The Mountain Bike Thread

Buzzy said:
So here's to knowing nothing about MTB's - I rode one once before I moved to Ephrata which was 37 years ago. This past summer I rode a "cruiser" (one speed) while staying in LA (burn, burn). So for a 74 year old who keeps thinking a MTB might be fun but knows he's never going to be competing in the Ephrata Grand Fondo but would perhaps like to ride off road on trails (Beezley Hill here on the edge of town has a few dozen trails from far too steep to moderate), what would I look for? Why a "hart tail" (whatever the hell that is). ODI? Chester (wasn't he on Gunsmoke?)... @Josh - feel free to delete my thread. How often does a bike need a tune up? A friend of mine waited a couple months to get his tuned up............ huh. Jitenshaya-san: nope.
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Buzzy,

Ya' don't need to spend a lot of $$ on a utilitarian mtb. Good derailleurs and shifters are expensive, but the lower end grades last quite a while. I know that Covid cause a bike shortage and increased the price of used, but the former rule of thumb was that a 2 year-old used bike could be had for 50 to 60% of new cost. So keep that in mind. If exercise is the goal, a motor is unnecessary. With a triple chain ring and 27 or more gears, in low gear I could climb a tree with my bike if not for falling off vertical pitches. Annual tune ups are a good idea, but you can do them yourself. I have a copy of Bicycling magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair that helped me expand my mechanical aptitude. Bicycling and swimming are probably the lowest impact (on the joints) activities a person can do and really build up aerobic capacity.
 
Salmo_g said:
Buzzy,

Ya' don't need to spend a lot of $$ on a utilitarian mtb. Good derailleurs and shifters are expensive, but the lower end grades last quite a while. I know that Covid cause a bike shortage and increased the price of used, but the former rule of thumb was that a 2 year-old used bike could be had for 50 to 60% of new cost. So keep that in mind. If exercise is the goal, a motor is unnecessary. With a triple chain ring and 27 or more gears, in low gear I could climb a tree with my bike if not for falling off vertical pitches. Annual tune ups are a good idea, but you can do them yourself. I have a copy of Bicycling magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair that helped me expand my mechanical aptitude. Bicycling and swimming are probably the lowest impact (on the joints) activities a person can do and really build up aerobic capacity.
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A lot of the finicky maintenance chores on older bikes like repacking hub, crank, and headset bearings have now been eliminated with sealed bearing sets. Nowadays about all you have to do is replace tires, worn chains/rear cogs/and front chain rings (after a lot of miles) are pretty easy (and not a big task if you go the shop route).
 
Salmo_g said:
Buzzy,

Ya' don't need to spend a lot of $$ on a utilitarian mtb. Good derailleurs and shifters are expensive, but the lower end grades last quite a while. I know that Covid cause a bike shortage and increased the price of used, but the former rule of thumb was that a 2 year-old used bike could be had for 50 to 60% of new cost. So keep that in mind. If exercise is the goal, a motor is unnecessary. With a triple chain ring and 27 or more gears, in low gear I could climb a tree with my bike if not for falling off vertical pitches. Annual tune ups are a good idea, but you can do them yourself. I have a copy of Bicycling magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair that helped me expand my mechanical aptitude. Bicycling and swimming are probably the lowest impact (on the joints) activities a person can do and really build up aerobic capacity.
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Thanks, Steve -
Used sounds good.
 
I pulled the trigger on a conversion kit. I went with the Tongsheng TSDZ2 48V 500W mid-drive since it has torque sensing and I know I enjoy that much more than the cadence sensing of the Bafangs.
If you've ridden a nice ebike or emtb that adds power based on how hard (not just fast) you pedal, that's a torque sensing motor. Bosch and Shimano make the higher end ones.
The Tongsheng TSDZ2 is an affordable conversion kit that gets good marks, but has some issues just like the Bafang. They're both made in China and while they both have come a long ways they aren't Bosch or Shimano. I'm willing to take a chance.

I spent $355 on the motor that comes with everything you need except a battery. I spent $179 on a 48v 10Ah (200W-800W) Hailong Triangle battery that will fit nicely in my frame and only weighs just under 5 lbs. The motor weighs about 8.5 lbs. So under 15 lbs added and I've just lost 7 going low carb. Haha!
So we're a net +8 right now. I hope I can take that down to 0 by riding more.
The motor kit and battery (comes with a waterproof frame case) was just under $600 total after tax.
With the torque sensing, you don't need as big of a battery (10-14 lbs) as you would with a cadence sensing motor like the Bafang.

The motor showed up today and looks great. I cut off my welded ISCG mount (chainring or bash guard mount) so the motor can fit. Minimal scratches to the BB. If I ever remove the motor and want a bash guard I can just mount a ring style ISCG.

BB wrench is coming tomorrow so should have the motor mounted tomorrow or Wednesday. The battery is supposed to be here by Saturday.

I'll put up a review...hopefully, soon.
 
