At my advanced stage of decrepitude (read: old age) I have determined that I need to not have a so called enduro type bike all slack and long travel suspension-y. All that would do is allow me to crash at a higher speed. What keeps me from riding big silly lines is my brain and recollection of past injuries. Injuries at age 65 mean I could lose significant chunks of the riding or skiing season. I’m happy that riders are pushing the boundaries of the sport and to a certain extent the design and technology boundary pushing drives. My current stable of bikes is a new Fuel ex and old Chameleon. I could easily see the Fuel as a one bike that rules them all, one bike to find….But other times I think just the hardtail is fine. I ride pretty much the same trails in a similar way. But the two offer different fun. But there are trails or features that I know of that I will never ride because there is too much exposure for my tastes.
As I’m getting comfortable on the new bike though I’m starting to think maybe there is such a thing as too slack and too much reach. I’ve missed a couple uphill switchbacks that I never miss. But I am adapting. I rode a sort of old school series the other day. Dead slow kind of janky trials like stuff with no significant climbs or descending. I rode a couple things like they didn’t exist and other stuff I should have cleaned.
One side of that bell curve (that looks like a side view of Pharrel Williams hat) are the riders that push the riding boundaries and the other end of that curve are the retrogrouches that go on about 20 year old bikes that were so good and had built in excuses to go ass over tea kettle. I guess somewhere in the middle is me. I may "retro" for that 40 year old me that could go harder and crash harder but I’m happy to ride bikes that work better with a bigger safety margin for my middling self to ride on blue trails. The older I get, the better I was.
April 14, 2023, 3:24 p.m. - Andy Eunson
At my advanced stage of decrepitude (read: old age) I have determined that I need to not have a so called enduro type bike all slack and long travel suspension-y. All that would do is allow me to crash at a higher speed. What keeps me from riding big silly lines is my brain and recollection of past injuries. Injuries at age 65 mean I could lose significant chunks of the riding or skiing season. I’m happy that riders are pushing the boundaries of the sport and to a certain extent the design and technology boundary pushing drives. My current stable of bikes is a new Fuel ex and old Chameleon. I could easily see the Fuel as a one bike that rules them all, one bike to find….But other times I think just the hardtail is fine. I ride pretty much the same trails in a similar way. But the two offer different fun. But there are trails or features that I know of that I will never ride because there is too much exposure for my tastes. As I’m getting comfortable on the new bike though I’m starting to think maybe there is such a thing as too slack and too much reach. I’ve missed a couple uphill switchbacks that I never miss. But I am adapting. I rode a sort of old school series the other day. Dead slow kind of janky trials like stuff with no significant climbs or descending. I rode a couple things like they didn’t exist and other stuff I should have cleaned. One side of that bell curve (that looks like a side view of Pharrel Williams hat) are the riders that push the riding boundaries and the other end of that curve are the retrogrouches that go on about 20 year old bikes that were so good and had built in excuses to go ass over tea kettle. I guess somewhere in the middle is me. I may "retro" for that 40 year old me that could go harder and crash harder but I’m happy to ride bikes that work better with a bigger safety margin for my middling self to ride on blue trails. The older I get, the better I was.