brentb

1 minute ago, brentb said:

What's WC condition now, anybody know?

I just saw the WC conditions thread elsewhere on the forum was recently updated. Sounds like the trails may be in good shape

35 minutes ago, Teamsloan said:

FYI, it's looking like similar odds of R&I happening this week compared to last week. I can't speak for others, but I plan to be there. Future radar (KXAN) shows rain staying south of WC. As long as we don't get any more precipitation and the trail has dried sufficiently...the R&I lives.

What's WC condition now, anybody know?

In Austin I've seen numerous snakes, including a fat rat snake climbing a tree in the backyard one Thanksgiving. While biking, I've encountered maybe a dozen snakes over the past ~20 years. Mostly rat snakes, a few glossy snakes, one coral snake, one copperhead, and a fat, bright green snake at St. Ed's. I've come across one rattlesnake on the trails, a juvenile.

The snake at St. Ed's was coiled up next to the trail. I've never been able to identify it, because we generally don't have bright green snakes around here. It was a thick snake, like a cottonmouth in overall proportion, and bright green with no patterns. It was not the thin "rough green" or "smooth green" snakes that are here in central TX.

The most surprising encounter, where you feel your eyes hyperfocus on "it" while the hair stands up on your neck, was a gigantic water mocassin at Lick Creek park in College Station. I was walking my bike out of a particularly wet area, and my front wheel bumped over a log. I looked down, and the "log" was a snake stretched straight across the trail, sunning itself. The head was on the other side of the bike from me, but its body just came straight across the trail, between my wheels, and between my feet at that point. It was lethargic and no threat to me, but it was a surprise.

38 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

What's the context of that data? What country?

The squiggly pixels at the bottom barely read "millions of adult American participants".

It'd be nice if they quantified the activities a bit, like once a month or week, something like that.

On 4/2/2019 at 3:39 PM, The Tip said:

Hopefully not a new rainmaker. Giant Trance Advanced Pro 1.

I really like that green they used on the pro versions!

And maiden voyage this morning while the rains are arriving: Trance Advanced 2 27.5

I went out this morning (8am), just as it started to lightly drizzle. Great conditions, but I had to stop early since the drizzle started picking up, and limestone was getting slick.

All that has probably evaporated by now.

I went for a brief ride this morning to try out the new berms, and they are awesome. We'll be carrying more speed through that trail now. I didn't ride the whole of PP because of the ongoing work, but I did ride just the western side from Parmer to the first tree gate/root drop. If that's a taste of what's to come for PP, I WANT SOME.

The valleys of the eastern-PP rollers have some soggy muck yet. What can we do for drainage on those? Infill a bit?

12 hours ago, HoneyBadger said:

Building starts at 9:00am on April 27th.

I've made plans to come out and help -- anything I need to bring besides personal water/snacks?

Excellent!

My shock took two attempts, though. Tim fixed it, I rode it and the inner seals failed a couple miles out, resulting in the stuck-down problem. Tim took another look and replaced that seal last week, but I haven't had a chance to ride it yet. Probably tomorrow.

How do you like your Ghost Kato?

23 hours ago, CBaron said:

I've been riding CP since 96'.  Its changed so many times I can't keep it all straight

I started coming to Austin trails in 90 or 91, that's when I first struggled a lap from Emma. IIRC, the direction was changing about every 2 years back then.

So if the last change was 2010 or so, it's been a while!

When was the last time it ran clockwise?

Thanks for your work on this. I always liked having it switch every 2-3 years.

2 hours ago, HoneyBadger said:

Finally, I'd like to say a huge thank you to The City of Cedar Park and especially Curt Randa the Parks Director for embracing Mountian Biking and partnering with us to create a truly unique trail.

Man, this is fantastic news! Definitely need to thank the city for this.

Beautiful! And I don't see any blood on the beartraps.

1 hour ago, AustinBike said:

That looks exactly like my Hammerhead from around 2005. I demo'd Charles' bike and then bought one.

Loved it and hammered on it for ~4 years, then the frame cracked at the head tube and it had to go to that great bike pile in the sky.

Yours had the update frame with extra suspension link off the seat tube. That's quite a tube split, it just tore apart.

I remember a few Mojos cracking the Titus frames. That is actually something I've watched for, especially with the dent on the right seat stay, but so far no cracks in this frame. When I cleaned it yesterday, I checked around the headtube and BB as usual. This bike is XC through-and-through, and does not invite larger hits at all. Even though the rear suspension is ~4", it feels like half that.

@mack_turtle, once I do some rentals and decide on The Next One, I'll retire this bike.

On 4/3/2019 at 6:40 AM, Seths Pool said:

ha damn man lets see a full profile pic of this cougar. or should I say sabertooth tiger

I wasn't ignoring you, keep scrollin'.

7 hours ago, RedRider3141 said:

I just called Tim for my own older shock. He says yours is done!

Pretty funny, I think I may have gotten your post notification about the same time I got Tim's call.

7 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

That bike has given its life to you. Time to retire it. Even if you can get the shock going again, nearly two decades of abuse mean something else is about to break on it too.

Here's the deal. I keep bikes a long time and keep them running. Last Saturday, I finally sold my 1993 Trek 8700. This was Trek's half carbon, half aluminum bike. All XT, total weight was 26lbs IIRC. That bike took me on the MS150, and was perhaps my favorite ride for Walnut.

Regarding the shock, Tim @ Cycleast finished up my shock today, and he said while the internal seals were shot, everything else looked fine. No problems rebuilding it, all internal seals were replaced, new damper fluid, and a fresh nitrogen charge.

