Any mountain bikers on this board?

[top 0]

I'm into some pretty heavy trail biking out during off season of hockey, and I'm just wondering if anyone on this board is also into this kind sport, and if so,where and what do you ride? If you want post some pic's of your bike or trail that would be awesome!

[Oggie Grip 0]

I ride when I can here in Massachusetts.

I got an older carbon fiber framed full suspension Trek that I use for riding some really great single track riding just down the road from me at a place called Green Briar in Oxford, MA.

IMO, mountain biking is really one of the best workouts you can get and have some fun at the same time, but I only like riding in the spring and fall unless I'm near a pond where I can cool off in the summer. It definitely beats the stationary bike at the gym!

What do you have for a bike and where do you ride?

[sc37 0]

I'm a casual mt biker...do a lotta road biking though. Haven't gotten out yet this year cause of school and work. There's a nice mt bike trail like 30 minutes away at a place called Alum Creek. A guy I know parent's helped build the trail...pretty nice. I'm riding my ancient Mongoose from like the 8th grade still, the frame has held up well, but I'm wondering if it's time to change out some of the components.

[top 0]

I'm up north in Timmins On, our town is booming right now, most area's are expending and stores are getting bigger, and the town is really focusing on creating a lot of nature trails. I usually ride something to 5-6 hrs a day depending on how much free time I have. Most of our trails bring us too/ or connect into some watered area, mostly lakes big ponds, but nothing you would want to swim into though. The weather is usually cool up here so its perfect for biking. I ride a Giant Rincon SE frame, with tons of upgrades on it, the Rincon was bought as frame, and i just built it up from there, and with the machinist at our local metal works shop he made me a mount for some rear 8" disk brakes. The whole build wasn't so bad, because i do my own labor on work. Right now in welding class I'm building my own bike stand and i'll will post up some pic's sometime later this week.

[usahockey22 0]

I'm in the midwest, so there's not much in the way of mountain biking here...there are a few man made courses though, that are pretty good. One is about 30 minutes away, and I haven't yet been out this yea, but I might do a race there at the end of the summer. It's about a 10 mile track, ranging from beginning to intermediate/somewhat advanced singletrack...takes me about 50 minutes to do if I go fast, though I've only ridden it a handful of times. Otherwise, I get my workout in the country on flatland, though I much prefer the mountain biking. It is a great workout, adrenaline rush, and something that is fun to do where you don't think about the exercise involved (like hockey).

I have a Gary Fisher Tassahara, which is a few years old...it's a pretty good bike, certainly good enough for my purposes. I might upgrade the gear system, as well as put disk brakes on it before the race at the end of the summer (if I do it). I've been having some trouble with the gear shifts, as the shifting is not smooth at all, and there is a significant time lag between when I hit the gear to shift, and when it actually does shift. Anybody have any suggestions for this? The bike hasn't been in for a tune-up or anything in probably a couple of years, so I'm thinking this could be the issue. Otherwise, maybe an upgrade would be needed.

[Hazard14 0]

i really would like to go mountain biking sometime, the closest thing i did to mountain biking was dirt bmx

[Jason16 0]

I'm from BC so all I do in the summer is ride. I currently have a Transition Bottlerocket that's being built up for some slopestyle riding. I also used have to Norco Shore but that's gone now replaced by a Transition DirtBag for the days I want to go big or ride the Shore. I'll probably be using the BOttlerocket for Whistler when the park opens up as it's a fun little hucker. I'm not sure if this is the same kind of riding you do but good on you for getting into it, it fills the adrenaline need that hockey sometimes can't completely fill. Super expensive sport though, I spend more with my bikes than I do for hockey.

[Wayne 0]

I'm riding a '06 Trek 4900. Shimano Deore LX components (nice), Rock Shox Judy J1 (not real happy with), disc brakes, and about as heavy as a small car (32 lbs.) I like the bike, other than the fact that it is heavy, but it wasn't too expensive-- Around $650 USD Any suggestions on how to make it lighter?

[top 0]

the best upgrade on a bike to make it lighter, are a nice set of nice light rigid rims, a new fork, a carbon fiber crank set, carbon stem ... seat post and handle bars. Most forks will cost you a bunch of cash but you can check out www.pinkbike.com. The components aren't really whats making your bike heavy its usually the bigger more expensive pieces that take the load.

transition bikes are sick, if only i had one

[Jason16 0]

transition bikes are sick, if only i had one

...you'd give up hockey :)

[top 0]

In a minute, hockey or biking, i think i would take biking, the way our hockey is being controlled in our town and the hockey association sucks too.

