Post Your Ride

[gcouyant]

Love to try one of those Surlys.

It's a Mukluk..... Treading very softly.

[Alistair]

It really is surprisingly fun to ride but your gaze keeps drifting lower and lower to frame the fat front wheel inside your field of view. Hard bike to train on though because *everybody* hails you down to have a look and beg a ride. Sensational on soft terrain - but not in mud where the tyres lack lateral stability. Great drifter though.

Now i feel bad given my 180 when i saw you yesterday!

I see you also have a trance 1 - i liked my one of those, until the bearings ate the rear end. It is just sitting there looking very dead now...

[idw]

you can make dh riders jealous

[gcouyant]

Now i feel bad given my 180 when i saw you yesterday!

I see you also have a trance 1 - i liked my one of those, until the bearings ate the rear end. It is just sitting there looking very dead now...

No not at all Al. It was a delight to catch up. To be frank I was feeling off in the tummy and as I perked off to do the climb you were pointing up I said to myself that I shouldn't. A grey bearded man blowing chunks on the side of the trail is a sight that would scar many a young rider.

The other bikes in the background are Giant reign 0 and trance frame with "stuff". When we get together next let's discuss your Trance repair. You might be surprised.

[trailgumby]

Ooops, just noticed I was in the MTB forum Will remove roadie pic if anyone is offended

Too late I'm afraid.



Now you'll need to fit some knobby cyclocross tyres, and put up some photos with your bike covered in mud

[Mugglechops]

Ooops, just noticed I was in the MTB forum Will remove roadie pic if anyone is offended

Too late I'm afraid.



Now you'll need to fit some knobby cyclocross tyres, and put up some photos with your bike covered in mud

Like this



MTB is waiting for new pads to arrive and I couldn't help myself yesterday.

[igstar]

After years of having the MTB collecting dust, I finally fit a new fork on it, put knobbies on and went down to Lysterfield park. A friend and I had a blast and I thought to myself why have I been putting it off for so long . It was our first visit to Lysterfield and after the competition track, ended up getting lost only to find ourselves in a swamp. (Later we found we were on the Buckley trail which was closed for this very reason). Two hours later, caked in mud and grinning, we had a feed, good wash and now I'm ready for a trip to YYs next weekend.

[A_P]

I shudder to think of the trail damage caused by your 2hrs of fun.
This activity is frowned upon in SEQ , so i am sure the people who create and maintain the trails down there would feel the same way.
Long term sustainability of trails is not possible when riders like yourself damage them when they are wet.
Book yourself in for the next trail care day.
ok rant over.....

[LoveB]

Finally.

[trickle]

Nice, though it needs a brake upgrade and a much LARGER saddle bag ASAP.

[gcouyant]

After years of having the MTB collecting dust, I finally fit a new fork on it, put knobbies on and went down to Lysterfield park. A friend and I had a blast and I thought to myself why have I been putting it off for so long . It was our first visit to Lysterfield and after the competition track, ended up getting lost only to find ourselves in a swamp. (Later we found we were on the Buckley trail which was closed for this very reason). Two hours later, caked in mud and grinning, we had a feed, good wash and now I'm ready for a trip to YYs next weekend.

Good on you for putting in the effort to get back into the sport and for surviving the swamp - even though you were on that trail by accident. You will find the You Yangs vastly different.

A_P, the problem we most commonly face is riders who widen the trail or create B lines around anything that doesn't present itself as pristine track. That is what causes trail fairies grief because rehabilitation of a wide area is very hard work for us. Repairs that are confined to the track surface are much much easier.

We must, as MTB enthusiasts, not fall into the trap of turning a track into a consumer item.

[gcouyant]

Finally.

Wow.... Is that an XGR? What year is it? Massive rear end....

[LoveB]

Nice, though it needs a brake upgrade and a much LARGER saddle bag ASAP.

I need hydros lol. And a cleaner bag. lol


gcouyant, xxtension xplore. 2006 I believe but I bought it brand new about a month ago. The last bnew frame in Australia I think lol

[santacruzscott]

First post

Latest addition to my Santa Cruz collection.

[Phil]

Just got em home, first MTBs. The other half is a bit nervous about going clipless for trails/XC, so going with platforms for her to start with.

And for all the critics - Yes the one on the left does not have the chain on the right cogs, the seat height set (damn small cars - gonna have to get quick adjusters to makes life easier), both saddle bags are in the garage on other bikes, and various other technical issues.

That is about as clean as they will ever be.

[mitzikatzi]

...snip.... for all the critics - Yes the one on the left does not have the chain on the right cogs, the seat height set (damn small cars - gonna have to get quick adjusters to makes life easier), both saddle bags are in the garage on other bikes, and various other technical issues.

..snip...

AND! Crank arms and pedals level and at 3 o'clock (rhs bike).
Logo on tyres at top of tyres or valve stems hidden by frame (I know it's one of these never sure which way to go)
remove reflectors off wheels and seat post (at least for photo's)
remember to "slam that stem"

[trailgumby]

Oh, and one too many fork legs

Great choice, you'll have a lot of fun. I'm loving my 130mm version of those bikes.

