5

8/8/2007 9:55:16 PM

nice first post in this entire thread

8/9/2007 7:58:33 AM

Must have been a slow day in the garage.

8/9/2007 7:59:54 AM

Beaver Dam on Saturday. BD are probably my favorite trails in the area and you get to cool off with nice swim afterwords.

8/9/2007 10:32:29 AM

BBR could build a bike out of the shit holding his leg together

on a side note i plan to buy a used urban bike next week when i get back from VA. throw on a front knobbie and maybe some gears and ill be good to go.

what a good site that one can order parts from...like a danscomp.com for mtbs

[Edited on August 9, 2007 at 7:07 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2007 6:59:26 PM

jenson.com
nashbar.com
pricepoint.com

8/9/2007 9:34:38 PM

^I'll second Nashbar.com, never had any problems with them. Mtbr.com works as a pretty good reference for parts and stores as well.

8/10/2007 9:42:48 AM

pricepoint.com has good deals, too

8/10/2007 6:37:22 PM

is crabtree open today?

8/11/2007 9:29:07 AM

Yes

http://trianglemtb.com/

8/11/2007 10:42:47 AM

Change of plans had me out at Legend Park today. Hot as all get out, but still had a good ride.

I'm not really into the freeride/tricks stuff, but there were some pretty good singletrack trails out there. Lots of up and down. Didn't hit the entire selection of trails, but what I did do was manageable and fun.

8/11/2007 2:46:26 PM

how far away is Legend?

8/11/2007 2:53:55 PM

its in Garner.

I did my 20mile loop today, but i tried some big ol 2.35" Stick-E Kenda Kinetics i got last year for $7 in the clearance closet at Performance.

i know if it was in my head or what, but ive never felt to slow or had to work so hard in my life. that was horrible. I got DROPPED by my friend i normally ride with. I also normally easily run out of gears on the downhills at Umstead. I was pushing my tallest gear the whole downhill w/ these. The riding was the Cary greenway to Umstead and back so crappy rolling resistance would def hurt i guess.

Theyd be fun on the trails though, felt real cushy and grippy.

8/11/2007 3:47:20 PM

How much air are you running in your tires? Seems like a properly pumped and firm tire will minimize any rolling resistance difference between tires sizes?

I know when I got my bike, it had 1.9s with teeny knobs on it and I used to ride everywhere with 30 psi in them, and my 2.1 smoke/dart combo with ~50psi in them definitely rolls better. I was able to sustain ~29mph for ~30 seconds-minute coming back from the airport on a ride Joe and I were on a couple weeks ago, and on the old tires I'd struggle to maintain 23-24 on the same piece of trail.

8/11/2007 4:09:02 PM

40psi! i pumped em up so theyd roll better. i guess i could have gone higher. more air = smaller contact patch, but id guess the patch was still as big as my old skinny Fire XC Pros. Plus this "Stick-E" rubber seems to be for real. damn front tire was throwing rocks up at my face the whole ride and all the white Umstead dust stuck to them.

so at a given contact patch size, i think rubber soft/gooey/stickiness and weight probably play a role as well.

I ordered some IRC Mibros the other day for our trip

2.25" that supposedly are light weight and roll pretty well. only $30 a set, too. I'm pretty darn happy w/ the Fire XC Pros (about 2.0" wide), but w/ the hardtail id like a little more cush for my tush in the back i guess.

[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 4:24 PM. Reason : dff]

8/11/2007 4:23:27 PM

well i've done a 20 mile umstead loop and a trip around the Harris Advanced loop on the new tires, the IRC Mibros.

They roll waay better. night and day difference. i guess there are a lot of variables that could be at play, but i dunno. These felt great. Theyre a little bigger and cushier than the Fire XC Pros, but roll and weigh the same. for $14 a pop, too. sold!

8/16/2007 1:31:32 PM

did Beaver Damn last weekend. thats the first time i've been there in a couple years and man was it fun.

We're heading to Tsali this weekend, booya.

I'm gonna go grab some extra tubes, flat repair kit, and a chain link.. anyone have any other ideas? I suppose there is a bike shop w/in a reasonable distance if we do end up needing something?

8/21/2007 11:32:18 AM

do you have a mountain biking gang?


whats the trail that is on old reedy creek on the right past the I-40 bridge?

8/21/2007 11:42:55 AM

i have multiple mtb gangs. hah me and a few friends (ones my roommate so its convenient) do Umstead on Tue/Thur for exercise and i then i ride w/ whoever is down on the weekends on trails and more fun stuff. Last weekend i went w/ Chance and agentlion who are both pretty darn fast. theyre road weenie/triathalon/marathon/whateverthatshitis folks, too.

