Mountain Bikes!

Their Elite E+ series is brand new this year and looks really good. Also Giant has a 2-year crash replacement policy where they'll replace your frame for free if you bust your shit up.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/composite_confidence

 

Dude!!! YES! I lived there a few years ago, and moving back to the area soon to do some farming. After living in the Denver area I thought I'd be kind of disappointed in OZ, but my God I could not have been more wrong! The Waltons are now admitting to have spent over $75M just on local trails over the last 15 years or so... and they already owned all the land ffs!!! I found it better overall than the rockies outside of massive downhill runs, as the concentration and variety has got to be the most dense on earth... plus you can ride out your front door from anywhere in town and hit the trail within 5 minutes max.. Obviously Bville has the good shit, and getting better daily but if you have so much as a sliver of park rat in you, you GOTTA check out The Railyard over in Rogers, and if you're into downhill theres a lot of new shit towards Eureka that was the biggest shit around as of a couple years ago.. ENJOY!

Oh yeah... theres a badass highschool off 8th street with a small, super technical Velosolutions pump track that is unreal... having the crushed up rubber surface in between the track instead of grass, opening the whole place up like a fkn skate park! And if you go down to springdale, at the Walton Arts Center they have another Velo pump track that used to be the largest in the world I believe... Redbull Pump Track World Finals were there a few years ago... and if yall can hit it when the sun comes up there's a 99% chance you'll have that slice of Mecca all to yourself! There's an airport right across the street in line with the track, so you get super low fly overs all day for your entertainment! Yall be safe!

 

I injured my IT Band somehow so now I can't ride over 6 miles or so without getting horrible pain in my right knee... I've been trying to rest, but its so difficult to just sit around when I'd rather be riding.

 

I am a comp level xc racer and don't really get the e-bike thing. I can already ride fast enough that spandex isn't enough protection. Add any sort of motor to the equation and i'd spend much of my free time in the ER.

How do you guys stay healthy?

 

With temps coming up in PHX, I'm seeing a lot of people that have E-Bikes just so they won't die on climbs during the heat. Then go back to their regular bikes during winter. It's actually crossed my mined once or twice. I've just started making my rides shorter and more intense, so I'm back in the van before it gets too hot.

 

bro... until you've ridden an Ebike, there's no reasonable reason to even try to explain it to ya or those other Ebike haters. There's a reason they are becoming more and more popular, and why the GNCC national series has an Ebike race before the quads and dirt bike races.

And "how do you guys stay healthy" .. LOL.. my average heart rate is way higher riding my Ebike than it is when i ride my KTM dirt bike in the woods. and i do BOTH multiple times a week tracking it all on strava. the only time my avg hr is higher on the dirt bike, is when in an actual xc hare scramble or enduro (i don't to mx any more). Are there advantages riding an Ebike when you are elderly? or have a health issue that keeps you from otherwise riding a bike? how about 2 riders like a husband and wife, and the wife can now keep up with hubby when she powers up the Ebike to a higher setting ? more riders.. more fun.. for longer all good stuff ?

 

Think he meant stay healthy as in how do you not fuck your shit up on a 20 mph motorized sled on tight mtb trails lol.

 

apologies if that's what he meant.. i just didn't read it that way
EDIT: went back and re-read and i think you were right. MY BAD ! I will say riding ebikes in relatively flat Florida, with the sandy terrain, the only thing that really hurts is if you hit a tree, but way more likely riding the dirt bike in the woods vs an E mtn bike. I know guys that have been REALLY fuked up riding mtn bikes, especially downhill runs.

 

If you were moving that fast on the trails... wouldn't you at least update your spandex kit to say something with a tad more protection like an armored shirt with back protector and some basic knee & elbow protection?
I already crash the shit out of myself when my blood sugar drops and my coordination exits stage left simultaneously. In in those instances I was glad to be wearing heavier protection even though it looks like something out of Burning Man...hehe

 

what are you using as a transmitting device for the strava data?? A garmin?

