Any Mtn Bikers on RME?

[sixstringsteve]

I saw a meetup invite fir a ride up there this week, so I assume it's back open for now.

The road to the top of rush follows the north bench of corner canyon. It would probably take longer to shuttle than ti just ride back up annes. You could also drive to the top of Suncrest and catch the side dirt road from there. That would probably be the fastest way to shuttle it.

 

[Samersen]

Oh awesome thanks! Ok I will have to figure out what's best... shuttle or not to shuttle that is the question.

If anyone wants to ride there are 4 of us. We are meeting at 4 this afternoon, probably near the the temple.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I wish i didn't have to work today or I'd join you.

 

[Samersen]

I am wanting to rent a fat bike on years possible but am stumped on where to ride it. I want to get some awesome down hills and want enough snow to get the full experience of a fat bike. Any thoughts on where to ride?

 

[sixstringsteve]

AF Canyon, or Uintas, or Heber. I've got a fatbike and it's not nearly as much fun as I had hoped. Even on mellow downhills, you have to peddle to keep momentum. You can only ride on packed trails, or trails with less than 3" of snow. Powder is a disaster.

That being said, it's still a ton more fun than sitting at home wishing I were on a bike.

I rode AF Canyon on saturday. There were a handful of other fat bikers, and you have a lot of options up there (same with Mirror Lake Highway). I like riding on snowmobile trails that are semi-packed. I'd be happy to show you around AF Canyon sometime if you want. I've been wanting to find someone to ride with lately.

I've ridden lambert, and it's actually pretty fun, but pretty sketchy. Riding on the snow is more like road biking than the best parts of mountain biking. The bike is less nimble and everything is quite slower. It's a MAJOR workout.

 

[Kevin B.]

Can anyone school me on frame geometry? Specifically the rear shock mount location.

I see this:

And I see this:

The promotional lit says the second is better for climbing, but doesn't explain why. They're both 100mm travel setups, so what's the advantage of the first one?

 

[sixstringsteve]

That's not really geometry you're looking at, it's suspension design. Geometry deals more with spefic angles and lengths of the bike.

Shock location has zero effect on ride quality apart from center of gravity. The suspension design (link lengths, angles, positive and negative pressures on the shock, spring rates, etc) will affect the ride quality. Bike suspension setups are complicated, but every company claims to have the best suspension out there.

I can't explain why it would be better without knowing more about the specifics, but I'm guessing the rear wheel's path when it hits a bump would help it climb better? In my opinion, there's no substitute for getting out and test riding a bike on the types of trails you like.

Without knowing all the specs, I'm betting the first one is $500-700 cheaper. The second one appears to have better components.

I know you like your 29ers, just make sure you get one that's beefy enough. The bigger the wheels, the weaker they are, so you want something that'll take some abuse. Nowadays, most 29ers are built as light as possible to be an XC race bike. You probably don't want an xc race bike (though I could be wrong). Even if you just look at the tires (and ignore the super steep steer angle and longer chainstays) you can tell that both of these bikes are meant more of XC bikes. That's not a bad thing per se, but just make sure it's what you want before committing to it. Tires can be changed out, but frame geometries can't.

 

[Kevin B.]

Without knowing all the specs, I'm betting the first one is $500-700 cheaper.

$800 cheaper. You're slipping.

I do love me a 29er. I tried to go back to a 26 and couldn't hack it - you saw the way I bounced all over Forest Lake, my 29er would have steamrolled those cobbles. I appreciate the discussion of XC vs all mountain frames though. Now that you mention it, I think both my previous bikes have had that steeper steer tube angle.

 

[sixstringsteve]

some people like the steeper steer tube angle. It makes it climb real well, but descending at speed gets twitchy if the steer tube is TOO steep. You might also like a 650b, or a 27.5" wheel. That's all the rage now. I still prefer a 26" wheel myself, but my main bike has 27.5" wheels. THey say it's the best of both worlds with no disadvantages. That's impossible. It's got its pros and cons, but the bike companies want everyone to believe their older bike is outdated and they need to sell it to buy the latest wheel size craze.

That being said, 29ers do roll over things better. I guess my preference is not to just roll over everything so the trail feels flat. I like to jump off all the little bumps I can find. The bigger my wheel, the less I can pop off the smaller features. Smaller wheels feel more playful to me. Then again, I'm 5'6" and a 29" wheel feels like I'm riding an old school bike with the 6' tall wheels. I can totally see why a taller guy would gravitate towards 29" wheels.

 

[Kevin B.]

some people like the steeper steer tube angle. It makes it climb real well, but descending at speed gets twitchy if the steer tube is TOO steep. You might also like a 650b, or a 27.5" wheel.

I might, I've been looking at those but haven't ridden one. I might also like a tweener, with a 26" rear and a 29" front. And maybe one of those spiffy drop seats would help my descending? Or maybe I just need to buy something and get to riding.

Shopping for mountain bikes is hard.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I am 100% sold on dropper posts. I LOVE 'em.

 

[glockman]

I feel for you Kevin. I had more anxiety when I bought my Reign than any purchase I can remember. Bikes are a bunch of super small, unnoticeable things that make a big difference when you ride them. On top of that they need to be setup for you, your weight and height when you test them or the test is crap. I've had little adjustments like 5psi more air in the shock make big differences and I'm not super picky about setup on my motorcycles.
That said, there is nothing better to figure out what you like than to buy a bike and ride it. Luckily for you, there are always a lot of xl frame bikes for really good deals on KSL. Mediums seem to get premium pricing

 

[Kevin B.]

