I have a steel frame cyclocross bike (road bike wheels and drop bars) that has disc brakes (not real common). I put some FOX 90-120mm travel forks (off a mountain bike) and a 3-ring crank on it. I love it for some types of exploring because its fast with low rolling resistance like a road bike, but can be ridden in supprisingly harsh conditions with a little practice, and will climb. When the trail peters out or whatever, you can throw it over your shoulder and hike.
I've been riding mountain bikes a lot longer than I've been riding motorcycles. Here is my current collection: I had 1-2 bikes with me at all times while I was in the Navy. I have mountain biked all over the world.
nice quiver. like the bianchi 1-gear. my Giant is under the knife right now in the garage...chopping 3#'s off it. rolls out tomorrow. lots of new goodies. pics and list soon.
Thanks. A full rigid AL single speed can be a pretty harsh ride, but it makes me feel like a kid again.
now that's rigid! but, they move when ya stomp too...just gotta ride loose and let it flow, i kinda hang on loose with two fingers mostly...and bunny/manual hop a lot of crap!. lol. my Curtlo set up rigid 1-gear rides like buttuh with that Konda fork...triple butted steel makes a world of diff. in XC geard form with a susp fork you can ride/race it 24 hrs in comfort and wow does it handle. new bikes are cool and all and im game but ya know ya just cant beat the man with a torch that knows how to use it. steels REEL and i was lucky to get such a wonderful sponsor many moons ago. lkke that hard tail RM 9'r too....nice set up. man them are tempting,. i believe the 29'r is the next locigal progression in hard tails as 26" HT XC bikes handle like crap with long travel forks, too much travel and too small of wheel, they wobble on climbs and sketch on corners/tight stuff. im hip to the 9'r with a 90mm fork on a HT. perfect XC set up in my book. 100mm fork aint got no business on an 26" XC HT.
you guys on them new gen 9'r's are killing me...and maybe my wallet! you cant have too many bikes, right? (twist my arm..) one of mates was sponsored my RM WAAAY back....good to see that badge again... here's my rigid 29'r...just built this up...man its' a hoot in the single track...keep forgetting to slow for the pointy stuff and pinch flat...EA70 wheels, full 105 sans crank, good night it rips! 19# w/o pedals on Kenda folders. even got some sponsorship from one of our sponsors! CX bikes are quite possibly natures perfect bike... i love all two-wheelers. they make life worth living.
key to old age and decent health is a good dose of hammering hills chasing younger bucks and grinding them down...hehehehe..suffer fests rule!
My bicycle, an '06 Giant faith. Me riding my bicycle, back around '07. Had a few broken bones and some bad wipeouts, decided to get something faster, lol. I'm not as ballsy anymore as I have to work for a living, sure miss throwing caution to the wind and blasting down the mountain though.
kurnkin' it in the canyons on the Giant (finished the re-birth build on it friday night btw- report etc tomorrow) ...see that left peak way in the background? ooooh yehhhh.....
damn pvduke, hit the trail and a freakin gunshow breaks out!! hahahaha well we got the helmet but my phone went to hell so not pic update as of yet. its a specialized, look similar to the one your wearin in the pic. my phone decided to take a dump over the weekend so no pic though. will post next time hes toolin around the yard...
