I come to biking from a mountain biking background, so I maybe have a different perspective than some. My current mtb fleet is:
- Surly Krampus 29+, just got this built up and only have ride on it so far (it didn't go well, but blame the mechanic (me), not the frame). see: http://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2014/02/krampus-first-ride.html - Specialized FSR 26er full suspension bike--it's a 2005, so "hopelessly outdated" in the full sus world, but still works very, very well. see the very bottom of: http://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-history-of-my-full-suspension-bikes.html - Niner SIR9 29er hardtail, for sale as it was replaced by the Krampus - Breezer Lightning Pro 26er steel hardtail, I just picked this frame up and haven't built it yet--it might become a 69er. see: http://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-new-bike-and-uh-another-and-wait-one.html Anyway, my $0.02 is: - get a separate mountain bike. Tires, fenders, racks, lights--these things aren't really compatible between trail riding and road riding. Yes, you can ride any tire on any surface, or find some middle compromise ground, but off road riding works best with big, soft, knobby tires, which kind of suck on the road--much like fenders aren't great off road. And when you're ready for a road ride, you won't have to deal with your gritty, dirty mountain bike. - the best value is probably ~10 year old 26" stuff. It's suitably out of style so it'll be cheap, but it's still modern enough to work well. Especially this is when front ends started coming up, leaving behind the "rear over front" feeling of 90s bikes, which makes for a much more confidence inspiring ride. Eric Daume Dublin, OH On Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 12:48 PM, David Stein <davecst...@gmail.com> wrote: > New to the group. Have a Hunq on order. I've seen a number of threads > dancing around this topic (including the recent 'Hunqapillar as a true > mountain bike' thread). Wanted to ask the question a different way, how > many mountain bikes do you own, what are they, and when do you decide to > take which bike out? > > I just got into mountain biking/trail riding after years of road riding > (Bay Area, mostly fire roads for now, some single track). I suck at it. > Trying to get better. Salsa El Mariachi with front suspension. > My interest is in exploring mostly, not necessarily going fast or racing, > but that being said I haven't met a downhill that hasn't resulted in a > crash or three (including the demo ride in Shell Ridge I took the Hunq on). > When I ordered the Hunq the idea was to use it as an all-rounder (mix of > fire roads, light trails, city riding, commuting) and my Salsa El Mariachi > 29er to take on more technical terrain and single track. But after another > couple more harrowing rides, I decided the Salsa wasn't for me and sold it > (I think it was the 29er wheel size that I didn't like, I am short and it > wasn't nimble enough, though maybe it was the general geometry of the > frame). So now, I'm left with the choice of running the Hunq as my only > mountain bike with two sets of wheels (2.1 smart sams on one and 1.75 green > guards on another), or using the Salsa money to buy an additional > singletrack specific bike with front suspension (and using in conjunction > with the Hunq, the ole N+1). Curious to what other people are doing. > > -- > 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. > -- 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.
