Not talking hardcore single track here but anyone still hitting dirt and if so on what...dual, hardtail, carbon, steel, etc...?? Inquiring minds want to know.

See my thread about the "Cannell Plunge" on this page. I ride a cheap aluminum dualie, as do most of my 50+ and 60+ friends.
MOst of my riding is on the road on my Gunnar Sport.

This;

And this;

I have a 2011 Epic Expert 29er carbon which I'm selling because I have a 2012 on the way. I really like the Epic platform. I also have an old 1991 Bridgestone MB4 which has XT 8sp that replaced the old Suntour 7sp. NealH recently bought my Indy Fab Steel Deluxe from me so I get to see it once in a while.

I'm routinely riding single- and double-track dirt rails mostly on my Specialized Camber Elite 29er aluminum FS bike. I don't do much in the way of hard-core mountain biking, I'm out for a casual ride in the boonies to see the scenery.



Darn it, I tried to re-size the photo so it wouldn't have to be scrolled, but it didn't take. Sorry.

I get out now and then on my Specialized Rock Hopper - nothing technical or anything like that - just some nice single track. There are many here who are much more advanced than I am.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ountain+biking

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ht=rock+hopper

I love hardcore singletrack. Ride it every chance I get on a Santa Cruz Blur LTc:



Picture of me riding this bike can be found in this thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...d-Big-Fat-Tour

This summer I started back on dirt and single track on this.

This was on a ride in Carolinas Sandhills Wildlife Refuge with my son. A great 41,000 acres of wilderness in South Carolina.

cleon, I still ride off road, some technical single track included on this '98 Trek 7000ZX I've owned since 12/97. After swapping the fork, saddle and tires shortly after buying it, it became perfect for me. I'd be lost without it I think.


Brad

I ride a Specialized 29'er Stump Jumper Comp which is aluminum. I'm not a hard core mtb guy but have done a few races and TT's and have also used the bike in cross races, single track and in the snow. For the type of riding I do a FS bike is not needed. When on single track I can blast over logs, rocks and any thing else in the way without much difficulty. I just love riding over things. The knee wound in the image was not the result of a crash. My brother in law passed me on the outside of a tight turn then cut down on me causing me to fall.

I ride a '98 GT Zaskar (aluminum hard-tail) with a Rock Shox SID fork, components recently updated to (mostly) SRAM. I ride mostly dual track and Jeep trails / fire roads but occasionally do some single track. I have raced mountain bikes, but that was back in the very late 80's and early 90's so nothing competitive off-road lately.

Very occasionally I do try some technical single track, but I always end up losing some flesh, so (on the advice of my wife!), I don't ride much technical anymore. I have to face it: I'm just not a good enough rider for that stuff!

Rick / OCRR

Very cool. And some very nice bikes up there. The reason I even ask the question is because there are so many choices available now in styles of mountain bikes that I'm stuck trying to figure out which would be most appropriate for me. My last real mountain bike was a '94 Steel Stumpjumper. I recently picked up a used dual suspension aluminum because it was convenient and a good deal. But prior to that I was all over the place in terms of steel hardtail vs dual aluminum vs carbon, etc.

The gist of my question is really this...as I get (even) older, am I better off just sticking with dual suspension for the comfort level, regardless of the type of riding I do (light technical and lots of singletrack - never flat here)? That seems to be the consensus I get when asking around locally. Curious what the forum's opinion is? My Cannondale was more of a city bike and I definitely am no longer interested in Aluminum hardtails on washboards...

edit: Big John - I read through that other post and wow...beautiful ride! Looks like a blast.

another edit: as an aside, I read on an avid 50+ biker/lifter's blog that carbon fiber handlebars were a huge plus to reduce shock to the arms/shoulders, etc. curious if anyone here has made that switch?

I started riding technical singletrack in 1990 on a fully rigid Giant Iguana. I've ridden a varying mix of road and offroad riding ever since. Lately I have been riding road bikes almost exclusively, but I'm sure the pendulum will swing towards dirt again soon.