Battery came this morning so I finished up the build...at least for now. I have ordered a chainring adaptor and a 34T chainring. My stock chainring is 32T so the chain pretty short. The chaingring that came with the motor is 42T so I can't use 1st, 2nd or 3rd gear. I could just grab a longer chain, but like having the hill climbing power available with the 32 or 34.

I'm pretty damn happy with the install. I've only ridden up and down the street and in my neighborhood that literally means up and down. Living on a hill has it's perks, but also it's annoyances. I've only tried it in the 2 lowest settings (ECO & Tour) and wow. In the 2nd setting (Tour) it feels like I have bionic legs and instead of having to grab 3rd gear up my hill I can sail right up in 5th or 6th. Should be pretty fun. Riding tonight!!

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I'm stoked my super tanker Zags water bottle still fits. The battery is pretty small since it's a torque sensing motor and will only be powering the display during downhills. It's a 48v 10aH 200-800W from Hailong. We'll see how many miles I can get each trip. I usually only ride 4-6 miles on my neighborhood trails, but with the assistance probably more like 10 now. I think it will have plenty left after that. Guess we'll find out.

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E-mtb rider,
Stacy :cool:
 
My mountain biking update is in late June I had a pretty bad crash that resulted in a couple broken bones in my wrist and a couple broken bones in my face. I had wrist surgery and reconstructive face surgery on back to back days in early July. I now have titanium plates in both locations. Put quite the damper on my summer plans. My face is healing great and other than some minor nerve damage (that should heal with time) it's almost completely back to normal. The wrist is coming along pretty well. Just started PT and aside from it still being weak and a bit limited in range of motion my day-to-day life is pretty normal again. Likely no bike or beach fly fishing this season though.

Be careful out there. Mine was a pretty random and fluky crash with unlucky outcome. I'll be considering riding with a trail type full face in the future. Also maybe not worth pushing those old tires to use up every last mile of them.
 
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mtskibum16 said:
My mountain biking update is in late June I had a pretty bad crash that resulted in a couple broken bones in my wrist and a couple broken bones in my face. I had wrist surgery and reconstructive face surgery on back to back days in early July. I now have titanium plates in both locations. Put quite the damper on my summer plans. My face is healing great and other than some minor nerve damage (that should heal with time) it's almost completely back to normal. The wrist is coming along pretty well. Just started PT and aside from it still being week and a bit limited in range of motion my day-to-day life is pretty normal again. Likely no bike or beach fly fishing this season though.

Be careful out there. Mine was a pretty random and fluky crash with unlucky outcome. I'll be considering riding with a trail type full face in the future. Also maybe not worth pushing those old tires to use up every last mile of them.
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Oh man. I hope you continue the good healing! Yeah, I haven't crashed hard on the mtb in a while. That's the only part of riding I don't like. Haha!

The fluke crashes are the worst man. My worst crash in my adult life was a fluke. Steep downhill on my KTM 300 compression coasting in 1st gear (1st mistake) and thought I had my left hand on the clutch, like always. Well, I was looking back up the hill to make sure my buddy had cleared the switch back corner (2nd mistake) on his KTM 300 that was too tall for him. Apparently this caused me to not really have a good cover on the clutch lever.
A damn overhanging branch poked my right glove on the top of my hand which made me whiskey throttle and launch & loop the bike. I remember seeing the underside of my bike while flying through the air thinking "Shit, this is gonna hurt." 1st gear compression right into full throttle is violent on a 300 2-smoker.

This pic is taken from where my bike landed. The top red circle is the stupid overhang that stabbed my glove and the lower red circle is the rock my left ass and hip landed on. I still have pain in that hip and it's been 15 years.

Evans Creek Crash.jpg

Hope you're able to fish and ride again soon!
 
mid 80's, first gen rigid MTB, coming down Montara Mountain on the coast south of SF, missed my line so had to jump the deep rut I was trying to avoid...the handlebar stem snapped clean on the landing...frozen WTF moment holding onto handlebars only connected by the cables...off the trail and down the side through poison oak and rubble = scraped up mess with worse case of poison oak ever
 
Bummer.

My worst bicycle crash involved leaning into a fast curve one cold January morning. Black ice.

Woke up on the road, rear wheel still slowly spinning. Blood all over the place from severe facial lacerations, several broken ribs on my right side, and a concussion. My right shoulder still has problems from the incident which occurred nearly 40 years ago. Fuck it...it's the cost of minor adventure. Never was gonna be a GQ model anyway.

Years later I did a total endo on a rocky trail descending (hardtail Diamondback with primitive short travel elastomeric front shocks) into the Devil's Toenail next to the Spokane River. Scraped up quite a bit, but was gratified to receive considerable applause from some whitewater kayakers who had observed the mishap, and paddled over to see if I was alright.

The best MTB crashes occur on single track surrounded by soft forest duff ...had a few that looked spectacular but resulted in no injuries. I think USFS fire roads lull a lot of riders into a feeling of complacency and carelessness...
 
