The official MTB discussion thread...

[Jayce]

Here's a question to the wrench heads of the bike group. I'm running pretty much all new components on my ride.

Brand new:
9 spd SRAM cassette
9 spd SRAM chain
Shimano Deore LX crankset
Shimano XT front derailleur

1 month old:
Shimano Deore LX rear derailleur

I set my limiters and B tension accordingly and all seemed well. I went for a ride and I shifted to the largest chainring and the 2nd to smallest rear cog. I felt a little bit of a bumpy sensation through the pedals/crankset. I wasn't too sure what it was, so of course I checked the B tension since it felt EXTREMELY similar to the jockey wheel on the rear derailleur "riding" on the cog. But I had some clearance... I put the bike on my bike rack and I duplicated the same thing. I turned the crank by hand and I felt the distant bumpy feeling. To be sure, with my other hand I gently pushed on the rear derailleur, pushing it further out from the cogs, leaving me PLENTY of clearance, yet it continued. This to me suggested the B tension had little/nothing to do with what I was seeing.

The front derailleur has plenty of clearance and there is no chatter from the chain. The rear derailleur seems to be adjusted perfectly as well, seeing as though it shifts very smooth and precise from gear to gear with no chatter. It's just in the 3rd smallest/2nd smallest cog when in the largest chainring, I couldn't help but to notice this.

It's not a big deal I suppose. It's not like the chain is skipping under torque. But I didn't see this on my hardtail (which used the Deore LX rear derailleur) when it was on an 8 spd setup - so I'm not sure why on the 9 spd setup with the newer gear it's doing this... Any ideas?

 

[Oreo]

Is there a lot of up hill biking in this mountain biking business ? I really hate cycling uphill, it's tiring and slow. But then i am not fit..

 

[Jayce]

Is there a lot of up hill biking in this mountain biking business ? I really hate cycling uphill, it's tiring and slow. But then i am not fit..

All depends on what kind of biking you're looking to do. If you're into freeride/downhill biking, typically you tend to go downhill only on those bikes, since they tend to be a bad choice for climbing and their geometry is sloped for downhill usage anyway. If you're on a hardtail or cross country bike of some sort and you ride trails geared for that kind of riding, yeah you may have some uphill. I used to dread biking, but you learn a lot about yourself, your bike, riding styles, pedaling efficiency, etc when you're out there just cranking away. I enjoy going uphill, as long as it's not too brutal. I've been on some hills so steep that even with me leaning as far forward as I can, it's far too easy to do a wheelie and fall backward due to the intensity of the slope I'm climbing. I hate that ****, but as long as it's not too bad, it's enjoyable for me.

Fun story - I was bombing down this macadam road near my house that I had never been on before. The warning sign said 9% grade for 2 miles. I flew down it. My discs had so much steam coming off of them when I had to brake at the bottom due to the angle and speed I was flying at. When I got to the bottom, I took a right, cause there was NO way I was pedaling back up that beast. Two miles into this right turn I made, it went straight. up. hill. blah. I torqued through it, but it was so steep that it was far too easy for me to accidentally do a wheelie, so I walked up the very top of it which was angled very high. Exhausted, I got to the top, and found a sign. 20% grade. FML. I tried to take an easy route and it ended up being 2x as hard.

 

[overlord20]

IF you have full leg extension and are in a high gear up hill isn't terrible at all.

 

[Oreo]

Sounds like downhill is my kind of thing The fastest i've ever been on a bike was like 25 which was on a slight slope with me cycling hard , that was years ago though.

That fun story of yours is my worst nightmare. You must be wayyy healthy compared to me. I would be tired going up a 100 meters 5 to 10 percent hill In fact i went out cycling one time in the countryside around me and there was a hill that was about 200meters long and about 10/11/12 degrees around there, and by the time i got to the top i was actually sick from being so exhausted

I really need to get fitter before i take cycling back up

 

[overlord20]

I am drastically out of shape but I am extremley lazy when it comes to lifting weights and stuff so I took up biking and I throw my BMX bike around and ride it every where.

 

[remixedcat]

I just have a 200 dollar wal-mart bought MTB its allright I guess. Not in shape enough to ride it.

 

[yzmxer608]

Have you guys seen this? Bike bought for $5 at yard sale belonged to Floyd Landis - Y! Sports Blogs - Yahoo! Sports

 

[Oreo]

If someone discovered a way to get in good shape with the click of your fingers, i'd pay them like 5k I do actually have a crappy mountain bike.

This, but in gunmetal grey >

 

[Luke]

^if someone could do that for 5k, i **** well want to know what they could do with 100k.