gsteinb

it's not mine. loaner.

I don't really ride outside in the summer either.

revchuck 

That's gonna look funny on the trainer. Riding it on the rollers ought to be fun!

gsteinb

now that I have a zillion miles of mountain bike trails out my door, I'd like to have a bike I could actually ride out there. Having gears was an amazing difference than my old school SS. Realistically though, there's not a great deal of application of what just did to how I train for racing. Fun, yeah. Useful? Marginal.

Wylde06

I rode a fatbike over the weekend for a little bit. The bike is a lot of fun, but I still can't justify buying one. Lack of trails, and I would use it maybe 5 times a year.

It was still pretty fun to ride around though

globecanvas

I'm in a similar boat, tons of MTB right out the door. I mostly do MTB rides as recovery rides. There are always sections that are steep/technical enough that it's difficult to keep the power down, but I try to do those sections as slow as humanly possible which does feel useful as balance and bike control practice. It's really satisfying to get up something nasty without breathing hard.


... 1 hr slow motion single track, 150 ft/mile of elevation including some super steep stuff, cleaned the whole loop (except for one part of a rock garden that can only be cleaned if you are more willing to eat **** than I am).

gsteinb

the bike I have has a really small front chain ring and 1X. I could get up trails I never could on my SS. So I do think it has some recovery potential, though my recovery rides are so easy I usually just do them on the rollers as it's hard to keep my power that low outside around here (i.e. 100). On a JRA or endurance day though this might be the ticket. Not sure I have a data point of fat bike vs 29er vs 27.5 based on this one ride though.

globecanvas

On that, all I can say is that the few MTB guys I know who bought fat bikes all ended up selling them. I have a 29" hardtail bike but if I could justify spending the money I'd prefer a FS 650B.

mattm

Now you'll probably hear even more people yelling at you on The Morning Ride!

rideaz

That's the grossest thing I've heard today, and that is saying something because I teach in a Middle School!

gsteinb

The revelation for me was having gears. It's been 15 years since I rode a geared mountain bike. I forgot that I might not have to regulalry walk or grind. I agree on the fat bike assessment. If I were buying two bikes I'd certainly get one, but with only 1 I think 27.5 is the way to go.

mike868y

i have an irrational desire for a full rigid canti old school mountain bike.

globecanvas

Great now I'm window shopping MTBs.

It's weird that MTB frames are so pricey compared to complete bikes.

gsteinb

ha. I have a circa 93 kona Ti that's had tabs welded on and is set up as a single speed. I even have a rigid carbon fiber fork (not presently installed). I figure it would fit you. No cantis (the braze ons are there there), but that's just a dumb idea.

big john

How about a 21 pound cf hardtail with a 100mm Sid fork?

mike868y

i don't ride carbon

mike868y

thanks for the offer (i think it was an offer?) but my bike stuff budget is kind of limited (still interested in those rollers though!). didn't budget for the $1,000 in grad school app fees

gsteinb

That bike is too cool for you anyway!

globecanvas

Thanks to this conversation I was looking over MTBs at the shop. My HT 29er is ideal for some of the nearby areas like Stewart, but it's just not the right bike for the trails out my door. The shop can give me a silly deal on a new carbon FS 27.5, so I'm thinking about that. They are all like "keep your old bike for when you go to Stewart" but the fact is that I pretty much never drive 45 minutes to ride my bike.

So, anybody want my old bike?

furiousferret

Both my boss and coworker are sick. Put them on notice that I have harshly protested their attendance at work and will sulk for weeks if am to get sick.

gsteinb

I'm not sure I'm going to want to spend the money on what I need for the trails out my door. But I'm certain it will comprise 97% of my mountain bike riding. I can't really imagine putting my bike in the car to go to waywayanda, or jungle habit, etc when I can ride right out my door.

Wylde06

One of the main reasons I haven't bought a mountain bike or a cross bike is because there are no trails around here. There is a 9 mile towpath trail, but that's about it as far as whats available locally.

TMonk

I'm in the process of building a MTB right now:

Gonna like like this, 'cept with a Fox Float 32 (Kashima) and a 1x10 drivetrain:

TMonk

Also, without the gorgeous green, wooded backdrop

Homebrew01

I've got rollers in need of a home, in case whatever deal you're working on falls through.

mike868y

i've got standard rollers, but i'm trying to angle my way into some inside ride