Any Mountain Bikers around here?

I was wondering if there are any of you who go mountain biking. I just got a mountain bike and was wondering if any of you do this stuff. I'm more interested in learning about gear and stuff and getting out to hit some trails this summer time.

I'm also interested in getting a kayak and hitting the waters. Rock climbing would be too difficult for me until I get back in shape.

So what kind of outdoor sports to you all engage in during outdoor season, when it's too hot to be indoors.

If you do mountain biking, what type of bike do you have and where do you normally ride?

Cheers!

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I literally, one hour ago got home from the trail. I ride all the time. If you have any questions about riding, just give me a shout. My girlfriend ate a ton of dirt today. I felt so bad, but she's a trooper and just jumped back up and went on. These are just a few shots I have. Nothing too extreme. I don't take the camera out nearly enough.

Golf. <-- If I could make that period really big, I would.

Spectra, you ride? Wow, that's cool man. Those pictures are awesome, but I'm not really that serious yet. I've always wanted to bike and got out of shape when I stopped running, then I had a mountain bike but it was a bit old. So a friend traded me his 2004 Trek for a job I did on his brother's car.

I'm looking to get the gear though, for lite trail riding to start out because I haven't been on a bike for a while. This bike came with clipless pedals, so I'm looking at this Specialized shoes to get at my local bike shop.

I had never heard of Brodie before until I saw your bike and looked up their site. That bike looks nice. What type of disk brakes are those? Hayes? Mechanical/Hydraulic?

I'm really just looking for a good pair of riding shorts, the baggy type, because I don't plan on getting into tights until I slim down a bit and then maybe move over to a road bike. But I have my CamelBack, the bike, I'll get the shoes tomorrow, and the cleats, then I need some jersey's and comfortable shorts.

I'm also thinking about swapping out the seat to something more comfortable as well, maybe a Selle San Marco, and possibly the rear derailleur for an XTR. We'll see, right now I just want to get out and ride.

By the way are you from Canada? Cuz above your avatar and your location it states your from Compton, CA and I know there ain't no Compton in Canada. Compton is the hood, and you need a 64 Impala to get around Compton, not a bike.

But the pics have you standing by a car that has plates from what looks like Canada, also the hosting of your pics lead me to think your from Canada. But if you're from Compton we're not too far away from each other. Are you a crip to? :D

Oh man, I'm so thugged out, I may as well be from Compton.

Kidding, its just a joke. I'm from Victoria BC up in Canada.

Are you from SoCal? If so, you have lots of sick riding. Anyways, theres lots of decisions to make here. If you want to do some more aggresive riding, you'll need a different bike, but for XC (cross country) that one will do fine. If you are experienced stay with those clipless pedals, but if you dont mind a little extra effort, it may be wise to swap those pedals for regular ones. I had clipless pedals on my XC bike and loved em, but not for the riding I do now. Way to dangerous.

BC is the mecca for riding, so if you ever want a burly tight of mountain bike, anything made in BC is the way to go. Brodie, Norco, Rocky Mountain, Kona etc... are what you want. Trek is American and makes some great bikes as well, but I just have faith in bikes that are made for the type of riding I do.

I have shorts like these...http://macegear.com/images/products_large/ignition_short_navy.jpg They are made of material that are nearly indestructable. Literally, these shorts will withstand anything. Get a comfy jersey that breathes and you are set. Also, gloves are a must. I hate riding without them. Get some tools, a patch kit and some granola bars for your camelback. No tools = a potential terrible ride.

As for the derailleur. Upgrade to a Shimano Deore, but not a XTR yet, you're more then likely going to bash it around while learning, so the Deore will be a huge upgrade without the cost. XTR is for pros that can either afford to smash it up, or people that are smooth enough to not worry about things. As well, if you are sticking to XC, look at investing at a new fork. That one is solid enough, but your confidence and enjoyment will go through the roof with a solid fork.

By the way, have both, mountain and a road bike. I'd love a road bike eventually but I have 3 grand into this one already and looking to move up to a full suspension. I just wont wear tights though.

Oh yeah, if I do move to Compton, I have a 64 Mercury back at home. :p

Edit: They are mechanical Hayed brakes. Hydro's are nice, but maintenance is too high for me. I keep the mechs nice and tight and they work great for me.

