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While I don't currently have a bell on my bike, I have used one, and probably will again. But as I've stated in in other discussions, I constantly announce myself around corners, and speak to nearly every person I pass. I try real hard not to surprise folks. I agree that as the faster and mechanized trail user, it is a cyclists responsibility not to negatively affect another reasonable trail user's experience. And while a quiet cyclist can always surprise someone around a blind corner, the hiker has to take some responsibility for being cognizant of their surroundings. Walking 3 abreast on a narrow paved path or head-down hiking with loud headphones on singletrack while never checking your surroundings are examples of hikers not being responsible trail users. Certainly some of those folks are showing hiker entitlement, but I think it's largely people just being oblivious.

Having both ridden a lot on older rims and now ~3 years on wider rims (while also still having my SS HT with the narrow rims) I can tell you wider rims are huge in what they allow you to do. I used to have to run higher pressures just to keep from burping--let alone pinch flats. I couldn't run certain tires on the narrow rims because riding off-camber would cause burping and putting extra pressure to keep that from happening made them ride horribly.

Sorry, my earlier post was meant to be sarcastic. I should have included some kind of emoji or something, I guess.

Wife and I rode from 1826 down boneyard through firehouse. Kudos to the builders...was a lot of fun!

just when i think ive got this rockbike riding down i watch this dude. god damn

Disclosure - I don't own this house or know the people that do. I just saw the "coming soon" sign out front when I was walking back from the WC trail work day today. This place backs up into Walnut Creek near the fire road access to the top of Powerline. Some of the houses along this stretch have gates out the back yard to go straight into the park. I'm just posting here for any interested person that likes to ride and might be considering a place in this area. It'd be cool to have more mountain bikers in the neighborhood. Google Maps

Here's my old setup: Rider: 190lbs Rims: 35mm internal Tires: 29x2.4 Pressure: ~22 front, 25 rear Bike: Steel hardtail (Karate Monkey) Riding: Pretty much anything. no huge hucks or anything, but lots of chunk (3lap dragonslayer, double down at brushy), and moderate drops (2-3 ft) Loved the setup. I rode the same bike on mellower terrain (midwest) for about a year with narrow rims, and the wide rims made a noticeable difference in stability, comfort, and grip. Never tried inserts, so I can't compare 🙂

I was up at Brushy one day. Just coming to the end of Mulligan, where there are the two steep descents. Fortunately, my mind told me to stop and take a look before heading down the first one, and I'm glad I did. There were kids playing at the bottom and one kid half way up. Their moms, or who I assumed were their moms, were hanging out on the concrete pavement just having a good 'ol talk time. I rode down the second section and then went up to the mothers to talk to them — politely — about the danger the kids were in. They barely paid any attention to me, kind of brushing me off while they shouted to the kids to "...get away from there...". Then they went back to talking with themselves. Being dismissed, I just rode away. On the other hand... Riding on Bambi in SATN (I think it's Bambi... The section between Convict Hill rd. and Slaughter... I was heading south coming up to a, for me, kind of wide sweeping "S" bend that is blind to oncoming things. Again, something told me to be careful and I kind of pulled closer to the right of the trail. I was glad I did, because right after doing so a young kid came flying, and I mean flying, around the corner. He saw me and quickly pulled to the other side and almost lost it. Thankfully he didn't and then continued again at speed down the trail. About 10 seconds later a second kid came down the trail also going at a clip, but not as fast as the first kid. Seems they might have been racing. This is what we're faced with... All the different trail users just not considering other users. And this is unfortunately just normal human actions... Just look at how people use roadways. Or even sidewalks. This being the case... As a trail user, how do you keep yourself safe from the uncaring others who use the trail... And as trail developers/maintainers, how do you get out in front of the potential problems they can cause?

I use mine when people have headphones on, and can't hear normal conversation. If I come up behind them, and they can't hear the bell then I have to go around them. I get comments from them at times saying I should warn them...well, I TRIED!

no worries, its the innerweb....... i can definitely think of a few obstacles i'd like to gap if i only had the speed (😁)

It addresses many of the questions I see/hear - https://crankjoy.com/mountain-bike-etiquette-we-are-not-entitled/?fbclid=IwAR0xSWt8hLZUrqHFDUx5x2QqzdeEPJ9BjRWRWBubjRdMAQ66IrismwCRSHs And no I did not write it. Or have any input on it.

I'm sure it's way easier when you jump over most of the technical features...

Here in NJ there is a ton of buzz about the Kingdom situation, most of us have been there and its on the short list for most weekend trips. No doubt there were issues with riders disrespecting landowners. Many blame certain subgroups of riders, but there are douches in every group to go around. The interesting thing is even the successful businesses in the area who rely on bikers for their livelihood aren't that upset. There is a lot of talk about it growing too fast and all the locals wanting to pare it back a little. Mountain biking has taken off like crazy, and virtually no one has the money for proper infrastructure, except of course, Bentonville. I think its gonna bounce back in a few years once the spotlight is somewhere else. But of course, riding on wet trails? beat them to within an inch of their lives with a rubber hose if you ask me.

I have biked all over the world and relied on the kindness of strangers. Imagine being in Seoul or Singapore or London and having someone show up with a bike for you and take you to the trails. You really need to pay that karma back. And check out Brushy while you are here. I don't know those as well, I'd be a crappy tour guide.

OK, who else is going? I'm going out the day before and camping. Gonna be epic!

In Indian Art, musical forms are said to evoke an emotional essence, or Rasa, of which there are eight. Nothing says Veeram (वीरं) (Heroism) quite like this piece from Knopfler!

Perfect, and I have a new bike to abuse myself on. EDIT: Registered.

Anything this guy does is worth watching.

Truth. A centaur will totally fuck you up.

= good idea to have a personal locator beacon -- InReach, SPOT, etc. as your backup.