They're not bad at all. Just a lot of unnecessary weight for that type of surface. That bike basically has two speeds...uphill and downhill.

Yes, it's done great. And you can lock it out easily.

No gears?

Oh, yeah, 27 of them. I had it upgraded to a 3x when I bought it. That's just my running joke with it, it's not something you ride for speed.

Yeah that's for sure. I've seen some single speed units and think they would suck

I see those single speed fanboys out on the trails once in a while and I just roll my eyes. Screw that. Although I went overkill on mine, I've only used the large chain ring on the front a few times. 2x would be enough for me, just need that additional low end with my wonky knee.

I ride a Salsa El Mar 3 29er. I won't ever get rid of it, because it's a cult collector's bike these days... but I'm going to either go full suspension or something with more aggressive, slack geometry for a second bike. We're down in Cpsta Rica currently, and I just rode a Scott hardtail that's pretty slack... and damn it was fun. Was throwing that bike around like crazy.


My youngest son has really gotten into riding, so we tend to ride everywhere we go, now. I'm still cutting video from our ride down here today, but here's some video from Santa Fe in March.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n3jWUcfCKr0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And I will say that the fat tire has much more road resistance and gives me a much better workout than the bikes my wife tried out.

Well of course it does. It's still fun because you feel like you're in a monster truck on one and that you can just roll over anything that gets in your way.

That is awesome scenery, great that the kid is out with you too. Had mine hooked when he was young...then he became a teenager and that ended that.

You have some really cool stuff in your area as well, I've been up and down the paved trails from Bella Vista to Springdale, but not all the way to Fayetteville. What I've rode is some of the best anywhere.

There's all kinds of dirt I've yet to have the chance to check out yet as well. Need to get back down that way again soon.

Here's mountain biking Pigsknuckle, but to be fair both of these are from late winter where we look our worst.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7C_J_ri-8NY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NexMiWvqVrw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Northwest Arkansas has become absolutely epic as far as the MTB scene (we just hosted the IMBA World Summit). The Walton boys (Tom and Stueart) are sinking insane amounts of money into the trail systems here, and the community is responding. I rode a lot when I was younger. At a certain point, I decided it was crazy to raise my kids here and not raise them riding. Similar to raising kids in Colorado without them doing snow sports. Anyway, loving riding and loving the scene in this area. I'll post up some other rides we've done in our area, though there are an abundance of videos from much more impressive riders than me out there floating around.

Awesome! Nice, fast trails.

.
Anything you'd recommend when I get back down there? Keep in mind I'm old and #1 priority is not getting hurt. I've seen bits and pieces of the dirt trails and some of it looks pretty intense.

Like this...wtf...looks like a trip to the ER waiting for a time to happen.

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...b1&oe=59DEE3D1

Sounds like you need a trip to the Southwest some winter to do some biking.

Neat stuff and cool bike.

We ride in the winter up here.

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...92&oe=59E0B50A

If you want a nice, long ride that has more of a XC feel with good climbs, but not too technical, Hobbs State Park is really good. Here's some video I shot from there:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ikngo8Swgs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


The Back 40 Loop is pretty awesome, and it has some features similar to what you posted there, but they're always optional. Here's a good sampling from a ride there:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uKGI_b4dLKc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You probably don't want to do Coler, hah (this guy is from KC, and his channels is great. He posts some great videos of the trails around there):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mt23kpuMXe0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yeah I was gonna say that I bet that's not your Ragbria bike

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...?colorCode=red

I went with this one. In the proper red color I might add! Tried a DS model and a couple different 820s. One I can't remember the model but I liked the marlin 4 the best so I got one

yeah thats a good looking bike.

It fits the budget I set and gave me a good workout when I road it. The tires are wide enough it's more sturdy feeling to me. Shock was stiffer than the 820 but it could have been the wheels. The 820 had 26 and the one I got has 29" as the only option. The bigger tires felt better for some reason. Most likely due to the lead in my ass!

