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Mountain Bike Monday

Make Your Bike Shift Like New

Jan 18th, 2010
by WanderingJustin.
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It’s Mountain Bike Monday! Today I’ve got a great tip that will turn the clock back on your shifting and make it feel nearly brand new again.
This weekend, I was working my wife’s Gary Fisher Sugar, which she wants to sell since she’s gone down the Dark Path of triathlon and roadieism. I figured the next owner deserves to have everything run smoothly as possible.
And man, did the shifting on this bike ever suck! I found that odd since I’ve got an XTR shifter/brake combo calling the orders out to an XT derailleur. But the huge amount of effort required to downshift told me that this was a problem with the cable and housing.
See, as you ride, your cables can start to fray. It can also get odd kinks in it, along with the housing. That means big drag on your cable. Nothing will run smoothly when your cable is hanging up inside the housing.
I yanked the derailleur cable out along with the housing (and the same for my Fisher Cake 2 DLX), and hauled it down to Bike Barn, the nearest local bike shop. There, the friendly staff cut lengths of housing to match, plus set me up with endcaps (which go on the end of the cables when it’s cut to length) and ferules (which go on the cut ends of the housing). High-quality cutters that will go through housing are big bucks – I’ve heard the Hosan cutters I used as a mechanic at Adventure Bicycle Company [...]

Oscar the Puppy Needs You!

Jan 11th, 2010
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

Attention, Mountain Bike Monday fans! I’m pre-empting this week’s regularly scheduled feature to answer the call of a puppy in need. Read on!
Imagine what it’s like to be Oscar. This golden retriever/German shepherd mix was abandoned in an empty house with his littermate, left behind by the sort of people who shouldn’t have pets.
That’s when the mighty Doug burst into the house. My ol’ mountain bike buddy and his special lady friend were cruising around in Miami, Ariz., recently checking out houses. Something led them to this particular abandoned house. Good thing for Oscar and Molly, his sister.
Doug wasn’t about to ignore two puppies in need. So he loaded them up and took them home to care for them.
Here’s where it gets rough: Doug is about to head into some serious hip surgery, and he won’t be able to care for Oscar during his long recovery. He’s already found a home for Molly, but Oscar needs someone who will be able to keep up with him and his puppy antics. Plus Doug’s landlord isn’t cool with dogs, apparently.
This is one of those times when it’s really hard to be a travelin’ man with a dictatorial, possessive, territorial, imperialistic ol’ tomcat lording over the house. My frequent absences are okay for an independent animal, but the situation wouldn’t be very good for a dog.
So Oscar needs you, if you’re an big-hearted animal (even better if you have a yard to match that big heart).  In exchange for taking him in, he’ll be your [...]

One Driving Habit that Makes Cyclists Crazy

Jan 4th, 2010
by WanderingJustin.
4 comments

For today’s somewhat late edition of Mountain Bike Monday, Wandering “I Like Referring to Myself in the Third Person” Justin is dishing up the goods on a driving habit that puts a bunch in his chamois like few others.
At one portion of my super-idyllic ride at McDowell Mountain Regional Park, the trail crosses the main park road. Bicycliusts have a stop sign. We’re supposed to stop, look both ways and proceed when clear.
My plan was to do exactly that with minimum fuss.
However, a driver had other ideas.
He stopped 100 feet from the intersection. He smiled beatifically and benignly. He waggled his fingers to indicate I could cross.
Um, no, thanks. I jabbbed my finger at the stop sign on the trail, pointed at him, then gestured for him to get his butt in gear and clear the road.
Now, motorists, I now you think you’re being friendly and benevolent when you do this. But you’re not. You’re making things unpredictable and dangerous not only for bicyclists, but for every other driver around you. Here are the problems:
1. If you don’t obey the traffic signs, you are unpredictable. Who the hell knows what you’re going to do?
2. If I cross in front of your car, guess where it’s aimed? Right at me. I’d much rather cross the road with you headed away from me, thnxsomch.
3. Not every other driver around may sure your inclination. So do I have to negotiate some sort of seperate treaty with each driver?
So let’s do this, in the [...]

Get Through a Corner Faster!

