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

A 4Runner fits my needs perfectly and every couple of months I start shopping again. Only thing stopping me is the Tacoma is paid off in a few months.

 

I hear ya man. I think a lot of us do.
Though, an EMTB might be the best solution for you. A big, full fat, bike like the Range VLT. Self shuttle, erase the knee eating bumps, have a blast. I’d demo one and see if that helps.

With our little monkey and adventure lifestyle I was shopping just a month ago. Decided on a Land Cruiser/LX.
Buuuut… the (stupid expensive) Rivian R1S is tempting. 400 mile range, super nice ride and interior, off road chops… doubles as a great commuter. Being in the Tesla superchargers really sweetens the deal. We love our Model Y, and have learned how to easily live with an electric car. It’s not for everyone, but if it can work it’s pretty awesome.

 

Taco with kids is doable, but tight. It’s honestly gotten better as the kids have grown out of the bulky car seats and are in boosters. Conversely they keep getting bigger and the rear seat space is a constant. Lack of A/C vents in the rear can be rough here in the south.

I’m pretty partial to the black offroad fenders. My last taco was a sport and for some reason I always wished those fenders weren’t color matched.

Same. I could easily make an SUV work. But we already have a 4Runner in the garage. The wife’s 2023 4R is our primary family hauler.

Aside from the fact that I still really like my taco, finances are one of my main hang ups as I still have a couple more years of payments on the runner. The taco has been paid off for a while now. I’m only looking at used 2020/21 Tundras, but those are still pulling close to their original MSRP.

 

Electric would make sense for my 40 mile round trip daily commute. Honestly I’m too ignorant about them and the charging required to buy one at this point.

 

I drive 60+ miles round trip daily to work, over a mountain pass into Park City. It’s hairy AF in big winter storms.
Driving the Taco costs me around $16 a day or $320 a month. With my usual driving included I was around $400 a month in gas only.
The model Y runs my $1 a day for the commute, monthly total energy costs when charging at home is around $30.
I’ve driven it over 18k this year, below is the energy costs for the year. Keep in mind the comparison is with a 27mpg SUV. My Taco would have cost about $4,500 for the same distance. Add in maintained and….
Charging is super easy. It’s at home 90%+ of the time meaning I never stop for gas. I charge overnight and it’s good to go every day. The car warms/cools before I enter it. It can keep temps if you’re running to the store and leaving doggy in there, has a camping mode where you can sleep in the back (very comfortably) and keeps the temp you choose (lost about 15%), quiet, comfy, tons of power, fun to drive, fantastic in the snow. It’s incredibly easy to live with daily and it’s our primary vehicle. The Taco was only driven 4K last year.
I’ve taken it camping twice, long road trips, no issues with charging. Just have to plug in your destination and it automatically tells you where to stop to charge. Sessions were about 20m, just a little longer than an average gas stop when using the bathroom and getting snacks.
It’s not perfect, no car is. But it fits our lifestyle really well as a second car to the Taco.

 

Electric Vehicles seem to be a great value, on the used market, those model 3's drop 50% value quicker than anything else I've saw posted.

My thoughts are it's very location driven. Here in the southeast we probably adapt to them the slowest.

 

Donut did a video recently about how EVs lose so much value being pre-owned. the F150 lightning was the only one to hold it's value the best. A lot of the other cars were on the higher end I would have expected to lose value though.

 

I don't drive south too much but I'm seeing more EV chargers at places like Sheetz in Central Virginia. They are everywhere in Northern Virginia.

I've been considering a 2nd vehicle for a few months now too. Something funnish to drive to work, I was mainly considering the VW golf wagons and ford transit connect but a used tesla might need to be on my radar. There are probably 10-20 of them in the parking lot at my office but If I can fit a bike in it and leave my dog in it for a little then that could be a good option.

 

What’s needed to get a home EV charge ready?

The public charging network in my area is pretty decent for a Deep South location. Lots of folks commuting into ATL helps. Also keeps a decent pool of used Teslas/EVs on the market.

 

Teslas are VERY fun to drive. I'd go model Y over 3 anyday though. The 3 has typical storage space for a sedan, the Y is cavernous. So much storage space. Flat folding rear seats, big hole under the rear hatch, two side holes in the trunk big enough to fit DH helmets or a 6-pack, tall glass roof, and a frunk. The climate keep feature for pets is awesome too, can leave it on for an hour and lose only 2-3%. They say it's good for 300+ miles, but in reality you never use that. I charge daily to 60%, drive around about 80 miles, come home with about 35%. That's not slow, chill driving, or saving even thinking about conservation. I just drive it, bike on the hitch at 75-80 mph.
Other benefits are the up-front parking spaces, and occasional places that let you charge for free. No fluid changes, no brake pad changes, just rotate the damn tires every 5k.
Notice I haven't breached the environmental benefit from EVs, cause that's not really why I got it.

I think one of the reasons you're seeing such used market drops is the Fed tax credit. You can get a brand new long range AWD for about $42k out the door (without taxes) with the credit. They dropped their prices significantly.
My only regret is not getting the Performance model. It's a small increase in price for a lot more performance.

