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Bicycle Guys! (1 Viewer)

Thoughts on the Polygon MTB brand?
One of the best value brands when it comes to spec while still providing quality frames.
I want a mountain bike.... but I am not sure really need a mountain bike. Keeping my cost down would help.... I think I want to go full squish though, which would start a whole chain of events that would have me selling my gravel/ATB bike buying 2 bikes to replace it.
I think the Polygon Siskiu D7 is probably the best value of the more entry level full suspension bikes, but the D6 would also get you going. I’d avoid the D5. They are also legit having a sale right now, not like the bikesdirect sale that runs all year. I will add that they are still being a bit shady and added an extra $100 to the “full” price to make it seem like you’re saving more. You are still getting a real discount though.
 
Full suspension is overrated :duckshead:
I was wondering about a that... a hard tail would be way to similar to my current bike tho. That is why I was thinking if I got a MTB, I would go full squish and sell my gravel bike to replace it with a gravel bike that leans more roadie.
 
I don't even understand the purpose of a gravel bike. I'm either riding a road bike on roads or mountain bike on single track. A few times I took my mountain bike on some rail trails (we have a lot of those in nj) and it just felt like a boring in between.
 
Had a pretty awesome mountain bike trip with the guys in Tahoe. Did the Tahoe Rim Trail to Flume Trail. Did some laps at Jackass Ridge, and capped off the trip with some lift-op downhill at Northstar, but our day got cut in half there because the wildfire smoke ended up shutting the resort down.
I might meet some college buddies there next summer - could a novice have fun on those trails?
Are you the novice?
No, I’m confident riding anything below double black diamond (midwest scale). Two of my buddies have just started biking again, but I think they’re riding multipurpose trails with no technical features.
Got it. The trails we rode were all on the north side of the lake, while most people who go to Lake Tahoe end up on the south shore.

The Flume Trail itself is not technical at all, just has 1,500' exposure all the way down to the lake and great views. This is the route we took, which adds the Tahoe Rim Trail into the mix. It was super fun, and the Tahoe Rim Trail is a work of art. It has a bit of everything: technical climbing, techy descents, and fast and flowy descents. Anything that is above their ability level is walkable, and there are no surprises. Solid blue, albeit Tahoe blue.

Jackass is another trail that is SUPER fun for just about all skill levels, but there is one mandatory rock roll that they will likely walk. It's a short lappable loop with a fire road climb and a fast, flowy descent that's loaded with jumps, drops, optional rock rolls, and big bermed turns. Everything except the one rock roll is optional and easily avoided. It's in Truckee, which is about 20 minutes away from North Tahoe. This was probably the consensus favorite trail of the group.

Northstar is a place I would avoid taking a novice, even though the allure of not having to pedal uphill will likely tempt them. It was crazy fun, but it's intense. Like I said, our day got cut short due to the wildfire smoke blowing in, so we only rode two separate trails, a blue and a black. The blue trail, was probably the most intense blue trail I've ever ridden in that it's loaded with rocks and roots, has loose dirt, and there are sections of trail with what I believe are mandatory drops, albeit very small. The black trail pushed me to my very limit in a few sections, and my neighbor who isn't as confident/skilled had to walk a number of sections. The green trails are all just fire roads and I wouldn't personally want to pay for a lift ticket to ride fire roads down a mountain.

Long story short, Tahoe is loaded with miles and miles of trails and I believe there is something for everyone, but there is almost always going to be loose, dry dirt and rocks, so I would get them riding some more technical features between now and next summer.
 
Had a pretty awesome mountain bike trip with the guys in Tahoe. Did the Tahoe Rim Trail to Flume Trail. Did some laps at Jackass Ridge, and capped off the trip with some lift-op downhill at Northstar, but our day got cut in half there because the wildfire smoke ended up shutting the resort down.
I might meet some college buddies there next summer - could a novice have fun on those trails?
Are you the novice?
No, I’m confident riding anything below double black diamond (midwest scale). Two of my buddies have just started biking again, but I think they’re riding multipurpose trails with no technical features.
Got it. The trails we rode were all on the north side of the lake, while most people who go to Lake Tahoe end up on the south shore.

The Flume Trail itself is not technical at all, just has 1,500' exposure all the way down to the lake and great views. This is the route we took, which adds the Tahoe Rim Trail into the mix. It was super fun, and the Tahoe Rim Trail is a work of art. It has a bit of everything: technical climbing, techy descents, and fast and flowy descents. Anything that is above their ability level is walkable, and there are no surprises. Solid blue, albeit Tahoe blue.

