Mountain biking?
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I'm old school and love riding my hardtail. At my age I'm not taking on big jumps and gaps anyway and although a sweetly tuned full-suss is going to be faster over the ground the hardtail gives me a literal seat of the pants ride.
I don't get much riding done around Welly simply because I am lazy when it comes to spending half an hour riding up for a 5 minute down. I am lucky though that I do regular trips to Queenstown and my abilities and bike are perfectly suited to putting a grin on my face on the tracks around Coronet. Rude Rock is all sorts of awesome and the new Hot Rod is just as good.
I used to do a bit of 'bike-tramping' in the UK where I would ride a shared track instead of walking it. Get to see more in the time and occasionally get some enjoyable challenges. Scotland was great for doing this. Got dropped off in Glen Coe and rode the last stretch of the Great Highland Way. Also rode over the top of a piece of the Applecross peninsula. Bonus is that rides like that always end at a pub.
Was lining up to do the Queen Charlotte when it re-opened to bikes in March but other trips got in the way. May do so later in the year.Tried MTBO (Orienteering) in the Surrey Hills for a giggle and really enjoyed it. Probably because the event was held around my usual weekend riding area and I knew the lay of the land.
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@crucial never heard of mountain bike orienteering but sounds pretty cool!
Ive got a hardtail Merida I use a bit too - I keep it down the bach so I dont need to take the good bike with me each time. Mainly on the road and gravel down there anyway. I love how efficient it is compared to the full sus. The full sus is just so much fun to ride though. I don't jump like I use too but I did for a while when i first started riding again, until I crashed! Then I realised how much longer it takes to recover now at this age and I also lost a lot of confidence from it. Only just got that confidence back so have starting doing small doubles again as I need to lead by example to get the lad doing it the right way rather than just sending it full noise and hoping for the best
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@jk said in Mountain biking?:
@antipodean said in Mountain biking?:
Was riding a Giant Trance until someone decided they needed it more than I did late last year. Haven't replaced it.
Oh stink sorry to hear! No insurance claim waiting to be made?
I thought about it, but dithered given I wasn't riding much and now need an op to clean up my knee.
If I did, I'd probably opt for a hardtail 29" as it would suit the type of riding my advancing years has me tending towards anyway; more XC than DH. I once did the Capitol Punishment enduro race on my Giant Reign. Whoever says that bike is good for climbing has never ridden a bike. Everyone on a hardtail and 29" wheels was overtaking me on switchbacks. Come the downhill bit however. Well, until this:
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@antipodean is that a frame crack?
I tried an enduro. Overestimated my fitness level. Pulled out on the last down as the organisers weren’t separating grades and the pressure of young kids on expensive limos flying past me combined with being tired was likely to end in disaster.
One of the bonuses to age is that you have nothing to prove and have hopefully learned when you’ve tipped past the edge between excitement and stupidity. -
Decent little ride this arvo out at woodhill. Sandbased forest so a great place to ride this time of year.
Managed 21km and 500m of climb plus hit up a black grade 5 trail I hadnt ridden before. Not many drops or jumps but some steep steep declines. Was good to check it out and suss it out to ride proper next time.
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If anyone is looking for a Tasmanian vacation and keen on mountain biking Derby is worth checking out
Derby is an old tin mining town that was basically dead. Since mountain biking came to town the place is absolutely pumping.
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@crucial said in Mountain biking?:
@antipodean is that a frame crack?
Minor problem with the crankset when 75% of the bolts shear/ undo.
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@antipodean said in Mountain biking?:
@crucial said in Mountain biking?:
@antipodean is that a frame crack?
Minor problem with the crankset when 75% of the bolts shear/ undo.
Blind old man am I! My eyes were drawn to the bottom of the frame there but I guess that is just the protective film.
Locktite is your friend on those bolts (as I am sure you know)
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@antipodean what's the rear tyre you are running there? Unusual tread.
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@crucial IIRC it's a Maxxis Crossmark. Great for summer on dry trails.
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@antipodean said in Mountain biking?:
@crucial IIRC it's a Maxxis Crossmark. Great for summer on dry trails.
Cheers. They look good for summer in Queenstown. Dry well formed flow tracks with fast corners.
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@crucial said in Mountain biking?:
@jk said in Mountain biking?:
2016 tranced advanced
Looks nice. Manual lockouts on Shock and Fork?
Yeah mate all manual. I've never ridden a bike set up another way and to be honest hardly use the lock out as on the rare occasion I have locked it out for a climb, I've then forgotten to unlock before I've fired off down the other side! Dropper though gets much more work.
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@jk said in Mountain biking?:
@crucial said in Mountain biking?:
@jk said in Mountain biking?:
2016 tranced advanced
Looks nice. Manual lockouts on Shock and Fork?
Yeah mate all manual. I've never ridden a bike set up another way and to be honest hardly use the lock out as on the rare occasion I have locked it out for a climb, I've then forgotten to unlock before I've fired off down the other side! Dropper though gets much more work.
Droppers are a game changer. Couldn't bear not having one.
Yep, you do have to have a little mind routine before racing off downhill. If I have just climbed then I tell myself to adjust dropper and release fork lock.
I did go the whole way down a mountainside in Scotland that had steps for walkers with my fork locked. Was rather a rough ride!
If I rode a full suss I would be looking to lock the rear uphill though. Bugger expending energy into the shock, it's hard enough already. -
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Found a decent trail network that was shutdown about 5 years ago that still appears to be regularly ridden and semi-maintained.
Snuck in there on sat arvo for a few hours and found it to be pretty decent. Felt a bit sketch riding past the "no mountain biking" and "closed" signs but enjoyed the trails and will be back for sure. All NZ native sort of stuff and heaps of bird life. Good fun!
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@jk said in Mountain biking?:
Found a decent trail network that was shutdown about 5 years ago that still appears to be regularly ridden and semi-maintained.
Snuck in there on sat arvo for a few hours and found it to be pretty decent. Felt a bit sketch riding past the "no mountain biking" and "closed" signs but enjoyed the trails and will be back for sure. All NZ native sort of stuff and heaps of bird life. Good fun!
Well I can tell that is wasn't at this end of the country as there is no sign of mud! Pretty waterlogged around here at the moment.
A little pet hate of mine is tards that cut up trails when wet and leave the repairs for others.
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@crucial said in Mountain biking?:
@jk said in Mountain biking?:
Found a decent trail network that was shutdown about 5 years ago that still appears to be regularly ridden and semi-maintained.
Snuck in there on sat arvo for a few hours and found it to be pretty decent. Felt a bit sketch riding past the "no mountain biking" and "closed" signs but enjoyed the trails and will be back for sure. All NZ native sort of stuff and heaps of bird life. Good fun!
Well I can tell that is wasn't at this end of the country as there is no sign of mud! Pretty waterlogged around here at the moment.
A little pet hate of mine is tards that cut up trails when wet and leave the repairs for others.
Yeah this trail was surprisingly good but also doesnt get a huge amount of action. Was also sat arvo so hadn't rained for a few days. Wouldnt be riding there today after the rain we've had.
The place I really like to ride is riverhead but those are clay based trails and are a total mess right now so big avoid during winter.
Cutting up trails annoys me too. Especially when people lock up the back brakes and drag the back wheel down. Better to just send it and sort it out down the bottom!
Blue Derby Tasmania Mountain Biking Trails
