Show off your Mountain Bike!!!

cool, been awhile since riding there. Didn't recognize exact location. 1 lake off..................

 

haha i was thinking i saw this bike pic recently haha.

 

It's fall. The trees are turning colors. The leaves are falling off... and constantly getting stuck in my suspension linkage making my bike sound like a weak motorcycle.

 

Loamatose

 

Dirtnanigans..........

 

Anyone have any opinions on 31.8mm vs the newer 35mm clamp handlebars?

 

no real benefits to 35mm

 

IMO - there is a place for both of them.

i have read that this was one of this things that never needed to change (31.8 for lifers out there), and the industry just added the 35mm to have another product to sell.

But I do believe they both have their applications and prons and cons, weight, stiffness, type of riding etc.

35mm is more applicable to rougher riding, downhill, big mountain, enduro stuff and even some burlier trail riding.

31.8 is for more XC and trail riding, and while you could get away with either in any style of type of riding.

A 35mm clamp and bay may look ridiculous on your 29er carbon hardtail race bike....

I have 31.8 on my steel hardtail while I have a 35mm on my 160/160 Full suspension enduro bike.

At the end of the day, just do what makes you happy!

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm putting together a SS bike and came across these 35mm bars in my research. Sounds like for my use I will be perfectly fine with a 31.8mm setup. I'll post up some pics as I get parts in and assembled.

 

the enduro of today is the trail bike of tomorrow. in 2012 when i bought my trance, everyone in middle TN told me i'd have a hard time finding one since "120mm of travel is just too much for most trails in middle tennessee". everyone said it was too aggressive of a bike and way too much travel...the same people that were riding 130mm stumpjumpers on the same trails. now in 2017 when i bought my bronson, a handful of people said that 150mm was too much travel for middle tn and that I should go more for an XC/trail bike with 120-130mm which would be "perfect for the trails in middle tn". IT'S THE SAME TRAILS TODAY AS IT WAS 5 YEARS AGO.

it used to be that an XC bike was 100mm or less and usually hardtail. now most people consider 120-130 to be short travel XC.

tl;dr.... i don't buy into the "this part or bike is for this type of riding" with the exception of things like double crown forks. but hell even with that, if you can pedal it, you can ride it anywhere. i went off a 3-4ft drop last weekend on my 6" travel bronson and used every inch of the travel. 80% of the rest of the trail, i used maybe 3-4 inches.

 

So this brings me to my current dilemma (or obsession) that really has me torn. I've seen this exact same thing and have had longer travel bikes in the past that I really enjoyed. I have a Stache 9.7 with the 29+ 3.0 tires, which is my go-to bike for tame to mildly rowdy trails (I have even done the jump/flow lines on it, but just because I was there riding other trails anyway, not my first choice for those lines). I also have a Fuel EX 27.5+ with 130 rear/140 front travel. This is also a great all-around bike that is fun on the same trails, but it obviously is more fun than the Stache on the flow/jump trails. It's probably barely enough to do the bigger drops and stuff, but not ideal. My dilemma is that they are both fun on the same trails for different reasons, but I still feel a bit limited to hit the bigger stuff hard. The new Remedy 8 has a great spec for the price, and while Trek says max tire width is 2.5", people are using 2.8 and even 3.0 on the front and have plenty of clearance. I love the feel of the Fuel, probably the most connected to that bike than I have been any bike, and the Remedy geometry is nearly identical -- except it is slacker and has 20mm more travel both front and rear. It will also fit my I9 plus wheelset that I can move over from the Fuel, put the Fuel back stock and sell off. This would give me a little more difference between my choices and open up the rowdier lines.

What to do?

 

sell all the things and get a bronson. yeah it dumbs down some of the smoother trails. you just have to pop off of every root or small rock and go really really fast to have fun.

 

While the Bronson is a great bike, I love my Stache and have been riding the Fuel line for a while. I like the suspension characteristics. Or I am just too used to them. Anyway, the options here are to just keep the Fuel and save some money, or go with the Remedy.

 

Traded my longbed for a short bed. This is an unexpected problem. The bike on a fork mount is too long to close the tailgate. This is one of the locking Rocky mounts. I may need a smaller locking mount.

 

Get a tailgate pad like Evoc or Dakine so you can just throw your bike over and don' have to take your wheel off

 

I've been riding for a year now and this is my second bike, Unfortunately we don't have much more than 1000 ft elevation changes around here, So hardtail. The 27.5+ bike has huge amounts of cornering grip though! Also Dropper posts are amazing.

 

i only use the fork mount when i need to lock my bike in the bed, like if i'm stopping at a store on the way to/from the ride or if i take my bike to work.

 

it looks like they have a new version that doesn't stick out so far to mount.

https://www.carid.com/rockymounts/t...pn-10860.html?singleid=672799452&url=89198646

 

I do things that make me look cooler than I really am.


She’s just a little dirty from the last time I took her out. I’ll eventually get a YT Capra, but for now my current bike does the job fine.

 

Adding a new one to the quiver and fresh out of the box.