AustinBike

One of the things you'll find about a singlespeed is that if you have sliding dropouts, the dropouts will move over time and you will need to crank them back occasionally. I keep an eye on my chain tension and when it can move up or down more than ~1/2" I tighten it up a little more.

On 11/7/2023 at 5:34 AM, mack_turtle said:

Koko's Bavarian on the east side. They have been "Temporarily closed" for quite a while, which has me concerned. I hope they reopen. Central Machine Works is right next door and also a great spot.

Eh, good riddance. Their "Bavarian" food was a major disappointment for me. It was about as authentic as the Tex Mex that you would find in München.

Check seat post. Seat. Pedals. Chain ring. Pedals.

All of those things can create noise when pedaling.

The first thing to try is does it creak when pedaling while standing? If it does not creak, that rules out seat post and seat. 

Then, after that I would try taking the pedals off, cleaning them, lubing them and put them back on. If they are clipless, try riding with regular shoes, not clipped in and see if that is the problem.

If it still creaks, I'd try the chainring. I have had chainrings on my DUB crankset make noise. Not a fan of DUB.

On 10/26/2023 at 10:55 AM, ATXZJ said:

I picked mine up from Kelly's liquor in Las Cruces. Had a bunch of Oktoberfest beers this year and the La Cumbre has been the only one that wasn't full blown meh. 

The problem is that most of that shit is made in August. If you make it in March, like you are supposed to, then you gotta over hop it. Same concept as an IPA - lots of hops to help it keep the flavor over a longer period of time.

I have been drinking that and I have to agree with you.

However, I am embarrassed to be drinking that in Oktober, please don't let anyone know.

16 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

Behold! the form of your destroyer!

https://global.yamaha-motor.com/showroom/event/japan-mobilityshow-2023/ypj/

This looks like someone used ChatGPT to design the worst e-bike ever.

Fayetteville was great, there are plenty of trails to ride and beer to drink.

https://www.austinbike.com/index.php/arkansas

On 9/28/2023 at 9:24 AM, mtb_jeremy said:

I feel like it was around 2006.  One of my fondest memories was with a Kona Demo event there in the late 90s.  I had the chance to ride a Stinky Deluxe up then down the trail.  At the time, 4" travel full suspension 26" bike felt like I was floating on a cloud as I dropped those ledges.

I used to ride it on a hardtail with ~80mm on the fork.

Would love to try it now on my FS carbon 130mm squishy with a seat dropper. I wonder if I would walk away saying, eh, what was all the fuss about?

This is the same day as the Enchilada Buffet.

Also, after you have the big storm roll through and you don't have internet or TV, don't just take the "oh there's power outages, it must be that" excuse. Went outside this morning and my fiber optic cable is gone, taken down by a tree two doors down. Ugh.

Yeah, heat does not bother me as much because I am lucky enough to be able to ride every day. The acclimation got hosed a bit this year as we did a bunch of road trips, but I have consistently spent ~15-20 hours a week on the bike. 

Of course if I head back up north I can't take the cold like I used to.

Trailforks allows you to download the region (at the state level) before you ride. I keep Texas, Arkansas, California, and New Mexico on my phone. If you have no cell coverage, you can still see your location via the GPS and still navigate on the maps. It is great. The maps do not take up a lot of space on your phone. But you cannot download the map if you do not have a data connection, so go do that now.

If you happen to be in an area where you have not downloaded the maps you *might* be ok because it *should* be caching the direct local area, but because I have downloaded maps I can't say for sure. The best way to test is put your phone in airplane mode now and see what navigating different trails looks like.

7 hours ago, WhoAmI said:

Except the question, John, asks your ideal trail, not the best trail. 🤠

Just consider this a B line.

More dropped this morning.

More tonight. Might try to hit the greenbelt in the morning. I can't believe that I actually look forward to a big rain dump that closes the trails for a few days. My yard is a shitshow.

There are too many companies, most likely. In any market you can have large companies that service the broader, more generic market (Trek, Specialized, Giant, etc.) and you can have smaller companies that service particular niches in the market (think of companies like Chumba that sell a much more specialized offering that people are willing to pay money for...)

