Any mountain bikers out there 2.0

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It is still very active, I prefer to leave them alone. I may swing back there in a month or so and see if it’s still there or not.
When I got mine is was like 15 degree F in January. I put it in a big plastic trash bag left it tied up for awhile. Wasnt anything in it ….sting wise. Have a friend that gets $200.00 for them from a interior decorator.
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@Rerun7
Have you ridden the Northwoods trails in Hot Springs? I'm heading to Eastern AR Sunday, thinking about riding there on the way there, then later in the week on my way back I'm going to go through Bentonville and ride for a half day on the way home.

Work is about to go back to normal and finally getting some riding in again!
 
So far it looks like it's pretty highly rated, I think that has been the stop for one of the Southern Enduro Tour races also. I wish I could get more than a partial day in Bentonville, but I'll take what I can manage for now. Hopefully the weather holds till Wednesday when I'll be on the way back. It's looking promising so far
 
Not to tell you your business, but don’t wait until you retire! Start now by getting your diet dialed in and building good habits around consistent exercise. Workouts are important and I am a firm believer that cycling is an excellent way to get into and stay in shape, but as the saying goes you can not outrun a bad diet. Nutrition and sleep are the most important aspects of health, followed by exercise. I assume you are at least in your late 40’s where you are about to retire, which means diet is even more important. I am now 45 and am starting to notice poor diet choices that I occasionally make actually having some negative impacts on my subaqueous fat %. I train like a man possessed so I have always been able to absorb about any poor diet choice without any effect, but that is changing for me. Also as we get older weight training gets more and more important, not just for lean mass retention but also bone density.

Best of luck with the fitness gains and congrats on the retirement!
Much wisdom here.
 
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I think this is a cool idea. There’s a company here that has been partnering with the trail commissions to set up cameras at key points on trails (jumps, berms, etc). You pay a yearly fee ($50) and you get a tag for your bike. When you ride past the camera, the tag triggers it and takes your pic. You go to an app and can download all your pics from your riding sessions.

They are a startup so they are continuing to get better cameras, etc but the idea is pretty innovative. $50 for unlimited pics of riding during the year isn’t bad!

I got a few laps in this evening

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I think this is a cool idea. There’s a company here that has been partnering with the trail commissions to set up cameras at key points on trails (jumps, berms, etc). You pay a yearly fee ($50) and you get a tag for your bike. When you ride past the camera, the tag triggers it and takes your pic. You go to an app and can download all your pics from your riding sessions.

They are a startup so they are continuing to get better cameras, etc but the idea is pretty innovative. $50 for unlimited pics of riding during the year isn’t bad!

I got a few laps in this evening

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That is a cool idea, in the right area they could become a viable business.
 
Forgot the golden rule - one awshucks moment can ruin months worth of exercise. Was out and almost home, mile 17 of a 19 mile ride and tucked the front end at 17mph trying to set a new personal best time on this section. Got driven into the trail onto my shoulder with a significant impact to my helmeted cranium. I got back to my feet and thought I broke my shoulder. Numb to touch but very painful. Fortunately, it is not broken but have not been able to sleep through the night for the last 7 days and still cannot side-sleep on that shoulder.

I've ridden this trail 100 times and know it is a rocky obstacle course with some baby head boulders that will ruin your day if you hit them just right. No way I could have spotted this sucker at speed and would never think this 2" high, sharp edged obstacle could take out the front wheel. After checking it yesterday, sidewall contact with the top edge just washes out the front. Mr. head-breaker rock is now off in the woods where it should do no more harm.

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Lessons learned? For me, I have to remember slow and steady wins the race and to remember to calculate risk/reward before engaging. The adrenalin rush from sending it might not be worth 2-6 months of down time if I break a bone!
 
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Forgot the golden rule - one awshucks moment can ruin months worth of exercise. Was out and almost home, mile 17 of a 19 mile ride and tucked the front end at 17mph trying to set a new personal best time on this section. Got driven into the trail onto my shoulder with a significant impact to my helmeted cranium. I got back to my feet and thought I broke my shoulder. Numb to touch but very painful. Fortunately, it is not broken but have not been able to sleep through the night for the last 7 days and still cannot side-sleep on that shoulder.

