The Shiny New All-Purpose MTB Thread

Ade -- there are lots of semi-slicks with side knobs that allow significantly faster road riding and still allow you to veer off-road (as long as its not muddy).

By far the best solution thoguh is a second set of cheap wheels with with proper MTB slicks (1" Continental Avenues are ace) so you can swap over quickly.

The Schwalbe Fat Alberts on my Cove are the best tyres I have ever had -- they are much like Mekon's WTBs I think in that they are a wide, soft sticky tyre with an aggressive pattern but significantly lighter than pure DH/FR tyres. I'd definitely buy them again (assuming I can find a stockist as they seem quite rare outside Germany).

Schwalbe Fat Alberts

I ride them to work and they are not bad at all but rolling resistance is not their forte. I suspect they are not the cheapest either.

Matthew

"Does your front wheel have some sort of monstrous 20mm axle instead of the usual QR? Mine does, and I have NO IDEA how to get the wheel off"

No I don't have one and have no idea how to get one off either.

Matthew

Matthew

From the stills, it looks like you've gone into the transition quite soft (ie your limbs look poised to bend), and hauled the bike up under you. Instead, attempt to fully compress the forks, locking out your arms and legs, just as you start to hit the transition. To get as much air a possible, you want you and the bike to be really rigid as you hit the lip. As you pop out, then feel free to yank it further/tweak it, etc. Watch some MotoX dirt jumping, and emulate the way that force the bike into the ground on takeoff. Alex is spot on about tire pressure and suspension, which is why you have to compress the bike as you go into the jump, and then bounce out of it.

Holler if you want to try the chalk pits. Alex's accident notwithstanding, it's actually got some good stuff to learn on.

Mekon,

So you are saying I should have my arms and legs extended as I ride up to the lip?

What I am trying to do is compress down and bend my arms and legs at the bottom of the jump and then sort of stand up and extend as I rie up the face. This is what I understand to be meant by "pumping".

Other people do seem to go higher at the same speed though so I am obviously doing something wrong.

"Holler if you want to try the chalk pits"

I am tempted. Practicalities and lack of brave trousers notwithstanding.

Matthew

It is all a matter of timing, so this is easier to show than describe, but basically yes.

The way I see it, there are 3 objects; you, the frame(& and everything except the front wheel and sliders), and the front wheel and sliders. To get maximum height, everything needs to follow the path of the front wheel as closely a possible, as that is the bit that follows the desired trajectory with the most speed. Bendy arms, suspension, and squigy tires stop this, and you (& to a lesser extent the frame) keep going forward when the front wheel starts going up (which is why BMX racers do it). If you compress at the bottom, you are essentially pushing everything together before the direction change that gives you air occurs. That way, the 3 objects become one big lump that gets fired out the top of the lip. If you start it halfway up the jump, the directions of those three objects are all fighting against each other, and vertical speed is lost.

I am sure that is no help whatsoever, so just wind your preload and compression damping right the way up, and pump your tires up to 70 psi. You will definitely get more air that way.

I might haul the BMX up there this evening then. That has nothing to compress on it at all.

Thanks,
Matthew

Not 1/4 of a mile from my door this afternoon, I hopped over a speed bump on my BMX and as i landed on my back tyre there was a loud pop closely followed by the sound of rim on tarmac. My tyre looks like this:



The cause was, I kid you not, a stanley knife blade that some little blirt had stuck, edge upwards, in a crack on the speed bump. Honestly, its enough to make you agree with Mick (almost).

Matthew

I rode some mini-ramp today for the first time -- all this week the good people of Harringey council have some portable ramps set up in Finsbury Park. Naturally I bossed the park and outclassed the other riders (a 10 year old girl, and a 7 year old boy with pads to bigger than him) and drew cheers from the onlooking playgroup.

I also broke my bike again (sort of). Landing a bit hard on my front wheel the bars rotated around in the stem about 20 degrees with an horrible crunching noise. I suspect this is caused by the lack of torque I can get from my trail tool whcih is probably not the best thing with which to tighten stem bolts.

Which was a shame as I was just building up to the big spine. I don't think park riding is for me though really. Its good fun but you know sooner or later you are going to crash and its going to hurt a lot.

Matthew
Off to Woburn Sands tomorrow

Damn, I am jealous. I haven't been to Woburn since 94, when there wasn't much there. Are you going to head over to Chicksands as well?

Have you seen the videos on Blurredout?

quote:

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the good people of Harringey council

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This sounds like a contradiction in terms to me, but I am glad they've spent my council tax money on something other than humps in a road for a change.

They might even do some rubbish collection in Green Lanes next. Emphasis on "might".

Are you very close to Finsbury Park - do you ever drink in the Faltering Fullback?

Rod

Yuk.

Mekon said "Have you seen the videos on Blurredout?"

Well I have now and am rather wondering if a couple of laps of the resevoir might be more appropriate.

If it's as much fun as it looks I might go regularly now that I have a bike rack. If you can get to central London you could always come along.

Rod said "Are you very close to Finsbury Park - do you ever drink in the Faltering Fullback?"

Never heard of it to be honest. Am in Highbury but rarely go in the Finsbury direction socially.