 

Yeah I ended up buying a full face last week. There is a local trail that isn't particularly gnarly in terms of steepness but there's a ton of rock gardens. I've been worried about catching a rock and face planting.

I will say that the eMTBs have really piqued my interest. They make a lot of sense for self-shuttling trails I couldn't realistically do after work on a normal bike due to lack of time.

 

I'm seriously considering picking up the Niner RLT e9 Overland ADV bike and throwing a FOX fork on it for a similar reason... way more miles! MTB trails sketch me out too much.. I got way too spoiled growing up racing WERA.. being able to seriously fuck up and just wake up with either EMTs surrounding me or already loaded up in a van/hospital doped up proper!

 

a small garmin edge 130+ (no need for anything larger as i don't use the map feature), have mounts on both Ebikes, and all 3 dirt bikes. I have 4 things displayed.. mileage, moving time, speed, heart rate. It auto uploads to "garmin connect" then goes right to Strava.

 

Your top speed really doesn't increase on an e-bike, you can climb faster and your average speed increases. On normal trails I don't wear anything extra but when I hit jump lines or more gnarly stuff I have knee pads and a full face. I'm not hitting 10' drops or big gaps and things like that though. I do have buddies that even wear slim chest protectors on their bikes but I haven't made the jump yet.

The ability to just unload and plug your bike in vs power washing everything, washing all your gear, doing air filters etc on a dirt bike has made me go for my bicycle far more than my dirt bike the last few years. And the vast amount of trails in the KC area and being only a few hours from mountain bike Mecca in Bentonville is icing on the cake.

 

Yep I've been there a few times now so I've been on most things. The railyard is on the list for this trip too, its a total blast. I haven't seen those other pump tracks so might try to find them too. I'm going the following weekend for a day as well so I'm gonna try to pack in a lot of trips this summer.

 

I'm also primarily an XC rider/racer, getting a bit too old to push gravity too much any longer.
Did a quick loop a couple hours ago to beat the dark and thunderstorm moving in. A simple 11 mile 1500 footer.

That said, I absolutely see the point of e-bikes and will likely end up with one at some point. As stated above, the primary help is the climbs, for multiple reasons.
There might be those that otherwise wouldn't be able to get out riding. There might be those that use it to extend the ride over the same time period and get more miles and more overall workout.
And one thing I was thinking about on my ride this evening that starts with 2 miles and 800 feet, for days when I want to do more HRZ control, they would be perfect on these climbs.
So many times I start out telling myself I am going to keep it in Z2 or 3 to do some longer metabolic training, and I end up saying nah, too damn slow and pushing harder into 4. I'm thinking an assist bike would be awesome for these fun climbs and keeping in the lower zone for training purposes.
Base training in Z2 and Z3 is some of the most difficult stuff to do as it requires watching that bike computer, forcing yourself to hold back. I fail at it a lot, lol.

 

Any recommendations on a lightweight full face for general trail use? I have been wanting to upgrade to a full face. Like you, I have been riding more on some tech / rocky trails and would like a full face for the extra protection / piece of mind.

 

I bought the IXS Trigger MIPS and am super happy with it.

 

E-bikes are great. The best thing about them IMO is they allow people with varying levels of fitness and skill to "ride up" with others, which is really what bikes are all about - ride with friends, people, have a good time, etc. There's a couple guys in our group who's wives have one and they both ride together on an off day and both get in a good ride/workout.

Here in MI, there aren't many e-bike riders who are like Greg. Most of them are doing paved trail rides and just chilling and enjoying the view. We did chase a guy on one during a Thursday night gravel group ride and that was a hoot in the draft.

 

Hey any trail recommendations in the SLC area? I'm driving out Monday with a friend of mine and we are hitting the trails in the evening when I'm done with work. We're def riding Corner Canyon, but it'd be great to hear other recommendations. Looking for faster, flowier trails as I have plenty of chunk in CO.