New nickname incoming?
New Whip? New toys for the dependable steed?
- Thread starter mykel
- Start date
i find i can ride longer stretches of trail with them before feeling i need a break to shake the wrists and hands
also they have a nice flex. had some 35mm race face carbon bars before and found them way too stiff
Soft Tail Sally.
FWIW, my dual sus has been ridden twice since I got my curent hardtail and that was only to see if I could crack the top tube.
I'm gonna get one of those wall stickers, "Hardtail is love, Hardtail is life."
The dual sus bike has been stripped of many parts and is unridable, the little Torrent isn't far off dream bike build for me now, it was supposed to be the $2000 back up bike, hahaha!
Drop the nose if you pedal bikes up steep stuff. Mountain bikes aren't meant to be ridden on flat ground or descended on while seated, so the traditional saddle position of a road bike isn't relevant.
Perfect...I tilted them forward a few degrees for extension and 1/3 up feels descent...dropped is a little off but dropped I'm standing anywase...
I'll be riding this afternoon for hard cardio so it will be perfect... appreciate it
I usually slam and leave down , going up is more of a new thing to me and I always just shrugged off. Talk of going uphill it evil....the steeper and longer it was it got a bigger "NOPE!!!"...but now I find the challenge inviting...
I've done it in past as a necessary evil so I do all bikes for descent...but hands this numb was a new one ever...
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What I'd say is start like 1 degree below level. If stuff starts going numb, add another degree, etc. Don't go too crazy with dropping the nose though because when you're not cranking up steep climbs, your butt starts to slide forward and down, so you have to press back against the bars to compensate. I think the guys who run the really heavily nose down saddles must only climb steep fire roads, because whenever I've done that it absolutely sucks for rolling terrain.
Make sure you have a saddle appropriately sized/shaped for you. And it's kind of counter-intuitive, but usually the super squishy ones are worse for going numb because you sink into the foam too much and it cuts off blood flow.
Make sure you have a saddle appropriately sized/shaped for you. And it's kind of counter-intuitive, but usually the super squishy ones are worse for going numb because you sink into the foam too much and it cuts off blood flow.
I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I've been riding my son's bike lately while I wait for the replacement parts to fix mine. His is longer, lower, steeper (STA). I found the longer reach and steeper STA puts me more forward on the bike and my hands hurt more as a result. Tilting your saddle forward would only accentuate that. maybe try moving the saddle back in the rails too? or raise your handlebar height to shorten reach? just offering more variables to consider...
Yep, at 6' and mostly riding Larges for the last 20 years of MTBing, my saddle was always slammed as far forward as it would go. When I went to a modern bike with long reach and steep STA, for the first time ever my saddle is back pretty far on the rails. I also run 40mm risers.
Headphones and podcasts have really helped me with climbing, as it takes my mind off the pain and the "why exactly am I doing this?" thoughts that always encroach during the first 30 minutes of hard climbing efforts.
I know some people think it's a Fred move, but descending with tunes helps me stay in a flow/zen mindset too. Late-onset adhd is a real thing in our contemporary world of gadgets and constant beeps and notifications. There's some irony there, I know, but earbuds are working for me.
I know some people think it's a Fred move, but descending with tunes helps me stay in a flow/zen mindset too. Late-onset adhd is a real thing in our contemporary world of gadgets and constant beeps and notifications. There's some irony there, I know, but earbuds are working for me.
I do headphones here and there and when I downhill I have syphon headphones in my helmet.. training I have this odd zen of pacing my breathing and listening to it while I run...did 6 miles yesterday running, just finished. An hour on assault bike just now and off to spin class lift and swim laps...not wearing headphones aside of the lifting part ..
I tried the headphones for cardio but I put em on just don't turn them on. Mainly so people leave me alone ..over ear ones so people can see them and stay the "bleep" away from me...
I tried it climbing but I find with music I listen to i try to keep up with the beat lol..some Metallica and I'm dead in 45 sec...lmao . Some crooning and I'm back of the buss floating slow lol..
I use some bone conduction headphones for riding. The bass response is lacking compared to in-ears or over-ears, but otherwise the sound quality is decent and I can hear everything going on around me.
Haven't used those...those are on my short list to try..I use some bone conduction headphones for riding. The bass response is lacking compared to in-ears or over-ears, but otherwise the sound quality is decent and I can hear everything going on around me.
