xl_cheese

I first arrived in Austin for an internship during college in the Fall of 2001.  I drove over to ride a trail called Forrest Ridge.  It was a great trail!

On 9/30/2022 at 7:40 AM, RedRider3141 said:

Steel? Ti? 

Ti

I have seen this a number of times with shimanos latest crop of cranksets.  Bikes that have had one installed for over a year and then if falls off.  The Spec is 14Nm, but we started tightening higher to prevent them from falling off.  I even notice the prebuilt bikes coming from the manufactuers torqued beyond that.  

Steeper sta helps bikes climb really well!  If you ride up a mtn and back down it would be good.  The common complaint about steep seat tubes is more weight on the hands.  

I'm not a fan of the extreme modern geometry.  

I have spondlesosis  sp?  When I was 13 discovered I had stress fractures in l4 l5.  They don't ever go away.  

I've found if my saddle position is slightly too high my back will hurt.  Look at how high the pros have their saddles.  Most amatur riders have it too high.  Especially short men.  When it's too high your hips will rock back and forth.  

Stretching back muscles and calves before every ride helps.  It also helps my hamstring pain that came about.  I think connect to the stress fractures.  Oval chainrings and more forward saddle position have helped that.  

I had more people send me messages about 165mm cranks last week than I've had over the last dozen years thanks to this article.  

Any shop that has a bti-usa.com account can use them for a complete service.  They are reasonable and it's 2 week turnaround.  Much better and lower cost than sending direct to Fox.  Their guy there, Kane, is awesome!.

On 5/27/2021 at 9:23 PM, Trailrider said:

This guy must be selling at retail plus 50% if this was filmed in April 2021 and he still has all those bikes!

THe bikes I have in stock now are because I placed orders last July...  😉  Many of the bikes on the rack are demo bikes.  I had been diligent about keeping orders in the queue so that I have bikes trickling in throughout this year.  

My Ripley and Ripmo demos are my best sales tools for Revel Rascals and Orbea Occams.  Many customers are on the fence about getting the Ripley or Ripmo.  I say, "Here try these two bikes." They demo them and typically purchase a Revel or Occam.  Those two bikes sit right in the middle of the two Ibises.  

I have tried wider bars a few times.  I installed some 760 bars on my personal bike.  I ended up with hand fatigue and pain.  I reinstalled my old 720 bars and my hands were glad.  I couldn't figure it out.  Both bars had the exact same sweep and were angled the same way.  

Had some youtubers swing through town.  They hit me up for a local ride.  I had about an hour and a half to show them a ride.  I probably should not have allowed certain trails to be filmed, but oh well.  I kind of got caught up in the moment to show them a fun ride.  

Fold it up and put it in a ziplock?

I remember years ago when DK ranch was bought by the bcccp.  They put up the fence right in the middle of that bird's nesting season all the while clearing a large corridor through the trees.  At the time I was able to find the email addresses for all of the city council people.  I sent an email to all of them explaining the hypocrisy of the actions of the bcccp.  The fence building stopped shortly after that, but eventually resumed.  

On 3/15/2021 at 10:31 PM, CBaron said:

Some good nuggets in here.  Your a spot-on about bike geometry being driven by the West Coast.  

-CJB

Agreed +2.  I've been saying the same thing for years.  

1 hour ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

I need to get out there, looks like lots of fun. I'll say, your GoPro footage is SO much clearer than the Garmin. That Garmin looks like my first gen GoPro from 14 years ago, but I do love the map and speedo.

Yep.  The 360 does better at floating, but it's more grainy.  It doesn't look descent unless you watch it at 4k quality.  

My latest contribution to youtube.  

Industry Nine

Chris King

Enve Composites

WeAreOne rims are Canadian

Devinci Aluminum frames are welded in Canada.

For many things, if it were made in the US no one would buy it.  People like the idea of supporting US companies, but at the end of the day consumers in the US buy the cheaper stuff.  How many helmet models do you not recognize in the top 100 list of bicycle helmets sold?  https://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/sporting-goods/3404571/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_sporting-goods

Also, the leaning technique doesn't always fit between the trees in the trail.  

Another tip is if you're mid way through the corner...  have faith and let go of your brake.  

Here's what I think I do that helps in cornering faster.  I don't know if I'm right or wrong...

Think about the side knobs on your tire.  Know that putting those side knobs into the trail will give you grip and pull the bike through the corner.  Literally try to picture in your head getting the side knobs in the trail as you ride the corner.  

Lean the bike over to do this.  Push your inside arm away to get the bike leaned over.  

While doing that keep your body upright maintaining balance on your outside foot.  

Also, stay relaxed and allow your ankles to work as extra suspension over the bumps to stay smooth.  

It probably also has to do with the type of turn you're in.  If it has a berm you probably wouldn't use the technique above.  Above works best of regular non bermed singletrack.  

7 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Yep, brother in law sold through them and he agreed with you. 

Luckily most of us are not retailers 😉

Also, got a good selection of large helmets? Asking for a friend.

Just a few Bell helmets in Large.  Super Air.  Super Air R, and One other one.  I think I also have a few Smith Forefront helmets in.  

Just now, AustinBike said:

And, nobody here has mentioned Amazon.

I bought 2 different helmets and neither fit right. Returned for full credit, which was applied to my account as soon as UPS scanned the item in. No cost to ship back, no need to package it, just drop it at UPS with the printout and leave.

In a pandemic world this was awesome. Ultimately I need to go to a physical shop because I am getting tired of ordering and returning. But Amazon makes it easy.

From a seller side of Amazon, they have the worst customer service and most unfair practices you could imagine.  

But of course when I need something I order it from amazon.  Ha.  

Great topic!  I'll be taking notes...

The manufacturers keep telling me that Ebikes are the hottest thing in the cycling industry these days.  But I don't really see it.  Perhaps it's just not as popular in Austin.  I could see them being popular in Europe where people commute by bicycle.  

5 hours ago, Tree Magnet said:

If you keep your head up when riding these types of trails at night, you might see an owl swoop down and pace you.  I think they're looking for any critters you might scare up.  It's such a cool experience and by itself is worth the price of admission for night riding.

Last year I was leading a group and and owl swooped down at me.  About 5 seconds later either the same owl or another one swooped at me again and smacked the side of my head with it's wing.  It really startled me.