but at what pressure are you running them?!?!
This is what's right with The Industry®
- Thread starter Jm_
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and on a legitimate note, is the grid gravity casing a full-on DH casing, or more of a DD/Super Gravity casing?
Feels full unfitted in my hand.
First rule of mtb. Never go full butcher. Err....Specialized. Dude. Seriously.
Don't come to me with complaints. Only solutions
When you coming up here to ride? Or when am I going down there to ride? Hmmm.
We should do Steamboat some day. Flying Diamond. Best jump trail in all the land. You'd dig it. Angel Fire is close. But no. Too far.
Bentonville. Has to be good. But I'm so over hearing about it. Got a buddy moving there. Yeah. Wow.. Bought a house and everything.
This video has me conflicted.
The trails do not seem challenging. Like at all. He even admits there's not a whole lot of elevation change. But everyone still loves it? IDK. They are probably "fun". If you're into green ski runs, which it kinda reminds me of.
I prefer a challenge. I'll stay here on my locals.
This video has me conflicted.
The trails do not seem challenging. Like at all. He even admits there's not a whole lot of elevation change. But everyone still loves it? IDK. They are probably "fun". If you're into green ski runs, which it kinda reminds me of.
I prefer a challenge. I'll stay here on my locals.
I mean, I have fun riding lots of different types of trails. Probably won't ever catch me voluntarily vacationing in Arkansas or any of the southern states though, maybe save for the southwest, not texas though, fuck that place too.
It goes through a lot of residential areas, so you don't get to feeling like you are out in the "wilderness", there's some elevation in AR, but not generally around Bentonville, just relatively low hills. I found the riding to be very underwhelming, but the amount of infrastructure put in for riding was impressive for the region and it's the best trails in 200 miles. I'd never go back though, just no point when there are so many good riding spots. Riding season there is difficult, summer is brutal, thunderstorms and winter has ice storms and other issues too. This is way far off from a "riding destination" to me, but to keep it going, it seems like they continually try to sell it as such.
Bentonville gets a lot of hate from some people, but I think the town looks pretty cool. Though, I've not been there so my opinion is worth as much as this nickel.
But ignoring outside factors, like other places to live and whatnot, living in a town that is pretty much built around cycling seems pretty ideal and great. Imagine being a kid growing there? Yeah its not the same as Brendon Semenuk growing up in Whistler, but it still has its value.
And for most of us here on ridemonkey, yeah its not going to be at the top of places to travel to. But when I look around at general riders, looking here for example, there are people who will drive almost 2 hours north of Toronto and go to a pay-to-ride spot with very generic trails. Yet if they went down the street 5 minutes more, they could ride for free on much better trails. These are probably the same folks who will travel to Le Massif or Whistler and ride the flowy green and blue trails all day - or they'll go to Bentonville.
But ignoring outside factors, like other places to live and whatnot, living in a town that is pretty much built around cycling seems pretty ideal and great. Imagine being a kid growing there? Yeah its not the same as Brendon Semenuk growing up in Whistler, but it still has its value.
And for most of us here on ridemonkey, yeah its not going to be at the top of places to travel to. But when I look around at general riders, looking here for example, there are people who will drive almost 2 hours north of Toronto and go to a pay-to-ride spot with very generic trails. Yet if they went down the street 5 minutes more, they could ride for free on much better trails. These are probably the same folks who will travel to Le Massif or Whistler and ride the flowy green and blue trails all day - or they'll go to Bentonville.
I think that's kind of trying to throw your eggs all in one basket though too. I like riding, probably more than any other sport, but I like some other sports and things too, so it's not the sole dictator and ok riding nearby with great riding a relatively short distance away can be better IMO, especially when it involves more options. With that neck of the woods...you are pretty stuck and anything else is a long boring ways-away. I don't know if you've ever lived/driven in Texas much, but same deal. Austin is pretty nice, badass city trail network and some decent trail networks nearby, but you are pretty locked into that and driving anywhere else is a long ways of nothing to get there. It's not like where I just came from in the PNW where there's half a dozen great riding areas along the way, etc. These places kind of stand out to me like an oasis in a desert, not a great oasis, but yeah, relative to the desert it's a lot better.
I'd like to see more places embrace some of the aspects of Bentonville, to increase outdoor activity, options for kids in outdoor programs, school programs, etc., but I also think they are intentionally trying to make it seem a lot better than it is.
Isn't that the premise of all modern day advertising?
