All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

I am drooling at everything in these photos. Love your truck! And now you break out that Evil!! Nice work!

 

Love those trails in vegas, super great views of the valley. Bipolar is a nice route.

 

All these talks about racks.. got mine set-up as well.

 

Is there a reason why you don’t just turn the bike and close the gate? I found the rear tire snugs up against the gate so there’s no play letting the bike move around or anything.

 

Mine is a 18.5 fuel ex 29 so it’s medium large territory and with the 29 wheels I have to angle it and snug the rear tire to the gate.

 

i have an xl fatboy if i want to close the gate the rear tire has to be in the opposite corner of the bed and then i can fit one bike.

 

Yeah, thanks man, Im more then stoked on it. Its a couple years old and lacks all the new evolvement of the newer bikes. Boost hubs, wider wheels, wide range cassette, yada yada. I'll probably ride it one more year then get into something new this coming fall or winter.

 

Using the rocky mounts?

 

Just ran across this thread. Never been much of a biker since I was a kid and don’t know much about what is a good bike anymore. Just bought my son his first bike and want to find me one so once he gets riding good enough we could go riding some places. Been looking for good used ones on letgo, OfferUp, and marketplace on FB. Any suggestions on what to look for? Leaning towards something along the lines of a mountain bike. But those look to be more expensive and not sure how much I want to spend since idk how far this will go. Thanks.

 

A good option would be a hard tail mountain bike. Front fork and no rear suspension. Could ride on the road if you wanted to. Less expensive too. Local bike shop is best place to get started for size and correct fit. They can change the seat, stem and whatever else to make sure it fits you. Any of the major brands are great Trek, Specialized, Giant etc. its hard to find a bad bike if you go to a bike store. Stay away from box store bikes. You will pay a little more at a bike shop BUT it will pay off in the long run and you will have more fun. Local bike store will also tell you the best places to ride. Make sure you get a good helmet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was that emphasized enough? Enjoy. I have been road and mountain biking since the late 80's. Keeps you in shape and its cheaper than therapy. Plus you meet the best friends biking. One more thing. Get your whole family involved. Family bike trips are the best way to enjoy life together.

 

Thanks, great info. My wife has NEVER learned to ride a bike. Crazy. Never heard of anyone before that never rode a bike at least in thier childhood. So I seriously doubt that’s an option. But that’s fine since she tends to think I don’t spend enough quality time with him. Would give us great bonding time. Got a while before he will be ready to go out riding though. He’s still struggling just to navigate the slightly sloped part in our driveway and of course on training wheels. Only been on it a couple of days now.

 

There is no better time to learn how to ride a bike than now! Sounds like you have two students.

 

Why no rear suspension? Thought that might be more comfortable to ride. Just cost? I used to ride quads and dirt bikes with big motocross suspensions so I was kinda liking the idea of one with suspension.

 

Just cost. And riding around with a kid just learning to ride will be mostly done on streets. Plus riding a hard tail will develop technical skills faster on the dirt. Full suspension allows you to blast over stuff without having to think too much about the line down the trail. Which is good, but with good technical skills, you can ride down even gnarlier stuff on a full suspension.

 

I’m a bit confused. I just looked online about bike size fitment. I’m 5’8 1/2 just measured my inseam at 28 1/2 inches. According to the calculator I found say at 5’8 wouldn’t give an option for shorter than 31” inseam. And even with that it gives me a 17” frame for a mountain bike. My son that’s 5 1/2 is riding a 16” bike. Can’t temember what we measured his inseam at but according to whatever calculator my wife used said he could fit a 14-16” bike. We went 16 to leave growing room since he’ll likely grow fast to have it last him longer. Is there a difference in frame size and bike size? Or is bike referring to the frame size? If so how is he riding only a 1” smaller “bike” than what it says for me? He’s like 3 1/2 ft tall. He can’t touch the ground but can pedal decent enough.

 

Welcome to the bike world of sizes! LOL. I am 6'1" and ride a 20" (large) full suspension Rocky Mountain Element 70. So the 17" for you seems about right. Your son's bike is probably a 16" wheel size, not frame size. Just to confuse things, frames are different, a medium Trek may or may not fit the same as a medium Giant, or a medium Specialized. That's why a local bike shop is best. You should also test ride different brands too. You will know if one or the other just feels "right" even though they are close in size.

PS - I see you are a Bulldog. I am too, but a Gonzaga Bulldog.

 

Ok so that clears things up. So when I see a 26” bike on letgo it’s talking wheel size then. I was wondering why there would be so many 26” bikes. That’d be a lot of tall long legged people lol.

 

Yes, the 26” is referring to wheel size, although most mountain bikes these days are either 27.5” or 29”

 

So are the seats on these bike store brands much better than the Walmart brands? Was in wm this evening so I looked at the bikes and sat on a 26” mountain bike and the seat seemed awfully harsh. Maybe I’m just too old and not used to bikes but it seemed like it’d make me sore quickly.

Also noticed wm carries Mongoose, Huffy, and Schwinn. (All big names back in my young days) Some others that weren’t terribly cheap for the big box stores. Just wondering if these are now the cheap brands or is it just that bike stores are better for correctly fitting you to a bike?

 

Seats are another mystical item. Some people like soft comfy seats with way to much padding. The firmer seats are better IMHO. Just like firm car seats. They seem hard at first but 300 miles into a trip and they are awesome. A local bike shop will usually let you try a seat if you don't like it you can swap it for something else. so here's the no bs bike seat insider tip. The first day you ride your butt might be a little sore. The next day you get on the first five minutes are pure torture. After about five minutes the soreness goes away and its fine. If you ride for a week everyday your butt will get used to it and the pain will go away on subsequent days. Off road riding is not as bad since you are not constantly on your seat like a road bike. This knowledge comes from years of road and mountain bike riding. Along with five Seattle to Portland bike rides (2 day) and one STP in one day. 206 miles. And numerous 100 mile rides. You get to know your butt