AustinBike

23 hours ago, cxagent said:

Only if you plan to walk some. Those first couple of gravelly climbs would make SS tough. There are some other places too. Most of it would be fine on a SS

That said - if I don't know the trail I would default to a geared bike. Gear give me options. But that is just me.

I'll take some gears out there this week. I guess it is better to bring a gun to a knife fight than a knife to a gunfight.

I have just hung my camelbak in the garage for years and never had an issue with cleaning, but I only use water. Every other year I get a funky mold in the tube, so I use the cleaning tool and cleaning tabs, 5 minutes later I am good for another 2 years or so.

YES!!! Lime is a menace to the downtown area. Scooters are strewn everywhere. Why does out city have to become polluted with their scooters just to satisfy their business model. I see the scooter companies being like Uber/Lyft - they will push things as far as they can until the city has to step in and take charge. If you've ever had an Uber stop dead in the middle of the street to let people out you know what I mean. Zero situational awareness, it is 100% all about them. They need to understand that they are part of an ecosystem and that they need to get along with everyone else. You are part of the ecosystem and can run in harmony, but when you overpower the ecosystem you become a cancer. And you need extreme measures to battle cancer in the ecosystem.

6 minutes ago, Cafeend said:

My Ventana

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
 

Nice single!

4 hours ago, Barry said:

I had to look twice to confirm my wife didn't write this. Same bike, same starting tires and same ultimate conclusion. 

If your wife is posting as "Cody" then I think you have bigger issues than tires.

2 hours ago, cxagent said:

Back to McKinney Roughs - 

I thought your report was valid but missed some of the issues.

The biggest issue is that LCRA has opened the area to MTB use. They got beat about the head and shoulders by the horse riders and such who don't want bicycles in THEIR park / trails. I give LCRA a lot of credit for starting the process to make McKinney Roughs a good MTB area. Even though it will take years.

The 'main horse trails' like Youpon are beaten to death by the horses. The hoof prints in mud make the trail surface like riding post holes. That trail has potential as a MTB trail but it would need major work. And that work could be destroyed by horses. I would just leave most of that trail the horses. The area that Youpon loops around has major potential for great MTB trail.

At the moment, I cannot connect the MTB trails into a loop. Some of the trails are closed to MTB because LCRA thinks they are too tough for MTB (e.g. closed section of Pine Ridge  I agree that many people could get in big trouble on those sections). Another major connection is closed due to a washout of the trail in the floods a couple of years ago. LCRA is working to build a bridge across that area but it will be years if ever before that is done.

The Ridge trail is closed to MTB because LCRA is reserving that one trail for ADA (wheelchair) use.  It is easy to work around that one except for the Woodland trail which became 'hiking only' because Ridge is currently the only access.

Some trails were clearly marked when we installed signs last year. Then in the spring, a BUNCH of brush was bull dozed and now I can't find a trail. It all looks like an open meadow with some brown sign post scattered about. I suspect this may change soon.

Overall I look at McKinney Roughs as major potential. I could ride there if I wanted. But if I was going to drive that far and pay an entrance I would probably go on to Rocky Hill. Generally speaking, this is not currently a good MTB trail system. It does not form a loop I can ride. Most of the trails are either too easy for me to enjoy or too hard for a newer MTB'r to enjoy. Given time and incentive this could become a great riding area by building new trails. 

I agree 100%. I would be willing to do some trail work if they were to build some MTB-only trails. And I also agree that getting the bikes off of the horse trails would make both groups happy.

3 hours ago, cxagent said:

I would say Barry nailed it. Grelle has some good trails but they are hard to access. I will say that Grelle has HUGE potential. There is a lot of area that desperately needs trail thru it (see map).

Keep in mind that LCRA only recently opened McKinney Roughs, Grelle and Shaffer Bend to MTB. Allowing MTB is a good start but it does not by itself make for a great trail system. That takes time, effort and a lot of work. Generally speaking the existing trails are existing jeep roads, horse trails or hiking trails that LCRA will allow MTB to use. Each use has its own conflict with MTB use. Like horses digging up the trail tread.

