CBaron

FIYY -CJB

Would these fit a 90lb 12 yo? -CJB

Please keep sharing this info! We've got a Sr & Jr and once the Jr graduates we may find ourselves stepping out on something. Don't know for sure what that would look like, but my wife has long since wanted to try living in Europe. Agreeing on the location may be the challenge...she prefers Italy, I'd like Spain (Gerona) or Germany. I'd also be interested in Central America. I've been to Costa Rica before and while it was pretty great (ca 1998), I feel its also become too popular now. We live in the 78727 zip code and it looks like our zip may have increased the most. My theory is that its because our houses were generally cheaper than the other zip codes, thus demand has risen our prices at a greater %. I watched a video a few weeks back stating that there WILL NOT be a bubble burst here in the foreseeable future. Primary evidence for that was the fact that most of the 'hyped companies' who have announced their coming to ATX have not had those people/jobs arrive yet (Oracle, Tesla, Boring Company, new Apple campus). Buckle up, the rocket is going to continue climbing! -CJB

And to keep with the theme of increasing home values.... I house on the other side of our hood just got locked in at $100k over asking price, landing at $730k!! It was a slightly smaller house, with less updates that ours. That price would more than double the price of our home in under 4 yrs. (and we are in a school district that is less than sought-after). cRaZiNeSs -CJB

We were there 2 weeks ago speaking with the sale agent. He said nothing is available its currently all sold out. He would not even be able to discuss anything with us for 6 mos. THEN...if were able to get ahold of a lot for the next phase it would take 18 mos to get the house completed. So he said that we'd need to be on a 18 mo to 2 yr time frame starting now. AND EVEN THEN, he talked about how challenging it may be to actually secure a lot given how packed the wait list is. Just and FYI for any of you all... Cheers, CJB

Some good nuggets in here. Your a spot-on about bike geometry being driven by the West Coast. -CJB

Respectfully, I'd recommend the OP stay away from your offer. If OP was needing to work through his original question above, then I submit he would very much be overwhelmed with your info. He needs to learn to walk before he can run. I'm a fan of PVD but it legit takes someone with a strong understanding of fit and geo to grasp it. Later, CJB

That video belongs in the "parent bragging" thread! -CJB

All joking aside, I think these sort of economic parameters is what has birthed the tiny-house trends. Cheap, affordable, reductionist and potentially mobile. -CJB

We've got a Sr & a Jr (and a 6th grader). We are contemplating this same thing after our kids graduate. We've been here since the mid-90's and love the hills, lakes, food, etc.. But just last weekend we were both talking about how Austin has simply 'move away from us' over the passed 20yrs. I enjoyed the dope-smoking, birkenstock-wearing hippies, but I'm much less of a fan of the douchie, Lambo-driving 'shiny shirt crowd'. The cycling scene is amazing and that would be greatly missed. But I hear Bentonville has some good riding too.... 😉 On a real estate related note... In the past 6 weeks, I've had 3 separate occasions where someone in that world told me about a house that sold for $100k above asking price! And we are talking $4-500k homes. One of these people (a realtor) said that she is showing clients places out as far away as Jarrell(!!) as options to living in the ATX 'metro-flex'. WTF?!? @bestbike85 the answer to some of your questions are not unlike what has been happening in San Jose CA and Bay Area for past 10+ yrs. Blue collar, working type people simply just don't move in there. They move an hour away and commute in to the city. About 15 yrs ago I worked for a company that had home office near Malibu and I had heard some of the people that lived in the area talking about 50 yr mortgage loans! If your fiscally sensible and have a only moderate level job, then Austin is no longer a place for you. It just not... Later, CJB

I personally don't like it because the frame is a bit too future proof! 🙂 64* HTA! yahhhh no thanks. Later, CJB

Ouch! I suspected it might not be far off. I think your $600-(650) then walk away vice is sound. -CJB

This one isn't bad either. Its a bit lower end (I'm curious as to the retail price??) but has newer geometry and features. -CJB

Agree. That was a pretty good bike in its day and looks to be well taken care of. I abhor Avid juicy brakes but at that price, like you said, he could upgrade a few things easy. Finding some lower cost brakes is not difficult. And converting to 1x is very simple too (while bing pretty low cost also). IMHO he could be all in for around $800. If this bike fit well and has not been 'put away wet' I think it would be a great starting point (for a 6-12 mo MTB experiment).

