Any Bicycle Riders Out There?

M

munk

Joined
Mar 22, 2002
Messages
15,742
When I brought my new Jamus Dakar Cross Country home last summer, the local auto mechanic asked where the motor was?

Some day I'd like a Touring bike, but for the last 20 years it's been MT Bikes. I've been knocked out on one, but lived to tell the tale.


I don't have a leather coat with a skull on it, and if I road into South Dakota no one would notice, but I still like bicycles.


munk
 
I have a old mountain bike.....Mtn Tek - which is usually a crappy brand - but this one was their "top of the line" back in 1995. I bought it one-year-old in 1996, still unused, but they knocked off half the price. Got it for the low price of $1300....yikes!

Rode it like crazy. Have gone through several pairs of tires, but the gearing (Shimano XTR) is still in good condition. This was back when carbon fiber monocoque was "all the rage". Ended up being too stiff a ride for most folks, but I had to have it. First bike was all cro-moly steel which like riding cheese....:rolleyes:....then I got an aluminum bike, which was better, but still too forgiving (hate soft bikes - don't even mention full suspension around me....blech...front shocks are fine as long as they're on the hardest setting). :D


But none of that silly roadie gear for me....give me knobbies or give me death!

:eek:


:p
 
I gots a couple of thems. Due to lack of skill and an accumulation of scar tissue I ride mainly on the roads now.
 
Dan, you must weigh a bit. Chrome moly is a great ride- alu way too stiff, even for folks today. With full suspension you can now have a alu frame MT bike.

Was yours a 'hardtail'? (front suspension only)


Bruise, what kind of bikes do you own?
I actually gave up pavement because the impact was too great- on concret and asphalt.

Up here if you ride on these state roads you can get killed pretty easy. The roads were built long before any bike riders dared to take them. There's not much room and the pickup truck and hay wagons rule.


munk
 
me a heavyweight? only the guys at the MWKK will be able to vouch for that....:D


I tend to ride very hard - more ups and downs, tight corners, roots, rocks, etc. I hate the pavement....10 minutes of that is more painful than any bump or crash I've ever had. Though, riding in the snow on the flats can be fun too....:D

Yes, it's a hardtail with the heaviest-duty shock absorber I could find - that was a big incentive for the sale. I've worn out shocks, busted cranks, pedals, seats, handle-bars, not to mention, wheels, forks, cross bars, etc. Like I said, when I ride, I ride hard.

Biggest problem for me was the crank, though. On the cheaper cro-moly bikes, I'll break the crank within the first month of riding. I got so tired of it. That's where I feel the most "flex" in the bike. I hate that feeling of putting energy into the pedal and having it absorbed into the bike frame, rather than the back tire.

So, I bought a bike with a super-duty crank. I have yet to break anything on this bike. Finally found "the one" and it's been worth every penny.
 
I ride to work every day , have for years and years. Second job was a bike mechanic. Built custom bikes for a living for two years. Built streamliners ,bikes in a shell (speeds to 50.5 mph for "second wind" A bike that I built with a friend, Sam Wittingham the fastest person going right now is riding (and crashing) 80+ MPH ! I hear the Varna fly's real good when on it's side at 80!). Built custom road and Mt. bikes. Then I got into the real odd stuff like 4 wheel independent suspension tandem back to back recumbent quads that we could jump 6' in the air and put pontoons on to cross rivers and bays. Or a human powered truck that carry's 1+ ton, on and on I have more home made bikes and other things with pedals and stories about them, almost as many as some people have Khukuri's!
 
I do road and mtn. Raced clydesdales a couple for a couple of years
and I want to again, but this dang ol'work thing just keeps gettin in the way.
I got a trek stp 300 carbon soft tail and a lemond zurich both rigged with Cane creek wheels ( they are really nice).

I have been doing a lot of road riding lately, not so much abuse( if you don't consider idiots talkin on cell phones while they buzz ya with the mamouth SUV) and I need a new dirt bike badly.... the trails are rougher these days due to full suspension, I think. Not to menition the fact that riding at racing speed is very abusive on the lower back( not to mention the rest of your body).

The new platform shocks rule, you can have a bike with 4 or 5 inches of travel and climb very close to what an hard tail will do and when you hit the
rought parts it just goes " kush". They are new this year and in my opinion revolutionary, I think they will open mtn biking to a lot of new people. I was blasting over 6 inch logs , with a little " ba dump" on one demo....
 
Pen, do you weigh more than 250 pounds? I think that has most to do with bike destruction. I've seen some real strange bent bikes from big riders.

Sounds like you do a lot of performance stuff. You should check out Downhill. Not for me. I like climbing, looking around, exploring. I really don't do jumps.

I like cross country. That style of bike often has the best cranks too- because you can't afford to get stuck 40 miles out.


I just putt along. I don't even like going too fast. Not anymore. Can't take the sudden stops- crash.

I once carried my Mt Bike up a mountain and rode it down. Found the trail once on top. Going up was just boulders and too steep.

