WatersPark

8 minutes ago, TheX said:

I always swore no one needed a dropper, until I had one.

I'm open to a dropper, just haven't tried one and I don't have problems getting behind my seat.  The only time I endo'd since I was a kid was when I decided to go to SPDs about 7 years ago.   I decided I was too old to relearn how to stop and bail. I still use pedal straps by the way. 

9 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:

this x2

been through that trying to upgrade a entry level bike for my kid and it was a point of diminishing returns. 

If she's not being hindered by the fork, id leave it unless you find a really, really, really  good deal on a used fork. Do not buy new

As others have said, Id go dropper. It'll help build her skillset more than any other upgrade for the money. Brand X from chain reaction has some of the most reliable droppers for the money, and offer external routing. At 30.9 you can use it in something else later

 

P.S. Is she in NICA?

Thanks for the feedback.  I was thinking just do the dropper since it is an easier swap, but when i saw the fork weight I was kind of appalled, and it seemed like a logical upgrade.  

I need to talk to her more about what she is experiencing with the fork.  I am also just remembering when I rented a Spec. RH in Breckenridge a few years back and wished I had my rigid fork Redline.  Of course now that I have the Dback I am on board with front suspension.  

I'm not familiar with NICA, but I think she and her roomate just joined the Mtn Bike club at their school (Colorado School of Mines)

38 minutes ago, olddbrider said:

I think the question you need to ask before you start replacing things is whether it makes sense to sink money into this bike.  And if so, how much before it doesn't make financial sense. 

If she's riding around campus and hitting the occasional trail, these things might do the trick.  But if your daughter is, in fact, getting serious about riding, even the upgrades you mentioned aren't going to appease her for long.

No matter what options you go with in terms of a fork and dropper, you're probably looking at spending at least $500 once you pay for shipping and installation.  That's a pretty hefty upgrade for a bike that retailed for just over $700. 

Does the frame have the ability to internally route a dropper cable?  If not, your options will be somewhat limited and you'll have the added clutter of another cable running along the frame and up the seat tube.

As mentioned above, does the frame have a tapered head tube (wider at the bottom than at the top)?  Most decent forks these days have tapered steerer tubes, so you may be limited in what you can find that will fit this frame.  Also, many forks these days do not use the 9mm quick release axles that are on this bike's wheels.  Be sure to check the fork specs before you purchase.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, just throwing out things to consider.  I know I have been down this road myself and there's nothing worse than realizing the time and money you spent on a recent upgrade didn't really solve anything...

Thanks, I am on the fence on whether the upgrades make sense.  I was hoping for a modest investment we could make this bike a bridge until the next one, but as I'm discovering it's getting complicated.

I don't mind spending the money if it will make the bike better.  Even if she gets a better bike later, she would have a spare bike if one is sidelined for maintenance, or for a friend to ride or her Dad when he visits 🙂

I keep my old bikes for the same reasons -  I took my old Redline to leave up there last summer, but I brought it back since we were going to ride the Caprock trail on the way home.  

Installation is something I haven't factored in.  She is studying Mech Engineeering and between her and her friends they can probably figure it out.  

Dropper routing is something I need to chase down.  I found info on the forum saying it was internal routing compatible, but Specialized support told me it was not.  

Appreciate all the advice!

15 minutes ago, RidingAgain said:

My wife's experience with the Suntour Raidon has been good. And as I think you discovered, Suntour offers trade-in discounts on their older forks (just provide proof of purchase and the serial number of the old fork... And you get to keep the old fork which means you can sell it to recover a few more bucks).

Also, online feedback on the Raidon that I've seen has also been good.And a cool thing about the Raidon is its adjustability... Very easy from 80mm to 100mm to 120mm. And Suntour carry a bunch of replacement and upgrade parts.



 

Thanks for the feedback - it does seem like the best deal at this point and the adjustable travel is intriguing.  She was wanting more travel, but I think a better (air) fork will get her there.  She only weighs around 110 so she shouldn't be bottoming any forks!  

According to what I've found on the web it is 1 1/8" steerer, yes I am finding out that it would have been much better if it was a Pro as we were told.  My fault for not checking it out.  I will have her send me a photo as I'm finding out not everything I'm reading is correct.  One forum says it is internal routing compatible, but Specialized support says it is not.

I thought it was 34.9 seat tube per the specs but I just realized I misread it - thanks for catching that.    I saw the PNW and it looked like a good deal!

She rides a medium but is a kind of on the break point for a small size - She is 5'7".  

Looking for some advice - we got a 2018 Rockhopper Comp last year for my daughter who is going to school in Golden Colorado. Her previous bike was an 2003 era Gary Fisher (vbrakes era) that she had pretty much outgrown.

