bestbike85

The tide is turning. Bourbon weather is upon us. 
 

As I grow older I am finding ways to enjoy cycling by doing more with less. I've sold off the big expensive bikes, and toned down my bike budget significantly simply to do so. 

I have recently given the single speed life a gander, and I just don't think it's for me. While the simplicity is awesome, I like to go faster at times and slower at other time. However, if I had 2 mountain bikes one would definitely be a single speed. 

Anyways, enter my Sunday morning project. 

Advent X installation on the salsa timberjack 27.5+ with the chain stays slammed to 420.

All parts installed include:

cassette, rear derailleur, shifter, shimano cable housing and a kmc x10 chain, for a grand total of $215. 

I'll report back after a few rides. 
 

11 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

lastly, I think many people are using bars that are actually just too wide for their bodies. I suggest riding a bar as wide as you can use them comfortably for the sake of stability, but going too wide for your anatomy is going to hurt your wrists and shoulders. I can't remember where mine are now, but they came stock 780mm and I cut them to 750mm or so. I am 5'9", medium build, for reference.

That's the biggest change I can think of on a bike. The shoulder and wrist pain I endured before I realized wtf it was from was misery. 

I cut everything to 760 now and no more pain. 

The wieners love their office bed. 

14 minutes ago, Tree Magnet said:

“Let’s shoot this old TV with a machine gun in the side of the road”

In other news, I am on my fresh squeezed margarita kick right now. 
 

1oz Cointreau 

2.5oz tequila

Juice of 2 good limes

Rim is dipped in agave nectar and salted

Ok so I put them in my cart. I have historically always seen them for $30+ for 1!! That's why I balked. I can handle $17.50 for 2. If I can't, I have bigger issues looming. 

I've always wanted a Glencairn, but I'm a cheap ass when it comes to glassware and the only places I look for one is at Homegoods and Marshall's when my wife makes me go with her. 

Needless to say I have had no luck on that. 

On 8/25/2021 at 9:33 AM, AntonioGG said:

We're fucked.

We have failed as a country as far as science education is concerned.  We're paying for that ignorance literally and figuratively.

To be fair, we were fucked far before covid.

22 minutes ago, Chongo Loco said:

I don’t know about accurate, but I had to switch to consistent when I went to high volume ultra low pressure plus tires. I use the same mini topeak digital gauge no matter the pump or compressor I use. 2 psi low and I’m rolling the tires on the sidewall. My favorite pump is a 35 y.o. Zefal floor pump, but the gauge is all over the place sub 30 psi. At 110 it’s close.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Another vote for consistency. All I know is I run 17/ 14 on my gauges and it works. Find your numbers on your gauge and roll with it, no pun intended. 

I snagged a lift ticket yesterday for Friday Sept 17 for $15. Crazy cheap. 

10 hours ago, Lacch said:

I've been riding an entry level hardtail (Talon 2) for the last 5 months. I think its fair to say that I'm hooked. I ride Walnut for about an hour every morning, and have started to explore Brushy on the weekends. This bike is fine for WC but Brushy destroys me. When I ride the rough parts of Peddlers or 1/4 notch, I feel like the bike basically has NO suspension.

So far, I've made a fair number of changes to the bike to get it feeling pretty good. Better pedals and grips, repositioned brake levers and shifters to fit my hands, dropper post and shorter stem. My newest focus is tire pressure, I'm thinking that could help smooth out the ride, but its a lot of trial and error right now.

My question is...

Should I keep powering through on this hardtail, continue to tweak its setup, continue getting into better shape, and learn more skills before dropping a ton of money? Or is riding a cheap hardtail potentially doing me a disservice? 

 

 

 

 

Lots of good info here already, but my $0.02 is that right now is not a good time to be buying a new bike. If you can even find something that might fit what you want, your options will be very limited and you'll likely pay a premium. 

Ride yours and get better. The bubble will burst. 

I tried to give it a go this morning. It does have potential, but man it is hard to navigate in its current condition. There was a good bit of construction going on for the disc golf course, too  

Not that this is a funny ad, but it’s shocking that this girl stole a Jones bike from a garage, and the guy was right there yelling at her, and she’s on 2 cameras! 

Here is the YouTube link to the video, you can hear him yelling at her then the second view from what looks like a neighbors camera: 

https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/d/austin-stolen-jones-bike/7362893675.html

33 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

100%. if you didn't get a vaccine by choice, you made your bed and you get to lie in it. it will likely be your death bed

This is the type of fear mongering that is unbelievable to me. The survival rate of this disease is astronomically high, regardless of your vaccination status, but people want to say that if you catch it is it likely your death bed. Strange, extremely polarizing times we live in. 