But I would agree, some of the advertising and promoting of the area is perhaps over the top. Gotta be careful with what youtubers and whoever else is pushing, especially when some are paid to go ride there or their trip is paid for (Quebec City has been doing this for over a year...).
I get living in a shitty riding area, I have to drive an hour one way to ride the good trails around here. If my town had even 2% of what Bentonville has, I'd be a happy camper. Heck even a simple pump track. To get to ACTUAL good trails, I'd have to drive to Quebec which is a good 6-7 hours from here.
I can tell you the marketing effort of paying the trip to Youtubers to Québec city seems to be paying off. The SDM parking is absolutely packed these days and I meet a lot of people from the US and the rest of Canada everytime I ride there. I even met two guys from Florida a couple of weeks ago.Isn't that the premise of all modern day advertising?
But I would agree, some of the advertising and promoting of the area is perhaps over the top. Gotta be careful with what youtubers and whoever else is pushing, especially when some are paid to go ride there or their trip is paid for (Quebec City has been doing this for over a year...).
I get living in a shitty riding area, I have to drive an hour one way to ride the good trails around here. If my town had even 2% of what Bentonville has, I'd be a happy camper. Heck even a simple pump track. To get to ACTUAL good trails, I'd have to drive to Quebec which is a good 6-7 hours from here.
My 100% non-scientific and non-exhaustive survey suggests that most visitors are not riding the gnarlier double-black trails. I guess it sort of makes sense, as testing the medical system in another country and ruining your bike trip with an injury is generally something you want to avoid. I personally always prefer riding well-within my comfort zone when I am on a biking trip.
Make sure you try the Mammouth on your next visit here. IMO, it's the nicest trail at SDM. Certainly my favorite these days. I know there are also a couple of nice new ones that are about to open.
Yep, I don’t know why they still pay to host influencers here, because the trails centers’ parking lots near Quebec city are always packed. It was quiet yesterday at Vallee Bras du Nord though. I rode Godzilla and Kraken on Sunday (awesome trails!) and went back to ride Neilson East and South.
Heads up for those who plan a trip there: the East part has never been maintained since it opened like 8 years ago and has pretty much been destroyed and widened everywhere because they didn’t do anything to it. The South used to be fun, but it doesn’t do it for me anymore. The North section is a tech XC trail that’s a good test of skill in some parts, a few nice spots around the river, a few kms of gravel uphill, but worrh it. For the 11km uphill it takes to reach Neilson Est, I’m not going to bother anymore and you don’t need to do this one to get to the North part.
I’ve been impressed by Empire47 this summer though.
Heads up for those who plan a trip there: the East part has never been maintained since it opened like 8 years ago and has pretty much been destroyed and widened everywhere because they didn’t do anything to it. The South used to be fun, but it doesn’t do it for me anymore. The North section is a tech XC trail that’s a good test of skill in some parts, a few nice spots around the river, a few kms of gravel uphill, but worrh it. For the 11km uphill it takes to reach Neilson Est, I’m not going to bother anymore and you don’t need to do this one to get to the North part.
I’ve been impressed by Empire47 this summer though.
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I'm glad I did Neilson East way back when they had the double black trail at the top of it. Reflecting back now and like you mention, I don't know if it'd be worth that climb now. I've always liked the North part though, even if it has some crap climbing sections that are hot as balls at times.
there's some decent trails on the way too... (a buddy of mine used to describe here as "the best network of shitty trails in Canada". but it's getting better)Isn't that the premise of all modern day advertising?
But I would agree, some of the advertising and promoting of the area is perhaps over the top. Gotta be careful with what youtubers and whoever else is pushing, especially when some are paid to go ride there or their trip is paid for (Quebec City has been doing this for over a year...).
I get living in a shitty riding area, I have to drive an hour one way to ride the good trails around here. If my town had even 2% of what Bentonville has, I'd be a happy camper. Heck even a simple pump track. To get to ACTUAL good trails, I'd have to drive to Quebec which is a good 6-7 hours from here.
thanks to remy i totally want to check out the bras du nord & sentiers du moulin (thanks copy/paste) zones in quebec. really neat looking trails (i like creative lines / slabby things).
Pro tip to write the five main Québec City riding spots without Copy/Paste: SDM, E47, VBN, MSA, Massif
Most of the locals refer to these spots by the acronym anyway.
Aren't you in Vancouver? Riding new spots is certainly great, but I doubt there is a place better than BC to ride a mountain bike.
Anyone that thinks paying "influencer's" to make your trails overrun with tourists is what's right with the industry (as per thread title), needs to be taken out the back and shot IMHO.