We thought the Rockhopper was a Pro since it was set up 1X, but I found out is it a Comp by contacting Specialized with the S/N.  Here is the link to the specs.  https://www.specialized.com/us/en/mens-rockhopper-comp/p/128930

(note hers is has been upgraded to 1x11 (Deore XT) and Ardent tires, not sure if wheels are OEM either)

She is progressing pretty rapidly, hitting the bike park and local trails often and is wanting to upgrade the fork and maybe add a dropper post.  I probably should have researched more before we bought it, but we were running out of time before she left for school.  I'm not a suspension savvy person, having ridden full rigid until I sprung for a Dback Carbon Comp 29er a couple of years ago, which I am very pleased with.  (One of the reasons I avoided suspension was the added weight; carbon negated that concern, keeping it low tech to reduce maintenance is another).  I did notice the Rockhopper seemed front heavy when I rode it and from what I have been able to find the Suntour XCM is a heavy fork around 2800 grams (6.2 lb) 

My Dback came with a Recon Gold RL 100 mm fork, which is around $300 and is very satisfactory for my riding.  Rockshox does not have show the weight, but I found a German website that lists 1814 g. 

Any recommendations in that price range ($300? ) or thoughts on the following?

Recon RL (Silver) 100 mm is (2025 g per the Germans) is around $250

Suntour RAIDON XC-LO-R retails for $299 (2025 g) and seems comparable, internally adjustable travel and they are offering a 25% discount which would end up being $240.  

Any of these would drop the fork weight about 2 lb. 

Dropper post selection seems kind of limited for 34.9 mm.  I have no experience with these.  Any recommendations for best value?

Appreciate any advice.  

Tpwd annual pass?

https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/park-information/passes

Ok, I think I rode part of this bike park last time I was there March 2019, I ran into another visitor who had been riding with some locals who showed him the park.  I recall seeing signs for "the Ranch" which as the link below explains is private property directly adjacent to the city owned park, but open to the public (and free!) As AustinBike posted it looks like they have added a lot of features.  https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wacotrib.com/business/wild-wheels-mountain-bike-course-gains-fans-among-daredevils-novices/article_cadedf92-d885-57db-a42a-27752ec23b49.amp.html

Very impressive!

If my memory (and ridewithgps) serves this is up in the highlands well away from the river, off Powder Monkey.  Cheers!

I haven't yet made it up Highlander without a stop, but it is a sweet ride, Powder Monkey is my favorite section.  Worth the drive from Austin!  I've only ridden on weekdays so I'm not sure how crowded it is on the weekend, but weekday evenings haven't been crowded at all.

The mud in the bridge area is mostly from the trail side area that was never properly restored. The pm told me it was too shady to get anything to grow.  What about rock you might ask?  Well they armored 2 areas but missed the area that drains the apartment parking lot and the area upstream of the bridge were left unarmored.

Then the flex base they out along the latest phase washed down and added to it.  

Big storms like the one we had the 24th that get up over the bridge actually help flush the mud off the bridge, but it left a bunch of gravel from the apartment landscaping in the trail.  We shoveled and swept the gravel and the remaining mud off bridge and rocked and seeded some more areas along the trail upstream of the bridge.  Hopefully it will fare better going forward.  Also got rid of most of the ragweed that had taken over from the bridge to mopac. 

Yes Monk's crossing to the tunnel is 4.5 miles and we went another 1.5 before heading back.  I imagine it might get more traffic in better weather, but we didn't see anyone from Quitaque to Flomot.  Got to love the town names!

Well, we did 12 miles in 35 degrees and despite the cold, it was a great ride.  No bats in the tunnel. Definitely will want to do it again and go a bit farther up the canyon. We had to limit the ride so we could make the drive back to Austin.  Seems like a possible bikepacking excursion- I believe camping is allowed on the route.

They replaced the flex base shoulder with topsoil and erosion control fabric in a couple areas and replaced a section of concrete that cracked prematurely.  It fared better than expected with the big rain last Thursday. Much better than the flex base which had completely washed out.  Now they are replacing the defective curb to that allowed street drainage  to flow down the trail.  Volunteers will be armoring and restoring the areas by the bridge tomorrow to try to reduce the mud accumulation on the bridge. Meetup is at Balcones Park 9 am if you want to lend a hand!

https://austinparks.givepulse.com/event/135223-Balcones-Park-Cleanup-and-Trail-Work

Anyone done the rails to trails ride near Quitaque? Planning to try it on the way back from Colorado with the Mrs.  It looks like Monks Crossing west to the tunnel and beyond would be the most interesting section.  

1 hour ago, Bamwa said:

Is there more than one? I was talking about the Gracywoods Park trailhead. Between the improved playground and Walnut Creek. Always see some mud there. It's a trap!

I see that spot everytime I ride to Walnut.  I've been meaning to bring a shovel along and clean it up.  Dang, I guess I admitted to sanitizing!