When you get crossways is with smaller companies trying to sell a less differentiated bike to the broader market. "300% stronger" is a great selling point, but it is a selling point, not a market. Steel singlespeeds or cross-country bike packing are markets and these are things smaller companies can sell into. But if you are trying to compete with Trek and Specialized which key more off of price, the 300% stronger is a nice to have differentiator but it is not something that the segment is willing to spend more to get. So that means either you take lower margins to try to compete with them, or you constantly get outpriced because you cannot compete with their volume.

YT is another one. Their claim to fame is that they are direct, but this has just as many downsides to it and "direct" is a purchase channel, not a bike. Canyon seems to be holding its own in this area and may have enough critical mass, but time will tell.

On 9/12/2023 at 8:26 AM, ATXZJ said:

I'd love to build a longer/higher version of spider sans the lift.

I have not ridden Spider yet, will eventually get there, but it is not my thing. What really grinds me about that place is the attitude that it is the best riding in TX and the number of people that seem to only ride there. They complain about all the other trail options that we have and whenever someone is coming to town they tell them that is the first place they need to ride.

It's like the people who go to a steakhouse and order the single shrimp dish on the menu. I get it, maybe you are a pescatarian but don't go dumping on the wide selection of steaks on the menu because you want the fish. 

We live in an area with a wide number of trails, but our trails are part of the topology of central TX. Instead of bemoaning the fact that there is only one Spider Mt. and we need more lift-serviced locations. 

We are what we are and the earth decided that long before any of us are here. I've biked all around the world, not just around the US and I can tell you that the best trail in the world, is, in fact, the one you are riding at the moment. Last night it was the burn-out husk of Suburban Ninja which ended up being a a ride through the rain at the end. But it didn't matter. I had a great time. Because it was the trail I was riding at the moment.

It is literally  light sprinkle this evening, stopping soon, and I am planning to go out and ride. There was so much moon dust last night at the R&I that I think what little rain we are getting won't even matter.

I do it on solo rides, less likely to do it for a group ride because a.) there are people depending on a start time and I don't want to be "that guy" because I took too long and b.) if we go somewhere after I don't want to get back on my bike after being off of it for 60-90 minutes. The the first part, yes, I could be really anal retentive and make sure I was there on time but that takes the joy out of the ride there and makes it feel like work.

On 9/3/2023 at 12:08 PM, John said:

c'mon, somebody take these boxes. 

I'll take them, bring them to the R&I. I don't need em for quite a while, but can stash them in a closet I preparation.

Went to see Oppenheimer then went to a brewery in Los Alamos to drink Hoppenheimer.

Folks, you cannot get a better beer name.

yeah, I should keep my wheels on the ground

23 hours ago, Hugh said:

Pic is from last week.  I woke up to 46 degree temps.  It peaked out around 80.

I feel your pain. Low 60's to start, low 80's for the high. Mountains are the only way to get through August.

View from the top of Dale Ball yesterday morning.

Yeah, it was a beautiful ride. 20 miles, 2000 feet of climbing, then a sushi lunch. Who wouldn't love that?

15 hours ago, Ridenfool said:

Thanks for the info. I figured there was road involved, so no help for my next trip. I won't plan a ride that uses narrow road with higher than neighborhood traffic speed and density.

Whoever submitted the Burn Trail track to MTBProject must have included the section "Juan" as part of Burn Trail, so that explains why my search didn't turn it up.

Ah, I use trailforks, it integrates right onto my Garmin.

21 hours ago, Barry said:

LOL. While that might not be my life's most consequential type-o, it was certainly significant. It was an order of magnitude type-o!

So yes, if I had just climbed the 2500 feet to get to the shuttle drop-off from town, would it be worth it to climb the extra 1000 feet? Or is it more like the punishing south-side Dale Ball trails?

Yeah, after the ride up from town, the extra 1000 feet is worthless. There is a great view up there but it is a shitty double track to get there. Definitely don't recommend at that point.