New mountain bike, made in USA!

B

Bob W

Joined
Dec 31, 2000
Messages
17,079
Just wanted to share these pics of my new mountain bike. Monument Cycles makes the frames right here in the USA, and the bike was assembled by Criterium Bicycles in Colorado Springs.

I used to be a mountain bike instuctor, years and years ago, but this is the first mountain bike I've personally owned. It's going to take a lot of practice!

Bike1.jpg


bike2.jpg


-Bob
 
Are those toe clips? How retro :p . What other parts are on there?

It's been years since I've been on a "real" trail. Thanks for reminding me that my bikes are still in the garage gathering dust. I should go for a painful ride tomorrow.
 
Are those toe clips? How retro. What other parts are on there?
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The toe clips were at my request - I don't want to buy special shoes just to ride, and I tend to walk around quite a bit once I reach my destinations.

The primary components are the Rock Shox Tora front suspension, Avid Juicy Seven hydraulic disk brakes, Shimano XT hubs, and Truvativ GXP crank. The rear derailier and shifters are Sram X-9, while the front derailier is Shimano LX.

Looks like a sturdy and well-gussetted frame, what's the spec like?
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Here's the website with specs:
http://monumentcycles.com/buckhorn.htm

-Bob
 
Hate to break it to you, but the only thing on the bike that was made in the USA was the frame, everything else came from overseas, PERHAPS the rims and maybe the seat post are also american man. Shimano and Sram/rockshox/truvativ are all offshore made. Cool bike tho. WE have cannondales in our garage, The daughter has a terex, the son a team volvo and a M500 and I have a older headshox super-v frame and a Old fat head frame from like 1995, about the first year of the mono shox design that cannondale has abandoned for the Lefty nonforks. Best investment i put on to my bikes were the front disc breaks, no fade and perfectstopping even in mud or rain. really worth it, I used to do a lot of work for a bike store owner here and he would give me killer deals on post warranty frames and equipment. They would buy from Cannondale frames that they had kept for the duration of the two year frame warranty, once the warranty period was up, they would sell off the frames as/is where/is for next to nothing, and the same would happen with out of date components. XTR components that were past the warranty would go for $.10 on the dollar or less. My son's team Volvo bike would have cost about $3500 new, we put it together for less than $250, Most expensive thing on it were the supergrippy kevlar/carbonless polyurethane tires. they are almost a soft yellow color not black and they stick on slick rock and pavement like glue. My Super V frame was less than 40 buck, for a frame that retailed at 2100.

It is cool to see the smaller shops making headway against the big manufacturers. A good place for deals on components and spare parts is Cambria bike outfitters. if you call and talk to the shop, they have all kinds of one offs and spares for pennies in the back.
 
I watched Ted Koppel's 2-hour documentary on Iran last night, and they interviewed some young kids who were stunting around on their mountain bikes in a public square.
One lad had hand-lettered on his aging Trek, "Hand Made In The USA".
 
Hate to break it to you, but the only thing on the bike that was made in the USA was the frame, everything else came from overseas,
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Yeah, I knew that. Monument Cycles makes frames, nothing else, for dealers, who assemble the bikes to customers' specs.

My son's team Volvo bike would have cost about $3500 new, we put it together for less than $250...
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The economics of bike buying/building were not what I expected. I just saved a ton of $$ on a new computer by building my own, and thought I could do the same with a mountain bike. Fat chance - I actually saved about $600 by having the bike assembled by the shop, compared with buying the same components at normal retail prices.

I didn't know about out-of-warranty parts though. Something to keep in mind next time. Wonder how much of an "insider" you'd have to be to get deals like that though...

I would have really liked a Cannondale, but it seems that a name-brand bike with components comparable to mine would have cost much, much more. Additionally, the bike shops selections were a bit sparse. '07 models not in yet, many '06 models sold out.

-Bob
 
Bob W said:
The toe clips were at my request - I don't want to buy special shoes just to ride, and I tend to walk around quite a bit once I reach my destinations.
-Bob
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You really are not getting the concept of clipless.

1. If you get platform SPD pedals, you don't need to wear special shoes. You can just ride whatever.

2. Those toe clips are hazards on the trail, they catch everything.

3. You SHOULD be riding with stiff soled shoes to begin with, increases pedaling efficiency, and there are some great inexpensive bicycling shoes that can be used without the cleats. I just got a pair of bike police shoes from Nashbar by Diadora, that look like regular sneakers. They were $29.00.

