Considering getting into mountain biking

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by Cos


I need pre-beginner. Something where I can compete against 10 year olds.

You'd be surprised how fast some of the 10 year olds are. Also they get to race in the kid's category which I imagine you can't sneak your way into

[Unknown303]

Originally posted by codetrap
A downhill F/s one to go out with Unknown & Cos (if they'll let me again, I'm apparently bad luck).. and a hybrid for commuting on.

You just need a good freeride or all mountain bike. And you weren't bad luck for me.

[bigboom]

Originally posted by GreyFox
Does anybody know of any mountain biking events that are suited towards the more beginner/intermediate rider? I've decided that I want to focus less on road riding/triathlons this year and more on mountain biking so I can get better at it...and I find the best way to do that is to find a few different events to try out. I find it helps get me out of my comfort zone and helps me to try new things/trails rather than just riding the same ol' trails every time I go out.

What I've found so far is:
Round the Mountain - Kimberley
Kootenay Krusher - Radium
Rundle's Revenge - Canmore
Xterra Canmore
6 in the Stix - Cranbrook

And the Kootenay Rockies Enduro Series....which looks like a blast but I fear is over my head. I can't for the life of me find last year's trail map or anything so I could figure out if it actually is or not.

Anybody else have any other suggestions? Closer to Calgary the better. I also left out 24 hours of adrenalin and that MS one in canmore because of cost.

If you're a beginner I'd stay away from any of the Kootenay Enduro Series events, those are true Enduro events. If you want to do some races that will cater to all level of riders check out some of the following:

CNC - Organ Grinder, Iron Maiden
Salmon Arm - Salty Dog
COP - Giver8er, Summer Solstice

Those would all be enjoyable for beginners, if you're looking for multi day you can check out Fernie 3...all the other ones require a little more experience.

[Cos]

.

[GreyFox]

Update - I've been waiting for info on the Dirty Thursday's in Eastlands and I went to the site the other day to check to see if anything was announced and the page was down. It appears they've replaced it with something called Hump Day Hustle...except it's in Canmore now

http://transrockies.com/hump-day-hustle-race-series/

Better venue, obviously, but seems a bit far to do a quick rip just after work. I might check it out if the weather is nice but I'm not that dedicated to drive all the way out there for a 60 min race in the pouring rain haha.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by GreyFox
Update - I've been waiting for info on the Dirty Thursday's in Eastlands and I went to the site the other day to check to see if anything was announced and the page was down. It appears they've replaced it with something called Hump Day Hustle...except it's in Canmore now

http://transrockies.com/hump-day-hustle-race-series/

Better venue, obviously, but seems a bit far to do a quick rip just after work. I might check it out if the weather is nice but I'm not that dedicated to drive all the way out there for a 60 min race in the pouring rain haha.

That sucks. Driving 2 hrs to race for 45 minutes isn't worth it for me.
I wonder what turn-out is like out there?

[GreyFox]

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar


That sucks. Driving 2 hrs to race for 45 minutes isn't worth it for me.
I wonder what turn-out is like out there?

I ended up going yesterday to check it out. Weather was perfect, it had rained a bit earlier, not very much and it was a clear sky for the evening.

Turnout was dismal. 1 guy who did the run and about 10 people who did the bike. I think 6 of those people were friends or at least knew each other and 3 of them also seemed to be a group and then there was me. They have a neat tent set up with drinks and some goodies from their sponsors and they have music going and a very well marked course.

Course itself was good, pretty much all blue's so it's good for beginner to intermediate riders. Or I guess if you're advanced it's not terrible and you can just rip through the whole thing as fast as possible and try to win...it is a race after all.

[Seks]

anyone ordered mtn bike parts from any of the following sites before?


http://www.merlincycles.com/
http://www.jensonusa.com/
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com

How are the brokerage and duties?

Any other reputable online stores?

[lilmira]

I have ordered stuff from Merlin, Chain Reaction, Wiggle and Ribble. I have an order coming from Wiggle as we speak.

