Hmm, I’d consider knocking off that list, but it would put me back in Jersey.
I left over 25 years ago as a heart attack-in-the-making. I Lived, commuted and worked in northern Jersey, with territory out to Long Island and up to Albany. I honestly don’t think I’m cut out for that area anymore.
Way back when, my now-wife joined me in NJ. After a year, she said, “There are way too many people here. If we don’t leave, I’m shipping out with the Merchant Marines.” I took that as a serious threat; she had a 500-ton captain’s license.
I imagine the terrain in your area would be dark rock, scrabbley slate, with some short but steep ups and downs.
Good advice. Thanks for the thoughts. My stem issue is motivated by some wrist discomfort. Narrowing the bars may also help with that. My saddle is where it needs to be otherwise,
I am tiring of the same things you mention but mostly of the winters.
We have lots of granite, baby heads litter many trails. The slate is in PA, not much in NJ. The elevation changes are as you say, many and of short duration for the most part. There is no lack of very technical routes if you want them but there is everything else too.
I envy the lush looking trails of the northwest but I can do without the dust of the desert.
Rock on! Love MTB’ing, used to sometimes race casually but since kids last 12+ yrs haven’t been able to do much. My youngest was liking it until one day he took a really hard fall and also got stung by a bee same day and got bad reaction and now he has no interest : ( I’m really out of touch…Is everything mostly 27.5 now? There was a big war 26 v 29 as I faded out.
I gotta pull the bike out this spring and get back on it.
My bike, Santa Cruz Hightower, can do both with a flip of a switch. I live in the Pacific Northwest and we have trails galore. Only problem is that I still don’t love to ride in the rain
Ah, we’re hoping to make it to Squamish and Bellingham this year. It’s a long haul from NC, though.
Last May, we were at opening day at Angel Fire bike park in New Mexico. I was having a fantastic day — my 62nd birthday, in fact — when I screwed up and got slammed OTB. Broken clavicle, broken ribs, multiple contusions and cuts. Poor Susan had to drive me home by herself. It took five days. She’s my hero.
The only thing that puts you “up high”, is a tall bottom bracket. Or to put it another way, your seat height is a direct function of where the bike’s crankset/pedals are located vs the ground. A high bottom bracket on an old school 26" long travel freeride or all-mountain bike put the saddle every bit as high in the air- Just as it does with my current-day technical trail bike, a 6" travel Intense dual suspension 29er with it’s 13.5" high BB. My 4" travel 29er XC hardtail on the other hand, sports a sub 12" BB height and thus a much lower ride height- just like the 1st MTBs I rode 30+ years ago. So wheel size has had no impact on saddle height and at your 5’7" height, I wouldn’t have thought handlebar height would be a problem either.
29" wheels in particular can be problematic for 5’5 and shorter folk and more aggressive, racy XC bikes. You simply can’t make the headtube any shorter despite how sloped the toptube might be. If you are an average rider and under 5’6" we typically default to 27.5" wheels. However in my bike shop’s fit studio, we regularly switch out a riser bar for a flat bar or more occasionally, flip the stem upside down so it angled downwards to get the bar lower. These tricks can often satisfy that 5’6"-5’9" go-fast racer type’s need for the fastest (29") wheel size and their desire for a more aggressive rider posture.
A final thought: In the case of current day bikes, 27.5" & 29" wheels on medium and larger sized frames don’t even have much impact on overall wheelbase length when compared to the 26" wheeled bikes we once rode. But both of the larger wheel sizes roll measurably faster, offer superior traction, and significant stability improvements over old school wheels. @RobH needs to testride a 29er that has been properly fitted to him.
Hey @RobH, I didn’t realize you were already riding one of the “modern” wheel sizes. Your Pivot is a beautiful bike that would elicit oohing and aahing amongst bike weenies everywhere- LOL! So you understand where I was coming from: Your “29ers felt too tall” comment sounded a lot like the sorts of things folks whom were heavily invested in nice 26" wheel bikes were saying a decade or more ago to justify not switching. We used to hear that and "Big wheels are less maneuverable in tight trails, " pretty regularly.
In any event the next time you are considering adding an additional ride to your stable, don’t automatically discount a well fit 29er. Particularly if you were looking at a more XC/go-fast bike to compliment your current steed. My pimped Trek Superfly SL hardtail is a sub-19lbs rocket ship and compliments my 6" Intense Carbine perfectly. The day’s choice of trail dictates to choice of bike.
If you shorten front travel by about 20mm and run a 29 up front, you will retain the original geometry, and, get the stability afforded by the 29. Just a thought. I would do that with any 27.5 bike.
I appreciate all the information you’ve provided. I will try a 29 rental at some point. To he honest, the last time I rode a 29, I was pretty new to MTB. I also was on day-3 of demos, so I was pretty pooped while riding the 29.
Being that I’m over 60, my next bike just might have an e-designator in front of it.
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