TonyJ profile

As somebody who has spent a great deal of time maintaining trails, trying to keep existing older traditional lines, nothing irks me more than people creating a their own personal go around on a feature or section of trail. 

IF YOU CAN'T RIDE IT, WALK IT.

We have all abided by this rule for the last 30+ years. If you don't want to "walk it" then figure out how to ride it, this is how we improve and grow as riders. If that doesn't suit your needs, then just stay off that trail, otherwise you become  the problem.

I am on the dark side of 50 now and my abilities are regressing, but I will still go for a ride/walk down the hard trails with my 30 something friends, who can send everything. I have no shame in walking anything, it is where I am at in my life.

When I was 20'ish and learning how to ride on the shore, there were things I looked at and said, that is impossible, I will never ride that. Within a couple of years, almost all of those things were ticked off the list, because I improved, I watched better riders do them, then I challenged myself to make the first attempt. 

If you just want to feel good about yourself, go ride B-Line all day long, if you want to be a "mountain cyclist" then you  should challenge yourself. 

I try to scare myself every ride, even if just on a slippery root section, trying a rock face in the wet, or letting go of the brakes in a high speed or steeper line. These are the thrills that make mountain cycling what it is, exciting and challenging.

Got in a ride on Christmas Day, it was still good, just a couple of CM's of fresh on top, it helps a lot.

Andrew,

I want to thank you for your unique outlook on the sport we all love. I always look forward to reading your article and enjoy following along in the comments conversation.

Your passion and quest for knowledge is inspirational. I can say it helps keep me going in these snowy/frozen trail days.

Does that PDF Map or the Darkforks membership get me directions straight to your cornholio, or are there more hoops (hahaha) that i will need to jump through, to get me to finish....

Deniz, I agree 100%. 

The second issue becomes, if the trail entrance and exit are just going to get blown out and people are braiding the trail that you built, when do you give up on maintaining the trail at all. 

I don't think I could abandon a trail that I built, but I sure as hell would permenantly close them.

Let me know when you need a hand with moving the massive fallen trees. I have access to a bunch of comealongs to move stuff like that.

I have nailed stuff together in the past, this lasts longer than just blocking with smaller trees, but the end result is always the same with these people.

Justin,

Just use common sense. Don't post your note at the top of the trail, leave it somewhere further down the trail, put it in a zip loc bag so it doesn't get soaked. Most of us conscientious trail users/builders pick up garbage or things left behind on the trails. If you have left a note for the builder, it will be left for the builder to pick up.

It's not really as hard as your making it out to be. I always say, when you find a new trail, enjoy it and keep it to yourself. If you find a new trail that is above your head, leave it alone, it's not yours to alter so you can ride it, when you are ready for it, it will still be there for you.

If you come across a trail with no sign at the entrance and doesn't appear on Trailforks, then assume it is unsanctioned.

Walk in and don't uncover the Entrance or Exit. Let the builder do that if it is a sanctioned trail.

ALL sanctioned trails will have trail signs and or will appear on Trailforks.

These are pretty good simple rules to follow if you are unsure.

Thanks for this. The ENTRANCE AND EXIT rules are the most important to me, the entrance is covered for a reason, so it the exit, if you can't walk 50 yards to get in and out, then don't ride the trail. I am constantly covering entrances and exits of other peoples trails, even if I am just riding past to somewhere else. This is extremely frustrating for me and spoils my mood during a ride, then my friends have to listen to me rant for the next 10 minutes, so I spoil their mood as well.

The other one is, respect the builder if they closed the trail in the winter, this is done so the trail lasts longer than a year or two. It takes a lot of work to close and re-open the trail, respect the work that goes into this.

AH, holly, the bain of my existence. 

Everybody should feel free to pull holly out (by the roots) whenever they find it in the forest. That would be a great help to any and all trail builders.

Posted by: UFO

Posted by: Kenny

27.5+ on the rear, 29 on the front, naturally. :)

This. I experimented 27.5x2.8 with my Rootdown BA back in 2016, found the bb too low and too many pedal strikes on the way up for what I was riding. But I really liked the increased traction out back and a bit of cush. I didn't like the 27.5 up front though, at least not at the 'proper' ~14psi, tire squirm and vague steering was a thing for me and my limited skills.

Once I jumped up to a 29" front wheel it raised my bb just enough, and running a 2.4/2.5 with proper 21psi was enough to get steering precision back. 

I don't carve berms so that bit of tire squirm that I'm sure exists out back never factored in for me.

So you are running a 275+ in a 2.8 out back and a 29er 2.4/2.5 on the front?

Posted by: snowsnake

I swap pretty frequently between 29x2.5 and 27.5x2.8 on my Timberjack. I prefer the squish and  (slight) playfulness advantages of the 27.5+ for winch-and-plummet trails, backcountry riding, and bikepacking. The big wheels usually go on when I need to keep up with buddies on full-squish 29ers.

You win the thread with the "winch and plummet trails" description.

I'm starting to think that buying the 27.5+ Rootdown is an option, then buying a set of 29 wheels and tires.

The problem is, this blows my budget out of the water, although, if I mullet, then it's only a front wheel and one tire.

Posted by: Kenny

27.5+ on the rear, 29 on the front, naturally. :)

That's by her request of course....sorry, couldn't help myself with the (that's what she said joke)

Thanks rnayel, I guess you are running the biggest possible tires in your 29 set up, so it should feel pretty similar. 

Do you like the Vigilante tires? They have always intrigued me.

Thaad,

What was the negative for you, is it the bike geo (Norco v Chromag), or specifically the wheel size (not as agile/nimble)? How big a tire could you get in your Wideangle (2.6?). 

I am a good rider, not great, struggle with the jumping now days, but currently I am very happy riding the Shore on my 27.5 FS for everything. I don't go racer speeds (never did), like the tech stuff as well (Lower Oilcan, Executioner).

Andy,

Just to clarify, you ran 275 on your Chameleon, then swapped it to 29, or did you try Plus at some point. 

I am looking a Rootdown with 275+ on it (huge 40mm rims designed for 2.8 and bigger), I can swap the wheels and tires to 29 (but that is a fairly big expense).

I am looking at getting a chromo hartail, looking for some feedback on the differences between a 275+ and a 29er. If you have ridden both, or can compare what you have to what I am currently riding, it would be great to get some feedback on your experiences.

My experience:

I used to ride a 26" Banshee Viento aluminum hardtail on the shore a lot and I really loved it, but had to give it up because of my bad knee, now that it is fixed I am looking for a chromo hartail. I currently spend all my time on a 160 x 160 Banshee Rune V3 (27.5), with 2.4 tires.

Thanks Heckler, I will touch base with Rob and ask.

Was hiking on Lower Oilcan the other day, wow, it is like a super highway, 6 lanes wide the whole way down. In a lot of spots, the drainage ditches have become the main riding lines, it looks really messy to me. Is anybody in charge of taking care of that trail, even just shutting down the braids would be a massive improvement, but IMHO it's been getting worse and worse.

I don't have a Trailforks account (since Outside has taken it over), so I cannot comment there. Used to be able to comment on Trailforks with a PB account, but no more, so I guess I am out, being the luddite that I am.

Did you check VPO in Squamish, they were trying to cover the Telemark category because nobody else was doing it.