Re: looking for a mountain bike
Ask a good local nike shop or over at mtbr. It will depend on your weight with gear and what kind of terrain you mostly ride and how plush you want the ride to feel. Too soft and you will flex while pedaling. too hard and you might as well have bought a hardtail.
Re: looking for a mountain bike
You should have gotten a little book on each shock in your package of paper work for the rig. It will tell you psi's and how to adjust rebound and dampening.
Re: looking for a mountain bike
ahh thanks guys! I went to the store and asked them today.
Man, riding clipless pedals is a pita! Im sick of falling already!
Re: looking for a mountain bike
I never fell when I first switched =)
I might have missed it early in the thread but what pedals are you running or just the stock ones?
Re: looking for a mountain bike
Quote:
Originally Posted by localmotion
Never used those pedals before. I run Shimano 747's. Just give it some time and you will wonder how you ever went without them. Is there a tension adjustment on the pedals? If so, back them off so you can get out of them easier. I run mine as loose as the adjustment will allow.
I remember when I bought my first good bike and went on a ride with the guys from the shop that same day. First time in Clipless pedals. Still in the parking lot just tooling around came to a stop and fell right over in front the entire group.
I think once you begin to automatically plan ahead for them, like approaching an obstacle that is super technical and popping one foot out, then they will show the true advantage.
Another thing I like about the SPD pedals it that you can also put power to the cranks in the upstroke instead of just in the down.
Re: looking for a mountain bike
Congrats on the new ride!
First time I rode with clipless pedals I went down several times because I couldn't clip-out. Like Eric said, if those particular pedals have a tension adjustment, turn it down until you get used to it. In my case, I've been riding Shimano SPD pedals since 1999 and they've been set loose the entire time. I just upgraded to Shimano M540s and set them on loose just like my old ones. These particular pedals won't unclip when pulling up, so the likelihood of coming accidently unclipped is low, and in fact, I can only remember accidently coming unclipped once in the last eight years.
I bought a full suspension bike late last year to replace my hardtail and haven't looked back since. It's only 0.5 pounds heavier than my hardtail (about 25.2 pounds), pedals 99% as efficiently and I can ride it *hours* longer than the last one due to the increased comfort level.
While the initial investment can be high, I think this sport has actually saved me money in the long-run. If I were a golfer, I would be paying $70 for a round of golf. Looking at it that way, I think I just justified some new bike upgrades. ;)
Re: looking for a mountain bike
ha thats good paddlenbike
in fact i have bb7s and race face cranks on the way! except those are from santa so i guess i didnt really pay anything =)
Re: looking for a mountain bike
keep in mind on thos crank brothers pedals you can swap the cleats on your shoes for an "easy" or "hard" release. swapping the left and right mean you will have to twist your foot more to get out. I have some of the Mallet C and plain ol' eggbeater pedals.