I'm a navigation neanderthal under normal circumstances. I just began riding with Strava about 4 yrs ago and just primarily as a tracker of my activity (and social tool [I'm not on FB]). When traveling to CO or places in the past I used a good old fashioned paper map. But more recently in the past few years I've found a fondness for Trail Forks. I began with MTB Project, but found it lacking a good bit. But TF was very nice for my use case. This past Fall I spent weeks out in CO and Utah riding solo on new (to me) trails and it never let me down. I've used it in NM and Bentonville with great success too. Locally, I hard ever pull my phone out of my pocket so YMMV there. I think its worth mentioning that all my navigation is from my phone which is kept in my pocket. I pull it out to check directions/navigation and put it back. I see that your wanting something to assist you with a constant feedback head unit type functionality. So my experiences may not prove useful Later, CJB

Fun fact: I use to live in BW. We were there for about 6 yrs, my wife still coaches on the BWBW swim team. To answer your question: yes it will have a somewhat negative impact on your experience. But does that REALLY matter where you're coming from? Prolly not. Walnut Creek really doesn't demand much from equipment to have fun. Likewise, some of the easier trails at Brushy (Pedaler's, Picnic) don't either. But yes, you can easily tell the difference in mediocre stuff and quality stuff. Thats part of why my usual recommendation is to be quality USED stuff from 3-4 yrs ago. I think my recommendation would be to hone in on the correct bikes size (and learn the actual numbers so that you don't rely on monikers like M,L,XL). Then search CL and FB Mkt multiple times per day (maybe even in other cities San Antonio, Houston?). Then when the right bike pops up JUMP on it. If you're diligent and quick, I think you can find a bike in this heightened environment. Likewise, new isn't the end of the world either. If this experiment works for you and you find yourself diving into the deep end in a year, then your entry point bike can turn into your neighborhood kid cruiser. PS- I've got a very busy 36 hrs ahead of me. But I've got an extra hardtail bike in your size range. As long as my son doesn't plan to take it with him for Spring Break, you are welcome to borrow it for the next week. But it might spoil you! 😉 Feel free to hit me up. -Cody Baron 512-6nine4-one3one9

I agree with all of what you are saying. But that's making the assumption that our OP actually sticks with it and becomes a regular rider. In my 25 yrs of cycling experience, a few of which were while owning a bike shop, the majority of the people buy a bike and then it turns into hanging 'garage art' after about 3 months. Quite often, my advise is to buy used, buy cost-effective, and give it about a year of "test riding" to see if you actually pick up the sport. After that 1st year is over and you've proven to yourself (and wife/family?) that this is now your thing....tee off on something nice! Under normal non-pandemic circumstances, I usually recommend a used $500-600 bike (which can equate to a new $1200 bike). If bought used, then when it gets sold in a year it will still be with close to what the newbie paid for it. If hooked, then I'd probably recommend trying to step up to $2-2.5k and he could have a bike that could be ridden definitely. But its true, given the lack of both used & new bike availability, it makes 1st time bike purchasing very challenging. Good luck, CJB

There was a nice big crew out for the ride today. I didn't count but I bet we rolled out with 10-12 people. Weather was great, too great really. The dog walkers were out in force. Next week is my kids spring break, so I'll be out. I hope ya'll have a good time! Later, CJB

Do you have a link? I've ridden my bike through what looked like a camping area in Color Preserve. It looked pretty nice, but not terribly private. It was not too far from a parking lot and I'd think you may get a decent amount of MTB traffic around you. I guess depends on what you are looking for. -CJB

Based on my historical experience.....until the officials writing tickets come in or the fences go up. -CJB

At first I was going to say that a fence may not be necessary. IMHO BCP acquisition doesn't necessarily mean fences, usually its endangered species habitat that does that. However, upon closer inspection of the exact location of this property, combined with intimate knowledge of fun it is to play with toys that roll down down stairs on their own inertia....I'd say yes. A fence is in your future. All of this is simply conjecture on my part based on about 22 yrs of hanging around Austin, the MTB community and attending stakeholder meetings. I'm no expert. Later, CJB

I'd recommend against wasp spray. I was researching alternative deterrents this summer before my big 'walk-a-bout' trip. I saw a video of a guy who used this on himself and it was NOT effective enough. I'd 2nd the bear spray. (He may have used that on himself too, can't recall for sure) But the bear spray was POTENT! -CJB

Seems like a good time/place for my Rattlesnake on Deception video. Good ol' Mittens! This may have been my 1st or 2nd ride ever at Deception. It was May of 15'.

Great feedback, thanks! -CJB

Yep, my wife was the girl who carried her Bible in her backpack at school....and I was the guy who'd make fun of her for doing so. Yet look where we are at now!....21 yrs of strong marriage this April. Oh, I'm 100% is this same camp too. As a seasoned adult I can see so much idiocy in this idea. But as a dad with 3 sons, I sooooo think we need kids nowadays to be thinking big, thinking outside the box and willing to take chances (OFF THE COUCH, AWAY FROM THE XBOX)! Cheers, CJB