This is a Mountain Bike Thread

Guyon

Guyon

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Last bike I owned/rode was a 3-speed cruiser my freshman year of college. That was *cough cough* a good while back. But a kayaking/softball buddy got me interesting in mountain biking, and I just bought my first bike, a Marin Bolinas Ridge '08 hardtail. It's definitely an entry level bike, but from the reviews I've seen, it offers a good frame with some decent components, and it is certainly upgradeable. I've been out for one ~3 mile ride over a fairly rocky trail with some grade, and I really enjoyed myself, even on a bike that didn't quite fit.

Given I'm a bit of a gear nut, I uncharacteristically went in to buy having done almost no research. Just a wild hair moment. In retrospect, I think the first tech who fit me made assumptions about frame size even though he moved across makers (from Haro to Marin). So the first bike I got was really too big for me. Took back the bike, voiced my concerns about fit, dealt with a different tech, and this guy spent over an hour letting me test different sized bikes, showing me what to look for, and walking me through the options. He swapped out the bikes, no problems and no questions asked, and I feel a lot more comfortable on the new ride. I'm heading out tomorrow for an 8-mile scramble trail to get a little more "novice" time under my belt.

So, what are you riding in the mountain bike department? Here's a stock photo of my bike. I'll get a pic of my actual bike (different color) up here at some point.

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Here's mine, from Monument Cycles in Colorado Springs:

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Not much to say about it, other than I don't ride as much as I should. Coolest feature, the Avid hydraulic brakes.
 
i rode a schwinn mountain bike for a couple of yrs, was made in the mid '80s, a bud loaned it to me so i could see if i really wanted to start biking or not, and i really enjoyed it, finally gave him the schwinn back and got a kona which is a lot better than the schwinn lol, has a suspension, better shifter, just a lot more user friendly as i guess it should be with 20+ yrs of improvements.

i really enjoy riding in the summer or when ever its not too cold, once it gets below 50 or so i dont like it anymore, just too chilly for me.
 
I have a few MTBs but my Dirt Works Cannibal gets ridden the most. It was made by a two man shop in SoCA that is no longer in business.

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I bought it as a frame and built it up. Both the fork and shock have been replaced with Fox bits since I took this pic. The parts includes old school Suntour thumbshifters, Sachs derailleur, Magura brakes, custom wheelset, Race Face crank and an Action-Tec Ti cassette.

If you don't have clipless pedals, I'd recommend you buy some and some shoes at some point. I think that's one of the best upgrades you can do.

Oh, enjoy getting back into cycling. It's a great way to have fun and get yourself in shape at the same time.
 
I still ride my Cannondale "Beast of the East" frame I got in 1990. That frame has seen lots of trail miles and I even did some touring on it with different tires. Lots of componnents have come and gone but that fat aluminum frame hasnt kicked the bucket so I never got another. It's nothing fancy but it gets the job done. Who says that aluminum frames can't last?

If I ever decide to get another bike I think I'd get a Surly Karate Monkey 29-er.
 
A pic of the actual ride. Friend and I did a 8 mile scramble trail today. I had a blast.

Bike.jpg
 
I ride an older (probably about 12 years old) Mongoose. I live about a mile from the trail head of a nice bike path that has dirt trails branching off of it. It is an old railbed that was redone for bikes and walkers so it is nice and smooth but the trails off of it vary in degree of difficulty to ride. Nice to have it so close to home.
 
My last MTB was a Schwinn Moab III, the then top-of-the line one in that series. Nice bike; good aluminum frame with straight LX components and decent tires and saddle right out of the box.
More I rode it, the better I liked it. About 1000.00.
Alas, mountain biking got to be a little much for me, between my aging knees and my wife harping...(You'll break your leg out there!)

Tons of great bikes available now; if I was in the market you can find a lot of very nicely equipped hardtails for under that 1000.00 figure. I agree with the above comment about clipless pedals and good shoes. I had a pair of Nike-made MTB shoes which virtually surrounded your foot with armor and had the big toe spikes for climbing muddy hills when you couldn't quite find traction.
 
Still riding my 98' Specialized Rockhopper A1 with a Manitou SX fork I put on it. I was pleasantly surprised to find some rather nice and technical trails down here in So Fla.
 
I sold my Azonic downhill ride over the summer and all I have left is my freeride hardtail. I'm riding a 2006 Specialed Hardrock Pro Disc. it's sporting a Marrzochi Bomber z1 front shock, TruVativ Hussefelt cranks, Shimano discs and Titec bars and stem. They all roll on Sun Ditch Witch Double Wide rims.
 

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Somebody actually has one of these here at the university. (there's a LOT of bikes) The first ones I looked at were actually being marketed in one of the law enforcement equipment catalogues; as I recall aside from the clever frame design it came with pretty low-spec components.
 
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