The Mountain Bike Thread

I've been down in Tucson for several weeks visiting family and riding my bike most days. The riding down here is sooo good. Road, gravel, mountain are all great. Tons of nice, flowy 'green' XC trails that aren't full of roots and babyheads like back home. Super fun on my current gravel bike (Specialized Diverge) with 50s. Most of the roads have super wide shoulders and bike lanes. There is also a system of bike paths known as "The Loop" running 100+ miles that is a million times nicer than the Burke-Gilman with almost no rollerbladers, dogwalkers and other moving hazards. I'm sure there are some scary downhill trails in the mountains but I break easier than I used to so I stay away from that stuff.

I've been the total idiot tourist stopping in the middle of the trail to photograph Javelinas, Roadrunners, and every odd looking cactus (there are a lot of them)...

This time of year was pretty much perfect although I did get caught in the first monsoon of the season 68 miles into a 70 miles ride... Got pelted with hail and drenched in heavy rain for about 10min then it got sunny again. Temps start to crank up next week though. Try to wrangle my work schedule to come back in October to race the Spirit World 100 which looks killer. Going to scout the course this weekend before flying back to dreary Seattle.

I told a guy I met about fishing for salmon and showed him a photo of a nice springer and he almost shit himself. Probably similar to how I felt when I rode up on a pack/herd? of Javelinas at the Circle K. ;)

Oh... riding fast in the desert is kind of like rowing a drift boat, never focus on what you don't want to hit. One overcooked turn and you're into a 'jumping cholla'. AMHIK

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If someone's in the market for a used bike... I've got a nice 2018 Santa Cruz Bronson C size L in Bellingham that I've gotta move. Definitely willing to wheel and deal for someone here. :)

 
N+1 strikes again...

Just ordered my 60th birthday present to myself, a new gravel bike, a Parlee Taos. Looking forward to the clearance to run 50s.

Times change, when I bought my first gravel bike in 2019, 38's were the standard and looked huge.
Follow-up...

I've had the Taos about a month now. Loving it so far. Several 5+ hour rides, mixed road and gravel and the fit and comfort are spot on. The bike geometry nerds looking at the photo below will notice the very slack geo, short stem and low BB. It's not quite a hardtail MTB with drop bars, but it's getting pretty close. The front fork has a flip chip that can slacken the front end geo even more. The tires are 50mm's that measure out at 53mm actual width with the wide internal width of my wheel set. That's 2.08" which is getting into XC tire range. Super plush at 25PSI.

Looking forward to taking it to CO next month and doing a bunch of riding around Boulder and Steamboat.

2,130 miles and 112,000' of climbing so far this year, ahead of my 4K/200K goals. Gotta bank the time this summer to offset winter trainer blues starting in November...

My favorite river in the background ;)

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I am visiting my home town Bellingham later this week. How bad is the climb at Galby? I want to do U line!
 
I am visiting my home town Bellingham later this week. How bad is the climb at Galby? I want to do U line!
Kinda depends on how in shape you are! ;)

From the south lot to the towers is about 1200' of climbing, so straight to U Line will be less. You can either go up on interesting single track or grind up the roads. https://www.wmbcmtb.org/galbraith-trails

Looks like a bit of rain Thurs PM/Fri AM which should help the trails. They're not too dusty but more summer moisture always helps.
 
My son has gotten really into the bike now. He is starting to get airborne but I don't think his no suspension guardian is quite up for it. Landings can sound kinda harsh. Does anyone have any recommendations for a bike that might be better suited for jumps/drops. He is on a 20" right now and it fits him. It seems like there are more options once he's on a 24". I'm not really looking to drop $2k on a 5 year old's bike. I'm wondering if there is anything out there under $1k people recommend? I took him to Duthie yesterday and I was a little nervous at times. My wife ordered a full face helmet last night before he preemptively loses his baby teeth.
 
That's awesome. Is he shifting gears yet or single speed? Trek has a pretty bad-ass 20" 7speed that actually has front suspension-
$419, which these days is a pretty decent price.

They also make this lil beefy one with no suspension, but bigger tires for $699-

Specialized makes one exactly like it.

Good luck! I wished I would've got my boys on mtbs sooner. The younger one raced bmx for a bit and is really good in the woods, but was always busy with football, hoops and track. And music. Haha! The older one has a really nice hard-tail from REI.
They make a great lil ripper as well, but again, no suspension. https://www.rei.com/product/215697/co-op-cycles-rev-20-6-speed-plus-kids-mountain-bike

Looks like the 24s are when you can start getting some suspension.
 
He's on a single speed with no suspension. To make it fair he won't let me change gears and I have to keep my suspension locked.That Trek might be a good option to bridge the gap. He had a smaller one of those when he was 3.
 
My flyfishing setup ... This summer I failed to ride it enough and i am not happy at all.

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My son has gotten really into the bike now. He is starting to get airborne but I don't think his no suspension guardian is quite up for it. Landings can sound kinda harsh. Does anyone have any recommendations for a bike that might be better suited for jumps/drops. He is on a 20" right now and it fits him. It seems like there are more options once he's on a 24". I'm not really looking to drop $2k on a 5 year old's bike. I'm wondering if there is anything out there under $1k people recommend? I took him to Duthie yesterday and I was a little nervous at times. My wife ordered a full face helmet last night before he preemptively loses his baby teeth.
I have been keeping track of the market and 24inch full suspension I have seen go for about 800 to 1300. Katie will be in a 24 soon herself but she's going hardtail kona shred.
 
My son has gotten really into the bike now. He is starting to get airborne but I don't think his no suspension guardian is quite up for it. Landings can sound kinda harsh. Does anyone have any recommendations for a bike that might be better suited for jumps/drops. He is on a 20" right now and it fits him. It seems like there are more options once he's on a 24". I'm not really looking to drop $2k on a 5 year old's bike. I'm wondering if there is anything out there under $1k people recommend? I took him to Duthie yesterday and I was a little nervous at times. My wife ordered a full face helmet last night before he preemptively loses his baby teeth.
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Do anyone have any opinion on a Davinci hardtail for a novice/beginner? The cheap bike I bought of Craigslist is too small but it was close and cheap. It seems like my son is going to stick with this bike thing. I'm thinking I need something that fits at the very least to keep up.
 
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