quixoft

Haha! Sorry. Went with the Guerrilla Gravity Smash. 3-4 weeks of waiting now.

GG allows for the upgrades. I went ahead and upgraded the suspension as that seems to be the most bang for your buck. Ordering today! Thank you everyone for the info!

Haven't seen any wrong way signs but then again I've never gone the other way. The sign at the start says one direction so I always go counter clockwise.

They are called necessary.

Anyone go out today? Trails okay? Got about 1/8 of an inch of rain in my gauge at my house in RR.

Nice! Congrats!

*edit*Went with the Guerrilla Gravity Smash! Now just to wait 3-4 weeks... Thank you everyone for your ideas and help!*edit* Currently on a beginner hardtail with 100mm travel up front and I bottom out frequently on Deception in Brushy Creek. Going to a full suspension and I've chosen to pick up a Guerrilla Gravity bike to replace the hardtail and I'm trying to choose between the Smash(150mm and more all mountain/enduro) and the Trail Pistol(130mm and more XC/trail oriented). The Trail Pistol seems perfect for my main riding area(Brushy Creek) but I do want to start going out to Spider Mountain(never been) and get into more jumping and drops which seem to be more all mountain/enduro. https://ridegg.com/products/trailpistol?option=Ride https://ridegg.com/products/thesmash?option=Ride I'm going with the base model(budget) of whichever one but I do have some room to upgrade one item. If you could only upgrade one, which would you choose? Suspension, brakes, drive, wheels?

No worries. Yeah it's the path closest to the creek.

Marked the offending branch. Westbound Lower Picnic right around 1/4 mile down the trail from the eastern entrance. Almost missed it again as I was looking at the roots in the path.

I'm going to head out that way around lunch time for an easy day before the rain. Went pretty hard yesterday for the shape I'm in although y'all would have probably called it a warm up! I'll find something to tie to it. I would cut it off myself but not sure about the rules of pruning so I'll leave it to y'all that do it regularly. But I can take care of it if you want me to. Probably needs about 6"+ taken off. It's not a branch across the trail low, it's a spike sticking down from a higher branch that looks like it was pruned, just not quite high enough for someone 6'2" on an XL! Thanks for the work you do.

Oh, just a heads up. Busted my helmet on a low branch heading west on Lower Picnic yesterday. Didn't see it at all and I was seated but sitting fairly upright. It was maybe a quarter to a half mile in coming from east. Got a nice bit of whip lash out of it so watch your head!

Thanks for the map. I definitely missed them. Playground Pass is the one I've been through. Y'all are awesome!

Ah, I never went across the bridge. Assumed that was a neighborhood entry/exit with all the people I always see on the bridge.

No. I'm a low intermediate rider and I'll run through them if I'm riding through the area but they are pretty boring and very short. Unless I'm missing some. Across BCRT from Champion, right?

We were out at around 3pm. Passed a few folks going the other way on Picnic but that was about it. BCRT was pretty crowded but mainly walkers/joggers.

Just got back from doing Peddlers twice, Mulligan, Picnic, up some long gravelly/rocky hill towards a neighborhood looking for Snail(which I didn't find), back down the gravel hill, along Picnic and home. Beautiful day! Although I need a new helmet now because I didn't see a low branch on Picnic and it ripped through the top foam on the top of my helmet. Oops. Better than a nice gouge in my head!

I gave Guerrilla a call and they were super awesome so I'm leaning toward that route. I really like the modularity and it being a US company. If I go with them I'm going to see if one of my local shops can do the build so I can give them some business. I'm not a fan of used machinery(cars, bikes, whatever) as you never know what sort of abuse the previous owner may have put it through. It's easy to put lipstick on a pig and cover up any problems there might be.

Hah! Kids and grandkids only allow for a few trips per year and I use those up for snowboarding and pond hockey tournaments in winter!

That looks pretty solid. So many options. I do like the idea of buying from a US company with in country manufacturing.

Must be a hell of a deal. Out of stock everywhere, even the Specialized site.

