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Wait, what? I've never heard a negative word regarding SRAM brakes

Absolutely. I don't tell people to wear a helmet because if you are stupid enough to ride without one you are probably unlikely to listen to me. But, if I see someone without a helmet who is lost and needs directions or has a bike problem and needs a tool, I just tell them that I have a hard rule - if you are not going to help yourself by wearing a helmet then I am under no obligation to help you either. Generally I catch shit for saying that, but once some guy (with a broken chain) had his girlfriend (also without a helmet) say "see, I told you."

You are not wrong there. But when I see a barney rider ,, sans helmet riding past the warning signs at Brushy or Greenbelt or the Nut.. they just obviously are making a choice and your argument is not going to sway them no matter how correct it may or may not be. The older I get the more I learn my opinions dont matter and if they choose to not wear a helmet they and their family can deal with the consequences. I choose to wear one and that is what matters to me. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

I was going to be the first to say this, but I just can't make that joke anymore, because I am actually pleased with the Srams on my new Giant Trance. It's still hard to believe after the nightmare I had with those damn Sram Elixirs I had on my Cannondale. I finally "fixed" those Srams (like the old joke goes) by replacing them with Shimanos.

Except that we, as a society, bear the brunt of the cost of their years of vegetative paralysis. I think that we should have some type of DNR scenario. It is the law to ride with a helmet. You can opt out but you have to wear a visible bracelet or something like that (think of it as an "un-medic alert"). If you crash and we find you unconscious, we get to keep riding without guilt. If you get taken to a hospital, it is all on you. Insurance does not need to pay - like if you get in an accident while drunk your auto insurance does not need to pay out. The problem with people that don't wear helmets is that they don't clean the gene pool, they all become a burden on us, boosting our insurance and wasting our money. What really gets me are the guys without a helmet that have pads, gloves and a camelback. I see them all the time at Walnut. WTF?

Hi y'all! Welp, today was the T100/40 and I ended up bailing on it. I fell crossing Walnut three weeks ago and twisted my knee, chipped a piece of cartilage and sprained my ACL. Will get arthroscopy to remove the chip and smoove over the joint after I get back from vacay. I did feel good enough to do a Gondola assisted 20 miler over much of the same trail and WOW the trails here are magnificent. What I learned: 1) it was good to come here and gaze in wonder at the Black Bear Pass climb from town. It looks even worse than the Strava tracks I'd been obsessing over for months. It was also good to become familiar with some of the trails, with how the race is conducted (I volunteered as a course marshal up on the mountain), how to dress for the weather, how I'd feel at 8500 feet, how I'd perform at 8500 feet, etc. I still learned a lot even without racing. 2) I changed up my riding patterns and I am pretty sure I saw improvement in my fitness before I messed my knee up. I did several weeks with very little intensity, just "sweet spot" and lower including a ~4-5 hr "sweet spot" ride on Saturdays. Then added some intensity during my work commutes, 3-5 minute high effort intervals as the streets and lights allowed. I think I'd just do "more" in the future. More hours if I could fit it into my schedule and extend my one long ride to 5-6 hrs. 3) I put together a hardtail for the event as my XC ride and I think it would be perfectly sufficient for this race. The singletrack is SO F*CKING buff! A full suspension trail or XC bike would def give me more confidence on fast, narrow DH sections but my new-to-me Indy Fab was a hoot. 4) I'd do more work on sorting out what works for me in terms of nutrition. I was going to go with Tailwind, which almost entirely carb based. I was more focused on "just riding" and getting my bike ready. 5) Maybe do more events to avoid putting all of my event eggs in one basket. 6) These racers are BEASTS!! 7) Telluride is beautiful! My family has loved vacationing here. Wife initially thought I was sticking us in the boonies just to serve my desire to do this race but she loves it here. Thanks for all of your advice and tips! If my family will come back, I might try it next year! (though Black Bear Pass scares the shit out of me)

I've been riding a ~2011 Niner with 10-speed and old Hope brakes. With all of the deals going on these days I managed to pick up a new 11-speed XT and some new XT brakes. Let me just say two things: 1. If you have never cut your own brake lines because you were afraid of screwing it up, it is WAY easier than you think. The front brakes come pre-cut (and close to the perfect length) and the rear takes about 2 minutes to do it right. A quick bleed and you are ready to go. I love the bleed system on Shimano, never thought I would say that, but they really do make great brakes. 2. 11-speed is dirt cheap these days, if you are not running it, take a look at it. I had a 42T on my 10-speed and going to 11-speed allowed me to get more range. I put a 32T on the front, getting me a little more top end vs. my 30T and the total gear range is better than the old 10-speed. The weird gap is between the 46T and the 37T. I rarely ride in the granny on the back (with my 42T most of my climbing was in the middle 36T) so it feels like the other options are more evenly spaced. A few hundred bucks and two hours of time were well worth it to bring this bike into the current decade. And the old bits can transition to my HT eventually so that I can get rid of the damn Elixr brakes...