Jackass is another trail that is SUPER fun for just about all skill levels, but there is one mandatory rock roll that they will likely walk. It's a short lappable loop with a fire road climb and a fast, flowy descent that's loaded with jumps, drops, optional rock rolls, and big bermed turns. Everything except the one rock roll is optional and easily avoided. It's in Truckee, which is about 20 minutes away from North Tahoe. This was probably the consensus favorite trail of the group.

Northstar is a place I would avoid taking a novice, even though the allure of not having to pedal uphill will likely tempt them. It was crazy fun, but it's intense. Like I said, our day got cut short due to the wildfire smoke blowing in, so we only rode two separate trails, a blue and a black. The blue trail, was probably the most intense blue trail I've ever ridden in that it's loaded with rocks and roots, has loose dirt, and there are sections of trail with what I believe are mandatory drops, albeit very small. The black trail pushed me to my very limit in a few sections, and my neighbor who isn't as confident/skilled had to walk a number of sections. The green trails are all just fire roads and I wouldn't personally want to pay for a lift ticket to ride fire roads down a mountain.

Long story short, Tahoe is loaded with miles and miles of trails and I believe there is something for everyone, but there is almost always going to be loose, dry dirt and rocks, so I would get them riding some more technical features between now and next summer.
That looks like a fun little trail. How long did it take you to ride the full 25 miles? So all these trails were on the north side? What town did you stay? Never even considered go there to mountain bike but looks like that's gonna have to change.
 
Had a pretty awesome mountain bike trip with the guys in Tahoe. Did the Tahoe Rim Trail to Flume Trail. Did some laps at Jackass Ridge, and capped off the trip with some lift-op downhill at Northstar, but our day got cut in half there because the wildfire smoke ended up shutting the resort down.
I might meet some college buddies there next summer - could a novice have fun on those trails?
Are you the novice?
No, I’m confident riding anything below double black diamond (midwest scale). Two of my buddies have just started biking again, but I think they’re riding multipurpose trails with no technical features.
Got it. The trails we rode were all on the north side of the lake, while most people who go to Lake Tahoe end up on the south shore.

The Flume Trail itself is not technical at all, just has 1,500' exposure all the way down to the lake and great views. This is the route we took, which adds the Tahoe Rim Trail into the mix. It was super fun, and the Tahoe Rim Trail is a work of art. It has a bit of everything: technical climbing, techy descents, and fast and flowy descents. Anything that is above their ability level is walkable, and there are no surprises. Solid blue, albeit Tahoe blue.

Jackass is another trail that is SUPER fun for just about all skill levels, but there is one mandatory rock roll that they will likely walk. It's a short lappable loop with a fire road climb and a fast, flowy descent that's loaded with jumps, drops, optional rock rolls, and big bermed turns. Everything except the one rock roll is optional and easily avoided. It's in Truckee, which is about 20 minutes away from North Tahoe. This was probably the consensus favorite trail of the group.

Northstar is a place I would avoid taking a novice, even though the allure of not having to pedal uphill will likely tempt them. It was crazy fun, but it's intense. Like I said, our day got cut short due to the wildfire smoke blowing in, so we only rode two separate trails, a blue and a black. The blue trail, was probably the most intense blue trail I've ever ridden in that it's loaded with rocks and roots, has loose dirt, and there are sections of trail with what I believe are mandatory drops, albeit very small. The black trail pushed me to my very limit in a few sections, and my neighbor who isn't as confident/skilled had to walk a number of sections. The green trails are all just fire roads and I wouldn't personally want to pay for a lift ticket to ride fire roads down a mountain.

Long story short, Tahoe is loaded with miles and miles of trails and I believe there is something for everyone, but there is almost always going to be loose, dry dirt and rocks, so I would get them riding some more technical features between now and next summer.
That looks like a fun little trail. How long did it take you to ride the full 25 miles? So all these trails were on the north side? What town did you stay? Never even considered go there to mountain bike but looks like that's gonna have to change.
It took us 5 hours, but our "moving time" was closer to 3 hours. We could have done it way faster, but it's one of those rides you want to soak in instead of race through if that makes sense. We stayed in Truckee at an Airbnb.
 
