The ... "I can't ride today but I am doing this instead" ... thread ...
- Thread starter jocampo
- Start date
UselessPickles
New Member
Yesterday after work, I voluntarily drove my car instead of the motorcycle. My motorcycle may feel especially betrayed, because I did it so I could ride my other two-wheeled vehicle:
linkgt
Member
Nice uselesspickles! I need to buy a pair of decent mountain bike tires to hit up some trails myself... any recommendations?
Anyway I cant ride today because weather has been crap past few days. Should clear up tomorrow
Anyway I cant ride today because weather has been crap past few days. Should clear up tomorrow
UselessPickles
New Member
I don't have enough experience to know anything about tires, except that different tires are better for different types of terrain. So even if I had a preferred tire, it might be horrible for the trails you ride. I just use the tires that came with the bike.
linkgt
Member
KK. Yea the tires that came with my bike (trek 4300) are horrible. Everyone who has that bike agrees. Trails here in Long island are just dirt and gravel, nothing too serious unfortunately :/. Il just put in some decent tires on.
For Long Island, you will generally be needing an Cross-Country (XC) tire, though a somewhat less aggressive All-Mountain (AM) type would probably work OK too. There's a lot of overlap between the two.
I like the Kenda Small Block Eight for most cross-country situations like you encounter in Long Island. Get into much looser conditions or ride in the mud and you'll need a more aggressive tread like the Nevegal, which is also a very good tire I have liked a lot but is more aggressive than I need for the moderate to hardpack terrain I tend to ride most around here. They now make something called the "slant 6" that fits in between those two and is likely to be the next tire I try.
Kenda - Mountain
These days I'm still on the older the Panaracer XC Fire Pro. A bit less aggressive than the Kenda Nevegal, but more aggressive than most XC tires. It suits my riding conditions and style well. Might be more aggressive than you need for LI, and there are newer models that probably would do better.
Panaracer: Professional Bike Tires from Panasonic | MTB
Unless you're spending over a thousand bucks, the tires that come with any mountain bike will probably suck. Even in the $1000-2000 range I've seen bikes with crappy tires. Above that range they usually come with pretty good quality, but often not with the ones that suit your needs best. Just like motorcycles.
UselessPickles
New Member
Let's breathe some life back into this thread, especially since it's winter and many of us northern riders have few opportunities to ride.
I can't ride today because there's too much snow, but I think I had just as much, if not more, fun doing this:
Snowy banked corners are fun.
I can't ride today because there's too much snow, but I think I had just as much, if not more, fun doing this:
Snowy banked corners are fun.
FastFreddy
New Member
I've been getting into the pushbike riding since my licence is MIA for the next few months.
I've got a half-decent road bike with a rack for commuting and a $99 Aldi mountain bike at the moment. I'm thinking of getting a time trial bike, but the inner tight arse is saying, "not until you are faster on the road bike".
The cheap mountain bike was better than I thought it would be, just the heavy wheels.
I've got a half-decent road bike with a rack for commuting and a $99 Aldi mountain bike at the moment. I'm thinking of getting a time trial bike, but the inner tight arse is saying, "not until you are faster on the road bike".
The cheap mountain bike was better than I thought it would be, just the heavy wheels.
UselessPickles
New Member
I hope you don't plan to use that "mountain bike" for any actual mountain bike trails. Those bikes are really just "recreational bikes" with "mountain bike styling". You'll probably even find warnings/disclaimers somewhere about how the bike is intended for use on smooth surfaces only, no jumps, etc.
I used a similar quality bike the first time I rode a trail. I barely survived the ride (brakes could not slow me down on steeper downhill sections, and pedaling the 40+ pound beast uphill while the shifters refused to downshift was no fun either). The bike did not survive (rims bent up so much that the tire was rubbing the frame; just from bumps and small drops in the trail, no crashes).
It sure was exciting, though. Enough to make me want to invest in a bike that was actually designed to handle that kind of riding. Just be warned that once you start, it's hard to stop. Both in terms of the riding itself, and upgrading (either individual bike components, or the entire bike). I now ride 2 times a week, about 10 miles each time, and am on my 3rd bike in a year (not including the first cheapo bike). I still need to sell my previous 2 bikes to help pay for my newest bike.