Chief

From what I understand wood features on 1/4 Notch and DD are not really what the county wants. Snail is a whole different story.

Took a spill a while back phone was in my pocket landed right on it. Fortunately I have it in a tough case, landed on a rock gouged the case and dented the back of the phone through the case. Phone survived. On body may not be safest place.

I wonder how this seller decided on the $86 price? $86??????

My whole purpose for riding is to disconnect from all the crap we get subjected to everyday. Why would I want to bring some electronic device with me that keeps me connected to "the real world". I enjoy the peacefulness of just riding the trails.

Rode 1/4 Notch Saturday. Not terrible but not great some large puddles in places. Like Throet said always before a feature you need traction for. I was thinking what if we just turn those low lying areas that stay wet into rock gardens. Go out while it's wet and muddy and just pack largish rocks into the muddy sections. Once everting drys the rocks would be locked into the mud. Any thoughts?

At least!

Rained here last night. Getting tired of every weekend of rain.

Welcome aboard!

M*thaf*cker!

When you said bagel ride I thought we were going to New York🤣. I've done a few large group rides in my time one being the five boroughs tour of NY. Stay close enough to the guy in front of you to save strength by drafting, don't be erratic on your bike, don't always trust the guy in front of you to make good decisions meaning you occasionally need to look up the road a bit and be prepared for anything especially road furniture (islands, signs, roundabouts and always try to cross railroad tracks at 90*). As far as shoulder to shoulder that pretty much sorts itself out as long as you don't get bars, pedals or wheels tangled. Oh and always be aware of wheel overlap of the guy in front of you that's a guaranteed way to meet the pavement personally.

Brushy is a swamp. Rode the hike and bike today just to get miles. Water is flowing down heavily from Rim. Brushy creek is over it's banks and almost up to the bridge by Mulligan. Didn't actually check any of the trails but have to assume with as hard as it rained yesterday it's gonna be at least three days of sun to get back to ridable conditions.

Standing too much is no good either. Been working on my feet on concrete and asphalt for almost forty years now. Eventually Plantar fasciitis will get you from standing all the time. Talking from experience. It's no fun.

Tires packed with mud and puddles. This is why we can't have nice things!

Found one of the people riding wet trails when they shouldn't be.

Oh.... and I firmly believe all this talk about upgrading has offended the trail gods causing all this rain.😁

I've never paid full retail for any of my bikes. I've only bought a couple of complete bikes just because they had a close enough spec for what I wanted. I've built most of my bikes from parts. If you don't have to have the latest greatest thing you can save a ton of money. I usually build a bike at the end of the year when all the new upgrades for bikes and components are coming out making the price of the previous years equipment much cheaper. I built my FS with all new parts for about 3.5k the same build from the manufacturer or a shop would have cost me about 6-6.5k. If you shop around and find the deals it can one done. Disclaimer: I do all my own work so that saves a bunch right there.

It was a good ride yesterday guys! Even with the slight bit of rain.

I'm a believer that if you want to become a better driver you should spend some time on two wheels on the road, whether it be a road bicycle or motorcycle. It teaches you to drive for everyone around you.

Drivers ed in the northern states IS called the winter

I don't know. I ride my hardtail pretty much the same way I ride my FS. My back isn't really an issue with the hardtail as much as my legs. The hardtail works the legs a lot more due to them being your rear suspension. In actuality I get more back pain on my FS probably due to the fact I spend more time on the saddle. I think the type of hardtail you ride may have some bearing on skills. Steep geo vs slack geo. My hardtail is classified as all mountain it has a slack head angle 66*, Short chain stays sub 17"and low BB sub 12", 29" wheels 140mm fork. I guess that's why I don't really notice much difference between my HT and FS. It's basically a hard tail version of my FS. I bash through chunk on it pretty much the same as my FS. I will say I can do more miles on my FS than on my HT. Now back to the OP. Like people have said don't do any upgrades if it's a basic entry level HT. From what you posted it sounds like it will be a little while before going to FS might happen. If you're considering a FS bike get some demo time on 4 or 5 bikes you might be considering and go from there. Keep in mind the more bikes you demo the more confusing your choice will be. Do some research and choose the ones that will fit your riding style and terrain best. Any of the new FS bikes out there are all pretty good there's not really any that would be considered bad bikes. You're getting into this sport at a good time, most of the issues people had with FS bikes years ago have gone away the suspensions are much better as is the geo. It used to be anything that had more then 120mm rear travel was a slug to pedal around the trails not so much the case anymore.

Rained hard here last night. Trails are probably a no go.

I might be out there a bit later. Have a couple things to do first.

I would imagine miserably humid. Trails should be fine though. They were good yesterday.

I've heard of a lot of cars being broken into at Brushy. Kinda sucks. Fortunately I ride to the trail:)

It was good just to be on the bike again. Thanks guys.