I don't even understand the purpose of a gravel bike. I'm either riding a road bike on roads or mountain bike on single track. A few times I took my mountain bike on some rail trails (we have a lot of those in nj) and it just felt like a boring in between.
This is a good point in consideration of bike purchases as well. What you have available around you to ride on. We have some pretty technical trails around me that I'm not at all interested in (having tried many times and failed a bunch) so mountain biking isn't my gig. I like long, smooth rides so definitely more of a roadie or gravel guy. And we both in abundance around here so my opinion is jaded for sure. I have owned a road, mountain and hybrid bike all at once. The mountain stayed on the wall for a year +. If we had longer, flowy trails I'd probably still have the bike.
 
I don't even understand the purpose of a gravel bike. I'm either riding a road bike on roads or mountain bike on single track. A few times I took my mountain bike on some rail trails (we have a lot of those in nj) and it just felt like a boring in between.
I have a titanium hard tail, steel gravel, and aluminum fat tire. They each serve a specific purpose yet all can do the one thing that I love to do - bikepack.

A full suspension would be too limiting for me. I take my Ti Timberjack on pretty technical trails, but I also can swap out my suspension fork for a carbon fork with three pack mounts. So if I am bikepacking on pretty technical stuff I can still feel confident with my 3 inch tires but have all mounting possibilities to carry gear.

My Kona Rove steel is my everyday rider. I have two wheelsets that allow me to use it as a road bike (still with large tires though for the roads around here suck with potholes). I commute with this but can swap to 47c knobby tires for gravel rides or bikepacking adventures. I am not racing this bike so I don't see the need for a singular use road bike.

My winter ride is my aluminum Mukluk. Also can use this to commute in winters, take it on frozen lakes or groomed snow trails, or the occasional winter overnighter.

If I could only have one bike, it would be a gravel bike though.
 
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I don't even understand the purpose of a gravel bike. I'm either riding a road bike on roads or mountain bike on single track. A few times I took my mountain bike on some rail trails (we have a lot of those in nj) and it just felt like a boring in between.
This is a good point in consideration of bike purchases as well. What you have available around you to ride on. We have some pretty technical trails around me that I'm not at all interested in (having tried many times and failed a bunch) so mountain biking isn't my gig. I like long, smooth rides so definitely more of a roadie or gravel guy. And we both in abundance around here so my opinion is jaded for sure. I have owned a road, mountain and hybrid bike all at once. The mountain stayed on the wall for a year +. If we had longer, flowy trails I'd probably still have the bike.
I'm with @NutterButter on this one. I think a gravel bike seems pretty fun, but for me it would be more for the nostalgia of riding a rigid bike on single track since the geometry of gravel bikes seems pretty similar to the old rigid mountain bikes of the 90's. That said, there is just way to much overlap with what I have in my stable and what I ride to ever justify dropping money on one.

I get regularly passed by gravel bikes on the fire road climbs when I'm mountain biking, but they almost always just turn around and ride back down the fire road. They do the hard part and skip the fun part.
 
I don't even understand the purpose of a gravel bike. I'm either riding a road bike on roads or mountain bike on single track. A few times I took my mountain bike on some rail trails (we have a lot of those in nj) and it just felt like a boring in between.
This is a good point in consideration of bike purchases as well. What you have available around you to ride on. We have some pretty technical trails around me that I'm not at all interested in (having tried many times and failed a bunch) so mountain biking isn't my gig. I like long, smooth rides so definitely more of a roadie or gravel guy. And we both in abundance around here so my opinion is jaded for sure. I have owned a road, mountain and hybrid bike all at once. The mountain stayed on the wall for a year +. If we had longer, flowy trails I'd probably still have the bike.
I'm with @NutterButter on this one. I think a gravel bike seems pretty fun, but for me it would be more for the nostalgia of riding a rigid bike on single track since the geometry of gravel bikes seems pretty similar to the old rigid mountain bikes of the 90's. That said, there is just way to much overlap with what I have in my stable and what I ride to ever justify dropping money on one.

