The official MTB discussion thread...

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Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

Whoa whoa, why the BB5 hate? Avid makes some of the best brakes out there. How long have you had the bike?

How you liking 29" wheels? I know some people who love them. I wasn't too sure if it was "my" thing when I was bike shopping but I can definitely see they have a place in the biking world, and very deserving of it imo.

I hate the BB5's because they don't stop me worth crap. They are a cheap disc brake. I want to upgrade to BB7's because I've heard nothing but good things about them.

I love the 29" wheels. Rolls over everything so much nicer. Definitely made the ride a lot smoother than my 26".

I found the rockhopper to not be the best bike by specialized. I Trashed the demo I rode. I guess they were made for more casual riding but STOCK they can't take a drop and the frames seemed week to me.

Congratulations. Considering that the Rockhopper is designed for XC and not bombing downhill or taking drops I think it's fine. If the frame does break, Specialized has a lifetime warranty and will replace it.

Don't bikes like these cost many thousands ? I do really like them though. If I was fit enough and had the money I would definitely get a good bike and upgrade it!

My Gary Fisher Advance, (the orange one) was $350 back in 2005. It's super entry level and is designed to do XC/singletrack. My Specialized Rockhopper, (the black one) was $850, is an entry level 29er. It's also designed for XC/singletrack. Though I'm planning on getting a longer travel fork, and when I move to Arizona, trying out some AM trails.
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

I hate the BB5's because they don't stop me worth crap. They are a cheap disc brake. I want to upgrade to BB7's because I've heard nothing but good things about them.

I love the 29" wheels. Rolls over everything so much nicer. Definitely made the ride a lot smoother than my 26".

As far as I know, BB5's and BB7's are the same, except the BB7's have an extra adjustment available to make it easier to "zero in" the pads directly center over the rotor. When I got my BB7's, they didn't stop me for ****, no matter how hard I clamped down on the levers. I did some reading and everyone said you need to ride the bike a couple times and brake heavily to really get them going. So I went to a tall hill in my area and rode down it, riding the brakes each time I went down it. I did this a few times a day for 4-5 days. After that, these BB7's gave me great stopping power. That's why I asked how long you've had them, cause it tends to take a bit to really get them going.

I found the rockhopper to not be the best bike by specialized. I Trashed the demo I rode. I guess they were made for more casual riding but STOCK they can't take a drop and the frames seemed week to me.

My next bike (Don't know when but someday)

tr450_weblarge3.jpg


Transition TR450. Love there products... Love that they are Rider owned and LOVE they are built in Seattle.

Beautiful bike. I'd love to have one but I do too much cross country style riding to warrant it. Downhill/freeride bikes tend to be tanks when you need to go uphill. They really only shine when you take them on downhill tracks - but **** are they nice in those cases. Most people I know with downhill bikes tend to have several bikes - one for each riding style. Lucky *******s!

PS - A very short downhill video for those interested: http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip...mp;show_portrait=0&color&fullscreen=1
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

I need me a fancy bike like that. I think that for my 18th, instead of getting a laptop or some other fancy piece of tech, I'll invest in a decent, long-lasting mountain or road bike. In fact, I might make a thread on it.
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

I need me a fancy bike like that. I think that for my 18th, instead of getting a laptop or some other fancy piece of tech, I'll invest in a decent, long-lasting mountain or road bike. In fact, I might make a thread on it.

Just make sure if you get a mountain bike, you get one that suits your riding style. Riding a downhill bike like pictured above to do general trail riding would make riding 10x harder since they tend to weigh a good chunk and have far more travel than trail riding would ever need. However riding a hardtail w/ an 80mm fork on a downhill track will be pretty laughable as well, since that hardtail wouldn't last very long...
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

However riding a hardtail w/ an 80mm fork
I have no idea what that means :p

But yeah, it would be a road bicycle, for getting around town, exercise, and going to a couple towns over (15miles away). I used to be very enthusiastic about cycling, but my bicycle is/was a freebie POS from a friend and kept falling apart every other week until I just gave up on it (the front wheel came off quite regularly, which surprisingly didn't concern my parents when I complained, before refusing to use it after the tenth or so time).

I don't have the faintest clue on where to start though. I don't know what sort of 'specs' bicycles have, other than wheel size (I (think I) know 26"+ is meant to be quite good). Nor do I know what sort of price is a good price, or what's a good place to buy, or good brands, etc...
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

As far as I know, BB5's and BB7's are the same, except the BB7's have an extra adjustment available to make it easier to "zero in" the pads directly center over the rotor. When I got my BB7's, they didn't stop me for ****, no matter how hard I clamped down on the levers. I did some reading and everyone said you need to ride the bike a couple times and brake heavily to really get them going. So I went to a tall hill in my area and rode down it, riding the brakes each time I went down it. I did this a few times a day for 4-5 days. After that, these BB7's gave me great stopping power. That's why I asked how long you've had them, cause it tends to take a bit to really get them going.

As far as I know, the BB5's have 5 ball bearings, and the BB7's have 7. The BB7's have an extra adjustment as well as a few other things from what I've been reading. I've had it for about a month I believe, and I also figured there was some break in time, but I have been riding the crap out of them and they don't seem to be getting better. I won't be upgrading anytime soon due to lack of funds, but we'll see if they get any better.

