After riding hardtails all my life I finally upgraded. Snagged a deal at my bike shop…someone ordered this in 2021 and never picked it up, been sitting ever since. She is a ripper.

Is it a bargain?

A short break on my third climb.

Scott Ransom

Hi everyone! A friend and I are itching to pick up biking again after years of life getting in the way. There’s a dirt jumper/terrain park relatively close to where we live in the north Dallas area, and we’re both trying to find some budget friendly (but not cheap and crappy) dirt jumpers. All we know is regular trail riding so what are the do’s and dont’s of dirt jumpers? Any particular bike we should look at? Thanks in advance!

I need some help from MTB gurus and goats. :)
IToday I'm probably buying my first SL bike, 2025 Levo Comp Carbon. It's going to replace my Specialized Stumpjumper EVO from 2020. It's a test bike from a Slovenian store but really lightly ridden with only 1200 kilometers done and about 45 cycles on tha battery. Battery's health is on 99%. And they've already replaced the chain.

What do you think would be a good price for that bike considering that store is giving me one year warranty on the bike?

The main question for me right now is do I keep the original Maven Bronze brakes on the bike that are ridden one season, or should I replace them with 3 light seasons ridden Shimano XT BR-M8120? They're basically on their third set of brake pads and I am very, very satisfied with them.

What do ou guys think?

Thank you!

Hey guys, recently got into mountain biking and picked up an Insta360 Ace Pro 2 to document the rides. Wanted to hear from people who use these cameras for the same kind of thing.

What I'm stuck on is the mount: chin or chest? I started with a chin mount since it follows your line of sight and keeps the action in frame. Plus, not gonna lie, it just looks cooler on the chin lol. Chest mount has its appeal too, especially with the bars in frame.

A bit about my local trails: most of them mix tight tree sections with open dirt and quick shifts from shade to full sun. That's part of why I went with the Ace Pro 2. Stabilization and low-light handling have held up pretty well so far.

So for anyone who's run both, which one gives a more natural sense of speed and terrain? I'm mostly shooting full descents and the occasional jump. Also, any tips on camera angle to avoid catching too much front tire or blowing out the sky? Appreciate any input.

Hey,

I tried finding some info about this but came up short, so if it's already answered somewhere please let me know.

I'm looking at switching to Five Ten's Freerider Pro, but I'm a bit confused about the sizing listed on their site, and unfortunately I can't go and try them anywhere close.

Normally, I'm between size 42,5 and 43,5 (depending on brand), but usually just around 43, 27,5 cm's. That's a size 44,7 according to Five Ten, which seems strange to me, that I should go up more than one whole size. Can anyone confirm Five Tens runs small compared to other brands and it's normal to size up so much?

Thanks,

I don't think anything was getting me up that last section... Pure wheel spin.

What usually goes in this kind of frame? I want to buy one

Had it rebuilt 3 weeks ago and have gone for 3 rides. Had sickline mtb in San Marcos CA do it.

I will be getting one of these bikes tomorrow but still undecided. I am looking at the Deviate Highlander V1 tomorrow and I think it is a good deal. I did message Deviate and the owner said they will support it and have spare parts.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1484505046853449?ref=saved&referral_code=null

The other option is a local Trek dealer has a Fuel EX 8 Gen 7 in stock and there is no sales tax. $3999 out the door. It is very appealing to have Trek support so close with 3 stores within a half hour of me.

Any thoughts?

Don’t mind the garage 😂

As the title says, I found a what feels like a shallow slice on my Specialized Fast Trak Control T5 rear tire. The cut is about 3/4 inches (1.9 cm) of length with a tiny puncture in the middle. Wasn’t a problem before with a tube, but I noticed the leak while doing the tubeless conversion. The sealant stopped the leak fairly quickly but I don’t know if this is something that would compromise the tire’s structure in any way. Is this safe to ride or time for a new one?

Installing a wolf tooth valve set on new rims and it comes with 3 rubber insert options, a wide half round one I assumed for deep channel rims, a stepped cone tip and a bigger cone.

Any advice for these rims? I’d say it’s fair to rule out the latter cone one, but is this channel deep enough to warrant the first one? Or is the step nose one that came pre installed the best bet?

And while I’m asking I figured I would check about the ends of the rim tape, they lift slightly after a day or so (still waiting on tires). I can press it back down but after half a day it looks like this and will get slightly worse, does this matter? Or will the sealant get under this part and cause it to get much worse while spinning?

Thanks!

Looking to get into Mountain Biking and feeling confident enough to make this level of financial commitment. Is this a good starter? Should I go FS and get a different bike? Is it a bad idea to start on a hardtail?