Mountain Biking

[indyk]

Iv’e had mine hanging on the wall for far too long, I need a tune up on it 100% brakes, derailer I think? I’m not too experienced working on bikes so I want to take it somewhere that won’t take advantage of my nubby needs
Any recommendations?!

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PM SENT Mounty

 

[Mounty09]

Iv’e had mine hanging on the wall for far too long, I need a tune up on it 100% brakes, derailer I think? I’m not too experienced working on bikes so I want to take it somewhere that won’t take advantage of my nubby needs
Any recommendations?!

Where are you located?

 

[tmschuller]

I’m trying to get back into riding but not hard core. I have 2 bikes and I share one with my wife and now grandkids
My old trek 4900 need resurrected. I need a rear wheel-complete.. as in I took my old one off to loan it to someone and don’t remember who.. anyone have a suggestion where to by a decent replacement? I know you’ll need more information but the wheel is a stock 26”. Thanks in advance. Tim

 

[Twangbanger]

Any griffin bike park devotees here? I got interested in it when someone brought it up on the dirt jump thread a couple weeks back. A little far for me, but would be willing to make the trek, if it's decent intermediate trails (and I can fit in a trip to Riley CC on the way).

 

[MarylandTacomaRider]

I rode at Winona lake for the first time last weekend and it’s definitely much more intense than road biking!

 

[Mounty09]

Any griffin bike park devotees here? I got interested in it when someone brought it up on the dirt jump thread a couple weeks back. A little far for me, but would be willing to make the trek, if it's decent intermediate trails (and I can fit in a trip to Riley CC on the way).

I've never been to Griffin but I did checkout Southwest way Friday. I would stop there on your way to Griffin. One trail with some good size jumps and two others that have good flow with some smaller jumps. It was my first time riding a trail like that and it was a blast. Need some more saddle time to get comfortable.


Not my video but shows you two out of the three flow trails.

View attachment 291386
I rode at Winona lake for the first time last weekend and it’s definitely much more intense than road biking!

I grew up in Warsaw and spent some time at Winona trails. Actually went out on them for the first time in awhile last weekend. There are some decent climbs there that kick my butt.

 

[MarylandTacomaRider]

I've never been to Griffin but I did checkout Southwest way Friday. I would stop there on your way to Griffin. One trail with some good size jumps and two others that have good flow with some smaller jumps. It was my first time riding a trail like that and it was a blast. Need some more saddle time to get comfortable.
View attachment 291457

Not my video but shows you two out of the three flow trails.



I grew up in Warsaw and spent some time at Winona trails. Actually went out on them for the first time in awhile last weekend. There are some decent climbs there that kick my butt.
View attachment 291458

Nice man! and I only did the green trail but was much more intense than I thought!

 

[Twangbanger]

Nice man! and I only did the green trail but was much more intense than I thought!

Some trail markings are definitely "truer" than others. Our reference frame for intermediate trails is things closer to Indy like SWW, and I remember when we got to Brown County, we were like "Boy those Green trails are a deeper shade of green than we're accustomed to!" Our hands were shot from holding onto the brakes.

 

[Twangbanger]

We ventured into some more "intermediate" Brown County territory recently. I'm going to reiterate...man! Some of those "blue" trails are pretty serious. Fun, but legit! I have not been cardio-ed out on a bike ride in a very long time, but it was kicking our butts.

I can see the Brown County trail system helping sell a lot of electric mountain bikes.

 

[Mounty09]

We ventured into some more "intermediate" Brown County territory recently. I'm going to reiterate...man! Some of those "blue" trails are pretty serious. Fun, but legit! I have not been cardio-ed out on a bike ride in a very long time, but it was kicking our butts.

I can see the Brown County trail system helping sell a lot of electric mountain bikes.

I just found out the Brown County Bikes rents e mountain bikes! Planning to rent one in the next couple months. I don't think my cardio is where it needs to be to get out there yet on a non electric bike. 4 climbs up Mann hill at Southwest Way about killed me. Not really but it was definitely much more than the trails at Fort Harrison.

 

[Twangbanger]

I just found out the Brown County Bikes rents e mountain bikes! Planning to rent one in the next couple months. I don't think my cardio is where it needs to be to get out there yet on a non electric bike. 4 climbs up Mann hill at Southwest Way about killed me. Not really but it was definitely much more than the trails at Fort Harrison.

