Mountain Bikes

It is too big, Im 6'1 but like I said its free and if I get into it I'll buy my own.

The brakes were pretty knacked so i went round to my mates friday night to let him cast his eye over it. He put some Shimano XTR brakes he has off one of his bikes and wanted to out some 'riser' bars on. Still abit jibberish to me to be honest. He sent me away with an armfull of magazines, books etc. I had a play with his bike, a Rotwild which is a seriously nice bit of kit, could by a nice car for the same money though!

 

I'm 6' and I think mines 18" from memory, fits perfect.

 

Hard-tail is fine for you youngsters and saves a useful amount of weight. However, my middle-aged rump prefers my sprung seat post

 

were they not the cheapo baikes from Raleigh..? - they had titanium tubes that were from russia...cast offs from the cold war...but they were very cheap bikes, pretty good too, tho, they did tend to flex a lot...I held one of the frames, and was light as a bag of sugar...this muct have been in the early 90's...

 

No FS for me, it rides much lighter than it is, although good full susp frames aren't that bad and then when you put light bits on it getts better, esp the wheels!

 

I think thats right Mr cat.

I remember titanium tubes with steel lugs.

I also remember raleigh had a former roadie in their cross country team at the time (who's name I forget) who romped about the place winning everything on his raleigh !

On another question, Im on the hunt for a LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT pair of new wheels. Looking for semi slicks, or some similar variant for light off road stuff. 1.7's would be fine, as would 1.9's. 1.5's? maybe, but a bit scary thin.

The lightest Ive seen are the panaracer speed blaster (£26.99) 360g, 1.75's.

Has anyone seen better?

details here, if you want to see them :

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/

 

I use panaracer Mach SS Kevlar, which are excellent. They're heavier though...

 

Thanks Isaac. I used to love the pany's I had years ago. They came out with some all time classics.

The lightest XC tyre I've found so far is the Kenda Klimax Lite. An impressive 345g for a 1.9 tyre. I REALLY dont think Im going to beat that one. Heres a link to somewhere selling them that I'll be following myself later this summer - http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/p.php?make=kenda

 

that's it, i've gone and done it, having lurked around this thread feeling progressively guilty about leaving my trusty steed unused for so long i dug her out of the cellar tonight (i got the mountain bike out as well )
when cleaned i found a Trek700zx, aluminium hardtail, circa 1999 i think.
tis cleaned, the old SPD shoes and helmet have been located, though i have absolutely no idea where i packed my general fitness........

note to self - practice getting in and out of SPD pedals - dont forget - first time out with them on you fell over at a junction cos you reached down thinking you were easing off your old toe straps

quick 100 yard trip to confirm all was working ok left me keen to get out and about but, given i've got to spend the day on my feet at hyde park this saturday, i aint gonna give my quads any more stick than they need, also need to change brake pads and get a new seat post clamp before hitting the trail....

t-bone - round here the larger belly is perhaps referred to as a Firkin - please correct me i f i am wrong but i believe this refers to the smallest of the brewers barrels - a capacity of 11 gallons i think?/ anyway - in some circles this is seen as a vast upgrade on the measly contents of a six pack .....

 

Ohhh, be careful of spuds.... friend of mine had a set. We rode down a trail that in mid-90s mtb speak was "gnarly" and got fair coated in mud. I stopped at the bottom and waited for him, he rode up to a stop. Saw him trying to turn his feet, but the mud had seized the mechanism and in comedy slow-motion he toppled over sideways. Mind you, he had this amazing ability to pull off the most spectacular moves by sheer bravery rather than any skill without coming to any harm, but then when we were all stood around chatting, he'd invariably end up falling over...

 

i rode up a track linking my old house to Old Mount Road - got to the aforementioned junction, got confused and, just like your mate, did a slow-mo fall onto my fat rump, fortunately its quiet up there! all i could do was PMSL.......

 

Now had you given me warning I'd have been there with a camera...

 

I used to use Shimano SPD pedals, and found they did get grooted with mud...
I swapped to THESE (bought in the sale for £55) and have had no such trouble since. And there's no maintenance!

 

Certainly the crank bros stuff seems to be the choice of the clip-in users. Me... I ride in too mad a fashion at times to use clip-ins...

 

I have the old shimano downhill clip-ins.

 

who remember thos onza porcupine tyres..? they were great...had em' on a an easlry 90's trek 950...that was some bike...could go up and down reral steep banks with those!

 

I loved Onza's Porcipaw grips.... if anyone sees a black set sitting unloved on a bike shop shelf, let me know!

 

yeah, haven't seen any for ages, big 2.1" they were too...!

 

specialized 1.5 hardpac, best tyres ever, super fast, light, never clog with mud and ok on the road, bahumbug to fat rubber

 

yeah, but these were the days before suspension...!!

I'm running the bog standard tyres that came with me trek 4900 now...!