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

mmmm Kashima coating

 

LOL no my dirt bike days are over

 

Went from a Jet 9 to this Rip 9. Only rode in parking lot, but feels good. Can really feel the difference in the head tube angle!

 

Never been a fan of Niners but their new stuff is sexy!

 

Here in CA there legal everywhere. Believe me I was the biggest opponent to ebikes. Absolutely hated them. 60% of my riding is at Henry Coe. (Google it). The place is huge. But also huge steep long climbs. Like 15% for 2+ miles. So I rented one to try out there. I was amazed at how much work you still put in. But I no longer had to hike up those climbs. Unfortunately this is the way the industry is heading. Same thing happened when full suspension came out. Gotta roll with technology. I know there are a lot of haters. But don’t knock it till you try it. I will always have pedal bikes too. The fun factor is through the roof on these ebikes

 

Jr will drag you around CC when you decide to ride again.

 

I should clarify that shaving does not make one free of bacteria, just that it makes it easier to clean the skin and make a less inviting environment to infection without the hair holding extra funkiness and getting in the way.

As to a study on compression gear, start here... there are others but this one is easy to digest for a scientific study.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6341249/

The ice baths are, in my opinion, overkill and I won’t subject myself to them. I use compression gear, pressure chambers on the legs in particularly intense situations, and have been known to jump into the Ocoee River in April after Cohutta. That actually helped way more than I anticipated.

The layering is all about using the same effect... pull the sweat away from the skin and, as the air flows over the outer layer; it cools underneath. The summer layering should include a honeycombed/mesh base layer to mitigate the effect of trapped moisture and aid in wicking. That’s where the technical garments really shine. Heck, I wear merino blend socks year-round for that very reason and I’m in the South. Our bodies aren’t really great at heat management, even though just our ability to sweat is loads more efficient than panting, like most other animals. In winter, it’s about keeping the wind away from cooling the core too fast. You still need to manage heat and efficiency by moving the sweat away from the skin, but not allow that radiated cooling effect from wind chill.

 

That is actually one of the things I like least about them, access to the masses. Mountain biking is taking off, with more and more riders on the trails. Most of the time that’s good, as the exposure to nature and love of trails becomes motivation to preserve and take care of those trails. Work gets put in, money donated to trail organizations, bikes and parts purchased, new trails opened and existing ones maintained. The system taking care of itself as it expands.
However, e-bikes circumvent the system. They open the sport to “part time athletes” that take those bikes out on occasion. No need to do this regularly and be fit to have fun. Which makes the emotional buy-in minimal. Which in turn makes the pitch-in minimal since there is no attachment to the trails due to the lack of need to spend an abundance of time there to enjoy it.
Ive spent time on these bikes, and they are an absolute hoot to play on. But I’m not the intended demo, at least not for most of them. Because as much fun as I have on it, at the end of the day I’ll go back to my analog bike. Because the connection to nature, trail, and flow is simple and beautiful on a “regular” bike.
Is there space for e-bikes? Yeah. But I think they’ll be outcast for a while here stateside. At least until we get better organized with trail etiquette and maintenance.

 

Yes! Hello fellow Ninerd!

 

Muddy one today!

 

I can see them having a place..and at least someone with limitations such as my brother in law (knee replacement) would still be able to ride.

I'm more of a 20" rider anyway myself

 

^^^ oh hell yeah!! Living the dream.

 

E bikes are amazingly fun. I don’t own one but have ridden a few. I’m a huge supporter of them. They have there place right along us with just pedals. On climbs they cause less erosion then us with “just pedals”. They allow for smoother power throughout the pedal stroke and less chance of have a tire slip. As most of us already know, true E bikes don’t have a throttle and it’s important that people know that. The power is only there to assist someone as they pedal. My mother is not a strong rider. She is in her 50s and enjoys to ride some trails. My father on the other hand competes at a high level on both mountain and road. When the two go and ride together my mother takes her E bike. It allows her to enjoy biking with my father.

Having rode in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. There is a real misperception of E bikes. Some of it stems from the same thing we see here in tacomaworld. The manual vs auto debate. People who don’t have an e bike pedal the mountain maxing out their HR. Earning the climb or descent. Some feel like others need to do the same thing. You know earn the ride!
I could see how some can oppose them if they have been pedaling hard to make that climb and have an E bike come up behind without as much of the struggle. This is where we as mountain bikers need to figure out an etiquette with E bikes. Just like we have with hikers and equestrians.
I hope to see more people out on the trail. More people means more support to keep trails open and open up new ones.

 

Well said

 

Stumpy loaded in the first gen reg cab (not a 3rd gen, sorry). Bonus pic of my chameleon

 

Well said

 

Thanks. Really enjoying the Chameleon lately. Actually, enjoying it so much that I sold my full-suspension ride!

 

Decided to take my stache on a gravel ride up the C&O canal trail. I want to start getting some more miles on my mountain bike so c&o to the moco epic trails might be a good route (if you’re familiar with mid-Atlantic riding).

 

I wanted to share this with my fellow Tacoma peeps even though I’ve gone to the dark side with a Ford Ranger. I’m giving away a Latchit Rack on MTBR if you want to follow!

https://forums.mtbr.com/cars-bike-racks/latchit-rack-free-giveaway-1128847.html