I believe that is called Hubcap. It runs parallel to I40 right? a friend took us down there for the first time a couple weeks ago. It was a little hairy imho. Then again we did do it after 14miles on Umstead and i wasnt feeling so energetic.

8/21/2007 11:47:58 AM

is umstead park worth while? i prefer more difficult trails with structures...

8/21/2007 11:48:05 AM

if you consider big smooth 10foot wide gravel/dirt roads worthwhile they are. its convenient for cardio since there is a decent amount of distance there and some pretty decent long hills to climb.

Itd def not fun or difficult or technical

try rocky road out

8/21/2007 11:50:44 AM

Quote :

"I believe that is called Hubcap. It runs parallel to I40 right?"

its not the long straight one that runs on crabtree's side of 40, its across 40 and is a series of loops - several miles in total. It has a few jumps, log bridges, burms, etc. Goes down along the river for a while, 5-6 people were out there with us yesterday riding it.

8/21/2007 4:24:32 PM

rocky road? does it enter off the gravel road that goes to Umstead from Old reedy creek/crabtree?

8/23/2007 5:53:06 PM

to avoid confusion for who's talking about what trails, here's some maps (both including some miles on the greenway to and from Crabtree and Umstead)

Crabtree Park trails - http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=2122698

Rocky Road at Umstead, near the Airport -
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=3518389

here's a closeup of both of the, with Crabtree Loop 1, i think, on the left, then Rocky Road on the right
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=3015570

8/23/2007 6:25:23 PM

yeah its the "Rocky Road" one, i'll probably head over there tomorrow after work

8/23/2007 6:46:04 PM

well Tsali was pretty damn awesome.

We covered a little over 50 miles over fri-sun. The big loops were pretty ideal single track in that they were for the most part pretty smooth and were long and flowing and winding up and down the mountain. Most of it was through pretty dense green forest bench-carved in the side of the mountains. so often you could look off over the edge down in the the vegetation below, and often along the edge of the lake. There were some fairly tough rocky climbs and descents, some really fast woop section where it felt like you really got some air.

The Thomson loop was a good bit of rough climbs, but the reward was a really long crazy downhill that started really high and sunny and rocky and ended down in the darker/covered forest.

All i remember from the Mouse loop was that it was a lot of damn work with little pay off.

pretty awesome. i sort of lost the drive to ride crabtree this week...

8/27/2007 2:33:03 PM

I rode the Thompson loop in July and it was a work out! The uphills sucked, esp towards the end, but the downhill finish made it worthwhile! Like I said previously, I wish they were mandatory. one way trails. I was going 30mph downhill and would have to stop because there were some idiots coming up. It's a single track carved into the side of a mountain, not safe for multiple directions. The sign gives you a recommended direction, but idiots don't pay attention to that.

Were the other loops as grueling as Thompson? Or am I just really out of shape?

[Edited on August 27, 2007 at 5:57 PM. Reason : .]

8/27/2007 5:56:25 PM

Ummm, I think Thompson had the longest sustained climb of all them, but unless you were really trying to hammer it, I'd say that you should be able to do it without killing yourself if you are at what I'd call an enthusiast level (meaning you aren't hard core, but you ride fairly regularly).

There is a climb on Right that is shorter than that long climb on Thompson, but much steeper and a little bit more technical (loose rocks) that will get your heart rate higher and burn your quads up more. Then there is another on the Right/Left intersection up to an overlook that adds in big roots to step over and is about 3x as long that I'd say is probably the toughest climb in the park. I'd compare it to the first really nasty climb at Rocky Road, only ever so slightly less steep, but with 2 switches and much longer. Joe had to clip out in one of the turns, but grabbed a tree to clip back in, then rode over the toughest part of the trail (loose rock + big root sticking out right in the line), I walked past this little part then rode the rest up.


Agreed on the mandatory one way, sorta. I think the problem could be remedied by having clearer signs at the intersections. Multiple people in our group got a little turned around at intersections, and folks we talked to in the parking lot complained about lack of signage as well. Many of the fast sections are straight enough that you can see ahead of you, but there are tons of places where slight bends could be a recipe for disaster and many other places where some short, steep, technical downhill sections could get you really fucked up if someone came riding up from the other direction as you were trying to navigate down.

