AustinBike

Started building my hardtail. Step 1 was getting wheels. Got a hell of a deal on some Chris Kings with Arch EX rims and DT Swiss spokes. Everything was great. My fork is a Rock Shox Reba RL TI (probably ~2011 or so), 20mm. I was using this on my FS and pulled it off to put on a Pike. Since the pike needed a 15mm axle and I had a different set of Kings on that bike, I got the 15mm converter and tossed the old 20mm axle in the parts bin. When my wheels arrived last night I pulled the old 20mm axle out because the new set has an LD shell and it should fit. But it did not. Cannot get the axle into the shell, it goes up to the bearing and then I can't get it past the bearing. (in the pic below it goes in to just past the threads, it is a metal on metal issue, not the o-ring). Tried pushing real hard, but do not want to damage the hub. Is there a different bearing size for King hubs? It seems like the bearing is only marginally smaller than the axle. Any thoughts?

Yeah, but the counter to that is following someone who knows the lines but is soooo much better than you. I suffer from this all of the time chasing Chuck and Nando. I've gone down things I shouldn't have trying to keep up.

Very cool, building one myself (the bike, not the frame.) I thought that as I got older I would be more of a FS bike guy, but the more I ride my hardtail SS the more I think that I don't need all of that suspension for most of what I ride.

I was promised there would be no math

What I mean by a threat is what you are seeing reflected in the pricing. $50 for lift pass and trail access or $50 for trail access. If they priced it at $50 for lift and $10 for trail (to match RPR) then people with e-bikes could pay the $10, ride everything down and use the battery to take them back up. In essence, they are not able to amortize the cost of the lift as quickly if they allow people to bypass it. They already have a tenuous business model to begin with (lift access in a region without huge elevation and a very high per-usage cost relative to alternatives.) Add in a competitive threat to their lift service and their high fixed (and sunk) cost will give them razor thin margins. When you consider that AF can do bikes in the summer and skis in the winter, they have an almost year-round service. While, theoretically we have year-round seasons as well here, when it is 100F for 12 weeks straight or rains every weekend for 2 months, what happens to that season? Realistically, because Austin is not a "destination" for biking like AF is, people are more likely to skip a ride there because there is nothing compelling them (like a 12-hour drive does for AF). When you are at AF you drove that distance, you will ride every day that you planned to, but if you were going to go to SM this weekend and it rained on Friday you might skip it. I am highly skeptical of their business model and unfortunately, from what I am seeing, they are taking more of an elitist view of the market ("we're the ONLY lift in TX") instead of having an ear to the community. Why are they not being more forthcoming to the market? Why have they not reached out here? Why have they not said more through social media. Bikers are a very talkative bunch. Everyone here is frustrated on the lack of information - that will eventually bite them in the ass because they are not taking the time to cultivate the market they plan to serve.

You are 100% correct on this. They do not want anyone on the property that does not have a lift ticket, so the way to enforce it and keep people like me away (cheap and like to climb) is to say that it is $50 whether you use a pass or not. And yes, e-bikes are the real threat to a lift system.

This is stupidity. They were supposed to open a few weeks ago and the season pass was $199 through April 19. Shave 3-4 weeks off of that and it gets reduced to the bargain price of $199, for a savings of $0. Either shift the season or drop the price, you missed your deadline, that is not the way to endear yourself to customers. Said a marketing professional. Who is currently working on a marketing plan for mountain biking. Fools. They will learn, but probably not soon enough.

Well, you know what they say about men with a long reach...

Urban ride leaving from my house @ 5, ride for 60-90 mins, then Draught House for beer.

My steel hardtail is a Vassago Verhauen (single speed) and I am in the process of building up an identical geared hardtail. I believe this is the perfect bike for Austin. I may be biased. Here is the approximate geometry:

That is a really good point. As someone who just watched a fellow rider walk his bike out of the GB a couple of weeks back, I'd hate to drop $50 and eat it bad on the first run down. I know ski resorts don't do a per-ride ticket, but I could see the value of getting in a couple runs after a day at RPR.

First of (unfortunately) many. I would think that riding a scooter drunk is as punishable as DUI in a car. I know it is for bikes. This needs to be investigated more.

No, they will not. They were a mess this weekend and it was rainy/overcast. It will be a while before WC is good to ride.

Three stems, all 25.4mm. Let me know if you can use any of these:

The Cameron/Dessau route looks like it has sidewalk the whole way from 183 to Parmer to Yeager then to tech ridge, going over I-35. Has anyone ever tired that?

And, in case anyone is wondering, Walnut Creek will probably be closed for the month of February:

Here are two options from central Austin. A 22 mile around the lake and a 32 mile that avoids the hike and bike trail but goes all the way out to the (far) YMCA on the SWCT.

As I understand it, off leash is north of the creek and on-leash is south of the creek. Someone that knows more can correct me as that was an old distinction from many years ago.

Technically, it was vodka and black cherry Bai Bubbles (https://www.drinkbai.com/bubbles/bolivia-black-cherry). Due to my improved health situation over the last couple years I limit my beer intake. Beer is so perfect after rides that I rarely drink it at home. Just mentioned to the wife yesterday that we have beer in the downstairs fridge that is from September or October of last year.

AustinBike World Headquarters has approved the update, it is live now on the site. http://www.austinbike.com/images/trails/walnutcreek/WC2017.pdf

The AB world headquarters notified me of this thread. There were 3 links, one was invalid. The other 2 are still valid.

To me the only sketchy part is the weird 3-way intersection at airport. Outside of that the rest is a breeze, I go through there all the time.

You should show up to a Tuesday R&I. They'll probably be urban for the next few weeks based on weather, but you'll find people to ride with and you'll have fun. The team Shazam people I talked about are almost always at the R&I as well.

There is a whole category of tool kits that fit into bottle cages. Stuff like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GFDS39S/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07GFDS39S&pd_rd_w=QEXqX&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=6k195&pf_rd_r=7AFH8RWK1969K1C4BJ5D&pd_rd_r=19b6f435-24bd-11e9-a6ca-87394bc783d5 Basically, when you ride you have multiple choices: Bottle cages - but things fly out Under seat - can get muddy, gets in the way of droppers On frame - either in a bag or just strapped Jersey pocket - smaller items can fall out Belt - space limited Waist pack - good for small rides Full pack - good for large rides For me the answer to all of this is that I need to do a good assessment of what actually needs to be carried and how safe I feel with each of the options. Urban riding is bottles in cages, pump on frame, tools in seat pack, phone in pocket and no keys. Long rides are everything in the camelback. It is the intermediate rides (mostly WC on the singlesepeed) where I need to determine the optimal cargo configuration.

Turns out there is a key clip in there just like on my osprey, so the keys would not fall out. Runners swear by it, might try it at Walnut a few times.