crane

I went and checked out the new pump track with my kids this morning. It was super busy which was great to see. That said, it’s a really nice facility but the pump track is a bit more geared towards skateboards. It was built by a skate park company and it shows.
 

 It’s not as big as it looks in the pics and the while you can ride it on a bike, it’s just a bit tight and lacking the jumpable larger rollers that you see at a velosolutions pump track like at McAllister.   
 

That said, it’s still a great thing to have in the area and it’s definitely better than nothing. 
 

I’m planning a trip with my family to bentonville in august. It will be my wife and I and our 2 sons (2 and 6). Any thoughts on the best area to get a house rental?  I’m looking at downtown bentonville just so that we can walk places. But I’ve never been before so I’m flying blind. Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

I ended up getting my fork and shock rebuilt at cycle progression. It took them a few weeks to get the parts in that they needed but once they had then they gave me a call to come drop my bike off. Turnaround was just under a week and everything seems to be functioning correctly.  Good experience overall. 

1 minute ago, TAF said:

Well, I'm just going to say this. but if it were me dropping my fork off for service at Cycleast (their mechanic used to work at Cycle Progression), I would ask for credentials regarding their ability to service Fox forks, as well as the shop's policy on work which the buyer considers is unsatisfactory. To be fair, I ask this pretty anyplace which works on suspension, but most of the time they are out of state.

Good to know. Thanks. 

Has anybody used Dirtlabs or a similar mail-in place?

3 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

check in with Andre https://www.facebook.com/AndreBikeRepair/

I reached out but unfortunately he’s not set up for servicing the damper. He suggested cycle progression. 

My SB130 is due for an annual fork/shock service.  812MTBSuspension doesn't seem to be operating any more.  Who's the go to now?  I'm happy to pay more to get it turned around fast (24-48 hours) and avoid sending anything in to Fox.  Thanks.

I just bought a California air tools 8010a and an air hose reel on Amazon. It’s awesome. Super quiet compared to my old one.  I haven’t touched my pump in weeks and I also use the air to help dry off the bike after washing it. I also picked up an inflator with a digital gauge.  Highly recommend it.   
 

On 3/22/2021 at 12:32 PM, mtb_jeremy said:

The pump track at McAllister park is really nice.  Went last week on Wednesday and only two other guys there at 11AM.  People at the track were super cool.  It was Spring Break, but still likely busier after work hours.  

There are the other trails at McAllister to explore, and a site or too in San Antonio.  

I took my 6-year old down there for the day a few weeks ago.  It's a great pump track and I wish it were closer.  The trails at McAllister are mellow so we were able to hit the pump track for a couple of hours and then ride some trails before packing up to drive home.

Has anybody tried waxing their chain with something like Molten Speed Wax?  I’m skeptical, but it seems like there’s a group of riders online that swear by it and claim it’s particularly good for dry conditions.  It seems like a lot of work, and I’m not quite willing to be a guinea pig... especially if somebody else here has tried it or knows somebody that has.

On 7/10/2020 at 11:04 AM, mack_turtle said:

for example, a lady came in with her one week-old Trek hardtail that had a faulty Rockshox fork air spring. Rather than mail the fork back to SRAM to deal with it, I took a fork off an identical bike from our sales floor and put it on her bike. It took us a week or two to get the replacement fork on the bike from our stock, but the customer's bike was handled and ready to go in an hour. (she ignored multiple voicemail messages that I left her and called back angry several weeks later, but that's on her.)

That’s a shop that gets it, IMO. I had basically the opposite experience with a local shop last year. I bought the bike from them for msrp and it took arm twisting to get them to make a warranty claim.  They were perfectly content for me to be without a bike for a month once they shipped the part back to the manufacturer despite me asking if they could get me a loaner part for my bike.  
 

I ended up reaching out to competitive cyclist to purchase a replacement part and they overnighted it so I wouldn’t miss any riding that weekend. Competitive cyclist also offered to handle the warranty claim for me even though they didn’t have anything to do with the original sale.  The warranty claim got handled in the end (via the local shop) and now I have a backup if the part ever fails again in the future. And I’m left wondering what exactly I got for buying local and paying full retail.  I’m looking to get a new ride right now and take a wild guess about who I am and am not talking to about the purchase...

Walnut is open.  BCGB is closed. 
 

https://austintexas.gov/page/pard-facilities-closures

Quote

All in-person programming for the month of July will be suspended including sports and fitness programming, summer camps, and cultural programming. In addition, the Barton Creek and Bull Creek greenbelts will remain closed. Parks will remain open; however, all amenities (e.g. volleyball courts, tennis courts, playgrounds, disc golf courses, etc) will be closed except for restrooms and water fountains.

City of Austin parks and trails (except for those listed above) will remain open; however, rules regarding mask use and social distancing continue to apply. PARD Rangers will continue to patrol parks and help educate park uses for voluntary compliance. 

Deception this evening was fine at about 7. It should be in great shape in the morning. 

I've got a fox transfer that I really like. I did have a warranty fix on mine though and bought a second one to ride while it was at Fox. I now have the fixed post back from Fox so I've got 2. If anybody needs a 31.6/175mm post (non-kashima version), I'll make you a good deal. 

3 hours ago, cxagent said:

Heard they ended up cutting the branch off the tree and left it in his leg while getting him to the hospital.

Makes sense. I'm certainly not a medical professional but was taught that you don't pull out anything impaling somebody in the field unless it's preventing then from breathing. 

I picked up a gopro 8 and recorded a demo and my thoughts on the Outbound Lighting downhill package:  

9 hours ago, bestbike85 said:

Finally found the boat over at the Church trails this morning, but I can’t find this elusive jump line to save my life. 
 

Any tips on getting around that place? 

It’s probably 100 yards west of the church. 

I just placed an order for a downhill package from these guys: https://www.outboundlighting.com/

I think it's just north of that orange circle.  I used a green circle on my map.  I think I went down that path the first time I ever went out to WC.  You can see what looks like a couple of silt fences in the satellite photo.

Hi,

I'm looking to get a set of 29" wheels built.  I'm thinking i9 Hydra hubs laced to DT Swiss XM481 hoops.  Does anybody have any recommendations for wheel builders in Austin?  Has anybody had good experiences with any of the online builders?  Thanks!