I think it has a lot to do with where you find your challenges. Back when I first got enthralled by cyclocross and the bicycles, I started venturing onto more and more challenging trails. What I found is that the technique is very different. The closest I can describe (if you have ever fished) is light tackle fishing - you generally cannot muscle through things the way you can when riding 2" tires. Your line becomes very important.
Most of the first trail riding I did on 700C/622 wheelsets used 30-35 mm knibblie tires - CX tires. Some of the "30's" were really more like 28's. These days, I'm actually riding Jack Browns over almost everything, maintaining very odd internal dialogues about how tire placement and center of gravity are much more important than tread. I also end up suddenly pondering the sky from time to time, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend that. At the same time I was first messing with CX bikes, I was also setting up my first singlespeed. (I've mentioned this before, but it was an El Nino year here in CA, and I was literally melting drivetrains on the trails.) These two streams finally got crossed when I got my Quickbeam. Now, I'll say that I've ridden a lot of trails, and learned to mtb on long, rigid frames. So, I'm not really learning trail technique as much as expanding it. And it depends a lot upon the trails you ride. A nice swoopy forest singletrack is a fine place to try this out. The local technical, boulder roller, throat-clencher not so much. Small tires can beat you up a bit, as the cushion isn't there. Plus, I tend to ride higher tire pressures because I really dislike flatting on trails. But, in the end, I like simple systems. I like the consistency of knowing that the climb is the same, the bike is the same, and the variable is how I feel on a given day. I love the silence (and generally increase that by running fixed). You don't get there the same way. You don't follow the same lines. Kinda like life. - Jim / cyclofiend.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
