Show off your Mountain Bike!!!

"lock out" is referring to the ability to lock the front fork on the bike so it doesn't compress. Deore and SRAM are manufacturers of components like shifters brakes etc. I don't have any experience with full suspension bikes.

 

Where have you been riding at? I'm in the same area and ride about 4 times a week if you're looking for someone to go with.

 

I've gone to the trails in Aliso Viejo (I think it's called Aliso Creek trail?), there's some trails near my apartment on El Toro, and I went last weekend to Live Oak trail in the O'neill regional park out near Trabuco Canyon... Pretty cool trails around here!

 

Technically, Deore is a model. Shimano is the manufacturer. But you are correct in that they are component manufacturers.

 

Why no hardtails here on your list? IMO, learning to ride on a hardtail helps you learn to pick your lines and makes you a better rider. Just an idea. Plus they can be picked up cheaper.

 

Hardtail here!

I used to be really into mountain biking a few years back, the last couple years though I haven't ridden a whole lot. I want to pick it back up this summer and get back into it though, I miss it....I'm down to one bike at this point...

2011 Trek Paragon 29er
2x10 drivetrain mix of XT and SRAM X9
XT hydro brakes
Plus misc other stuff...

Ridden this in a handful of 8-hour races here in CA. Love the bike, used to have FS for a while but it was overkill for me....

 

Hardtail guy myself. Good looking ride. Just started a new position and am now driving an hour and trying to figure out my new riding schedule.

 

Well I grew up riding/racing dirt bikes, I figure the skills are somewhat transferable as far as choosing a line, apexing turns, etc. plus I've never owned a full suspension bicycle before so I'd like to try it out.

After talking to some people I feel like there are too many variables/ potential problems with getting a used bike so I want to get a new one. These are what I'm thinking...

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1188760_-1___400470

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product2_10052_10551_1188754_-1

I'd obviously prefer the Verb Elite, but the Verb Comp is a little more budget friendly... And trying to convince the wife of this purchase has been an uphill climb.

 

The Elite definitely has better components.

I've bought all my bikes used, granted a few were from a mechanic friend. But a few off Craigslist. Look for cracks on frame and weld joints. Wheels true and not bent? Among others.

Good page here.
www.cyclorama.net/viewArticle.php?id=342

 

I got a diamondback overdrive sport. not as fancy but is fantastic for my purposes & a giant leap forward from the walmart huffy. I ride the anthills in houston...

 

I honestly haven't ridden much of Aliso area, I mostly ride near Saddleback (Whitting Ranch, Santaigo Oaks, Luge and San Clemente single tracks. Oh, and I do Live Oak through O'Niell every so often.

I started on a hard tail bike. It lasted about 4 months before I got a full suspension bike. Too many rocky downhill runs made a hard tail kind of sketch.

Take her to Rock 'n Road Cyclery on Santa Margurita Pkwy in Mission Viejo and let her see how expensive those bike are. She'll likely be able to accept $1,100 more readily. They've got $10,000 all carbon mountain bikes there. Or tell her that it'll make you more fit/sexy. In the past like, two months of riding, I've dropped about 20 pounds.

 

I'd like to try out some other areas too, I'm down to ride wherever as long as it's within reasonable driving distance.

Yea we've been thru Rock n Road (it's like around the corner from my apt), some of those bikes are Intense! (Pun intended)

 

So a brand called salsa bikes is having a demo day about 50 minutes from me this Saturday, I think I'm gonna head down a take a few for a spin. Anyone ever heard of this brand? A guy I work with who rides told me they are a pretty small made in USA brand but they have good stuff. They definitely aren't cheap...

 

Dumb question though, the ad says bring your own pedals. I only have a set of flats from my road bike. Will they work?

 

They more than likely will fit. There are only two thread sizes that I know of for pedals - 1/2" and 9/16" threads.

 

Just found out about nemba fest (north eastern mountain bike association fest) at kingdom trails east burke vermont aparently a weekend of demos trails live music and camping. Have any of yall ever been and maybe have a review its 130 dollars for june 17 18 19 wondering if its worth checking out.

 

Try and help you out without hopefully too much debate.

downhill, XC, trail, are for types of terrain you would ride often you want a bike built specifically for that application. For example. Downhill bikes are generally over 30lbs into the 35lb range. Have 170mm of travel at least or more...generally triple clamp like a dirt bike. The is very low for stable condition going down hill...it's not meant for climbing and using a a downhill bike for climbing a steep hill is a good way to blow your energy and nuts out as it's very hard.

XC bikes are generally 100mm to 120mm max of travel as it's mean for racing and the bikes are in the sub 24lbs reaching to 18 to 19lbs if you have a lot of money. They are not meant for tough terrain, though many good riders will ride through anything even with hard tail.

Trail bike for me is best all around bike and usally 130mm to 150mm of travel. The rake is about 67 to 68 degrees where as XC bikes are usually 70 degrees. It's decent climber and it's good for moderate down hill as well.

You have two major drive train companies. SRAM and Shimano. Shimano's top of the line products are XTR, then XT, and so on to deore. Just product family grade. SRAM is XX1 as being the best, but I see now they have a family line called Eagle that I'm not familiar with. X9 is middle of the family SRAM. When I built my bike it was a mixture of XT and XX1 components.

If you are serious about riding don't buy a $1K new bike. If you ride around the park and surface streets...$300 hard tail will do a good job. If you know bike pricing, you can buy 1 year to less than one year one parts for a lot less and build a nice bike between $2K to $3K. You can also get a used bike for that much. High end bikes now are in the $5000 to $10K range..price of a car. I know you said $1K, but spend a little bit more on used bike that hasn't been ridden much. I sold a used santa cruz heckler with couple hundred miles for $1200 and it was worth $3k.

The bike industry changes a lot to get folks to spend more money, but if you spend more than $1K that bike should last you good 5 years or more. $300 bike new barely made it down one single track I went riding with co worker. I think $1K new bike won't be a lot better. The gear shifts won't be smooth, the fork won't be as good etc.

A personal preference is go 1X drive train. No front derailleur. The bike will weigh less and don't have to clutter the handlebar with extra shifter or extra maintenance. Good luck.

 

If you ride a lot, you have your favorite type of "clipped" on pedals. There a few type of clip on styles and so if you want to test ride a bike, the pedal is an important part as you ride being clipped on if you are used it is very important for control and pedal efficiency. So you bring your pedals and your shoes with the hardware to attach to the pedals to test ride the bike down a single track or parking lot.

flats are for downhill but some are moving to clip on...but if you are serious about riding I would not go with flat pedal...terrible efficiency once you get used to the clip on system.


Salsa is just another one of many bike brands.

If you want custom hand made, then Ventana or Foes Racing are amoung the custom boutique bike manufacturers. I always had good support with Santa Cruz so that is who I went with and they had good reviews with many of their bike frames.

 

I'm running 750 bars on a 50 stem. I've not found it to be sketchy at all and I ride with some guys that have some pretty nice fulls. Granted, I don't ride whistler but for 90% of the trails a hardtail is great. Plus, as stated, it teaches you to pick your lines and downhill lines are as important or more than uphill lines.

I was just curious as to why he wasn't considering one. To each his own obviously, just being curious.

 

Not my video, but one of my favorite trails, Little Pine/Santa Cruz trail in the Santa Barbara back country!
Long video, but a great ride!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9H-XKMR7ac