Here's some clips from our ride in Costa Rica. People are crazy into cycling here. It's very interesting.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aQThjeKXA_0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Nice looking bike booger. I got a DS 8.3. It's the nicest bike I've owned ever.

Just make sure you get the seat set right. I'd been doing it wrong all these years and it makes a giant impact on the ride.

Thanks man! I definitely got to get a seat upgrade. My ass and taint are getting sore already. Otherwise it's just a matter of having the seat level isn't that right?

Your ass will get used to it. I can ride now with no problems but I'm the early spring it's like I'm going to die. Just work through it.

I hope someday my ass can take a good pounding like yours bud :thumb:

ROFL fair enough.

ROFL

Love my Giant Roam III

Just picked this up yesterday....

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/17...g?v=1485892803

Masi Giramondo 27.5. It is like the riding fun of a ten speed when I was a kid. You just go anywhere you want, jump stuff, ride through puddles. You smile a lot.

As I was looking at choices, I realized that in many ways these gravel/adventure bikes are much the same as the early mountain bikes from thirty years ago, which is why I first got into MTB way back then in my mid 20s. It's that ten year old me on a bike feeling. Anyone else here feel this way?

That's how I feel on my fat bike. I feel invincible and that I can just roll right over or through anything. It's a blast.

Time for another NewChief goes mountain biking with his kid video. Please excuse dorky dad encouragement for the boy. I like this video for a few of reasons:
1) It shows the boy's progression in flowing on his bike, which is a result of the work he's been putting in at the pump track. You can really see him flowing with the trail in a few places (punctuated by me encouraging him)

2) Shows off some of the typical "features" that we get on our trails in the area with bridges, berms, step-ups, catwalks, doubles, etc..

3) The boy decided to use the catwalk to head back to the top toward the end of the video, which surprised me.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HXmrcWMRkyA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I plan on making a trip over to the Bentonville area soon. Any suggestions on which trail or trails would be best to hit up first?

What sort of riding do you like to do? The Back40 (and Blowing Springs) is probably the most fun with widest variety of options, currently. Coler is really great and has the highest downhill difficulty. Slaughter Pen is the oldest and has a huge variety of different rides as well. The good news is that you can hit good portions of all of these on a given weekend.

If you're more into a XC style without too much technical difficulty, then Hobbs State Park is awesome (also best place to ride if it's been raining a lot, which it looks like we're entering a dry pattern now). If you like really technical climbs and descents with a really natural and "wild" feel, then check out Mt. Kessler down in Fayetteville. The Railyard bike park is also a lot of fun with 3 different flow lines of varying levels and a jump park (its opening is highly weather dependent, though, and it closes with just a little bit of rain and stays closed until completely dry).


Are you camping or staying in a hotel? There are also some MTB friendly AirBnBs right on the trail. I'd highly recommend staying in downtown Bentonville (21C is your best bet for a hotel... really nice boutique artsy hotel that isn't crazy expensive), because you can literally get everything you need and want to do without ever getting into your car again once you get to downtown Bentonville (barring deciding that you want to ride Kessler in Fayetteville or Hobbs State Park).

I'll be happy to answer any other questions you have about suggestions for places to eat or other things to do.

Oztrails has become the sort of "catchall" branding for the overall area, and their website has pretty good overviews and maps. Everything is also on MTBProject and Trailforks. If you have questions about specific trails or rides, I'll be happy to answer.

Yeah...I would've skipped the catwalk. Those things freak me out.

Nice vid of you and your boy out on a trail, NC! But I'm not going to lie - your arms off to the side in the video made it disconcerting, like I was playing some weird FPS game or something. lol

He did a really big one today over a gulley that was basically a step up (really steep downhill then steep up then flat landing) and was about 10 feet off the ground in places. I've started shopping around for full face helmets for him. Hah b

Yeah. I need to figure out if I can somehow narrow the field of view on the GoPro. I think it's on wide screen capture currently. Weighed using chest mount vs. helmet mount and went with chest because helmet mounts really distort the terrain. I may get a gimbal one of these days.

I use a handlebar mount for my GoPro. Hated the helmet mount.