on 12/14/10 11:13 AM, Phil Bickford at phi...@sonic.net wrote: > If you need anymore encouragement to take Jack Brown along for the > ride, here's one more. I don't recall which knarly portion Jim Fiend > is talking about.
Nope. Never said "knarly" (is that like a sailboat? ;^) ) or "gnarly". The first portion can be muddy and sloppy. I've stopped up tires in mtb frames here (younger, stupider, didn't avoid mud). This opens out into a serpentine (as in the rock) topography with short, sharper changes of direction and altitude. Those get very slippery when wet or damp. That section is also loose and shaley, as you noted. After that it opens up and you continue on more traditional "fire roads". Ruts, potholes, the odd sinkhole and hoof hole, as well as bovine output and the cows themselves. It tends to washboard a bit in places, which dries to a crackly crunch in July/August. For reference - the trails I've ridden which I'd declare as "gnarly" are butt-on-the-rear-tire, pucker-inducing, not-any-safer-to-walk-down affairs. I started riding smoother tires on trails when the Jack Brown tires came out, and have gradually expanded the places I ride on them, starting with trails that were pretty well known to me. (For reference, China Camp, Tamarancho, most of the fire roads on the Mt Tam and GGNRA watershed) Prior to that, I had a working theory that riding CX bikes/tires off road was akin to light tackle fishing - you had to modify your habits or you'd be fixing a lot of flats. And fixed a lot of flats. (Dinged up a few rims, too). This theory is now modifying into the idea that under _most_ conditions for _my_ riding area and style/experience, tire placement is much more important than tread. It's a flow, momentum and center-of-gravity exercise. Don't necessarily always go all that fast, but the challenge is what I enjoy. I also ride the Quickbeam on these trails in fixed gear mode at times, so there is something functionally wrong with me, and it isn't necessarily something to emulate... ;^) - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Workshops of the iBob's -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