Matthew

You guys hip to 29er MTB's. It seems there's quite a few folks over on MTB dot com who like them. I have a GF 29'er that I really like but I'm not doing the hardcore MTB stuff that most MT bikers are doing. They appear to have advantages that even the hardcore riders prefer. Just wondering if they've caught on outside the US.

Cheers,
John

Perhaps one of you might be able to advise me on a bike for my 7 year old daughter. She's pretty capable and mad keen on Epping so I'm trying to get a proper bike for her birthday. The 3 I've narrowed it down to are Ridgeback MX20, Specialized Hotrock and a Trek. The latter two have suspension forks, is that a waste of time?



Hopefully I can pass it on to the younger ones when she outgrows it.

John

Matthew if you are seriously going to try those jumps I can recommend an excellent spinal surgeon

John -- I know nothing about bikes for 7 year-olds but I can tell you that Specialized, Trek and Gary Fisher all make excellent bikes. Ridgeback are still ok but perhaps a nothc below those other brands.

I can also challenge you daughter to a race as long as she is prepared to EAT MY DUST!

Matthew

I wouldn't bother with suspension for kiddies bikes. To reduce the stiction to the point where they'd be able to get movement out of them would take money or sloppy bushings and poor seals. Kiddies bikes don't cost that much, so they'll either end up with a hefty fork that does nothing and weighs them down, or a sloppy fork that stops working at the first glimpse of muck, and weighs them down. When I helped out mate choosing a bike for his 8 year old, we went for the lightest BMX we could find in the price range, and swapped the sprocket for a weenie flatland jobbie, as most BMXs are horribly overgeared for kiddies.

Something like the mongoose mini-motivator would suit, and it's already tweaked for little 'uns.

"as most BMXs are horribly overgeared for kiddies"

And indeed for 37 year-olds.

<Rubs thighs gingerly>

quote:

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Originally posted by Matthew Brownnutt:
John

I've just bought a Gary Fisher http://www.fisherbike.co.uk/bikes/2004/kids/comet.php for my son. It's got the same size wheels as the Ridgeback but the standover height is a lot better. I'm really impressed with the design. Everything seems well thought out. (And the Girls model has tassles )

There's is a model above the Comet which has gears and front suspension. That would be worth looking at. My only concern with gears is would it distract from her riding.

A good shop will let you have a test ride.

Matt

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I bought a Comet for my 6 yr old daughter at the beginning of the Summer and she has gotten a lot of use from it. I wanted to get her a Cosmo which had gears but she was too young to handle the handbrakes. She goes like hell on the Comet and can keep up with us quite well on the 4 + mile rides we've gone on this year. She can keep a 12 mile and hour pace pretty well on flat land.

John

quote:

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Originally posted by John C:
Perhaps one of you might be able to advise me on a bike for my 7 year old daughter. She's pretty capable and mad keen on Epping so I'm trying to get a proper bike for her birthday.

Hopefully I can pass it on to the younger ones when she outgrows it.

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My 8-year old son has a 20" wheeled Specialized Hotrock and my 12-year old daughter a 24" wheeled Ridgeback MX. Both are good bikes.

My daughter originally had the Specialized and so far it has survived 2-kids and lots of hard use very well indeed, only requiring the occasional adjustment to brakes and gears (it'll need to same this week as yesterday he rode it along a sandy beach and through a river about as deep as the wheels!). Very highly recommended.

Bought the Hotrock (top (nearly) LBS recommendation Simpsons ... Kentish Town), so far its a great success with attempted bunny hops, thrashing along the canal and fearless flings on the park.

John

I'll let her have a go next week

Or even Bike Porn.

I daren't ask what you were really looking for.

Matthew,

Did you manage to get to Glentress?

No we went to Grizedale Forest in the Lake District instead. Nephew X (names ommitted to protect the inncent) showed a great attitude and no little aptitude despite no suspension and only three gears as his rear mech was knackered. Nephew Y, despite having recently upgraded his stem, expressed incredulity when I suggested we cycle up a steep rocky bridleway instead of sticking on the firetrack. He got off and pushed without even trying and I was rather glad we hadn't driven to Glentress.

I also have some video footage of me and Josh on a small dirt jump. However as Chloe (11) and Luke (12) were working the camera it mostly consists of footage of some random bush and a voiceover that goes "Press the button", "I did press the button", "It's not working", etc. Also on the one take that did come out some non-specific technical errors meant that it looks like Josh is better at it than me so naturally I have destroyed this footage.

We also built a small stand had a bunnyhop comeptition which I won by clearing bar on the 7th nail when Josh peaked on the 6th nail.

Much fun was had by all.

Matthew

Sounds good.

I got some great footage of my 8-year old son crossing a river (about wheel deep on his bike) including an escape bit by one of his shoes!

Does anyone know how to check for wear? And how long they typically last?

My front brake is making a funny noise. I sort of had a look at it but I am not really sure what it is exactly I am supposed to be checking.

Thanks.

Matthew

PS One of The Kids in Finsbury Park saw fit to shout "Whoa! sick!" at me today as I jumped a set of stairs. Naturally I was totally stoked.