Dig the lid, now, adjust them straps and he's good to go bud! I really like the smile on that one's face. Pretty much says it all! * (note- random duct tape is roost protection from small flying rock etc...) '08 Giant XTC Alliance- version 2.0: Finished my build Friday night, rode it 2 hours Saturday and 2 hours Sunday. Mods: Installed Surly 1x1 100mm CroMo suspension corrected fork. A2C: 453mm Upgraded to Sram PG 990 cassette, HG73 chain I had handy, new RaceFace Race rings (all not in pic, installed after photo). Freshened things up some and lost some weight. Old stuff has been/was SOLID and still performing spot-on even with a ton of wear. The group it came with was kinda heavy but, I never once in over 3 years of abusing it had an issue and it's just now starting to show wear but it still functions perfectly. It was a "good" heavy. Upgraded to EC70 XC low rise bar. Not really an upgrade over the EC70 flat-bar per se, but rather a comfort thing. Super nice bar though. Easton's nano-tech is bombproof now and I trust it completely. I've broken some bars, carbon, alluminum due to crashing and houring-out, but Easton's are the best- period. Their lastest breed has been wonderful. Zero failures when I replace them on a regular basis if I ride a lot on a rigid set up. Home-made tubeless tires: I finally installed my tubeless presta valves on my Cross-Max wheels I got with the bike. Then, mounted the tire, pulled the core, shot air in from compressor to seat bead, let it out, add a little Stan's No-tube's, re-install core, pump by hand and swish till it seals the side walls....voila! Instant home-made tubeless tires. No more thorn or pinch flats, what a great ride, and saved a ton of weight. Neat mod. Works a treat! That's about it! Went in the garage weighing 25#, came out 22.5# as pic'd, with, a lot more room for dieting to go! I do not miss the front suspension or wandering front wheel the 100mm MX Pro LO fork gave it. That fork was awesome smooth and plush, esp in fast rough stuff but after several hours of lugging it around it gets a little old and when locked-out for climbing it really goofs up the geometry of a super fine carbon-alloy frame. Pretty simple- it was a missmatch. Before this 100mm trend began the 80mm was perfect for XC hardtail's. Hanging a long-travel fork on same really goof's up the handling as there is no rear suspension to compensate for the extreme arc the head tube goes through. Lowering the front about an inch and a half "extends" the top tube, makes it effectively longer- that with the new bar makes for a more open cockpit, puts the chainstays/seat tube at the correct angle so it kills the wander caused by a tall bottom-bracket and hyper-sloped top tube, etc., et al. I could gush all day about this but the bottom line is I got lucky and nailed the first time with this fork- there was a few to choose from in various axle-to-crown lentghs, and it's a crap-shoot doing these mods for a simpleton like me because I aint no math major. But, suffice to say I got lucky and she's totally in the sweet-spot goemetry-wise and it handles like my custom Curtlo. I could race this thing XC for 2 hours or do a Marathon 24hr run on it. This bike is GOOD. The home-made tubeless tires thingy was a giant boon, the ride quality is off the chart. And, no more flats! I still carry a tube in case I shred a hoop. And, since I'm using non-UST tires I saved a TON of rotating weight. I'm using the Panaracer Fire-Pro XC 2.1 up front and the Mach SK (good luck finding any of these this is my LAST one of a lot of 50) 1.95 on the back. I can now run a little more aggressive tire w/o a giant weight penalty's as the hoops turn over so much faster w/o tubes. I've run this set up for as long as I can recall and it's a shame I can't get the 1.95 SK anymore and I'm gonna make some calls. But at least I got plenty of 2.1's so and for a play/training tire they are flat amazing in all terrrain. They are like Motoz for your mountain bike! I'm very pleased with the results and the proof of concept the first time out. This was a lot of radical changes but, they flat worked in harmony. Thanks for reading gang, and MANY thank's to my sponsors for their support and input/answered questions: Outer Cirle Racing (thanks Joey, w/o yer love I'd be lost) Bikeman Blue Sky Cycling Giant Cane Creek (for scoring me a crown race in record time!!!) Crank Bros. Easton Mavic Panaracer Raceface Smith's Cycle (for all kinds of stuff and an instant crown race install when I showed up un-announced, thanks Ronnie!) White Industries Thank you all for keeping this old hammer-head stoked and on the trail!
Both my girlfriend and I run carbon fiber full suspension Scott Sparks. Mine has had some upgrades, lighter weight American Classic wheelset and full xtr components. We also run Continental Speed King tires with ultra light tubes for off-road or winter use. Also we both run dura-ace cassettes here in MN. With front and rear lock-outs, climbing is superb on these lightweight rigs. Suited up with my girlfriend for a ride new before upgrades....
them's some hella nice rigs bud...scott makes killer stuff. amazing how light they can get FS rigs today.
I've went thru a few mountain bikes before plopping down the coin to get the Scott Spark and found a slightly used one from the Pro's Closet in CO for my girlfriend. That is her first bike since being a teenager.. Don't think she really knows what she has.. just like when she picked up a new SM630.. sometimes going thru lesser equipment makes you appreciate top end stuff. My spark is just a bit over 21lbs with the Continental Twister supersonics on it. I also ride a Scott CR1 full carbon fiber road bike.. nice and stiff bottom bracket with minimal weight provides a great "cheater" bike on the assents. Rolf wheels with full dura ace..
Took my 29er out for a street ride this morning, to beat the 110 °F heat index that's coming this afternoon.
