31–40 of 73 posts
Aside from all the other interesting history, it's great to recollect the pre-spandex, pre-"fashion" days of the sport.
As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem. Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off…
Any advice on bikes if I don't want to spend $5k?
For example a bike with a Shimano SLX groupset is basically as good as one with the XT groupset (one step up), the XTR groupset is lighter and costs way more.
the Shimano SLX groupset is comparable to SRAM's X9 groupset in performance and price.
Getting into the sport I would go for a hardtail (no rear suspension) first. They are a lot cheaper, and you will get more bike for the money. Spend $2000 on a hardtail and you have a really great and light bike with a near top-end groupset, but if you spend $2000 on a full-suspension bike you will get less bike for the money, and a hardtail is good for beginners anyway. When you do not have rear suspension you have to learn how to keep your weight on the bike and how to pick the best lines down, and a full-suspension bike is a lot more forgiving that way. I can ride down stuff on my FS bike I'd never dream of doing on my hardtail.
As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem. Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off…
Are you sure about the rear suspension? Yes, it can save your wheel in some situations (which you should really be avoiding as an amateur), but %99 of the time it's unnecessery weight that also happens to eat some of the power that'd normally go to the wheel. (I'm not a competitive biker, mountain or otherwise, I'm just curious)
As life goes, they had dissagrements--and Charlie walked away. Charlie was the bike builder, and the bike mechanic. Without Charle I don't think Marin Mountian bikes would have ever build bikes?
The shop was on Tundtead Ave. There was always a thick cloud of the early 80's in the air. The bikes were stunning.
There were so many people who thought they would never be successful, but the bikes started to sell-- and the rest is history. The people who thought they would fold were adults. All the kids who drooled over the bikes(myself); knew different, but knew it was still a very risky business. As a chid, I would look into the shop and I used to say to myself "I hope they are still in business when I earn enough to buy one."
As to Charlie Kelly; I don't think he is rich, but he looks younger than the rest of the guys, and seems genuinely happy. It's not just about money?
I wouldn't label them as Hippies though. They were just young guys who liked riding bikes(road and mountan). Young guys who didn't want to follow in their fathers footsteps? Putting on that tie and spending years at same company seemed like a prison sentence years ago.
(I let my brother use my bike and he eventually destroyed it. Then someone stole it. Somethings never change.)
As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem. Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off…
I'm glad to see people encouraging cyclists, but I am struggling not to get angry that you call five thousand dollars "reasonably priced" with a straight face. You can get a solid entry-level mountain bike for $400. It is probably not suited for professional racing, but it's a perfectly good machine. If you check out used bike stores, you can find some excellent machines in good shape for less than that. I know you m…
Charlie Kelly doesn't get enough credit for the mountain bike. It was Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly who started a company in order to build mountian bikes. As life goes, they had dissagrements--and Charlie walked away. Charlie was the bike builder, and the bike mechanic. Without Charle I don't think Marin Mountian bikes would have ever build bikes? The shop was on Tundtead Ave. There was always a thick cloud of the e…
As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem. Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off…
Any advice on bikes if I don't want to spend $5k?
As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem. Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off…
Are you sure about the rear suspension? Yes, it can save your wheel in some situations (which you should really be avoiding as an amateur), but %99 of the time it's unnecessery weight that also happens to eat some of the power that'd normally go to the wheel. (I'm not a competitive biker, mountain or otherwise, I'm just curious)
Technology has improved a lot from the first few generations of suspension and even climbing a modern suspension design that isn't intended solely for downhill will isolate pedal bob from bumps and nicer rear shocks will also have either a lock out or inertial damping/"pro pedal" or lock out feature that helps even more.
I actually just got back from a ride the included some climbs up through some steep rock gardens and I feel the rear suspension can actually help keep traction better so you can stay seated and just grind things out over the bumps instead of having to stand and throw the bike around if that makes sense.
The descent is no contest, the bike just stays much more in control and I don't have to use my knees like shock absorbers as much.
And I'm on a bike I paid $1400 for on fall clearance though it is a more trail oriented then enduro oriented bike meaning it has only 120mm of suspension front and rear (it is an older BMC trailfox tf02).
I'd like to give a hardtail ultralight 29er a try at some point as well though.
As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem. Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off…
Any advice on bikes if I don't want to spend $5k?
mtbr.com is great for reviews and has a deals forum and page. bikeradar, pinkbike and some other sites that will crop up in google are great for reviews too.
For reference I bought a new bmc trailfox tf02 with slx components for 1400 a few years ago and a friend bought a well used but well maintained specialized enduro for 900 last year...i'd say these prices are about as cheap as you should expect to find a good full suspension bike though hardtails can be had cheaper.
There are tons of cheap but not great bikes out there. A good rule of thumb is to not get anything that doesn't have disk brakes and ideally you want something with Shimano hydraulic disk brakes as they are great and easy to maintain. Cheap full suspension is to be approached with extreme caution as it will be heavy and bouncy when you try to pedal it.
As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem. Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off…