I decided this belonged here instead of starting a new thread. 

A few months ago I picked up a new salsa timberjack single speed and I’m getting some serious pain while on it. 

Here are a few things to note:

~ about 45 min in to each ride my lower back starts seriously aching, to the point that I have to cut rides short

~ none of the other bikes do this, I’ve even ridden my Fargo on all of these same trails with no issues like this

~ haven’t ridden a single speed since I owned a Gary Fisher Triton in Lafayette and Houston (7+ years ago) 

~ I am very accustomed to hard tails, and have been exclusively on one for the last 19 months

~ I bought this bike in Colorado, and in the 4 weeks I had it there I only got about 4 good rides on it due to vacations, packing and moving, but in those rides I don’t recall any lower back pain at all, much less like this  

~ adding to previous post, the trails I was riding there were tons more climbing (especially big climbs) but none of the rough chunk like here, so I had to torque like I do here, but not the pounding and abuse on my body 

~ my previous hard tail (diamonds back carbon sync’r) seemed as stiff, if not stiffer than this bike 

~ similar to the previous post, the sync’r and this bike are very similar in geo. 1 degree here or there, but nothing crazy 

Now that we got all of that out of the way, my question is: What is causing this pain?

My 2 thoughts are: 

1. My body is not accustomed to the constant torque it is under due to the riding single speed. Always torquing my lower back left and right is just wearing it out and over more time I will get stronger and the pain will be less. If this was the case, I’d think I’d have had some pain in Colorado, too, but can’t recall any.

2. The frame is stiffer than I thought and this bike is simply beating the shit out of me, directly into my lower back. 

If 1 above is the case, I’d think a group set could fix it. 

If 2 above is the case, I’d think a new bike could fix it.

Any thoughts on this? Any way to test some possible solutions? 

19 minutes ago, Skyyhorn said:

I’ll let him know. I believe he is on this forum, but maybe not as often as some. I’ve told him about your post in case he’d like to speak with you. 

I just took a peek at my Strava Flyby for that ride. I made the turn north onto 183A path from Brushy creek path at 6:17am, then made the turn east from 183A back onto Brushy creek path at 6:42am. 

With that said, there was a larger group of what looks to be roadies that passed right there also coming south down 183A path  turning west onto Brushy creek path at 6:47am. 

From a brief Strava stalk, there were at least 5 riders in this group. Possibly they have something. I am happy to share their names with Todd. 

3 hours ago, Skyyhorn said:

I know a lot of you aren’t on Facebook, but there’s an important request from Todd (Endura Race) related to an attack at brushy creek on a trail runner.  He is looking for anyone that may have been running a GoPro on Friday, July 30 2021 from around 7am-7:55am in the Dave’s ditch, rim or 183a parking area. 
 

If you don’t have Facebook and have any information I’ll connect you with him. 
 

Scott

I did a ride Friday and went right through this area. Came from the far east side of brushy on gravel bike, went north on 183 trail to Whitestone and back down and home. 

I left just before 6am and was back a bit after 7am, so I was passing through there both times before 7am. Of course I don't have a camera/go pro, and don't recall anything out of the ordinary. I'd be happy to talk to Todd if it could be helpful though. 

14 hours ago, Bart said:

Apparently 2 bikes got stolen in the Nut parking lot this am. Locks cut while they were in the pool. As per FB. Somebody needs to set up a bike bait in the lot.

That's risky on a Saturday morning in that lot. It is crawling with people. 

These are gone to AustinBike. Dos Equis arrived just in time for a pool party we are attending in a couple hours. Clutch. 

The larger of the 2 sizes. 

Like new condition. Have about 5 rides on them total  

I tried these out on the new bike to reduce hand fatigue and they simply don't jive with me. I know many people love them. 

They're yours for a 12 pack of Dos Equis, no cash needed. 

59 minutes ago, Barry said:

Do it! We'll certainly have to rope you in if we do another drop bar edition...

That drop bar edition would be right in my wheelhouse. 2.8s rigid drop bar is my favorite way to ride. 

I may join this one of these weeks. I could use a lesson trying to hold Barry's wheel. 

After the huge dump of rain we got late yesterday afternoon, how long would one anticipate this taking to dry out for Brushy? 

Sorry, back to learning he ropes around here. 

I love the woodsmoke. Really hate that Salsa did away with it. It was the answer to the Stache. 
 

I’d be interested if it was a medium to compliment my Fargo, but it would just be too big for what I need. 
 

Good luck with the sale.