Always worried about riding over a Rattlesnake but it hasn't happened yet.
Did get stopped in the road once by a Southern Pacific.


munk
 
There are some bike manufacturer that make bikes for big guys( not to mention custom builds) ,they are a little tougher, I suffer the same woes. I about 210 and I break lots o'parts, and wheels....etc. I will be buying one next time.

check out

www.konaworld.com
 
Bran- I just checked out Jamis 2004 line and don't see much different from 2003. They win a lot of awards. Still want to know what you mean by platform shock.

210 is pushing it alright. I'm a lucky 185 maxed- and it goes down if I ride more!!


munk
 
250 about pegs it.....on a good day....:D

The MWKK guys probably didn't notice, because I was wearing several layers of baggy clothing, but the weight is carried real well....no giant belly, etc. :p


I do it all, though...except for the road. Downhill, uphill, jumps, boulders, etc. I'm still an intermediate rider when it comes to technical skill and I'm never the fastest guy in the pack. But I'm usually on his tail...:D

Not very good riding where I'm at right now. You have to go out quite a bit to find good trails.

I should mention I have one of those itsy-bitsy bike seats....I never would've guessed how much it improved my ride to have a smaller seat, but it does. Stays out of the way, less top-heavy, more leg room, less chafing, and it only takes one ride to get the ole rear-end used to it. First ride is painful, true, but after that it's ok.

Before I switched jobs, I was cycling 1 mile to work each way (avoiding pavement as much as possible). Took exactly the same time "door-to-door" as it did with a car. Not fun showing up to work in a sweat, but I got used to it. Now, I'm 20 minutes away by car....:(
 
I have a road bike, and old mountain bike and a not as old mountain bike.

Riding on the roads isn't very fun with knobby tires. People think you're driving up behind them with a Ford Bronco with big tires. I was never really good at technical trail riding and tumbling down embankments stuck to a bike wasn't fun so I started riding on the road.

I was planning to ride up the local mountain and check out the old trails that I used to ride on but I figure it's probably a paved road now.

Downhill = scary.
 
new this year

manitou has STP technology( licenesed from churnutt)
fox has terra logic, and pro pedal
churnutt technology for foes
specialized and fox have an inertia system that propritary

I have ridden stp and pro pedal and terra logic and they are remarkable.

There are several new technologies,

The churnutt , stp work off a system used in off road car/truck racing.
the shocks have a position sensitive dampening system. When you pedal up hill no squish or pedal bob, when you hit a bump they absorb.
good explaination at www.answerproducts.com

The other use an interial system with a dampening circuit , the acceleration
of the shock soften up the dampening. same effect... no bob and great climbing.

it not horribly expensive either..... I have got to have some

it the new new thing this year lots of the newer fs bikes that have it

jamis xlt2
gary fisher cake
kona dawg,
kona Kahuala
specialized fsr
and a whole lot more.
 
I wouldn't even know where I was in skill, Pen. Not very high. I've a Brother in law who rode across the US....twice. And his brother and I went MT biking once....he would take the downhill fireroad turns with a foot down and nearly touching the pedals....not me! He grew up Motocross.
Glass Smith- I used to ride to work. Sounds like you're into a lot of fun stuff. I've always said come the Revolution, we have enough skill in this forum to start civilization over again.


come the Rev, the only thing I'd be good for is loading ammo.


munk
 
OK, Bran- I got it. I could replace my existing shocks with these.

Sounds like it'll speed things up. I rather think though, that if one hasn't come onboard the full suspension revolution by now, these improved shocks will not do it. That's really why I bought a new bike- they'd finally made a substantial leap forward.

Bruise- when I lived in So Ca all the yup would drive up the mountains, park, ride down on their bikes to a retrieval car, fetch the other vehicle and go home. I loved riding up hill. And downhill back then was just a spine jarring exercise in wrist strength, because you're hands were locked on the brakes!!
I saw more wildlife and more natural features just plugging along.

But these full suspension bikes probably will allow me to continue riding with bad back disks.

munk
 
it has got the platform shocks and a nice build, there is a local guy
racing one ( It's got 5 friggin inches of travel) and finishing in the middle
of the beginner pack, that my friend is increditable. I'm trying to find one in my size to ride before I decide....

I rode the kona XC fs bike at a demo last month, It flew low....
 
uphill makes the downhill so much better....and yes, I've rode by those types. Whatever suits you, I guess.
 
this might sound funny, but I have actually ridden roads in North GA.
that had less traffic than the local trails. Weird yes but still true.....
You guys should give it a chance, my resting heart rate dropped 10 points
the first year I started. I went to a get a physical and the Doctor was alarmed at the low rate untill I explained. I will say that it does require a special kind of courage though.... especially at rush hour in Atlanta style traffic......Oh yeah , the muscles that hold my middle finger up are abnormally large as well...... :rolleyes:
 
brantoken said:
......Oh yeah , the muscles that hold my middle finger up are abnormally large as well...... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

:) I try not to argue with things or combination of things that outweigh me by 2000 pounds.

I saw a bear cub riding up the local ski hill a few years ago. Fortuanately the mother wasn't anywhere to be seen.
:eek:

I looked at some pictures of the Jamus Dakar Cross Country. Is it the one with those fancy disc brakes?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top