I get regularly passed by gravel bikes on the fire road climbs when I'm mountain biking, but they almost always just turn around and ride back down the fire road. They do the hard part and skip the fun part.
This would be me :lmao:
 
It does make more sense to me like beer said that if all you have for trails is gravel and super techy trails, I would probably ride gravel more especially during the winter months when I'm not going to road ride. I occasionally ride some of the more technical trails but mostly i just like riding the fast flowy stuff which I'm lucky to have a few options. The techy stuff can be fun but it does kick your *** and I only desire to do it from time to time. Even with the fast flowy stuff, I'm never going back to a hardtail. Its so much more comfortable and thus enjoyable to have a bike that absorbs everything. I do strike more of a balance by having less travel and a geometry that's more suitable for climbing since I am predominantly a XC rider.
 
got my first century coming up in 2 days (Sunday). I've done 70 miles before without much issue. Seems so long as I stay hydrated and fueled and take reasonable breaks, it should be doable, though likely a pain in the rear. Upgraded my cycle shorts for this and got Glide ready.
When there is pizza and egg McMuffins along the way, it doesn't seem like much of an athletic feat, but I'll reserve judgment for post event.
 
got my first century coming up in 2 days (Sunday). I've done 70 miles before without much issue. Seems so long as I stay hydrated and fueled and take reasonable breaks, it should be doable, though likely a pain in the rear. Upgraded my cycle shorts for this and got Glide ready.
When there is pizza and egg McMuffins along the way, it doesn't seem like much of an athletic feat, but I'll reserve judgment for post event.
Bring some Tylenol just in case your back gets sore. Mine has on occasion on long rides like that. Otherwise, really, just set yourself a power limit for the first half. You tend to feel great for the first half and decide to stomp on it, only to really regret it in the last 25. Uh, yeah, I am the king of this.

Hopefully a fun ride for you. And that really depends on whether this has 1,000 feet of climbing or 10,000.
 
I get regularly passed by gravel bikes on the fire road climbs when I'm mountain biking, but they almost always just turn around and ride back down the fire road. They do the hard part and skip the fun part.
It's hard to have fun when every tree along the trail is eyeing you, tracking you, and reaching out to grab you.
 
It does make more sense to me like beer said that if all you have for trails is gravel and super techy trails, I would probably ride gravel more especially during the winter months when I'm not going to road ride. I occasionally ride some of the more technical trails but mostly i just like riding the fast flowy stuff which I'm lucky to have a few options. The techy stuff can be fun but it does kick your *** and I only desire to do it from time to time. Even with the fast flowy stuff, I'm never going back to a hardtail. Its so much more comfortable and thus enjoyable to have a bike that absorbs everything. I do strike more of a balance by having less travel and a geometry that's more suitable for climbing since I am predominantly a XC rider.
I obviously don't know what the last hardtail you rode was, but modern trail/AM hardtails have come such a long way from what most people are familiar with. When I bought my hardtail I came from an older full suspension rig, and this bike is so much more confidence inspiring and eats up more trail chatter than my old full sus. It's amazing what high volume tubeless tires at low psi combined with a high quality fork and dropper post can do.
 
got my first century coming up in 2 days (Sunday). I've done 70 miles before without much issue. Seems so long as I stay hydrated and fueled and take reasonable breaks, it should be doable, though likely a pain in the rear. Upgraded my cycle shorts for this and got Glide ready.
When there is pizza and egg McMuffins along the way, it doesn't seem like much of an athletic feat, but I'll reserve judgment for post event.
Bring some Tylenol just in case your back gets sore. Mine has on occasion on long rides like that. Otherwise, really, just set yourself a power limit for the first half. You tend to feel great for the first half and decide to stomp on it, only to really regret it in the last 25. Uh, yeah, I am the king of this.

Hopefully a fun ride for you. And that really depends on whether this has 1,000 feet of climbing or 10,000.
Thanks for the tip. I can handle a couple of capsules in my jersey I think. I'm planning on taking this as a run ride and will be casually watching my HR.
Weather for Sunday looks great. 70 at sunrise up to 85 in the afternoon. And this is in Chicago, so maybe 10 or 12 feet of elevation?
 
got my first century coming up in 2 days (Sunday). I've done 70 miles before without much issue. Seems so long as I stay hydrated and fueled and take reasonable breaks, it should be doable, though likely a pain in the rear. Upgraded my cycle shorts for this and got Glide ready.
When there is pizza and egg McMuffins along the way, it doesn't seem like much of an athletic feat, but I'll reserve judgment for post event.
Bring some Tylenol just in case your back gets sore. Mine has on occasion on long rides like that. Otherwise, really, just set yourself a power limit for the first half. You tend to feel great for the first half and decide to stomp on it, only to really regret it in the last 25. Uh, yeah, I am the king of this.

