Adventure pushies

[NordieBoy]

Giant Trance X3 looks good.

[Rosie]

Fitness training for "proper" adventure biking of course...

Nothing wrong with "improper" adventure biking. Like motorbikes, every bike is a compromise, but unlike motorbikes, I can afford to run three of them

Single speeds for the trails in whaka:





Geared bikes for expeditions:





And (single speed) town hacks for riding to the pub:



Sorry for the tiny photos. I am afraid of wet bus tickets

[Willdat?]

Thanks Will I just went back & saw that. looks bloody cheap deal actually with free shipping to NZ too!!

The jump to a squish is very life-changing. Some hardcore hard-tail racers don't like the bobbing effect when climbing however I found more traction uphill with the squish. I started with a Gen 1 Trance - 4inch travel then went to a Santa cruz Nomad with about 6inch travel. I couldn't keep up with the fit technical guys I was riding with anymore so stopped doing the big knarly stuff & now lonewolf it nana style - much more fun. Consequently I swapped bikes back to a 2005 Speccy Stumpjumper & I love it. It is like a Toyota corolla or DRZ400- nothing particularly special about it but handles everything I can throw at it & is soooo comfortable, reasonably light & responsive.

If you are looking at a fully sus I would be looking at something around the $2K mark second hand unless you know of someone that looks after their bikes well. I just paid out $90 for a couple of bits of rubber for the front brake reservoir.

Hmmmm, maybe I'll keep hardtailing for a while longer then, my bike was $550 NEW in 2006 and I'm not really out performing it (Avanti Atomic DISC!). Had a play on a mates Giant Reign and I loved the traction under brakes (and climbing) where as I tend to be skittering over the top.

[NordieBoy]

My bikes at the moment are...

Diamondback V-Link 3 frame with a cracked suspension pivot and shagged rear suspension bushes.


Avanti something - Their first fat tube alloy road bike.


Cannondale Super V3000 frame with cracked strut.


Avanti Blade CycloCrosser - Mine on left and on right, what they looked like originally.


And a Diamondback Vectra Sport hardtail I don't have a photo of.

Weirdly, the Vectra Sport gets good reviews for it's ergos and geometry.
I may have to fiddle a bit more with the stem and bars. Maybe stick my spare forks on it too...
I'd stick a rigid fork on it but my step-son would disown me.

[NordieBoy]

Just been measuring up, and with bar/stem tweaks I should be able to get the geometry of the Vectra similar to the Blade.

Which would be cheap

Although I snapped it's chain getting fush n chups the other night



Got some carbon 'cross forks on the way for the Blade too

[Rosie]

Hmmmm, maybe I'll keep hardtailing for a while longer then, my bike was $550 NEW in 2006 and I'm not really out performing it (Avanti Atomic DISC!). Had a play on a mates Giant Reign and I loved the traction under brakes (and climbing) where as I tend to be skittering over the top.

Avanti Atomic FTW! I had my atomic for about 9 years (it spent most of that time as a single speed, so wasn't exactly stock).

[NordieBoy]

Seems like most of my "issues" with the MTB are from the bars being too far back and too high...
Transferring too much weight to the back wheel when climbing = wheelies every power stroke - Yep.
Not enough weight on the front when descending = vague, skittish front end - Yep.

The forks are Marzzocchi Bomber air/oil forks and I should be able to get more travel by adding oil/reducing the air volume as there's a good 8-10cm of travel left if you pop the fork caps off. So another 5cm should be safe to try. Bugger is, you lose 4psi every time you measure the pressure. 32psi seems about right at the moment for race sag.

[nzspokes]

If you guys need any advice on repairing a bicycle just ask. Ive been a bicycle mechanic for a lot of years. Not on the tools anymore but still in the trade.

[NordieBoy]

How the fcuk do I lace up my 700c rear CX wheel so it's vertically true?

MTB wheels, no problem, motorbike wheels, no problem, front 700c CX wheel, no problem.

This rear bugger on the cyclocross bike, problem...

[Padmei]

Avanti Atomic FTW! I had my atomic for about 9 years (it spent most of that time as a single speed, so wasn't exactly stock).

Pah! my Avanti Barracuda with lime green shocks would spit on your Atomics tyres.

I have to say I am quite keen on turning my old Schwinn roadie into a fixie- I'd never ride it but it would look cool. Steel is real!!

I had one of these in the early nineties- heavy as Frick but everybody did look at it's fantastically subtle paint work. had a poklystyrene helmet with netting over it the same colours - wow!!

http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/showthread.php?t=478926

[BMWST?]

i have done the rainbow rage and round the lake a few times.I like my old "xc" fully,just enough suspension to take the hits and help with traaction but not so much you feel as though you are losing all your energy,Both the road and mountain bike havent seen the light of day for a couple years...whatever you do if you ride on the road at night please make sure you have some decent lights and that they are actually working,i was so close to cleaning up a cyclist tonight i saw him at the last moment on the motorway in the rain.His back light was flashing but very dim and i was hemmed in by a 4wd on the right and the cyclist was right out on the white line.
Some of the front lights on bike these days need a low beam!

[CrazyFrog]

It looks like my investment property will be sold this week, so I could be shopping for new toy soon.............
and look at this KTM goodie I found. http://www.ktmbike.com.au/bikes/scarp-prime-13.html

Ahhh shit, and then I saw the price, okay maybe just a Giant Anthem 29er then.

[Brian d marge]

got it , pure genius !!!

i present .......

the



CHOPPER !!!!!



Stephen

[nzspokes]

How the fcuk do I lace up my 700c rear CX wheel so it's vertically true?

MTB wheels, no problem, motorbike wheels, no problem, front 700c CX wheel, no problem.

This rear bugger on the cyclocross bike, problem...

Are you using a truing stand? Vertical is just a case of loosen the low spots and tighten the highs. But if the rim is old or cheap they can be a bitch.

[nzspokes]

It looks like my investment property will be sold this week, so I could be shopping for new toy soon.............
and look at this KTM goodie I found. http://www.ktmbike.com.au/bikes/scarp-prime-13.html

Ahhh shit, and then I saw the price, okay maybe just a Giant Anthem 29er then.

Get a Lapierre X Flow.