My latest for the trails:

Talon 050408 by BluesDawg, on Flickr

and for dirt roads:

bike1 by BluesDawg, on Flickr

I would stick with a full suspension bike but more specifically a Specialized Epic. The "Brain" dampens rear shock as needed so allows maximum power transfer on the flats while providing a decent ride in the bumps. Whether you want a 29er or standard 26 is up to you. While I like the "roll over" of a 29, I prefer the tighter maneauvering 26.

I am biased as this is what I ride so take it with a grain of salt.

Meh to the carbon bars. I fall too often on rocks for CF bars.

I prefer hitting the dusty trail and enjoy the scenery and fresh AIR. I have a 94 Norco HT and is pretty much retired and my 08 Spark F/S that is a blast. This is the time of year when the desert really comes alive.

I have a Ritchey C/F handle bar on my F/S. I also have lockouts front and back, that helps transfer energy on reduce bobbing on climbs. I never thought about the C//F handlebar helping with shock. I know that it isn't an issue for me. Could be the fork and handlebar combined. I'll try a couple downhills with the front fork locked out, who knows.

Mainly do XC that can get tiring with the uphills. But the bike is down to you and your terrain. I have a Bianchi Grizzly hardtail that is getting a bit old but that is my main ride. Last sunday I loaned the Bianchi to a mate and I rode my 92 Kona Explosif. My terrain does not require Full suspension and unless I was prepared to get one of the top end models- I don't think it would be worth it.

BUT- The beast- Boxer Race Forks- Full downhill spec Mavic rims mated to Hope Bigun hubs with 36 spokes. Hope Disc brakes with 200mm discs front and rear and All the parts up to freeride spec or higher. That thing goes and had a price of around $8.000 to build up from a Cannondale frame. Only problem is the weight at around 55lbs in ride trim.



And that bike is the third in line on one of our offroad jaunts.

I just have to say this is such a great forum. I re-started biking in July on the road, after about a 15yr hiatus, and then mtn biking just this month due to the weather change.
I don't even remember if there were forums back then, but I remember having so much fun on the Front Range Colorado and Utah border trails on my early Stumpjumper.
I've learned so much, in a really short amount of time by spending time on these forums. It's actually funny to think about how much I DIDN'T know when I was actually riding all the time.
Of course it was also much simpler back then.
Anyway, it's been a process, and since I started in #41 here, I've probably gone a bit off course in terms of what I need for road, but overall I just want to say thanks to all you guys cuz it's really shortened my learning curve and ramped up my mileage incredibly!

oh yeah..LOVE that signature line stapfam

and just for kicks (by the way, how do you get your pics to appear large in a post..it doesn't appear to be related to the size of the file itself)...some backyard views...

Not much into tech downhills so I like fire roads for the climbing and lots of friendly people if you don't run them over.

I ride a hardtail but if comfort were my thing, I'd go full suspension for the downhills.

That dog sure made it look easy...lol!

If you load you pics to a server like PhotoBucket they will appear full size when you copy the img code. The pic that I attached to my post is small because I can't access PhotoBucket from work and uploaded it from my PC.

Any chance the image of the downhill trail is White Ranch Park and the trail that begins way down at the highway?

Here's the Schwinn Homegrown I've been riding for the past few years. It makes a great grocery getter with the trailer. I've been over the bars a few times, so no more singletracks for me!

Ah.ok..tyvm.

View of the bike is from the Hogback facing the Manor House in Ken Caryl Valley, then the single track shot is on the Schaeffer Trail connector between the Manor House Trail and Massey Draw on the other side (again inside of KC's trail system...which I found out after the fact was not rideable as I hiked out of a cramped ravine with the bike on my back). Same basic range though and similar topography, just a bit further south. WR is probably more technical.

This is how I do it. First create and load pics into photobucket online album

after:

Chose image for posting


postpic1 by gulpxtreme, on Flickr

----------------------------------------------------------------

Then


postpic2 by gulpxtreme, on Flickr