What's your thoughts if it's louder or background noise???
How are they for sweat and or wet!
lol. what's your ape index? same height, ridden larges forever but always sought low standover so xl was out and m was way too cramped...am 6' tall but long torso, 32" inseam. always rode with saddle slammed to the back and wishing for more. new long low slack bikes are my jam. on my nomad, setup is 50mm stem (40 was too short), saddle slammed back and pointed unfashionably upwards, and moderate rise/roll bars. works pretty well for me in most conditions.
in other news, eff headphones of any sort and in any condition of riding.
Last weekend I went for a long ride that I knew had some boring bits in it. I brought my headphones with me, in case I wanted to listen to something. Nope. Never get tired of the sounds of the forest. Plus, it's my "mindfulness" time. When I'm on my bike, I don't need anything else...
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The last time I wore headphones while doing bike related activities, was when I was digging a trail. I was piling dirt on a small jump, turned around to get more dirt, turned back around and found a huge dog standing a few feet from my face - did not hear it run up, but I just about shit my pants.
Last Saturday we ran into a group of runners in our local trails. Out of maybe 8 people, 5 had a Bluetooth speaker in their fanny pack. All blasting different music. Talk about noise pollution.
out here it's the ebikers that have those.
Since they don't cover your ears at all anything going on around you will compete with them; ie if I'm riding on a busy road I need to turn them up a little to still hear the music, but I generally keep the level just loud enough to hear the music but not enough to drown out any outside noise. IE - I can still hear birds around me, rolling of tires etc. You can turn them up loud enough to drown all that out if you want to.
Might be good for running I can still hear my breathing and pace it, and hear cars around me as the runs aren't always hills 100% .. that's good to know...
What I like is they wrap around the ear plug style fall out periodically and if I sweat a bunch they get wonky once in a while plus after a couple hours ears get a bit tender..
I feel the same way. I don't ride with headphones in the woods very often and never do it on the road. But I'll admit whenever I ride in the woods with headphones for some reason makes me ride better. It could be the music, but I feel like sometimes it's just because I can't hear the bike so much. Even though I love bike sounds. Very weird, I know.
There's a video of Tracey Hannah coaching someone where she talks about the benefits of playing music in your head to improve performance. If I remember correctly it was based on the idea of you're distracting part of your brain. Being a musician I always have music playing in my head when I'm riding, whether or not I'm listening to anything. When I am listening to tunes I'm often layering on additional instrumentation in my head.
*Edit* found it -
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When we hit the parks and DH, the helmet gets jamming some metal, gangster rap & old school and country (not twangy shit)...shuts brain down, allows me to ride on reaction ..
NWA and I got the pro line at Boise bike park , threw on "real mutha bleeping G's" and hit send ..overshot the step up , top to top is 18' I cleared 35'...lol apparently was a good part of song..
Agreed when pedalling with wife or backwoods I can't imagine covering up the sounds...we do the redwoods almost every year for a week in way up to NW..Wife's the same way take in the moment..
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For sure. Back when I was a park rat I'd have music going all the time. I never did any kind of objective testing but I'm 1000% sure I was measurably faster and more fluid on the bike when I had music in the helmet.
I don't like music when I'm riding, but I got one of those Bluetooth speakers for my birthday and took it with me when I was marshalling the Trans NZ this year. Had it at the stage starts and played a mix of stuff, took requests from some of the riders while they were waiting to drop in. Seemed pretty well received by everyone - as was the bottle of Canadian Club I had on offer as well.
It's so easy to fool with the sound
Ya, that is about all CC is good for...giving away, but hey it does mix with coke or ginger to be somewhat / kinda / maybe drinkable. Good knows I put enough of it away back in the high-school / college days. But hey at least you did not have Canadian Mist on offer, as that is on par with war crimes, so good on ya there.
We talking better or worse than Black Velvet?
I have recently fantasized about bringing a can of air flowery freshener, and if I were to pass/get passed by a BT speaker asshole (or cigarette smoker), just giving a nice blast as they go by.
If it’s cool by them to assault my senses, it should be cool by them if I assault theirs, right?
You would get better results with a can of starter fluid and a match.
Then apply bear spray to sooth their burns.