Hi folks, I've been riding for a couple years on a Specialized Rockhopper hardtail doing mostly easier stuff. I've started getting into some harder technical stuff(1/4 Notch in Brushy Creek for instance) and I'm starting to look at getting a new full suspension bike. I've been saving up the past year or so and the budget is about $3-4K. I wouldn't say I'm a beginner, maybe low intermediate? I can get through all the downhill parts on 1/4 Notch but I do struggle on a few of the uphill parts but that's mostly my lack of skill and being out of shape! I can get through drops less than 4 feet just fine but I've started consistently bottoming out my front forks even when I make a fairly decent landing and my drive train seems to be falling apart even after a recent service. It has been two years on it so maybe that's normal? I've looked at upgrading my current bike but looking at the cost it seems more prudent to go with something new. Especially since I would like a full suspension bike at this point. I've found a liking for going both up and down hill on technical stuff and hitting small drops(less than 4' at this point in my skill level) and jumps(very small gaps!). I prefer the downhill stuff a bit more than going up but enjoy both and I really want to get better on drops and jumps. Pretty much all of the trails I ride and will be riding are in the central Texas hill country so lots of limestone ranging from loose rocks, bare rock, rock gardens, boulders, small drops, short but steep up/downhill, hardpack dirt, roots, etc. I'll mostly be on the Brushy Creek trails since I live right next to them and easily ride to them and OP Schnabel in San Antonio. I grew up in French Creek right next to the park in the 80s and 90s and my sister still lives in our old house so I'm there frequently. From what I've read it seem I should be looking at an all mountain trail or enduro type bike for the stuff I like to ride. I don't plan on ever doing competitions and I have no delusions that I'll be doing crazy downhill stuff or rad drops/jumps, but as I get to be a better rider, I want something I can grow into that will last me a few years. I've been planning to upgrade for a while so I've been saving up and my budget is $4000 max although I would prefer to keep it around $3500 or less if at all possible. I'm 42 years old, 6'2", 190lbs, with a 34" inseam and always ride with a camelback full of water so say 205lbs total on the bike. Anyone with similar build as me have any recommendations? I've been poking around and have my eyes on the Trek Remedy 8 and the Canyon Spectral CF 7.0. Both of those seem to have great reviews and are in my price range and seem to be bikes that can do what I want and grow into. Any others I should be looking at?

Thanks for the heads up. I picked up my current bike at Bicycle Sport Shop off Parmer but I'll check out Peddler's.

No worries at all. I've actually been saving for a full suspension bike so a new bike is planned, I just wasn't quite sure I needed it just yet with what I was riding and my skill level. Now that I've found more difficult stuff and have the scrapes and bumps(and sore bum), it seems a better idea at this time. Looking at the cost of upgrading what I have, it seems more prudent to buy a higher quality bike. Oh, I did look into tuning my front fork and it seems there isn't much I can do with it. It's a 33mm fork so no volume spacers and there is actually a sticker on it that says "USE ONLY FOR LEISURE CROSS COUNTRY: DO NOT USE FOR FREERIDE/DOWNHILL, DIRT JUMPER OR ANY HARD RIDING" Wen't out again yesterday and while it's fun on picnic(minus the small drops), I struggle on 1/4 notch. I know 99% of that is my skill but after two trips through 1/4 notch this week and going off those small 3 foot drops on picnic I'm thinking I would like a rear suspension bike and a better front end. To say what I currently have is jarring is putting it mildly. Even when I managed a fairly decent landing.

The nice folks at BSS off Parmer did the initial sag settings. I've done some motorcycle road racing so I'm familiar with preload/compression/rebound tinkering but by no means an expert. I'll look into it further. My moto shocks are oil and springs so I'm not familiar with air but it seems like the same principles apply. Adding air might be the way to go.

Hi folks, just found these forums! I consider myself a beginner to trail riding although I did ride a lot as a kid with a cheap KMart BMX knock off in OP Schnabel Park in San Antonio back in the 80s. My parent's house backed up to the park and my friends and I blazed a lot of trails through there that are paved now! I hadn't been on a bike in about 20 years so I picked up a 2018 Specialized Rockhopper hardtail last year just to get some cardio work in every now and then. I've been riding around the Round Rock area the past year but mostly just on the BC Regional Trail from the end by Great Oaks Drive to the lake and back and sometimes hitting the trail on the other side of I-35 as well. I randomly came across this site last night and found the info on the trails by the sports park off Parmer. I had no idea there were actual MTB specific trails just beyond where I normally turn around. Went out this morning at 7:30am and ran through Mulligan(that last drop is awesome!), 1/4 Notch, and Picnic. Made it all the way through 1/4 Notch fairly well I think but had to walk it up a few of the tougher climbs. Of course I'm going to blame the bike and not my lack of skill and being out of shape! I did realize I need to do some upgrades on the bike. It's the Expert Rockhopper version and all stock outside of pedals and grips. After running through 1/4 Notch I'm looking to replace the front fork and tires to start. I bottomed out the front end multiple times on some of the 1/4 Notch areas(big time on that double drop from the top area) and felt like I had zero grip in the loose rocks and exposed bedrock even though it was 99% dry. Tires are the stock tires and were at 33R/30F(I'm 6'3", 190lbs). Anyway, I had a blast this morning and will be out that way a lot more now that I know it's there! I bought the bike at Bicycle Sport Shop off Parmer and will probably be pinging them for tires and forks. Any recommendations on tires/forks for the brushy creek trails? Also, where is this Snail trail? That looks fun!