Mtn bikers...

Yup! There are some narley rides up here. And yes, I think you Yanks coined the phrase Crazy Canucks in WW1 or WW2. Looking at objectively like I always douke: I think you got it right

 

I ride mtn. bikes as well, but have not had as much time for it in the past year. I like to cross country quite a bit. However I really like to dirt jump. I have a Jamis Komodo, I have been very happy with it. Never breaks no matter how hard I slam it into the ground.

 

I currently live in Las Vegas and ride almost every weekend in Red Rock Canyon. My ride is a Rocky Mtn. ETSX 50.

 

I have a 5 year old Gary Fisher Tassajara, with less than 5 miles on her ..... I like keeping it looking new

 

Running and weight training are my two fitness favorites, though I did buy a Haro mtn bike after my last deployment, mostly to spend time with the family (instead of ploppping in front of the tv). Low end bike in the MTN Bike world I am sure.

Anyway, it is sorta tough finding good trails in the Sandhills of NC....loose sand and MTN Bikes are bitter enemies, or maybe its just when I am the one trying riding in it....

 

I worked at a bike shop for about 6 years, spinning wrenches and selling bikes. I have owned all sorts of bikes of every sort, but my current stable includes:

2007 Ellsworth Truth, set up as a 1 by 9, Fox RLC fork, lots of ti, named "Botswana"
Late 90's Bontrager Santa Cruz steel hardtail (the last year they made em) singlespeed with '07 RockShox Reba World Cup Fork (carbon crown baby), name is "Guiseppe"
Cannondale CAAD 4 Road bike, Campy Daytona 10 speed kit, Time carbon fork, soon to be retired...
...on the way 2008 Trek Madone 5.5 road bike with Dura Ace and Bontrager Race Lite goodies... (no name yet...)
Also a mutant beachcruiser (ape hanger handlebars, banana seat) and a smaller mtb i built up for the little lady.

Ive been riding all over CA (santa cruz, LA area, SD area, no Norcal tho), in Moab, in Tsali NC, Ocala Fl, Kingdom Trails VT, Vietnam and Otis Trails MA, Arcadia Big River and Burlingame in RI, and a bunch of other spots.

Ive been riding bikes for so long i cant remember what it is like not to. The woman says I spend more time on two wheels then off. I love it. In fact, I am headed out right now for a group road ride!

Adios!

Here, im unna try and post a pic... this is me racing two weeks ago. I dislocated my collarbone in a wipeout about 2 minutes later, and finished the race!!!

 

Stuka, you have created a great thread...
I have been a serious roadie since 1975 and a fairly avid Mtn biker since 1986. I have a 13 year old Cannondale road bike, a 12 year old full suspension Cannondale Mtn bike, a Cannondale road tandem, and a Bianchi single speed (no suspension) mtn bike. I do everything from the road bike desert and mountain roads to desert and mtn trails on the mtn bike. I love hill climbs. I want to get a Christini TWO-WHEEL DRIVE mountain bike so I can churn up the loose stuff.

BICYCLE RIDERS MAKE BETTER MOTORCYCLE RIDERS...and we fully appreciate the motor when we strap it on. Our girlfriends and wives know bicyclists are the only TRUE STUDS!!

 

I'm working on building one up right now...

I have an old Haro and a Titan Custom FS.

I picked up a super cheap K2 Zed 4.0 hardtail frame new and will be building it up this summer.

~mikeym

 

Road Biker here....

I have a brand new carbon fiber Trek Madone 4.5 and I'm stoked more than I have been for years about pedaling my old arse around. The 4.5 is the bottom of the Trek carbon road line, but compared to my almost 30 year old Schwinn Circuit, it's like going from a Harley to VFR in performance.

I have a sweet paved trail through a large forest preserve only two blocks from my house. About a 14 mile loop and only really busy and obnoxiously crowded on weekends during the day. I go early or late during the week and use residential streets otherwise. I gave up on using computers for bicycles to keep the act more elemental, if you will. But I bet ny old road bike has more miles on it than many motorcycles of the same vintage. I haven't gone longer than a 30 mile ride in a quite some time, but I do go out nearly every day, weather permitting. Winter time I use an indoor trainer with an attached belt driven fan for resistance...an old Krietler Killer HeadWind. If anybody knows what that is...then you old school roadie too.

