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Do You Mountain Bike?

mon-fri after 6pm

sat sun- whenever
 
Moab was awesome. Got in four days of riding. Managed to crack my frame in a crash on day 2, but the bike proceeded to power through two more days of double black trails. These new Treks are impressive!

Day 1 was the Bar M trail system. Fun, but nothing crazy. Pretty perfect as we all just had spent 10 hours in the car and weren't up for anything too nutty. Here's a buddy climbing one of the short but steep bits.
IMG_20170518_190907 by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr


Day 2 we did as much of the Whole Enchilada ride as we could given the snow up top. Me out on one of the overlook points
IMG_3884 by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr

This happened later on in the day
IMG_20170519_192005 by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr


Day 3 we did Hymasa and Captain Ahab. The Hymasa climb was fantastic in how well it was designed. Sorta required all the skills in order to clean everything
IMG_3918-HDR by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr


Ahab back down was a rocky riot
IMG_3938-2 by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr


Day 4 was my favorite with the Mag 7 ride. Blue dot trail up to Gold Bar rim was a total lungbuster. But, the payoff was Gold Bar Rim, which was the best trail I've ever ridden. Droppy, steep, mixed with super fun technical bits that required a number of trials moves. Absolutely perfect.
IMG_3951-HDR by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr

We finished with the famed Portal Trail, which has some pretty serious exposure. You can kinda see me as the black dot in the upper right third on the trail. I did walk the two 5- 10-foot sections that can easily kick you off the side if you clip a bar. They weren't hard, but I agreed that they weren't worth the risk.
IMG_3986 by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr

My buddies walked most of it, but here I got a picture of them on their bikes before they hopped off again. I don't blame them.
IMG_3994 by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr
 
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Ugh, stripped my Fuel and found what appears to be a crack near the upper pivot. The problem is that I'm stripping it to get some crash damage fixed... I'm sure that won't help when it comes to being warrantied.

IMG_4017 by nicholas dirienzo, on Flickr
 
Sidewalk said:
If a post starts all dramatic like "politicians shit on us too much!" then I just ignore it.
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dramatic seems to work. Not much else does. Seriously, are you guys aware of sb249 and ab1077? Celeste Garamendi and her pals are seriously fucking us while we are asleep at the wheel.
 
ndirienzo said:
Moab was awesome.
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Dammit this place looks awesome every time I see it, great pics. Moab is definitely high on my list. I'm thinking it might be ok later season? I've been riding a ton, I spent the Memorials up in Whistler which was a blast as usual. Decided since I was hot off that to race the NW cup this weekend and got on the podium! I didn't film the race but here's a course preview from Fri Practice. Kinda tempted to dabble some more in the cup but Idaho is far. :ride
 
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Just started riding a month ago. Gee, I feel so new compared to everyone here, I've still got lots to learn.

I've been riding this old Trek 950 I got on Craigslist cheap. It's not the greatest but it's getting me on trails.

ezwOUl2.jpg

Anyone got beginner trail recommendations? I never realized how crappy my endurance is til I started riding. :cry
 
Jabus said:
Just started riding a month ago. Gee, I feel so new compared to everyone here, I've still got lots to learn.

I've been riding this old Trek 950 I got on Craigslist cheap. It's not the greatest but it's getting me on trails.


Anyone got beginner trail recommendations? I never realized how crappy my endurance is til I started riding. :cry
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We were all new and/or out of shape at some point. Just have fun and don't worry about it.

Oh, and if it's not on Strava, it didn't happen.
 
PhoS said:
Dammit this place looks awesome every time I see it, great pics. Moab is definitely high on my list. I'm thinking it might be ok later season? I've been riding a ton, I spent the Memorials up in Whistler which was a blast as usual. Decided since I was hot off that to race the NW cup this weekend and got on the podium! I didn't film the race but here's a course preview from Fri Practice. Kinda tempted to dabble some more in the cup but Idaho is far. :ride
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Yea, it was seriously fantastic. You'll run into some heat issues this time of year. Stuff like whole enchilada will probably be fine, and the upper stuff will be open, but the lower stuff that has big climbs will suck. I'm somewhat used to that sorta thing from living in Tucson, but I still try to avoid giant climbs in 100 degree weather if there's no cover. I'm thinking of trying to get back there mid fall when it cools down again.

