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Juniper Ridge is perfectly rideable and plenty wide. Yeah, I wouldn't have designed the (what, 3 or 4?) tree gates in the trail like they are. But now that they're there, I'd rather not see someone "fix" them, particularly if they're not the trail steward.

I agree with this. Practice going "nah nah nah nah" and trying to move in slow motion when you do something cool. Your body is different and your recovery will be different so all you can do is get serious about the PT and make it happen.

Stop looking at medical stuff. Just be ready for PT and watch this over and over, and have it in your head when you're doing your PT (I always do):

Uh, no. Every trail has features that some people like and other people don't like. If those tree gates are so bad that you have trouble riding them, go to a different trail. This is being written by a guy that raced real Enduro (not bicycle enduro) for years. I could go thru a tree gate that just wider than my knees at 10 to 15 miles per hour. With a little practice I bet I still could. On a mtb - it is SSSSSSOOOOOO much easier.

They actually have done this and they did it several years ago. They call it "suspension" and "shocks". It made the sport more fun and let more people do more things that, before the introduction of that technology, were not possible for them. I'm not trying to be a smart ass. I'm just illustrating that things are relative. Are dropper posts cheating? Are carbon bikes cheating? And the guy had a good point about "if you're not racing then does it matter?" I think the only real argument that can be made against mountain ebikes is whether or not they more adversely affect the trails. But these things don't have throttles. I don't think they are capable of rooster tailing a shower of dirt like motocross motorcycles can. No more so than a regular bike railing a berm can that is. And it's not a problem with them weighing more. They weigh what, 20 pounds more? I know for a fact that I weigh 20 pounds more than the majority of folks out there on comparable bikes. So that can't be an "ebikes are worse than regular bikes" argument. Don't be a weightist!

Eh, those were not climbs, they were barely inclines. I believe that an integral part of riding is the climbing. Climbing is the vegetable, descending is the dessert. If all you ever eat is dessert, well, you can figure that one out for yourself. There are a ton features added to today's bikes to help make it easier to climb, including 50T cassettes, smaller front cogs, triple chain rings, lockouts, the list goes on and on. But, all of these things, while they make it easier to climb, still require you to climb. So there is still some degree of effort on your end. I can climb, but I suck at descents, I don't do big drops, I am not a fan of jumps. How would the market feel about a new mountain bike was created that allowed people to do big drops without ever crashing? It would be called heresy. Nobody would advocate these. They'd tell you how they are ruining the sport. That is how I feel about ebikes. I believe they do have their place, primarily for commuting or for getting someone who does not ride out onto the trails, but eventually you need to take over, they are just training wheels for the trails. I know I sound like a cranky old man, but I am. How can we all sit here and rail on the people who create cheater lines and then say oh, yeah, but e-bikes are cool?

True, and that’s normally the route I go. But you can find the tool cheap and it’s foolproof in guiding it on straight. The fox seals are much stiffer than the older ones and they like to go in crooked. Normally I make my own tool, but in this case I found it to be worth it. I’d recommend it to someone who was less handy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fruita

I have held off telling people about this new trail - until now. It is starting to come together and we will need volunteers soon. So here it is. In 2017, Travis County hired a landscape architect to survey and design some new trails at Reimer's Ranch. Our very own MTB trail builder, rider and instructor Jake Carston helped with the design work. The attached PDF file shows the overview of that trail design. The design sat on the shelf for a while. ARR got a grant from REI to start building those trails. That process has now started. We will be building two of the 5 trails shown - marked I1 (Intermediate 1) and Return. These are intended to be Flow Trails. There is not enough elevation to call them Downhill Trails but there is enough to get a good flow without a lot of peddling. We have surveyed the planned trails and picked the I1 trail as the one we want to build first. It has great topology for fun and interesting trail. We have met with Travis County (land manager), REI (funding source) and KOM Trails. We want this trail open for Cranksgiving so we want to get KOM to do the biggest part of the flow trail. ARR will be building the return trail (how you get back up hill). This looks like it will come together and be ready in November. To have it ready in time, ARR will need volunteers to build the return trail. Work days will start in September to avoid the summer heat. Racers can plan on getting their PayDirt hours early this year. Keep an eye out for work day calls and come help build our new MTB trail! And make sure you thank Travis County, REI, KOM, and ARR for making it happen. 2017-03-31_Reimers Flow Trails.pdf