[Hazard14 0]

for me biking is never big enough to replace hockey, i love it just to much

[saba 0]

Race for Germantown Cycles. Ride 3-4 times a week. I ride as my trail a Yeti 575, race on a Cannondale F600.

Me post race at the Greenbrier Challenge. Please note the smile after 15 miles on the rocks and hills

[Jason16 0]

What's the build on your bikes? Can't make out much on the 575 but looks like a Talas, and some Juicys?

[gman 0]

I have a 1992 Ibis SS hard frame that I converted to single speed a couple of years ago. Old school Shimano SPD pedals. I'll never go back to gears. ALthough I would like to try a suspension bike some day, I just cannot force myself to give away my Ibis and buy a new bike. My head tube is small old school (1 inch maybe??) and only a few companies make suspension forks that size and they are too much coin for my taste.

[saba 0]

Vanilla 36 and Hayes El-Camino's. Updated the bar to RaceFace Next SL 31.8 Thomson X4 stem. Next upgrade new Mavic EX 729 rims laced to my Chris King Hubs, DT Swiss spokes, alloy nipples, laced 3x

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Rather than start a new topic, I thought I would bump this up.

I'm looking to get a bike for the summer. I will be doing a bit of trail riding, but a lot of road riding.

I'm about 6'3'' 240lbs.

I don't want to go over $500, as an absolute cap on what I will spend, but would be even better if I could keep it to about $300.

Can anyone make any recommendations with that pricerange in mind, preferably to the $300 side of it.

Cheers.

[toroytorero 0]

it's going to be a little hard to find a bike at that price. maybe a specialized hard rock..used

you're in washington right?? keep an eye out on craigslist

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

it's going to be a little hard to find a bike at that price. maybe a specialized hard rock..used

you're in washington right?? keep an eye out on craigslist

Are you serious? I'm not looking for anything high end, just something I can get out and get some exercise on.

[BK 0]

it's going to be a little hard to find a bike at that price. maybe a specialized hard rock..used

you're in washington right?? keep an eye out on craigslist

Are you serious? I'm not looking for anything high end, just something I can get out and get some exercise on.

Yea.. you dont need anything highend. I would go to you local bike shop (wow.. hard not to type LHS). Look at Diamondback, Specialized and Giant. I have ridden all three and have enjoyed them. You should be able to find a Specialzed Rockhopper for under $400. Keep an eye out for a nice Gary Fisher too.. You might be able to find a nice one in your budget.

[top 0]

I dont know but us in Canada we have Sportchek, nice store, for cheap, but good pedal bikes. I'm not to familiar with these kind of store in the US, but if you can find a store similar, that would be your best bet.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

The place beside me (saba may know it) is called performance bicycle.

The brands I see on their website are Mongoose, Iron Horse, Scattanta, GT, Tirreno, GT, Schwinn/

They may have others in the actual store, but they are having a big sale this weekend, so hoping to get something in there then

http://www.performancebike.com/index.cfm

[Guy Incognito 0]

I bought a Trek 7.2 FX a few weeks ago for the ride into work. Satisfied so far! B)

I did a fair amount of research and although I should have purchased the 7.3 in terms of value proposition, the 7.2 was enough for me despite the lower end components. I paid about $380 retail, the 7.3 was $100 more.

[sc37 0]

The place beside me (saba may know it) is called performance bicycle.

The brands I see on their website are Mongoose, Iron Horse, Scattanta, GT, Tirreno, GT, Schwinn/

They may have others in the actual store, but they are having a big sale this weekend, so hoping to get something in there then

http://www.performancebike.com/index.cfm

I think I saw a Fuji hybird that might fit the bill....I think Fuji bikes are a good value and might wanna check them out.

Also check out www.bikesdirect.com I bought a road bike under their Windsor name a couple years ago and it's solid. No name company, but has quality componenets and it's cheap...like most of their bikes on there. Plus anything you buy from them is free shipping. You get the bike in the original package and all you gotta do is put the handlebar, front brake and wheel on.

[Drewhunz 3]

FYI- Schwinn have gone WAY downhill in quality since they were taken over, so whatever you had heard about Schwinn quality, stopped being true about 5-6 years ago.