Hopefully a fun ride for you. And that really depends on whether this has 1,000 feet of climbing or 10,000.
Thanks for the tip. I can handle a couple of capsules in my jersey I think. I'm planning on taking this as a run ride and will be casually watching my HR.
Weather for Sunday looks great. 70 at sunrise up to 85 in the afternoon. And this is in Chicago, so maybe 10 or 12 feet of elevation?
Weather sounds nice! Elevation sounds good and should make for a nice ride. Should be a lot of draft trains to catch.

Just don't get shot. (sorry, softball over the plate too easy to ignore)
 
I get regularly passed by gravel bikes on the fire road climbs when I'm mountain biking, but they almost always just turn around and ride back down the fire road. They do the hard part and skip the fun part.
It's hard to have fun when every tree along the trail is eyeing you, tracking you, and reaching out to grab you.
Those mother****ers eyeballing me the entire time. They hate me, I'm convinced of it.
 
I get regularly passed by gravel bikes on the fire road climbs when I'm mountain biking, but they almost always just turn around and ride back down the fire road. They do the hard part and skip the fun part.
It's hard to have fun when every tree along the trail is eyeing you, tracking you, and reaching out to grab you.
One of the guys I ride with makes a regular effort to grab them first.
 
It does make more sense to me like beer said that if all you have for trails is gravel and super techy trails, I would probably ride gravel more especially during the winter months when I'm not going to road ride. I occasionally ride some of the more technical trails but mostly i just like riding the fast flowy stuff which I'm lucky to have a few options. The techy stuff can be fun but it does kick your *** and I only desire to do it from time to time. Even with the fast flowy stuff, I'm never going back to a hardtail. Its so much more comfortable and thus enjoyable to have a bike that absorbs everything. I do strike more of a balance by having less travel and a geometry that's more suitable for climbing since I am predominantly a XC rider.
I obviously don't know what the last hardtail you rode was, but modern trail/AM hardtails have come such a long way from what most people are familiar with. When I bought my hardtail I came from an older full suspension rig, and this bike is so much more confidence inspiring and eats up more trail chatter than my old full sus. It's amazing what high volume tubeless tires at low psi combined with a high quality fork and dropper post can do.
I'm not falling for that trap again :lol:
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
You ever consider something like this instead where you don't have to haul your own supplies?
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
You ever consider something like this instead where you don't have to haul your own supplies?
Sounds terrible. I love the self sufficiency. :)
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
You ever consider something like this instead where you don't have to haul your own supplies?
Sounds terrible. I love the self sufficiency. :)
Although I would pay good money for someone to deliver ice cold beers to our campground every night
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
You ever consider something like this instead where you don't have to haul your own supplies?
Sounds terrible. I love the self sufficiency. :)
Although I would pay good money for someone to deliver ice cold beers to our campground every night
How much we talking and when you going? I should be able to convince the Western Spirit support crew for my trip to drop off a few beers.
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
You ever consider something like this instead where you don't have to haul your own supplies?
Sounds terrible. I love the self sufficiency. :)
Although I would pay good money for someone to deliver ice cold beers to our campground every night
How much we talking and when you going? I should be able to convince the Western Spirit support crew for my trip to drop off a few beers.
I am gonna try and methodically invite a couple different friends to meet for a 2 day trip. Hopefully I can get the timing down so they will arrive in camp with supplies (beer)
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
Wow, looks awesome. This looks like a pure MTB route rather than a gravel bike ride? Would love to ride in the Badlands.
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
Wow, looks awesome. This looks like a pure MTB route rather than a gravel bike ride? Would love to ride in the Badlands.
Yea, nothing super technical, but it is all single track. I think there is one little detour on gravel for 5 or 10 miles. Total ascent of 15,000 feet
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
Wow, looks awesome. This looks like a pure MTB route rather than a gravel bike ride? Would love to ride in the Badlands.
Yea, nothing super technical, but it is all single track. I think there is one little detour on gravel for 5 or 10 miles. Total ascent of 15,000 feet
I saw the climbing - 100'/mile is no joke. Still looks awesome. (y)

