Any Mtn Bikers on RME?

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
I'm totally down for a ride soon now. I'm WAY out of shape, but could gut out some miles. I rode it in my driveway and yard tonight and had a blast. I was going to go for a street ride, but when looking for my light, realized it was on my other bike when it was stolen. The light was worth almost as much as the bike...[emoji853] I'll be shopping on Amazon for a new light now too. This bike is way fun to ride, even on the grass. Can't wait to get on a trail next week after work.


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Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater
How do you mount that to your bike? That looks awesome!

There's a couple options, search Amazon for "handlebar flashlight holder". Some of them are pretty cheap looking. I use the Twofish Lockblock because that's the closest I could find to the mount Niteize used to make.
 

Brian P

Misanthropic Fuel
Location
Taylorsville
Ladies and gents, without reading the entire thread, what are you carrying your MBs to the trail on? I have a BMW(Thule) rack on our car, I have a 2014/15 Specialized Rockhopper 29'r, which Thule carrier would you suggest? The Criterium or Side Arm?

I've been using the Specialized for commuting to and from work a couple times a week, that's been fun, maybe I will get some dirt under the tires soon enough!

While this bike carrier I have on there now is uglier than homemade sin, it had a purpose, My daughter who is visually impaired and I are going to ride a tandem bike for the Bike Tour for the Salt Lake Marathon next April, that carrier can fit a regular bike or extend to fit a tandem.

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I was hoping to put that Bestop HIGHROCK Universal rack tray between the two bike carriers, I'm still looking for any info on them, but I may just bite the bullet and buy one...
 

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater
Had a cheapo trunk mount, but the straps broke and pitched our bikes into the street so I won't be using one of those again. I've also got a Yakima Sidewinder and a pair of Thule something-or-other trays that mount to the load bars on the roof, but trying to wrestle our mountain bikes up to the roof of any of our trucks is a PITA, so I'm looking for a hitch mount rack now. You might have an easier time getting bikes into a tray on the roof of a car, but it still won't be the highlight of your ride.
 

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
I use a Thule hitch carrier that holds them by the upper tube. I'll post the model when I get a chance to look at it, but the frame carriers aren't recommended for carbon bikes.


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benjy

Rarely wrenches
Supporting Member
Location
Moab
I use Yakima frontloaders mounted on a receiver hitch I built. I will never do roof carriers again. I hated having to remember they were up there, loading them, and the wind resistance.

I have a kuat 2-bike hitch that I love. I'm sadly going to have to sell it, as it doesn't work with the van.

I've heard they're nice... my mom just got one and I was blown away. They are definitely worth the high price tag.
 

jsudar

Well-Known Member
Location
Cedar Hills
here's what I've heard about 27.5+

if you ride for fun, and you don't care about speed, weight, or beating your friends up a climb or down a stretch, you'll love it. People say these are just a ton of fun. The wheels (and tubes) are extremely heavy though, and they're not as "spirited" as a performance bike (they feel a little more sluggish uphill and down), but they're a lot of fun. My buddy's hardtail Canondale Beast weighed in at 29lbs. That's a lot for a $2800 bike with a lefty and no rear shock. The tubes alone weighed 1lb each. (he switched to tubeless). I didn't like the geometry of the canondale beast (too steep of a head tube angle), but he loved it.


Personally, I'm a bit frustrated that the bike industry keeps changing standards. 26, 29, 27.5, fat bikes, 27.5+, 29+, 27 speeds, 1x10, 1x11, 1x12, boost rear hub spacing, pedal-assist, what's next? I kind of want to see where the 27.5+ movement goes and if it sticks. Long gone are the days where you could stroll into any bike shop and find a tire that fits your bike. I really feel for the shop owners, now they need multiple different tires in multiple different sizes, where in the past, they could order 10 different 26" tires.

The good news is that bikes just keep getting better and better and they're more and more fun to ride. The bad news is that they're getting insanely expensive ($4500 is considered "entry level") and if you want to buy a replacement part, or upgrade a fork or something like that, good luck finding one that happens to match your wheel size, headset size (fortunately tapered head tubes are now the standard), etc. I used to swap parts back and forth between bikes. Now that's nearly impossible.

The other problem I have run into is that I would like to try new wheel size, but as you pointed out, entry level is $4500 and now that 26" wheels are not trendy they are not worth anything on the used market. I have my steel framed hardtail 26er that cost almost $5k to build and now its worth maybe $1500 on KSL. Selling my old ride to fund a new one leaves me with a big chunk of $$$ to come up with.

I guess it can work in your favor if you're willing to go against the trends. There are some good deals on high end 26ers out there.

I love my 26 inch wheeled bikes, but I went to Moab with a big group of guys a while back and I regularly got my butt kicked by riders of equal skill level who were on larger wheeled bikes. I also watched less experienced riders (who did not have many technical riding skills) on big wheeled bikes blast through tricky spots I don't think they would have cleaned if they had been on, say, my hardtail 26er. It was very interesting to watch how the FS 29er bikes regulary saved their riders from doom. Just my observations.

All the new standards and trends are mess, but Boost 148 is a good thing though. We have needed wider hub flange spacing for a long time.
 

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
I rode my new bike for the first time on a trail yesterday and it was awesome! I am WAY out of shape, but still had a blast. It will take some getting used to still on the tight downhill turns, but it'll come with more riding.
One observation, I am not a fan of presta valves. They are a pita for checking pressure and filling the tires.
I'm looking forward to another ride tonight on the bikers edge loop.


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