Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

A derivative of the original conversation if you will.

Oh wait, are we done with the math?

Balls.

Oh wait, are we done with the math?.

No, mathematical analysis remains integral to the question

Most boring last page of crap ever. Wheels are round, and go around. Ride what you prefer.

PS:
29ers are shit.

^ Midget ;-)

and tomorrow?

PS:
29ers are shit.

But they are responsible for an unprecedented glut of top quality 26" equipment being sold while still up to date so the seller can 'upgrade' to 29er.

Link?

Dibs.

^ Midget ;-)

Have we met? smiley

Has anyone seen anywhere doing good sales on 2012 frame. Was looking at the 2012 specialized camber comp carbon in the concept store the other day, and seems like a pretty big bargain. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any other good options.

If you want a really great deal, have a hunt around for 2010 or 2011 models, shops with stock tend to get increasingly desperate to move them and changes are often little more than paint.

question for the wise people of the board:
if i were looking for a mountain bike for the gf, are female specific bikes really the way to go? she's 5'6" so not midgety. a small man's bike is just as good shirley?

^ More of a marketing thing in my opinion. A well fitting bike is a well fitting bike.

Women and men are different. FACT!

^ this. My gf's bike is a 'ladies specific' model, but it's just a scaled down men's frame fitted with narrow bars. Which we changed as they made the steering so poor on rough trails. At 5'6" she should be on a well sized bike, men's, ladies, who cares. Some girls bikes are short in the top tube, due to girls being proportionally longer legged / shorter bodied than men, I'd recommend riding some and choosing what feels best.

Some blurb from bikeradar (oh, the humanity) about my gf's bike
*
The women's range-topping Alpine Trail aims at trail riders who cruise through XC routes to get to their fun.** It features the same frame (in two smaller sizes) and well-chosen quality spec of the equivalent men's Rift Zone with a few girly exceptions.** Most notable is the tapered handlebar that goes from an oversized clamp to 19.1mm at the ends, to take special 24mm grips. This gives an extra narrow diameter for petite fi ngers to grasp fi rmly around, improving control - though you'll want to tweak in the reach adjustable brake levers too. Marin haven't changed the top tube length for the ladies, they've just added a slightly shorter stem and the bars aren't as wide.

The riding position felt comfortable, not too cramped or stretched and there's plenty of standover clearance. With almost 5in of travel front and rear, the Marin shines more as a trail bike than an XC/enduro racer. As a small rider myself, I found 30lb (a quarter of my body weight) a bit hefty for churning out the miles. More powerful gals may disagree and there's no denying it was great fun when blasting down descents.*

*Most notable is the tapered handlebar that goes from an oversized clamp to 19.1mm at the ends, to take special 24mm grips. This gives an extra narrow diameter for petite fingers to grasp firmly around, *

This actually makes sense. Hands of females can be tiny.

Just managed a short notice (daughter bribed to go to school despite not 100%) trip to Cannock (apologies Howard - no notice)

Surprisingly busy car park with some serious kit on show. Navigational idiocy meant I did a weird 8mile part hybrid of 'follow the dog' and 'monkey trail' three times. Messing it up the third time was a blessing in disguise given driving sleet and tiredness.

It was a step up in difficulty for me - luckily the redundancy funded Turner helped me out a lot. The journey back in the car saw me raiding the emergency Ibuprofen store - I am wrecked!

Flux Cannock by adshools, on Flickr

Ah nice one. I'm heading up there soon. My Reba was in bits this morning so I would have been on my crosser, which may not have worked so well given your description of the trails as 'a step up in difficulty'...

^^ That Turner's a fine looking machine.

This actually makes sense. Hands of females can be tiny.

I have the bars and grips still if you know a tiny handed girl?

The only tiny handed people I know atm don't ride bikes. We have a few noobs in polo which if they decide to keep with it could do with them

Ah nice one. I'm heading up there soon. My Reba was in bits this morning so I would have been on my crosser, which may not have worked so well given your description of the trails as 'a step up in difficulty'...

The surface was pretty punishing on an FS bike. Think pave with ruts, roots and some drops plus a few boardwalks, manafactured rock sections and tighter turns.

Really. I see. Sounds like fun - looking forward to getting up there. Fork is back together now and is as smoothe as butter. Extra 20mm travel too.