Spectra, you thugged out? Oh c'mon my brotha, I'm funna start calling you Thuggy Bones.

But for reals, those shorts you have are real slick, I think I'm gonna grab me a pair. And you're right about not switching to XTR, if I do upgrade it'll be to an XT maybe. You mentioned the Deore huh? Okay, I'll look into it, I think the bike I have has the Alivio by Shimano. To be honest with you I'm just excited to get back into biking and I'm just wanting all the bells and whistles.

I am from SoCal, San Diego actually, and there are plenty of trails to hit this Spring and Summer season, so that's why I'm starting out with this Trek. It's a lower end model but it'll help me get started.

I first started looking at Kona and some Santacruz bikes, but the price was out of my range. That's another reason I haven't moved over to getting a road bike, much too pricey for me right now, again, because I like quality and that costs.

I don't have disk brakes, wish I did, but I don't think I'll need them just yet, as I'll be doing lite trails for a while. But I've been looking all over eBay for deals on apparel and gloves. I saw a nice Fox Racing jersey but didn't bid on time, it sold for $19.99USD.

I also noticed that Samsung came out with a cool Camcorder that has a remote lens so you can strap it to your helmet when you ride to capture all the footage. It was being advertised in "Mountain Bike" magazine. Quite interesting. Do you know of any good DVD's out there on Mountain Biking? I don't want to see instructional videos, I want to see the brutal riding some of these guys do.

Let me know man...in the meantime, I'm going to hit the trails.

For the states, here is what you want to look at for ordering stuff online.

http://www.pricepoint.com/ Seriously, just go for the Deore, even the XT is a bit of a luxury.

Santa Cruz makes some sick rides. Can't go wrong if you end up getting one later on. You should find a good bike store and start a relationship with them. Have them go over your bike and make sure its all solid. Plus, they can help you out on what you may want to upgrade. Most stores are really chill and won't gouge you for a sale. Plus, you can get on some group rides.

As for videos, go out and buy The Collective: http://www.thecollectivefilm.com/ Easily the best MTB movie out. I went to the premiere last year and it just blew me away the quality and the riding.

Anything from the Kranked series (Especially Ride to the Hills) is a terrific buy.

Dropin: http://dropintv.com/modules/news/

These are local BC guys travelling around the province. They have some free downloads, specifically one from Kamloops, which is where I moved from and have family.

Here are some more links to check out for forums and resources: (I'm not personally on any forums by the way )
http://www.nsmb.com/ - Great site for riding + forum
http://www.pinkbike.com - Great site for riding + forum + huge searchable image gallery
http://sterlinglorence.com - Awesome portfolio site of the preimere photographer of the sport
http://raceface.com/ - Component site but they just finished up the Ultimate Freeride Challenge IV, the guy I thought should have won was from around your neighbourhood I think

The first two sites will have so many other links for you to branch off from.

Thanks for the links Spectra, I'll definitely be checking them out and looking more into components and stuff. I have a bit of a relationship with one local bike shop. There's one in my city, but it's not all that great. So I go to one that's in the next city over. They're really cool from Performance Bike. However, the Bicycle Warehouse just opened up and I've been checking them out. They seem a bit arrogant, but maybe it's just me. But at Performance Bike, the first day I walked in it seemed like they knew me already. What a difference a greeting can make.

There's about 3 Trek stores in the area and as soon as I have time I'm going to get out there and take a look at them. They're quite a distance, and if they were closer I'd visit often, but I need a free weekend to get away and go visit them.

Performance Bike seems to specialize in Giant, although they do carry Cannondale and the Bike Warehouse leans more towards Specialized but carry some Giant, and a bit of Santa Cruz. They had one that was super light, at about 4 thousand dollars. But it was really light and hooked up. It felt like a feather.

I'm going over to performance bike tomorrow to have them give a full look over the bike and see how it is. But the Trek I got is practically brand new, my buddy only rode it about two or three times if that. So it's not a bad deal.

But thanks again for those links, I'm off to have a look.

Cheers!

I skateboard in the summer, that's about it.

Summer is just snowboarding's off-season. :( Anyone here snowboard?

Nos.

I don't snowboard, but I'd like to try it one day. But since I live near some of the nicest beaches in Southern California, I want to get into Kayaking. Anybody kayak around here?