Thread: Mountain Bikes!

So I don't think anyone has posted on this topic yet and let's try to keep out any kind of bikes with motors or tires too thin to take anywhere near off-road... Anyway, I just got into mountain biking and I'm HOOKED! Got my first bike which is actually really nice. It's a Proflex 855 with Magura Evolution hydraulic brakes, Manitou Answer Mach 5 front fork, Garvin ODS coil shock on rear, XT derailleurs front and rear, 8 speed Shimano cassette, and LX hubs with Mavic rims (got all that from the craigslist ad I bought it from!). All in all I got it for $250 and sold my old bike for $150 a few days later. Not bad huh? This bike is awesome. Only been out riding a couple times but I am getting very comfortable. I used to do a lot of BMX and freestyle type riding so I am transitioning well. Thanks to Jimmy here at SRP I checked out videos of Ryan Leech and am now practicing trials skills in my driveway! As for MTB trails I'm gonna be riding Big River, Arcadia, and Lincoln Woods here in RI. Supposedly they have some good stuff.

So- what type of mountain bike do you have, what type of riding do you do, where, etc.? Let's hear it!

I used to be pretty into XC before going off to college. I have a custom built bike on a Trek Alpha Aluminium frame. Componants are all XT and XTR with Race Face cranks, Noleen Mega Air fork (I think) with 100mm of travel. It's got a Salsa Zona Tres saddle and I threw on a THE Shroud to help keep the mud down. As you can probably tell, I really only remember some random parts; my brother has her at his place at the moment.

I picked up a Specialized HXRC with some of my tax refund earlier this year. There are a couple of mountain bike trails in Oklahoma City. There's a set of trails on the north side of Lake Hefner, with a couple of different routes. There's a set of trails at Lake Stanley Draper, which have a lot of sand so you bog down quite a bit. A lot of the time I ride on paved bike trails around Lake Hefner near my house. It's 12 miles round trip, which is a nice workout.

Here is my Moots YBB on one of my local trails and my Willits 29er on another.

Jimmy thats sweet as.

Alex- had you got me 10 years ago, I couldve talked all day and night about mountain bikes. Havent been in the scene since though. I prefer hydraulic pads than discs though, theyre so powerful. Great for trickery.

XT is the perfect budget for weight x price.

XTR is lush but overpriced in my opinion. Well, at least thats how it always was. Times prob have changed since.

Originally Posted by poona

I prefer hydraulic pads than discs though, theyre so powerful. Great for trickery.

I'm assuming you mean the hydraulic versions of V brakes? I do agree that they are quite powerful, especially on a great fork/frame or with brake boosters, but there are some downsides. They get clogged with mud very easily, they are a bit heavier than cable actuated brakes, and they can be more work to install and tweak. I've used them (and hydraulic discs, cable discs, and good old cantelevers), and I have to say I prefer cable V brakes. I ran them with some fancy schmancy teflon coated stretchy cables that provided great modulation, they are easy to install, and very easy to adjust. But that's just what worked for me in my particular style and setup.

Originally Posted by poona

XT is the perfect budget for weight x price.

XTR is lush but overpriced in my opinion. Well, at least thats how it always was. Times prob have changed since.

I'd say you're still correct. I only have a few XTR parts; rear derailure (I can never remember how to spell that) and front and rear V breaks. I went with XTR there because I noticed the difference. Getting great deals because I worked at a bike shop helped too. When you're getting things at cost, there's no high price to justify.

The ones I used Holli were just like normal caliper brakes but were hydraulic powered instead of cabled. Don;t think they were proper V's

Man they were STRONG!

They came in Yellow, Red and Blue I think.

Just found em

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/images/m...brake_hs33.jpg

Yea, those were the ones I was talking about. My buddy had some, I think Magura was the company that made them. He had a real light, stiff hardtail cause he had monster legs and loved to crank up hills. I almost lost it when I got on his bike and grabbed the brakes. Those suckers will stop you dead.

EDIT: Lol, I just read the link URL, and they are Maguras as well. I hadn't realized they came with the break boosters. But given how high end they are, I'm not surprised.

You guys with the suspensionless bikes are nuts. Fixed frames are ok if you're racing BMX, but riding trails is too rough without some cush