Hold on. Don't be taking shots at me. (tongue in cheek joke).
But I feel for the peeps that have moved there and want to move there. But as a DH'er? No. Just no.
You have not impressed me. But I'm more of a high alpine old school DH'er that actually has skill and fitness.
Soooo. Long story short. Bentonville? Nah. Vail? Crested Butte? Telluride? Yes. 10/10. But that's on vaca. Can't afford to live there on a good day. So there's that.
Always tradeoffs.
Today I rode the course for Sunday's Tour de France finale time trial from Monaco to Nice. The climb is for REAL! It's long and had a sustained section near the second summit that was steeper than I expected. The descent is the most technical I've ever seen in a TT. Many sharp turns with bumps and manhole covers in the turns. I had to hang a foot in one turn when I almost overshot. I would only want a TT bike for a few hundred meters near the top and for that last km or two, so I expect everyone to use their normal bike. It's gonna be a wild race if guys are trying to shave seconds in the corners. The difficulty of the climb, the descent, and the length (20+mi is double the length of some flat TTs) seem like they could really shake up the standings. It seems like a really radical move to put a TT like this in the Tour, and absolutely wild to make it the last day. We almost never see road racers attacking downhill corners the way MTBers do but I think we'll see that Sunday, along with the consequences of mistakes. Plenty of guys want to make a couple seconds to move up the standings on the last day.
Try to watch Sunday morning if you can. There's gonna be fireworks on the climb and mayhem on the descent!
Try to watch Sunday morning if you can. There's gonna be fireworks on the climb and mayhem on the descent!
Dude, sweet! Can't say I want to experience that. But I do. If...all the things. I really do want to properly rip a road machine down. Not so much up.
Anyways, sounds awesome.
I remember when they had some kind of road race down/up Berthoud Pass. Like to Winter Park and back. And each and every pot hole and anything else was clearly marked. I'm like do you not have vision? But if you're bonked, maybe not.
^^That is rad. It will be interesting to see who takes chances. Pogi's got such an enormous lead he should be able to cruise it (relatively speaking), but he doesn't understand the meaning of playing it safe and sometimes can't help himself. Also, isn't that pretty much his front yard and so super familiar? I'm a little concerned about Evenepoel jumping into 2nd over Vingagaard. The rest are just fighting for scraps. Enjoy!
I like Tour de France too
Greetings from Åre bikepark, Sweden
By the way, some crazy watts Poggi is pulling. Here is an attempt to explain how he could beat Pantani who at the time was riding high as a kite...
Greetings from Åre bikepark, Sweden
By the way, some crazy watts Poggi is pulling. Here is an attempt to explain how he could beat Pantani who at the time was riding high as a kite...
Sick Ransom! The custom paint, the build, chef's kiss!
My new Ransom frame should arrive early August but it will have big shoes to fill, as I love my current model. In fact, I already know it's staying in the fleet. My plan is to build the new one pretty burly while slightly de-burling the old one and making it my "all-mountain" bike, which will replace my Genius that's headed to Hawaii.
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Thanks dude!
No plan to change it. I really enjoy it as it is now for bikepark use.
Good luck with your new frame and keep us posted!
The secret is better drugs that haven't shown up on current drug tests.I like Tour de France too
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Greetings from Åre bikepark, Sweden
By the way, some crazy watts Poggi is pulling. Here is an attempt to explain how he could beat Pantani who at the time was riding high as a kite...
You mean aside from nearly thirty years progress in training science and equipment? Even if they are filthy there's been some crazy gains in the legitimate aspects in that thirty years.By the way, some crazy watts Poggi is pulling. Here is an attempt to explain how he could beat Pantani who at the time was riding high as a kite...
They store the daily samples and retest them in the future as the compounds are identified which is clever. Fingers crossed if they're cheating they do eventually get busted for it.
Side note - talking to the commissaires at recent events they reckon the amateur classes are the worst for doing sneaky shit. Obviously participation numbers are higher but its still bonkers people give enough of a fuck about podiuming in C grade to dope or cut the tape.
Indeed! The sport has become much more professional since Pantani's days. Still, Poggi is so superior to the others: beating climbers at their own game, attacking several days in a raw and showing no sign of fatigue. It makes me wonder... Hopefully it is just me being kind of jealous of his good shape: after a week at the bikepark my body is shattered and I need painkillers to sleep
Yeah its like another sport or something hey. I assume he's either got some genetic advantage, he's got some weird training tangent that works, or he's on juice. Given the testing regime and scrutiny he's under, if he can get away with it I'm almost impressed.