So, for entertainment purposes here's my 2001 Titus. The original owner was the founder of Hammerhead bikes, I forget his name (Charles?). I'm the third owner and got it around 2005.

After a quick clean and reassembly:

XTR hubs and front derailleur, XT rear derailleur.

Besides 4 or so small rock dings on the bottom side of the down tube, the only damage is the punched seatstay below. That part of the stay is slightly bent, but it was like this when I got the bike. I had a fall on cheesegrater that punched it even further though, but it's been like this for many years now.

And top tire choices for Austin, for 2008.

I'd like to point out, the rear tire is a full 2.0 inches.

Besides normal maintenance, here's the total work I've had to do on this bike:

1. Replace original Marzocchi Bomber fork with the Recon. It was a huge improvement, low cost, more travel, smoother, and except for its weight, is not a bad shock at all.
2. Disassemble, clean, and lube the front derailleur shifter. It works perfectly now. Done 3/2019.
3. First rear shock rebuild, 2009ish? Sent to Fox.
4. Second rear shock rebuild, 4/2019

It's been a great bike. The rear wheel needs truing, but nothing major.

Thanks, everybody, for the various shop suggestions that allowed my bike to get fixed so quickly! I appreciate it.

10 hours ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

call Tim at cycle East

Boom! After a brief chat, I took the shock over to Tim at Cycleast. So it's under the knife now, and might be ready on Tuesday.

When I got home, I had an email from Fox with a RA# for the shock. The employee I talked with said "no", but their online returns person says "yes". I'll keep the RA# on hand just in case Tim runs into a difficulty.

I appreciate the tip, Matt.

1 hour ago, Tree Magnet said:

Is there really a "Westlake Luxury Swap" Facebook page?  I wonder what the bar is to qualify as 'luxury'?  

Halfpipes must have a roof to be considered luxury.

32 minutes ago, Ridenfool said:

This thread took a turn that seemed promising, then reverted back on its original track. Hopefully I can set things right here with a simple question.

Have you narrowed down the selection of what features you want on the bike that will be attached to the replacement shock you'll purchase? 😈

Yes. I envision the replacement shock to be appropriate to the frame it's in, definitely a Fox float variant. The rest of the bike would be something like:

1. Disc brakes. Ha ha. Seriously. Disc brakes. But this is a given.

2. Looking at the 130mm travel bikes, 27.5". Trail/all-mountain category I guess.

3. Less than 30lbs

4. Prefer a DW link suspension, but I want to test ride some rentals with different setups.

There are a few bikes that would work as mere carriers for the new shock.

13 minutes ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

Alternative, used racer x frames are 200-300 on eBay...

Yeah, and that green medium frame+fork that's up there now was tempting. Honestly, at this point I don't want to spend too much effort reviving this relic. I want to get the shock working so I have a bike to ride for now and ultimately an intact bike to sell, but when it comes to spending more money I'd rather apply it towards a new bike.

Thanks for referring Tim. I'll call today and see what he says.

Man, this isn't looking good.

• BSS said it probably needs a factory rebuild, after I described the leaks and age.
• Cycle Progression actually does factory rebuilds, folks! BUT, they were hesitant about this one due to age / parts availability.
• I was able to talk to Fox. They won't even touch it now. CSR says, "We only service 8-10 years out."
• I have contacted Risse Racing in Oregon, since they rebuild classic MTB stuff. I'm waiting to hear back from them.

I disassembled the shock yesterday, and the damper is leaking at the pushrod. It's pretty much lost its nitrogen at this point and is bleeding out. Cycle Progression didn't say no, so I may ask for a mercy service just to see if something can be done.

The funniest instance of this was between two friends on a ride. They had wired earbuds, and mumbled to each other over their phones the entire ride. Normal to them I guess.

I usually ride solo, so there's only moderate amounts of talking.

25 minutes ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

So many changes in the MTB world in the last 18 years, a new bike will blow you away.

I'm going to rent a couple different bikes, try some different frame designs. I completely tuned out bike changes and equipment several years ago (not 18, though), so when I started paying attention to it all again this year, it's been a surprise.

Good stuff, @Cafeend. I'm totally on board with all that, but when it's time to cut the check, current bike prices are insane.

Anyway, I'm not rushing out to get a new bike yet. First up is talking with Fox. If I can't get this shock fixed, my bike is useless.

26 minutes ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

Well if your  racer x is that old, it's time for a new bike.

I just showed your post to my wife. She hates you, but I love you.

Yeah, it's an oldie. It's from 2000 or 2001, and has been a fantastic bike and has lasted thousands of miles.

1 hour ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

I guess if you want a new bike. that should be a 7.875 by 2.0 stock which is stupid common ...

And you're talking about the shock with eyelets at both ends. This one has a flat tab that is rigidly mounted to the rear subframe, with an eyelet pivot at the other end. It was used by Titus before they switched over to include the small intermediate link in their suspensions, to which a double-eyelet shock would mount.

Darn, the air can rebuild kit isn't going to cut it. Fluid is leaking out the rebound knob, which pretty much requires a factory rebuild. I'm waiting to hear back from Fox for an estimate.

This might be the final issue for my Racer-X that forces me to finally get a new bike.

My rear shock, an ancient Fox Float R, gave up the ghost out on suburban ninja this evening. It definitely has the stuck-down condition and needs a rebuild.

Do local LBS's tend to stock the rebuild kit for these?