Ridenfool

A small soft bristle paint brush is perfect for getting the fine stuff off the sealing surfaces. Toss one in the toolbox.

Protecting the seals by cleaning as fontarin mentions is most important. (boots for shocks and those little front fenders for forks are good precautions as well) Checking the air spring periodically, keeping it adjusted for 20% or so of sag, is another way to reduce wear or damage from bottoming out. Then, learning how many of the shocks are pretty easy to work on sews it up in the end. If you are even slightly mechanically adept it may be only a matter of buying a seal kit and doing the work.

It is inevitable that this purchase will result in more rain as Murphy is rarely found to be gracious by not rewarding such deeds. But hey, you get a new ride!

That looks like a fine platform at a great price. You can upgrade components when/if you need/want to and it will perform and last a long while as equipped. There is likely enough tire clearance to try 27.5+ someday if you get the itch. Choice is always better than no choice and this bike will provide a lot of performance and will accommodate changes to better tailor it to your preference in the future. Nice find!

Trails were dry. very few wet spots. Great day to ride. Forecast of half an inch in the wee hours on Sunday.

The level of tech in the MTB industry has been excellent for many years now. Which means if you look at the large scale online shops you can often find a well reviewed, new old stock bike in the vendors warehouses. A one or two year old bike that is an excellent ride and sold for $4K or more can often be purchased for $2K or less. This is the beginning of the season where many stores will be clearing their inventory before the tax year ends. JensonUSA.com was mentioned earlier, A few others include: UniversalCycles.com ChainReactioncycle.com (British site, with free USA shipping on orders over $49) ColoradoCyclist.com CompetitiveCyclist.com BicycleWarehouse.com There are more ... Most of the manufacturers will have clearance sales on their new old stock. Check their websites for a clearance or sale page. Many smaller shops with an online store can offer bargains for the same reasons. You could also build a bike by sourcing components as you find the ones you want on sale. Thus, spreading out the purchase over time, and learning about installing components and doing your own maintenance, if that appeals to you. Lastly, mtbr.com and pinkbike.com are a couple of good resources for reviews and classified ads and other information.

Rocky Hill has a crowd on Friday night. Plenty of folks camping in the upper camp. Around the former Saloon looks like Everest base camp. There's about twenty tents right in front of it A couple of folks in RVs at the hook ups too.

Ever find yourself asking, "How much rain did (insert trail here) get?" Here's where to find the answer to that question ... https://water.weather.gov/precip/ Use this site to see the rainfall accumulation for any trail. Use zip code or map zoom to find the specific location of interest. Use the Precipitation Slider to adjust transparency to reveal cities, roads, and landmarks for easier location of the riding area. Map provides color coded historical rainfall data from Today, Yesterday, Past Week, etc. with controls to tune the view and data. Share and enjoy.

That is what my shop looks like most of the time. Though the decorative accoutrements are more diminutive in stature.

On the other hand, Chevy Chase once reported in Weekend Update about a university study that found "when squirrels were forced to inhale the smoke from marijuana cigarettes the animals were found to take the laws of self-preservation less seriously, as they tended to play with their nuts rather than store them."

It could be the decorative item by the grinder in the earlier photo may play a key part in the storage/organization strategies being applied.

Maybe this should be posted in the Guilty Confession thread ...

It was great to make an R&I. Even better to see old friends and meet some new ones. Tony's burgers sure hit the spot. Woody, thanks for grabbing my chair. I think I unconsciously left it on purpose to bring me back to Austin again soon.

All of this good spirited enthusiasm, fortified by the bespaking of TAF burgers on Enriched Buns has, dare I say, motivated me to venture forth from the reasonably safe environs of Bastrop county in order to partake in this Sterling example of revelry and comradeship for the R&I to close the DST 2018 season at the world famous Metropolitan Park of Walnut Creek. TLDR: In

Though I'll keep any info about the goo line to myself, I got blown Saturday night by 4 wall mount fans a lot like these at the Back Door Cafe in Smithville. The fans seemed quite adept at servicing the customers. https://www.amazon.com/Lasko-3016-Oscillating-Wall-Mount/dp/B00002N86C/ref=sr_1_29?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1540840020&sr=1-29&keywords=wall%2Bmounted%2Boscillating%2Bfans&th=1

On rare occasions (like, whenever I'm awake) I will make a pun. Then, will experience both delight and a sense of satisfaction in the groans the pun generates in others. In the instances when the groan doesn't come I will often begin to explain the pun, knowing fully well that they got it and chose purposefully to withhold acknowledgement. Does that make me a bad person? Should I be PUNished for such behavior?

The gopher mounds were still damp at home and I will give RHR a little more time to drain and dry. (though it is probably good enough by now) Got to work some on an ongoing, vaguely MTB-related project instead.

This thread is getting kinda creepy. ... and I can't stop looking at new posts.

It's what I read the first time through. Figured I ought to share. You know them furriners will use them funny words sometimes.

FTFY

Based upon the gopher mound test in my yard I'm going to give RHR a try on Sunday. Today the mounds were still saturated with water, but a few were getting a dry crust on their peak. Once they are crusty down to ground level, and the ground isn't moist (yep, wrote moist) I'll go for a ride. Mostly waiting because I'm lazy and don't want to have to clean the bike any more than absolutely necessary. FWIW There was a car with an empty bike rack in the parking lot, spotted on my way home from work on Friday, so someone was giving it a shot.

If they make each race slightly longer than the battery will last this might lead to faster battery tech advances .... that, and lots of disillusioned "racers" pushing their bikes across the finish line.

Where in the hell would you find an aquarium big enough? Nobody ever puts those up for sale.

I'm not clear as to whether you boiled and tried to drink the dog shit or the water.

There is a chance it may have a cracked frame. Though for light use in a sentence it should be okay.