Dec 28th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
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Hey, it’s the pre-New Year’s edition of Mountain Bike Monday! That’s the weekly feature where I drop a great mountain biking tip on you, from gear reviews to technique tips.
To me, the real fun in mountain biking is in the turns. My absolute favorite sort of turn is slight bermed, slightly downhill and a medium radius. I love to enter a turn like this at just a hair below 20 mph, and feel my tires bite into the dirt.
Now, when I see a big, juicy opportunity like this, I use a great steering technique called “countersteering” to get through the corner ever faster, and to really smoosh by bike into the turn. Here’s how you do it – I’ll walk you through step-by-step in a hypothetical sweeping right turn:
1. Just before you enter the turn, put your left (outside) leg at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Put a good chunk of weight on that outside pedal.
2. Point your right (inside) knee into the turn.
3. As you enter the turn, stiffen your right (inside) arm.
4. Hold that position!
5. As you leave the turn, start pedaling.
It’s pretty easy, though kind of counter-intuitive. In fact, there are certain extreme circumstances in which your wheel will be facing the opposite direction of your turn. But give it a try. It works beautifully, and makes fast fun turns even faster – which equals a boatload more fun!
Got a question or suggestion for Mountain Bike Monday? Send it to wandering.justins@gmail.com!

6 Cheap Last-Minute Gifts for Mountain Bikers

Dec 21st, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

Welcome to the Holiday Edition of Mountain Bike Monday! Today, I’m giving you 6 ideas for last-minute, affordable holiday gifts for the bikers in your life. Enjoy!
1. New Chain – Okay, so it’s not exciting. But a new chain every 1,000 miles is like an oil change f0r your car every 3,000 miles: cheap insurance. See, if you use your chain too long, it stretches out and wears the cogs and chainrings all funny. And then it’s too late for a new chain to cure your shifting woes – you’ll need to spend all sorts of cash to replace the worn bits. I recommend SRAM chains.
2. Ergon Grips – I love these things, especially the GP-1 model. I consider them the best $30 upgrade I’ve ever made to my bike. They’re head-scratchingly odd at first sight, but one ride will turn just about anyone into a believer.
3. A big box of energy gels – Find out your favorite mountain biker’s energy gel of choice and fill the stocking with it. It’s not long-lasting, but its totally practical. It’s something we use on every long ride, so there’s no way this will get returned to the bike shop like an ugly tie.
4. A bunch of fresh water bottles – Yeah, I know … this also doesn’t sound fun. But every biker makes the mistake of letting water bottles sit with a bit of energy drink in the bottom. Then it gets all funky and turns into a totally grody-to-the-max science project. [...]

Mountain Bike Monday – Testing the Pivot Mach 4

Dec 14th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
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Welcome to Wandering Justin’s ongoing Mountain Bike Monday feature! That’s where I throw down some mountain bike advice, from gear to riding technique. Check out this review … just one thing: I realize some things about my review could be taken out of context. Be cool and don’t do that – if you want to use this review on your own site, use all or nothing. No cherry-picking!
I recently had a chance to test-ride a Pivot Mach 4 XT, which occupies a different address on Planet of the Mountain Bikes than the value-packed Santa Cruz Superlight (a bike I consider the Subaru STI of mountain bikes – huge performance for the money). The Mach 4 is nearly double the price at $4,300, though the same frame with lower-end components goes for about $3,600. In either case, it’s a big step up in price from the Superlight.
My goal was to find out if the Pivot is really worth that extra ding in the bank account. I got a bit more than an hour over the rougher parts of the Desert Classic Trail in Phoenix, Ariz., to find out.
First off, why is it so much more? Pivot uses a rather complicated rear suspension system called the DW Link. Pivot takes it to the nth degree, using CNC machines to carve hunks of aluminum into the right shape. The DW Link’s goal is to prevent you from losing power through pedaling. The long-time goal of rear suspension designers has been to create a design [...]

Mountain Bike Monday – See Not the Obstacle, but the Way Around

Nov 23rd, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
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Welcome to  Mountain Bike Monday at WanderingJustin.com! In each Mountain Bike Monday, I offer some mountain biking wisdom. Sometimes, you’ll get a gear review. Other times, a handy riding tip or three. If you have a question for Mountain Bike Monday, send it to wandering.justins@gmail.com.
It’s been nearly 10 years since I took my wife on her first mountain bike ride. On that first ride, she lasted a few miles before getting pitched over the handlebars. She explained that there was a big rock in front of her, and she was looking at it as she tried to get around it.
Looking at it, I told her, was her mistake. She should’ve looked around it.
“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” she retorted.
I have an excuse – it’s such an ingrained mountain biking practice that I totally took it for granted.
I know better now. It’s the first thing I tell every new rider when they strap a helmet to their noggin. Before shifting, before braking, before hydrating – there is looking where you want to go, not where you don’t want to go.
Don’t see the cactus: See the way around the cactus.
It’s the simplest mountain bike technique tip I can give you. But it might also be the most profound.

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