Mann Hill is a good workout. Harrison seems more "tech" to me though. I remember a couple places there where I had to get off because my tech climbing / bunnyhop skills are not enough to get over all of them.

The hardest thing about Brown County is riding all the trails. We only started this year and have not come close to seeing them all. I cannot believe there is another 50 miles or so outside the park in Hoosier National Forest / Yellowwood (I forget which). It will take us forever to ride them all. No way we are ever going to "through ride" even the portion that's inside the park. That place would benefit tremendously from a limestone "carriage road" that cut straight through the center of them all so you could find and ride them individually without having to navigate 3 other trails first. But I suppose that would be anathema to the "backwoods ethic"

 

[Mounty09]

Mann Hill is a good workout. Harrison seems more "tech" to me though. I remember a couple places there where I had to get off because my tech climbing / bunnyhop skills are not enough to get over all of them.

The hardest thing about Brown County is riding all the trails. We only started this year and have not come close to seeing them all. I cannot believe there is another 50 miles or so outside the park in Hoosier National Forest / Yellowwood (I forget which). It will take us forever to ride them all. No way we are ever going to "through ride" even the portion that's inside the park. That place would benefit tremendously from a limestone "carriage road" that cut straight through the center of them all so you could find and ride them individually without having to navigate 3 other trails first. But I suppose that would be anathema to the "backwoods ethic"

Harrison does have some good tech climbs. The first couple times there were several that I had to walk but now I can make both loops without putting a foot down.

I haven't decided when I am going to get down to BC but planning to ride Limekiln, Weedpatch, West Gate, Hesitation Point, and Hobbs. Hopefully renting the eMTB will make that possible lol. I rode 5 miles at Town run then did Lawrence Creek at Harrison Sunday and I was wore out!

 

[MarylandTacomaRider]

Some trail markings are definitely "truer" than others. Our reference frame for intermediate trails is things closer to Indy like SWW, and I remember when we got to Brown County, we were like "Boy those Green trails are a deeper shade of green than we're accustomed to!" Our hands were shot from holding onto the brakes.

Sorry for taking forever to respond but I went on that trail again last weekend. I only rode about 11 miles on it and it wore me out!

 

[Twangbanger]

Sorry for taking forever to respond but I went on that trail again last weekend. I only rode about 11 miles on it and it wore me out!

11 Miles, did you do the whole system? We only ever ride the "main" flow trails at SWW. I need to make an effort to try more of them. Some were really "rooty," and others seemed to have a heck of a drop-off on the side, and I wanted to get better at line-control before trying those, in case I meet somebody coming the other way. Maybe I will trail-run them first, much as I dislike coming up on trail runners when on a bike.

I came up on a guy walking the jump-line backwards one time. That will really get your attention...

 

[MarylandTacomaRider]

11 Miles, did you do the whole system? We only ever ride the "main" flow trails at SWW. I need to make an effort to try more of them. Some were really "rooty," and others seemed to have a heck of a drop-off on the side, and I wanted to get better at line-control before trying those, in case I meet somebody coming the other way. Maybe I will trail-run them first, much as I dislike coming up on trail runners when on a bike.

I came up on a guy walking the jump-line backwards one time. That will really get your attention...

I biked the whole beginner trail and then did half of the trail again.

 

[Butch627]

I am really embarrassed to ask this. I have been putting tires on bikes since the 60's. Never once any issue seating the tire bead concentric on the rim but my 29er has me vexxed. I thought it may have been cheap oem tires but now with new better tires its still the same issue. I reamed the valve hole open to fit a schrader valve tube so I can easily add new slime. I usually ride at about 25psi and a guy at the bike park said to fill it to the max psi which is 65 and give it some time. That changed the way it is seated but it actually looks like the bead is about to jump off the bead in one spot now. Are you guys using some lube to get it to seat properly, or? Bike is 2019 trek xcaliber 9

 

[Mounty09]

I have been mounting my tires dry. One thing that might help is to remove the valve core so the air can rush in faster.

