basscyclist thread picture thread

[elgecko]

gorgeous.

there are a few personalities online who claim that there are tent & cardboard house villages invading your neck of the woods. Is this so?

Yes and no.

This is what the Santa Ana Riverbed was like 4 years ago. I believe I saw 3 homeless people on my ride yesterday and none of them were dug in.



I've seen recent videos of places I personally know weren't so bad (e.g. Venice Beach, Echo Park, etc.) totally overrun with homelessness. The guy who does these videos, who I believe is a business owner in Venice Beach, attributes the uptick to the pandemic.





In my immediate neck of the woods (i.e. Anaheim (aka Mickey's backyard)), the situation is different. As shown above, the Santa Ana Riverbed was basically a giant homeless encampment. The county and cities finally put their foot down and cleared them out. That dispersed the homeless throughout the city/county, making the problem is less visible. Encampments would occasionally spring up on CalTrans (state) property or railroad property but they would never last. There seems to have been a recent, slight uptick in homelessness locally but it honestly seems to be a result of the pandemic and it seems insignificant compared to the way things used to be on the river.

On a related note, I watch a lot of interviews from Skid Row on Youtube and it seems like the vast majority of homeless here aren't even from California. I get it. Being homeless in SoCal is probably a lot more pleasant than being homeless in colder climes.

 

[Mark Reccord]

On a related note, I watch a lot of interviews from Skid Row on Youtube and it seems like the vast majority of homeless here aren't even from California. I get it. Being homeless in SoCal is probably a lot more pleasant than being homeless in colder climes.

Stands to reason for sure. You can understand why homeless people might make their way to California from places like Chicago for winter. You're much less likely to freeze to death in Socal.

Snow's beginning to melt so it looks like fatbiking season is winding down. Warm and sunny the past few days. I snuck out early yesterday morning because it's still below freezing overnight and the trails firm up before getting soft again mid-morning.

 

[Chad Michael]

Forgot about this thread - sure enjoy the scenery, pics of people having a good time, and pics of the bikes!!!

 

[Inky13]

Stands to reason for sure. You can understand why homeless people might make their way to California from places like Chicago for winter. You're much less likely to freeze to death in Socal.

Snow's beginning to melt so it looks like fatbiking season is winding down. Warm and sunny the past few days. I snuck out early yesterday morning because it's still below freezing overnight and the trails firm up before getting soft again mid-morning.

View attachment 4213241

You are braver than me! We went on a hike near a small waterfall last week and I almost slipped over a few times.

 

[Mark Reccord]

You are braver than me! We went on a hike near a small waterfall last week and I almost slipped over a few times.

Studded tires...

 

[Inky13]

How do the bike Illuminati here feel about active suspension?
I've ridden a few bikes with it and they feel soft and sluggish, like the pedal input is negated. I prefer a hard tail but it seem predominant now on a lot of MTBS.

 

[carl h.]

Thud Buster ST is my suspension system of choice. I don't like the sogginess of suspension bikes for my mostly on road needs. On my fat bike the fat tires give plenty of squish, plus my dropper has some squish to it by design and I don't mind it.

 

[Mark Reccord]

How do the bike Illuminati here feel about active suspension?
I've ridden a few bikes with it and they feel soft and sluggish, like the pedal input is negated. I prefer a hard tail but it seem predominant now on a lot of MTBS.

It's a horses for courses thing, IMO. For roads, groomed trails or snow I don't think suspension is necessary. Definitely not rear suspension, maybe a suspension fork. However, when trails get technical the benefits outweigh any drawbacks. My fatbike is rigid but my MTB (I suppose they'd call it an All Mountain bike) has 140mm in the rear and 160mm in the front (5.5", 6.3") and I would not want to ride a rigid bike or hardtail on the trails I use it on. And while there's still some difference between how snappy acceleration is between the two (rigid bike better, obvs!) suspension in MTBs has come a long way in even the past 10 years. Many linkage designs are now pretty effective at canceling out pedal bob and also shock dampers can differentiate between pedal and trail inputs (speed of compression). When I have the pedal platform on on my MTB, the suspension barely compresses even if I'm standing and reefing on the cranks. It's still pretty good for that with the platform off (which is how I run it everywhere but fire roads) but I ike the feel of it better with it off. Again on tech trails, the increased traction you get with rear suspension is worth the bit of pedal bob/muted acceleration for going up things and the squish is definitely great when descending.

This requires suspension

This doesn't:

 

[fokof]

How do the bike Illuminati here feel about active suspension?
I've ridden a few bikes with it and they feel soft and sluggish, like the pedal input is negated. I prefer a hard tail but it seem predominant now on a lot of MTBS.

Suspension is never "Required", but it helps to go faster on rough stuff.
Depends on your level of pain tolerance (butt and hand shaking) and speeds you want to obtain.