Hi All, Rode Walnut Creek for the first time in about 3 weeks this weekend and noticed a change on the new-and-improved-and-less-likely-to-result-in-a-faceplant Root Drop. On the left-hand line, on about the second step down, there used to be a big rock just sort of sitting there, which made riding that line a little easier. The rock is now gone. Fine by me and all; I just wondered if anyone else had noticed. It made me wonder if that rock had been sort of like "training wheels" for the rebuilt feature (i.e. put there on purpose by the work crew) or if it had been placed there in an unsanctioned fashion by some random person. Either way, I'm glad I dismounted and had a look before attempting it this weekend. If I had gone over and not seen that big rock there like I expected it to be, I probably would have panic'd and gone OTB. As it was I had to re-psych myself up attempt it, but after a few minutes I gave it a try and made it. I'm sure glad Root Drop is back. -cls

So is that like a One Wheel starter version? Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

I have no real problem with ebikes and I agree with a few points raised here. I'll sum it up with bullet points: I'm wary of anything that threatens the already tenuous balance between mountain biking, land owners, and other user groups. Riding ice tires with spikes on dry ground and ripping up trails on a normal bike could also create issues. Do I really think that hikers and nature lovers care that the bike that just shot past them was electric or human powered? I don't think they care. They would rather there be no bikes on the trails just like they would rather there be no other people on the trail. We all want to enjoy nature our own way and for some that means without other annoying people. Suddenly dropping $7k on a bike is no big deal? Even dentists might not like that price for a 45 lb that only feels like it's 20 lbs when the batteries are charged. Are ebikes going to drive up the cost threshold on bikes and drive it down on scooters? All the bike companies need to watch their back for the motorcycle companies. When what makes a bike 'quality' is more about the motor and electronics than it is about the geometry, companies like Harley Davidson, Aprilla, Honda, etc. are going to be coming for this market. They have much deeper pockets and a much better distribution and supply chain. These are all first world problems. I prefer to just ride my bike like it is and enjoy it than stress over shit like this that I can do nothing about.

I find it enjoyable, lots of rocks but nothing really difficult just have to pick your lines and go. Not much in the way of climing or drops but still quite an enjoyable trail It is covered for the most part but do take plenty of water. Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

I'll gladly buy you some beer if you wanna help me service a fork or two 🙂

A few inches of the right size PVC pipe will do the job too.

If you ride a lot, you should do the lowers service yourself. At the shop, the tech is usually going to pull up the pdf instructions for video and follow the steps, just like you would doing it at home. If you make less than $60/hr spending money, it makes sense to do it yourself. For damper service and seal replacement, you can find a good shop or diy. You should have an Excel spreadsheet with all your suspension units listed - their model year, date purchased, and ride time. Yes, ride time updated at least monthly. Follow the manuf. instructions on service interval at first. If your oil or foam rings still look pretty good, you can fudge on that. If they look terrible, go more frequent. Riding in the dry with a mud guard protecting the stanchions, my foam rings and oil still look good at 2x the Fox recommended lowers interval. But I service my shock more often than recommended. Air suspension performance begins to degrade from the moment you throw a leg over the bike. It's not in your head.

I echo Mack Turtle’s sentiments. Servicing suspension components is easy. That is of course assuming you have some hex wrenches and a ratchet/sockets. If you’re replacing the seals, then it’s worth getting the seal driver tool as it makes that part of the job stupid easy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

IN

Did some riding in CA a couple weeks ago...gravel biking in the Sequoia National Forest. One of my rides was in 100*F weather, with 9% humidity. At 5000-7000 feet above seal level. It was so much easier than a similar ride in ATX would have been. I had a 7 mile climb @ 4.4% and a 1.8 mile climb @ 6.5 % during that ride, and although I stopped to take breaks a few times and didn't exactly fly up those climbs, I didn't feel like I was going to die. It was kinda weird. -cls

I have a Fox 34 140mm 2016 performance elite and a 130mm air shaft to go with it! It would be on my hard tail now if the orange i bought didn’t have such a long head tube that i had to slam my stem with no spacers. If you were interested and wanted to make sure you didn’t get burned on a used fork you could use it for a month and pay me later if you wanted to keep it! It’s just collecting dust and would be willing to part with it for $250. It was fully serviced about a year ago at bss.

Fox 34 stepcast would be a great fork if you can find a deal on a new take off. Or maybe look for a Lauf that someone got tired of after being an early adopter? It would be more comfortable than a steel rigid fork! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk