lube contributed to shortened chain life due to too much wax build-up ... and the Epic Ride just didn't perform very well either.

When it comes to chain cleaner, I'll use White Lightning Easy Clean chain & gear cleaner in a spray can ... however it isn't often that I'll use it; since I use a quality lube that is made to clean and lube at the same time ... so I pretty much only use it when I have to remove my chain for some reason; if it looks like it needs a bit of a clean or has been a long time.
 
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#1,419
paste said:
I went mountain biking for the first time on a course the other day and my chain and gear area absolutely got trashed with dirt and sand. Which brands of chain cleaner, degreaser, and lubrication do you guys recommend? Too many brands out there. I heard WD-40's a no-no for bike chains?
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It's not that WD-40 will harm the chain, but it's mostly kerosene mixed with a small amount of heavier oil and some other additives. "Heavy" means more viscous, but also less volatile. So, WD-40 mostly evaporates, leaving the chain under-lubed.

A heavier oil is needed for chains, mainly just so it doesn't evaporate right away. Motor oil is just fine, or three-in-one, basically anything that you can apply easily. If you've got kids, then you've got a supply of syringes that you get with their medicine from the pharmacy.

For cleaning the chain, the old standby is to dunk it in kerosene and scrub with an old toothbrush if necessary. Get a chain rivet tool and learn how to use it. If you let the kerosene drain out of the chain, you can oil it right away and the kerosene will evaporate soon.

Of course there's nothing wrong with the bike-specific lubes and cleaners either. One thing to consider is if you might need to replace your chain. No point cleaning a stretched chain. I go through a chain per year on my commuter bike.

Might as well go ahead and bookmark the Sheldon Brown website.

Note that kerosene is flammable, and kerosene soaked rags are dangerous.
 
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#1,420
fdeck said:
It's not that WD-40 will harm the chain, but it's mostly kerosene mixed with a small amount of heavier oil and some other additives. "Heavy" means more viscous, but also less volatile. So, WD-40 mostly evaporates, leaving the chain under-lubed.

A heavier oil is needed for chains, mainly just so it doesn't evaporate right away. Motor oil is just fine, or three-in-one, basically anything that you can apply easily. If you've got kids, then you've got a supply of syringes that you get with their medicine from the pharmacy.

For cleaning the chain, the old standby is to dunk it in kerosene and scrub with an old toothbrush if necessary. Get a chain rivet tool and learn how to use it. If you let the kerosene drain out of the chain, you can oil it right away and the kerosene will evaporate soon.

Of course there's nothing wrong with the bike-specific lubes and cleaners either. One thing to consider is if you might need to replace your chain. No point cleaning a stretched chain. I go through a chain per year on my commuter bike.

Might as well go ahead and bookmark the Sheldon Brown website.

Note that kerosene is flammable, and kerosene soaked rags are dangerous.
Click to expand...

Every cyclist should have his website bookmarked. The best bike advice around.

In other news, I broke my shoulder on Easter when I hit a slick and wet bridge too fast. Went down pretty hard on that one.

I seem to be healing pretty well though and can't wait to get back on the bike.

I'm taking the family up to Whistler in July for our annual vacation. I haven't been up there in many years and it should be a whole lot more fun with my Titus than my old stumpjumper.
 

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