My Fatbike is rigid, main MTB is a Hardtail.
Personaly , I love to "feel" the trail , the smells , the view ..... it's the reason why I do MTB in the first place.
In my head , I go fast enough

When I don't want to get shaken , I take the road bike.
Don't start me on road conditions

 

[Mark Reccord]

Suspension is never "Required", but it helps to go faster on rough stuff.
Depends on your level of pain tolerance (butt and hand shaking) and speeds you want to obtain.

My Fatbike is rigid, main MTB is a Hardtail.
Personaly , I love to "feel" the trail , the smells , the view ..... it's the reason why I do MTB in the first place.
In my head , I go fast enough

When I don't want to get shaken , I take the road bike.
Don't start me on road conditions

"Required" is a strong word, I probably shouldn't have used that, but on the trail system in the pics I posted above, hardtail riders don't tend to do very well. The tech is relentless. I'm definitely too old to ride a HT up there.

Also, keen eyes will see that those 2 pics are the same place.

 

[fokof]

Fact : I tend to avoid the "double black" trails on my HT.

My Kamikaze days are over.

 

[elgecko]

Even on my 15 year old full suspension with a newer shock, the improvement in downhill performance outweighs any pedal bob my bike has. Also, it's rarely mentioned how much rear suspension improves climbing technical terrain. Finally, I'm old and lazy and love riding the trails on a Barcalounger!

Having said that, I alternate between my full suspension and my hardtail. There's something about the snappiness of a hardtail and riding one keeps you honest. Different tools for different jobs.

 

[Mark Reccord]

Even on my 15 year old full suspension with a newer shock, the improvement in downhill performance outweighs any pedal bob my bike has. Also, it's rarely mentioned how much rear suspension improves climbing technical terrain. Finally, I'm old and lazy and love riding the trails on a Barcalounger!

Having said that, I alternate between my full suspension and my hardtail. There's something about the snappiness of a hardtail and riding one keeps you honest. Different tools for different jobs.

Yep, on tech climbs instead of the rear tire bouncing around and spinning out like it does on a HT, the suspension really helps keep it planted. That VPP linkage still holds up today as one of the better linkage designs for pedaling. Even our less difficult trails have lots of baby heads and roots and really bounce you around on a HT. My 49 year old back can't hack it!

But man, the first time I rode the fatbike, I was like "holeeee bleep this thing accelerates like a rocket!"

 

[J_Bass]

Yeah, there's nothing like a XC hardtail on the trails. It flies.

But a fs has its merits and it's more adequate for aggressive trails.

I rode a Specialized Stumpjumper with a 90mm Fox on dozens and dozens of mtb and XC marathons, for 5 or 6 years, super fast bike, but very aggressive and a bit scary on some descents. The geometry of that bike is very aggressive.


When I decided to change things last year and sell the mtb and the roady and go full gravel bike, I thought I wanted something more relaxing. But no, I went with aggressive geometry again, with the 3T Exploro.
I already had a big fall on a XC track. Very useful, made me realize that that bike is not meant to ride aggressive mtb trails.

But it is a fun bike! It's a rocket on the road and turns my simple around the city trails much more fun, and keeps me from having to drive for half an hour to ride my bike on the dirt.

 

[BasturdBlaster]

I just aired up the tires on these, spring has come, yippie

 

[J_Bass]

 

[elgecko]

I just installed a Microshift 1x10 system on my hardtail and had to take it for a spin. There's nothing like a fresh, well adjusted drivetrain. So smooth and quiet!

 

[DirtDog]

Being homeless in SoCal is probably a lot more pleasant than being homeless in colder climes.

I'll agree without. The homeless I encountered in San Diego seemed relatively "happier" (if I can use that word in this context) than the homeless around here at 45N.

 

[DirtDog]

I just installed a Microshift 1x10 system on my hardtail and had to take it for a spin. There's nothing like a fresh, well adjusted drivetrain. So smooth and quiet!

View attachment 4221064

How difficult was the 1x10 conversion - e.g., how many other components did you have to replace? BB, cranks, hub, brakes? Been thinking of putting a 1x10 on my old Cannondale F3000SL beater bike.

 

[elgecko]

How difficult was the 1x10 conversion - e.g., how many other components did you have to replace? BB, cranks, hub, brakes? Been thinking of putting a 1x10 on my old Cannondale F3000SL beater bike.

For me, the crankset seemed to be the tricky part. If you can find a crankset that works with your existing bottom bracket, you're golden. I was able to find a 1x GXP crankset last year when I converted my full suspension bike but was unable to find one for this conversion so I had to buy a new crankset and bottom bracket. If your current bottom bracket is square taper, you can get a compatible 1x crankset on Ebay/Amazon for cheap!

Other than that, the 11-48 cassette fits onto the old-school Shimano HG freehub and everything else (derailleur and shifter) bolts right on. By following this video, it was easy peasy!



I gotta do some proper mountain biking this weekend but so far, so good. Here's roughly what I paid for this conversion.

Crankset and bottom bracket $74
Shifter $34
Cassette (all steel) $41
Derailleur $65
Chain $18
Total $232