The MTB thread

My saddle has barely any padding whatsoever on it , it`s as hard as a Hardback book and is SOOOOOO comfy . It`s all down to how wide your sit bones on your pelvis are . I am 6ft 2 and a large feller and was basically using saddles that were too skinny , crammed right up my jacksy on the inside part of my sitbones . I was so sore I nearly gave up biking and persevered on a daily basis . I was forever on eBay trying to source the best saddle I could find and went through tons of the buggers . Eventually I succumbed to trying out this saddle and BINGO ......... if you lived nearer I would lend it to you for a couple of weeks to see how you get on with it .

[Jayneflakes]

Cheers Badger, you are so sweet.

Will give it a bit of research, thank you.

xxx



Been looking on ta web and found some interesting things.
This is what I have

and this is the Speci one for women.

Hmm. may be time to up grade.

My bike came with a san marco saddle, which was basically leather covered hard plastic. After about an hour my **** would be sore as f00k, even when wearing shorts with padding. Anyways, now I use this saddle - http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqP...jsp?spid=26012

I'm told it helps penile blood flow!

[northwind]

I just got a Charge Spoon, having cleverly bent my standard one like a banana while flipping the bike on a skate ramp. It's VERY nice, not heavily padded but still very comfy. And dirt cheap too, £20.

(someone told me "Only replace stuff when you break it" so I've set about breaking as much as possible)

[Jayneflakes]

My road bike needed a new handle bar, so I took the aluminium riser bar off of my Mountain bike and fitted it to the Roady. Not tested it yet, but I am expecting the speed and precision to still be there, just a little more comfortable.

So I am left with a mountain bike with no bar and no controls, but not for long.

Enter stage left a Bike Hut branded, made by Tioga Carbon handle bar courtesy of work and a good staff discount. Needed a new stem too, so got a nice one made by Tioga. Bolted the gear on and went to work on it for a test ride.

Carbon has a strange feel to it, it sort of deadens the ride, but maintains the super precise stearing. Not had a carbon bar before or anything else important made from carbon to be honest (Ahead washers do not count!), so this is an experiment. It seems super light, but there is a cost, no bar ends. I could not tighten them to the required level with out going beyond the torque settings allowed on the handle bar.

Carol thinks that I will end up snapping the bar, she says it is too light and it worries her, especially since her Brother got badly hurt a few years ago when his bar snapped while racing XC. I do not race, I do not do big jumps, but I do ride quite fast over rough ground and down hill. My bike is a fast XC hard tail, so is great for days out. However at 28 pounds it is too heavy and I need to get the weight down, carbon bars will help, but the bulk of the weight is in my Marzocchi forks. Maybe it is time to upgrade the fork after Christmas when I can get something cheap and light.

Time to put the bike on a weight loss program. Just had new wheels with XC rims and tripple butted spokes too, so the weight is falling away. I will need new tyres next year, but I still need a full two inches width, so will have to look into Kevlar folding jobs to save those final grams again.

I love my bikes, the custom roady, the Mountain bike and the SV. Two wheels good four wheels bad!

Big hugs to all other riders from Jayney
XXXXXXXXX

I have a mountain bike.. it sits in the garden never being ridden like all mountain bikes should.

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

Time to put the bike on a weight loss program. Just had new wheels with XC rims and tripple butted spokes too, so the weight is falling away. I will need new tyres next year, but I still need a full two inches width, so will have to look into Kevlar folding jobs to save those final grams again.

How about trying the Stan`s "No Tube" system , little inserts for inside the bead of your tyre and tape to cover over the spoke eyelets , you can fit them to most wheels and do away with the tube altogether saving even more weight .

[northwind]

I just bought a new frame. I feel a bit ill, it's all of... 3 months since I got the carrera? But I did an awful lot of climbs at the weekend and decided I could do with losing some weight. Enter, one On One Scandal.



I sort of wanted a Cotic Soul but they're about £450 so perhaps not, this one was £110 off ebay So, just need a couple of bits and pieces for it, then I'll build it up for now with the bits off the Carrera. I LOVE BUYING STUFF! I'd been eyeing up an On One 456 that a mate has, but it's a heavy brute, spoke to the company and he says "Sure, well, it's an XC race frame but it'll take a 130mm fork, and that slackens it out to the point it's a good lazy XC and trails bike". So let's see if it's true...

[Girth]

130mm will spoil that frame.

[northwind]

Nah, I doubt it, the geometry is barely slacker than the regular 456, so it'll still be right in the ball park for a long-fork hardtail. I don't really want an XC racer, I want a general play bike, so I don't mind at all slackening things off a tad. There's a lot of people running these with 120s and 130s now.

What WILL spoil it a bit is my Tora SL forks, they're heavier than the frame. But that'll come with time.