JRAZZ Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 I think we need a mountain biking thread. It doesn’t fit in the summer carving but it’s the only thing keeping me sane (and that’sa stretch in normal times) Post your mtb stuff! Maybe we can petition @Jack M for a forum Below: Soapstone prairie in NoCo on the WY border. Nobody around four miles. One of my fav places to unplug. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 (edited) https://www.trailforks.com/region/wellington/ Jailbrake is just 4 km from home, a lovely piece of downhill twisty bermy singetrack, Serendipity (Aro Valley) & Starfish (Makara) are farther away but great fun. Wellington is blessed with great rides and we had a work group MTB trip to the Dirt Farm at Otaki in mid February. Serious mountain biking was banned during our recent level 4 lockdown (injury risk requiring emergency staff to extract you), but stuff you know you can ride safely is now allowed. My Ragley Big Al frame hardtail, 97.5er is getting a bit of a workout now after a few weeks of just tootling round the streets and up and down our Wellington hills. I'm not the Single-track Surfer, he just hits everywhere and posts videos to show what's on offer. Update May 25th:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFDmDOy7TC5A86JSJaMDVQ/videos A local bike company channel aiming to document ALL the local Wellington trails with a fast rider & followcam. Jail Brake & Serendipity already recorded. Edited May 25, 2020 by SunSurfer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pokkis Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 This is day before yesterday, not me 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted May 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 9 hours ago, SunSurfer said: https://www.trailforks.com/region/wellington/ Jailbrake is just 4 km from home, a lovely piece of downhill twisty bermy singetrack, Serendipity (Aro Valley) & Starfish (Makara) are farther away but great fun. Wellington is blessed with great rides and we had a work group MTB trip to the Dirt Farm at Otaki in mid February. Serious mountain biking was banned during our recent level 4 lockdown (injury risk requiring emergency staff to extract you), but stuff you know you can ride safely is now allowed. My Ragley Big Al hardtail, 97.5er is getting a bit of a workout now after a few weeks of just tootling round the streets and up and down our Wellington hills. Love it! You surfer types rip! BTW, you took me for a loop there. I live in Wellington! (Wellington CO, USA that is ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington,_Colorado @pokkis mixed feelings about riding a bike on snow but still awesome vid! Took me a while to notice but they're fat e-bikes! I love e-bikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 (edited) Wellington, New Zealand is not the only place I get to ride. My wife has been researching/writing a PhD at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth part time for the last couple of years. Before Covid-19 I had spent 4-6 weeks a year with her just outside Machynlleth where she is based. The Dyfi Forest trails are just a short hop up the road and I picked up a Voodoo Bokor 29er for transport and trail use that I keep in Wales. The Climachx trail is mostly intermediate level forest singletrack, but the final section has a few more features. Machynlleth is home to Dan Athertons new bike park and the Red Bull Hardline is held only a few miles away. Not that I am foolish enough to try either Atherton's or the Hardline on a hardtail at 61years of age. https://www.dyfibikepark.co.uk/ Edited May 1, 2020 by SunSurfer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 21 hours ago, JRAZZ said: Maybe we can petition @Jack M for a forum Haha, but then we would need all kinds of other forums. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted May 6, 2020 Report Share Posted May 6, 2020 @SunSurfer, those trails look awesome! I especially liked the serendipity one; super smooth and flowy. I'm fortunate to have a really good local network of single track and a vibrant trail/enduro oriented community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted May 6, 2020 Report Share Posted May 6, 2020 (edited) @st_lupo I've been surprised by how a GoPro makes a trail look flat. Jail Brake is the smoothest and flowiest of the 3 Wellington trails shown, and it drops over 90 metres in just under 700 metres of trail. Both Serendipity and Starfish have a number of smaller drop offs and trail features that scarcely show in the video, and Serendipity has a 2-3 metre near vertical drop at 1:18 in the video that the rider makes look like a gentle roll down. Serendipity drops 60 metres (start and finish altitude difference) in 800 metres of trail, while Starfish drops 130 metres over 1.6km. The Dirt Farm trip surprised me in the same way. I'd scouted the trails using videos, and then was suprised by how steep they were in reality. 12th May 2020: Just processing some GoPro footage using the old GoPro Studio program. Using the "Remove fisheye" filter when selecting clips to convert to .avi for further processing adds greatly to the slope and contour perception. And I've been using a GoPro for like 8 years....... Edited May 12, 2020 by SunSurfer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted May 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2020 4 hours ago, SunSurfer said: I've been surprised by how a GoPro makes a trail look flat. I've found that sitting right up to a 38" monitor resolves this issue Alas, the trails in this Wellington (Colorado) are more of the gravel type. Not as exciting to watch and I am certainly not as fast. I do have a pink bike though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted May 6, 2020 Report Share Posted May 6, 2020 There are tons of really good single track trails all around Kongsberg, within riding distance from my pretty much anybody’s house. Due to dry/ warm weather and a pretty crappy winter, the trail biking season started nearly two months early. And one of the best things... the following pictures were taken at around 19:40 tonight... you can just ride late into the night. