Trailrider

On 5/18/2021 at 6:15 PM, mack_turtle said:

I ask because most people don't have quite that much disposable income. Bikes are expensive. Suggesting that someone should just blow thousands of dollars on multiple bikes assumes a lot. People raising children and people with debt should not take these decisions lightly, and shaming them for being cautious is not helpful.

Just seems weird to me and my blue collar upbringing to assume that everyone has that much money to throw around. When I read a comment like that, I take it as a joke because almost no one I know casually makes purchases like that. If that comment was directed at me, I'd laugh and say, "of course, let me just pull all this money out of my butthole and do that, *wink*."

Yeah, I would definitely get both in this case, especially since they're both full suspensions which are way more fun to ride than other types of mountain bikes.

9 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I never know if the advice to "just buy another bike" is serious or sarcastic. do many of you just casually drop several thousand bucks on a new bike because you want something different?

Well, I bought a mountain bike so I could ride it on terrain that my cyclocross or road bike can't really do. So it makes sense that you could have different type mountain bikes for different trail types. I have three - short, mid, and long travel.

This is an easy one - keep your Ripmo and add the Ripley. Now you have the perfect bike for any trail.

12 hours ago, AustinBike said:

I'll take the opposing side here.

A hardtail helps you develop skills that many FS riders do not have. FS tends to gloss over the finesse of riding and allows you to just plow over things instead of learning to pick your lines.

Additionally, a GOOD full suspension bike is way more expensive and new entrants to the sport tend to want FS right out of the chutes with limited budget. So you end up with a shitty FS bike that is too heavy or has terrible suspension. The best way to buy a FS bike is to know why you need it and be able to justify the purchase. How many times have you seen someone say they are looking for their first bike, they have a $1,000 budget and they want FS. Recipe for disaster. 

Learn on a hardtail and you'll be set for life.

FS is just as technical, you just go a lot faster. That makes it more fun.

FS is easier on your body. I can ride six hours and only have muscle fatigue the next day.

I wasn't paying attention during the facebook panic induced gas shortage of 2017, and I actually had to skip work for a day because I couldn't fill my tank! The only solutions are to either have a 20-40 gal emergency supply at home, or be the first one to panic. I panicked Saturday morning and gassed up haha.  

I've never been out there. Is it a bunch of coasting trails or are there pedal trails? I'm more of a pedaling guy. I like to work.

15 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

This

 

isn't riding a bike supposed to be fun? Thumper is the fun removal machine.

 

I've never tried it. Is that because it's narrow and loose so you can't really get much speed? The videos I see don't make it look too technically challenging.

Here were my noob mistakes:

1. Eating a meal before a ride, even an easy ride. It made me a little sluggish and I tended to clip trees with my bars. 

2. Ignoring upper body training. You can muscle your way out of a lot of danger.

3. Not going to a full suspension sooner.

Last time I was there it was too hot to put out enough power to get up the climbs on the black trails. I'll have to give it another try.

Rode Purgatory for the first time last week. The rocks were dry and I had pretty good grip. If it was a trail system that you rode regularly and memorized the best lines in the really hard sections, I can see a skilled rider blasting through it. I had a lot of fun and I also liked that some parts are in riding distance to the pubs for a beer. You don't get that at Madrone.

I'll give you some cash for it if you want to offload. I have one that needs the lower cage replaced.

Dang, some of those bikes are torn up. Must have been ridden by noobs.

On 7/28/2019 at 2:44 PM, JustSomeGuy said:

Yeah last time we went, my buddy came around a corner and hit tree that was across the trail just about helmet height.   Cracked his helmet, chipped two teeth, tore up his back pretty good.   To their credit, they have cleared that one.    BUT WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THE FLOW TRACK!?!?!??!    The lower half is annihilated - as in, with a bulldozer.    (This was today.)  Anybody know what they're doing?  

lol, I bet I hit the same tree. My buddy and I argued over whether we should go somewhere else to ride or finish it out. I was getting pretty tired of all the dead trees across the trail.

They seem ok to me. I do think most trail runners I pass give me too much space and interrupt their workouts too long to let me by. All you have to do is move aside at the last millisecond, like turn your shoulders to the side so my bars fit. It should be easy. You don't have to jump off the trail.

Seems odd to close it for day use mountain bikers. All the trails are so wide that there can't be any traffic issues.

ok, I like my 27.5 with 2.6 tires and I'm 160lbs. Rider weight is another parameter because that affects ground pressure - a light rider's "drifty" tire is a heavy rider's hookup tire.

I have both. I prefer 27 when using heavier tires. The 29 tires are heavier and farther from the axle, it's just less fun to muscle them around tech terrain. If all I rode was dirt highways like mtb yum yum the 29 would be fine.

Advantages - market saturation of lightly used 27 bikes an wheels.

Yes, most of HCNA's trails are shyte and Ice Cream is mostly unrideable. This creates a condition where the trails are immensely fun and satisfying for very fit and skilled riders. If you are not one of them, it is scary and unfun. A lot of the fall line trails are washed away to the point where you are riding in a narrow tunnel up to your seat post collar over egg to fist sized rocks knocking you around. Challenging up hill, dangerous down hill.

I doubt it.

The new Wunderground 10day is pretty sweet.

Yesterday I rode for 2 hours pretty hard at 4pm. Drank almost a gallon of water while riding and still had to put back a few bottles in the a/c to feel 100%. That was almost too hot!

3 hours ago, TheX said:

One of the unfounded biases I had when I moved here a dozen years ago. Once I got over myself, I realized that riding here IS fun and can be challenging.

 

That said, I ride with a 32 90% of the time. 

I don't understand what you're trying to say. There are very rarely long enough descents to build up enough speed to spin out a 30x10. This isn't Colorado.

It's so flat around here you can put a 30t on the front and run a 10-40 or 11-40 and very rarely run out of gear. oh and just so you know, 40t is a bigger gear than 50t.

I'd be interested in a competition dedicated to carry pistols. Since we actually carry them and all. An air rifle? nah. Sounds like what those British and Australian people do to console themselves since their government doesn't let them have real weapons.

My family has been in the Austin area since the mid 1800s. So there!

Some of these dog owners are pants on head stupid. They're like the "my baby didn't do nuffin" mothers you see on tv after their son murders a kid over a bag of weed. He wuz a good boy.

What's the best route in Pedernales to maximize the amount of singletrack you ride?