Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Damn dude, on a roadbike? I find my road biking friends are always injuring themselves as much or more than my mountain riding buddies. I do want a cross bike though still..

came across a floating tree this weekend. I literally rode under it, stopped, looked back at it, and was still confused at what I was seeing for a moment.


Rode some epic terrain too:


Also took my dog on his longest ride yet. About 15 miles, lots of downhill and lots of steep climbs. He hung with me pretty well, although I did make quite a few extra stops for him to catch his breath and drink water. At full tilt he does >30mph.

Stealth97

iTrader: (5)

30mph dog? Awesome. I was on a mountain bike on a local trail.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

weak, sorry to hear it. I find mountain biking is much more dangerous than snowboarding, and even more so than a motorcycle even. I ride all 3 and that's my perspective at least.

yeah he hit over 30mph according to the speedo I had on my bike, not sure how accurate it is but he's quick. That is only for a short period though, he can probably sustain 12-15 MPH steadily without pooping out.

Stealth97

iTrader: (5)

I'm beginning to agree with both Joe and yourself on the safety of motorcycles vs bicycling. I rode a motorcycle on the street for two or three years, dropped it a few times but was never hurt. I've been riding the MTB for about 6-8 months and this is the 2nd time I've been hurt on it, the first wasn't nearly as bad.

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

will 50mm carbon wheels make me any faster than my ksyriums?

(kind of joking, I haven't ridden much in the last couple weeks)

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

I hurt myself quite a bit the first year or so I started riding. My problem was going "all out" and trying to hang with my buddies, who had been riding much longer.

I grew out of that eventually, honed in my own skill/style, and ride much more reserved now. I switched over to clipiless this year, and surprisingly it hasn't caused any major crashes yet. I still go down (2 decent crashes this year), but not nearly as often/bad. This year i bruised 2 ribs in an OTB, and screwed up my shoulder in a separate OTB. Both were relatively "minor" injuries that healed on their own. Plenty of other little low side falls and whatnot, but none of those hurt

I'm not saying this is what happened to you, because I have no idea. Just stating my experience on riding. I was the same on a snowboard, going way too fast for my skill level and wrecking myself for a while only to develop skill and despite doing bigger/gnarlier stuff, I'm much safer.

dcamp2

iTrader: (4)

Carbon fiber sucks

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Whoah, bummer man. I've only heard good things about carbon bikes, they usually don't bust in half like that unless you smash a rock and damage the structural integrity.

Were you at a bike park, or on a normal trail? My titus has carbon chainstays and I ride the **** out of that thing, no problems yet. It was designed and made in the USA though

dcamp2

iTrader: (4)

I'm mostly kidding... I ride carbon bikes/parts all the time and they are fine. I've just cracked a few of these chainstays and it's frustrating. Luckily I have a few spares.

I was racing up in Steamboat at their bike park. Not sure when it cracked- it could have been weeks ago for all I know.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Dollar spent per watt saved, you'd probably be better off buying the cycling jersey you seem so adverse to.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

What bike is that? Looks like a trek 5-6"? Sounds like you might not be using it for its intended purpose

dcamp2

iTrader: (4)

Nonsense! It's a mountain bike... It's entire purpose is to get the **** kicked out of it. I'm an official bike breaker tester for Trek (used to work for them), so I get free bikes and try to break them.

This is a Remedy 650b- 140mm rear travel, and I have a 160 fork on it.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Social ride last night:

EErockMiata

Two weeks ago I spent some time up at Mammoth Mountain riding the lifts with some buddies. I tried to keep it tame knowing I didn't want a broken bone or separated shoulder or something right before Miata's at Mazda raceway. That meant squishing the jumps and just taking it easy... for the first day. Then the reptile brain took over and I was back to my old ways.

Really love the improvements they've made to their bike bark in the last two years. Too much fun.

My Ride for the weekend.


Me waiting for my buddy to fix a flat.


On the lifts


At the top


McCoy Station (this is about half way down)


Another view from the top.


Well... Once I got back I was fully bitten by the bug again. My Trail 29r hard tail wasn't going to cut it any more. So last night, this happened.


It's a 2015 Giant Trance X2 650B. Having the shop upgrade a few things on it before it leaves today. Mostly the dampers in the fork and shock, and a rock shox reverb seat post. Stoked!

