I Just Want To Ride!

It seems that one of the "negative side effects" of going with a 29"er is having to think about stuff. Things I never would have considered thinking about when I rode a 26"er have suddenly become important, or seem to have, since going to 29"ers.

Take for instance the worst source of confusion, fork trail. I've opined about that one several times in an effort to spread knowledge but it still trips up folks all the time. Of course, back when fork manufacturers locked us into the 38mm-40mm crown offset in the early 90's, all we had to know was head angle, and even then we were talking about a difference of half degrees. Really, you didn't have to think about that stuff. Just go out and ride your bike.

Now a whole can of worms has been opened up with front end geometry being called into question by Fisher on their 26 inch bikes. (That's right kiddies, "G2" isn't a secret government plot to subvert the youth through subliminal messages embedded into downloaded mp3's!) So, now we have all sorts of fork offsets, not only for 29"ers, but for all mountain bikers. Hooray!

Then you have the smaller sources of confusion, like tubes. I never get surprised anymore by the folks that don't "get it" when it comes to tubes and 29"ers. (Or really for any bike. Tubes and tire sizes just trip people out.) By the way, 26 inch mountain bike tubes.........yeah, they work just fine.

The gearing thing, the suspension thing, (front and rear), and handle bar height, toe over lap, and on and on....... Someone coined a term: "paralysis of analysis", that guy should get free beer. Really, that's hitting the nail on the head anymore, it seems to me.

You know, I suppose I enjoy the dissecting of bicycle "this and thats" from time to time as much as the next guy, but lately it seems as though I (and a lot of you out there) am getting sucked into the "black hole" of internet wankery and not riding as much as I should. I see alot of talk, but no walk, as it were.

So, I am vowing to turn off this "black hole of suck" more often this summer and get more riding in. Heck, then I'll have more to post about that won't have anything to do with bicycle geometry, numbers, or trail other than numbers of miles put in, and trail in terms of dirt.

Go ride your bike. The Internet will still be here and as effed up as ever. Trust me!