 

I’m not an EV owner yet but I’ve driven a friend’s Model 3 a few times and it is FUN. I drove “briskly” over Teton Pass between Victor ID and Jackson WY and the power at altitude is amazing. My friend mostly lives in the SF Bay Area but has a house in Victor and has no problem with cold temps, I n fact he loves the pre-heating of the cabin, and thinks it’s the best snow car he’s owned, and he had a WRX. He’s a single guy and is OK with the Model 3, it’s actually impressively roomy, but the lack of a hatch makes putting bikes inside tough. Another friend who’s an avid mountain biker has an early Model S, pushing 11 years old now I think, and it is cavernous inside, with a hatch. He had a loaner Model X a few years ago, and with 3rd row and those weird Model X seats he said it was a worse bike hauler than his Model 3.

 

Gotta say I’m feeling pretty good. Took the eeb out today because of the heat/humidity and was able to hit some old jumps I haven’t hit since before surgery. Feels good to get this baby gap off my back. Also mustache is a steeze multiplier.

 

Did a trip to the Kingdom Trails in North East Vermont this weekend and couldn't wipe the smile off my face - was supposed to be a washout but as always, there are breaks in the rain to get some rides in. Got about 4 rides in between the family camping and weather; the Fezzari (now Ari) Delano Peak was perfect for all the settle in and grind climbs while still being a blast on the downhills. Found that with my riding preference and dealing with all types of trails in New England, the 150F/135R suspension is about as dialed as it gets.

 

First time in Whistler, first lift, and we see a black bear. Go figure. Here for a full week, I'm sure we'll see more.

@Gunshot-6A was able to join us for a day of riding! Always a good time.

 

Got a biggish ride in on Saturday. I've been interested in this route for a few years now but haven't had the time or anyone to try it with me. I was supposed to ride up Pikes Peak on Sunday with a friend to watch the cars race up the mountain, but he had some stuff come up. Got a text from a couple other friends hours after asking which of the two descents are worth it. No idea which one is more fun, but I'm in.

This ride is like 20 miles of gravel road. About half is blocked off to cars, the other half people drive like crazy. Luckily there was a big trail run going on in the same area, so there were a number of event flags and aid stations on the road open to cars which made people drive a little more cautiously.

To make this harder (I honestly just don't like driving to the meeting place. More dirt road to drive on that's kinda rutted or a tight road through a narrowish canyon), I rode from my house. This added an extra 8sih miles and an hour. Of course I was a little late leaving my house at 6am, so I set some PRs on this early portion of the ride trying to get to the meetup lol.

The climb up the road took us to some trails that you would normally ride if you were coming down Pikes Peak. These are pretty rad and fast. Not too technical, maybe a handful of rock/root steps. Most is ridable, but can get difficult that far into the ride. Things definitely got easier coming down in elevation. We were getting a bit loopy near the top.

I took 2 bottles of water and a fidlock of that high carb Skratch mix. This mix works wonders. I got it for Pikes Peak Apex and love it. It goes well with their energy chews and gives me some confidence to tackle more longer rides like this.

Would I do this again? Maybe. I'd prefer to shuttle up Pikes Peak and ride down, but getting a long pedal day in is always nice too, especially if i can do it straight from my house.

https://imgur.com/a/tgByss1

 

Here's the view from behind that Stumpjumper Evo in the first photo. I'm not nearly as artistic with my photo taking!

Also, don't listen to him, 160F/150R was a blast on the downhills and I survived the climbs

Stumpy did great, but was definitely overkill for most of those trails. I didn't find myself reaching for the suspension lock out, but I'm sure the extra travel sucked some power on the long climbs but was an absolute blast once we pointed downhill.

 

Back to back weekends in Whistler is a hard combo to beat. Have fun, and hope it stays dry for you!

 

That’s one of my biggest complaints about dual suspension bikes, you can lock some of that travel out and you can tune the suspension to some degree, but I always feel like I’m going quicker on a hardtail.

But I’m also getting old and my back doesn’t enjoy it as much anymore.

I’ve been tempted for a while to see what the XC dual suspension minimum travel bikes are all about.

 

I hopped on the Spur bandwagon and love it. Calling it down country or super cross country makes me feel better than calling it XC lol. Its so much more fun than I thought. Trails that were boring on my Patrol (160/160?) are more fun on the Spur. The pedaling efficiency is very nice. Most of the trails around me are pretty tame and the Spur can handle it no problem. A handful still make me bring out the Patrol though.

I was tempted for a steel hard tail (the TransAm), but had to admit my body probably couldn't handle no rear suspension. Yea a hard tail would be faster, but would take a bigger toll.

Now I have an extra bike for guests too so thats nice. And I can ride one when the other is down for whatever reason.

 

On the pump track, I couldn't get that Stumpjumper moving too quickly. I locked out the rear shock and could finally get moving. I'm running a DVO Topaz 2 in the rear that has been custom tuned to that bike and my weight. It does well, but there is definitely some efficiency lost vs. my hard tail. That being said, the dual suspension bike is much quicker over roots and easier to maintain traction on bumpy terrain, just seems to beat up my body less.