Show off your Mountain Bike!!!

18 speed? I didn't think those existed any more. And looking at that four bar linkage looks...awkward. And it's a steel frame, so I'm willing to bet it weighs north of 50 lbs. Any one of the Mongooses would be better. This bike is basically built to look flashy with little functionality so people buy it thinking they're getting something similar to the expensive bikes.

What kind of riding are you looking to do? That's going to determine what a good bike for you is.

 

Are those knobbies? Swap those out for a less aggressive tire, or street tire. I turned one of my old mountain bikes into a cruiser. and put City Wolf tires on it. HUGE difference in rideability. With the knobbies, I had to constantly peddle as the drag was so bad the bike would slow to a stop within a hundred feet if I stopped pedalling.

 

So far this is my favourite thing I've put on my Tacoma. This was Sunday, my first ride in a year and a half after recovering from surgery. The extra 30lbs I gained made it tough, and I had to were baseball shorts because my baggies don't fit (and they complimented my Spiderman bike shirt just nice), but it was truly one of my most memorable rides, just because being unable to was so painful.

 

glad to hear your able to get back on the bike! nice new rack haha. i bet its a pain to get it on and off though

 

I had put it in the bed, but it's a 29'er, and didn't quite fit lying down. Watching it bouncing while I was driving, I figured there was a small chance it could take the wheels out of true, and I had put the rack on when we went camping for the wife's bike, so I pulled over to throw Stumpy on the roof. Lot easier than I expected, actually. Jumped in the bed, threw him on the rack (he's only 26 or 27 lbs), stepped on the sidesteps, tightened him up and done. Getting him off takes a little more co-ordination, but he's light enough to make it easy. I might flip the rack backwards so the tensioner is easy to reach from the bed, so I can load and unload my wife's tank from the bed. She has a Giant Suede cruiser which weighs about double the extra gut I grew while laid up.

 

Eventually, I will. They're kinda weird ones...knobs on the sides, but a smooth "diamond" pattern down the center line. They're ok for now, but I'll probably find some type of sand tire or something when it comes time to replace.

I know eventually, I'll have to find new pedals too, because these are plastic and I doubt they'll last long...but, again, gonna ride 'em 'til I have to replace 'em as well.

So far, I'm liking the bike. I have to do some tuning, though...it will shift the chain right off the front sprockets on both sides right now.

 

oh true. i didnt think about getting it through the bed. cool it doesnt sound as bad as i thought

 

Those are semi-slicks. They're used for hard packed with some lose. Roll fast on the hard packed, with a little bite when you lean in the corners. Those actually won't be too bad on the road, if they're what I think they are. Road tires will work better, but they won't be a huge jump up like they would be if you were going from true knobbies. Would probably be a subtle difference in rolling resistance and comfort.

Seems most of the bikes I work on that aren't mine are my friends bikes, or their kids bikes, who bought them at department stores. I'm not necessarily anti-department store bike (some are decent, and most are good if you're using them in the right scenario), but I am against the pimply faced teenagers who put these things together. Sometimes it's lack of knowledge, but I've run into a tonne where it is obvious they just didn't give a crap. My nephew's bike had one of the cables not routed properly, so instead of removing the cable and starting over, they pulled the cable tight through the derailleur and tightened it. Just the other day I spent an hour working on my buddy's kids bike that showed up from the store with only three gears working.

 

My fat ass after my first ride, after falling in love with Stumpy all over again. I've got my eyes closed, because apparently there's a spider on my shirt, and I hate spiders.

 

spideman!!!

 

Nice stump! Why is your name schwin? For the bike?

 

Bunch of years ago when I signed up on a forum, all my nicknames were taken. I wound looking around the room, saw my Schwinn Moab 2 leaning against the wall, and voila...Schwinn was born. I'm not bright enough to remember different log in names for different boards, so it's now my go-to handle.

 

i like your bike!! what year? mine is yours great great grandfather..

i have a 2000 that i ride every single day. i am nursing it back to health. had to get specialized to replace all the rear pivot bushings. still havent gotten the bike back..they ordered the wrong bushings. i still love my bike...but once my wife gets out of nursing school..i am shopping for a new one. liking the santa cruz blur..but those new specialized 29er full suspensions...wow. my siren song.

now i ride my cyclocross till i get my stump back.

 

Nice looking Surly.

 

New addition today to my bike stable: V10 carbon Syndicate Team bike(not a replica, an actual team rider bike w/the extended swing arm you can't buy).

 

.

 

That's awesome looking! How the heck did you swing a deal on a team bike? Do you work at SC?

 

Man that is a serious bike

 

rool: if i could have a DH thats the one i would want! haha

x2 on how you got it ?!

 

Thanks guys!

Regarding how I got my grubby little hands on this thing...(probably less than 20 ever made for Syndicate Team)

My cousin is great friends with a Syndicate Team rider for Santa Cruz, and he gets ALL of his friend's sponsored bikes(V10 carbons) once the seasons are over and the team riders are sent new bikes...let's just say you guys would absolutely HATE me for how much I paid for this thing. So I'll just say we keep it a family affair, and this bike will ALWAYS stay in the family.

This thing is LITTERED with Santa Cruz "blackbox parts"(parts that come out of the SC tuning factory made ONLY for Team Syndicate bikes and not for retail---one of them being the extended swing arm).

The Enve rims(that's right, NOT INCLUDING SPOKES OR THE CHRIS KING HUBS ON THEM) alone cost $2,800-2,900.00 brand new. These: http://www.enve.com/wheels/mountain/DH.aspx

As it sits in that picture, the bike can be put for sale at a minimum $8,000....basically more than what my Tacoma is worth LMAO.

For the price I paid(calling it a "steal" would even be too much HAHA), I am one lucky ass MFer for sure.

Time to ride!!!!!