I've ridden this trail 100 times and know it is a rocky obstacle course with some baby head boulders that will ruin your day if you hit them just right. No way I could have spotted this sucker at speed and would never think this 2" high, sharp edged obstacle could take out the front wheel. After checking it yesterday, sidewall contact with the top edge just washes out the front. Mr. head-breaker rock is now off in the woods where it should do no more harm.

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Lessons learned? For me, I have to remember slow and steady wins the race and to remember to calculate risk/reward before engaging. The adrenalin rush from sending it might not be worth 2-6 months of down time if I break a bone!

Oh man, you are lucky that didn’t break your clavicle! It’s always the stuff you don’t see coming and wouldn’t expect it to be an issue.
 
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For sure, it's a rough sport. I have a vertebrae that is cracked and moves around from a crash on lap 2 / about hour 1.25 during a 24 hour race. The first lap a blind sharp fast corner was clear and easy (I was one of the first 2-3 people to come through the corner). On lap 2 there was a 3" diameter 10" long stick laying long ways at the apex of the corner. I centered it with my front tire and went down so fast and hard. I did another 8 hours and held the lead for solo single speed until then but had to pull out due to numbness in my whole left side. That was in 2015, I still can't sit with my back pushed up against a hard wall because that one vertebrae sticks out so far.

Two years ago I clipped my bar on a tree and yard sailed bad. I landed with all my weight and momentum hitting a large root with the upper crest of my pelvis. It cracked the top of it. This was taken 15 minutes after the crash:
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I found it that I couldn't just request an X-ray without being seen by a doctor. So I said fuck it and wrapped it with an ace bandage and went and road the next day. I literally pissed myself a few times it hurt so bad during the next few days. But it eventually healed. This was two days later after a few "test rides"...

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These are just a very small sampling of my injuries. There have been a few concussions that left me in a real bad place for a week or so. I feel in pretty good for 45 years old, but I think had I been a little more careful I may not be so achy at times. But I wouldn't trade it! My plan is to wear out not rust out...

Ride hard but keep the rubber side down guys!
 
I think this is a cool idea. There’s a company here that has been partnering with the trail commissions to set up cameras at key points on trails (jumps, berms, etc). You pay a yearly fee ($50) and you get a tag for your bike. When you ride past the camera, the tag triggers it and takes your pic. You go to an app and can download all your pics from your riding sessions.

They are a startup so they are continuing to get better cameras, etc but the idea is pretty innovative. $50 for unlimited pics of riding during the year isn’t bad!

I got a few laps in this evening

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I so wish I had a course to go through like this in AZ!

Where I live there's either rocks or cinders.
Super easy for the front wheel to slide out on dry cinders/marbles.
Or gauntlet of malapi rocks the whole ride on trails near our mountains.
Or dirt roads and roads are boring.

Some BMX jumps but no way I'm taking the chance on those at 63 years old.
Table tops, that's what I want.

On top of that the geezers like me who ride EMTB's are near impossible to find. I've never seen another EMTB out on our trails before. Grrr.
 
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My plan is to wear out not rust out...

I had the same plan at 45! I'm still on a similar plan but getting hurt nowadays just sets me back too far. I'm not 100% done sending it and worrying about the consequences later but slower forward progress is better than 1 forward / 6 back... LOLOLOL

FWIW, most of my hard hits have been road racing a R6, which does not suffer fools or ham-fisted throttle operators. Switched to an SV650 and never high-sided again. Still crashed a bit but nowhere near as violent as that twitchy bitch R6...
 
If anyone gets down to Chattanooga, tn and likes to get their bike off the ground check out waldens ridge park. It's awesome
Looks like an awesome riding area. I'd really like to travel to some of these well known riding areas across the country before I'm too old to enjoy them. Waldens Ridge riding park looks so very different from the trails we ride around here, I bet the trails are a blast.
 