5. If you want to go clipless, I have a good pair of Shimanos that I could send you. You can decide if you like them or not. They are the regular clipless style, not platform pedals, otherwise, I would not be offering them to you.:D

6. There is really nothing that describes what it is like to be locked into your bike. Biomechanical synergy is the best word that comes to mind. Without sounding too hippie-dippie, when you lock in, you become one with your bike.

Lemme know if you want to try the pedals.

Best Regards,

Steven Garsson
 
Steven,

Thanks for the offer of the pedals, but I'll stick to what I have for now, then upgrade if necessary.

If you don't mind me asking a different favor though, can you provide a link to the pedals that you personally use? There's obviously a fundamental concept here that I'm missing.

The shoes I have currently are some New Balance cross-trainers. They work well with the toe clips, and are very comfortable for walking and light hiking. No good for packpacking, but just the right thing (I thought) for off-bike exploring - bicycle down an unnamed cow path to a old logging camp, walk around for an hour or two, ride back out. I'm also considering rigging up the bike for backcountry overnight trips - bicycle in with lightweight camping gear, spend a day or two hiking and riding around, then pack up and ride back out.

Best Wishes,
-Bob
 
When i was heavy into mountain biking, I went clipless. Its like nothing else and becomes second nature. Once I got more heavily into freeriding, i threw the clipless out the window. When you tank off a 6 foot drop and the bike is still attached to you, its going to be messy. no matter how adept you are at clipless there will be cases when you wont unclip so you need to gauge what kind of riding youll be doing. If youre just cruising, nice flats or xc routes, id stick with clipless for efficiency. If youre not doing anything crazy, the benefits of clipless far outweigh the negatives. If you forsee yourself riding technical trails or hitting larger drops, i would stick to grippy flats.

Just dont get lazy and become one of those guys who thinks they know how to bunnyhop by pulling up on their pedals when clipped in. Anyone who knows better will scoff at the thought!

I ride an Evil Imperial. A small custom company that makes freeride hard-tails. 1.5' headtube, 6" front fork. Adjustable rear dropouts.

The best USA-made thing on my rig is a Chris King Trials hub. 72 points of engagement. So sweet.

As for pedals, its up to you. Anyone doing serious riding needs to either be clipped in or know what they are doing with platforms. If youre clipped in, youre clipped in. its actually much harder to learn how to properly ride with flats. You should be using wide platform pedals with stiff soled shoes with grippy tread. I use AtomicLaboratories Aircorp pedals and Intese Downhill MTB shoes (they dont make them anymore). I need to actively lift and twist my foot from the pedal to get them off...theyre that grippy.

You do, however, need to be aware that unless you wear shin protection, pedals like that can and will completely destroy your shin if you spin your cranks off a rock. I wear full knee/shin protection and have split the skin THROUGH the shin guards.
 
Clipless pedals/shoes make SO MUCH difference, especially when climbing or accelerating. Maybe not the best way to go if you do downhill or freestyle, but for XC or commuting, snapping in is definitely the way to go. I have 3 pairs of shoes. Work shoes (crusted with flour and sauce), a dressy pair I bought 3 days ago for a wedding I'll be at tomarrow, and some Shimano MT20Ds, which I wear everywhere, even when I'm not riding (I ride everywhere, I don't drive). They're normal looking and comfortable enough to wear as regular shoes. My old pair of Shimanos lasted more than 2 years of every-day use. Stay away from Specialized, mine fell apart (literally) in 5 months. I had a pair of Diadoras where the rubber on one shoe was thinner which made the cleat stick out too far and scrape everything.

Be careful with clipless shoes/pedals when you first start with them though. The twist in/out motion does not come naturally and takes a while to form the habit. In the meantime, you're going to fall over. A lot. Remember not to fall on your hand/wrist, or you could easily break it. Best to fall on your side (but not your shoulder--you could break that too). It's not a bad idea to practice in a park or other grassy area.

But really, going clipless is worth it for commuting or XC. Besides giving you extra power, it connects you to your bike in a way that turns you and the bike into a single unit, giving you more control and confidence. Plus, I never really felt that boot placement on the pedal with toe clips was really optimal; for me anyway. As Kohai said, you can get the combo platform/SPD pedals. My first clipless pedals were Shimano combo pedals. I figured that I wouldn't always be wearing my cycling shoes, so for quick jaunts, I'd just use the platforms and my regular shoes. But that changed once I got the hang of going clipless, because the difference it made was so huge that I never bothered wearing anything but my cycling shoes, and I switched to SPD only pedals.
 
