NSMB - 2021 - Hardtail Thread

I did some recon at Cumby Sunday. I found the most snow so far this winter. The lower trails were rideable, but just. It was like an interval workout as there was no coasting and constant resistance. That said it was a lot of fun and I was able to clean quite a few sections I thought were not happening.

I was leading a band of hearty explorers and they were not as interested in snow bike suffering as I was so I couldn't go higher on the mountain to see what was happening. I was especially curious how rideable it was in the deep forest mid-mountain. That'll have to wait for a solo mission this week.

My local XC trails are brown and green as shown in the post above. So I can have a fast pedally ride on dirt if I am not feeling like battling the white stuff. Most of the time I am up for a battle though! ;-)

FWIW - I can "feel" that my 175mm cranks are different than the previous 170mm cranks on this bike, but I'm not sure if they are better or the same just different.

Posted by: Vikb

FWIW - I can "feel" that my 175mm cranks are different than the previous 170mm cranks on this bike, but I'm not sure if they are better or the same just different.

I doughwanna' rehash the whole crk length debate here but I will say the longer ones made me feel more "planted" while coasting parallel like.

I find the same with the 180s I run on my hardtail.

Posted by: Heinous

I find the same with the 180s I run on my hardtail.

Me too. But those same 180s were awful on my FS bike. On the HT the 180s were great.

I've been really loving riding this one lately. It has a modern day hta at 64 degrees. The sta and reach are not so modern but I like it that way. This one is 27.5 wheels with a short wheelbase, makes it really fun to ride. It has been elected as my winter bike given that it is made of titanium. 

In terms of winterizing, it has a full rear fender. I need to fabricate a bigger mud flap for on the bottom of the front. The little frame bag is to hold my battery as 70% of my winter rides are I  the dark :(

Posted by: RAHrider

I've been really loving riding this one lately.

Looks like a great winter ride. I put a PDW DT splashguard on my winter bikes. Works well to aid the front fender.

https://www.jensonusa.com/Portland-Design-Works-Origami-Fender-en.aspx

A few days ago when Andrew posted his article that could be summarized as "HTFU cupcake!" I realized I had missed getting first tracks on the trails a lot. Back in Victoria I had a really good handle on when/where to ride snow and the pool of other keen snow riders was small. So I could get fresh tracks most of the time. I haven't got that feel for Cumberland yet and the other local riders were keener than me as I was always seeing tire tracks ahead of me.

Andrew's advice in the comments section for that HTFU article was golden. He basically said you can always get first tracks if you push higher and deeper than anyone else. So I set out on Thursday to do just that. No cars in the parking lot was a good sign! I was able to ride all the way to the climbing trail, but then it was mostly HAB. After the first road crossing there were no bike tracks so I knew I was going to succeed.

I'll admit as I got higher and the snow got deeper I was a bit worried I'd end up pushing my bike back down as well, but I held out hope that the lighter snow in the trees would be okay to ride.

Happily it turned out that the lighter snow combined with a downhill slope were just what I needed to get rolling. I had a blast drifting the back end of the bike around guilt-free and launching off small drops into piles of snow. I felt like a kid again. The only thing that was a slight stoke kill was the fresh cougar tracks! I kept telling myself mountain bikers weren't their natural prey and I was happy my brakes were squealing loudly.

In the end I was able to ride most of the higher trails. Some climbs I had to push up. But, once I was down lower I was able to ride pretty much 100% of the time including the climbs. I was really impressed how well that back tire found traction when I had to go up. All in all that was a super fun ride. I'm really glad I did HTFU and just made it happen. I'm still smiling about how hilarious the ride down the mountain was.

Friday we had a big dump of heavy wet snow in Comox. So I spent several hours in the morning shoveling snow for my older neighbours. It was fairly back breaking work and when I was done it was lunch time so food and a nap were calling me. However, I was thinking that my local XC trails could be running pretty sweetly so I geared up and rode over there. The snowplows had obliterated the sidewalks and bikelanes which was not fun, but I'm used to riding in traffic and I just grinded out the short 3K pavement ride. Once in the forest I was having a blast again. I didn't see one other set of bike tires in the snow so first tracks two days in a row! The forest looked amazing covered in white and lots of fun was had sliding the bike around the trails.

We had more snow last night so I'll be doing some cross-training with my shovel this morning and then I'll let my GF decide if she wants to ride some snow or chill inside. Merry Christmas NSMB people! :-)

Riding in the snow is the best. Good on you for getting out.

Posted by: Stuminator

Riding in the snow is the best. Good on you for getting out.

I've rarely regretted heading out for a snow ride. I hope you get some over the holidays if there is any snow near you. :-)

Our local trails got packed down pretty nicely and were running great today.

Lighter rider on Plus tires for the win! She wouldn't leave the house without the bar mitts. Smart move!

The forest is looking very pretty right now.

Bikelanes were snow covered, but rideable.

I can't be the only one getting their bike out in the snow. Post up a photo or two it's good to see what other trails are like and get some stoke going. We had a bit more snow and I was thinking of doing some recon in Cumby, but I was too lazy to get the snow off my vehicle and clear the driveway or ride there/back. So I just stayed local. I think the trails are better than summer. So fun to slide around and the extra challenge is very entertaining. No other bikes out there yet so I got first tracks in the new stuff.

After a few laps of the trails I decided to ride the long way home through town to see what was shaking. The roads were fairly spicy with ice and slush making traction quite limited, but vehicles were respectful and I pulled over a few times to let them by so I didn't slow them down for too long.

Looks like a few more days of winter and then the rains are back to wash this all away.

NE woods are some of the best winter riding in BC - probably the most consistently able to ride of anywhere in BC.

I spent Xmas in Vancouver and have done some chilly Gravel rides. Only lasted 45mins yesterday as I underestimated how cold my hands were going to get. Was able to last a couple hours the day before though :)

Nice Surly.. I'm glad you got out despite the cold. Good to see another frosty bike! I'll have to up my beard game for next winter! ;-)

Yup, I'm now officially one of those weird old guys with icicles hanging from their beard like I remember seeing when I was a teenager.