Anyone here into Mountain bikes too?

[BMR]

My first love was MTB - I used to work for a site called www.shutupandride.ca - it's gone now, Just wondering if anyone else is into pedalling their bikes, not just motorized ones.

Here is a review I wrote on my DH bike: www.deadpenguin.com/kshoes/BansheeReview/BansheeReview.html

[Dandy Dan]

Yeah I'm huge into mtn bikes. Right now I'm riding a 2005 Rocky Mtn Switch SL. I bought the frame and built it up myself with Tons of sweet goodies like Race Face Diabolus, Hadley hubs, SRAM X9 components etc.

I was out riding last night and it was one of the best sessions of my life. Everything was going so smooth and I felt so good. I met up with these guys who had built this secret section of North Shore style ladders, totters and skinnies and none of them had the balls to ride it yet but I felt so good I hit everything including the biggest drop 3x. The biggest drop is maybe a 8" wide skinny that climbs up 8 feet into the air and then you zig zag around on skinnies in the air for maybe 15 feet before dropping off the end to tranny. It wasn't a huge drop but it was nice and felt really good.

Here's a couple pics (sorry I don't have more action shots. I'm almost never out with a photographer)

My 2003 Switch before the warrentee replacement:


My 2005 Switch:


Me breaking my coller bone 4 years ago on my bros Kona Stinky when I was just learning to ride:


Me dropping 2 years ago on my Kona Roast hardtail:

[BMR]

Sweet bike Dan! I recently got my first Rocky but it's for xc. It's a 2002 Hammer. I'm liking it. I've ridden most big name brands over the years, love the Banshee though.

We used to have tons of trails here but everything was dropping to flat bc duh - I live in the prairies! We had some decent trails in buffalo pound provincial park including about a 8 footer, lots of skinnis and teets...the park found it and made us tear it down. It was horrible and my big bike sits around most of the year. Got up to Panorama last summer which was awesome. They have a drop park that has drop from 2 feet up to 8 to a huge tranny. The 8 footer is more like 12 by the time you land. ALso a gnarly steep landing at the start of a trail called "crazy train". Definately the biggest drops I have done. They also have tons of dirt jumps and gaps, which scare me way more than drops do.

I'll try to post some more pics later of some of the stuff we had.

I can see you are a bit of an Adrenaline junkie too - ever try something stupid on your Ruckus?

I have a F.U.N.N. Head Huncho stem and bar that I am planning to toss on the Ruck when I get her. My LBS did not have the 1 1/8 adapter in, but he is going to order it up for me. Also picked up some cheap BMX pegs. The stem is adjustable and will look pretty cool I think with the grey camo on the Ruck. I'm gonna see if the camo grows on me before making any descisions to repaint it.

www.bikemagic.com/review/reviewproduct/mps/RPN/4592/v/1/sp/

[Dandy Dan]

Cool stuff.

I've tried a bit of stuff on my Ruckus but I've realised that it just isn't built for it. I used to drop it off curbs and hit a couple jumps on the shoulder near my place but over time rim my rims got warped so I stopped (and having a single sided swingarm is scary). When I was riding it in the winter I used to do doughnuts and 180's etc but once I caught an edge while doing a doughnut and I went down hard and bent my bars and front turnsignal bracket. I try and be a bit more responsible now and do the fun stuff on my bike that's meant for it.

That FUNN stem looks really good because you don't really want your bars too far forward but you might want them a bit higher to clear your knees so you've got some nice flexibility there. I was gonna use a dangerboy stem on mine (because it came with a sweet top cap) before I just got the BSS handlebar clamp. A big part of the reason why I didn't go with an mtb part is that once you buy a nice stem and the shims and then maybe a cap for it and a star nut you've pretty much spent as much as the BSS stem which is a really nice piece and works great. I have a star/fangle nut that's meant for 1" steerer tubes that should fit in our 15/16" steerer tube if you want it. I got it for $5 from my LBS...it was a bit hard to get since it was old stock since no one makes 1" star nuts anymore. You could just forget the whole starnut thing and you'd probably be okay but I like having a bit of extra security.

[BMR]

The stem is left over from my 2002 Norco Launch...the big bike I had before the Chap. We'll have to see how the Ruck feels after I do that seat rail thing.