1 hour ago, ebflo said:

Are their any plans for the persistent flooding? One section of that was under water to BB depth for most of last spring. Probably just a creek blockage issue.

Are these ok to talk about here? I don't have much spare time, but I'd like to help with this if I can.

Yes, we had city approval for a short new trail added in 2016, others have been there as long as I can recall (moved here in 1994). I will keep you posted!

10-4.  They will be starting repairs 9/30.  Hopefully they will be done in time.

6 hours ago, TAF said:

I’ve sort of been following along - will any of the repair work be on the concrete path which runs through Balcones Park, and will the path be closed while repairs take place?

Yes the section from the ballfield near Scribe Avenue to Amherst is the section where they experimented with flex base to back fill the shoulders.  We told them the flex base would erode, but they didn't listen.  

They will definitely have to close the path to replace the cracked pavement -they are planning to repair the original crack, but it has since migrated to the adjacent concrete and they have said that the crack is superficial, even though it has opened up a gap over this summer.  If we follow their plan the trail will be closed again to fix this section.  They can do it all now and we can be done with it.

I imagine they will have to close the path at least when they are working on the flex base, they might be able to open it at the end of the workday and/or weekends, but I would not count on it.  Fortunately, the neighborhood got a grant to replace the eroded sections of the "Creekside Trail" that provides an alternate route (this takes you to Duval and beyond),

I for one can't wait until this is done so I can get working on restoring the connections to single track (there isn't a lot of single track in Balcones, but there are some nice side trails that get you off the shared use path for a little off-road enjoyment.

Thanks for the feedback.  I actually tweaked the language this AM after feedback here yesterday, and talking to a few other folks.  But I forgot to update the post on our website.  It is updated now.   I'll take another look and see if I can clarify further that we are just talking about 1) replacing the flex base along the trail with soil, seed and erosion control matting, and 2) replacing the concrete sections that have separating cracks (about 50 feet in all).  To repeat, we are not asking them to tear out all the pavement.  The City is going to be doing some of this work anyway - our issue is they are only planning to do about 1/3 of the trail in the worst areas that already failed.  Other areas are showing signs of failure.  The idea to use flex base to backfill the sides of the trail was clearly flawed and hasn't been used anywhere else.  Basically their experiment failed and they want us to just live with it.  

5 hours ago, Bamwa said:

What kind of crybaby post is this? Mountain bikes are more than able to conquer a little washout here and there.

Wow! Missed the point (s) entirely.

1) this isn't a mtb trail, it is supposed to be a shared use path, or users of all ages and abilities.

2) it is a quality issue, would anyone be satisfied if you had a new driveway poured and it cracked 3 months later. Btw the penny picture was in April, the crack has grown laterally and the vertical displacement has increased. 

No tears, no sanitizing, just want it done right

When I bike commute to work, I take Duval in the Am to get to mopac and it isn't too crazy before 7.  I get my speed up and take a lane with lights flashing.  No way I will take it in rush hour though.  I take the sidewalk. 

Not the whole path, just the strip of flex base (crushed limestone).  Vegetation will never take hold in crushed limestone.  They could do this in 2 days if they set there mind to it.  The "sidewalk to nowhere" on adelphi gives kids a safe path to school.   The apartment complex scammed their way out of improving the road to current standards and the sidewalk program had some money at that time so the neighborhoods jumped on it.  It would be nice to extend it for sure, but almost all of Waters Park road is in the floodplain. The city isn't ever going to upgrade it.

FYI - I realize paved trails are not the main focus of this site, but Balcones to Walnut has been my ride since around 1994, before it was paved.  I really didn't care for a paved trail personally as was a fun adventure to mix trails and streets back in the day, but the idea had merit, to provide an all-weather path, that serves commuters, families and others besides folks that just like to ride in the woods.  The way I see it if you are going to do something, do it right.  And if you are going to build a trail through a park, leave it as good or better than when you began.   So I am posting here to see if anyone wants to help make the City do just that.  

Attention Balcones Park and Northern Walnut Creek Trail users - the city is about to make some repairs of the worst defects in the newly constructed trail, but is refusing to address the continuing migration of gravel, improper slope stabilization and spreading of cracks in the pavement, Please see the Milwood NA website for more information - http://milwoodna.com/

Thanks for reading.

Ditto, Marks Art, ToT, Severe Consequences, Powerline all good last evening. More wheels will help repack loose dirt and dessication cracks!

You can find project costs for previous Ncwt sections online here https://www.austintexas.gov/financeonline/account_services/solicitation/closed_solicitations.cfm

Search construction, Walnut Creek trail, NCWT, etc.

Here is the most recent

https://www.austintexas.gov/financeonline/account_services/solicitation/solicitation_details.cfm?sid=118968