Reading through it I get a chuckle out of the note that it's all bentonite clay. I'm a ceramic engineer and the mainstay comment is if you're having problems add bentonite. Superplastic stuff - i.e. super sticky. That it will get everywhere in your drivetrain is no joke if you get the bike wet.
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
Wow, looks awesome. This looks like a pure MTB route rather than a gravel bike ride? Would love to ride in the Badlands.
Yea, nothing super technical, but it is all single track. I think there is one little detour on gravel for 5 or 10 miles. Total ascent of 15,000 feet
I saw the climbing - 100'/mile is no joke. Still looks awesome. (y)

Reading through it I get a chuckle out of the note that it's all bentonite clay. I'm a ceramic engineer and the mainstay comment is if you're having problems add bentonite. Superplastic stuff - i.e. super sticky. That it will get everywhere in your drivetrain is no joke if you get the bike wet.
Yea, I may do it next fall instead because of that. Any rain and that clay is a problem. A big problem
 
Just started planning a spring 4 or 5 day bikepacking trip with a few friends up to North Dakota. The Maah Daah Hey route is 158 continuous miles of singletrack. I have hiked a little bit of it (like 5 miles) with my kiddos while camping, but have not explored it much. Looks pretty sick though.
Sounds awesome. I know nothing about backpacking or bikepacking but I’ve wanted to go backpacking for as long as I can remember and just haven’t done it. One of the appeals of mountain biking for me is that I can get miles away from where hikers are willing to go and spend some quiet time in nature. Bikepacking must be even better in this regard
 
How much does your rig typically weigh with food and camping supplies? That elevation gain is no joke.
I have actually never weighed. The bike I take typically is my Ti Timberjack with an Enve carbon fork. Unpacked, the bike is about 23 pounds.

I'll take some pics and weigh it out next time I head out for a weekend

-edit- I go pretty minimal. Super lightweight tent and cookset. I would guess total weight is around 50 pounds
 
got my first century coming up in 2 days (Sunday). I've done 70 miles before without much issue. Seems so long as I stay hydrated and fueled and take reasonable breaks, it should be doable, though likely a pain in the rear. Upgraded my cycle shorts for this and got Glide ready.
When there is pizza and egg McMuffins along the way, it doesn't seem like much of an athletic feat, but I'll reserve judgment for post event.
Century complete. My body is hurting today but little to do with biking:
Saturday before the event I was laying low and saving my legs for the ride. One errand involved me moving heavy boxes of flooring from SUV to my garage. One of the boxes slid off the pile and right onto my big toe. Hurt like a mutha.
Fortunately, toe issue was minor for Sunday. Ride went great for first 60 miles. Nice mix of rural roads and some busy streets. Sometimes there would be 20 cyclists around, other times I was solo wondering if I was on the right track. Just after 60 miles, my front tire went flat real fast. I slowed down but steering got real difficult. I was on a busy road and I was trying to navigate to a smooth stop on a bumpy driveway. Well, that didn't happen. Bike slid from under me and I bailed to the right side onto the driveway. I had recently done a group ride where I was the only one without gloves, so I was wearing brand new gloves yesterday as an attempt to fit in. If I wasn't wearing those, I think my day would have been done. I got a cut on my finger and some bruising on my palms but that was about it. Changed the tube and I was back in biz. Front tire ran wonky til the next rest stop but got that fixed up too.
It was not a race obviously, but I was content to finish in less than 6 hrs.
These events tend to be old dudes in tights and each year I age, I guess I fit in more and more. I would do this event again next year, but between the early start and the post event shower + beer + nap, it's an all day thing and I don't have time for these all weekends.
 
Nice work @Brony :thumbup:

Funny story about the old men in tights (I too resemble that remark). Doing a 12 hour ride, hook up with a guy at the start that wants to ride around the same pace as I do, strike up a conversation and off we go. We're riding in the middle of nowhere FL and about 15 miles in come up on this old timer wearing cargo shorts, a tank top, Convers Chuck Taylor's and riding a bike that saw it's best days in the 70's. At first we thought he was just a local out for a spin but no, he had the race tag on the back of his bike like we did. We slowed down and asked him how he was doing, he was laboring a bit and said he didn't wear the right shoes for this long of a ride. We encouraged him to turn back before he got too much further out. We were riding a 50 mile out & back to start then short loops until you fell over after. Not sure ole boy would have made it 20 miles or wtf he was thinking when he signed up.
 
