MTB!!!

rueschfamily7

Hey y'all. I just thought it would be kind of cool to have a mountain biking chat. Say what you want to as long as it is related toountain biking. HAVE AT IT!

rueschfamily7

*mountain biking not toountain biking. Stupid autocorrect

KungfuPandin

Hello there fellow mountain biker!! Good to see mountain bikers here! What kind of riding is your thing? I’m XC / enduro. Too scared for the gravity but do like dh and a few little drops and such. Just to add:
I’m banged up right now after falling down the stairs today., because what’s one more injury to a mountain biker 🙄. Don’t we go through enough pain? It was a bad fall. I smashed my dozen eggs as I was carrying groceries. My 7yr old came to help me up 😆. But when I’m done with resting my butt with what unimaginable damage I’ve done to my butt bone, I’m keen to get back on the saddle.

amorfati601070

I've been using my gravel bike as a mountain bike but its kinda pushing it. I've thought about getting a hardtail..some suspension would really add to the comfort...and I'm only running 38mm tyres right now... even when I had a dualy I would just do XC type riding.

KungfuPandin

Hi amorfati701070 😊. Yes It’s amazing how far you can push a gravel bike. Seen a few people take them on very mild green trails which is quite impressive but there comes a point where they are not efficient. A ht is a game changer 😆. The best teacher is a ht. I had one for years and years. It was a cheap crap one but still taught me lines.
Despite what people try to do or say they do it’s not recommended to use a gravel bike at a mtb park /on a mtb trail. It’s a bit like using a Honda Civic on a off road trail. You might get it through but it is not ideal. A ht really helps all round.
When you say XC riding do you mean blue trails and above? Or more gravel and green.

amorfati601070

KungfuPandin wrote: »

Hi amorfati701070 😊. Yes It’s amazing how far you can push a gravel bike. Seen a few people take them on very mild green trails which is quite impressive but there comes a point where they are not efficient. A ht is a game changer 😆. The best teacher is a ht. I had one for years and years. It was a cheap crap one but still taught me lines.
Despite what people try to do or say they do it’s not recommended to use a gravel bike at a mtb park /on a mtb trail. It’s a bit like using a Honda Civic on a off road trail. You might get it through but it is not ideal. A ht really helps all round.
When you say XC riding do you mean blue trails and above? Or more gravel and green.

Yeah, Gravel Bikes are really in this outsider category where they don't really excel at anything but its a compromise that is made for versatility. There could be an argument made that they are just old school mtb with the rigid fork. I'm happy I chose gravel though, I was only able to bring one bike overseas and I chose that because it function as a semi decent roadbike and have some bikepacking ambitions in the US. I'm definitely a roadie that has an occasional flirtation with MTB haha..but I like Gravel because it seems to be a fusion of the two...plus I can avoid cars and explore nature much more.

I am considering changing the rigid fork that comes on my Giant Revolt to the Rockshox Rudy XPLR fork with 40mm of travel. How much travel do you have on your HT, what are your thoughts? I really wouldnt not do anything more technical than a blue trail, even some of the ones I've done are sketchy... have to really pick your line and maneuver through rockbeds and roots lol. Really gotta keep your wits about you.



Muh steed

KungfuPandin

I ride a full sus now with 120mm of travel, slacker head angle, longer reach and steeper seat..disc breaks, dropper post, single chain as you’d expect ect.. it’s got air fork and lock outs on both rear and front. I’m very happy with it. It was hard to choose between the more aggressive enduro bike vs this one. It’s more aggressive than what you’d expect for XC because I do like to have fun out there with what most people think is enduro but it’s very much old school XC. I used to ride road and got used to cleats and so didn’t go flats this time. Very un cool.

My only issue was deciding on tires. I didn’t go for the 29ers. I’m on 27.5, fairly standard. But not for XC. I’m a short female and struggled with the standover so I opted out of the 29ers (so popular with people these days lol) but I guess riding a ht for so long I don’t really bother too much.
My daughter has a trek marlin 7 with 100mm travel on a coil but it has disc breaks, flats, turn key lockout single chain ring. It’s second hand. Big fan of that bike!

You are totally correct on the gravel bike as the old school mtb! Back in the day that ridgid was a the thing! I’ve even heard people putting droppers on their gravel bike! I’d go that lol.
I’ve actually come round to them and quite like them. When I first saw them I thought why not just get a ht, but I like the idea of putting away an easier 30k round trip on a fire trail before lunch. They are lighter and faster than anything I ride. Funny enough, I was thinking about getting one actually to build up some bulk distance riding.. just for fitness.
As for your question. I don’t know, extra travel will help. My old ht probably had less when I think about it. I took that thing down steep dh and rock.. My son who is 7 had 50mm on his little kid ht. He took his first blue few weeks back, nailed it. I was scared lol. He was like an old dude back in the day on a ridgid fork lol.. and honestly I’ve seen everything in the park now and nothing surprises me anymore and I’ve come to the conclusion I know nothing about anything.
After my son went full throttle, I felt it was an accident waiting to happen and would rather disc breaks and little more bike. He has a different bike now. I guess a fork will cost you weight on your bike?, it will add on kgs, any travel you get however will benefit you in terms of taking the edge off things.. You wouldn’t want it in a technical trail etc but it sounds like that’s not what your interested in… yet… (join the dark side .. evil laughing…)

KungfuPandin

Edited to add: I don’t just ride park. I don’t know if I came across like that or not. Back in the day, we rode the stuff we made and just rode in forests, walking tracks, trails, fire trails, to school, home, shops, everything etc. bikes have exploded on n the past ten years in mtb..
I’m Lucky to live next door to some national parks which locals have snuck into and put a few little gems in lol.. I have a great idea of riding all the fire trails up to towns on the outskirts through that forest which is where I look at the gravel bike as a great option! Those guys blitz past me as I head in and out of the bits in there., and I think one day I might go in a cruise every now and then.
I’d say most of the rides I do is that sort of thing with a few local heart stoppers thrown in. But I do like to hit the park XC com games track as well. It’s really Hard to find a bike that will do it all sometimes. Maybe you need a hard tail to really flirt with it? You don’t need an expensive one, just start with a coil or low end air fork, single chain ring, hydraulic disc breaks, happy days.. then you won’t be afraid of any potential damage to the gravel bike? Just a suggestion. Not sure if that helps at all.