 

[Mounty09]

Good weekend of mountain biking for me, put in about 20 miles. Started the weekend off Friday after work with a new personal best at Town run. Just under 26 minutes to 465 and back. Last year when I started riding, this same route would take me 35+ minutes of moving time with several stops. Very happy with my improvement. Saturday evening went to Flat Fork Creek to introduce my neighbor's 13 year old daughter to the sport. Despite a fall off of a wooden feature and one trip into the brush because she didn't know how to turn and brake, it was a good trip. Sunday morning I beat the heat but not the humidity and rode Schoen Creek and Lawrence Creek at Fort Harrison. Monday evening went out with the neighbor and rode Town Run to 465 and back. Only his 5th time riding trails and he is improving. Still trying to figure out how to corner with speed.

Sunday while riding Lawrence Creek I caught up to someone and ended up riding the rest of the trail with him. He mentioned that he was tired from riding 20 miles at Brown County State Park the day before. I said I hadn't been there yet because the climbs scared me with my current endurance level. He suggested that I should go down and only ride a couple trails to start.

That really got me thinking. I had been thinking about going down and riding 20-25 miles and was really worried. I decided Thursday after work I am going to head down and ride Limekiln and maybe Weed Patch. Should only be 10 miles. Looking forward to seeing the trails down there.

 

[Twangbanger]

I am really embarrassed to ask this. I have been putting tires on bikes since the 60's. Never once any issue seating the tire bead concentric on the rim but my 29er has me vexxed. I thought it may have been cheap oem tires but now with new better tires its still the same issue. I reamed the valve hole open to fit a schrader valve tube so I can easily add new slime. I usually ride at about 25psi and a guy at the bike park said to fill it to the max psi which is 65 and give it some time. That changed the way it is seated but it actually looks like the bead is about to jump off the bead in one spot now. Are you guys using some lube to get it to seat properly, or? Bike is 2019 trek xcaliber 9

I converted to all tubeless this year, and recently cracked the code on seating tubeless beads. If you have a normal air pump, and don't want to pay $170 for the special "reservoir pumps" for seating tubeless beads, get one of those $65 Airshot cans off Amazon, the ones that are light blue in color. It comes with adapters to allow you to use it with your valve cores either in or out, but I found it works with them in. This is great for me, because I never add sealant through the valve stem, preferring to pry the bead off to visually verify how much is already there and pour more in if needed. Sealant is $35 a quart, and I don't want to be wasting it by injecting it in blindly if it's not needed.

The process: with valve core installed and beads loose inside the rim, you connect the outlet of your floor pump to the top of the bottle, then thread the outlet of the bottle to the Presta tire stem. Make all connections before hand, which puts the pump "in series" with the bottle and tire. With the bottle valve closed, pump the bottle up to at least 140 psi (bottle max is 160). Then open the bottle valve. The tire will plump up, and the beads may or may not pop. You will notice the pressure on your pump gauge drops to between 0~10 psi when you do this (you can read the pressure directly from the pump because it's in series with the bottle and tire). Final step, begin pumping again, with the bottle valve still in the "open" position. When you get up to about 30~35 psi, the rims will start popping. I usually don't have to go more than 35~ 40 psi before they both pop.

Unscrew the line from the tire, and relieve pressure back down to your desired trail setting, which for me is around 25 psi.

I didn't mean this to be a product review, but I found the Airshot bottle really works, when you take the time to understand it. For me, the key was leaving the valve stems in, and simply pumping a little more after I open the bottle valve. The beads will rarely pop just from opening the bottle, but a little more pumping afterward always does the trick.

Edit: I'm using the standard, cheapie $5 Presta stems, not the special $35~50 "high flow" type. I found you really just don't need them.

 

[Butch627]

I got tired of fighting it and took it to the shop at Creekside trail in Valpo. Great people there. Mechanic there couldn't get it to seat, narrowed it down to the issue being opposite side from valve. Mechanic said that is a welded seam and poor QC when built. Bike is 2019 so no warranty. Trek shop got it seated properly with last new tire, going to go back there, Ill bet they know of issue and have some workaround. One trick he recommended is spraying diluted Dawn as lube.
I ride in lots of goofy places with all manor of sharp things, Last tube was slime brand with slime. Had at least 9 punctures before it gave up, all looked to be from thorns 3 of them still in the tire.
I am old and lazy and a Milwaukee guy. M18 Inflator is one of my favorite and most used battery tools.