[uglybob]

my latest purchase - second hand 2008 Specialized Epic Expert. upgraded from a Hardrock Disc model (hardtail). have taken it out for just the one ride so far, but very happy with it! rides a lot nicer, and has given me the confidence to attack a lot more features that I was before. hoping to get some decent kms on it, and get into some races etc



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[familyguy]

Bolted together. Colours are blanc de réfrigérateur et vert de chaux. Needs a spacer, a top cap, a left crank bolt, a few links taken out of the chain, and a straight RD hanger



My daughter insisted on having her picture taken with it, considering I built it mainly to put her seat on and take her for a spin.


She's wearing the latest kiddie fashion of a folded 700c inner tube.

Jim

[hazmat5765]

Well done Dad!

[drubie]

Not as nice as familyguy, but an example of what a pile of spare parts can turn into:

After I built up a Norco earlier in the year, I realised I had gotten a touch too clicky on spare parts and had nearly enough for a whole 'nother bike. I had a lot of it fitted up to a Giant 770 cro-mo frame until I realised it was too small for it's intended recipient.

...so grabbed whatever was available from the tip shop that had a 1 1/8" steerer. The LearSport isn't exactly a revered brand, but the frame has a big fat Fuji sticker on the seat tube along with an RST fork sticker. Just so happens my spare fork was an RST. Marriage made in heaven.

7 speed wheel from tip, ended up buying a new headset ($15 from Moruya cycles, nice people to deal with) and an Ebay 7 speed Sunrace cassette. Front derailleur is SR, rear one is a Suntour "Honor" that won't be there for long as I'm waiting for a couple of small parts to repair a more modern Shimano one that will work better with the gearing.

Biggest fail was the shifters. I repaired a workmates sons bike the other day and he had replaced the grip shifters with rapid-fire type units. He gave me the grip shifters, although I didn't realise they weren't indexed. No matter, new owner can spend $25 on shifters and I'll replace them when the parts for the rear mech arrive.

Rode it downtown on an errand - it's not as slick as the Norco but it's perfectly good for bouncing off stuff and I'd be happy to to a 70k "challenge" type event on it. Worst part is the Cyclops seat from k-mart. It sucks but I had nothing left that wasn't ripped and neither did the tip. My parts bucket is ominously low now - this build soaked up all the mistaken purchases from the last two builds.

[silentbutdeadly]

Learsport? Not revered?! How can you say that, Drubie!!

After all.....I own one. In fact one not unlike that one...except it is blue. And you can still get them....although they have Azzuri stickers on them now.

Mine started whole and was turned into a pile of spares and has been resurrected into an original frame and wheelset with everything else....replaced. Turns into a nice enough bike with a few bits of 9spd Deore and a Kinesis rigid alloy fork. Gets used for 20km lunchtime loops in the local forest. Unfortunately I have 'fatigued' mine slightly sideways a couple of mm....so how much longer it'll go for is anyones guess.

[drubie]

Learsport? Not revered?! How can you say that, Drubie!!
... Unfortunately I have 'fatigued' mine slightly sideways a couple of mm....so how much longer it'll go for is anyones guess.

Gotta admit I don't know much about them - I used to see a display at the mall when I lived in Sydney and it seemed like they based their entire pitch on "this bike has dura-ace but it's only $x" - but looking at the frames they seemed like they should have had sora fitted to 'em. Didn't even know they made mountain bikes.

The Fuji sticker sold me on it!

[silentbutdeadly]

Learsport? Not revered?! How can you say that, Drubie!!
... Unfortunately I have 'fatigued' mine slightly sideways a couple of mm....so how much longer it'll go for is anyones guess.

Gotta admit I don't know much about them - I used to see a display at the mall when I lived in Sydney and it seemed like they based their entire pitch on "this bike has dura-ace but it's only $x" - but looking at the frames they seemed like they should have had sora fitted to 'em. Didn't even know they made mountain bikes.

There's not much to know. Made under contract in Taiwan and stickered up to sell just like any other bike. The only downside is some unexceptional geometry and basic frame materials dressed up to sound otherwise. At the time in the mid noughties, one had to spend another $200 to get a similarily specced Giant...I think I paid about $500 for this one with an RST fork and Alivio 3x8 driveline. Even now....$500 won't get much more than that in a new MTB

Here's mine...

Like I said before....only the frame, wheels and brakes are original. The rest is either hanging in the shed or gone to the scrap bin...

It now runs a full 3x9 Deore driveline and Deore STi shifters (all for less than $250 thanks to a CRC sale), a rigid Kinesis alloy fork (dropped 1.2kg off the front end!) plus a few bits of bling like the Crank Bros skewers, Ergon grips and a Charge Spoon saddle. It was probably a ludicrous thing to do but it has taken nearly two years of wear and breakages to get this far rather than a purposeful wholesale strip and rebuild. And the result (though ugly) is effective and surprisingly comfortable as a daily forest belter...

....and a good training bike for when I pull the more ubiquitous Giant Anthem X29 out for a bit of a spin and yet another collection of punctures!!

[drubie]

....and a good training bike for when I pull the more ubiquitous Giant Anthem X29 out for a bit of a spin and yet another collection of punctures!!

Oooh, that things looks *purposeful* - there is something very funky about bitsa MTBs, generally it indicates that whoever owns it knows what they're doing (at least mechanically).

I was very tempted not to hand the Learsport over after I rode it - despite the RST fork being (as you said) heavy and a little unresponsive, it doesn't completely suck like a k-mart MTB. With rapid fire shifters it'll be a handy little bike.