Bicycling

Kalaar kururuc

Kalaar kururuc

Grumpy old man
535
460
What I like about the gadgets is the motivational side. I have a commute just shy of 12 miles each way, my first time in it took me 55 minutes, I'm down to 42 and if not for zombie commuters and traffic lights I would be sub-40 by now. Much of that reduction is down to me thinking i need to beat my last run and so not being lazy, it's also helped me drop around 4kg. Sad but I like seeing the strava segment PR's
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Cameras on the other hand are in case of some fuckwit running me over or some zombie commuter walking in front of me, I've already had a few idiots with their iPods on weaving about with no clue to their surroundings and a few few close shaves with idiots in cars who feel it's acceptable to pass about 1 foot away and then immediately pull to the kerb and slam their brakes on for traffic lights. The crash I had earlier this year was totally the other guys fault but without a camera it's my word against his and as I posted previously in this thread that little prang cost me a new frame and wheels. If a car does it to me a camera means I have black and white evidence of the knobber doing it and can sue his ass.
 
Fifey

Fifey

Trakanon Raider
2,898
962
This thread is dead so here's my revival.

This was the climb I used to warm up for a CX race I did Sunday, ended up getting 7th and getting points so I'll g et a call up for the main series. My pickle is tickled.
 
Kalaar kururuc

Kalaar kururuc

Grumpy old man
535
460
Nice looking ride, is there much car traffic up there? In the UK if that was open to cars the chavs would be using that to race their chav mates in their Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi EVO's

Pain in the backside this time of year for commuting, its 40F in the morning and often foggy then by home time it's 60+ so I have to take a tonne of layers.
 
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penalty_sl

shitlord
832
0
Is it worth getting a fatbike for winter riding? They seem gimmicky and really expensive but I'm thinking it might be fun to tear it up in the winter. Is it ever worth using a fatbike over a regular MTB in the summer? granted I'm not a tubby guy who needs all that extra suspension.
 
Ao-

Ao-

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
<WoW Guild Officer>
7,879
507
penalty_sl said:
Is it worth getting a fatbike for winter riding? They seem gimmicky and really expensive but I'm thinking it might be fun to tear it up in the winter. Is it ever worth using a fatbike over a regular MTB in the summer? granted I'm not a tubby guy who needs all that extra suspension.
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If you have a mountain bike, see if you can ride "plus" tires in it. You can test it out yourself. Otherwise, hell yeah it seems worth it. They CAN be cheap, but you'll get what you pay for

Framed makes a $800-$1000 fatbike.
Norco makes a $1200 fatbike.
Surly has a $1500 fatbike.
Felt has a $1500 fatbike.
Salsa has a $1800 fatbike.

I KNOW there are others too, but that was "top of my head". I'm personally stuck between the Surly Wednesday for ~$1500 (steel with 5" tire clearance and a symmetric backend) or a Salsa Mukluk for $1800 (aluminum with 4" tires and a symmetric backend).


As for the fat in the summer, I honestly think fatbiking takes a bit of the required skill away from technical courses (I'm not a good gauge though). I had a buddy take his full suspension fat bike through the Maah Daah Hey 100 (brutal mtb race) and he just pointed it at most things and rolled over them. If you're a speed freak for MTB trails and massive downhill, fat might not be the right thing (not that they can't go fast). If you're more leisurely in your MTB or want to really do some self-supported shit, I think Fat wouldn't hurt you.


Also, if you go with a Bluto-equipped (and it doesn't get TOO cold around you), you can swap out tires and go 29+ and have a normal hard tail bike.
 
Fifey

Fifey

Trakanon Raider
2,898
962
Kalaar Kururuc_sl said:
Nice looking ride, is there much car traffic up there? In the UK if that was open to cars the chavs would be using that to race their chav mates in their Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi EVO's.
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Very little traffic though I was only on the road for about twenty minutes while I warmed up for the cx race I was doing. Usually the mountain is pretty light on traffic though.

penalty_sl said:
Is it worth getting a fatbike for winter riding? They seem gimmicky and really expensive but I'm thinking it might be fun to tear it up in the winter. Is it ever worth using a fatbike over a regular MTB in the summer? granted I'm not a tubby guy who needs all that extra suspension.
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I think State makes a steel fat bike for like 650 bucks, obviously it's not going to be top of the line but it's cheap enough that if you don't ride it a lot it's justifiable.
 
Famm

Famm

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
11,041
794
If I lived somewhere where I knew there would definitely be lots of snow every winter I'd invest in a fat bike to make sure I could keep riding. But I'm obsessed so that's me. As it stands I have enough snow free days where I usually just take time off the bike when there's snow on the ground.

They are plenty of fun on dry singletrack too, but I prefer a normal MTB overall. The 29+ stuff is a cool compromise though, I demo'ed a Surly Krampus on dry singletrack and it was really fun to ride.
 
