jscusmcvet
Adventurist
Instead of further polluting Chris's thread about a new bike I thought I'd jot down some thoughts right here.
I hopped on my first official mountain bike in 1989. Back then there was no suspension front or rear, only 26" tires, super steep head angles, weak caliper brakes and only a handful of bikes to choose from. I went from a steel frame Raleigh to an aluminum framed Trek. It was still no suspension, I rode that bike a lot, all over North Carolina. Back then it was almost all on hiking trails, there was no concept of flow or anything like that. Riding for me was a way to get out in the woods and while it was a workout it was really my reward for the rest of life if that makes sense. I rode without suspension throughout the 90's even as the new fangled front suspension came into being and full suspension came on the scene.
Life interfered, kids, school, work multiple jobs. In 1997 I finally got a good enough job to have only one (!) That led me back to the trails... on a new to me but older trek 820 with the most minimal front suspension. I pounded the hell out of that thing and went where no low end bike like that was supposed to go ( no one told me!).
In 2004 through a friend from work I got my first full suspension bike. It was a GT XC bike. I loved that thing to death, literally. Together we rode much of Pisgah Nat'l forest, Dupont State Forest, all the local and Raleigh and Chapel hill trails. I rode way above my capabilities, crashed a lot (ask me about Greens Lick in Bent Creek near Asheville) I wore it out. After several repairable breaks, the frame broke, while on a trail, near the bottom bracket.
I wanted to simplify after that. That's when I bought the first of my 2 On One Summer Season frames. These were the "original" steel frame, hardtail "all mountain" frames. Super slack head angle for the day at 66*. Paired with a 130mm fork it is a sweet trail bike. I experimented with all different types of gearing choices and eventually wound up going as simple as I could. I rode singlespeed for several years. I upgraded to a sweet Fox Float 140mm. 2.3" wide Specialized Captain tires (best tire ever) changed to quality flat pedals and let me say this is a fun, fun trail bike, especially on the downhill.
About a year ago I changed the singlespeed to a 1x9... trying to rekindle that fire... and did not ride. This is the most recent picture I have of the bike. This is how she sits but for the addition of flat pedals.
Now with Joe gaining interest as I have mentioned, I am gearing back up. We are blessed to have some acreage where we have built a few trails, and right from the house we can do some easy dirt road spin rides of 5 miles or so without ever touching pavement.
I used to consider myself an "All Mountain" kind of guy who would ride anything. I have crashed many, many times... and I don't want to anymore, so we'll be focused on rideable, fun trails.
So with this thread I am going to chronicle my climb back into the saddle. Chances are it will be boring for you and a bit painful to me
.
I hopped on my first official mountain bike in 1989. Back then there was no suspension front or rear, only 26" tires, super steep head angles, weak caliper brakes and only a handful of bikes to choose from. I went from a steel frame Raleigh to an aluminum framed Trek. It was still no suspension, I rode that bike a lot, all over North Carolina. Back then it was almost all on hiking trails, there was no concept of flow or anything like that. Riding for me was a way to get out in the woods and while it was a workout it was really my reward for the rest of life if that makes sense. I rode without suspension throughout the 90's even as the new fangled front suspension came into being and full suspension came on the scene.
Life interfered, kids, school, work multiple jobs. In 1997 I finally got a good enough job to have only one (!) That led me back to the trails... on a new to me but older trek 820 with the most minimal front suspension. I pounded the hell out of that thing and went where no low end bike like that was supposed to go ( no one told me!).
In 2004 through a friend from work I got my first full suspension bike. It was a GT XC bike. I loved that thing to death, literally. Together we rode much of Pisgah Nat'l forest, Dupont State Forest, all the local and Raleigh and Chapel hill trails. I rode way above my capabilities, crashed a lot (ask me about Greens Lick in Bent Creek near Asheville) I wore it out. After several repairable breaks, the frame broke, while on a trail, near the bottom bracket.
I wanted to simplify after that. That's when I bought the first of my 2 On One Summer Season frames. These were the "original" steel frame, hardtail "all mountain" frames. Super slack head angle for the day at 66*. Paired with a 130mm fork it is a sweet trail bike. I experimented with all different types of gearing choices and eventually wound up going as simple as I could. I rode singlespeed for several years. I upgraded to a sweet Fox Float 140mm. 2.3" wide Specialized Captain tires (best tire ever) changed to quality flat pedals and let me say this is a fun, fun trail bike, especially on the downhill.
About a year ago I changed the singlespeed to a 1x9... trying to rekindle that fire... and did not ride. This is the most recent picture I have of the bike. This is how she sits but for the addition of flat pedals.
Now with Joe gaining interest as I have mentioned, I am gearing back up. We are blessed to have some acreage where we have built a few trails, and right from the house we can do some easy dirt road spin rides of 5 miles or so without ever touching pavement.
I used to consider myself an "All Mountain" kind of guy who would ride anything. I have crashed many, many times... and I don't want to anymore, so we'll be focused on rideable, fun trails.
So with this thread I am going to chronicle my climb back into the saddle. Chances are it will be boring for you and a bit painful to me
.
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sorry about that, John...