I feel for you Kevin. I had more anxiety when I bought my Reign than any purchase I can remember.

Seroiusly. I'm about to spend twice as much as I've ever spent on a bike, and I'm all sorts of conflicted over it. This is as bad as buying new truck tires!

I won't be buying used, I thought about it and decided that I don't think I know enough to get the right bike for me, and I'm tired of trying to make the wrong bike work. I'm really liking the idea of just driving down to Fezzari and having a nice long talk with them. Or I might try the guys at Bike Peddler, I've heard good things about that shop. But I don't want to gamble on used, and I don't want to be misguided by a stoned LBS drone either.

I'm hung up on this steer angle thing. I haven't ridden yet and I won't until I've got cash in pocket, but will I notice a 67 degree vs a 69 degree head angle?

 

[sixstringsteve]

the guys at bike peddler are great guys. If Dirk is there working, tell him you're a friend of Steve H. Riding the bikes back to back you may not notice the difference between a 67* head angle vs a 69* right away, but after 6 months of riding you definitely will. That's why the cane creek makes the angleset. People will pay $200 to offset their head angle by 0.5-1.5*. To me, it's one of the most important geometries. If you're someone who just wants to get out and ride and you don't put too much thought into your gear, it won't matter. If you like to dial everything in to your riding style, you'll notice.

Another good shop is Canyon Bicycles in Draper. They're mostly a Specialized shop (like peddler), but they have an insane amount of inventory. They have almost every model, in almost every size. I'd go shopping at about 8 different bike shops and learn from what they can teach you. Pretty soon you'll realize who is feeding you a load of crap and who isn't. I'm sure you'll hear everyone pimping 650b as "the best of both worlds with no compromises". Specialized hasn't killed the 29er yet, but Giant has announced that they're going to be killing it in the next few years and they'll only carry 650b bikes.

And remember, a bike can have perfect specs on paper and still ride like crap. You need to get out and ride as many as you can.

One other thought - what about another cheap used 29er hardtail 'till you decide what kind of riding you like to do? Chances are, as you progress and get better this year, you'll outgrow your bike or its style and gravitate towards another style. You may end up loving the uphills more than the downhills. Or you may end up loving shuttle runs that are purely downhill. A good all-mountain bike should be able to handle everything ok, but as you learn what you love, you'll want to get a bike that matches that style. Just food for thought.

 

[clfrnacwby]

I just caught wind that Epic Biking in Saratoga Springs is having a huge sale. My neighbor just picked up an $800 Giant hardtail for $400 for his kid. I guess he is moving his business to a smaller location and is only going to focus on fat bikes...so he's drastically reducing inventory. http://www.epicbiking.com

Address: 1306 N Redwood Rd, Saratoga Springs, UT 84045
Phone: 801-653-2039
Store Hours: Mon & Sat 10-6, Tues-Fri 10-7, Closed Sun

*DISCLAIMER: I haven't actually been in the store, or spoke with the owner to confirm this.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I have permits for white rim trail March 13-16. I've got room for a few people to join if anyone is interested. We also need a driver for the support vehicle.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Here's the itinerary for the White Rim trip

Thursday, March 12
7 PM - drive down to Moab
10 PM - camp on willow springs rd

Friday, March 13th (Friday the 13th!) - 30 miles of biking this day.
8 AM - head to island in the sky. Begin the white rim trail on mountain bikes heading down the schafer switchbacks
6 PM - arrive at Gooseberry campground.

Sat, March 14th - 25 miles of riding
9 AM - start riding
6 PM - arrive at Candlestick campground

Sunday, March 15th - 22 miles of riding
8 AM - start riding
6 PM - arrive at Taylor campground

Monday, March 16th - 35 miles of riding
8 AM - start riding
5 pm - arrive at the top of mineral bottom switchbacks and finish the trail
7 pm - dinner in town
9 pm - drive home

 

[sixstringsteve]

10 spots left people

1. Steve
2. Tess
3. Joel
4. Gary cobranut (driver)
5. Mark (driver)
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.


A bit about our group and what to expect:

- we love to have fun and explore. Often this means no rigid schedule and we make things up as we go.
- we don't like complainers. If you can't adapt to what mother nature or group dynamics throw at you without whining, you won't like our group, and we won't like having you with us.
- you must be able to roll with the punches. We make changes to our schedule on the fly all the time.
- we almost ALWAYS set up camp after dark. If you can't handle that, you won't like camping with us.
- It's your job to be prepared. Don't expect us to bring your water or 1st aid kit or food. Weather can be unpredicatble this time of year. We might get snow, or we might get 70* days.
- please leave the stereo at home. We don't want to hear your speakers blaring your favorite tunes as we ride along or as we sit around at camp. Feel free to wear headphones, just don't make us listen to your music while we try to enjoy nature
- We keep our outings family-friendly. Kids are often present at our trips and we want to keep the language and activities PG-13.
- We'll stay up past midnight, play games, and joke around, but we aren't party animals. Most of us don't drink. We don't mind alcohol at our camps, but we'd rather not see people getting trashed and wild, especially in front of the kids.
- we believe in TreadLightly! and LNT principles. We don't bury our toilet paper, we don't chop down trees for firewood, and we don't leave our fire burning all night.

 

[Kevin B.]

Either of Gary or Mark want to drive my pickup? I'm thinking hard about this but there's no way I'll be able to ride the whole thing.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Mark has his own pickup he will be taking.