pnj wrote:
I ride dirt more than anything.
First suggestion I have is to buy a broom. You say the locals don't maintain the trails but ...more
pnj wrote:
I ride dirt more than anything.
First suggestion I have is to buy a broom. You say the locals don't maintain the trails but if you're riding there, YOU ARE A LOCAL.
Sweep them.
As for tires, I'd want more knobs than the MTT have. Aikens tires look pretty nice and I think they come in tan wall.
I ride 22 inch tires, so what I run won't help you at all..
I just discovered the poor attempt at trails late last fall. I built sets elsewhere that myself and two others were the only ones to maintain, with over 50 kids going to them, and I don't really care to be the ONLY one working on them AGAIN, only to have all the work be undone overnight (not even joking about that timeframe). And before you say something like "educate them to do it", kids are lazy. They won't, despite how much we tried in years past. And at this place (which happens to be a mile from my current home), I have NEVER seen a kid out there. My plan is to build up a big booter, and see what happens. So yes, I understand the concept of maintaining them. I refuse to be the ONLY person to do it for a bunch of ungrateful little kids who destroy my work, change everything to what they want (knee high tables) by bull dozing the lips and landings to fill in the gaps.
Not to mention there is not much of a water source near by these "jumps" so just a broom doesn't help smooth things. You need water and to pack the run ups AND the jumps. I know from experience. Sweeping works if the run up is smoother to begin with, and these were not. It was somewhere between dirt and sand on the runs, and it was rough. The plan is to go out there after a good rain (when we finally get away from the snow and thaw out) and build a nice jump that throws you super high up.
Minnesota doesn't have a lot of great dirt to build with, we have a lot of dry time, and harsh winters, so the soil for building isn't what you have over in the Seattle area. Clay is hard to come by, and the dirt we have if not packed well and consistently watered turns to dry clumps and cracks badly. Due to a lack of a water source I may not be able to make this work well. But I plan to try. Failing this spot I am going back to the old spot we had, and I will do minimal work, and just ride it. Be pissed if you want, but myself and two others started that place, and it was over run by 12 year olds who couldn't jump a 3 foot tall double. I don't have the time (due to working 60 plus hours a week and having a fiance and a life) or the energy to spend that much time digging, for half an hour ride time, to come back again another day and it all be destroyed.
As to tire suggestions, I will likely not get the MTT, I have seen them in person, and they just don't appeal to me. They have some knob, but not much. I found a good deal on some Alienation tires designed for dirt, and I may dive on that one.
"Hey anybody ever make that mistake like right when you wake up in the morning and you believe in yourself?" -Kyle Kinane
"BIKES!" -Tom Segura