If you couldn't tell by the name, I am getting older (51) and started riding mountain bikes while living in Arizona (AZ). I have since moved to Western Massachusetts (MA).
Just like a lot of us out there, I took up Mountain Biking in 2020 to help pass some time and stay mentally and physically fit during the lockdowns. The journey started in July when just before my 48th birthday, my friend Rick gifted me a Kona Hardtail. I learned a lot and eventually purchased a Fezzari Cascade Peak as my first full suspension bike. Since then, I moved to MA and discovered DH and Park riding. My latest purchase is a 2018 Intense M16 DH Bike.
The goal for this channel is to expose some of the local riding, but also to instill a sense of confidence that new riders can take care of their own equipment. So stick around for some how-to's and product reviews.
I used to ride that trail on my hardtail mongoose nx7.7 a long time ago. I run that trail now. I hardly see any mountain bikers come down that trail, but when I do see someone come down that trail. It brings back memories and much respect for those riders.
lol, I’ve ridden a few trails that I don’t think were intended for bikes. Back then I was still learning the trail network and hadn’t learned proper respect for what could go wrong.
The roll drop, I usually do the center off the rock in the middle. I do agree though, taking the left and actualling riding the berm is probably better, though the approach is crapy.
I really like what they've done. Like Highland, you have options to hit a feature or not. This one section had a hip back to the right, this drop, or a line thru the middle if you don't want either one.
Great video, thanks for going through that. Went to my first bike park yesterday, Highland Mountain. Looking forward to Thunder Mountain. Pretty much equal distance from either. As for line choice, I generally pick one, but somehow or other, the damn bike picks another! Usually makes for an interesting ride!! 😅
Nope. So long as one side is closed, air won’t be introduced into the system. It is not so much being pressurized as it is making sure no more air is in the system. There is a piston in the brake handle that will force the fluid to be under pressure when you need to stop.
I am so grateful to have had this video as my guide. I completed my service this evening without a hitch thanks to your recommendations and following along to the video. I’m very proud and glad to have the experience of servicing it myself. Thanks again!!
So with the laydown on your back bike for test, if bars are closer to chest does and arms not fully extended does this mean bike is too big or too small?
I don’t think it’s totally necessary to pressurise the system as there’s a small expansion gland. Just getting all the air out is the most important part. The G2 are a little fiddly to bleed without the speed bleed fitting
@@OldAZMountainBikerInMA I put a piece of cardboard underneath my bike stand and have paper towel and alcohol cleaner on standby. It’s going to get everywhere. Once bled properly though they are great responsive brakes that feel like scaled down motorcycle ones.
Bro you has the perfect amount of space to preload the bearings the first time. It looked like you had a fat quarter of an inch the second time. I only have 3/16ths of an inch of preload space on mine and it tighten perfectly. The trick I found is to sit on the bike and while you have your weight on the bike it Preload the bottom bearing to your weight. And then use the top cap to preload the top one. And definitely check when you sit o. The bike that you have atleast 3/32 seconds of an inch to preload the top bearing. If that don't work you may have you barrings upside down. It's a common mistake. It's goes for sealed and none sealed bearings. When you do sit on the bike make sure the bearing are in the correct orientation the bottom sound be Opposite from the top. And if they are some sealed bearings the bottom one you should be able to see the actual bearings and the top you shouldn't be able to see them just the flat back part of the Bearings cage. I hope this helps. I actually had to take my fork off to fit my emtb in the trunk of a car. And I put the top bearing in upside down and I know better and still did it.. And it wouldn't load properly and had a but of play. And I really loaded the bearings. And it still had play in it and now the bearings now fall out of the cage. I have flipped it over since after cleaning and regressed bottom cup top cup and both barrings. And sealed bearings have a Tramper on one side of them. And you need to make sure you have that champer I think up on the bottom and down on the top don't quote me on that I've never used seal bearings but I watched a video. So just look it up on RU-vid to make sure that you have them properly installed in the correct orientation. Cause with silver rings it'll affect it a lot worse. You should totally be able to get away with out sitting on the bike and having an eighth of an inch gap between the steer 2 and the top of your stem. That should be plenty to be able to pre loadthe bearings. I hope this helps and message me back and let me know how it goesI will actually try to find a RU-vid video that's a helpful one that goes in