Zanthos

Hi all. I moved to Arizona (from NY) a couple of years ago and got into riding a dirt bike. So I've spent a lot of time out on some really great trails. Here's one example:



I haven't ridden a bicycle in over 10 years. Imagine my surprise when I walked into a local bike shop a couple of months ago -- first time in a bike shop in 15 years -- and saw full suspension bikes with disc brakes in the $2500-3000 range. I had no idea!

There are tons of hiking/mountain bike/equestrian trails where I live (Scottsdale, AZ) that I've never been on because they are closed to motorcycles (and hiking is too slow!). I used to belong to a riding club (30-50 mile rides on asphalt) in NY and would like to start spending time with pedal power again. I figure I'm ultimately going to want something I can ride anywhere my skill and fitness level will allow. But before I throw some $$$ down on a new bike, I'd like to ride a while and make sure I'm going to be into it. So.....

I'd like to start getting out on some of the not totally insane trails on my old mountain bike, a Specialized Stumpjumper circa 1990. I bought it new when I was living in Manhattan and wanted something I could bang over curbs and steel street plates without worry. I did some basic maintenance on it and took it out for a spin tonight and it still works. Gears shift smoothly, brakes are good.

So is it crazy to try and trail ride on a "no suspension" bike? Will my legs provide enough "suspension" to ride on some of the more broken up terrain? And what's the difference between "cross country" and "trail" riding?

Thanks for your replies.

mtnbiker66

I started about '90 myself. We rode rooty rocky trails in NC on rigid bikes. Just pick out some easy routs for your first few rides and build from there. You can totally have a blast on a old rigid bike. The difference between XC and "trail"? It depends on who you ask. I think it's all pretty much just riding,some will say XC is racing and "trail" is riding . Don't worry about it,just ride. Be sure to post a report and tell us how it goes.

Zanthos

Thanks. That's precisely what I'm looking for -- to have a blast! So I appreciate the encouragement.

Hambone40

66...what is up with the signature. That is cool. How did you do it?

probable556

Crazy? Maybe.

The riders that can really drop my ass on the toughest local trails are maniacs with rigid single speed bikes. Everyone wants a great bike but riding is 90% rider, 10% bike.

BluesDawg

I can ride my rigid bike anywhere I can ride my front suspension bike, which I ride anywhere the guys around here ride their full suspension bikes (I'm talking trails and singletrack, not jumps and such). The difference is how fast I can go without beating myself to death. But at the speeds I can manage, the rigid bike is just as fun.

Lt.Gustl

whatever you do just make sure you bring plenty of water!

I myself just buying beater bikes and keeping them running get quite the shock every time I need to go to a bikeshop, roadbikes and the skinny spokeless wheels and MTBs with their ever increasing complexity.

I think that a good rigid is always better than a crummy suspension bike any day,

I think a rigid MTB is only crazy to bike mag writers who need to sell ads to manufacturers.

again lots of water, I rode my bike 30 miles the other day and drank everytime I stopped, still wasn't enough.

mikejo

I started out on a '91 Stumpjumper, broke the frame (Specialized replaced with a '93). I have ridden it off and on for quite some time now. Every thing from NORBA races to around the trails on my property.
I think you should just get on it and ride. If you really get back into the sport again as I did, then turn it into a single spend and custom build something new.

Blue Jays

A fully-rigid mountainbike is perfectly fine and very enjoyable in most terrain. Where it gets to be challenging is if one pedals with a half-dozen fellow riders and they're all aboard full-suspension rigs. Assuming equal physical conditioning among the group, one simply won't be able to maintain the same speed. It's mechanically impossible.

If you're riding alone or with folks also astride rigid bikes, you'll have a ball...especially considering the beautiful and inspiring scenery you posted. Congratulations on a great move.

Zanthos

Well, it looks like I have some work to do. Rode all of 7 miles, almost half on sidewalk, the other half on very easy dirt -- and I was beat! I thought that managing a 280 lb. dirt bike for hours of riding put me in at least decent shape, but noooooo.

Maybe I would have fared better if the temp wasn't 103.

In any case, I appreciate all the replies. It would have been easy to tell myself I need the latest and greatest bicycle after seeing what's out there. But seeing how I'm the weakest link the riding chain for now, I need to spend weeks and weeks and weeks riding and see if I can't get myself into decent shape.

Raiyn

Bikes don't belong on the sidewalk unless you're five

Lt.Gustl

Wow! another VC one-true-way guru out to make new friends, and I see that you're proud of it.

I invite you to ride here on the road when there is an absolutely empty 8' wide sidewalk, even the bike police have enough sense to ride on, but maybe you'd rather become another vehicular cycling martyr?

I lived in NY until a year ago and never rode on the sidewalk even in towns that allowed it, I never felt I was better than those that did however. I live in the same city as the fellow you so thoughtfully enlightened. There are many places where one can confidently ride on the street, there are many more where you would have to be bonkers to, the main roads here are less roads than six lane highways with stoplights every two miles and I'm pretty confident that the people who move here are all the worst drivers from the worst driving cities, NY, Boston, LA.

Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe all allow bikes, skateboards, etc.. on the sidewalk and fun for all ages I'll add, you see some pretty old folk tottering about on trikes, they also provide crosswalk buttons in bike lanes on the streets that have them which is very nice.

