The Biking Thread
- Thread starter cory
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Kaveman
Treehouser
Notice bro! Ride hard and stay safe!
Knotorious
That Guy With The Face
If I were to buy a phone holder for my bike, it would need its own suspension in order to keep my phone from flying off haha
Congrats on the new ride! Make sure you learn how to use the adjustment features on your rear and front suspension. It can be nice to dampen one or both when riding on aggressive terrain, that way the shocks aren't violently firing back up every time you hit an obstacle.
Dampening your suspension and sometimes even letting some air out of your tires (depending upon the terrain) can be hugely helpful for improving rider comfort and for avoiding getting flat tires. Underinflated tires can cause pinching and puncturing when you hit a bump, whereas overinflated tires can lead to blowouts. Your bike may come with a recommended pressure and you can easily buy inexpensive gauges for measuring, but it will quickly become something you can learn how to eyeball.
You may already know about all of this. Just trying to help and offer some advice! =-D
Treeaddict
Treehouser
I want one too. Just afraid of breaking the phone if I wreck.
Treeaddict
Treehouser
I hear you on the phone suspension!
Good lookin out with the tire and suspension advice. I’m gonna pump the shocks to manufacturers recommend psi and see how she does. It was pretty comfortable first ride with factory settings but I’ll fine tune it.
Treeaddict
Treehouser
Went out solo from 7:00 to 10:45 this morning. Got this recommended app to track distance, time, and elevation. Looks like 20 min of water and explore nature breaks (oh, and 1 pee break). Made some technical climbs I haven’t been able to do before. I’m getting used to the bike and dialing in some fine adjustments. I’m also getting stronger as well as smarter. I still upshift instead of downshift accidentally but it’s much less. I may not drop my seat early in a downhill because I forget but that’s lessening as well. I’m becoming more familiar with what gear I’m in without looking and am better able to gauge what I’ll need for a particular climb.
185lbs to 172lbs in 6 weeks since biking and eating less. Better moods and more energy!
185lbs to 172lbs in 6 weeks since biking and eating less. Better moods and more energy!
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Knotorious
That Guy With The Face
For cross country riding, where there are obstacles, it's best to have your seat somewhere between where it would be on a downhill descent (at its lowest position) and where it would be on a road ride or easy trail (high enough so that, when your foot is at the bottom of its rotation, there is only a slight bend in your knee). So an inch or two below a road/easy trail position is nice because then the seat isn't going to rape you when you go over obstacles as you stand to absorb the shock and you can bail more easily as well.
Also, speaking of shocks, be sure to learn how to work with yours. Learn how to become a part of your suspension. Don't just ride over stuff and expect the suspension to do all of the work, If you see you're about to hit something, help the suspension by either lifting up on your front or back tires or by doing a slight hop (not off the pedals, just enough to take your weight off the bike during the impact). Also, sometimes jumping over obstacles is easier on your bike than riding over them. Can you bunny hop and do jumps?
Pretty basic stuff, but I just thought it might be helpful to remind you of this. Your suspension will last longer if you continue to ride as if you don't have any, and your rides will be smoother and your technique will be better honed as well. In due time, it will become second nature and you will do it by muscle memory automatically, without even thinking about it.
Treeaddict
Treehouser
I think I’ll lower the seat the couple inches during tough rocky and rooty climbs like you suggested. When I fall off the bike it’s during those climbs. I’ll hit something with either my front or rear tire, come to a halt, and tip over as I’m too high (knee slightly bent on lowest part of the stroke) to properly catch myself, especially if it’s on a hillside and I generally fall to the downward slope and not the upwards side.
I definitely lift my front wheel over obstacles and lean forward to unweight the rear wheel as it passes over. I can bunny hop but probably only like 4”. I’d have to be going pretty fast to hop over a small log across the trail and at this point I’m more afraid of having my rear wheel catch the log at speed and wreck me.
I definitely lift my front wheel over obstacles and lean forward to unweight the rear wheel as it passes over. I can bunny hop but probably only like 4”. I’d have to be going pretty fast to hop over a small log across the trail and at this point I’m more afraid of having my rear wheel catch the log at speed and wreck me.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #359
"worlds toughest bike"
www.buffalobicycle.com
Buffalo Bicycles
Nonprofit organization transforming individuals and their communities through the Power of Bicycles.
Treeaddict
Treehouser
I watched a YouTube bike guy go into detail on that bike and its toughness/build as well the social good it does. I looked into buying one for kicks but I don’t think they are for sale in developed countries?"worlds toughest bike"
Buffalo Bicycles
Nonprofit organization transforming individuals and their communities through the Power of Bicycles.
Knotorious
That Guy With The Face
More like "world's toughest" low budget bike. But if you're an African, making $3-10 per trip by carrying 50-100lbs of goods on the largely unpaved, hazardous dirt roads during 40-100 mile round trip routes (where many are forced to push the loads while walking beside their bikes because they have no chain, no working gears, or flat tires/just rims, or one or no pedals while in sandals or with bare feet), then that bike would absolutely change someone's life -- and maybe their entire family's lives -- enormously. Any non-profit helping people in 3rd world countries get 1st world quality bikes for little to no cost deserves all the respect in the world."worlds toughest bike"
Buffalo Bicycles
Nonprofit organization transforming individuals and their communities through the Power of Bicycles.
Check out this video where Mr. Beast (the giant YouTuber) gave out 100 super high quality e-bikes to Kenyans, whose job it is to haul jugs of fresh water from distant regions back to their villages. And if the batteries ever die, the bikes can be ridden simply as they normally would be. Pretty sure they built solar powered charging stations as well. It's pretty heartwarming. He also encouraged viewers to buy one of the same exact bikes themselves (because they're actually really nice looking), pledging all of the proceeds towards more bikes for more villagers.
There are a lot of really selfish, grimy YouTubers out there who give little to nothing back to the world with their wealth, with some flaunting high end merch and cars in every piece of content they make. Mr. Beast actually does TONS of philanthropy, dresses in clothes you'd get from Walmart of Kohls, and drives a mid-range Tesla. His regular videos, on his original channel, are nothing too special in my opinion (although, the YouTube algorithm would strongly disagree). They're all a bunch of huge budge, hype-beast, real-action gameshow type videos.
But if you have a moment to check out his philanthropy channel (you can access it using the video below), everything he does is so incredibly heartwarming and important, like when he and his team drilled wells in desolate areas so locals don't have to make hours long trips every single day for water, when he gave $3M in aid to Ukrainian refugees, or when he helped a bunch of paralyzed dogs walk again, etc. There were some other videos on there that got taken down for some reason, such as when he bought a pair of shoes for every kid at this overcrowded school in Africa (easily 500 kids got shoes). Imagine living each day walking along the muddy, trash covered streets of Africa, on top of glass fragments and sharp wire, for miles on your way to school every day?
Knotorious
That Guy With The Face
This video might make you cry if you're a dog lover. He finds a home for every single dog at a kill shelter.