If you guys ever need a trail guide when you visit Bville then hit me up.
Will do, I will be pretty close this summer once my house is built. I'm trying to find out info about trails in the Harrison / Compton / Jasper / Deer area. I know there are a lot of gravel roads which is great, but I'm looking for single track.

I'm also looking for any endurance races (prefer 24 hour events). I am planning on doing the Best of Burden and Ouachita Triple Crown, but are there any more?
 
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Very interesting video on a different engineering approach to the rear hub. The bearing loads with the ratchet system on the "disc side" makes a lot of sense. Very cool and looks like a really well made product. Time will tell the tale.
I've never had a single problem with my DT Swiss 350's , but my son's I9 rear hub has been a nightmare to figure out with it's slight "drag" when the axle is properly torqued. (the guy in this video was less than impressed with I9 hubs as well)
I don't mean to bash on I9 because I've always heard great things about their products, but the rear 1/1 hub on the MegaTower ended up being machined wrong and it ate a set of bearings pretty quick (this is a brand new bike by the way). To I9's credit, they were quick to send out replacement bearings, endcaps and axle to try and solve the issue at no cost. Communication and customer service was great, but ultimately I did have to send the wheel to them for evaluation. They found that the hub was machined just a few thou off and the torque of tightening the axle was putting too much side load pressure on the bearing. Ended up relacing the wheel with a new hub and sent it back no charge. I'll stick to DT Swiss hubs......or try out these new KOM's!
 
Very interesting video on a different engineering approach to the rear hub. The bearing loads with the ratchet system on the "disc side" makes a lot of sense. Very cool and looks like a really well made product. Time will tell the tale.
I've never had a single problem with my DT Swiss 350's , but my son's I9 rear hub has been a nightmare to figure out with it's slight "drag" when the axle is properly torqued. (the guy in this video was less than impressed with I9 hubs as well)
I don't mean to bash on I9 because I've always heard great things about their products, but the rear 1/1 hub on the MegaTower ended up being machined wrong and it ate a set of bearings pretty quick (this is a brand new bike by the way). To I9's credit, they were quick to send out replacement bearings, endcaps and axle to try and solve the issue at no cost. Communication and customer service was great, but ultimately I did have to send the wheel to them for evaluation. They found that the hub was machined just a few thou off and the torque of tightening the axle was putting too much side load pressure on the bearing. Ended up relacing the wheel with a new hub and sent it back no charge. I'll stick to DT Swiss hubs......or try out these new KOM's!
I've been riding on DT Swiss hubs since 1997. I've never had a problem with them and do not service them very often. Plus I'm on the heavy side.

I love to ride behind a slower person and free-peddle as a way of letting them know someone is behind them. It gets the pedestrians off the trail pretty quickly.
 
I have been researching those hubs, while extremely cool from a mechanical engineering standpoint I can’t justify the price to try it. I think they are a little over $700 for the rear hub alone. I am normally someone who tries the new thing out there, I jumped on I9 back in the very early days and Project 321 magnetic hubs, I bought some of the first Berg wheels. The P321 gave me trouble but all of my I9 hubs have been good, less prematurely eating bearings as compared to my DT hubs. But these are just a bit much for an unproven product, maybe someday…
 
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We have all DT240 and 350 hubs. Simple to service, no exotic bearing size. DT is pretty awesome to do business done with. I busted a carbon wheel a couple years ago, a new rim with all new spokes was like $250 with shipping. On another wheel I broke some spokes and it was less than $100 for them to relace the wheel and shipping. I haven't had one of there hubs fail. I'll put bearings in them every couple years and service the hub a couple times a year. The weather patterns and other things have been hitting just right. I don't think I've been on my bike in a month now.
 
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The DT240 is just a good no nonsense hub.

I jumped to onyx back in 2017 or so. I have four between all the bikes here, just changed a hubs worth of outside bearings on the #1 bike for NSKs. If I built a bike tomorrow, I waffle between onyx and going back to king hubs, which I have never ever had to service.