If you go ride Grelle, here are some tips -

You can find a map at - https://www.lcra.org/parks/Documents/parkmaps/Grelle-Recreation-Area-Map.pdf

Park at the Horse Trail Head (blue gate on the right before your get to Park Host trailer or main entrance). You have to ride Fox Run to get to the better trails. It is a gravelly jeep road with some large climbs. Before you get to the top of the 2nd / last climb, turn left onto Comanche Trail for the shortest entrance to good trail. Don't worry about that black diamond rating - it was for one marginal spot that has been "improved". But if your turn left at the next intersection, you might find some un-mapped trail that deserves a black diamond. Keep an eye out for some un-mapped trail that is REALLY good but dead ends at the moment. You don't want just anybody riding some of that. 😉

Don't try to ride Wild Turkey Trail from the lake. It is closed to MTB due to all the steps. It would be ridable by someone who can track stand to recover their balance before continuing the climb, but LCRA does not want it open to just anybody.

We have cleared and marked a new connection from the camping area to the horse area that is beginner friendly. Unfortunately that dumps a beginner out at the gravel climbs of Fox Tail so a beginner-ish MTB ends up walking a lot to get to anything they might enjoy riding.

Cottontail, Mustang Ridge and Overlook are the best MTB trails IMHO. Most of the rest are jeep roads or connections. That would be about 5 miles of good trail. So use the pass you paid for to stop at Muleshoe for a lap or two to get good ride for the entrance fee. They are on the same pass. But it is not the same pass as Pace Bend or Reimers Ranch.

Thanks, I think I might head out to Grelle this week, depending on how things work out at ABWHQ. I hear there may be some networking installations to deal with.

Is it singlespeedable?

Yeah, Grelle is all about making sure that we cover all the trails in the region. AB world HQ has strict requirements and yearly performance reviews are coming up. 

Yeah, the place is probably great for families and hiking. Seems like a horse and zip line would be great. Just not together.

Fan of Ardents on my 29er. 2.4 sealant compliant tires work well for me. I've heard complaints about Ardent Race - probably good for racing but not for regular riding on technical trails.

The TL;DR - don't bother.

Sometimes the AustinBike World Headquarters sends me on a mission to scout out a new trail. And then sometimes this happens - I'm sent out to review something where I would have been better off riding urban around town. Headed out to McKinney Roughs yesterday and it is a mess. The trails are in terrible condition. They are almost all jeep track and terribly torn up by horses. While I was able to pull off more than 1000' of climbing in the ~12 miles of riding, it was pretty sketchy. Some of the uphills are sharp turns with switchbacks, and so loose/rutted that it was hard to clear them on my singlespeed. I would have been better off with gears unfortunately, primarily because of the terrible trail surface.

Here's the full review: http://www.austinbike.com/index.php/east-of-austin/339-mckinneyroughs

Now that the travel is done for the years I am looking to hit up some new trails. Grelle and Colorado Bend are on my list. If anyone else has suggestions on relatively close locations that I might be missing, ping me and I will add them to my list.

I am a big fan of these on my singlespeed: https://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYOOCM29X24/on-one-chunky-monkey-29x24-tyre

Even with the shipping a pair of these is cheaper than anything I can get in the US and more importantly they perform great and last about a year (20-30 miles per week on the bike).

For my squishy I use Ardent 2.4's, they work fine but are definitely more expensive. May try the monkeys on the squishy one of these days. 

4 hours ago, Hakalugi said:

Looking forward to this event!! I've ridden w/ LA a couple of times... Juan Pelota isn't enough to git er done on this ride .

One of my claims to fame was that I beat LA in a race - on his own property 🙂

A few years back the Mellow Johnny's classic was run on his ranch and he ended up with a DNF. Technically anyone that finished the race beat him. 

