Interested in Bicylcling

[FalconGuy016]

I am interesting in downhill/cross country bicylcling (sorry I dont know the terms). Does anyone know of a forum where I can find anything about it that I want? Like an equivilent to AO, but for biking.

Thanks

[GT]

when I rode for SHSU ( www.shsu.edu ) I used to go to www.mtbr.com


jb

[Star_Base_CGI]

Mountain biking.

Lots of places are setting up greenways and trails of varrying difficulty.

Make sure you get a water bottle setup and a tool bag. Youll also need a tire pump and some patchs.

Always carry them and when I went out 2 weeks ago got my first flast 1 mile out. Glad i had everything.

You dont need a good bike one from Walmart is fine. They sell Mongooses from Tawian.

[FalconGuy016]

I have a mongoose from 97, its fine to me, but it definatly needs more mountain-bikey tires. I put new tires on it a few years ago to better suit the sidewalks and roads, but it slides all over the place on dirt. I need new tubes. I need to adjust my shifters because I cant get to 7th when im riding and I cant go down from 6 to 5, without going to 4 then shifting up to 5. I bet my chain is all stretched out. Agh so much stuff, my water bottle holder was blown up when I hit something hard a long time ago. My wonderful kickstand finally has died too

I dunno, maybe I should get a new bike. My shocks are among the very, very earliest for lower end bikes.

[Star_Base_CGI]

You can get all that stuff rom http://Nashbar.com . Escpecially if you are good with your hands. I have a couple of huffys and I actually like them better than my Mongoose because they are sturdier and Im getting older, fatter.

Theres some screws that adjust the travel distance on the derailer. To make sure the chain doesnt fall of. Turn the bike upside down and spin it.

[Torbo]

wether or not you need a new bike or not depends on how serious you are. And then what kind depends on what kind of biking you want to do. I have my opinions on bikes,<specialized> but it all depends on what you plan on doing on the bike.

[FalconGuy016]

Thanks everyone

How should I go about cleaning up my bike and relubricating it?
Should I just hose it down real well and oil it (with what though?) Thanks

[irbodden]

Clean the bike,

Wash the chain, degrease it, then relube it. Don't use WD-40

You may also need to relube your front fork

[Torbo]

clean your derailers, and tighten everything

[ShooterJM]

If you're doing downhill you need a good bike. Make sure you wear a good helmet too.

Also, FYI using a 1 or 2 liter bottle to clean your chain makes it less messy.

[Torbo]

if you downhill, youre gonna need a big expensive dual suspension bike. Which will be like 800 minimum. And be damn carefull. Even if youre not doing DH, wear a fullface helmet. Its hot and more bulky, but one saved my life, so i guess its worth it.

[JAM]

expensive, expensive.

spent a lot of time and money doing it all, it was a rush like no other. my favorite sites are:

https://www.mtbr.com

www.pinkbike.com

[Brak]

there are 2 different poles of biking. downhill, and cross country. cross country is weight-freaks who get the biggest mileage, and downhill is speed-freaks who huck themselves off of huge jumps and are balls-out. stuck inbetween there is probably where you want to be. ask yourself some questions. like do you want to do it for excercise, or for the rush? are you going to go off jumps or drops? if so how high/big are you gonna go? are you going to use it to commute? do you mind if it pedals like crap? what kinds of trails are around you? are you going to get technical and do some urban/trials riding? or are you just gonna ride?

and do you want a dual suspension or a non suspension
(hard tail is what we call em). here are some sites that can help: pinkbike.com ridemonkey.com mtbreview.com

if you want to talk more just PM me or IM me. i "freeride". that is a loosely based biking more downhill than cross country. freeriding is going off big drops, doing some technical downhills, but all about having fun. i dont go over 6 feet where i am, but im planning on going bigger.

i ride a kona stinky (konaworld.com) and with my spring i get NO pedal bob AT ALL but it soaks up drops. i highly recommend it if you want to get into freeriding. if you didnt mind that mongoos junk, you will be fine with one of these. they are pricy, but worth it.

just get the bike that you will have fun with. i suggest starting on a hardtail, and once you build up some skill and want to go big (which you might not, so its good to get a hartail incase you want to stick with crosscountry and stuff) you can step up to a dual suspension.

[zgrip4me]

ewww dont get a mongoose they break like a Ford Truck

[ratmonkey]

Originally posted by Torbo
Which will be like 800 minimum.

an $800 dh bike will last you about two runs down a mountain. a decent hard tail will be more than that. you need a bike that you won't need to fix every ride in the middle.

i personally ride a cannondale.