love my ss 29er. i have dramatically simplified all aspects of my riding and fitness and no longer ride with tunes, computer, cameback, or other tedious items. its way more fun and easy to go riding.. so today i am at the trailhead and this fellow pulls up next to me and it took him ten minutes just to gear up:
1. put on and adjust the garmin gps
2. filled camelback with multiple gels, multi tool and tube
3. adjust camelback and get hose thru all parts
4. ipod prepping - this was extensive
5. put on headband and helmet

he must have rode away with an extra 15lbs of gear (this is not a remote area and there are a couple places to get water.

me:
1. put on shoes, bibs, helmet, sunglasses, and gloves
2. fill two waterbottles
3. ride

and no shifting involved

so what were you doing over the ten minutes for him to gear up? if you were so kung-fu-quick...

you're a better person. I bet he can't sleep at night. what a burden he must shoulder. I pity his unenlightened husk of a soul. shame, shame.

cool?

i was done with my ride and chilling out in the shade.

i think all that stuff gets tedious and takes something out of the ride is all, ends up becoming work just to go ride for a bit.

he could have easily did all but 5 and adjustments before he got there...

Did you follow him on his entire route? Did you see how far he rode?

How do you know he wasn't gearing up for an epic 4-hour ride?

i ride there all the time. it is a park with trails in the middle of the city. probably never more than 400m from a road and never more than 1000m from water. but that really isnt the point. i think one can lose sense of the ride by having all that stuff, theres so much to distract from the act of riding that you might as well be in a gym.

grail29er, I know exactly what you mean.

I'm no better than the rider who spends more time shifting and prodding his gear, but there is something to be said about simply throwing a leg over the saddle and ride.

What the hell are you talking about?

He obviously feels different.

You're not special.

not simplicity, 'zen'

i am no better, this is true. but i do think i enjoy the ride more. how often do headphones fall out, the camelback becomes uncomfortable, or the gps needs tweaking? also, for those that gear up this way, how often do you put off or cancel a ride b/c your ipod isnt charged or you forgot some other aspect of your gear? try riding without all the bells and whistles, it clears the mind so well.....

You guys... are ****ing shallow.
grail has it right.

Toronto by-laws require that I have a bell on my bike.

He's also being a ponce about it.

How the hell does he know he's "enjoying" his ride more than the other guy? Simplicity is fun, but so is gadgetry. So he likes po-tay-toes and the other guy likes po-tah-toes. Woop-dee-****ing-doo.

The same simplicity that makes riding more enjoyable can be applied with the same results to a lot of life as well.

i think thats an incorrect use of the word "ponce."

why do people ride SS bikes? i think the simplicity and the purity of SS is a big attractor. am i wrong on this?

Generally speaking, you are right on this.

Did I say that you were? Simplicity has it's attractions. So does complexity. His ride might be less enjoyable to you, but the opposite is just as likely to be true.

You're not special.

never said i was special. i used to ride like that and until a year ago... i was caught up in a lot of non-essential stuff that went with riding and going to gym. i think many people that are use that much gear have been doing so for a long time and ought to try simplified riding - e.g., no phone, ipod, gps, or other gear. when i did it, i found it quite liberating - riding seriously can take a lot of time and decreasing the prep time can get you more time on trail or road... thats all, no elitism on my part.

Again, obviously simplicity appeals to you. It appeals to me. It appeals to 99% of people in SSFG.

But maybe, just maybe, it doesn't appeal to this guy.

I like simplicity. It carries on in other aspects of my life as well. I take my coffee black. My blender is a commercial single speed. No lawn, just succulents. Simple analog watch. Just one credit card. etc.

Ah, yes, the parking lot mechanic. There's guys like that at the trailhead near my house all the time. I just don't get it. I prefer to install that new crankset/bb or cut that threadless steer tube at home in my shop, where I can put my bike in the stand, crack open a cold beer, and have easy access to all my tools. I understand, maybe, on weeknights, where you've got guys heading straight to the trail after work and they didn't have time to change that flat beforehand or whatever, but some dudes do serious work on their bikes at the trailhead on a Saturday morning.



Back on topic; I stopped riding with a camelback full of tools and what-not on shorter rides. I don't like the weight on my back. Pocket-sized multitool, spare tube, mini pump, single water bottle, all stashed on my bike or on my person. I started riding with nothing for a while, but got a flat one night and had to hike back to the truck. I stopped tempting fate after that.

Holy lord. You guys are being dicks.

I'm gonna go ahead and side with the OP. I have always found it strange when people get tons and tons of technocrap to go out on a ride in the ****ing woods. It seems to take a lot of the nature out of the ride.

So do his bibs, and his helmet, and his water bottles, and his bicycle for that matter. It's a matter of degrees, and, again, some people may want to get naked and roll around in the dirt and dry hump a shrubbery, others may get just as much enjoyment out of floating in a bubble 3 feet off the ground in a climate controlled HEPA-filtered environment.

Neither one of them is wrong, they just don't like the same damn things. All this "simpler is better," "getting back to nature" stuff is a value judgment, based on your own experience and preferences.