Wow, that is an awesome price. I paid $91 for mine.

10 hours ago, crazyt said:

shimano was only 10% off, but sram and kmc were 30% off (quicklinks and chains).

I prefer KMC. Their 10-speed chains have a multiuse quick link, Shimano positions theirs as single use only (according to a very well respected wrench I talked to back in the day). Maybe they can be used more than once, but because of this I stick with KMC.

7 hours ago, DesertNomad said:

Not like he’d give us the time of day anyway.  

My sentiments on the LA story are mixed.  While he did dope and did lie and did treat some good people like shit, he also put in serious saddle time training to win 7.  Juicing alone doesn’t buy you 7.  The insanely intense training still has to happen.  

Yeah, no kidding. I am always going on the assumption that everyone was juicing in one way or another. His juicing probably made him 5-10% better, just enough to win, but what if he could have won without it? We'll never know.

The Anderson store will be shutting down, the Lamar store will supposedly be open. Are the items at Lamar also 30% off?

Yep, it is stories like those that made me consider the change.

I'm the king of ass-related advice apparently.

I'd be interested in seeing this, exclusive of any VC/angel funding. 

Right now the models seem primed for implosion. The charging piece is especially troubling: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/charging-electric-scooters-is-a-cutthroat-business/560747/

Just wait until people start doing the math on this. It is similar to being an Uber driver. In the early days people were very hung ho, great way to make money. Then they started cracking down on the drivers, it was harder to make money. Then the real costs started to show through in wear and tear on cars, insurance riders, etc. Eventually people started to realize that the primo side hustle was closer to minimum wage than they had imagined.

Give it time on the "wranglers". It is coming. As the economics tighten on the companies, the rewards will start to fall off. And that is when things turn inwards.

There is room for one scooter company, maybe 2 (more like 1.5). Definitely not 3. 

Bought one of these and it is head and shoulders above the Camelbak. The TL;DR if you don't want to wade through the review is that it is no longer uncomfortable since they have changed the bladder design. Camelbak has a few advantages, but the Osprey lifetime warranty is pretty sweet and I am happy to be in their camp now. Performance had them at ~$95 in their closeout.

http://www.austinbike.com/index.php/product-reviews/338-review-osprey-raptor-10-hydration-pack

11 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

Heard it on the radio that this is going to be at all Austin City Parks.  E-bikes and scooters on the trails.  They mentioned north and south walnut creek trails but it wasn't clear if this includes off-road trails or just groomed trails.  I can't find any info on it.

All we can hope is that the scooter companies all go belly up. Once they run out of their VC cushion they'll come up with the unfortunate truth that their business models are unsustainable. Literally. They need to be rounded up each night, charged, and then redeployed every morning. There is no way this is viable when you consider the high capital cost of entry and the high operational costs. Hopefully the demise will happen quickly.

I have passed Lance on one of those unnamed trails. We were about to go down it and he passed by going up it. Just sayin'.

I have KS's on my bikes. The LEV on my singlespeed has been great and worry-free. The i950r on my full suspension has been sketchy. It drops easy but I usually have to grab it with my legs to pull it back up. Will replace that with something better when I replace the frame in the next year or so. 

This is my daily workout, down around the lake and back, about 18 miles round trip, always been a great way to kill some time and keep in shape. Earlier this year they put up the "no motorized vehicles" sign to keep the scooters off the trail. This afternoon I saw 2 guys from park police and asked them when are they going to start enforcing that because the scooter situation is getting out of control.

They aren't. And it gets worse. Starting on 12/1 they are going into a 1 year "pilot program" of allowing scooters on town lake trails. 

Fuuuuuuuu.......dge.

Get ready to start dodging frat bros and douchebags on scooters racing through the trail. They did impress upon me the need to call 311 any time we see idiots going too far (i.e. racing, weaving in and out of people, knocking into people, being general idiots, etc.) Those complaints will get registered, it's our only way to show the impact.

Brace yourselves, scooters are coming.