And damn, you look like you're hauling in those pics and video! Good work!

Jabus said:
Just started riding a month ago. Gee, I feel so new compared to everyone here, I've still got lots to learn.

I've been riding this old Trek 950 I got on Craigslist cheap. It's not the greatest but it's getting me on trails.

Anyone got beginner trail recommendations? I never realized how crappy my endurance is til I started riding. :cry
Click to expand...

Right on! Most of us started mountain biking on similar bikes... we all had enough fun that we're still riding today, and I'm sure you will too. That's all that matters.

And yea, mountain biking will really expose some flaws in your fitness. Just keep it up and it will slowly get easier... or, you'll just start riding faster in which case it'll still be hard. Either way, you're on the bike and that's what matters!
 
Just bought a Specialized Expedition off Craigslist. Purpose is to ride to coffee or dinner on a weekend, hence fits the intended purpose. My question to those more familiar with bike suspension than I. The rebound adjustment on the front fork... left fork tube adjuster clicks as I rotate it. The right just spins free. Is this wrong and how to fix it?
 

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My900ss said:
Just bought a Specialized Expedition off Craigslist. Purpose is to ride to coffee or dinner on a weekend, hence fits the intended purpose. My question to those more familiar with bike suspension than I. The rebound adjustment on the front fork... left fork tube adjuster clicks as I rotate it. The right just spins free. Is this wrong and how to fix it?
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From what I can see on the Specialized site, that bike has a very basic coil sprung fork. There is no rebound adjustment as there is no damper. You have coil preload only, though I have my doubts if it does anything really. So no, I wouldn't worry about the fork.
 
Rode granite bay in folsom on Friday. Holy shit the poison oak is everywhere! Time to stock up on tecnu
 
Sidewalk said:
From what I can see on the Specialized site, that bike has a very basic coil sprung fork. There is no rebound adjustment as there is no damper. You have coil preload only, though I have my doubts if it does anything really. So no, I wouldn't worry about the fork.
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Fair advice, thanks.
 
Jabus said:
Anyone got beginner trail recommendations? I never realized how crappy my endurance is til I started riding. :cry
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Arastradero Preserve.

Speaking of Strava, the Heat Map on the Labs site is super useful for finding trails.

http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#15/-122.17971/37.38075/gray/bike

Too bad the Heatmap is a couple years out of date.

kelsodeez said:
Rode granite bay in folsom on Friday. Holy shit the poison oak is everywhere! Time to stock up on tecnu
Click to expand...

I swear by dish soap.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10940115
 
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So I had an epic crash on my Nomad 2 and borked my XTR rear derailleur. The thing is all sorts of bent, won't go through all the gears and it won't hold a gear under any load. Whee.

It seems like it's a good excuse to go with a 1x10 conversion (from 2x10+bashguard) since I seem to drop my chain like pants while going through puberty when I'm blasting through rock gardens.

Right now, I'm looking at going to Zee components (cheap & durable) and I'm wondering what gearing to choose. I have a separate, dedicated DH rig and my Nomad is truly dedicated to enduro duty now so I do need the ability to climb and not be forced in to dignified pushing any time there's any sort of slight incline. :loser :laughing

Default items under consideration:
Cranks: 175mm (5'10" 32" inseam)
Front: 32t
Rear: 11-36t
Plus chainguide of course.

Will this fill me with regret that I'm not yet aware of?

Or... do I opt for a 1x11 Shimano conversion?

Or... or... a granny gear?
 
I'd go XT 11 speed. Super solid setup for cheap. Get a narrow wide oval ring to go with it, 34t should be pretty ideal. A basic front guide is a good idea too.
 
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