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

I get new/novice riders all the time that come up to me on the trails to ask about getting faster through section "x", or just how to get "faster" overall. I tell nearly all of them the same thing. When it comes to something as physically and mentally intensive as riding and racing a mountain bike; you are only going to get out of it what you put into it.

Rules and Best Practices:

1. Trees, rocks, and natural features don't move, you do; bend around the trees (be like the spoon from The Matrix). There should be as much thought, time, and effort given to increasing your body's flexibility as there is to your leg strength. Everything on your body that engages with the bike is an extension of your core. If your core isn't strong enough to be the foundation for your arms, legs, and head; you'll never be as fast or smooth as the experts.
2. Which brings me to point 2; Smooth = Fast and very often, Slow = smooth. Trying to overthink and/or force your way through an obstacle or feature often proves to be the worst possible approach. Think about it loing enough to see your way through it, then ride it and make mental notes. Where could you have made a better decision? What pieces of that section prevented you from changing your line, were you unintentionally riding the brakes when you could have just let it float?
3. Physical fitness is just that; it is fitness obtained through physical effort. Hard, unrelenting, sometimes pain cave levels of physical effort. Find your current pain threshold, then keep pushing past it incrementally to find a new one. The saying by Greg Lemond of "It doesn't get any easier; you just get faster." is the motto of the fit cyclist.
4. Whether you think you can or think you can't; you're right. With increased fitness, experience, and exposure comes increased skill and confidence. The more you ride trail/feature "x"; the better you will get at cleaning it. I can't count the number of MTB races where I've just watched in jaw-dropped awe as I pre-rode some really technical sections of the course as many times as I could fit before an out-of-town race only to have my doors blown off by some local that rides it all the time. There's always a better/cleaner line than you can usually see and the best way to find it is to ride it until it becomes second nature.
5. Tuck and roll. When shit goes pear-shaped, and it will; just relax as much as possible, roll it out, pick up your yard sale items and get back to riding. Do that section again, or make notes of what went wrong, but don't just avoid it in the future.
6. Finally, don't try to eat the apple in one bite... you'll just choke and give up. Take small bites, put those bites together into larger bites of adding sections together, then tackle the apple.

Gear matters... but only so much. I ride/race MTB predominately on a rigid single speed hardtail 29" and I cannot tell you how many riders on stupidly expensive FS bikes I've encountered on any given trail or at any given race that just shake their head in disbelief at how fast a SS rigid can make it through a course. A single speed forces you to ride smooth, pick the cleanest lines, use your flexibility to your advantage, and make the trail "flow"; whether it was designed that way or not. I cannot afford to just ride over every root, rock, rut, downed tree, etc... like the FS riders because their suspension sucks up all that chatter. If I want to be fast, I have to be on my A game all the time, looking down trail as far as possible, reading the lines, looking where others have cleaned it and how they did it, make adjustments on the fly and warn others that they probably don't want to follow my line. That's not to say that FS bikes don't have their merits, but for most trails that don't have a bomber DH segment; they are not always the right tool for the job and often just overkill for the trail. Don't get me wrong, I genuinely LOVE the speed and effortlessness of descending on a properly set up fully, but those opportunities are far less frequent than are the climbs, bends, flats, and just flat out seated pedaling. For everything but descending; suspension is scavenging power from every pedal stroke and robbing speed/efficiency.

 

YES. A good set of shoes does wonders. 5 fingers are probably as bad as going barefoot for toe injuries.

A good set of flat pedal shoes have a sturdy sole that helps interact with the pedals and has something for the pedal to grip. Some also go towards Supras and Vans Sk8 His as a budget alternative that are pretty good.

Clipless shoes are pretty specialized, so they tend to speak for themselves.

 

Definitely. In Huntsville I used Blevins Bike shop and had a nice experience. Just tell them you want a basic set of clipless or flat pedals and corresponding shoes. They'll hook you up

 

Yea, Its a subjective line. I assume it also depends are where you are and what the prices are in your area.

 

As a data point, a lot of big name companies are making pedals in the $50 segment that are awesome. Like the Raceface Chesters. Very budget, very good pedal that will do awesome with flat pedal shoes or your everyday sneakers.

 

Also Scotty @stronghammer next time y'all come to Windrock let me know and I'll give you a set of clipless pedals then all you'll need are some shoes

 

dang you the man! I will let you know for sure. I feel like I need to ride with you and just have more conversations to learn what I really want/need.

