Barry
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Posts posted by Barry
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Not going to make it, but Taco Flats is great. To anyone who enjoys a whisky sour and a peaty malt, I highly recommend their La Dosis. It is spectacular.
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Think I'll skip any R&I plans and look forward to a Thursday Oskar Blues ride at Walnut. It should be reasonable for one day on Thursday before Friday's downpour.
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One thing I forgot to add about Franklin Mountains...my favorite trail there was the short Mule Shoe Loop. this is a short and very technical and fun trail that reminded me of RPR. Much of the trail is on conglomerate rock. It's a really good time.
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Okay, I've been twice now, and I can say for certain that Franklin Mountains has some really great trails. The singletrack is a good mix of both fast and technical trails. I'd put it about on par with some of what you'll find on Big Bend's Dome and Fresno Divide trails. And the more technical bits kind of reminded my of Reveille. I've put it together in 2 different ways, once including Mundy's Gap, and once without Mundy's Gap. Both area really great options, and if you're going to be there for multiple days, I'd suggest doing Mundy's Gap at least once. Pretty much the entirely of both of those rides is singletrack with the exception of a few short connections, and Mundy's Gap. Mundy's is basically a VERY old road that is effectively loose cobble grinding up for almost exactly 1000ft, after climbing up singletrack for 600ft, And that overall 1600 ft is gained in just 7 miles.
There are quite a few other trail systems out there, but the only other ride I've yet done is the Sierra Vista Trail. This is some really great desert singletrack, so long as you skip the southern 15 miles of "trail." The first 7 miles is an okay but beautiful gravel grind...but that is followed by followed by 6 miles of horrific sand and unmarked trail. Much of the "trail" and the wilderness looked the same. Massive sections are simply washed away. Much of the time I was just frustratingly navigating. It took about two hours to go those 6 miles. But then it opens up into really great trail. So, I suggest bypassing all of that nonsense. Drive up highway 10 into NM, and then travel east on 227 until you intersect the trail. Park there, and ride north. That will give you about 15 miles north of very gentle climbing, with the option of hooking up many more miles of trail once you get to the other end. And then you get a very fun fast slight downhill back to the parking spot.
I had been told that El Paso was a shit-hole, but I didn't see any evidence of that that. Maybe by Texas standards, but perhaps the person who told me that hasn't been to many places in the northeast. We didn't try a lot of restaurants, but I can say that Leo's Mexican has crazy good shredded beef crunchy tacos. And as you leave town, do yourself the favor and go eat at Cattleman's Steakhouse. I don't want to say much about this one...you should experience it for yourself. But it isn't overly expensive for the quality. The steak is every bit as good as Perry's or Ruth's Chris, but way less expensive.
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They keep their Facespace updated. They are open tomorrow. Personally as much as I love it, I'm RPR'd out at the moment.
Luckily FRR's 2019 opening day is tomorrow! And Jimmy reports (Facespace again) that they had no significant rain yesterday and the trails are in great shape.
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I do tend to push things to failure...or close to it.
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5 hours ago, kpomtb said:
DeVinci and Ibis demos available at Velorangutan in South Austin.
I demoed an HD3 for 2 days while visiting Rochester last summer. Indeed this is the bike that got me on my short cs kick. The ease with which you can pop up the front end is just fun. But the bike is steeper and higher than a bike I want to put 3k offroad miles per year on. And the cs and bbh on the HD4 = nope.
The Troy is also very close with nearly identical geometry to the HD3. But it appears to weigh more than a pound more than its contemporaries.
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3 hours ago, TAF said:
the sole of my shoe came off after I slipped into a gully (sorry, into a trail feature)
Funny, my shoe separated at Thumper during last year's EB as well. Good chance I also cracked my Spitfire there.
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40 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:
No offense but I gotta tap out when it comes to spreadsheets and bikes. Get it close, ride it. Gotta have that soul.
The spreadsheet is about the fact that there are a shit-ton of 27.5 trail bikes out there. I'm trying to get close. Or at least narrow down the field.
Just now, throet said:Was thinking the same thing given his preferences. They really should deliver that bike in a carbon frame.
The 2017 Scout in carbon is still available as a new bike. Unfortunately that was before the most recent geometry update. I came really close to buying one a few months ago when I last broke the Spitfire.
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Don't think I haven't considered offset bushings and anglesets and 27.5 tires on 29ers & plus bikes...
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47 minutes ago, AustinBike said:
For instance, a 17" chainstay vs. a 17.5" chain stay will probably not be noticed because there is a degree of difference in the head angle, yada, yada, yada.
I agree that much of it seems like minutia, but in my opinion a 0.5" chainstay difference is huge, and you can (or I can) feel it when poping the front end up 200 times in a ride. Try poping up the front end of a bike with a 16.5 v/s a 17.5 chainstay without a pedal kick to see what I mean. Then do it for 4000 miles. I know you brought up chainstay as a for instance and your point applies to all geometry particulars, but all of my preferences are based on a lot of bikes I've ridden over the years.