Raiyn

Actually what my status means is that I've been deemed a "Suppressive Person" by the board's VC zealots in much the same way as someone who speaks out against Scientology which I've compared VC to. (I'm the guy who calls Helmet Head "Tom Cruise" because of the way he parrots Forester) As for your 8' sidewalk your damn right I'd still ride in the road as the law in AZ

Quote:

28-812. Applicability of traffic laws to bicycle riders

A person riding a bicycle on a roadway or on a shoulder adjoining a roadway is granted all of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter and chapters 4 and 5 of this title, except special rules in this article and except provisions of this chapter and chapters 4 and 5 of this title that by their nature can have no application.

28-815. Riding on roadways and bicycle paths; prohibition of motor vehicle traffic on bike paths

A. A person riding a bicycle on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except under any of the following situations:

1. If overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
2. If preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
3. If reasonably necessary to avoid conditions, including fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals or surface hazards.
4. If the lane in which the person is operating the bicycle is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

completely allows me to do so. I could go into a multitude of non-VC reasons not to ride on the sidewalk, not the least of which is that it's a sidewalk and I'm not walking
https://bicyclesafe.com/

Zanthos

I'll be turning 5 next week. So it'll be OK then, right?

Raiyn

You can take the New Yorker out of New York but you can't take the New York out of the New Yorker. Fageddaboudit

Lt.Gustl

I still invite you to come here and say the same thing, the major crossroads are not bike or pedestrian friendly, I'd say it's worse for pedestrians no matter what words are highlighted, crosswalks can be up to two miles apart, more typical a mile to half a mile, the walk signal is on for barely long enough to get your bike across. My bank is less than a mile from my house, if I take the sidewalk I won't need to cross a road or intersection. If I chose the road I'd have to cross six lanes of traffic four times and wait in a left turn lane just as many, twice with no light in addition to doubling the distance I'd have to ride, all while trusting the 60mph traffic to give me the newly required by law three feet of space, so many people here have no insurance that there are advertisements on TV to remind you to have it or your license will be taken away, that is if you have one to begin with.

There are no shoulders on most of the major cross streets, police pull over motorists in bus lanes or more frequently parking lots, which is a great idea that they should do everywhere. I mentioned Tempe allows bikes etc.. on the sidewalk, they are the only ones that sensibly state it must be the same direction as traffic. The only thing that would be better is if they put a jersey barrier between the sidewalk and the road, the curb isn't enough to keep all the cages in the streets. This winter I saw a "snowbird" who pulled out of the gas station and hopped the median the curb and then put a Cadillac size hole through the block wall of a business across the street. Sometimes I feel I live in Mexico City or Buenos Aires, again I defy you to ride only on the street here and think it's sensible, the other unhappy surpise is you get to feel like your being cooked on the black asphalt, at least on the sidewalk you'll get to enjoy some shade and ten degrees cooler, although the best is really the canal paths with the evaporitive cooling and even thoughtfully placed water fountains. I took a two hour ride today and went 24 miles, maybe two of which were on the sidewalk and you couldn't pay me to do otherwise.

as a side note I was on a state highway that's listed as such on the map and it was like forty miles of one way rutted dirt road with nothing between the road and thousand foot drop offs into a ravine,

Here's an interesting take on the area I live in from the perspective of a daily cycle commute,

https://dommy.com/alan/bike/index.html

On to the original question, there's many nice little parks with MTB trails that vary from flat to not so flat at all, dreamy draw is one and Papago park is another there is one too in really north Scottsdale, the dirt is all pretty hard packed and smooth, not too far removed from the canal trails. I see plenty of people on old school MTBs as well as susp. models, I think thorn proof tires are more important than suspension. Didn't take me too long to figure out how deep a cactus spine can go into a tire and tube. I was out today for two hours, it was later in the day and I drank three litres of water. Still weighed the same I did as when I left.

Zanthos

Lt. -- you couldn't have expressed the hazards of Scottsdale roads any better. Yes, many of our local streets have a superhighway aspect to them. No shoulder (not even a white line with 6" to the right) and very impatient drivers. I, too, will not ride in 45-55 mph traffic.

What time(s) of day do you ride? I'm setting myself up to ride safely at night. But a couple of hours post-dawn is very pleasant too.

TimJ

You're already on board but just another internet dude saying go for it. I really, really would like to get a new mtb too but I just can't afford it, so I've been going out on my fully rigid Miyata Shredder and it's a blast. I've actually never ridden a mtb with suspension before, and I look forward to the magical day I do, but being on a rigid bike hasn't stopped me from riding anywhere I want to ride, you know? You've got nothing to worry about. Just go out and ride and if you come across anything you don't feel confident about navigating, don't sweat it.

Also, I can only speak for my local area, but ferinstance the trails in the santa monica mountains where I ride most of the stuff I come across isn't so gnarly that you can only ride it with a suspended bike. Maybe I need to be more careful going down, which line I pick and speed-wise, but I can still do it and it's still a lot of fun.

Raiyn

I don't ride in the "major" roadways here either, there are plenty of parallel routes to choose from as there have been in any place I've ridden. Tampa, San Antonio, Columbia SC, Jacksonville, Fl, DFW, Atlanta, Minneapolis, all have secondary streets. I can't say I blame you for not riding in double nickel speed zones, but I'd rather find an alternate route than ride on the sidewalk
How does that work? Overpass or something? As if that's unusual. Here (in the northern part of my county) we have a guy with no arms, and only one leg who leads police on high speed car chases on top of the uninsured and unlicensed.
This is the reason I don't live in the desert. Florida's hot enoughInteresting, but even he's saying it's gotten much better. The picture links to the "check it out" link he gave

https://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Traffic/...d/bikeways.asp

Zanthos

Thank Tim! Glad to hear you're having fun on a rigid too!