 

Sounds good. Knoxville has a gamut of different trail systems and I could totally show you around and drink some beers

 

Then you need to come visit Utah. We can hit anything from easy alpine stuff in PC to the gnarly Moab stuff!

@honda50r can come too, but he'd probably have killed all the apres beer before we got down the mountain.

 

lmao you guys are killing me. when I was in Moab I wanted so much to have my bike with me and ride some of the trails and rocks. around here all we have are freaking trees that'll take your arm or face off, hard to find large clear trails.

 

Oh, we have those too! There are a few trails that I found out that the distance between the trees are sub-787mm the kinetic way

 

Yeah, my Sundance super D run shot to last place after I clipped a tree and dirt-napped it. Took 4/5 because of another racer's DNF.

 

Totally... I'm 44 and was in awe of the 70+ year olds racing XC at MTB Nats last year. Snowshoe, WV course was a 4.5 mile loop w/ over 500' of elevation gain per lap. The day I showed up had me watching those 70+ year olds gettin' after it! Right then I felt a little glimmer of hope that I might be able to keep doing this MTB thing for a few more decades...

I'm standing at the top of the hill from the start corral (90 feet of climb to get out of the chute and onto the "flat" section)



70-75 age group start.

 

I did that very thing over the weekend. Aluminum RCI bed rack. Bought the new RCI bike mount and discarded the tray. Attached a 1up roof rack outboard. Drove from Boulder to the Springs with a roadie attached and it worked like a champ. Thinking about ordering a 2nd mount and 1up rack for RTT season.

 

@stronghammer , I think the guys on here have covered most of it. The thing I want to point out is your bike should also depend on where you ride. I live in the Dallas area, and for the most part, a 120mm hardtail will do all of the trails well. But, if your not comfortable, youll hate it. Get a bike that's geared to what you normally ride. There are people around here that buy a Carbon Santa Cruz Bronson and never leave the state park. The bike will do it, and do it well, but it honestly has too much suspension, which can slow you down. When Santa Cruz released the new Bronson, everyone and their dog wanted one. Its great, just not the best suited for around here.

With the "fancy" bikes, the person that said the 3,000 price range is spot on. You can get a ton of bike with that kind of money. Now, Diamonback sells direct, so theres no middle man, YT does the same, Fezzari also does it, and Intense does it too. (THE PROBLEM IS YOU CANNOT TEST RIDE THEM FIRST - but companies like Fezzari say ride it on your local trail, and return it within 30 days if you don't like it) After the 3,000, prices go way up and really fast. You have guys spending hundreds of dollars saving grams. That aint me! When I bought my Hightower, I bought the 12 speed, so I spent a little more, but that's me.

The other guy that said the bike is a tool is exactly right. Let me make this recommendation: When the local bike shop has a demo day at the trail that you are familiar with, go ride a new bike. That way you know the trial, and you know how it normally feels, that way you have a base line.

For the kits...this goes on forever. Wear whatever breaths the best. Go to TJ Max and buy a cheep shirt that if it rips, who cares. Spending over 30 bucks on a jersey is just insane to me. I bought a sweet jersey, and then a thorn bush grabbed it and tore it to Hell. Now I have a colorful cloth I clean my Taco with.

Clips and shoes are something that are debated forever and a day. I prefer crank brothers, but again its personal preference. My wife has the 5 10s and the Race Face atlus and would never ride with clips, granted I would never ride with those.

I hope this helps. Good Luck.

 

Awesome, thanks for all the tips and recommendations!

Question about shoes...because that seems like an easy upgrade... obviously clip-ins allow you to "pull" your pedal giving you that advantage, but what advantage do clipless shoes provide over just a standard old shoe? are they really that "grippy"?

 

If you fall, you can bail easier. Also, you can use your leg to stead yourself easier, without having to clip out and in. Also, you don't have to fidget with clipping in.

Again, its all about what your comfortable and familiar with.

if you get clips, put them on, then go fall in the yard. get the initial fall out of the way! lol

 

no I mean...regular ol' nike tennis shoes vs. some shoes labeled "Mountain Bike" shoes that don't have clips. what's the advantage to the Mountain Bike shoes?

 

Lurker in the thread thus far, but thought I'd offer my feedback as a wearer of FiveTens with Chester pedals. Regarding grip compared to a typical tennis shoes, they are absolutely grippy-er. The FiveTen (and other riding specific flats) have a softer (right word) sole that allows the pins on flat pedals to dig in. My FiveTens with the Chesters feel like i'm glued to the pedals for the most part.

In addition to the grip, the toe box is harder preventing you from destroying your foot on rocks or roots.