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

I am desperately trying to find a reason to go to Cleveland (first time in history that has been said) so I can make a trip to Ray's!

One of my friends is getting married that lives there, may need to score an invite...

 

Hell yea man when I was in college we were doing alot of urban riding and sending everything we could as far as drops and gaps. Ended up breaking my aluminum frame and rolled with a steel dual slalom hardtail to survive the impacts after that. Towards the end of college I had a friend who was of Egyptian descent that always got annoyed when people called him Egypt...well we were visiting your alma matter at VT and we came across a double stair that had like 6 steps to a 4 foot landing to a 15 stair after. I rode down the first 6 steps to get enough momentum and then launch off the middle platform to clear the lower 15. Took me 6 tries to clear that bitch, but Egypt forever earned his name that day as part of the deal if I could smash it.

 

I remember the landing went straight into a parking lot, but had brick on both sides of the stair. I think it was almost a 9' drop as my arm fully stretched was underneath the height of the top step from the bottom.

 

I like the nerd plate.

All great points to consider thanks! I can appreciate that Moots. I have a 97 Merlin Road that I bought new and ride on periodically when the mood strikes.

 

Oh my bad lol. Yeah there's a ton of play and that's my worries with the fork. Like you I'm sure it could handle it considering what an enduro bike would handle any other day flawlessly but it is a little iffy. I just dropped my bike off at the LBS so I can't say for sure just how well the gaskets will work but I was actually pretty lucky to find 3 gaskets together is a perfect 10cm. I just superglued them so I guess I'll see how it goes in a few weeks. I like softoppers but I'm not super happy with the lack of windows since I have an access cab and blind spots are already pretty plentiful. If I got a full cap I'm not sure I'd do outboard mounts because I wouldn't want to put a bunch of work into weather sealing more than I would need to with a used shell. Preferably I'd make a slide or bracket inside the bed to hold a bike comfortably somehow without fork mounts (yet still take off the front wheel) - maybe brackets and rubber frame clamps similar to a GoPro roll cage mount?

 

Yeah I have a theory about that place I will keep to myself until I actually ride out there. There seems to be an inverse trend with how rad people say it is and their skill level

So I'm excited to decide for myself

 

I rode a portion of Centennial Cone yesterday. It rained right after I left, but it was definitely G2G before that.

 

I could see that. I read somewhere that the walmart family dumped millions into the mtb scene in the town so at least theres that lol

 

Most everything here's GTG, below 8K. After that, snowbanks and drifts, mud, downed trees, etc.

 

Apparently CoL is a bitch there, too. Cause the median income is crazy - high because everyone works at Wal Mart HQ

Edit: Avg income of $70k+

https://www.bestplaces.net/economy/city/arkansas/bentonville

 

I was traveling a few months ago on our way to another destination MTB ride. We pulled into one of those way stops along the way and a dude parks next to me with "X-Wing" as his LP. It was totally nerd-a-rific. We geeked out on bikes, X-Wing miniatures, and Linux. Holy hell, I'm a huge nerd.

 

And ironically we crap on "walmart bikes." I've always wondered why the family is such a huge proponent of MTB, yet the bikes they generally sell are ... well, yeah. I mean, it's obvious they aren't pretending to be a bike shop and they know their target audience well, but the fact that walmart is basically a pejorative for crappy MTBs and yet that family dumps so much $ into the trails just makes me chuckle at it all.

And seriously, please, no offense to anyone that owns a bike purchased at WalMart. This isn't specific to any individual, nor meant to dismiss owning one categorically. Just responding to the general MTB meme. Ride bikes, have fun!

 

I haven't ridden there myself, but it's a go to place for a bunch of my MN buddies each spring. It's a good way to get a jump start on the season which usually doesn't start until May around here. Based on pictures and conversations with them I think it's a great place to go for a XC or trail ride. Don't expect any serious gnar or drops. I could go for 20mi of buffed single track right now!

 

Exactly what I have heard. Which is not a terrible thing but the insane marketing of the town makes it seem like Whistler lol

 

https://www.velonews.com/2019/04/co...-of-a-new-american-cycling-destination_491998

 

Also...

Walmart Launches High-End 'Viathon' Bike Brand

 

True, but they're releasing a line of high-end bikes... so there's that...

 

Cool, I missed that news. Thanks for sharing @DarthPow and @ridge.

 

Personally If I were going to buy another high-end bike I’d continue to go to an actual local bike shop. Walmart has already put out enough mom-and-pops with their vicious price slashing, and sucking in entire towns with their “jobs”. I don’t want to see actual bike shops go down the drain that employ professionals, enthusiasts, and actual bicycle mechanics. The same reason why I’m not a fan of the Canyon/YT and all other direct to consumer bike companies. I’ll stick to riding Giant and spending my hard-earned money at the LBS to keep supporting my buddies and how they make their living (by selling and maintaining bikes). Keeping money local helps build community. While the walton family may enjoy mountain biking and dumping money into the local scene in Bentonville, I’m curious how many of the employees they have would even be able to afford one of their “high-end” bikes; muchless take a trip to ride the trails they pay to buff out in their hometown.