detail on how to do it and send you a link if I'm able 2 on here which I don't think they let you do links on RU-vid anymore and I apologize for the messed up spelling on voice texting so it doesn't always get it right but I'm sure you're not enough to figure it out and Make sense of what I've told you. Here is a link to the video explaining everything in detail. However he said to use wd40. To lube the head set. Do not use wd40. WD40 was Originally made as a water displacement Product. So because it's a water Displacement product. It will completely destroy any o-rings any bearing covers and any plasticAnd just completely dried it out and make it brittle and no not work. Don't get me wrong WD40 is good for what it's good for it does work as a good oil but only on things that have all metal parts. Yeah bro you had the perfect amount of space to me able to preload your barrings. And if they are sealed bearings they really only should need very little pressure to preload. Because You don't have to preload sealed bearings Because they're already loaded and sealed. Tightening the headscrew just ticks up any slack in between the bearings. I hope this helps. Watch that link and you'll understand. I'm actually ordering a new headset for my bike cause they gotta brand new rock shocks on the way. I built myself a city cruiser electric mountain bike that's capable of going the mountains as well it's a super Nike frame hard tail. I weight 240lbs and I got it up to 56mph fast to it will do zero to 40 in just under 4 seconds. If you want the info for the bike shop that I bought all of the parts from just let me know. And I'll give you all my information. You can get these parts from other bike shops. But they have the best prices and the batteries that they sell there they actually buy 3 from a company here in the US take the batteries completely apart look over him and then have the company make changes to the way the battery is designed and how it's wired so they beef up all the wiring they make sure it's overbuilt And they only use the best 18 6 50 cells or maybe there are 2750 cells. So basically they buy batteries from the best vendors that already build the batteries good and then have them built them even better. And then he has a $90000 machine that he hooks each battery up to and it runs through a full diagnostic test to make sure every cell is good and all the wiring is good that all the electricity is flowing correctly and evenly across the connections. And the best part about this shop is the owner is the best guy ever has a huge heart would never rip you off and if something happens he doesn't make you jump through a bunch of hoops to get it fixed he will fix it for you or replace it right away and then he'll deal with the company that made the motor and wait for them to send him the motor so you don't have to wait. So here is my number fill free to text me first explaining who you are. Then I will call you. FYI. I don't get no money from any sales that I bring to his company. He also has a bunch of prebill bikes but if you build your own ebike you get twice the ebbite for the price you spend if you were to buy one already built. And they do have motors that aren't as powerful as the one that I have that also cost less or they even have a new 1 that has dirt bike power no joke.
I renamed this trail Billy Badass. The staff seemed to like it. LOL 10:38...that's exactly where Billy got me too. I crashed left into the bushes like a safety net though. No injuries. 🙃 Just looking skyward.
I am at 56CM. I am in between a Small and a Medium. I have a medium, but I use the largest pads that came with it, and now that they have compressed a little, the helmet is not loose, but no longer really tight either.
With that (assumingly) being your first run down jumps that size, I think you did pretty good! Even though you didn't clear them you still held some speed going into them, which shows that you're definitely able to work up to and clear at least some of them
Thanks - I can clear all the jumps on Gronk now, and starting in the middle made The Booter the first jump and that gave me a bit of a start. Next year I will be railing them for sure!
I am glad the video was helpful. I am also glad to hear that Fezzari is now selling them for themselves. The guy I bought mine through was not always a big fan of the occasional rushes he would get.
The telemetry is a nice touch was thinking about adding it into some of my videos... And the internet definitely needs another middle aged man riding popular trail.. Enjoy Killington place is so good.. I will be enjoying my birthday weekend at Bolton. Enjoy and keep the rubber on the dirt.. Also in my opinion chin mount is the way to go 100%
Thanks for the feedback. Adding telemetry creates a few additional steps. You have to merge your GoPro clips into a single video, then upload and sync it with the GPX file (I get my GPX from Strava). I found that creating a single file per run make it a lot easier to sync the GPX and video afterwards. I've never been to Bolton but looking forward to the videos.
Great vid! I'm 54 and up, east of Payson. Pretty boring right around me - hoping to get to some other parts of AZ soon. I like this kind of riding as well. You have a new sub!