I'm going to paint the Alu angle bar with flat black rustoleum, that bbq paint. I know alu doesn't rust but that paint is pretty tough and flat and will look better than silver angle bar. May start working on those this weekend as it is supposed to rain both days.

If I hate the ride I may go with a BMX style bar with this stem...or I was even thinking of going for the old school CCM mustang look!

Thanks for the offer on the star nut - got one yesterday at my local shop. He had a bunch of old stock so it was only a buck.

[Dandy Dan]

wannabe said:

He had a bunch of old stock so it was only a buck.

Yeah it felt like I was getting ripped. They might have actually told me $5 on the phone and charged me $7.50 when I got there.

[BMR]

dandydan said:

wannabe said:

He had a bunch of old stock so it was only a buck.

Yeah it felt like I was getting ripped. They might have actually told me $5 on the phone and charged me $7.50 when I got there.

Yeah it's one of the small benefits of living in a smaller city...there are only 2 good bike shops and I have a good relationship with both. That's why I had so much trouble paying retail for that Ruckus! I get discounts on everything at the bike shps. I got a 2005 Marzocchi All Mountain 1 - fully adjustable, retails for like 1199 and my shop got a line on the fork from a rep that owed him a favour....they only charged me 350 for it. Great fork - I wish I could mount it on the ruck.

You can buy 1 inch steer tube forks, but that is still too fat, plus you would need a custom disc rim and some hayes. Impossible I'm sure but it would be cool!

[Dandy Dan]

One thing I looked into back in the day was that the Marz. Z1's from maybe 2000-2002 had removable legs. If the stanchions were the same diameter you could just modify them slightly for the bolt and then bolt them in. You'd need to do something on the bottom for the axle, spacers and brake setup but you'd get a lot better suspension up front. Unfortunately they used about 30-32mm stanchions instead of 27mm like the Ruckus does so it's pretty much impossible.

[Kami no Chiizu]

I pedaled Tomos around, the other day... that's the only way to get the bugger moving... argh.

[suprtek]

Enjoy your youth while you can guys. I've been too old for that kind of stuff for a while now. Looks like a lot of fun but the inevitable pain I would definitely suffer forces me to be content with tamer activities. I haven't given up on havin fun though! ;D

[BMR]

suprtek said:

Enjoy your youth while you can guys. I've been too old for that kind of stuff for a while now. Looks like a lot of fun but the inevitable pain I would definitely suffer forces me to be content with tamer activities. I haven't given up on havin fun though! ;D

I sure don't feel young anymore (though I did get ID's for buying beer on Friday night, hahah).

At 25 I ruptured my Anterior Cruciate Ligament playing basketball. The injury sidelined me for quite a while and made me re-think some of the stuff I was doing. The pictures in that article were after the injury , but before surgery. It took 1.5 years on a wait list to get the ACL replacement. The Canadian Health care system is good, but not perfect.

I still go to ski resorts in BC for some downhill riding, but I have to admit. The older I get the more coareful I get. Calculated risk...I still love the adrenaline rush, but I am just a little less stupid about it.

Before I get hurt I used to feel unbreakable. It really made me relize that no matter what I thought - I actually wasn't superman.

[Dandy Dan]

Hopefully I don't have to wake up to reality any time soon. I'm 22 and hopeing to keep pushing the boundaries until 30 and then I can slowly relax. I'll probably wind up just doing skiing since my fiance is all into that and her parents have a 100 year time share for Snowbird in Utah.

[Kami no Chiizu]

Yeah, my uncle (who's pushing 50) mountain bikes, regularly, often times with a triathalete, and he messed up his grill a couple years ago. Went over the bars and landed on his face. I have pics of the stiches in his gums, they aren't pretty.

[suprtek]

Ouch!! I think I'd rather just relax somewhere.
Relax = Good
Faceplant = Bad

[Kami no Chiizu]

I enjoy riding my bike, but I never got in anything too deep or dangerous... well, except on the highways.

[chanito]

Yeah! nothing like getting hurt to realize you are not superman, i use to be a gymnast as a teenager, and i really loved to perform and hear the ohh! and ahh! of the crowd, and as usual i thought i could do any stunt i have seen on TV, then one day i decided to try i high bar release i had seen on the Olympics, sadly i failed but i fly for about 10 feet and dislocated my wrist (very painful) and had a lot of bruises after that i was not as daring and not as successful as a gymnast so i quit and went back to soccer