What's wrong with your brakes is that they're SRAM.😝

Added this to my skills set this week. Things like this were intimidating but I finally bit the bullet. Here's how it is done: http://www.austinbike.com/index.php/repairs/352-upgrading-to-shimano-xt-brakes I am still not comfortable cutting down the hoses on my Hope brakes, so I don't know if those will go onto the hardtail just yet. Next up is learning to service a rear shock and a fork. Maybe I need to bring a 6-pack to Mack Turtle's place one of these days.

So long as you're paying for the service, it does not matter. I worked in bike shops for six years and we never got upset about that. What do you need "set up"? I've build dozens and dozens of new bikes out if the box from various manufacturers. Doing it right is not difficult, but it's a little more involved than the manufacturer might lead you to believe.

Shops make more on service than sales.

New craft beer store opened where Hammrick's used to be on Cypress Creek in Cedar Park. https://www.thebrewtiquecedarpark.com/

🤔I always wear a helmet and require my kids to when on a bike, but I remember an article years ago on statistics of traumatic brain injury before and after helmets became mainstream in downhill skiing Due to the “I got a helmet on so I can try this drop, maneuver, etc... that I don’t have the skill set for” brain injuries were more frequent

Yes, that does help. I dislike horses and ATVs far more than a few tree gates. I'll keep that in mind next time I labor through them.

The newer Shimano brakes are not without there own issues. Wandering bite point and pumping up for braking.

Exactly why you should buy my take off SRAMs. As a reward to you for finding my favorite glove I lost I'll sell mine for a friends and family discount. Hit me up. You have the number. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

I rode the Madrone / Juniper Ridge loop today. I cleared several "bad spots". Two were truly downed trees across the trail. Several others were face slappers that had grown into the trail. If I could ride under or around it while staying on the trail, I left it. I will get back out to clear the rest of Juniper Ridge next week. I also "no dabbed" all of the tree gates but one. I snagged a pedal on that one.

If you’re riding without a helmet you’re already disabled😝

Yes I have ridden Juniper Ridge. I ride it at least once per year. I think I have ridden every obstacle on the trail without dabbing at least once. Note I did not say I have no-dabbed the entire trail on the same ride. I still miss and miss a lot. You might want to know that not only have I ridden it, I also helped build it (second only to Charlie on the number of hours spent). When we are cutting trees for a new trail, we will always leave it on the 'tighter' side. Why? We can (and do) go back and take out more trees. But we cannot go put them back. So we leave the trail tighter at the beginning and open it up where we think it needs to be wider. There were also other considerations for that trail. One was keeping horses off the single track. Leaving tight tree gates and low hanging branches discourages horses. The other was ATVs. Same thing there. A group not associated with MTB followed the single track we had just cut and was widening it and smoothing it for ATVs. We chose not to build and maintain an ATV trail so it needs to be narrower. We intentionally left the next couple of tree gates passed where the ATV folks has cleared. So how do you ride a tree gate that is narrower than your handlebars? (I could not find the Dirt Bike magazine so I will describe it.) As you approach the tree gate, stand up and level your pedals once you have enough speed to coast thru. Keep your knees and elbows in line but you don't need to try to 'tuck them in'. Pick the side you will favor - usually the side that is farthest along the trail (as opposed to closest to you). Move your bike to that side of the trail so that hand will hit the tree if you tried to just ride thru. Just before that hand hits the tree, pull that hand back like you were steering a slow speed turn in that direction while keeping the bike vertical (no lean). That will effectively "stop" that hand while moving the other hand forward. Once the 'other hand' passes the tree on that side, lean the bike aggressively like you were turning in the opposite direction of the steered turn. The lean should clear the hand that was about the hit the tree. Shove that hand forward and straighten the bike up right again. Your bars are now past both trees. Hopefully, you can clear the rest of your bike between the trees. The pedal on the 'favored side' will be the next thing to work on clearing. Hopefully this word description makes sense. If I screw up this move, I end up stopped, standing on the pedals with my shoulder against one of the trees. From there I can untangle myself and ride away without dabbing. The more I practice this move the higher speed I can carry thru the trees. I suggest you start learning it my planning to ride into the tree gate and stop with your shoulder on a tree, then learn the move. Then learn to carry some speed (not stop). I hope that helps.