Lacch

2 hours ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

There are no official MTB trails at Bull Creek

Google maps shows these trails (see pic)... I've hiked them, but never taken a bike there. Thanks for the tip on Irving and Hazel Memorial Trail, i'll check it out!

1 hour ago, AustinBike said:

I'd get him going on Walnut Creek or Slaughter Creek first.

Ya, understood. Walnut has been great for me to learn and build confidence.

A buddy of mine is looking to buy his first mountain bike and hoping to find some nearby trails to ride. He lives next to a Bull Creek trail head (360 and Winding ridge) and would like to map out a route from his apartments, through some trails and back home. We have done a lot of hiking in the area, but neither of us know if there are any beginner biking trails near by. Google maps shows the Bull Creek Mountain Bike Trail near by, but we've only ever hiked those trails and don't know where to start/end for a decent ride. From memory those trails don't seem beginner friendly, but I can't say for sure.

Are there any trails/routes near the 360/Bull Creek area that he should consider?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Serious question... Why carry CO2 cannisters and a hand pump?

Had my first walk of shame today due to not having a tire repair kit on me. (Shout out to @throet for giving me a Brushy Creek tour, too bad I popped a tire in the first 30min :|)

I'm curious what type of gear everyone packs with them on the trail.

I just picked up a super small saddle bag and packed it with....

- 1 tube 
- 2x tire levers (do I need 2?!?, I don't think I do)
- 2x CO2 (probably don't need 2 of these either)
- CO2 Tire Inflator

What do you guys carry out on the trail with you?

backpacks?

Hand pump?

First Aid of any sort?

Insurance/Drivers License/etc

multi-tool?

pressure gauge?

should I bring a patch kit? is it realistic to patch a tube on a trail?

anything else?

I seem to be making new mistakes just about every day... I'll keep adding them to this post, maybe the next noob will benefit.

- Wet surfaces are not your friend. I had my first proper washout on wet pavement this morning. It was on a fairly tame turn when riding at a slow pace, but apparently I didn't respect it enough.

- If/When you fall, don't brace with your wrists, roll out of the fall. Anyone with a lot of previous falling experience (like myself) will say "duh". But if you are new to falling off a bike that extra height is just enough where your old falling habits might go out the window. Time to re-learn how to fall. 

learned a new one yesterday..

If you're not lined up for a jump, don't force it.

I really wanted to gap a big wood-stack but needed more speed. I forced a few extra pedal strokes to get there and then didn't have time to line up the jump.

I hit it at a weird angle and went sideways... managed to save it, but it could have been bad.

Good news! I cleaned, degreased, lubed, re-tuned and it seemed to have fixed all my problems. All gears are quiet, no more POPs when on the 8th cog, shifting is smooth. Seems good all round. 

Bad news... I used spray lube and got it on my rear disk brake. (enough where it doesn't stop and squeals like crazy) ugh.

I don't have time to try and fix it now, but I will try later today. How bad of a problem is this? any tips/hacks on solving it?

I just ordered one of these.... Park Tool CG-2.4 Bicycle Chain and Drivetrain Cleaning Kit

is this decent enough to get the cassette/chain cleaned?

looking at the 2nd to smallest gear (the one that pops on me)

I see small variations in the alignment of the teeth, normal?

Video:

I'm calling the 8th cog 2nd from the smallest (its a 1x9). Its the only one that pops.

I took another pass at tuning my shifter last night and went for a ride this morning to test it out.

For the most part the shifting is smooth again. Its hard for me to tell which symptoms are a side effect of poor tuning vs a cheap bike.

for example...

- the low gears are still quite loud. it doesn't sound like its catching on the next sprocket, but I'm honestly not sure. I tried to tune-out the noise, but couldn't.

- I still *POP* the chain when putting a lot of pressure on gear 8 (it only happens on my 8th gear), at the end of the ride I climb a really steep hill and the chain was popping every few pedal strokes. I looked for worn/broken teeth, but could find anything. This bike is only ~2mo old, but its cheap and I've been riding it pretty hard. Maybe did break something?? My next step is to clean the chain, cassette and try to tune again.

- After a jump, the chain popped out of gear then back in gear on my landing. This bike has a derailleur clutch, but maybe it sucks? maybe this can be solved with proper tuning?

Overall, the bike is ridable again. so that's good.

I'll spend some time cleaning/re-tuning to see if I can improve things... 

(hoping to meet up with mack_turtle this weekend and get some hands on advice, super excited for that!)

yep.

makes perfect sense now.

for whatever reason, this is what I was expecting...

😐

for some context....

