RidingAgain

Best trail that I know of for a beginner to learn on is the trail in Sunset Valley. It's a nice mixture of easy flowy singletrack with a few places that have easy to a little difficult (for a beginner) rocky sections and no real rooty sections to speak of. It also has some areas with doubletrack jeep road type trail that gives the beginner a chance to open up their spinning/speed so that they can build some confidence in their riding (having confidence is super important to learningto ride mtb trails... And enjoy doing so). The worse thing to do is take someone on a trail that they need to continually get off their bike and walk. People get on a bike to ride... Take a beginner to places they can ride. The trail in Sunset Valley will also be uncrowded, which is good for beginners. It also has a few different trail sections that you can approach from different directions. Worked out properly, you'll easily get maybe four miles of riding in. Then there are places you can go eat; and if you want to ride some more there's Dick Nichols Park that's five minutes away, which, if you stay away from certain sections, is also good for a beginner. But I don't think it has the mtb character of Sunset Valley. But together you can get in seven or eight miles of riding that a beginner can handle and would enjoy.

This...https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/d/specialized-stumpjumper-fsr/6753895265.html Don't worry about the price... I'll work with you. Pretty much got everything else that a starter needs... Except the fork. I think it will work for someone 6' because the TT length is on the short side (at least for me at 6'4"). Put a short stem on it and some back sweep handlebars. See geometry here... https://geometrygeeks.bike/bike/specialized-stumpjumper-fsr-120-2006/ Got great reviews... See one here... https://www.bikeradar.com/us/gear/category/bikes/mountain-bikes/product/review-specialized-bicycles-stumpjumper-fsr-comp-9016/

How tall is he? I have a xlg frame that slightly on the smaller size, so would fit 6' up. I could build it up with parts that I have, but he would need to provide a 120mm fork with a straight steerer tube.

Wife's bike... Springhill Park mtb trailhead, Fort Smith, Arkansas... End of May this year. Fast, flowy undulating flat singletrack with a few features and small jumps that you could easily average 12+mph on for 10 miles. Turn around and do it the opposite way and you'll get 20 miles of pure fun. It had been raining on and off for a few weeks before we got up there so the trail was tacky with a couple of mud spots (it's alongside a river), but vegetation was really green and mosquitoes not so bad.

Clearing out old photos on my phone and came across this one I'd taken one morning during my trip to Arkansas. Spent the night in Fayetteville and got up in the morning to go get some coffee, saw this while driving and had to stop and take a photo of it. At first glance it doesn't seem that unusual... But when you realized it's in the morning... And the sun is behind me... Then it's kind of strange, at least for me. Normally you'd see this kind of thing with a setting sun. Just thought I'd share it.

Just came across this on the UBI website and thought some of the resources could be useful to folks here. https://www.bikeschool.com/index.php/resources

Yeh... I sent them an email regarding the lack of proper information on their website. Lots of wannabe mtb culture speak... But little substance. It's kind of normal for start-ups. Actually kind of normal for seasoned businesses as well these day. It's unfortunately the way marketing services have gone in the past decade.

Just saw an ad for this new brand of flats on mtbr... Looks interesting. Disclaimer... No, I don't have shares in the company. https://rideconcepts.com

I particularly enjoy riding at dusk... Just after the sun has set, and with no direct light. I started doing this in Miami when I first began to ride as I would get in from work too late to get to Oleta Park with much sunlight left. Althought the park would close at sunset, since I'd ridden to the park I could continue riding, as long as the ranger wasn't huffy about it. I found that I had to develop a kind of sensitivity to the trail that I didn't have rding during the day or even at night with a light. It's like you have to feel the trail under you. Your eyesight doesn't work as well since the shadows are gone and the dim light makes it hard to see detail. It's hard to describe... But it's a cool feeling. Especially if you're very familiar with the trail. You can't plan lines to take, you've got to react in the moment. Not sure if I'm describing it well though. I've done it a number of times down here on a few SATN trails. My favourite is the section that goes east from the cave area, heading to Brodie. It's a mixture of slight technical and flowy, with a lot of it under a tree canopy. I also enjoy heading north from Taco Bueno to Davis Lane... But you can begin to pick up speed and it gets a bit hairy.

I may be interested in possibly spending money on two lights. Hope that meets you DISCLOSURE requirements.

Expensive... But seems worth considering... https://www.outboundlighting.com

Yeh, mountain biking didn't really start gaining real traction anywhere in JA until maybe ten-fifteen or so years ago I've heard. Back in the late '90s someone I knew, and American who owned a scuba shop in Negril, Rusty Jones, was one of the first to get something official started and introduced a Fat Tyre Festival that would later be taken over by other folk (with government involvement I think). I remember another American friend of mine who had migrated from Balitmore to Negril coming back with a red Cannondale bike that he told me was called a mountain bike. Except for the fatter frame tubes it looked like a regular road bike design with flat bars and fat tires. Mike, who had been a road rider for some years, said mountain biking was growing in popularity back in the US. This was back in maybe '93. And here's a little unusual sidebar... Mike and I used to get into some pretty deep conversations about stuff and one evening I remember him telling me that I should go spend time in... Get this... Austin, Texas. I asked him why and he told me when he was a young hippy back in the late '50s, early '60s he lived in some kind of commune in Austin and thought that it was somewhere I'd fit in. I didn't remember that he'd said that until I'd been in Austin for a few years. Funny how things work out. Anyway, Mike, Rusty, and his partner, Bill, used to do a lot of road riding around the Negril area and I guess it somehow led to mountain biking. But I don't think any real trails were built until years later. It was probably done as you experience on mostly double-track and maybe some walking paths. I came across this article earlier this year... The video is worth a watch... https://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-two-wheels-one-love-mountain-biking-in-jamaica.html

Hey AustinBike, where in Jamaica did you ride? I lived there for many years.

Skinnies are the new worldwide rage in biking...

More cool...

"...corporate welfare..." I get it... But sure sounds like an oxymoron.

WARNING WILL ROBINSON.... When servicing shocks/forks.... MAKE SURE... To get all the air out... Before attempting to open. I'm speaking from experience with a FOX shock. Thankfully my head was a little to the left of the trajectory of the piece I unscrewed. And if for any reason it seems to be hard to unscrew... Chances are there's still air in it.

It's Seth... So I'm thinking... Ahh... No.

https://www.hotsprings.org/events/event/3501/

Rock Shox sold.

The above, for me, expresses one of the main joys of mountain bike riding.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/heres-why-this-forest-looks-like-its-breathing-in-that-viral-video-making-the-internet-hyperventilate/ar-BBOQ8Vg?li=BBnb7Kz

Good for you, Seth... Respect for getting something like this going. Product development and marketing is not as simple as many people think. All the best for the successs of your undertaking.

I picked this up a few years ago but never got into cyclocross. I know there are a few riders here who are... If this can help you, come get it.

Interesting to read this kind of consideration and take a look at what my bike frame build is. On the seat tube angle, I'd read recently that the trend was towards a steeper angle, but the PVD seems to have headed in the opposite direction.