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted May 6, 2020 Report Share Posted May 6, 2020 On 5/1/2020 at 1:49 PM, pokkis said: This is day before yesterday, not me Love riding fatbikes on hard snow, but aside from medical/health reasons, not a big fan of e-bikes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted May 9, 2020 Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 @JRAZZ Trying to work out what make/model your "pink" bike is? Can't work out where the PinkBike name for the organisation that runs TrailForks originates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted May 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 It's a Salsa Timberjack 27.5+ 2019. 8 hours ago, SunSurfer said: @JRAZZ Trying to work out what make/model your "pink" bike is? Can't work out where the PinkBike name for the organisation that runs TrailForks originates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted May 10, 2020 Report Share Posted May 10, 2020 (edited) We've got relatively similar setups. Your Salsa is a pretty versatile configuration. Ragley Big Al is designed as a 29er frame. Bought mine secondhand from someone moving to a dual suspension (Large frame) built up as a 27.5 and popped a 29 front wheel on. Boost hubs, 180mm discs, 30mm internal rim width, Maxxis Minion DH 2.6" Front & Rear II, 1 x 11 drive train, 150mm Brand-X dropper post (have one on my 29er in Wales and it's been great over about 8 weeks of almost daily use), 780mm bars to wrestle it all around, and clip in Shimano DX pedals to make sure my feet stay in when it gets lumpy. The steerer angle has moved to 65 degrees with the smaller rear wheel, and the BB clearance is low at 27.5cm. All makes for confident downhill performance with the seat dropped for any significant descent. Technical climbing a little trickier with the low BB. Edited May 10, 2020 by SunSurfer embed images (Imgur Forum code) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted May 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2020 I love the 27.5+ for some reason for me it just feels way more confident. I have 2.8" wide tires on it and it just climbs over everything. I did change to a Rockshox 35 Gold RL for the bigger stanchions and the better air spring (I found one for really cheap and couldn't give up the chance). I usually ride more XC stuff and really moderate down so even this is over bike I did try clipless (I ride clipless on my gravel bike) but just hated it. Not for being locked in, that didn't bother me, I hated the "loose" feeling. To me it feels like you're about to slip out on clipless when standing. The flat pedals just feel more secure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted May 10, 2020 Report Share Posted May 10, 2020 27.5 x 2.8" tyres are pretty close to 29er diameter and so will roll over well and have massive grip. You're not over-biked, you just have a machine that has loads of multi use fun waiting for you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted May 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2020 20 hours ago, SunSurfer said: You're not over-biked, you just have a machine that has loads of multi use fun waiting for you! Eck Ya!! Today was beautiful!!! Open trail, nice temps. I am still a rank beginner but the mtb gives me the same kind of sensations snowboarding does. Though I really do love road/gravel biking, this jumping on stuff is getting to be my favorite pastime. I think that getting a modern geometry bike that fits me is a big part of that. I went a bit Insta-grami off the trail head though.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted May 11, 2020 Report Share Posted May 11, 2020 Excellent social distancing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted May 11, 2020 Report Share Posted May 11, 2020 9 hours ago, JRAZZ said: Eck Ya!! Today was beautiful!!! Open trail, nice temps. I am still a rank beginner but the mtb gives me the same kind of sensations snowboarding does. Though I really do love road/gravel biking, this jumping on stuff is getting to be my favorite pastime. I think that getting a modern geometry bike that fits me is a big part of that. I totally get what you mean about getting the same kind of sensations on the mtb! I love smooth, loamy downhills with lots of s-turns between the trees where you've almost gotta do the whole weight/un-weight/weight the bike as you transition from one turn to the next, while really leaning the bike over so the knobs can get a good bite on the ground. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Yesterday's ride. There was the climb to the top first...... Peak Flow, 3 Brothers and Smokin' are all locally rated as Intermediate, while Starfish is Advanced. There's still Expert (Black Diamond) and Double Black Diamond above that. Then Makara has the Yeah Gnar trail (there's Kiwi humour in that name) recognised as probably the hardest singetrack trail locally available. Take your pick of a YouTube search. Edited May 13, 2020 by SunSurfer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freezer Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 Lockdown month 3 in Norcal and slowly turning the backyard into a bike park... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Edges Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 Despite the pandemic. Most of us will look back and realize how much fun we had with our families. Social distancing is easy on a mtn bike. Just take it easy. My son and I put in 10 to 20 km every other evening in the local trails. His improvemnt in bike handling and reading the trails has been amazing... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishsurfer Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 Im pretty lucky I have some fairly nice natural trail riding not to far from my house albeit after a 30min near 950foot vertical climb. Bike is a little inapropriate and old school Commencal meta 4x 26inch 130mm fork 100mm out back its an over excited puppy of a bike to ride, not the best climber but boy are descents fun 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 1 hour ago, scottishsurfer said: albeit after a 30min near 950foot vertical climb Think like an optimist: Nice to have a relaxing downhill cruise on the way home when you're tired! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishsurfer Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 10 minutes ago, Corey said: Think like an optimist: Nice to have a relaxing downhill cruise on the way home when you're tired! Oh i do Its have a 2.1mile descent all the way back to my house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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