Tonight in Bad Ideas Inspired by Week 8 of Lockdown

"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
05/16/2020 at 03:13 • Filed to: Specialized Camber

Spent all evening fixing my brakes. That’ll be another post but the short version is that there is a special place in hell for whoever at Sram signed off on the design of these brake cylinders . Anyway... I finished at 12:15, realized I had a charged up headlamp nearby and decided to go ride a local trail. Probably wasn’t too smart, but everything worked well and it was pretty cool to be the only person out there. I did get a funny look from a cop in his Explorer as I came back into my subdivision. I might have to get a coupe real lights and try this night time trail riding often.

DISCUSSION (20)

RPM esq. > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 03:52

All I know is your nighttime bad ideas are healthier than mine usually are.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 03:53

night time rides are good fun and at least you had a light

i sometimes decide to shortcut through a trail after dark coz i know the area so well i can ride it blind...its bit me in the ass a couple times..

also i really shouldnt be out riding the streets without lights....but people keep stealing my front light when i forget to take it off the bike

Sovande > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 07:26

Now those are wide handlebars.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 07:47

Stem length is giving me nightmares...night riding on the other hand is awesome!!!

DasWauto > Sovande
05/16/2020 at 09:27

Pretty standard on mountain bikes these days. It took some getting used to when I bought a new bike last year, coming from a 10 year old hardtail with narrow bars and a long stem. I do still have a habit of clipping them on trees - I’ve already destroyed 2 sets of bar end plugs. Might have to look into metal ones.

Sovande > DasWauto
05/16/2020 at 10:00

I test rode a couple bikes with bars that wide and just couldn’t get comfortable. Though I hadn't ridden a bike in years at that point and I’m clearly in the minority.

I ended up with this setup. Turns out I’m way less extreme than I thought. I am always jealous of the folks with the stamina to ride a mountain bike on actual mountains.

Kinja'd!!!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 10:55

I'd be more worried about being eaten by a mountain lion than anything else. Lots more snakes out and all of the other creatures of the night. Does seem like fun though!

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
05/16/2020 at 11:05

Yeah lots more critters out at night around here. I head a few noises that made me nervous. Going out that late alone with nobody knowing I was out there was the real bad idea part.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
05/16/2020 at 11:16

Stock stem on the XL frame. Pretty much puts the bars over there center of the hub.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
05/16/2020 at 11:20

I was wearing a light on my head. Maybe that would work OK for you with the added benefiting you can’t forget it on the bike!

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Sovande
05/16/2020 at 11:24

That looks like a pretty comfy bike for long distances in town. This isn’t the stock handlebar but it is the same as the stock width at 750 mm. When I got the bike I was coming from an older one and it took some getting used to but like the post above said they are pretty much all this wide now. When I was shopping for the replacement I saw plenty that were 800 or more actually. You have a good setup now and this probably doesn’t matter but for future reference a lot of new bikes with wide bars actually have a grid of lines hiding under the grips as a guide for cutting them shorter with a hacksaw.

Sovande > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 11:33

Yeah my bike sees the occasional dirt path, but nothing crazy. The 650x47 tires are like riding in balloons, it's great.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 12:15

lol would work for me...had one before...it never came back together when i had to change the batteries last time :(

oh well...i found it by the side of the road anyway...it served me well till it died

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
05/16/2020 at 14:46

There are pretty good rechargeable ones at reasonable prices now... no need to worry about changing batteries!

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Sovande
05/16/2020 at 14:50

Tire technology and the shift to larger tire sizes/width might be the biggest improvement to bicycles over the last 10 years. It’s not as flashy as boost axles and dropper posts and 12-speed wireless electric drivetrains but running lower pressure in tires really improves the ride for all types of bikes. The bike in this post had 27.5x2.6” tires (650x66) that I keep around 25 psi and they just absorb everything. I’ve been on trails where people have ditched the suspension for 700x72 just to simply, lighten, and less things to go wrong.

Sovande > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 15:32

It certainly is a big difference in ride quality over my cheap aluminum single speed. With the big tires, steel frame and comfy riding position I can eat up miles pretty comfortably, even with a bum knee. I’m actually considering converting it to a mid drive ebike since my knee is so jacked up. In think it would make for a nice platform. Just not sure how much strain the Shimano Nexus internal gear hub can take.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 18:59

That's certainly not how they do it these days. Some younger folk would consider your bike to be geometrically unrideable!!!

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
05/16/2020 at 21:54

Actually i was wrong about the position - it’s decently slack even with that stem - photo next to my wife’s 2019 Stumpjumper (sorry garage is a mess now it’s the best I could do) with its stubby stem and the overall geometry is similar. It’s just that my bike is an enormous XL frame because I’m tall and lanky .

Kinja'd!!!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/16/2020 at 23:22

Well there you go! I’ve seen a few recent XL and XXL bikes for you lanky folk and I’ve never noticed long stems. I just assumed that with the ever increasing reach numbers that such stems had been done away with.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
05/18/2020 at 12:33

I think they are going away even on these big frames. My bike is a 2018 but the design came out in 2013 or so. My wife’s bike is what replaced it. The XL has a longer stem than her S frame but it is shorter than the older version.