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

Message sent, time for a new cover for the Strava group.

As for phone, hell yes I ride with a phone. Jesus, some of the places around here you'd be crazy not to. Got hurt, can't get out, no phone, no gun? You're done.
I'm on DND while I ride (same as @ridge ), Strava on the Apple watch. Non intrusive, keeps track of my miles and vert, sends a beacon to wifey, and heart rate. I like seeing my heart rate, can judge if I can push a bit more. At 44 I don't have the fitness reserves I used to so I need to keep track of how much I'm pushing based on the time I'm out.

 

Specialized are the vanilla latte of bikes. Only the basics buy them

 

I just bought a 2020 Stumpjumper- it has a dropper post. I looked at everything, I really wanted a Salsa Spearfish. I really didn’t want the big “S” but by far it was the best value. I’m happy with it. It’s a ton of fun!

 

Yeah a lot of people dont realize that. My foot has been saved a couple times from stiff soles - had a root or rock grab my toe a couple times and try to pull my foot under the pedal. I feel like with a normal soft sole my foot would have felt a lot more.

 

haha I'm excited to try them out. I wore Vibram Five Fingers the first time I rode, thinking for hike-a-bike purposes they're good, and I hit my toes and hurt my feet so many times catching roots and rocks. I've ridden in just regular tennis shoes since...

 

It’s pouring rain. We are night riding tonight. It’s supposed to stop soon, so conditions should be ok. I’m thinking of stopping at REI for a third light. There is a Large night riding scene here. Tonight is the third group night ride this week.

REI has Nite Rider lights on sale for 25% off! FYI

From last March-

 

I used to be a Spesh hater until I owned one. My last 3 full suspensions have been Cambers/Stumpjumpers. Im loving my current SJ.

 

I just flipped my “flip chip”. I’m seem to get less pedal strikes now.

 

Fair enough...I felt obligated though since my boss had given me a $350 gift card to a bike store and thats what they carried the most of. Shitttt, if i had the choice at the time, I easily would have opted for the Trek Remedy/Fuel

 

Trek are the PSL of bikes... though a step above anythingby "S".

 

I disagree. Anything with a knock blok can stuff it. I also like vanilla lattes though.

 

Sexy bike, and sexy truck.

Like the other guy said, Specialized just seems "basic" as far bike designs go, but there's something to be said for sticking to what works, and what works well. They're just one of the biggest companies, and I've heard they've done some somewhat shitty things as far as business goes. And I like to support smaller brands, so I understand why a lot of people are turned off by Specialized.

 

Yup.

Heading out for another lunch ride on my shitty trek. I’m such a peasant, can’t believe I even post such trash here.

 

None of the "Big 3" make shitty bikes, and no-one said that. Most people who have ridden for a while, have the disposable income, and are invested in the MTB world, tend to want to support some of the smaller companies who think outside of the box and offer something unique to the owner's ideology and riding style.
Most (in not all) of us started on one of the Big 3. I had a Trek 9000 as my first MTB, and a Specialized Enduro as my first "real" MTB. If my budget were smaller, didn't have the time or ability to build my own, or "friends in the industry" I'd probably stick to one of those or online brands for the unreal value they deliver.
Hell, there are times I crave a latte. But I'd rather have a Kenyan pea-bean in the french press anyday.

 

All the big companies have done shitty/petty things. They also do a lot of good that people dont think about. All these companies are donating to charities, donating to cycling organizations, and supplying your local bike shop with pretty reliable bikes with good warranties.

Trek is no stranger to litigation.
Specialized is known for it.
Santa Cruz and Yeti got into it.
Giant has been shitty - they even lost a lawsuit to a local bike shop that was screwed over by them.

I personally dont care what bike you ride. I just like the banter.

My spesh the day I brought it home.

 

True, I started a Specialized Rockhopper, then got a Giant Anthem. Now I'm on an Intense Tracer...

 

This, times infinity...

