My old MB1 was becoming nasty to ride. It was harsh. I was starting to consider getting a new (old) bike.
Thankfully, I gave it another shot.
I studied up a bit on tires and realized that maybe my old-school tires were messing me up. So I bought a pair of new-type small-knob tires — Specialized Fast Track’s. The idea is that cushion and suspension comes from a tire’s volume. Also, the first and best place to improve a bike’s ride is the tires. Big-knob tires have a casing with much lower volume, so it has to be ridden at a higher pressure to avoid pinchflats. I had discovered that to be true: I got a nice ride on my old tires at 33psi — but I also flatted every hour. They needed 40psi to stay up — but then they beat me up and went slow, to boot. They were slow on dirt and pavement. I asked around and confirmed my suspicions.
So I tried the new tires.
My old grips were also totally shredded and worn out — and my hands would be hurting after an hour of riding. Bad nerve zap.
So I go some new paddle-style Specialized Bodyworks grips. I have noticed that a bunch of Tour Divide racers use these.
Last week I did a test ride with the gang with my new set-up.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE!
The new tires handle and turn SO MUCH better — because they’re so nice’n’round. They’re quiet, faster, and much more comfy. I can run them at 30psi, no sweat.
A couple of the guys mentioned that *Hutchinson Pythons* were their total favorites. I saw one of their pairs were worn a bit so that the center knobs were connected, making them even faster. He said they still gripped fine. When new the center knobs are separate but they connect at the bases.
One of the guys even said he thought the real reason why I liked his full-sus carbon Trek Top Fuel so much was actually because of the Hutch Pythons!
I’ve also heard good things about the Kenda Kosmik’s, 2.0. But I suppose everybody is making a tire like this today. The Nanoraptor is super-famous.
Big knobs are probably only good for certain specialty conditions, like loose stuff, or something. Our local hardtrack doesn’t need ’em, nohow.
So it kinda seems like the most important thing about a bike — maybe particularly a mtbike — is the tires.
And my hands felt fine the whole time. Good, fresh grips are a good thing.
So don’t give up on your old bike — at least until you give it a $100 freshen-up.
(Of course, I suppose a decent 24-lb second-hand hardtail can be had for $300-500 from a pal who’s cleaning garage or upgrading. …But they need tires and grips, too. So you can’t go wrong.)
I also have a sus-stem and -post on this bike. I’m not sure I need them anymore, though. I’ll take em off and test. The handling sure is sloppier and noisier with the spring-stem. And who knows what the post is really doing. It seems to start out high then squat during the ride. So I’ll take em out and report back. It would be nice to save a couple pounds (getting me down to, what, 26 lbs) and tighten up the ride. Let’s so how much cush-help my new tires and grips are giving me! …Maybe if the hard-tail bothers my butt a bit I’ll try a holey saddle instead. The hole has totally revived my road riding — it’ll prolly boost the mtbiking, too.
(I confess to not doing much mtbiking in recent years — until I ran across this fun bunch down in ol’ Waterloo…)
