Question for the cyclists...

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Some Bad Things To Do With A Mountain Bike

Buy a new Trek hardtail, head out the next day. Marvel at your newfound prowess in off-road performance, right up to the point you notice the rapidly approaching two-foot dropoff. Discover new V-brakes work much better than those old caliper brakes while vaulting disconcertingly over handbars. Notice the unexpectedly concrete surface having an unkind interface with bone, tendon and skin. Arise from unexpected communion with terra all-to-firma, look around to see if anyone saw you do something so stupid. Wish that right arm still moved when you told it to. Wish ribs didn't move about in such a disqueiting fashion. Debride new soon-to-be road-rash scars. Dread thought of seven-mile "trek" home.

When you get sort of healed up from this, find a nice bit of path with a bunch of nasty thorns to run over, picking up six in the front and five in the rear. Be sure to be going fast enough to not to notice deflating tires until entering a turn, thereby employing your newly patented Metacarpal And Side Of Face braking technique. Regret this was observed by bystanders. Retrieve bike with a "snap of the wrist", literally. Marvel at how you look like a losing boxer in a mirror.

Run your crazy/stupid Labrador on a leash with the bike. He has better brakes. Funny how the stem fits into your groin. Well, not really.

Some Other Thoughts

Wear a helmet. Ditto gloves. Always.

Get protective tire liners to reduce flats. These won't stop everthing (metal wire, drywall screws, sidewall blowouts, etc.), but defray most "biological hazards".

Ironically, I just got a titanium/kevlar SDG saddle for a great price at a going out of business sale. It's a lighter and tougher that my many-holed factory one, but man, is it hard! Upgrade to more pain, yes! I also picked up some new pedals, but found the left pedal won't come off the crank arm. Grrr.

An old Bianchi Ranger fanny pack is part of my standard bike gear. Lots of room for tools, tubes and stuff.

RepublicThunderbolt, a Flatlander "Mountain" Cyclist

[This message has been edited by RepublicThunderbolt (edited June 22, 2000).]
 
Concerning saddle height. A good rule of thumb to start off with is to have about a 20 degree bend at the knee at the bottom of the stroke. You can adjust to suit from there. If you have it too high you can hyper extend the knee. If its too low its hard on the knees and makes you work much harder. As you get more miles you most likely will need to raise it a couple of times by 1/2 inch or so. I'm not sure why this is, but when I first got serious both my girlfriend and I found that we had to raise our seats about 1 to 1 1/2 inches over the course of our first serious summer of riding. I'm not sure why. Muscles getting longer?

Based on my experience I have to repectfully disagree with Ivanhoe - slicks work fine on pavement or smooth rails to trails type situations.

Concerning crashes I was mountain biking with a buddy and a gal I was tryijng to romance. Me and the other guy got a little ahead of her. While going down a very steep, narrow, wooded, rocky hillside trail (slowly, it was not a high speed slope, more technical) we came to an 18 inch log across the trail which we both cleaned with no problem. We stopped at the bottom to wait for her. When she got to the log she dismounted and carried her bike over. I teased her about it to which she responded "oh you guys didn't ride over that". Soooo I rode back up the hill and cleaned it going up - no problem. Then I turned around to go back down, lifted the front wheel over it and promptly buried the large chainring in it. The resulting dynamic faceplant was quite graceful if I say so my self. :o
 
I don't have a Mountain Bike--they didn't exist back when I got my bike over 20 years ago....

I used to be big into bicycles back in my college days. I went to Ohio State and spent most of my afternoons riding way out west of Columbus. I also went on organized rides of 50-100 miles most weekends. I have ridden TOSRV about a half-dozen times (210 miles in two days, Columbus to Portsmouth OH and back)

I ride my bike to work just about every day I can. It is a 10-1/2 mile one way commute. Since I don't want to overheat on the way to work I usually take it easy and get there in about 40 minutes, an average of 16mph or so

I have an old (like I said, over 20+years old) Fuji road bike--you know, the skinny 1-1/8" tires-- and the hard leather skinny Brooks saddle. Back then it was a ten speed. Since then I have upgraded some of the components like wheels, crankset, deraileurs... now it is a 18 speed. triple front, 6-speed rear. All those speeds give me more choices to take into acount terrain and wind conditions. A steady 20mph headwind will knock the sh*t out of you real quick! I try to keep a cadence of around 95-105rpm. That is where I feel comfortable. My still-air cruising gear is about a 85 inch gear that enables me to ride at about 18mph.

Anyway, I still have the same old skinny hard leather Brooks saddle after all these years. Last year I did get a shock-absorbing seatpost from Bike Nashbar (gee, I remember back when it was called Bike Warehouse) It has an elasomer puck that absorbs most of the smaller road bumps. I need all the help I can get on those 110psi skinny tires! believe me, you can feel almost every grain of sand you ride over with tires that hard! The thing about high pressure tires is that they have less rolling resistance. If I try riding with the tires down around 70psi it feels like I'm trying to pedal a cement truck uphill!

Enjoy riding! You'll get used to each other.
 
Update:

Ok, I can't hardly move my left shoulder. You know, the one that I tried to drive a grip end through. :o

I should know something about my bike by lunch or so. The shop owner/mechanic was off yesterday but they said he should be able to get to me by lunch today. He's been busy due to the Bike Ride Across Georgia thing.