I grew up on BMX bikes and never had a full-sus until 2007... that bike was a Giant Trance Advanced and it hooked me on really enjoying the plush forgiveness of a full sus but I always hated the loss of handling skill that dulled the trail and sudden cliff-drop of speed and momentum when the trail would turn from down to up. I fiddled with the suspension on that bike for a couple of years while keeping a HT/SS always in the quiver to maintain that childhood connection to my BMX foundation. As the seasons wore on, I rode the Giant less and less while enjoying the HTSS more and more. Finally gave up on the Giant and went full steam on hardtails, geared and/or single speed. My Kona Explosif with the Dedacciai steel was the bike that completely spoiled me just how good the ride quality could be from high-end steel tubing with amazing geometry. To this day, the only bike that has come close to the feel, responsiveness, and handling of that Kona is my new REEB and the ONLY FS that comes close to that is the Yeti SB100; that bike just evokes a visceral connection to the trail that I could previously only get from a hardtail.

I've done numerous demo rides and mid-ride trail swaps of both "S" and Trek. They're phenomenal at being the juggernauts of bike model range offerings and making something for anyone that just wants to ride and not really dwell on the details. They are the set it and forget it of bike models; same as my Giant was.. good at a lot of things but not particularly life changing in any one area.


The Giant:


My precious...

 

Sorry team. Turns out I just needed to pedal and blow off some steam. All better now.

@abacall being all sensible again. Admittedly, I am a trek fan, but I do fall into several of those categories. My pockets are never very deep when it’s new bike time (at least new to me). And if any building or wrenching beyond the most minor of things are needed for said bike I still have to budget for shop labor.
I’ll happily ride something else if anyone wants to gift me a bike....

 

yeah let's bash on all those super instagrammy fad bikes that everyone has! what losers riding specialized and trek! ha!

(keep your attention away from those of us riding box store cheapo poopy bikes)

 

Just as a P.S. to my post above...

Those of us from Gen-X and older may not appreciate how good we had it when growing up with regard to bikes... yeah, we suffered through being the guinea pigs for the converted clunkers, bare-bones, fully rigid "mountain" bikes that were really nothing more than re-purposed road and CX bikes with different forks, tires, and adapted BMX bars, but they were at least made well and of higher quality parts.

We were not subjected to the era of cheap, big-box store, off-shored bikes that still persist as what's usually a kid's first introduction to bicycles... it's no wonder that the sport of bicycling is suffering a loss of participation and stagnation.

With at least a couple of generations first exposure to bicycles being boat-anchor steel bikes made of the cheapest materials available, stickers that peel off within a year, and put together by any amateur or store employee that could demonstrate how to turn a wrench; I can totally understand how the adults of Gen Y, Z, and beyond are viewing anything above the level of bikes sold by Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Academy Sports, Dicks, et al. as a massive jump in quality and fun... not to mention with the massive leaps in the knowledge of how bike geometry affects handling, comfort, and confidence.

Please don't take my words as an insult to younger generations of riders and bike choice; I just mean to say that it just dawned on me that my generation was really the last that was introduced to bicycles when the U.S. bike manufacturers were still a force of social and manufacturing influence. Schwinn Homegrown, DiamondBack, Cannondale, GT, Dyno, Trek, Huffy/Murray... all of them made some seriously badass and bombproof bikes all through the 80's and didn't really begin tapering off that dedication to quality and offshoring until the '90s.

One by one though, they were bought out by the corporate conglomerates that saw dollar signs from marketing the well established brand names but built up with cheaper, mass-produced component groups and from much lower quality tubing. Performance and Nashbar stores became the tiered step-up from a big-box store's bike to something with a touch more quality and with a huge leap in the aftermarket and component groups available. Of course between Wal-Mart, K-Mart, other big-box players, Performance, and Nashbar; the trusted local bike shop industry took a huge hit and many of those shops closed their doors; never to re-open.

If kids of those generations after ours were not exposed to and/or mentored as to what a high-end quality bike could offer versus an off-the-shelf bike from the retail box stores; there's no reason to expect much in the way of excitement and investment into bikes as an integral part of life rather than just a trend or hobby.

It makes me happy to see the grass roots efforts of my local NICA teams mentoring the next generation to embrace bikes as a serious sport worthy of investment in time, skill, and experience.