I had recently done a group ride where I was the only one without gloves, so I was wearing brand new gloves yesterday as an attempt to fit in. If I wasn't wearing those, I think my day would have been done.
I never ride without gloves for this exact reason and they have saved me, as well. That and I sweat enough that I need something with grip. I abuse those poor gloves and (bad me) will go a while between washes. Pretty sure they're sentient at this point.
 
Thoughts on the Polygon MTB brand?
One of the best value brands when it comes to spec while still providing quality frames.
I want a mountain bike.... but I am not sure really need a mountain bike. Keeping my cost down would help.... I think I want to go full squish though, which would start a whole chain of events that would have me selling my gravel/ATB bike buying 2 bikes to replace it.
And you will forever be unhappy about it. If you can't keep your gravel bike I wouldn't do it. A MTB has a very specific use that seems really fun at first but then you quickly realize it is only for a very specific purpose and doesn't cross over into other disciplines like a gravel bike can. My opinion of course but that's been my experience and why I sold my mountain bike.
And here I am looking into buying another mountain bike.
N+1!
 
@Dickies what are you looking to get? I’m about a year away from another full suspension so I’m doing all my homework now. My Pivot 429 is gettin g a bit long in the tooth.
 
@Dickies what are you looking to get? I’m about a year away from another full suspension so I’m doing all my homework now. My Pivot 429 is gettin g a bit long in the tooth.
The two that I have my eyes on the most are the Transition Spur and the Ibis Ripley. The Pivot Trail 429 is also a bike I've been looking at as I've heard really good things about it. I value pedaling as much as I do descending, so I want something that is an efficient climber. The trails I ride 90% of the time aren't all that gnarly, so a short travel bike should do the trick.

Currently riding a Commencal Meta HT that I absolutely love and would prefer not to sell, but I suspect I could get more for it than I paid, which makes it tempting to sell and grab a Ripley AF while they are on sale.
 
One of my riding buddies has the Ripley and he’s been very happy with it. I’ve enjoyed my pivot a lot, and likely will replace it with another. It’s the 2014 (I think) so before there was “boost” and the slacker headtubes.
 
One of my riding buddies has the Ripley and he’s been very happy with it. I’ve enjoyed my pivot a lot, and likely will replace it with another. It’s the 2014 (I think) so before there was “boost” and the slacker headtubes.
I also ride with a guy who is on a Ripley. His brother is one of the head engineers at Ibis, so he gets the occasional hand me down prototype that can't really be resold.

I had my eyes on a carbon bike because I feel like I ride enough to justify the extra cost, but the current sale on the Ripmo/Ripley AF is really tempting me. I would also really like to test ride the Transition Spur, but they are sold out everywhere and on backorder for the better part of a year. Not sure if I should just scrap that idea and move on from it, or continue to use it as justification to continually delay pulling the trigger on a new bike.
 
I had recently done a group ride where I was the only one without gloves, so I was wearing brand new gloves yesterday as an attempt to fit in. If I wasn't wearing those, I think my day would have been done.
I never ride without gloves for this exact reason and they have saved me, as well. That and I sweat enough that I need something with grip. I abuse those poor gloves and (bad me) will go a while between washes. Pretty sure they're sentient at this point.
Yeah the timeline between everything is great to everything is in trouble is really, really short.

Not gonna lie that a wipeout like that plays some mind games. You don't realize how much trust you put in the bike until it fails you.
 
My wife needs a new bike, so the searching for her new ride has fallen on me. And thank god, because I have been itching to upgrade my fat tire bike and almost pulled the trigger several times. The wife search will soothe my N+1 needs for a while
 
I so wish I took the opportunity to rent the Ripley AF last march when I was in Sedona. I went with the Ripmo instead but that's way too much bike for the type of riding I do. Shop not too far from me has one on sale for $3200 which is a grand less than msrp, but I just can't pull the trigger until I test it out. This is wishful thinking, but I'll be able to rent again this March and I just hope that bike sticks around until then.
 
I so wish I took the opportunity to rent the Ripley AF last march when I was in Sedona. I went with the Ripmo instead but that's way too much bike for the type of riding I do. Shop not too far from me has one on sale for $3200 which is a grand less than msrp, but I just can't pull the trigger until I test it out. This is wishful thinking, but I'll be able to rent again this March and I just hope that bike sticks around until then.
The Ripmo AF and Ripley AF are currently 25% off everywhere. My local shops are all out of stock, but they can be ordered online…. Which makes me a bit nervous
 

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