Show off your Mountain Bike!!!

what's more important than clips vs flats for muscle usage is seat position.

The more forward you are, the more hip extensors you use, so more glutes and hams, and the more back you are, its more knee extensors, so quads. Seat height also affects it, the lower your seat the more knee extensors you use.

Clips let do let you pull up on the pedal, which is mostly done through your Hip Flexors, and ankle dorsiflexors (the muscles on the front of your shin). They make you more efficient, since you can put more even, smooth power throughout the stroke cycle; continuing some force even on the upstroke.

 

if your quads or the front of your knees are hurting or getting overuse, like they burn a lot more than your glutes and hams, during a ride, try raising the seat a little, and sitting a little more forward on the seat. if sitting forward a lot more helps, then move the seat a little bit forward on the seatpost.

 

I’ll give that a shot. I need to stop by a bike shop and get them to make sure I’m in proper ridding position. The shop I bought the bike from was less than helpful with anything except taking my money.

 

Scott Genius. She's getting old but still running strong

 

yea, having a properly fitting and adjusted bike makes all the difference.

 

Here's a good article about muscles and pedal stroke:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/Which-Muscles-are-Really-Used-During-the-Pedal-Stroke-2012.html

 

Let's race

 

Purchase has been made. Mallet E and 510 Kestrels. Here goes nothing.

 

Finally drug all the bikes out of garage and house for some pics.......here's the offroad half of them.............

 

Hmmmm, none of mine suffer from that...they all get a turn

The problem was, not enough time to ride them......That is no longer the case.

 

Just threw it in cuz it saddened and confused me to know that it wasn't gettin ridden...........Scored that Trek Stache 7 for same reason...someone wasn't gonna ride it. I can appreciate that kind of deal on the other hand.

 

Yeah, I cut down the stable because I felt sorry for some of the bikes -- I wasn't good at rotating between all of them, only a couple. So I kept those. And the Sawyer because steel. It's an urban assault bike now with giant Hookworms on it. And a Walky-Dog for running the dog when the pavement isn't too hot. Found good homes for the others.

Swapped those crappy Guides out on the Stache for some XT's this morning. Running internal hydraulic lines can be a pain, but got lucky this time around and didn't even have to fashion my own fishing tools. Also refreshed the tire sealant, didn't get lucky there, took forever and 300 curses to get the rear tire to seat. Love the XT's, they feel soooo much better than those Guides did even after a brief break-in. Not sure how they can sell that crap.

Anyway, I have a lightly used pair of Guides for sale if anyone is interested, one needs the warranty work done on it.

 

On the way to ride right now around memorial/Katy area

 

The new hotness. Trek 9.6 with a new Deity 787 in copper, fabric scoop saddle, and Mallet-e pedals.

 

Nice! Taking mine out for dirt church in the morning (with new brakes, yay). Not likely to happen, but running your brake cable on the outside of the fork could lead to a snag that rips it out. Take the caliper off and spin it around that stanchion.

 

Unexpected rain came through while on the trails.

Learned a couple things

1. Ground clearance on bikes is a thing. I need a lift lol

2. The bike throws mud right where the water bottle is

3. Wet dirt aka mud is slick. Real slick.

4. I need a bike carrier or something cause shoving this muddy thing inside the 4Runner sucks lol.

I still haven’t figured out gearing for uphill stuff but I’m trying.

 

Not comfortable enough for jumps or fast turns yet but more comfortable than last time for sure

 

It’s a bunch of trails. It wasn’t raining or supposed to rain when I went. I’ll stop and wait next time I guess? New to this bike world. Learning as I go.

 

These trails are rough AF tho FWIW. Like roots sticking up everywhere and drops and ledges and all that

 

I gotcha. Kinda like wheeling at off-road parks with big rigs.

Definitely loving this hobby so far though.