Hey there David - Thanks for contributing to the group. Welcome!
The smilingly flippant answer is "all of them!" ;^) It's also imprecise, as there are a couple of the bikes I own which don't really encounter trails (though each have been on dirt) and my "mountain bike" - which does not match what most people call mountain bikes these days - actually has not been saddled up and ridden in years. Particularly here in the SF Bay Area, we are lucky to have a network of roads, trails, singletrack and fire roads which make an amazingly diverse way to move around. Most rides I'm on combine pavement and dirt, and it makes me chuckle when folks double-take as I roll along trials on smooth, 33 1/3 mm tires, or when I'm standing curbside and someone looks at my trail-dust-encrusted Hilsen and starts talking about how they want to get a road bike. It just really ceased to be a valid definition for me a long time ago. Like BikeTinker, I learned to ride trails when Hite-Rites were sought after accessories. And yes, I engaged in some utterly impressive yard sale crashes. You flop and you learn. You follow folks who know what they are doing and learn. (Of course, you also follow them and get way in over your head, but that's a different story or few...) Without seeing you, knowing how you crashed, or knowing where you are riding, I'd bet you were the victim of using too much brake, being too rigid on the bike, having too much weight forward and expecting the trail surface to behave like pavement. On trails, direction is important, momentum is important, but adhesion and connection to the bike are variables that differ vastly from road riding. I'll try not to divert too far down this thought vector, but while it's a good idea to keep your feet in contact with your pedals and your hands in contact with the bars, the rest of your body position is highly dependent upon your trail conditions. I think front suspension to some degree and full suspension to far greater degree contribute to riding too tightly - it leads to the rider being too rigid. As I watch riders on the trails, it's obvious that if the rear wheel breaks away they will have little ability to correct from that. (And I'm not _against_ suspension - it just is not my aesthetic. There are situations where the current suspension designs combine with skill sets way above mine to create some mind numbing possibilities. I just happen to prefer "nap-of-the-earth" riding.) Ok, where was I...? Right. Loosen up. Keep your eyes on the horizon. Maintain a little more momentum than you might be initially comfortable with. When tires slide - relax. If they go out to the side, add a little body english. If they slip on a climb, shift your butt back to get enough weight on them. You will not carve lines the way tires do on clean pavement. Learn to unweight the front (as Philip said) by sliding back. Rinse and repeat. The main three: Both the Quickbeam and Hilsen run noodle bars and 33 ish tires (generally JB's so they are smooth). I also have a 1990 MB1 which I run as a singlespeed. 2.2 ish round profile tires. Now worn pretty smooth too. http://www.cyclofiend.com/ssg/2006/ssg017-cyclofiend0206.html http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/2008/cc522-cyclofiend_jim0908.html http://cyclofiend.com/ssg/2007/ssg001r2-cyclofiendmb10507.html I also have a '02 Stumpjumper, which was a replacement frame for one I cracked (one of the '96 MM models). I just haven't felt the need to keep this tuned and running, and it's sat for a long time. Hope some of that was helpful - hope to see you out on the trails! - Jim / cyclofiend.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
