I love riding singletrack. My MTB hasn’t gotten much love lately.
Observations
- I’ll ride anything that is appropriate for a fully ridged bike
- This opens up trails to me that I haven’t ridden for years because they are too “easy” for a mountain bike.
- My bike climbs like a goat, like it has a motor compared to a mtb. Downhills need a little more care
- Obviously not gonna get big air, although my bike was designed for small jumps (<12”)
- Its no fun if your drop bars get caught in a tree or a vine. ;-)
- I’ve gotten pinch flats on 40mm tires (this will self seal with some help from a pump). I’ll go as big as I can on the front though usually 50mm or larger for me. Allows me a little more flexibility in picking my line.
- I’ve got a short wheelbase and steepish HTA – this gives me a super agile bike for the twisty technical stuff, but obviously I really have to be on my game in the fast sweeping stuff. Doing single track at race speeds at 20-25mph gets kinda sketchy! ;-)
mack_turtle – I’ve solved that problem on other bikes just by changing the front fork for more clearance. Going larger up front will slacken the HTA, give you more trail (~10mm), and provide a little shock absorption.