Tom Bombadil

You could take some reflective tape or paint and do up your seat stays from top to bottom with it. The front of your fork too!

solveg

They make a reflective tape with nanotech now that makes the paint a solar collector. You could run an ipod off of your reflectors. Now that's* cool!

ad6mj

I never bothered to remove reflectors from a MTB. They tend to remove themselves.

Tom Bombadil

Since we're talking Fred here ... I just found a great product: High grade, waterproof leather pants leg straps. $30/pr.

If I didn't already own 5 nylon straps, I might think of getting one.

fthomas

Nice straps!

The reason they are so expensive is they also perform double duty as handcuffs for errant bicycle path miscreants!

Solveg's idea of running your Ipod off your reflectors is a great idea. Now we just have to overcome getting your ear buds caught in the spokes!

Digital Gee

Let me get this straight. Thirty dollars for two leather straps? Whoa.

Tom Bombadil

Being a Fred doesn't mean you always get off cheap.

BluesDawg

We're into the land beyond Fred now. Fred's cousin ****er is more like it.

Timtruro

$30 BUCKS?? You gotta be kidding, they don't even look like they are reflective.

Beverly

These are much cheaper and they're reflective

maddmaxx 

The following is copied and pasted from a column in a respected bike pub. The Lennard in question is Lennard Zinn. This is but one example I have read in the past that casts some doubt on placing a plastic (soft plastic at that) in an area occupied by carefully designed and machined spacers.

Dear Lennard,
I saw this reader report in your web column:


I have a pair of Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL's I use for races. Theyare less than a year old and have less than 1500 miles on them. The problemthat I have been experiencing with them is that the freehub is so tight!I even sent them back to Mavic where they looked at them and lubed it up.It is so tight that when coasting it seems as though I have the brakeson. When I have my bicycle in a repair stand and turn the cranks counterclockwise(backwards) the wheel starts going backwards too. What do I do to alleviatethis problem? Do they still need to be broken in? How can I make the free-hubmore" free?"

Advertisement
Another possibility to investigate is the plastic spoke protector thatMavic includes with the wheels. I had the same problem as this reader,and the root cause turned out to be the fact that the plastic spoke protectorflexes and rubs against the spokes after the cassette is tightened downon the hub body. I could even see some rub/wear marks on the spokeswhere the spoke protector was dragging during freewheeling.

I tried a different spoke protector, but the same problem occurred.Only solution I could get to was to remove the spoke protector entirely.
LarryDear Larry
An experience I have had with that same Mavic spoke protector on Ksyriumsand on CrossMaxes is that its orientation relative to the innermost cogis critical, of the cog will push it into the spokes. The little tabs onthe spoke protector that fit in the freehub splines are asymmetrical, orat least staggered; there is not a tab for each spline. And the supportribs of the spoke protector need to be aligned in such a way that noneof them are contacting any of the rivets that hold the inner cog onto thesplined aluminum cog carrier, since that pushes it in toward the spokes,where the rivets are, the cog’s inner diameter is less. You will noticethat it comes in more toward the axle, where it can interfere withthe spoke protector, while in between rivets, the cog is merely a thinring that does not extend very far in toward the axle. It has seemed likea bit of a puzzle to me at times; it has taken some trial-and-error tofinally find the way to orient it so those rivet positions do not pushon the spoke protector.
Lennard

SaiKaiTai

Just caught up with this post (been too busy posting about my exploits of late, I guess... I'm a little sore today ) and I must say Deeg -in fact, I have said- that every word you say is true. Bouncing around dirt and rocks and MUD (!!! can't forget about mud... oh, you don't have mud in the southland, do you? I forgot) is about as fun as fun can be and if you want to be magically whisked back to when you were 10 years old and it was just you, your bike and the world, off road riding will do it. Man, I've climbed some trails (not many, mind you... must find more local trails) that were steep and would not be much of a problem on a roadie that just kick my heinie. Back wheel slipping... bouncing all over... dodging ruts (or, heck, just plowing right through them) and when I get to the top I am gasping like a fish. And HAPPY! You go Deeg... ride, baby, ride

Retro Grouch 

You're also supposed to include a photo of yourself bleeding from the shin and elbow. Otherwise we're all going to think that you're a pansy. If you aren't bleeding it means that you didn't try hard enough.

maddmaxx 

https://www.bicyclesource.com/mountain_biking_section

Required reading for novice mountain bikers............and its fun too.

Tom Bombadil

Next time out I'm betting that he bangs off a baby head, narrowly avoiding a crotch-testing, as he endos into a magnificent superman, but then augurs, which leads to some honking. The next day he will wake with some dandy bacon as a souvenir.

maddmaxx 

Tom Bombadil

I carry a small roll of 3M Transpore tape, with a sterile bandage & some triple antibiotic ointment, in my bike bag. Just in case I get a nasty scrap. Three times when I've been out riding in my long, but extra light and stretchy, pants, I've gotten to my trailhead and found that I forgot my Fred strap (this is why I now have five of them). So I just pulled off a length of tape and wrapped it around my angle. Worked great. Better than missing out on a ride.

stapfam

Dork Discs- Throw them away- Had the same problem on mavic wheels and on another set I had

Reflectors on pedals-They don't do SPD's with reflectors so I have socks that reflect instead.

And on the first aid kit- Good idea but a better idea is a first-aider with you that knows when to call the Ambulance - or to to tell you to stop worrying about a bit of Blood. All we have ever tried to use in a first aid kit was a Bandage. The graize was so large a plaster wouldn't cover it. Problem was it was around the knee so kept slipping. If you take a first aid kit- make certain it has the serious stuff you may need. Small cuts and antiseptic cream are for wimps. Just bleed and clean up when you get home. Oh--- and if the person with the cut is a wimp- make certain you have a gag with you. It gets boring listening to how much the cut hurts.

(Ex Mountain biker that has finally got rid of the scars on his knees- shins and hands.)

Tom Bombadil

Well, my "First Aid Kit" has been for show alone so far. Worst injury I suffered last year was a mosquito bite.

Retro Grouch 

My mountain bike is painted red. I graduated from Iowa State, which is known amoung the Big XII conference as the "Small Red".

Pamestique 

DG fun photos. The trail looks like my "Peter's Canyon" route.

Anytime you want to explore new territory and come up OC way, let me know. I can take you through "Blair Witch"!

BluesDawg

Imagine that, Rivendell offers a practical alternative.

solveg

That would make a nice collar for my dog "Cristophe".