Forums | MacLife

So I have a subscription to Bike magazine. I just got the new edition, and they covered this freeriding competition. This thing was crazy. People doing huge drops and gaps. So this got me thinking, for all you mountain bikers and urban riders out there, what's the biggest drop you've done?

I've done about three and a half feet to flat. I haven't had the opportunity to do many drops with transition landings, so that has kind of kept me from doing bigger drops.

I was skeptical about track bikes in the beginning also. I didn't know how it would be to have to pedal all the time. But after riding them for a few weeks, and almost being thrown over the handlebars a couple of times, I grew to love my track bike. It is so much faster and more efficient than a normal bike, and it is really not that much more effort to have to pedal all the time. Since if you do get tired, you can kind of let your legs go limp and the pedals will push them around on their own. I would recommend a track bike for anyone who rides around a lot as transportation or commutes a long distance to work/school.

Real track bikes are brakeless. What I ride is a fixed gear bike. The frame is a track frame, which means it is not drilled out for a brake on the back. The fork, however, is drilled for a brake, so I run one brake on the front. This is how most people who ride fixed gear bikes around the city do it. You still get the same effect as a track bike, but it's not quite as dangerous.

I know how to ride a bike.

me 2!

I think my biggest drop was probably pretty standard: a loading dock.  Probably about 4'

Regarding drops, I don't think I ever did more than 3 1/2 feet, but I've jumped higher than that.

What do you mean jumped? Like dirt jumps? How tall are you? If you're four feet tall, it wouldn't be that impressive .

I've never had a real problem with LX brake levers. I had them on a trials bike for a while, before I switched to Avid 2.0L. As much as I liked the LX, the Avids are much better. Oh, and just for the record, old school XT v-brakes are the best v-brakes ever made. I have them on my Kinesis.

I'll never forget the day I switched to clipless pedals.

I have yet to convert to clipless pedals, so I have not yet had that great 'first-day' experience .

Well, here's a preview of your first day:

thump!



Seriously, clipless is so much better.  The control you get is unbelievable, that is, until you stop.... thump!

LOL!


Actually, it wasn't stopping that got me, when i first used clipless pedals. I once clipped in, but for some reason didn't get any forward momentum, and just kinda' fell over on my side. It didn't hurt, tho, 'cause I was laughing my ass off.


-Antonio

At the beginning, the hardest thing about clipless was clipping in for me actually. The first off-road ride I did with my Times, I was going downhill, I unclipped both sides in a series of turns, then after I needed to clip back in, I couldn't because there were too many roots and rocks. And those pedals are so darn tiny, I couldn't keep my feet on them, so I ended up, well, on the rocks    Did I ever learn that day!

If any of you have any pictures of their bikes, you should either post them or post links to them here. I would love to actually see what you guys are riding. I'm gonna try and take some pictures and I'll post them here once I have.

I'll see what I can do. I'd like to share.

Oh yeah, you don't have to remind me that there is a bit of dust, actually saw dust on it.  When I pulled it off the hook I seem to have made a clean spot.  oops.

Nice Apple sticker.

  Thanks!  You can't go riding without one!  I have one on my bass too, right between the pickups.   So people either think I'm pushing gay pride, or they see my affection for the Mac!