Barry

Whoa. With that handlebar on the back, this thing looks like a great starting point for some Big Dummy surfing!

This says it all: Emphasis added. And yeah, even faster than Joel Carroll. I'll just go ahead and assume that I will not be finishing in front of him in the EB or DS his next time out.

Man I hate ground level stumps, and I'm surprised how many there are locally. When IMBA visited us in the northeast, they taught us to cut in-trail trees at chest height, and then pole dance with them back and forth until you can loosen up the roots enough to pull/cut them out of the ground. Yeah, you dig a hole, but holes are easy to fill, and I never pedal smack a hole in the ground. And with no rock, we had far deeper roots in the northeast than does CenTX.

Tomorrow will be the fourth consecutive dry and sunny day. I'd say it'll be just fine. But it sounds like you have room for both bikes, so why not take both and find out?

Kinda. But tire OD stays similar because of tire widths. My fat bike works great with 26x4.8, or 27.5x3 or 29x2.5. Otherwise the bbh is way too low and the cs is longer than necessary. Track ends help the csl, but there is no help for a bbh when running 26x2.3s on a bike designed for 29s.

Someone made off with it utilizing the dump and dash strategy.

Actually that works for me. That bike has killer geometry and it looks like a good price point. Now I wish I was short.

It seems like an appropriate time to post this video again!

I love my fat bike. For its intended purpose, it's a blast, and I miss 10 degree regular rides in the snow. And it's even kinda fun to screw around with it at Walnut or SATN or even Goodwater about once or twice a year. But it's silly and not terribly fun to ride it as a primary bike. And it's absolutely absurd to consider riding to the trail with one. The tire pressures that work on the trail are super goofy on the road.

Good post. For me, a throttle would certainly be in the "no longer a mountain bike" range. So long as you must pedal to when going against gravity, I'm willing to consider it grey area.

Funny, I had typed the USD price into the comment field yesterday based on only looking at the second link. Then I posed today without looking at your comment. Still, for roughly the same price, I'd go with the HAL5 or HAL6 because of the FSR suspension instead of the faux-bar. While it'll pedal roughly the same with a modern shock, the FSR should in theory have a more active suspension under braking. Both are pretty middling modern geo-wise. I'll also mentioned that bikesdirect.com was super helpful with warranty issues with my fat bike frame--like an 8-day turn around, as I recall.

Well, it's about $1418 USD. That's pretty comperably spec'd (level-wise) to my GF Sugar from 2001, which was about $1300. But IMO if you're going to go this cheap, you're better with the $1100 HAL5 from bikesdirect.com. And you're much better off with the well spec'd $1600 version. Or hell (wrong thread, yeah but) they have a pretty good looking $3500 ebike with good reviews.

This is the scenario I have in mind. But I sure hope they have much better battery life/range in 2054. Assuming Specialized is the ebest in class, I'll have to cut back my big weekend ride mileage by quite a bit. I can't imagine being 80 with a bad back, 3 knee replacements, and a heart condition, only to be 30 miles from the trail head with a dead battery and a 45 pound bike. https://www.specialized.com/us/en/turbo-calculator/app?productId=170511&mode=TRAIL_SPORT&terrain=HILLS&stops=FEW

It's odd. I see components, but I'm not sure how they're held together.

I'm surprised they pushed this out. It doesn't actually look competitive with the TurboLevo from a geo and weight standpoint. But perhaps I'll be interested in the 2045 version.

Arbor Walk Spec's right now! A case full.

Since it seems you like the TN whiskey style, I'd like to highly suggest you grab a bottle of JD Single Barrel Barrel Proof. You can find them most anywhere for $55. It's a spectacular value and they're actually one of the better widely available --ahem-- bourbons on the market.

I do enjoy it, but I'd much rather pick up a WT101, Maker's Mark, or OGD114. Yeah, stop by Oak Liquor Cabinet, various Deb's, and other little stores as you drive by them. You'll certainly find BT and even Eagle Rare at or near MSRP on occasion. I even see Blanton's, W12 and Old Weller Antique sometimes...although not as often as I did 2 years ago.

Odd, I leave BT on the shelf all the time in Austin. You see it on the reg' at a lot of smaller stores, but it isn't common at TW or Specs. I'm not a huge fan, so I don't generally get it. But I do occasionally find BT single barrel picks that I enjoy. Recently Specs had a spectacular one.

Good video too. That "one way" bleed is kind of how Shimano advertises it. But this isn't at all how it works if you follow their instruction closely--the ones which come with the brakes. Following the instructions work very well too, but there are like 6 more steps.

Well I do refill/reuse the spay bottle. But I get to maintain strick OSHA labeling requirements for my garage

For $3.59, this is the contact cleaner I use in my workshop. Works great for cleaning up discs, cleaning up after bleeds, and removing Stan's messes. https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health-isopropyl-91-alcohol-first-aid-antiseptic-spray-prodid-958283

I'm perplexed by that one as well. Perhaps @2112Greg could answer that question?

Indeed it was dry this weekend. Unfortunately this forum doesn't have enough traffic to have timely trail conditions updates. Lots of folks like to rag on Facebook or refuse to use it, but between the groups and the events functionality, you can get a lot of usefulness out of it, while wholly ignoring the BS side of it. The FB group, Austin MTB Trail Conditions has a lot of traffic and near constant updates on local trail conditions.

While I don't currently have a bell on my bike, I have used one, and probably will again. But as I've stated in in other discussions, I constantly announce myself around corners, and speak to nearly every person I pass. I try real hard not to surprise folks. I agree that as the faster and mechanized trail user, it is a cyclists responsibility not to negatively affect another reasonable trail user's experience. And while a quiet cyclist can always surprise someone around a blind corner, the hiker has to take some responsibility for being cognizant of their surroundings. Walking 3 abreast on a narrow paved path or head-down hiking with loud headphones on singletrack while never checking your surroundings are examples of hikers not being responsible trail users. Certainly some of those folks are showing hiker entitlement, but I think it's largely people just being oblivious.