Eric F 

Yep - a couple of old guys on lightweight hardtails. During our ride, my friend and I were talking about a mutual good friend who recently got a new 120mm FS bike. We agreed that HTs were a better choice for us. We don't need to ride faster on rough terrain, or increase the magnitude of the rough terrain we are able to ride. Both of those things increase the damage risk when you make a mistake, and making it home in one piece is a very high priority. We are both good riders with decent tech skills, but being the fastest idiots on the hill is no longer a concern (I do chase climbing PRs, sometimes). Basically, if it's too steep/rocky/challenging to ride on a HT, I probably shouldn't be riding it.

big john

Vice Grip Garage just finished a trip from Tennesse to Winslow, Az. using as much of the old Route 66 as possible in a pick up truck. The number of abandoned towns and buildings was amazing. Some of the businesses hung on longer than others.

big john

I had a 100mm travel bike with a 130mm fork and wanted more for bashing through the rough stuff. The 150/160 bike certainly gave me that. The old group liked to go to Sycamore and the bike made me feel much safer out there, especially descending Guadalasca trail. That group has broken up and I don't go out there much these days.
I also liked McGill trail on Mount Pinos but it's been "discovered" because you can shuttle most of it. Don't like climbing the trail when idiots are shuttling it.

Old bike @9000 feet:


New bike @ 1200 feet.

big john

Oh, yeah.."old guys" lol.

Bah Humbug

A similar thing is what burned Boulder last year...

Bah Humbug

That's usually risqué.

Eric F 

I'm not claiming we're the oldest guys around, but 50+ is older than a large majority of the folks I come across on the dirt.

That KHS looks pretty squishy. If it works for you, that's what matters most. I've always had a preference for hardtails, and have fabricated a justification for it

genejockey 

I remember traveling I-80 back in 1988, going through Iowa, and stopping in a small town. Even then it had obviously seen better days, with only one of what had obviously been several storefronts still open, and one that was nothing but an empty lot, but with front with the frames of the big windows intact. Now? Probably Iowa and the rest of the rural midwest dotted with ghost towns and near-ghost towns.

rjones28 

NPAOTD

​​​​datlas



It's for sale.
No Reserve: 49k-Mile 1995 Saturn SC1 5-Speed for sale on BaT Auctions - ending August 1 (Lot #80,288) | Bring a Trailer

DougRNS

Springhill, Tennessee home of the saturn?

LesterOfPuppets

It went for $6666, and it's right down the road from my work

genejockey 

Nova Scotia.

big john

It's squishy for sure but when you hit a square edged hole or cross a 12 inch rut it just soaks it up. It's really good on loose rocks, too. The 2.8 tires help there. The downside is the weight when climbing. And pedal strikes. With 150mm of rear travel there will be pedal strikes. Of course, it has lockouts on both ends. I really like it, but I think about something else these days.

Eric F 

A Trek Supercaliber is my dream bike, but was out of my $ reach. It's a pure XC machine, but includes a 70mm of rear travel. I would consider it more of a "softtail", rather than FS That said, I'm extremely happy with my Procaliber. I almost pulled the trigger on a new BMC hardtail, but was looking at a long path of upgrades to get it to the spec I really want. Buying my Procal on the used market got me all the upgrades, and more. At 21 lbs, it sure likes going uphill.

indyfabz

Haven’t learned all the details, but a guy I used to volunteer with for our local MS 150 ride just died. We volunteered together in one capacity or another for more than a decade. He was in charge of the route. Later in our collaboration I put out road signs starting at 6 am the day before the event.

From what I have learned so far, he had recently retired from an engineering firm. I am now contemplating my own retirement plans even more.

big john

21 pounds! My Gunnar road bike is a bit more than that! I wanted an Ibis Ripmo but the KHS was so much cheaper and it actually fits me, which is hard to do.

My first full suspension bike was a soft tail, I think it was 80mm? I had a custom shock made for it and it worked pretty well. Took the edge off, as we say.

indyfabz

When I was planning to ride it in 2013 a guy who had ridden it told me to follow the median stripes, which you can still see, albeit they are faint. A good light is a must. A windbreaker is also helpful as the tunnels are cool. Both times I rode through it was warm and humid. They were refreshing. The one thing I refused to do was look up at the ceilings for fear of seeing bats.

genejockey 

A good day.
Wordle 408 3/6

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Eric F 

My buddy's bike is sub-20. He also weighs 20 lbs less, and is fitter. He makes me suffer on climbs (I need it), but we are very well matched on technical stuff, and have the same wheels-on-the-ground tendencies, whereas some of our friends will jump off anything they can.

t2p

have just one full suspension bike - Litespeed Obed FS

I prefer lightweight - so back in the day went with this Litespeed with an AMP rear ... added 'long travel' kit (80 mm ?) to the RS Judy

I also have a Risse shock for this bike - but used the stock shock which has a titanium spring

this bike was a blast to ride - weighed somewhere around 22 lbs with 1.9 tires

this bike has been sitting for a while

t2p

years (and years) ago this was a popular area for dirt bikers / woods riders

a few of my old time dirt bike friends rode there - but I never did

at one time we rode near (and at times on) the railroad tracks in Franklin PA - traveled over some trestles and through a couple of tunnels (on the tracks)

the long tunnels were a challenge - tough to just maintain your balance

the train tracks in that area were transformed into rails-to-trails ... we have ridden some of that area with our bicycles but have not ridden through the long tunnel on the Allegheny River trail ... we did ride through the shorter tunnel on the nearby Sandy Lake trail (pictured above)
.

genejockey 

I do sometimes wonder about all the old Ti MTBs. I mean, it was pretty straightforward to update my 27 year old Ultimate into a modern road bike, because wheels, brakes, derailleurs etc. all still fit and all. But MTBs have changed a lot in that time, from 26" wheels to 29", and a lot of other changes. A 27 year old road frame with modern components is a modern road bike, but I don't imagine the same is true of a 27 year old MTB frame.

t2p

agree - off road bikes have changed a ton

the older stuff is now mostly obsolete and/or better suited to more casual riding

but many small riders - including me - prefer the smaller 26" wheels

and some others do also - including one of my kids that is now 6' ... he prefers the smaller 26" tires ... he has a bmx background

that Litespeed is a 14.5 - can't imagine it with 29" tires ... ? ...

indyfabz

In 2013 I saw two young folks walking. In 2020 I saw the 2 people in the tunnel. But those were weekdays. I did see a good number of beer cans and campfire rings.

About the two people in the tunnel: I had my riding glasses on, and they were shining lights towards me. I only saw two people. In camp that night I looked at the day’s photos as I was sitting around the fire. An intense chill came over me when I realized there had been three people. What made it more scary was that I was the only one in the fairly large campground.

Eric F 

Last year, I got the urge to get back to the dirt, and considered upgrading the drivetrain of my 20+ year-old hardtail XC bike. I decided to go a completely different direction with it...


I didn't limit myself to casual/easy riding. I can ride almost all the same stuff on this 26" singlespeed that I do with my much-newer 29" HT.

Small female MTB pros don't seem to be hindered by 29" tires.