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

Nice.

I am already planning my next rig... though most of you wont get it, this is definitely going to let me get out more.




Wife and I borrowed a tandem about a week ago. She wants one because she enjoys it a lot more than riding singles.

Needless to say, I haven't found a frame that I like the fit of...couple that with my high end fabrication experience and I will be having a go at building a tandem frame custom fit to us.

Front triangle/rear triangle geo is the same as my current bike. Stoker fit is based off her current bike reach and standover. I know for sure that I will need to revise this before the final build, but its a good start to get the bill of materials down.


Im going to build it with oversized , shaped tube for top tube, down tube and mega oversized round tube between the bottom brackets, in hopes of not needing the diagonal between the head tube and the stoker bottom bracket. I will order small diameter tube for that should I need it later on, but I want to avoid it unless it feels too flexy.


29er carbon 50mm wheels with 28c tires, road discs with low mount caliper, non suspension fork (probably alloy, but if I can find a carbon one I feel confident in, I will do that)
105 5703 partial group 11-28
FSA triple tandem cranks (no real options here)


Hope to get the build in under 30lbs, equipped...which would be a rocket compared to the one we tried which was a 26x2 tired, suspensioned cruiser that we were maintaining 35km/h at a leisurely effort.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

Great if you can go out together.

If you do this, please start a build thread. Should be quite interesting to follow.

I would suggest Mountain Bike fork and hubs, which may be what you are planning and when you say' "road discs", you are referring only to the cable pull. Or will you be buying the wheels already built?

4130 TIG?

Crossover drive?

The jig plate will be the big challenge, I would presume.

Last, I think there are builders of custom tandem frames.

MINI-P

I preface with you are a fabricator and I am an art director, but...

We have a tandem and have ridden with tons of other tandems. I predict you will need the diagonal. And no way you can make it stiff enough without it and get it anywhere near 30lbs. We have a Cannondale with huge oversized, super thin aluminum tubes and a mix of Campy Record and XTR and our bike is pushing 40lbs if not more.

Tandems are great if your significant other rides. She doesn't get dropped and you still get a great workout. My ave speed dropped about 2-3 mph but her's went up 7-8.

Good luck. Would be cool to have a custom built frame.

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

Thanks, I will make a build when the time comes.

I will be using MTB hubs for sure. I need to find a fork specifically that I will be able to use that has MTB spacing and is moderately aero... I don't need clearance for a gigantic tire, we will be using road spec tires in 28c.

When I say road disc Im mostly referring to the calipers. I will be running 160mm rotors on the mtb hubs. disc is imo the only way to go with tandems.

The drive system will be the standard 40tooth left side sync with a triple chainring drive on the right. Im going to gear it pretty high, because we don't have many hills around here. 53t big ring with 11-28 cassette will be plenty fast.

7005 alloy with 5183 Filler.

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

Thanks for the tips. I am going off of the design that CO-Motion uses in their tandems. I believe it will be stiff enough with the aero profile tubing in the vertical direction (that the diagonal would be effective) being that it adds about an inch to the vertical profile of each tube vs a similar width round tube. It should add a lot more resistance to flex, but like I said, I have no problem adding it after a test ride (pre paint).


I will do up a bill of materials and see, but there are a few road tandems out there that are 25lbs or so with high end components and I estimate the 80/20 rule will put me about 30lbs. No idea how that will work out in reality and Im not going to compromise rideability or spend thousands to save a few pounds; the weight was merely a goal. The one we rode couldn't get any heavier unless you converted the frame from alloy to steel, and it was still enjoyable and very fast. the one we rode had a heavy SR suntour front suspension fork, steel cranks/handlebars/etc. which would all make it heavy... likely 60lbs to be honest.


We have been doing a lot of riding recently, but I hate leading. I always find myself adjusting my pace because she cant keep up in some spots but suprises me in others. This will allow us to ride, chat and she will be able to enjoy the sights instead of having to watch the surface for cracks and things that as the pilot will be doing.

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

Would consider going all round tube with the diagonal just to run something like this...


Vband all the frames.

the tandem we rode doesn't have this, and its really big to carry around. kind of a pain if you travel with it.