Adventure pushies

[clint640]

Ive been getting a bit keen to do a bit of mountain biking again after seeing all the tracks poping up around the country. I dug my old heap of **** Scott that I used to crash around on thats been under the house unridin for about 6 years but I think it may be waaaaaay past its use by date. May have to wait till next year and buy something else.

If was an ok bike in it's day & it's not too worn out you might be surprised what a bit of a service & tuneup will do. Basic hardtail MTB technology hasn't advanced that much in the last 20 years. The biggest advance is probably that disc brakes are affordable enough to be on most bikes now, but a properly adjusted set of v-brakes will still stop you pretty good. The main big new thing at the mo is bigger 27.5" or 29" wheels like on the machine I just got.

There's probably some good online maintenance guides around, I have Leonard Zinn's guide to MTB maintenance which has been quite useful on the finer points of stuff like derailleur tuning & wheel building.

Cheers
Clint

[NordieBoy]

Giant Contact dropper post.

$175 buy now.
100mm total drop, 400mm long...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/sports/cycl...-670171713.htm

[Padmei]

I had one of those things years ago. Was good but now I just slide my arse off & hope the nads don't get a hammering
Dodzy designed the one I had & got it built in a factory in China that make office chair droppers. I had the Gen1 version that kept going down when you didn't want it too.
I took it back & I asked the local dealer when the GenII version came out. He opened a mag & showed me one - except it was made by the Chinese company who used Dodzy's design & marketed it themselves-leaving him out of the equation- cheeky buggers.

If I was you Phil I would borrow a fully sus & ride on that. the difference is well worth the money spent. You will enjoy it more & want to ride more. Hardtails are old technology whilst still have their place don't offer as much niceness as a fully.
There are some good bargains to be had on Tme but your better bet is asking around your workmates if someone has one they they are selling cos the majority of MTBers are upgraders by nature
As far as the 29/27/26 wheel size once again I'd try a few & determine what kind of riding you'd do.

[Phreaky Phil]

My old next door neighbor just swang by. He was into Biathlons but has a dodgey knee which he's had fixed and has decided to try mountain biking. He got a Marin 29 inch wheel jobby, hard tail on BikeBarn half price sale for $1000. Looks OK. Finding off roads a whole different ball game.
Just like road bikes and dirt bikes !

[Gremlin]

Finding off roads a whole different ball game.
Just like road bikes and dirt bikes !

To be fair though, I've been really impressed by all the hard work others have put in, getting space for cycling, sorting out single track or gravel paths, businesses and councils alike have all seen it's a healthy option to get people out there etc.

I've done the road thing back in school, and not interested in risking my neck any more, so mountain biking is the route for me, for some fitness. Plus, then it means road trips to do all the fantastic riding elsewhere in the country (plus more motivation to get the fitness)!

On the humorous side, motorbikers are considered evil. Mtb bikers are considered evil by walkers... so you're always evil

[NordieBoy]

Road Bike Party 2...


Martyn broke his back on September 1st 2013 during a demo at Moto GP. A 3 meter fall from a high bar left him in a wheelchair with severe damage to his spinal cord and dislocated T9 and T10 vertabrae.

[Phreaky Phil]

Road Bike Party 2...

Martyn broke his back on September 1st 2013 during a demo at Moto GP. A 3 meter fall from a high bar left him in a wheelchair with severe damage to his spinal cord and dislocated T9 and T10 vertabrae.

What an awesome video. man those guys do some crazy shit on bikes.
It must be incredibly hard when they have have an accident like that to end up paralysed and not be able to do those things anymore.
But thems the breaks eh. Everything has risks and consequences

[Padmei]

Thought I'd sen it all before & about to turn itoff then he rode downhill on the front wheel backwards...............

[NordieBoy]

Danny Mac doing the reverse stoppie


Project Stumpy is coming along nicely...





10.4kg of nicely...

[NordieBoy]

I must say, 10.4kg does climb well...

[Phreaky Phil]

After recieving a citation for replying to a quote that had video in it, (which IMO if they dont want you to do it then they should have there system setup to stop it), I think I will head back over to ADVRider where it aint a problem.

[Kickaha]

I must say, 10.4kg does climb well...

Well talking about climbing, how do you get faster/betterer at uphill, do you just try harder each time you go up, any technique?

Do a 3.5-4km hill climb every Sunday and getting tired of Grannies going past me with their walking frames

[R650R]

Well talking about climbing, how do you get faster/betterer at uphill, do you just try harder each time you go up, any technique?

Do a 3.5-4km hill climb every Sunday and getting tired of Grannies going past me with their walking frames

The only technique is to get fit, and get your legs used to spinning. When I first started really getting into mtb I just couldn't use granny ring and it felt like a waste of time, but its still faster than walking uphill. Had a mate who'd done serious road riding and mtb stuff, proper coach and all. He recommended doing long rides on the flat and get your legs used to spinning the crank at the magic number of 80rpm continuously mile after mile. Try it, its damn hard but it works. BTW 80 rpm is the optimum for your leg muscles in terms of circulation and being able to get rid of lactic acid build up etc. MTB itself is only 25% efficient at getting fitter/stronger as opposed to spending the same amount of time at gym. The top guys put in road rides of about 600km a week as training but that and the gym doesn't turn me on at all.
I sometimes do a 32km loop on the flat from home out to Puketapu and back on the river trail, you'd think it does nothing to help next time your in the bike park but you notice a difference giving the legs a good spin.

[NordieBoy]

My most efficient cadence is 90-95rpm on the tri-bike (years of riding with a HRM) and full suspension mtb.
At those rpm's on the hardtail mtb, I get a lot of bounce in the back end.
I find I'm using 1-2 gears higher on the HT vs the FS (same 32/11-34 gearing on both). Probably around 80-85rpm.
Once I get my form sorted, I'll be back up to 90-95...

I normally find my heart rate up in the 160's up hills when out on rides, but today I rode the SuperD track to get photos and on the climb to the start was in the high 170's all the way, riding and then walking and I didn't feel like I was pushing it to the limit...

In the last week, I've found I'm able to hammer small climbs and keep a higher pace up longer ones than normal. I think I'm getting less un-fit!

In t'old days, I could time trial with anyone. BUT, if there was ANY sort of hill or even slight rise, I was fcuked...


Also, I must say, I really like this Fizik Aliante seat...

[Padmei]

Well talking about climbing, how do you get faster/betterer at uphill, do you just try harder each time you go up, any technique?

Do a 3.5-4km hill climb every Sunday and getting tired of Grannies going past me with their walking frames

Welcome to my world bro! i don't worry anymore & ride lone wolf style.
I did notice a particular weight weenie on this thread today looking pretty fit & slim having to walk his superliteweight rigid up a hill that my fat puku can ride up