gotdurt

Fun fact: The term "clipless" is misleading; "clipless" refers to clipping a lure onto the line via a "snap", eliminating the need for tying knots for every lure change. #notimefortying

Chili Dog and Battle Axe (Glorieta, NM); same, trip, different bikes... (I was having a tough time deciding which to keep, so I took both)

Brand new blue ano Funn Full On bar; received today, only to discover that I accidentally selected 7mm rise instead of 15mm! So before I send them back, I thought I'd check to see if someone local wants them. 7mm is little low for my taste on my 27.5 bikes. Specs: 6069 Aluminum 31.8mm Bead Blast Blue Anodized These are 810mm, but have marks for cutting the width down to suit. I love the Full On bars, use them on all of my bikes in various widths and rises (to suit the trails I'm riding). This is a fairly straight bar (not a lot of back-sweep) and very precise handling. I'm in the Leander/Cedar Park area

Nutshell: Asian bots, MIA admin, moved on.

Judging from his channel, he was visiting from Houston.

I wouldn't worry so much about weight; you can spend lots of money and effort to drop a pound or 2, only to find that, realistically, it doesn't make a significant difference (except in rims/tires, but to some extent, you'll suffer durability and traction as a trade-off). Since the 90's, I've gone from a 20lb bike to a 31lb bike, slowly coming to realize that there was no real adverse affect. Now I give priority to strength and practicality over weight. +1 on the gears. Another benefit is that you can run a shorter chain for less slap. Big +1 on the NW chainring, and I'd add a clutch derailer too, otherwise you'll need a guide and tensioner without them; you can get a SLX RD for $45: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/shimano-slx-m7000-10-speed-rear-derailleur/rp-prod148232 Search ebay for "Dekas" and "Snail" narrow wide chainrings; they're cheap and will do the job. I'd start with 32T for 27.5 or 26" wheels, 30T for 29. As for noise, the aforementioned 1x w/clutch RD and NW ring (and thus shorter chain) will go a long way toward this. Cables are cables... to quiet them down, get some Velcro straps and use them where the cables are rattling against the frame.

One of my favorites; my bike enjoying the view of Red Rocks from Dakota Ridge outside of Denver...

The weather sucks, so I'm scrolling through old pics... Dr D, Sethspool & Tree Magnet on South Mountain...

I did that on Friday. Got tired of looking at my newly polished-up bike with climate that felt *okay* while sitting still in the shade with a breeze, and thought I'd play "groundhog", so I did an easy, short ride on 1/4 and determined that summer wasn't quite over and it's not riding season yet... bailed at PicnicX and hurried back to the air conditioning. I'll wait and try again after the next front.

See my experience above. I don't think anyone is saying that starting on a FS literally and directly creates a bad rider, and you can learn skills on any bike, but FS can mask the need for some skills; a FS is more forgiving of mistakes, thus potentially leading to a complacent and lazy rider and allowing for bad habits to develop (I've been there). Riding a hardtail forces me to focus on body position, movements, etc, and it makes for an even smoother, faster, more effective ride when I get on my FS; it becomes second nature by necessity, and this translates to my FS. I can make a run down a given rough, technical black trail on my 6" bike with elbows and knees locked, weight on my hands, looking at my front wheel the whole way, and still make it to the bottom without incident, but if I take the same approach to the same trail on my HT, I'd be stopped in my tracks by the first rock garden, and likely launched OTB on a regular basis. I will be forced to apply specific skills to have a graceful, fluid ride down the mountain on the HT, and when I apply those same skills to my FS, I'll have an even faster, safer ride, and make fewer mistakes. Sure, I can learn those skills on the FS without the HT, but I'll also be more likely to get lazy, too, letting the bike cover my mistakes instead (again, been there). It's easier to learn (and maintain) with tools that give you a heightened awareness and feel for the need of what you are learning.

