Dean Dean's Mountain Machine

Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Feb 9, 2019
Messages
2,743
Reaction score
6,753
Location
Colorado
20210601_140310.jpg


https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/dean-deans-mountain-machine-finished.113664/
 
Dean had never been mountain biking until this morning. Other than riding his Mountain Machine through his 'hood once to check fit and feel, he had not *ridden* it yet. Having cruised town style, brakeless fixed gear, and gravel with him, I already knew he has some decent handling skills and stamina. In about a dozen trips down the hill, with a little instruction and post-run critiques his speed increased on every run. The last few runs saw 5-10 seconds faster each run after the other. He's a quick study.

Dean, with some Lean on his Mountain Machine:
20210726_120944.jpg


Last words before we parted ways for the day, "When are we going again?"

Stoked
 
Strong Frame as a base.
True Temper CroMo, such a WIN. There are a ton of mid-high end serviceable compact geo frames out there that can kill the game on flow trails and pump tracks, just waiting to be resurrected.

I never pooh-pooed the advent or recent barrage of flow trails, but was puzzled by it at first due to almost any modern mountain bike being suspension equipped. The current industry propaganda blitz that touts the accolades of the long-ignored hardtail, may actually be due to some marketers realizing that a hardtail under less skilled riders on a flow trail could actually be faster for them than a full suspension bike that does not have the damping set up properly for a-technical/flow trails. Recycling good compact geo hardtail frames to kill the game on the flow makes perfect sense, as well as skilled Riders.
 
Last edited:
I agree with you fully on the hard tail on a lot of the trails I've been on. Even a Bomber with a solid front fork can be faster. Caught up and passed a guy on a very nice Santa Cruz; with my 40 Rollfast with a 2 speed kick back, on a gravity run and he was floored that I passed him and he couldn't catch me until I stopped.

I've recycled a couple of these treks with 4130 frames and given them to friends and they are always a hit.

On the flip side, some of the very rocky and trails with some of the large drops around here, soft tails seem to beat me up less. Over 50 now and I don't recover as quickly... o_0
 
I have not ridden in LV in many years, but know that The Cowboy Trails area has some beefy descents like Bob Gnarly and Boneshaker.

https://www.mountainbikebill.com/NVCowboyTrails.htm
There are a lot more out here than one would think and more that pop up from time to time. Over 149 trails within an hour or less ride, most within a 30 minut ride. I use the MTB Project app or website. Usually a good summary, also have an elevation profile.

Mt Charleston and Redrock trails are my favorites.
Screenshot_20210829-050620_MTB Project.jpg
 
Great link. I read one of the Cosmic Ray books too.
For a while, we rode down the National from the antennas to 48th street once a week after work. Good times.
-I tried to ride up the National a few times on cool mornings, but never finished. I was able to ride up the paved road to the top of South Mountain a couple of times. I was younger and fitter in those days.
 
This came out great. Hope Dean has been enjoying his new ride!
CONGRATS!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top