Show off your Mountain Bike!!!

porcupine rim trail. working in Moab every other week is rough.

I need brake advice. the stock Avids need to go. I've received a few suggestion but looking for more input on what to get. would like good stopping power without a ton of noise or breaking the bank.

 

shimano xt, amazing brakes. i ride with avid elixir 5 and would take shimano slx or xt anyday. i know i say it a lot on here but they are the bet ive ridden. i have also tried avid XO and formula t1(whatever is stock on stumpy fsr expert). shimano takes the win for me. ive never noticed fade and they arent loud. i think xt goes for around 130 per brake

 

This is what I'm hearing from friends. I was told go slx brakes and with xt rotors.
Thanks

 

wow, epic picture man

 

yeah that sounds like a good choice. btw the bikes i rode were demo bikes so they all had a number of miles on them and were probably already pretty warm.

 

Any Marines (or corpsmen/docs) stationed in Camp Pendleton? Trying to get orders out there in November and thinking they probably have some pretty good trails.

 

I bought my specialized hardrock with hydraulic disk brakes for $300 used. It was an 07 model. I replaced the chain, cassette, nad rear der. and rode the snot out of it. I just sold it for 200.


Keep an eye out on craigslist and also check out pinkbike.com

I drove 3 hours to get my hardrock but to me it was worth it.

quality brands, trek, specialized, giant, santa cruz, (all big name brands) thats all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

Got a question for those more experienced with bikes.. I use my 2013 Mamba 90% for asphalt riding and 10% dirt trails (manicured parks, county bike paths). We did an 18 mile ride the other weekend all on a paved bike bath. I locked my front fork out and aired up to max PSI to get the most movement out of my pedaling efforts. Worked perfect! 2 days later I pulled the bikes out of the car and my front tire was flat. I looked at the tire and didn't see any glass or nails, which is entirely possible since some of the ride went through a homeless encampment..

Anyway, I aired up and the tire held air for a few hours and went flat again, so it's obviously not a blown tube. I'm thinking there is either a puncture and I can't see it, or my Presta valves are letting air out.

My tires are the stock 29x2.2 Bontrager (sp?) and stock tubes.

Is there a better setup for me for my riding conditions? I'm wondering if I should replace both tubes and/or tires with higher pressures versions and less rolling resistance. Just FWIW, I aired up to 60 or 65 PSI.

Is Presta better than Schrader? I don't like Presta's at all, so if they have limited benefit then I will replace them with Schrader valve'd tubes.

Inputs? I don't have money to buy new wheels, but am interested in a more road friendly setup on a budget.

 

good advice right there

 

For a cheapo such as myself, I would fill up a bucket with water and then take out the inner tube that keeps getting flat and then inflate it while you have it completely removed from the wheel. While it's inflated just submerge it in the water until you see where it's leaking air (bubbles). And either patch it up or replace if it's the valve itself.

It might just be common sense to do the most cost effective thing first.

Also feel inside the tire to make sure there are no thorns or anything puncturing through. And remove if there are any.

I don't know if you've tried this or not but just take the easiest/cheapest route before going out and buying more things you don't need.

It also never hurts to have a spare inner tube/patches/ small pump and proper tools with you when you go on long rides. I'd rather patch up a tire and wait for it to dry instead of walking back 5+ miles back to where ever it is you came from. Happened to me when I first got my bike. Ever since then I've always carried all that stuff in my camel back when ever I go out in my bike.

 

x2 i would also check out a thinner tire like a 2.1 or 1.9 that is less knobby like a hybrid tire mountain tire. the first tire i think of is a small block 8 or something similar with small knobs

 

Thanks, homes. I planned on doing that stuff already. I have a repair kit I keep in my REI Flash or Camelbak HAWG. I've not yet bought spare tubes, though, because I don't ride often and usually just within a mile or 2 of the house so I don't mind a short walk home with a blow out.

I'm just thinking of things not so much because I NEED to replace a tube, but more for WHEN I do and what I'd like to get out of it when the time comes. Which would be a better road ride while maintaining enough grip/traction in loose gravel flats.

I've changed a lot of tubes in my day, just not for 12 years or so..

 

Slime...or go tubeless. But much more expensive the second route. Slime's a bit more difficult to get into the the presta valves, but you can by Slime tubes.

 

Any advantage to Presta over Schrader? Seems to me (an idiot) that they're more fragile and finicky. Never had a bike with Presta's before.

 

I don't know, honestly, I really don't know...

but when I had the stock bontrager tires they would get flat much more often than the Kenda nevegals I switched them out for. They're knobbier too. The kendas have much better traction on tight curves on dirt trails at fast speeds and over the rocky terrain, at least here in San Antonio anyways.

The Kendas are much better over all than the stock bontragers my bike came with and I have taken them both through the same trails many times.

But I'm sure others will have different experiences.

 

yeah i know what your saying and i would agree except that he says he does mostly asphalt riding. there is no point in riding with a nevegal or anything similar with that type of riding....i hate riding on the road with my bike just because i dont want to wear the tires out faster haha. its weird that he got a leak, the tube might not be rated for that pressure, idk haha

 

Oh that's true, he did say that.

Face palm myself!

 

otherwise i would say put a fatty on there like a 2.5 haha. but hey i misread stuff a lot so its all good haha

 

Those Kenda's look sexy. But yeah, too aggressive for the street.

 

They ARE sexy!!!