And here is the Motion Based data for our Granite Bay ride.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3660549

 

Man o man.... So many rides lately for me. I'm up to 4-5 rides a week. I did Salmon Falls on Sunday. Monday I did a casual Hazel loop ride, then on Tuesday I ran Hazel loop again, but busted my *** because it was my first time riding with the Folsom Breakouts... I'm thinking about doing GB tonight.. It's crazy, my body craves a workout daily now.

The Folsom Breakouts are an odd bunch. Imagine rolling 40 deep making downtown Folsom traffic stop for 5mins while you ride by in the street. Imagine 40 people riding on a 2 foot wide trail, tire to tire.... God, the first 20 minutes of the ride was horrible until I was able to break away from the tards. I dunno about big group riding... It's just ultra gay. Riding to me is either a solo or small group thing...

Oh did I mention those guys all wear prison jerseys with horizontal white/black stripes... Can you say "***-o-trons" in spandex..

 

I also wanted to share I've been running higher PSI in my front and rear suspension. It seems to really help out if you're trying to go fast. (I'm still learning).

Does anyone have experience with "Mr Tuffy's" tire liner? I've been running it in my tires since I got my bike and I can't say I recall my last flat. I mentioned this to a rider last night and he mentioned the added weight could be really slowing me down. Anyone have any feelings they wanna share on this? I was thinking about taking them out for my next ride to see if I notice anything...

Lastly, I've learned that hydrolic break lines are more trouble than they are worth. I've had my fluid changed out twice already and I think I still have an air bubble in one of my lines. As I go up in altitude I've learned my break pressure drastically changes. I never had this problem with cables..

 

Saturday I'm going to do the FACTRAC Big Meadow to Round Lake Ride. I don't know if any of you guys are up for this or not. I'm riding up with another friend, but it would be nice to see some of you guys there too.

Here is the FATRAC link. http://www.fatrac.org/events/Index.asp?M=8&D=18&Y=2007

 

Yeah a lot of guys that race use way high pressures in their forks and shocks. If you want to go fast, it seems like the best way to go is to run a psi level high enough that you're ok to ride but still low enough to roll with the terrain. My first day out at Prairie City a guy told me most racers out there run 50psi or so in their tires (the expert guys) and other reading I've done since seems to confirm that.

I had some Mr. Tuffy's in my road bike tires and had some issues. I started getting phantom flats in the rear. I was asking my LBS and they said that it's common for those tire liners to begin stretching and seperating and actually causing pinch flats. On my road bike, I switched to a different tire (The Specialized Armadillo Elite) and had zero flats after I started using them. On the mountain bike, your best bet is to play with tire pressures until you find the proper pressure (which, for trail riding is supposed to be the lowest you can go without pinch flatting). During the process you should accept some pinches and adjust accordingly. I started out running high pressures but lowered them gradually as I started seeing the benefits of it on the trail. I was down to 38 in the rear and about 30 in the front for pretty much everything I rode, from confluence or hole in the ground to much less rocky stuff like divide loop or connector. I was close to having it dialed before I got hurt; Next year I'll have to start all over again. I weigh (weighed) 225 so you should be able to get away with lower pressures (if I remember correctly you weighed less than I did - high 100s right?).

I'd help on the hydros but not much experience. The only issue I had with my hydraulics was some rubbing on the rotors but I guess that's common with Avids. The stopping power was so much better than mech. discs

 

Third time's a charm, eh?

 

I weigh 165 and I've been riding 45 front/55 rear. I hall *** when I'm on the rode, but my traction suffers big time on the trail. When I rode BMX I loved high PSI, however I guess I'm way too high for XC riding. I'll try running lower pressure to see if helps with traction. I always thought my tires were slipping during climbs more than others because they weighed more than me and could dig in better. hah!

As far as flats go, the tires my bike came with are so thin it seemed like I was getting a flat due to a goathead or other type of thorn every single ride. The tires my bike came with are paper thin and have no anti flat tech in them. Ever since I put my Mr Tuffys in, it stopped dramatically. But... They were hard to center, I think they added a slight wobble to my rear tire, and they weigh more. I'm currently looking into new tires that are more resistant to thorns.

 

If you want to replace your tires regardless, definitely go for it. However, part of your problem with the goatheads or other punctures could actually be due to the high pressure in your tires. The reason the lower pressures give you better traction is because at lower pressures the tires can conform to the terrain better, effectively putting more tire on the trail. Likewise, when you hit a goathead at 55psi, there's no conformity in the tire to get the area between treads around the goatheads.

If lower pressures don't help, and you really want some anti-flat tires, check out the Specialized Armadillo fastrak. They have a kevlar casing, and the benefit the elites is that they have the anti-flat casing but still weigh about the same as a regular tire. With elites on my road bike I run over glass, goatheads, and anything else in the gutter on my way to work without flats. There's a lot of other good tires too for not getting flats - I never received a non-pinch flat with my WTB Raptors or the non-armadillo fastraks on my Epic. I'm sure the other guys can chime in on tire models they've had good luck with too.

 

Hey Randy.....you or anyone else up to do Foresthill Loop on Sunday??? I was thinking of doing a "casual" i.e. easygoing ride.

I just got done with my Summer Chem IA class (Note to self....DO NOT DO THAT AGAIN!) and now have some time to ride after 7 weeks of nothing but looking at a Chemistry book ALL Friggin Day.

Also....I'm planning on getting Hydralic brakes in the next couple days.....I've narrowed it down to either Avid Juicy 7 or Avid Code. What do you guys recomend? I like the idea of the 4-pots for the codes, but do you think it may be too much brake for what we do....also it's about 100g heavier. I would like some inputs before I go out and get a set. (Also I looked at Avid Carbons, Magura Marta SL, and Hope m4).

Cheers

EddyL

 

The code is for freeride and downhill. I think it will be overkill for your needs.

 

I'd recommend the Juicy 7's. I have Juicy 5's and regret not having the thumb adjustments that the 7's offer. I'm not too sure about the code's, but they do seem like overkill.

 

I'm not coming back from my ride until Sunday and I don't think I will be back in time. Otherwise I would.

As for flats, I got one yesterday while exploring a new Olmstead trail. *&^%&#! Star Thistle.

I think unless you go tubeless with the associated goo, you are going to get flats in the summer due to thorns. Higher tire pressure does not help at all with thorn flats. Only snakebite type flats. For traction, you want to run just enough pressure to keep from getting snakebite flats. For thorns, flame throwers would work well for clearing the trail but are probably illegal.

 

I'm really hope I can beat the FATRAC jinx and keep it rubber side down the whole ride. I'm tired of getting hurt.

 

Good luck, dude, just take it slow. Maybe you should start wearing some sweet armor? I have a feeling I will when I get back to riding.

 

Armor would not have prevented your current injury.