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Seventh

Golden Squire
892
15
penalty_sl said:
Is it worth getting a fatbike for winter riding? They seem gimmicky and really expensive but I'm thinking it might be fun to tear it up in the winter.
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Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I picked one up last season and it's an absolute blast. Mix in some snowshoeing and XC skiing/snowboarding and the winter gets a whole lot shorter.

Is it ever worth using a fatbike over a regular MTB in the summer? granted I'm not a tubby guy who needs all that extra suspension.
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I mix mine in all summer long. They are a lot of fun in rock gardens, it's almost like cheating. Things I'd have to think about on my full suspension I just plow over on the fatty. They're more capable than you'd expect on the fast stuff too.

I have a Fatboy with a 100mm Bluto/XT everything, hope hubs, blah blah, and honestly if I had to do it over again I'd just get the Rocky Mountain Blizzard. They're somewhere around $2300, and come with SLX brakes, a Bluto and really solid all around components. If I was on a tight budget, I'd go with the Framed Minnesota.
 
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Seventh

Golden Squire
892
15
...And while I'm at it. Since I know you were all losing sleep wondering, I'm absolutely loving the CX bike. There are a ton of places around me that are less than challenging/exciting on my trail bikes (like this pic) but end up being a blast on the Revolt. There's also an exciting minigame involving dodging joggers who aren't paying attention because their iPods are on full blast. I put a trail bell on, but might need a fucking air horn instead.

All in all definitely worth the ~$1100 I have into it. It's a great training tool and the thing takes a fucking beating. Since I don't really do proper CX with it, I'll probably toss that new Praxis 40T on the back. Other than that, just going to upgrade the puny 160mm rotors and replace the crap brakes with some BB7s and call it a day.
 
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penalty_sl

shitlord
832
0
Damn man you're really making me want a xc bike. Lots of them on Craigslist for cheap too. There's tons of flat and hilly gravel and grass trails all around me too.
 
Ao-

Ao-

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
<WoW Guild Officer>
7,879
507
I keep thinking of keeping my commuter as my knockaround bike and getting a full CX bike just for the "mild" trails around MSP. How does it do on pavement between the trails (or do you cart it to the trails)?
 
Famm

Famm

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
11,041
794
He's got some pretty knobby rubber on that, you can definitely find some more fast rolling style tread if that's more what you want.
 
Fifey

Fifey

Trakanon Raider
2,898
962
Cross tires handle fine on the streets especially if you are just doing simple gravel trails. I run Michelin Muds on my bike and besides the low psi in them, they don't slow me down when I'm riding out to the trail.
 
lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
41,570
178,391
So, gentlemen, I don't do a lot of biking, but I recently started biking to work just for the exercise. It's a short ride - 6 miles each way. Takes about 25 minutes.

I have a cheap old bike. It's a mountain bike with knobby tires, made by CCM. I bought it 16 years ago. It's been a good bike for me for the little I use it, but if I'm going to be biking 3 or 4 days a week, I'm considering getting something a little nicer, lighter, and road friendly. Is that silly of me for my little use? Is there a decent and affordable something I should consider? Should I just keep this one, get it tuned up, and be happy?

Thoughts? I'm a complete nube on this stuff, and any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 
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Seventh

Golden Squire
892
15
Ao-_sl said:
I keep thinking of keeping my commuter as my knockaround bike and getting a full CX bike just for the "mild" trails around MSP. How does it do on pavement between the trails (or do you cart it to the trails)?
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I've ridden it to the trails a few times and it's not too bad, even with the gnarly rubber that i'm running on it (couple of pics here). It's capable enough, but I wouldn't want to do more than maybe 20 miles on it with these tires. The bike itself is fine for it though, a couple of my buddies use these as regular road bikes with Gatorskins/GP4000s on them.

I've been carting it to the trail most of the time though, since I have it running tubeless at lower pressures and it's just easier to deal with that way. I'm still surprised at how much of a beating the thing takes - I've taken it on some singletrack that I use my full suspension on and just plowed into shit. It beats the hell out of my arms/neck, but the bike has just been sucking it up brilliantly.
 
Famm

Famm

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
11,041
794
lurkingdirk_sl said:
So, gentlemen, I don't do a lot of biking, but I recently started biking to work just for the exercise. It's a short ride - 6 miles each way. Takes about 25 minutes.

I have a cheap old bike. It's a mountain bike with knobby tires, made by CCM. I bought it 16 years ago. It's been a good bike for me for the little I use it, but if I'm going to be biking 3 or 4 days a week, I'm considering getting something a little nicer, lighter, and road friendly. Is that silly of me for my little use? Is there a decent and affordable something I should consider? Should I just keep this one, get it tuned up, and be happy?

Thoughts? I'm a complete nube on this stuff, and any advice will be greatly appreciated.
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Get an entry level road bike and cut your time in half.
 
Fifey

Fifey

Trakanon Raider
2,898
962
Famm_sl said:
Get an entry level cross bike with road tires and cut your time in half.
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Fixed that for you, cross bikes will have eyelets for racks/panniers along with the ability to run tires bigger than 28c so you can still have fun with it on the weekends.
 
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