8/27/2007 7:31:36 PM

Our Saturday ride

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3794385

and our Sunday ride

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3794386

8/28/2007 10:54:48 PM

today was great day for riding. i did a 12 mile loop this morning at fort yargo, out in winder, ga. did a race out there back in may and don't think i've been back since then. i didn't get to ride any at all over the summer, so it was good to be back in the saddle again. the downhills were fast and the uphills were slow, but i cleaned everything, so it was all good.

btw nothing will improve your balance like learning to ride a set of rollers. but after the novelty wears off it gets pretty boring after 30 minutes or so.

9/16/2007 5:39:57 PM

any suggestions on a hitch rack for an SUV?

10/5/2007 12:10:56 PM

I prefer Yakima

http://www.rackwarehouse.com/yakima-hitch-racks.html

[Edited on October 5, 2007 at 1:42 PM. Reason : .]

10/5/2007 1:41:37 PM

Your best bet is to look at Craigslist. People are constantly putting up Yakima and Thule racks. If you buy a rack new, it will be much more expensive. Another popular brand is Saris, but it is less common than Yakima and Thule.

10/5/2007 1:48:21 PM

^ yea i've been watching that close lately

not too many recently

10/5/2007 3:10:06 PM

Has anyone been out on mtn trails behind hedingham golf club? starts at new bern ave just before 540, following a river up about 2 miles, then crosses the river at a shallow part, continuing into some crazy drops, tight turns and quick hills. I don't know the name of it. It lasts a good 6 to 7 miles, but only the middle part looks made for mtn bikes, the first part is just an animal trail along the river bank, and the last part is what I believable to be a dirt bike trail criss-crossing power lines.

10/5/2007 3:24:02 PM

I'm in need of a bottom bracket tool...can I borrow one from anybody? I'm sure as hell not going to pay $25 for a tool I'm only going to use once!!

10/7/2007 1:35:24 PM

Any one know of some good trail around Charlottesville, VA??

10/8/2007 8:36:28 AM

Try the forums on http://www.mtbr.com/

10/10/2007 8:06:31 PM

Anybody do any winter night riding? I wonder how cold/miserable it would be. Maybe i'll buy some lights and ride after work in the dark if i think i'll actually go. hrmm

11/1/2007 5:03:30 PM

night riding is a blast. although in my old age i have to really slow down when it gets dark as my depth perception goes to shit. its still fun, though. i rarely go in anymore, as getting home late on a school night doesn't bode well for getting to work on time in the mornings anymore. getting old sucks.

11/1/2007 6:22:55 PM

^^ Buy some lights? I thought you made one last year? Has your time finally become more valuable than the cost to purchase some of these things that you used to enjoy making? Mine did right about the time my work load/responsibility got to where yours has been in the past half year or so.

11/1/2007 9:38:30 PM

yes and no.

I did finish this up today:


yep, its BRIGHT.

11/12/2007 5:32:55 PM

jesus, Dan. If i ever see you out on the trail with that monstrosity strapped to your head, don't expect me to pretend like I know you!

11/12/2007 5:38:14 PM

bahaha. those suckers get HOT so the housing doubles as a heatsink

11/12/2007 5:41:56 PM

Where will you mount that? Also, WHERE'S MAH FORK OIL?

11/12/2007 6:08:37 PM

i bolted a handle bar clamp to the back of it. you can see more pics in my gallery.

but the beam is fairly focused though, so i think itd make a better helmet mounted light. so i'll probably tape or strap it onto my helmet.

11/12/2007 8:46:20 PM

you should have put the outer bulbs on a pivot so you can angle them apart from each other to get a wider beam

11/12/2007 10:15:07 PM

anything pivoty wouldnt allow enough heat transfer to the main housing. I used thermal epoxy to glue th em on and to the glue the aluminum together. I coudl have glued them at an angle, but thatd be pretty tricky.

Since i started this (like a year ago), there seems to be some new LEDs out almost twice as efficient. I might get a couple of those and make an uber flood light.

11/13/2007 1:12:57 PM

linkz to efficient lightz plz?

11/13/2007 3:13:29 PM

Neat lookin' light, I've seen some how-tos on the web for making your own from Luxeon LEDs:
http://www.luxeonstar.com/product-search.php?product_search=5500%20k

looks like what you have in there. what are the reflectors from?

my friend took an incandescent light set up, replaced the bulbs with 2 luxeons, and popped an old RC car battery in a water bottle. works pretty good but since the battery was ancient it didnt hold much of a charge.

How are you dealing with the battery?

[Edited on November 13, 2007 at 7:01 PM. Reason : ..]

11/13/2007 7:00:28 PM