Irrespective, your point about demoing bikes is well taken, and indeed I plan to do so. But my spreadsheet will keep me from wasting my time on things that are not even close to my preferences, like a Norco Sight, or a Yeti SB5, for example. And my spreadsheet has "disqualified" (for example) the Intense Recluse, but at least it is close, so if I get a decent chance, I'll demo one.
47 minutes ago, AustinBike said:It's like wine. I drink it but I don't know shit about it.
We're different there. For one, whisky, and two, I like to know everything possible about it. If I don't like one, I need to understand why. Same way with bikes.
59 minutes ago, AustinBike said:All of that being said, my short list right now (all carbon) are Santa Cruz (Tallboy and Hightower), Pivot (Mach 429)
@Jessica demoed the Hightower and the Pivot 429 Trail, and very much preferred the Hightower. She didn't try the Tallboy because she wanted the option to run 27.5x3.0 tires, but she is running 29x2.35 on it now and may not ever go back. For her preferences, it's an amazing bike.
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1 minute ago, ATXZJ said:
Crap, didnt catch that but 13.5 isnt too bad. What height are you looking for?
13.5 isn't crazy-town, especially for a 140mm travel bike. But my Spitfire is 140mm with a 13.1 bb, and I really don't want to go much higher. My perfect bike is listed on the spreadsheet, including tolerances. For bbh I've called it 13" +0.3 / -0.2.
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The Recluse was really close, but rejected for bbh. It seems slightly too high for my preferences.
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On the old site, one of you mojoans said something to the effect of, "wanting a new bike is like getting hungry on a ride. Once you notice, it's too late to do anything about it." So now it's all about deciding what I want.
- As close as possible to the Spitfire's geometry. Long, slack and low, except for...
- A much shorter chainstay than the Spitfire's 17.2. 16.5 is perfect, and I'm not considering anything over 16.8.
- Carbon fiber: I've broken 11 aluminum frames and even a steel frame. So it is time to try something different.
- Lifetime warranty...or at least 4+ years. This 2 year business doesn't cut it. And a decent crash replacement program would be nice too.
- Full suspension trail bike. So 120-150mm. My joints, back and more than 4k miles of rocky trails demand it of me. I love hard tails and even rigid bikes, but I'm not going to put thousands of miles per year on one.
- 27.5. I don't hate 29ers like I used to--they've come a long way. But my primary trail bike is going to be 27.5.
- ...with room for mid-fat tires up to 2.8. Typically I'll run 2.35-2.5, but the mid-fat option is nice for some locations.
So here is my big damn list of bike geometry numbers and notes: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1f86kDOByxic1CTz76IQXJNSw_lrQ3E-c2BbVfJqGeCM/edit?usp=sharing
On the list, the magenta color is a disqualifying geometry number, so any bike with magenta has likely fallen off my list of possibilities. The only 3 carbon fiber bikes that didn't have disqualifying numbers are the new SC 5010, the Rocky Mtn Thunderbolt, and the fairly obscure Cube Stereo. I'm pretty sure I can build the 5010 to just over 27lbs.
So what am I missing? What obvious bike have I left off my list? What geometry number or detail am I obsessing over that just wrong for your preference. Let me know!
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Already got the socks!
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Great. I'll bring them with me to work tomorrow. I'll PM contact details.
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I'm sure I have a few I don't need. You're welcome to them, we'd just have to figure out how to get them to you.
I live and work off Metric, btw.
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One thing I've been curious about, @DesertNomad... I count quite a lot of creek xings on your preride. Assuming the possible combo of mid 30s temps and several feet of water, how is that going to work?
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Just this week.
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@RidingAgain yet you fail to acknowledge you concern was addressed.
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1 minute ago, RidingAgain said:
I did... Twice.
Perhaps you should not assume.You suggestion was addressed both in the post and on the trail. I reckon my poor assumption was your reading comprehension.
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4 minutes ago, Big_papa_nuts said:
I was there for a day a month ago
That was me. But for 2 days. Franklin Mountains State Park is the best riding in Texas.
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@RidingAgain regarding alternate lines...perhaps you could actually read the OP?
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That sucks. I really liked that tree.
Vegas?
in MTB Destinations
Posted
So yeah, @Jessica and I are booked for Vegas for bike (and other non-gambling) fun from Jan 24 to 28. We should get 4 good days of riding, and maybe even a 5th Monday AM ride out of the deal. Certainly we're going to depend heavily on Trail Forks and Project MTB, but if anyone else has some knowledge out there (trails or food), then it woudl be greatly appreciated.
So how about it, @Hakalugi, any pointers here? I'm going to dig through your Strava for some ideas. Is there anything else withing about 1.5 to 2 hours drive that are must-hits while in the area, or are there plenty of trails in town? And what isn't worthwhile and we should just skip?