Anyone Bike (Mountain, or Road)?

[ChargerX3]

Wanted to see who if anyone is into this hobby/sport.

[alienviking]

Yes.

[DCIV]

I have a road bike and a crappy mt bike....use to be into it way more. I know a couple guys here do it.


Coop

[aaronatstate]

I used to mountain bike a lot. Been running lately, need to get back into mountain biking. There are a ton of trails around my house too.

[DCIV]

I enjoyed mt biking so much more too. I dont like the seats on my road bike, I dont like the worry about crashing or cars crashing into me, and I can see the same stuff from a car ride. On a mt. bike, you get great views, slower and so crashes are usually not as bad, and a seat you could sit down on if the trail ever smoothes out enough.

Dang....now I want to go mt. biking.


Coop

[Duck Vader]

I did a bit of mountain biking when I was in high school (my first car was a gas guzzling truck, so I also used it to get around town a lot too). Also used a mountain bike to get around campus in college. Other than that, not really. Never did it professionally or in any type of competition. It was always about just having fun or a cheap way to get around town.

[ChargerX3]

[quote=""alienviking""]Yes.

[/quote]
Figured that wagon was meant for something. What do you ride?
[quote=""aaronatstate""]I used to mountain bike a lot. Been running lately, need to get back into mountain biking. There are a ton of trails around my house too.[/quote]

I used to mountain bike a lot myself, but work has kept me busy and usually playing catchup on the weekends. Being that I now live in the Sierra's I decided to finally purchase a bike last week.


Had been playing with the idea of a Stumpjumper FSR 29'r, or Trek Remedy 7. Had a really good deal coming to me on the stumpy as it was a year old, but surprisingly didnt like it as much as the Trek. Then the guy at the shop enticed me to try out a Kona Process 134. I liked it so much that I bought it. The geometry of this bike is amazing. Very aggressive and nimble. Who would have thought. Not to mention all the stellar components that they offer vs the bigger boys.



Haven't been on any big trails yet, but am excited for this weekend.

[Chris GTO TT]

I used to mountain bike a lot and have some thoughts to add once I get home from work.

[ChargerX3]

[quote=""DCIV""]I enjoyed mt biking so much more too. I dont like the seats on my road bike, I dont like the worry about crashing or cars crashing into me, and I can see the same stuff from a car ride. On a mt. bike, you get great views, slower and so crashes are usually not as bad, and a seat you could sit down on if the trail ever smoothes out enough.

Dang....now I want to go mt. biking.


Coop[/quote]

I always have to ride with padded shorts. lol. The Kona did come with the hydrauic adj seat post though.

[alienviking]

[quote=""ChargerX3""]Figured that wagon was meant for something. What do you ride?[/quote]

I mostly road ride. I have a friend who owns a bike store here who is amazing at what he does (he was working with the main guy who fits two Tour de France teams over the winter including Team Garmin and was fitting pro riders to their bikes) who hooks me up. He lets me borrow mountain bikes when I want to.. and keeps pushing me to get a fatbike haha.

This is my road bike (Cannondale CAAD10 with full ultegra setup):


This is my tri bike (Cannondale Slice):


The Slice is still at the store.. I got yelled at for not being flexible enough in my hips and back so he had to order some parts to get the fit where he wanted. Also waiting for some hydration stuff for it. Should finish up the fit and pick it up this weekend.

I almost picked up a Cannondale Lefty along with the tri bike but decided one new bike a year was enough haha!

[ChargerX3]

Those are some pricy bikes. I love that your last pic is of the bike that resides at the bike shop. That is quite honestly the best hook up to have. Take part in any races?

[alienviking]

I haven't done any pure bike races. I plan to do Ride for MS and the Diabetes ride this summer, along with a couple of endurance rides. Aiming for my first century (longest so far is 65ish miles). They keep bugging me to do some crits but not sure I want to go flat out shoulder to shoulder with other riders haha! Last summer I did a few sprint triathlons and duathlons with the road bike (age group winner duathlon, yo!) and this year will be a few sprints, one or two olympic distance and one half iron. If things go as planned I'll be doing a full Iron in 2016..

I love my bike hook-up hah. Guy is awesome.. lived in Cali and rode out there for years.. then came back here to be part of the resurgence of the greater Cleveland area. He is heavily involved with all the mountain bike trails that are being put in, holds a lot of free classes and arranges rides out of his shop several times a week. After I crashed out in horrendous weather last year I stopped by the store to say hi while out on a long ride. Second he heard I had been down he went out, grabbed the bike, threw it up on the rack and made sure every little detail was perfect (which included fixing a slightly bent derailleur). Whole group of guys working there are like that.. kind of old school in nature (even though they are all in their 20s).

I was staring at that Slice for 6 months before I finally pulled the trigger. The offer was simply too good to pass up. I really want to get more into mountain biking as well.. and have considered cyclocross.. but it is an expensive hobby so have to kind of limit the purchases a bit haha!

[ChargerX3]

Kudos on your duathlon win. I bet that felt good. I cant say ive ever entered any races, but at some point I may decide to do so. I dont think I would be all that competitive for it atm. Takes a certain build to be at the top and i am nowhere near lean and mean right now. lol

I used to road bike a bit too. Still have my 2007 Specialized Alliz Sport. Was mint until a bout 2 weeks ago. My wife just really got into cycling and dumped my bike twice in one day.

[alienviking]

The duathlon was more a result of not a huge turn-out and I killed the two runs haha. I am an ok rider, strong on rollers and weak in steep climbs and downhills. But am by far a stronger runner. Worked quite a bit on the bike over the winter (along with swimming) so we'll see how it goes.

I'm not really competitive hah.. I train with Boston Marathon qualifiers, Kona World Triathlon Championship qualifiers and sponsored runners/triathletes.. quite humbling..

Dropping a bike will happen.. I went down in a surprise horrendous thunderstorm.. the road was completely flooded, restaurants flooded etc. Slid on the metal expansion joint on a bridge and before I knew it I was rolling around on the ground. Rode 26 miles back to the car bleeding like crazy hah. Good times! But yeah it happens unfortunately.

I like the black paint job on that Alliz. That is one thing I really love about my Slice as well.. mat black with black decals. It is my Vader bike

[ChargerX3]

Yea, i dont look forward to dropping mine. Yours though...are expensive. And we know road bikes arent bulky strong like others.

[alienviking]

Eh they aren't THAT expensive. It took the beating fairly well.. a bent derailleur.. minor scratches on seat and brake lever.. and some ripped bar tape.. I took the brunt of it haha!

The CAAD is aluminum.. best aluminum frame available (and better than low grade carbon fiber frames) but not as good as a high level carbon fiber frame. It does have carbon fiber components (crank, seat post, fork etc). I did have to get the rear wheel trued afterwards but that is no big deal. The Slice is pure carbon fiber.. still not a high end frame but it is not bad. Looking forward to getting it fitted and take it for a spin.

I think I would be more concerned about blasting downhill on a trail and hitting a tree!

[ChargerX3]

I like blasting down mountains. Its also hard to beat the scenery too. Not sure which is worse though, worrying about hitting a tree on a mountain bike, or worrying about getting hit on a road bike.

[jackhammer]

Riding a modern mtn bike is like riding a wet noodle. I dont know how you guys can do it

[ChargerX3]

Have you tried it? Im no where insane enough to do the crazy speeds and high drops, but I have fun.

[jackhammer]

the suspension feels wierd, like a wet noodle. When you stand up and crank on it

Maybe you have to spend a certian amount of thousands before they feel solid, i dont know......