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SurfnFish said:
mid 80's, first gen rigid MTB, coming down Montara Mountain on the coast south of SF, missed my line so had to jump the deep rut I was trying to avoid...the handlebar stem snapped clean on the landing...frozen WTF moment holding onto handlebars only connected by the cables...off the trail and down the side through poison oak and rubble = scraped up mess with worse case of poison oak ever
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GoPro helmet footage of your incident, had it been around during that era, would have been incredible! True Wiley Coyote situation!
 
Just as long as the helmet is ANSI or Snell rated is what matters. Comfort, in my opinion, is paramount.

I prefer MTB helmets because they generally have a bit of a front brim, good ventilation, and back of the head adjustment, unlike some of the 'commuter' style helmets.

Many years ago, before Bell came out with their original 'salad bowl' helmets, I took a bad fall on black ice leaning into a turn one January morning on my work commute. Ended up with a concussion, pretty severe facial laceration, and several broken ribs. Completely knocked me out, and I came to on the road, watching my rear wheel slowly turning on my bike a couple yards down the road. While a helmet obviously wouldn't have prevented some of my injuries it certainly would have helped protect my big ol' noggin.

As for mountain biking...there's absolutely no shame in walking a bike through a downhill trail that might well be too technical for one's current skill set.

Once did an endo going down the trail near 'Devil's Toenail' in Riverside State Park when my front wheel got caught between two chunks of basalt. My helmet, a Giro, took the brunt of the impact. A group of whitewater kayakers playing in the rapids paused to applaud my crash, and then quickly paddled over to see if I was alright. Just a few scrapes, moderate embarrassment tempered with false bravado, and I pedaled off a little more aware of my limited abilties.
 
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Buzzy said:
(Old thread opened up)
In this thread - https://pnwflyfishing.com/forum/index.php?threads/float-tube-rearview-mirror.8165/page-2#post-190546 @krusty recommended EVT's mirror (I ordered it this morning, thanks again for the recommendation) but now I'm wondering about "helmets". Reading through this thread there are some pretty scary accounts of crashes. My brand new helmet is a Walmart CHEAP "Bell". I guess helmets aren't all the same (duh). Recommendations?

More to follow (tire pressure).
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I don’t know about USA, but in Australia all helmets are required to have the same safety features. The difference between a $20 helmet and $200 helmet is comfort and other non-safety features. I would be surprised if it was any different here. Bell is a reputable brand, too. You should be fine with what you have.
 
I like a mountain bike helmet to have a "bill" much like a baseball hat. Talking about tire pressure...the higher the pressure ..the easier it is to pedal. But the lower the tire pressure the more "traction" you get on those down hill turns. Of course without enough pressure you can get "pinch flats". These are easily identifiable by the two small holes in the tube (like a snake bite)....It is a balancing act. After carrying my bike for over two miles (in the desert heat) ..I learned to not under inflate my tires ...and have at least one spare inner tube AND a quality "patch kit". That being said ..lower tire pressure makes for a much faster ride down the hill.
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
I like a mountain bike helmet to have a "bill" much like a baseball hat. Talking about tire pressure...the higher the pressure ..the easier it is to pedal. But the lower the tire pressure the more "traction" you get on those down hill turns. Of course without enough pressure you can get "pinch flats". These are easily identifiable by the two small holes in the tube (like a snake bite)....It is a balancing act. After carrying my bike for over two miles (in the desert heat) ..I learned to not under inflate my tires ...and have at least one spare inner tube AND a quality "patch kit". That being said ..lower tire pressure makes for a much faster ride down the hill.
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It is possible to go to very low tire pressure without risking a 'snake bite' puncture with Stan's Tubeless tire system...and drastically reduce the chance of other punctures as well.
 
I used to ride a popular trail at Lake Hodges Ca (great fishery BTW). One day I had a horrible collision, head to head with another mountain biker going the other way on a blind curve. We both walked away, but my helmet was destroyed (you should have seen the other guy). Like motorcycles helmets...once they are damaged (even slightly) they should be trashed. As a side note ...many of us went with the incredible mountain bike lights, that allow you to ride at night. These lights are quite adequate for lighting up the trail and allow a rider to "shred" the trail much more safely then when ridden in daylight when these kinds of "mishaps" can occur.
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
I used to ride a popular trail at Lake Hodges Ca (great fishery BTW). One day I had a horrible collision, head to head with another mountain biker going the other way on a blind curve. We both walked away, but my helmet was destroyed (you should have seen the other guy). Like motorcycles helmets...once they are damaged (even slightly) they should be trashed. As a side note ...many of us went with the incredible mountain bike lights, that allow you to ride at night. These lights are quite adequate for lighting up the trail and allow a rider to "shred" the trail much more safely then when ridden in daylight when these kinds of "mishaps" can occur.
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So far the limits of my biking are paved streets in the neighborhood with the exception of the graveled back alley - I'm sure my tires are far too inflated to ride in loose gravel except slowly and carefully. Right now I'm just trying to get some biking legs - today, for the first time, I made it all the way up to the end of Patrick Road in high gear (uphill all the way); perhaps not a milestone worthy of a cold one but it felt good to be able to do so.
 
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