magohn

Hi all,

Perhaps not very exciting to others but here's a short video of today's ride at Duthie Hill Park here in WA. What an awesome park. Its specifically setup for MTB trails and a LOT of work has gone into constructing trails from beginner to advanced. I rode the 'BootCamp' beginners trail and I have to tell you, what a workout! Very challenging for me but I really enjoyed it.

The bike held up fantastically (Im 280lbs) and ran like a champ. I had one incident of the chain 'almost' coming off and one 'almost' wipeout but I caught myself. I think I have to tweak the limit to stop the chain running off the large rear sprocket.

Lots of fun The clicking in the video is from the GoPro. It makes a noise on the chest-mount if I dont tighten it enough - I didnt.

.be

freighttraininguphill

I don't know how I missed this. Welcome to the wonderful world of MTB! If you were down here I could show you some fun trails. Have fun with your new bike!

What settings did you use when you encoded your video? I ask because it shows as a tiny box with a big black border around it. What I have done in order to get the correct aspect ratio when encoding videos is to right-click on the raw file, scroll down to "Properties", then click on the "Details" tab, which gives you the audio and video resolution information. For example, I record all my videos in WVGA 848x480 60fps resolution, with audio at 128kbps 48 kHz sample rate, so I encode them at that same resolution.

goldfinch

Nice video--I'd really like to try mountain biking but doing it alone seems kind of daunting. I love the idea of flying through the woods. On nice smooth trails.

magohn

FreightTrain - Thanks! I used Windows Movie Maker to make the YouTube version but I reallly had to dummy down the video to maintain any kind of quality. Reason being, our DSL connection is so slow that a 100mb file takes upwards of an hour to upload and kills the connection while doing so. Next time Id probably go for lesser quality but more screen real estate.

I also have a Mac with 'iMovie' and that created version is much longer and much more dramatic. It in 1080p and is so clear that you can read the stats on the Garmin However, its 1.5gb and 30 mins long

Goldfinch - Thank you. Im intimidated by MTB also The trail in the video is the 'newbie' trail and at times I feared for my life Im enjoying riding the bike on local pipelines and have put many miles on it already. It is different though. A 10 mile trail ride is like a 40 mile road ride. Im 'almost' looking forward to the rain thats forecasted for next week - that will be interesting on the trails

I cant say enough positive things about the Bikes Direct bike. Ive taken it out approx 6 times now and even though Im 280lbs and hitting some very bumpy trails, its rock solid. The fork, gears and brakes are excellent. Best $799 I ever spent!

P.S. I love the GoPro chest-mount but the 'clicking' sound it generates is annoying!

freighttraininguphill

Too bad about the DSL connection. If you can get Comcast up there, they are fast! I have their "Performance" level of service, and this is my typical speed:



I don't know if it will help your clicking problem, but try the white rubber thingy that comes with the GoPro. I've read that it's supposed to cut out the clicking noise from the mount.

magohn

Jeepers - your upload speed is 6x faster than mine. We live rurally and the best I get is 0.5mbps (up). Comcast refuses to trench across the road to provide sevice to us.

Great vid. I like the downhills and the dog Was that an abandoned farm? And no, I dont hear the constant click on your video. I will dig out the GoPro box and look for the white washer your refer to. Where does it fit to?

Thanks for the tip!

Beachgrad05

What white rubber thingy? I have a regular GoPro, not the 2 and don't recall seeing any white rubber thingy.

Picture?

freighttraininguphill

Here's a review of the GoPro HD Hero2 and a pic I found on Google of the rubber thingy. Scroll down to "Mounting System". As you can see, it fits between the mount and the part that slides into the mount.

I'm pretty sure the regular GoPro came with the white thingy. I read about it quite a while ago.

freighttraininguphill

More Googling reveals that the regular GoPro did indeed come with the rubber thingy. It can be white or orange, and it does reduce rattling and clicking noises.

Beachgrad05

Doh! Thanks for the link as now I see it and YES I have that...just had no clue what it was for! LOL

freighttraininguphill

Try it in your helmet mount. I put it in mine and will try it out someday. I've actually never used the GoPro on its helmet mount, only the chest strap and handlebar mounts.

magohn

AHA! I have one of those too! I wondered what it was.

Thanks!

justin70

For some reason I can only see half the video.

magohn

Another video of my latest progress. Riding the 'Redmond Watershed' area. Awesome trails with lots of ups and downs. Approx a 13 mile round trip from my home and 5+ miles of trail riding. Had a great time

freighttraininguphill

I like that handlebar mount perspective. Full screen now too!

Out of curiosity, which door are you using on the GoPro case? The rumbling almost sounds like what you hear when the waterproof door is used.

I always use the non-waterproof door for best sound. I refuse to climb in the rain, so weather is a non-issue for me.

magohn

Thanks!

I use the waterproof door 100% of the time. Living in the Settle area, I can leave the house for a ride in full sun and return in a monsoon The microsphone suffers but at least my expensive toy is protected. I must say, Ive been very impressed with the GoPro Hero - 2 hours of continuous recording and Im amazed how it cuts out the vibration in circumstances like the above video. It as a bumpy trail but the camera did great!