I thought the plastic barrel adjuster screwed in/out of the shifter.. when I "screwed" it all the way out and didn't see threads, I figured I snapped the threads off when I took plyers to it...  I kept doing small motions with the barrel and didn't see the derailleur moving so I was convinced I broke it.

Now I realize that the plastic adjuster simply turns the metal adjuster below it and can be turned WAY more then I was giving it credit for.

and the learning continues...

@olddbrider I'm already running a 1x with this Talon2, so I'm good there 😉

After chatting with mack_turtle, it turns out I didn't actually break the thing, I just didn't have a good grasp of how it should work. 

I've watched a handful of maintenance videos over the last few days, but I'm at the point where I just need more hands on. I'll re-watch the ParkTool tuning video with my bike next to me and take another pass a tuning it this evening.

Thanks again for the help.

@mack_turtle thanks for the offer, much appreciated!!

I'll PM you.

I'm new to bike repairs/tuning and just learned my first lesson. Never take a pair of pillars to your barrel adjuster. I know, I know, I'm an idiot. lesson learned.

So, now I have a broken barrel adjuster on my shifter and my cable tension is stuck in a spot that basically makes my bike un-ridable.

I'd like to learn bike repairs, but I'm wondering If replacing the shifter is too 'advanced' for me considering I couldn't even tune the thing... lol

Questions..

- should I take on the repair myself and keep learning by making mistakes? (but, I really want to get back to riding asap)

- should I accept that this might be beyond my skills and take it into a shop? (I'm curious if most of you guys do your own maintenance/repairs or not)

- I hate to impose, but might as well ask.... Is anyone in N Austin avail to help me with this repair?

Also, this is a super low end bike (Talon 2), so I'll probably just replace the shifter with the same model. (Advent - microshift Trail)

1 hour ago, TheX said:

Invest in one of these.

Thanks! I ordered a bell just now (sick pic btw)

I also picked up new pedals. The stock pedals I'm riding don't have near enough stick. As for other upgrades, I'm going to wait until I can "feel" the need. (I gotta watch the budget)

Thanks again for all of the advice, lots of good safety/practical tips here!!

45 minutes ago, Bart said:

Go ride Thumper several times a week.

Is this a serious comment? (sorry, I'm honestly not sure)

I ask because I've only been riding Walnut Creek (its riding distance from my house). Mostly inner/outer log loop, powerhill flow and ski hill flow (I suck on ski hill flow.. still figuring it out)

Those trails feel good for my level, but if there are others in the area that I should add to my list, pls let me know!!

Lots of great info here, much thanks!!

55 minutes ago, throet said:

Also know that being seated in the saddle leaves you very vulnerable in many situations you'll encounter on the trail. The quicker you get comfortable being out of the saddle and balanced between your pedals and handlebars, the less likely you are to get hurt.         

This is something I've been wondering... I see a lot of people sitting when riding around Walnut Creek, but I rarely sit when on a trail. My first couple of weeks I was sitting a ton and using my legs to power over everything. Once I had more endurance and started standing I realized that I could go faster and smoother by 'sucking up' the bumps and compressing down the dips. Now I'm way faster with much less effort. It feels great to ride with the terrain instead of power against it.

My biggest takeaway from everyone's feedback is that I need to start riding with people before I take on harder terrain. I feel like I'm progressing fairly quickly, but Its probably smart to get some hands on advice before pushing it too far solo.

I've been riding for a few weeks and have started hitting most every feature that comes my way. Yesterday I hit a jump and my landing was super squirrely.... I was on a narrow trail without much room to correct but was able to slam the breaks and center myself before crashing into anything.

It made me realize that I don't know what to be afraid of yet... 

Are there common noob mistakes that result in serious crashes that I should be aware of?

If you guys have any advice on scenarios where I should be exercising extra caution please let me know.

Just picked it up!

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback, advice and kind offers. I'll need some time to build up my stamina and skills, but I hope to see you guys on the trails soon!

ok... I gotta pull the trigger on something asap... my 20yr old cruiser just doesn't feel safe for me or the kids. also, being single gear makes it a horrible ride up these hills with a trailer.

ATX Bikes still has a Large 2021 Talon 2 for ~$650, I know you guys aren't the biggest fans of this bike, but as someone said "I just need to get my feet wet".

Its time. new bike day!!!! (+helmet!)

I asked a seller why they had a bike listed as M/L when the sizes available for this model are strictly M or L (no middle option)

this was the answer I got:

"It’s a medium with 29 tires, so it can fit people who usually ride a large"

The question is... do different size tires really have an effect on "fit"? seems like frame "fit" should be constant regardless of tire size, but I have no idea...

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moved to new thread