EDIT: Forgot to add that you can only get the BB5's in a 160mm rotor, while you can get the BB7's in 160, 185, or 203mm. They have a different caliper mount, and different brake pads. They're as I like to say, the same but different.
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

I have no idea what that means :p

But yeah, it would be a road bicycle, for getting around town, exercise, and going to a couple towns over (15miles away). I used to be very enthusiastic about cycling, but my bicycle is/was a freebie POS from a friend and kept falling apart every other week until I just gave up on it (the front wheel came off quite regularly, which surprisingly didn't concern my parents when I complained, before refusing to use it after the tenth or so time).

I don't have the faintest clue on where to start though. I don't know what sort of 'specs' bicycles have, other than wheel size (I (think I) know 26"+ is meant to be quite good). Nor do I know what sort of price is a good price, or what's a good place to buy, or good brands, etc...

A hardtail is a bike with only front suspension. So if you see a bike with no rear suspension, but it has a suspension fork in the front, that's a hardtail. There's also a full rigid bike - no suspension at all. The 80mm travel is simply how far the front fork can travel. To give you an idea, 100mm = 3.9 inches. There's a wide range of travel options. Anything under 120-130mm is typically for cross country style riding. The kind with decent amount of small jumps, bumps, roots, rock beds, etc. Of course a 120mm fork will be a little beefier than an 80mm, but they still kind of fall under the same "class." Then of course there's "all mountain" mountain biking, which is often times bikes with 6" (150mm) or so front/rear travel. Basically it's cross country, but a bit heavier, not quite the best for climbing but can still do the job relatively well, a bit longer travel (6 inch instead of 4ish), yet not quite downhill worthy. If you get into a downhill bike, often called a "gravity sled", you basically have a bike with geometry spec'd to sit low and far back and have a ton of front/rear travel, upwards of 8-10 inches for front and rear. Those are the kind of bikes that are superb for going downhill with insanely huge jumps, but kind of lack in every other category in biking, due to the added weight to reinforce the frame, the added weight of the extra travel on the fork/rear of the frame, etc.

If you're going into road biking, then all of the above probably won't apply unless you still get a mountain bike for light trails yet still works nicely for commuting. Whatever bike you get, just keep up on maintenance, get a good chain lube and read a few guides online for properly maintaining a bike. It's amazing what a few minutes of tune ups can do.

As far as I know, the BB5's have 5 ball bearings, and the BB7's have 7. The BB7's have an extra adjustment as well as a few other things from what I've been reading. I've had it for about a month I believe, and I also figured there was some break in time, but I have been riding the crap out of them and they don't seem to be getting better. I won't be upgrading anytime soon due to lack of funds, but we'll see if they get any better.

EDIT: Forgot to add that you can only get the BB5's in a 160mm rotor, while you can get the BB7's in 160, 185, or 203mm. They have a different caliper mount, and different brake pads. They're as I like to say, the same but different.

Hm, I was not aware of the bearing differences. I too was comparing the 5's and 7's a while back, and the only differences I was told about was the adjustability. Either way, the BB7's are pretty cheap. I picked up the 2010's earlier this year for about 75 bucks total. I got a helluva deal on them - gotta love google shopping. Also, when dealing with bigger rotors, just make sure your fork can handle them - forks actually have a rating on the largest rotor size they can handle. The fork I have has a max rating of 203mm rotors, but I haven't bit down on that yet - I'm running 160mm's front and rear still. I'd like to get a larger rotor for the front, but I've spent entirely too much money on other bike stuff lately - maybe later. :p

Anyway, off to the trails for the day.
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

Hm, I was not aware of the bearing differences. I too was comparing the 5's and 7's a while back, and the only differences I was told about was the adjustability. Either way, the BB7's are pretty cheap. I picked up the 2010's earlier this year for about 75 bucks total. I got a helluva deal on them - gotta love google shopping. Also, when dealing with bigger rotors, just make sure your fork can handle them - forks actually have a rating on the largest rotor size they can handle. The fork I have has a max rating of 203mm rotors, but I haven't bit down on that yet - I'm running 160mm's front and rear still. I'd like to get a larger rotor for the front, but I've spent entirely too much money on other bike stuff lately - maybe later. :p

Anyway, off to the trails for the day.

I actually need to get a new fork too. Since the Dart 3 is so bad, I can have the preload as high as I can get it and still bottom it out, standing still and pushing down on it. I'm looking at getting a Reba with a 20mm thru axle. Once again, money is an issue right now, so I have to deal with what I've got. I'm about 255 lbs so 160mm rotors just aren't cutting it for my weight. I need to step up to at least 185s.
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

Do mountain bike frames really break if u use them wrong ? Surely they only do so if your particularly heavy and you fall like 10meters o_O
 
Re: The What You've just Bought thread!

Researching, it seems to depend heavily on the materials of the bike (which depends on how much you spent and the brand), and as said by Jayce (thanks! :)) the suspension. But yeah, a steel frame can just fracture if you land on it too hard.
 
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