Thanks Steven. That certainly helped.

The decision to possibly upgrade will be based on the comfort of the shoes and suitability for short distance hiking - don't want to carry an extra pair of shoes to wear when I arrive at backcountry destinations.

So basically, no one wears toe clips for mountain biking? It seemed like just the thing at the time...

(crusted with flour and sauce)
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Mmmmm...

You do, however, need to be aware that unless you wear shin protection, pedals like that can and will completely destroy your shin if you spin your cranks off a rock. I wear full knee/shin protection and have split the skin THROUGH the shin guards.
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That crossed my mind regarding the 'spiked' platform pedals. I understand that feet don't slide off of the platforms, but how about if a rider hits a washboarded section on a dirt road? Couldn't the shoes easily bounce off of the platforms?

Learning a lot today, thanks to you guys.
-Bob
 
Bob W said:
Thanks Steven. That certainly helped.

The decision to possibly upgrade will be based on the comfort of the shoes and suitability for short distance hiking - don't want to carry an extra pair of shoes to wear when I arrive at backcountry destinations.
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The shoes made today are very, very comfortable, but I would not want to walk more than 5-10 miles in optimally set up x-c racing style shoes. The casual hiker styles might work nicely for you. Possibly something like this:

http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cyc...<>ast_id=1408474395181674&bmUID=1164052232285



Bob W said:
So basically, no one wears toe clips for mountain biking? It seemed like just the thing at the time....
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I have been seriously riding mountain bikes for over 14 years, and I have never seen anybody but urban riders use clips, and even then, PowerStraps are better.

Bob W said:
Mmmmm...

That crossed my mind regarding the 'spiked' platform pedals. I understand that feet don't slide off of the platforms, but how about if a rider hits a washboarded section on a dirt road? Couldn't the shoes easily bounce off of the platforms?....
Click to expand...

When you ride, you are pedaling or "floating"/coasting. The more technical trail riding you do, the more you will have to learn to use your whole body to control the ride. As you learn to do so, your feet will stay glued to the pedals.

Have fun!!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
As far as toe clips, i would never want them while mountain biking for a number of reasons. Some people use them, but I think its more useful to either go clipless or learn proper flat pedal handling.

For flats that are spiked, your feet wont "normally" slide off, but things like hitting a pedal on a rock while going fast can dislodge your foot very quickly. The most common shin damaging thing would be if your center of mass was behind the axle of the pedal. if you hit a hard enough bump, your foot will rip off the back of the pedal, forcing it to complete half a rotation, slamming it into your shinbone with a tremendous amount of force.

Proper flat pedal usage takes some time to learn. Learning to properly bunny hop on flats is essential to learning how to properly use them. In a proper bunny hop, you are able to lift the entire bike off the ground using physics rather than yanking up on the pedals like you see 99% of clipless riders doing. In a proper bunnyhop, you use the pedals as platforms and you tuck them back while driving your hands forward, effectively sandwiching the bike between your feet and your hands. You can then move the bike anywhere you want.

On a fast washboard section, you would have constant pressure evenly on pedals and allow the bike to move beneath you. Its all about being smooth. If you are bumping and bucking on the bike in rough sections, you arent riding them correctly. Properly riding a bike offroad is more like properly riding a horse. Good horse riders flot above the horse or move with its back, rather than just sitting on top bouncing. Watch a good rider and youll see his torso very rarely moves even in the roughest of sections.

There is tons to learn! Get a book and practice basic things like trackstanding, smoothly stepping up onto objects like curbs, proper braking etc.....its all stuff your body knows down deep and you just need to teach yourself to recognize. Pretty soon, that 24" ledge doesnt force you to get off the bike and climb up it, and you just smoothly wheelie up the front, lunge forward, move your weight up and wham, youre up 24" and didnt even slow down.
 
Not the way that I ride however, and almost guaranteed not the way Bob W. is going to ride.

My experience is that Big Air is the territory of the young. When you break a bone in older age, it never quite heals the same.

Best Regards,

Steven Garsson
 
It's a daydream video for me. But I can't stop watching it ;) . Even back when I considered myself a biker. I sucked technically. First guy up the hill, but they'd catch me on the way down :p .
 
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