I have only been hit once for apparel, tax and handling fee only, not even duty. They mostly use local mail and then the package gets handed to Canada Post. Most bike parts are duty free so even if they ding you, it should only be tax and handling, big if. The order that I got hit was about 160 bucks. I got wheels from Ribble which are 700 bucks, there should be duty and tax but I didn't get dinged. So it's kinda "YMMV". Based on my experience, it's mostly miss.

[Penguin_Racecar]

I almost exclusively use chainreactioncycles (for things I can't find or are astronomically priced locally) and have been hit once with tax/duties many years ago. This is out of 5-6 orders total I've done with them. Anything over $99 gets you free shipping also.

With JensonUSA you'll get dinged with shipping costs and likely to get hit with customs duties also.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by GreyFox


I ended up going yesterday to check it out. Weather was perfect, it had rained a bit earlier, not very much and it was a clear sky for the evening.

Turnout was dismal. 1 guy who did the run and about 10 people who did the bike. I think 6 of those people were friends or at least knew each other and 3 of them also seemed to be a group and then there was me. They have a neat tent set up with drinks and some goodies from their sponsors and they have music going and a very well marked course.

Course itself was good, pretty much all blue's so it's good for beginner to intermediate riders. Or I guess if you're advanced it's not terrible and you can just rip through the whole thing as fast as possible and try to win...it is a race after all.

Thanks for the feedback. It wouldn't be bad if it was a group of us going. I may be up for that sometime though I have to be careful with my wrist (road bike incident) and my SS hardtail is built up fully rigid right now.

[r3ccOs]

so... I've been riding my retro-modern Gary 29er G2 hardtail which has a dropper, 1x, half decent tk32 coil 100mm travel fork, BB7 brakes and am loving it. I compared it to other XC like bikes and it has the same geometry for BB height, cockpit length, chain-stays etc... and I've also updated the cockpit with some 760bars and a 50mm stem Biggest tires on my 23mm rim is a 2.3 that I'm running WTB Trail bosses on

that said, there is much I would be happier with a full suspension or just more tire I think... so it comes down to full suspension or not?

I'm not a die hard hardtailer, but I think a 27.5+ (x3) with say a Fox 34 150 with a half decent drive-line (SLX/GX) 1x would be good enough for my riding... just the boost axels, wider rim, wider tire at say 22PSI and a slack angle of 65-66 would be nice for an allaround trail bike?

I was thinking something like the Kona Honzo, Trek Roscoe etc... you know the type, but was also thinking building up say a Cromag Rootdown?

If I did a Cromag, I'd definitely go robust with most of their accessories (seats, handlebars, stem) then giver a GX 1x with SRAM crank, XT brakes, Fox 34 and a 27.5 x3.0 on some sturdy wheels.

suggestions

[dimi]

Depends. I personally keep to 1 mountain bike due to the expense/maintenance/space so I have a carbon 29er, 150mm 36/135mm dpx2. Perfect bike for me. Not the fastest on xc/flow trails and certainly not the most capable in the whistler bike park, but its a great compromise. I started on a hardtail years ago, but looking back I have a hard time finding any reason to ride one nowadays.

I don't particularly like plus tires as they tend to lose the response you get from 2.3-2.5s and are much heavier and a lot more expensive. 2.4-2.5 is the sweet spot IMO.

Depending on the terrain you ride, the 34 might be flexy in 150mm (the highest travel for a 34). That was my previous fork so hence the 36 now. Great fork for xc/flowy trails though, just gets a bit overwhelmed when things get rowdy, so something to consider. It is significantly lighter than a 36 though.

My advice is ride your hardtail now, and build a FS rig for next year. Buying anything right now is going to $$$, so wait until sep/oct and you'll see lots of deals around.

Edit: Another thing to consider is just buying a direct sales bike. The value proposition is hard to beat and you'll still build it yourself (ie. Commencal )