Once upon a time... I got my first MTB in '88. I lived near Houston, and it, and my next couple of bikes were fully rigid (I don't count a Girvin Fexstem as suspension). Going to a suspension fork around '93 was a big deal, but it took until 2002, when a beloved and expensive hardtail build was stolen, for me to move to a full suspension. I was living in AZ at the time, riding real, technical mountains, and it made sense... Less than a year later, I picked up a nice hardtail for my wife, and took it out for a spin on some trails that I used to ride both, my FS and previous hardtail on; I couldn't believe the bad habits and lack of grace that I had developed while riding the FS... Without realizing it, I had gotten used to just plowing through stuff and using the suspension as a crutch to laziness (much like clipless pedals, but that's another discussion), and I struggled on sections and features that used to be easy and fluid on my hardtail. I immediately began building a new hardtail for myself, and have had one in addition to a FS ever since, splitting my time between the two almost evenly... and if I ever narrow my stable down to just one bike, it'll be a hardtail (probably steel, with AM geometry). I can do almost anything on my hardtail that I can do on my FS, and more, albeit sometimes not *quite* as fast... My opinion and advice is, work on skills while you ride what you have, until you find its limits (you'll know it when you actually do), at which point you'll also know what direction to go with your next bike. Until then, sensible mild to moderate upgrades (especially cockpit) as needed are fine; I recommend watching for closeouts and good used components to keep from investing too much, while still improving the bike and keeping it going until you are ready to make the jump to a real moneypit 😀 I'll add that, just because you upgrade something, doesn't mean that it's married to that bike; those parts might be worth moving on to the next bike (ie: dropper, a good set of bars, etc). So, you aren't necessarily upgrading beyond the value of the bike...

Another advantage of clamping to the top tube is that it doesn't take much force like clamping to a near-vertical seatpost; the tube rests on the clamp, so there's no need to clamp down to prevent sliding, even at angles up to about 30*, just enough to keep it from flopping around inside the clamp. Sometimes I don't even clamp it. In 30 years of using stands with clamps, I've never personally seen damage to an aluminum frame tube from stand clamps, but that doesn't mean it can't happen and I certainly would not recommend cranking down on the lever. I've sworn away carbon though, so that's moot to me.

I clamp to the top tube, much better balanced and easier to rotate that way, and the clamp is out of the way for all but one of my bikes (cables). It also allows me to remove the post if needed. I have some pieces of heavy duty motorcycle tubes for when I'm concerned about grip or marring.

I'm trying to heal some injuries, it's been raining a lot, my warranty recently expired and I'm feeling bummed about selling my "new" bike frame... so what does one do in such circumstances? Some might strip the paint from their old bike and start polishing... I had intended to polish the whole frame, but stopped at the top tube and front of the downtube/head tube because I could polish that part while built... but the raw metal fading into the polished part is really growing on me...

I know that view!

I used to explore dirt roads and county roads on a dual sport motorcycle. I've ridden just about every county road (at least the through-roads) in central Texas. 15 years ago there were still some pretty decent routes within a few miles of the metro area, but it all got paved over time; not much near Austin anymore. Still some west of 281 and north of 190 (beyond Lampassas, Killeen), but those were starting to get paved too (mostly closer to 281, 290 and around Fredericksburg). There's actually some good double track out there too, if you know where to look. The further west and NW you go, the better, but plan a full day. Some of it used to be technical; 315 near Click had a section that was high clearance, "4X4 recommended", and the Sandy Creek crossing was a beast... I had heard they bladed and "improved" it since though. Also, there's a bit east too that is a little closer and more convenient, just not as scenic, and some of them might be sandy for skinny tires. Not much south though; most of the public roads between Austin and SA are paved, with the exception of a few short segments. BTW, the Junction area is gold, and really good riding in the area between San Saba and Brady, too.

That was actually where it began. When I was a kid in Huntsville the late 80's, there was (probably still is) a local frame builder named Hans Schneider; real cool guy, I used to ride my bike over to his house/shop and learn all kinds of cool stuff. He became a brand ambassador for GS when they first launched, and I remember him showing it to me and giving me literature on it... i thought it was space-age tech! It was mounted at the ends of the bars though.

He went to 11... Posts, that is.

Sure, could be, but it's not terribly common, especially that register immediately after the incident... but yes, it absolutely could be a coincidence...

Probably. I just remember that, right after he was banned (within hours), I noticed "Bart" showed up as the "newest member" at the bottom of the home page. So let it be known that he cares...[/hijack]

Pretty sure he's already back, under the name "Bart"... bring on the lift!

Not to derail this delightful thread, but that is one friggin distracting (also delightful?) avatar you have... I've caught myself skipping some serious time while staring blankly at it... I sure hope that's not you....

Man, beside the severely bent frame, that (ridiculously long) stem looks like it's held by nothing more than the quill itself! What's sad is that he'll probably sell it to some unfortunate, ignorant, unsuspecting person, who will end up hurting themselves on it. That is one seriously unfortunate (and comical) frame design... love the tube extending from the BB, with the sole purpose of holding the derailer.

I'm not even riding right now in an effort to heal the shoulders/wrists/thumbs/hip etc as much as possible, for the sole purpose of hitting opening day... Okay maybe that's not the only reason, but may as well be one.

Also, how does the move function work for the videos? There was supposed to be text above the Holbert video, but the video some how ate it... I can't seem to separate it from the video above it now though. There's a move icon when you select the video, but it doesn't seem to do anything...