I once started a similar thread on the Valkyrie board several years ago, and the responses all followed along similar lines: most of my Valkyrie Brethen are worried that a tiny little bicycle saddle would disappear in crevices best not mentioned... But they can throw a good BBQ!!!

I really believe in staying in shape, but the real fact is......I'M AN ENDORPHIN JUNKIE!!!! Keeps the clown voices in my noodle quite for a few hours.

 

Sadly, I haven't ridden since my Gary Fisher Hoo-Koo-E-Koo was stolen from work a few years ago. I'm still bummed.

 

Maryland MTBer

I've been riding and racing mountain and road bikes for 15 years now. I'm still riding my S-Works hardtail off-road (it my second one). I've raced as an expert although that was more because of my road racing fitness than my technical skill. My home trails are at Patapsco State Park in Maryland. They are some of the best in the mid-Atlantic. On the road I race, Cat 3 and 30+ and have ridden a steel Serotta, a Ti Serotta, a Fausto Coppi, a Klein and now a Merlin Ti.

I feel great after a good ride on the VFR but it is hard to explain how good you feel after a hard ride on a bicycle.

 

Awesome thread...I'm a huge fan of the Moab area myself. Been going there at least once, sometimes twice a year since 89. Usually I make a motorcycle trip out of it, Although I've been pedal biking there also...humbling experience. Anyway, I've two Raleigh's...an M80 and my trusty M50 "winter beater". I started pedaling on a regular basis a few years ago...dropped 35 lbs...got in decent shape. Right now I've got road tires on the Raleigh's and do a daily 11 mile run on pavement. If I miss more than a couple days, I get edgy. Aside from slogging through washes and "seeing stars" after hitting my head on slickrock on the monitor/merrimac trail north of Moab...my most memorable recent ride was on a paved trail in N. Mn near Park Rapids...paved and curvy just like your favorite mt. road...and had it all to myself (and a couple old guys I ran into). Scared up a timber wolf, too.

 

I didn't peruse the posts that thoroughly, but at a glance I didn't see any singlespeeders. I've been mounting biking longer than I've been riding motorcycles. Started on a hardtail GT, moved to a fully suspended Trek Y-bike then got a Motobecan road bike for training and then moved to a Surly
1X1 singlespeed and never looked back, fully rigid is the only way to fly! I'm pretty recreational, but have placed as high as 5th when racing geared bikes on our local loop. I ride in western KY on the Canal Loop and North/South Trace of the Land Between the Lakes recreational area.

 

Thanks Stuka, you saved me from saying all that about you. And of course (shameless self-promotion) I have the Bianchi rigid single-speed...it is the only bike I have with disc brakes...
A single, rigid bike teaches you the real basics quicker than anything...and so elegant...

 

Yep. I have 2 Specialized mountain bikes. One is my S-Works hardtail and the other is a basic FSR. Believe it or not, I like my hardtail better! I do X-C single-track and some double-track stuff - no big hits.

I have a single-speed for the road. It's an old Crescent I bought in 1971 for $350. Two years ago I stripped off the old Campy components and made it up as a single-speed. it's not a fixie, though.

 

Sorry for missing your original comments, I got caught up checking out your great pics, plus it was late, I was enebriated, and then one thing leads to another, you know the story.

Anyway I had been bouncing back and forth between an old Trek steel framed hardtail and the Ybike and just kept finding that I could ride XC and downhill better on the hardtail, then I got the Surly and found that with no suspension I had to become a better rider and I haven't gone back since. I even got a fixed speed cog for it, but never really had the guts to try that out on the trail.

I've got a friend that races religiously and he constantly goes on about his newest fanciest ride ever and is always talking about how light his bikes are, so finally I let him toss the Surly around a little and the next month he was buying nothing but SS stuff. Now besides his road bike the SS is all that he rides, I think he has a 9er (Niner)

Alaskan I always liked Specialized bikes. Never got a chance to own one though.

Vs

 

I've heard lots of good things about 29's and the 29/26 combo, but have no personal experience. I should be thinking about something new pretty soon though as my Surly is getting to be around 5 yrs old.

 

OOOHHH BOOOOYYYY.