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Where are your local spots? My nephew was down in Fort Campbell the last year and he may have been out there.

 

 

The most well known is the Canal Loop at LBL.  Closer to Fort Campbell is Barkley State Park and the north/south trail at LBL.  The rough stuff is north of us in southern Illinois.  It was an ancient sea bed which left rocks galore, there's literally 1,000 miles of trails out there, most are pretty rough and slow unmaintained horse trails.  The more groomed ones are Lake Glendale, Lake Kinkaid, and Cedar Lake.  

 

One Horse Gap, me with a demo Kona stinky from the shop owner of Revolution bikes:

gap_zpscmuoqyba.jpg

 

 

Lake Kincaid, my old Kona Stab, sold it to the owner of Siren bikes on the OP.  Actually this came from the Revolution guy and was sold to the Siren guy.  :)  

ravine_zpsbuzz95fv.jpg

 

 

Packentuck Falls

Packentuck%20Falls_zpsdgkie5vh.jpg

 

 

top of One Horse Gap:

Bill_zpszq85dxez.jpg

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Where are your local spots? My nephew was down in Fort Campbell the last year and he may have been out there.

 

 

The most well known is the Canal Loop at LBL.  Closer to Fort Campbell is Barkley State Park and the north/south trail at LBL.  The rough stuff is north of us in southern Illinois.  It was an ancient sea bed which left rocks galore, there's literally 1,000 miles of trails out there, most are pretty rough and slow unmaintained horse trails.  The more groomed ones are Lake Glendale, Lake Kinkaid, and Cedar Lake.  

 

One Horse Gap, me with a demo Kona stinky from the shop owner of Revolution bikes:

 

 

 

Lake Kincaid, my old Kona Stab, sold it to the owner of Siren bikes on the OP.  Actually this came from the Revolution guy and was sold to the Siren guy.   :)

 

 

 

Packentuck Falls

 

 

 

top of One Horse Gap:

Bill_zpszq85dxez.jpg

 

Now that's a sticky wicket :)

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Everybody says that steel is dead. And on local club rides I see nothing but carbon. But until this year I rode a 1989 steel Waterford Paramount, and I only replaced it because it's such an old school design that it became difficult and expensive to find parts and components.

 

I replaced it with a full-carbon Fuji Altamira 1.1. I was very surprised by three things: 1) The super high-tech carbon Fuji with 24-spoke front wheel and 28-spoke rear wheel weighs exactly 1 lb less than the steel Paramount with 32-spoke wheels, 2) the carbon Fuji ride quality is almost identical to that of the steel Paramount, and 3) with a 60 mm diameter downtube, I expected the torsional stiffness of the Fuji to be tremendous, but in fact it's about the same as the Paramount (I'm a mediocre rider overall, but I can sprint with the best of them).

 

So much for 27 years' worth of technical advances.

 

I used to race mountain bikes back in the Northwest when I was growing up. I did pretty well, was top 5 in WA state and placed in races like the Sea Otter classic in California and some NORBA Races. Did a few 4 man team 24 hr races as well. Anyway, I have talked to a number of people who have said the same thing as you about steel bikes. Steel has a certain flex that dampens vibrations and gives a much smoother ride. You can also scratch and scuff up steel and aluminum but if you gash your carbon fiber bike frame you are in big trouble.

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That looks like a splendid way to f-yourself up. Do you have medical evac insurance for when your out in the boones and things go bad, real bad?

 

We were out at Jackson Falls one time and this girl was rock climbing and fell onto her back from 60 feet up a sheer cliff.  I have no idea how she didn't die.  They had to bring in a helicopter to get her out.  

 

But yeah this is serious backwoods stuff and it's not easy to get out in many places.  One of the more doable trails literally takes us 4 hours to go 12 miles on group rides.  Literally 3 mph.  Your bike better be bulletproof and body armor is recommended.  

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That looks like a splendid way to f-yourself up. Do you have medical evac insurance for when your out in the boones and things go bad, real bad?

 

These are the trails I grew up with back in Spokane, WA:

 

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Another adventure of mine: Keystone Mountain in Colorado in 2005.  Hoping to go back next year if I can get back in shape.

 

freeride park at the base

teeter_zpspwcwumna.jpg

 

 

the "Cowboy Up" trail

Cowboy%20Up_zpsbrgausst.jpg

 

 

the ladders, which leads to a 7' dropoff:

ladders_zpsp3efpvn4.jpg

 

 

wood piles are a perfectly legit trail

wood%20pile_zps3i1i2gfg.jpg

 

 

the "punk rock" trail

punk%20rock_zpsyszdbd6u.jpg

 

 

Gold Hill trail nearby, I think between Breck and Frisco

Gold%20Hill%20Trail_zpsrlkcmm5r.jpg

Edited by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
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Sea Otter classic

Sea Otter just had its first E-bike race there, sponsored by HaiBike. Wish there was events like that around here, I'm unable to use mine in any races otherwise. It's too fun to not do it but most people aren't going to want to pay for one.

People have been talking about having some longer ones in Colorado that are long enough to require you to not use electric in some sections as well as ration it with eco mode so you're not just blasting around in turbo mode the whole race. Seems like it would be fun.

Edited by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
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My 23# 42 year-old Reynolds 531 steel bike is still a joy to ride.  It flexes just enough to feel alive.  When I first got it in 1974 a friend with a nice Japanese steel bike with Shimano components initially kidded me for paying approximately twice for my bike as what he paid for his bike.  After he rode my bike he never again questioned that purchase.  He constantly pestered me to trade bikes on long rides.  

 

In 1974, Reynolds 531 tubing ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_531) was about as exotic as it got.

 

 

l_reynolds_531_tubing.gif

Edited by DizRotus
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Check this out... not so home grown. 17 grand. !

http://microsites.audi.com/e-tron-bike/index.html

It's especially strange since it's apparently a top tier HaiBike but repainted, which before the paint job could be had for like half that even at full retail.

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