I'm going to speak with him about some road tires as well. I think they would make my life a little easier based on what you guys have said. Also, maybe they won't sound like a dumptruck going down the road. There are a few pretty steep hills around here and when I go down them with some speed I can't hear approaching traffic over the roar of the knobby tires that came on it. :)

I'll update again as soon as I find out more on my bike's actual damage. Maybe it's not too bad. I want to start riding again as soon as possible. You know, as soon as I can move my shoulder again. :D

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The Glock freak formerly known as Chris...
 
Rainbow, Don't be sorry. I was laughing the whole time I wrote that post. I laugh every time I think about it. And don't even mention it around my Dad, it'll take him at least half an hour to stop laughing and then another hour to get the grin off his face. When I was telling him the story a couple of years ago it took about 15 minutes to go through the whole thing because he was laughing so hard. I think we all have to be able to laugh at ourselves every now and then.
 
wait a second

is there a conjuction here?

Bicycles
Guns
Freedom

The trick with the front brakes is to slide way off the back side & ride with your chest on the seat while mashing the brake levers.

Most of the braking power is in the front of the center of mass. With your butt behind the rear brakes both brakes work better & you are much less likely to vault to a face plant.

Then you learn control & master the Endo

Now i can bunny hop on the front tire in an endo

Ever see a trials rider?

yow!

dZ
 
Update II:

I got my bike back Friday. The shop owner refused to let me pay him anything for truing both wheels, re-adjusting the brakes and adjusting the gears! With a smile he said, "You just bought a new bike and shouldn't have to spend any money on it.". Man, I was floored! I now rest assured that I bought my bike from the right place! :) I tried to get him to take something for his time but he refused. I did buy a water bottle/bracket and some riding gloves from him. I plan to support his shop with my $$ and word of mouth. If any of you are in the Atlanta area and are looking for a bike, give Hector Savaria a call at Bookends Bike Shop (770-834-6594) and tell him Chris from Temple PD sent ya. :)

BTW, I ordered some "inverted tread" road tires that were recommended by Mr. Savaria. They should be in this week. I look forward to trying them out soon.

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The Glock freak formerly known as Chris...
 
Okay....I have to chime in here... :)

I just got a new bike yesterday! I used to ride quite a bit...around 20 miles a day...but changing work conditions and health problems forced me to stop. I finally decided that I really missed riding so bit the bullet and went for a new bike. I got a Specialized StumpJumper mountain bike, which is more bike than I need right now but I can't wait to take it to its potential. It was worth it to me to get a lighter weight bike...my other bike was so heavy it made riding a real pain. This one is a beauty!

Now fitting a bike for me was no easy chore. I am short, so they had to cut quite a bit of the seatpost off to even get it low enough for me! Then they put it on the trainer so I could get use to the clips (aaarrgghh) and adjust the handlebar height and check my form and all that. I also had them install road tires for now...they will put on off-road tires when I need them. I probably spent a good 5 hours over 2 days in the bike shop...they are thorough!

Today I got up at the crack of dawn for a ride while it was still cool. Got on the bike...was doing fine until I met up with the security gate and a curb! While trying to get the damn gate open I lost my balance. I couldn't get my right foot to release from the clip and splat went Otter...luckily I picked a soft place to land...except for that pesky curb. Gave myself a nice scratch on the leg and I'm sure a couple of bruises. Found out later though that I must have come down hard on the palm of my right hand...because after I came home and was typing on the puter I noticed my hand was a little stiff and sore and slightly swollen. Luckily I had on padded gloves so that absorbed the bulk of the blow. No intense pain, full range of motion so I think it is just bruised. Anyways...got back on the bike and proceeded with a 4 1/2 mile ride, where I practiced getting in and out of those dang clips!!!! Man I love this bike! It was one of the easiest rides I've ever done...considering I am rather out of shape! The area that used to kill me because it was straight into the wind with a slight incline was a piece of cake. I attribute that to a lighter weight bike and having better contact with the pedals.

To add to the horror stories...my brother was riding in Winter Park, CO and did a nice imitation of a Mt. Dew commercial...flew over his handlebars and broke his elbow! :eek: This was 2 weeks ago and he is now without a cast because casting it could cause him to lose use of his arm...yikes.

Still...I can't wait to drag my bike to CO to go biking with him! But first I would like to ride thru the Redwood Forest...one of my favorite places!

Oh, and I can't say enough about having the right gear: helmet, gloves and bike shorts. I don't like being seen in lycra either, but the shorts do make a world of difference. Bike clothing has come a long way. They even make the lycra shorts with a nylon "skort" over them for the ladies now...along with similar shorts.

Glad to see I am in such good company! :D
 
Rainbow,
Glad to hear your LBS helped out on the wheels, etc. any good bike shop shop should be willing to do such things (even after you spent $$ on the bike), but it's surprising how many don't nowadays. Definitely keep supporting and recommending the shop.

Someone posted that they had a problem with feeling too leaned over on their bars. Answer: Riser Bar. Get a riser bar with a slight rise, to put you in a more upright position. Unless you do serious XC racing, you will be much more comfortable than on a flat bar.

I crashed my Trek 6000 more times than I could count. had to replace some parts here and there, but nothing major. a real strong bike. I ride full suspension now, which I think gives me too much courage on downhills (last weekend, went over 4 ft. rocky drop-off, landed too vertical on front wheel and endoed with left foot still clipped in). I guess that's what it's all about...

Good luck.
 
For those of you that have not done this before; I highly recommend watching some Tour de France coverage starting next weekend on ESPN/ESPN2. Those funny lycra clothes start to look cool after a while. :D

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Strength does not come from physical capacity.
It comes from an indomitable will. -- Mahatma Gandhi
 
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