What does this say about me? I ride: a ten year old aluminum frame nine year old wheels tubes 8 speed a Rock Shox Judy V-brakes 25.4mm flat bars bar ends
I feel it's more a mass marketing and supply trend towards standardization. Used to be a 'mountain bike' came with flat bars, 110/120mm stems etc... More and more bikes are set up like sit-up, fat/swept back-riser-bar, short-stemed things trickeling down from the hucker or 'we want to sit up more' scene. Some makers are kind of forced to spec out bikes with this non-sense in order to keep prices down when the get 'fit kits' from suppliers- ship em all out with the same stuff kind of thing IMHO. My '08 Alliance is a sweet carbon/alloy composite frame, with Raceface low end fit-kit stuff. Even the seat post is a 'zero' and way too short. The stem came with 25mm of shim under it as well. Might as well be climbing in a barkalounger! :lol: Yeh- it's a minor gripe, and not all are set up like this...but I'm just sayin'! :wave: You forget about that dead cat under yer porch we caught ya with last summer?
I subscribe to the Grant Peterson school of bike setup, check it out (Rivendell): http://www.rivbike.com/article/bike_fit/fit_sizing_position
I had an 1986 murray rigid. I hit the loop on it and found a new appreciation for the loop and riding, but to ride that same bike down say dark Hollow in Utah would be either suicidal and/or stupid. the bike simply can not take the punishment and it will fail. it doesn't matter what you ride as long as you are riding, but bikes now even XC bikes (not all XC bikes) are engineered to handle a lot more abuse. look where mountain bikes were 10 years ago compared to now. better technology that is cheaper costing. back in 1998 a GT carbon Lobo cost $5,0000 that same bike today is pretty much a collector's item for the showroom and is inferior compared to todays "All mountain" line of bikes, imo. just ride
i hate the old stuff compared to the "modern" stuff. i (as i'm sure many people here) started on a hardtail with cantilever brakes, long stem and narrow bars. after seeing the promised land, i hate that crapt now. i ride a 40 pound rig, wide bars, 8 inch brakes, 45 mm stem on all trails. i blew my shock and had to ride a lowly heckler for a few week, didn't even like that, not slack enough, stem too long etc. i hate XC geomtry now, give me the squish+upright position! to each there own.
I subscribe to the check for standover height first then top tube lentgh (if ya know wht lentgh ya like)..the rest is a simple fit kit. And that don't distract from my rant about the bars coming in 6" taller than the saddle on a XC bike LMFAO! :lol:
You should read the whole thing... they set up all thier bikes with handlebars at least one inch above the saddle.
Just dusted off my 1989 era bike. The 7 speed triggers still suck, but the drivetrain is overall pretty decent. The geometry is antiquated, and the brakes...might as well just put my feet down, or jump off. But I did ride that bike all over OC back in the day. As trails have "evolved" along with the hardware, and seeing how I've aged along with the bike, I'm not prepared to ride it as hard as I once did. Don't know how I ever turned the bike with those narrow bars, and I can feel the burn just thinking about the forearm pump at the bottom of Chutes.
I did- 1" aint so bad....and there aint no 'magic number'. But 6" above the saddle with a swept, riser bulge bar etc? :lol:
1- gotta 99' HT, that has the right geometry and rails as good as the 'new stuff', has a lot of races under it and still going strong. Some things dont need to change, like good numbers that work still today. 2- I totally disagree, IMHO. 3- copy that! :beer: Interesting points. Several new topics come to mind.
I swear this thread makes me want to slap a 3.0 on the front and put my ol' 24" Highroller on the back.
Well yeah as a matter of fact. Hayes mechanical. I didn't pick them out because I'm clueless and when I got home, I bought Avid mechanicals. Now everyone says I should get Juicys or something. The ones that bleed. Whatever theyre called.HYDRAULIC!! I knew it'd come to me! Whatever. The more tech the more chance of failure it seems!
I know for sure most of the newer stuff isn't needed since I survived without them in the late 80s, and maybe this is just a matter of my own limitations in skill or strength, but it's SO much more fun for me with the disc brakes that the very sweet suspension I have now.
Sorry but this barkalounger did not have oversized bars. That's only thing that was not oversized. haha
wow- 100% agree here. except bells on night rides thru the fully loop tunnel is fun. and to DDB- agree about oversize bars. what's the use?