Unless I can get some Gokiso super climbers with centerlock and proper mtb spacing...
 
I think this is a cool idea. There’s a company here that has been partnering with the trail commissions to set up cameras at key points on trails (jumps, berms, etc). You pay a yearly fee ($50) and you get a tag for your bike. When you ride past the camera, the tag triggers it and takes your pic. You go to an app and can download all your pics from your riding sessions.

They are a startup so they are continuing to get better cameras, etc but the idea is pretty innovative. $50 for unlimited pics of riding during the year isn’t bad!

I got a few laps in this evening

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That sounds so cool. We have a bunch of bike parks here that this would be fantastic in. Do you know the name of the company?
 
For sure, it's a rough sport. I have a vertebrae that is cracked and moves around from a crash on lap 2 / about hour 1.25 during a 24 hour race. The first lap a blind sharp fast corner was clear and easy (I was one of the first 2-3 people to come through the corner). On lap 2 there was a 3" diameter 10" long stick laying long ways at the apex of the corner. I centered it with my front tire and went down so fast and hard. I did another 8 hours and held the lead for solo single speed until then but had to pull out due to numbness in my whole left side. That was in 2015, I still can't sit with my back pushed up against a hard wall because that one vertebrae sticks out so far.

Two years ago I clipped my bar on a tree and yard sailed bad. I landed with all my weight and momentum hitting a large root with the upper crest of my pelvis. It cracked the top of it. This was taken 15 minutes after the crash:
View attachment 8293839
View attachment 8293840

I found it that I couldn't just request an X-ray without being seen by a doctor. So I said fuck it and wrapped it with an ace bandage and went and road the next day. I literally pissed myself a few times it hurt so bad during the next few days. But it eventually healed. This was two days later after a few "test rides"...

View attachment 8293841

These are just a very small sampling of my injuries. There have been a few concussions that left me in a real bad place for a week or so. I feel in pretty good for 45 years old, but I think had I been a little more careful I may not be so achy at times. But I wouldn't trade it! My plan is to wear out not rust out...

Ride hard but keep the rubber side down guys!
Hey OP, looking strong at 45, heck, looking strong for any age.

Congrats.

Indeed, ride hard.

Hope to be riding till the end.
 
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If you guys ever need a trail guide when you visit Bville then hit me up.
Have you ever done any of the races in NWA: Rule of 3, Best of Burden, Ouachita Triple Crown, Doom, High Country Race, Big or Little Sugar? I'm looking to hit some of these this summer if all goes as planned. If you have any other suggestions for longer races either mountain or gravel I am all ears.
 
Have you ever done any of the races in NWA: Rule of 3, Best of Burden, Ouachita Triple Crown, Doom, High Country Race, Big or Little Sugar? I'm looking to hit some of these this summer if all goes as planned. If you have any other suggestions for longer races either mountain or gravel I am all ears.

I’ve never done a race, just fun laps. They have a lot of them around here though. The Arkansas Enduro Series runs through here, they recently had that Little Sugar/Leadville race and I’ve linked another 12hr endurance race below.


I’d highly recommend coming to Bikefest 2024. Lost of racing, demos, classes, etc. It’s a ton of fun. I got to do a jumping class with Kyle Straight which was pretty cool.
 
Any of you guys finding the single chain ring up front limiting?

I’m still riding a triple up front and enjoy the efficiency of the larger chain rings.
 
Shit, I'm still on an 11-36 10 speed block out back. With a 32t up front, I can count on one hand the number of times I've been spun out wishing for a bigger front ring- and I was racing enduro pretty heavily for a while.
 
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I’ve never done a race, just fun laps. They have a lot of them around here though. The Arkansas Enduro Series runs through here, they recently had that Little Sugar/Leadville race and I’ve linked another 12hr endurance race below.


I’d highly recommend coming to Bikefest 2024. Lost of racing, demos, classes, etc. It’s a ton of fun. I got to do a jumping class with Kyle Straight which was pretty cool.
Very cool, I'll check it out! Thank you