Anyone Mountain Bike?

Macdaddy4738

Macdaddy4738

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
Just came back from a nice trail in Hickory, various off road places right off a main trail loop, paved.

Anyways, do people air down their tires before mountain biking, just as we do when four wheeling?
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Anyways, do people air down their tires before mountain biking, just as we do when four wheeling?
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No.
Well, wider tire, you tend to run less air pressure.
So compared to road bikes, mt bikes "are" aired down?
but you don't want to air down more.
You will hit a bump, and pinch the inner tube causing it to "snake bite" and you'll be sitting on the side of the trail changing it.
Or if you're a fat bastard like me, you'll tend to run MORE air in it than the rest of all your friends, because you're tired of exploding tires, rims, rear triangles, and front shocks. :(
 
no way would you want to air down. That equals sloppy handling and bent rims are easier. If you're afraid of pinch flats, get downhill tubes. you'll never get another flat again.
You don't want your tires to be too high either, because that tends to make your ride too stiff. So tire pressure depends on where you're riding. The only time I air my tires down is when i'm doing free ride or urban, because that lets the wide tires flex and wrap around things easier like railings so that I can have better balance, and a bit softer landings from straight vertical drops. But still not like the difference between a 4x4 on the street or trail.
Hope this makes sense :beer:

speaking of bikes. How much trouble would I get in if I wanted to do a brisk downhill run down rcky mtn look and air over Kodak or fly down the front side of daniel? I've been itching to do that
 
tires psi

Well sort of.... The tires normally have a range you can put the psi in for instance mine is 30-45 for my big tires on the mountain bike. I normally put the psi at the lower end of the range for hard downhill stuff maybe like 32psi and maybe like upper 30's or 40 if you have a lot of hill climbing (because the softer tires take away energy) the only time I put the tires at 45 is if I'm riding just on the street.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Hm, okay.
So are flats common enough to need to get an Portable Air Pump?
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yeah, a pump or inflator of some sort ( CO2 cartrage) would be a good idea to carry, as well as a patch kit and tire spoons, get a seat pack to fit it all.

I used to do a lot of wood s riding, as well as road riding on my mountian bike ( can't tell by looking at me now though) I always carried a frame mounted pump and a patch kit, helped me out a few times when I was far from home.
 
you can do that, or if you don't mind the extra weight, get downhill tubes. I was getting a flat about every week, upgraded to DH tubes, haven't gotten a flat in more than 2 years, and that's going UP a many sets of stairs, BIG drops and whatnot. Either way you're addding the extra weight, either better tubes or a patch kit and pump. then you gotta deal with getting the tire off on the trail...blahh
 
x2 a couple mile hike out of the woods with a flat sucks. I had to do this about 6 months ago, I guess I've been riding with fairly large groups, so someone always has parts. Well there was only 2 of us this one particular time, I got a flat, then realized my pump was broken. My buddy didnt have one, so the hike began.
I always carry a spare tube in my camelbak, and a frame mounted pump. In my underseat bag, I have tire levers, a multi tool, and some tube patches. Usually I just use the spare tube, but there's been times when I've had 2 flats and had to patch a tube on the trail.
 
well dh tubes are that great but i slam my bike around and do stupid stuff really it just depends on how you ride and if you have a hardtail or a fully i have a hard tail because i cant afford a fully so i just buck up and change my riding style or wear my camel bak with 2 tubes a nd co2
 
You must have been over by the trail at City park, by the lake. That's a cool trail, I ride there from my appartment quite a bit. I've crashed and burned there a few times. I bought a bike with click in style pedals and they never seem to unclick when I'm in a frantic falling situation!

I've heard there's a great trail out at Riverbend park, up 16 towards Taylorsville. I think it's a good single track with lots of jumps.
 
x3 on the hike out of the woods. Some years back I got a flat about 4 miles from the truck. I was riding alone with no spare tube or patch kit. Ended up hiding the bike and jogging back to the truck.

I run 30psi in my tires.
 
Gmachine said:
You must have been over by the trail at City park, by the lake. That's a cool trail, I ride there from my appartment quite a bit. I've crashed and burned there a few times. I bought a bike with click in style pedals and they never seem to unclick when I'm in a frantic falling situation!
I've heard there's a great trail out at Riverbend park, up 16 towards Taylorsville. I think it's a good single track with lots of jumps.
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It was up behind the Water Treatment Plant. Dunno the name of the park, but the trail connects with Gietner Park
 
Couple of other things...

Whats the benefit to click in style pedals?

I picked up a bag for under the seat today, mostly because I have no where to keep my key's and cell phone when Im riding and its pretty annoying.

What size bags are you guys using though? To fit all the tubes and patch kits, most of the bags seem small ish. The one I got was a 120 cu Inch one. Biggest they had without getting one that was giant.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Couple of other things...
Whats the benefit to click in style pedals?
I picked up a bag for under the seat today, mostly because I have no where to keep my key's and cell phone when Im riding and its pretty annoying.
What size bags are you guys using though? To fit all the tubes and patch kits, most of the bags seem small ish. The one I got was a 120 cu Inch one. Biggest they had without getting one that was giant.
Click to expand...

There are a couple advantages of clipless pedals (cleat on shoe, I never understood why they are called clipless). You can double your stroke by pulling up on the frontside of your pedal circle while pushing on the rear, or resting the rear if your whooped. Another advantage is on real bumpy terrrain, you won't slip out/off the pedal. They can be difficult to learn how to unclip, and its very humbling when you stop and crash because your feet are stuck on the pedals. Took me about a month, now its second nature, I can even do it milliseconds before I sail over ther handlebars :lol:

I have the smallest under seat bag I could find. I could probably fit a spare tube, but that goes in my camelback (1L version). It would hold wallet, cellphone, and keys, thats about it. I like to keep that important stuff in my camelback though, I'm kind of paranoid about losing it. After a tire change once, I left the bag unzipped, then had to backtrack to find my multitool.
 
man I totally didnt realize that Camelbacks have storage space on them :shaking:

Guess the pack on the bike was kind of a waste then huh?
 
RenegadeT said:
There are a couple advantages of clipless pedals (cleat on shoe, I never understood why they are called clipless). You can double your stroke by pulling up on the frontside of your pedal circle while pushing on the rear, or resting the rear if your whooped. Another advantage is on real bumpy terrrain, you won't slip out/off the pedal.
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x2 on that one. Clipless make each pedal way more efficient. Also, it gives you added control over the back half of the bike as you hop it over obstacles.
 
yes, for hopping over stuff they are convenient, but when I first got the bike and trying to stop at a busy intersection and all I could do was fall over, it was quite embarassing! Little children pointing fingers and laughing is tough to take:)
 
yeah camelbaks are your best option in my opinion and try and get the smallest one that suits you and make sure it will keep tight to your body i just dont enjoy one that bounces around on my back
 
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