Mountain Bike - Hard tail

This is exactly my position. Kids are 3 yrs and 7 months. I'm backing off my (motorcycle) racing schedule to avoid being away from home for 14-48 hours at a time. I did not count on the additional training time though... With that said, I have several mountain bike trails within 90 mins of my house, including Mohican, which is pretty well regarded, and definitely "great" for the mid-west.

I'm going to try to preride the course on my next day off work, then plan to race the novice class. If I finish near the front, I can make a straight-faced entry into the "sport" class next time around.

 

I've registered category 5 in the only event I've ever really raced. I did not perform well. Actually, scratch that, I did pretty okay for a guy who was NOT in cycling shape, and was working with one gear, because the derailleur froze solid during my pre-ride of the course. But i was second-to-last in that race, and the guy who I beat was well into his 60's, and definitely not a regular cyclist.

I think about that race every time I want to get off the spin bike...

 

Spin bikes are great when the weather sucks. One thing to remember (and you seem to already know this) is what you get out of a spin bike is equal to what you put into it. Used correctly, they're GREAT training tools.

Enjoy the race, you're doing to do well.

 

Wow! This is one tough thread. It won't die!

 

Interval training and mountain biking. Are like peas in a pod.

 

One thing I learned about physical exertion sports. The more you suffer (hard training) the better you get. Period.

 

I watched the BKXC youtube interview with one of the guys from Trainer Road. Basically his take was that people dwell too much on how many miles they ride, rather than the quality and effort they put into those miles.

If you just want to brag about how many miles you put in, being on a road bike (or the trails) is fine, but you can't tailor the terrain to be aerobically efficient. His advice was their interval workouts are the best - but that's too boring for most people. He said the practical way to train is to get your 30-60 mins of hard training in on the spin bike, then go ride the trail guilt-free after your spin session. Or spin during the week, and do longer trail rides on the weekends.

I'm doing that by accident while the trails are closed. I took Monday off to try and ride the Mohican trail system. 25 miles of single track. The novice race I'm planning to enter on 4/22 is the first 8 miles of that system. If I somehow manage to blaze through the full trail faster than I expect, I'll do the 'open' class instead of novice, and race the full 25

...now the weather just has to cooperate

 

I read something very similar about the training and after trying it, I agree 100%.

Simple solution to your race quandary. Ride the 8 mile course suuuuuper hard or run the 25 miler and just cruise and finish. Either way, pedal a bike and have some fun.

 

Okay, I'm hooked on Zwift. Trial is about to expire, I'm going to end up subscribing.

Question now is - I have an old, 15+ year 26er that I have thought about putting on the trainer, to use as the weather gets warmer - so I'm not swapping tires to get my main bike on and off the trainer. Good idea, or will that hunk of metal with crap components with be detrimental, even in the Zwift world?

Other option is to get a second wheel and cassette, and just swap out wheels for my main bike.

 

Is the gearing on your 26er comparable to your road bike?

 

I haven't looked. I'm not even sure they used gears back then. I was optimistically hoping the cadence/speed sensor would cover most of what's needed and just sync up with Zwift.

 

For the experts out there, what's this bike worth?

- 2017 Focus Raven frame, carbon, 885g
- Fox Factory Stepcast Fork, 100mm Axle 1.5 T Kashima
- Stan's Crest 29" wheels w/Chris King hubs, tubeless
- Schwalbe Racing Ralph Evo MTB tires
- Hope Carbon Seatpost, Hope Spiderless Retainer Ring, Hope Spiderless Crankset (1x11), Ceramic Bearing w/bottom bracket
- Shimano XT M8000 11 Speed 11-46t Cassette, M8000 derailleurs, brakes, shifters
- Bike weighs 21.4lbs.
- Everything is in excellent condition.

Weighing a couple options, thanks.

 

Tree fiddy!!

 

Dunno, I really struggle valuing Focus bikes in general, but seems the drivetrain is an odd spec, you could lose nearly 2 pounds just on that if you wanted to. M8000 stuff is heavy, and that hope crank+ring is at least 250g more than comparable next sl etc, something's up or the rider preferred a heavy crank.

 

Just picked this up at a garage sale.

Will go for a quick ride in the morning

 

Bringing this one back alive since I had posted in it a couple years ago. Bunch of broken bones and a knee surgery later, I finally got a hardtail. Am I retarded for wanting to swap the brakes around to moto style or should I just stick it out and learn to use my left hand?

 

I'd stick it out... Your rear brake (RH-side) is your primary brake on a bicycle and it is my most used brake on a motorcycle (front, RH-side).

 

...and I've wanted to bump this post for a while as I'm wanting a new MTB to replace my 2005ish Gary Fisher Advance...

Currently looking at Giant Fathom 2, Talon 2 (both 27.5). Really like the dropper and air fork on the Fathom and between upgrade prices it's almost a wash but the bike will see plenty of bike path/riverfront rides as well and the 1x drive kinda turns me off for longer paced rides.

Have also been looking at Framed fatbikes and getting a set of skinnies for the paved rides as well for a "one & done" bike that I can just swap wheels back & forth with.

Any other suggestions out there?

 

Just got a hardtail no problem with the left hand brake feels pretty natural.

 

I swapped my brakes to euro style or motorcycle style on all my bikes (road and mtb). I like having my front brake in the same hand all the time lol. It only gets dicey if I ride my friends or a demo bike and forget lol. For what it is worth I am still rocking a 26er HT that gets mild upgrades when I break something (now mostly an XT build 10spd with hydros, tubeless, and decent forks) and I still can't out ride the bike. That being said the $5k+ Canyon Lux demo I rode made EVERYTHING easier.