Here in the Pacific Northwest goggles are a highly recommended piece of equipment, especially during the winter. Of course, choosing to go the goggles and a half-shell helmet route is a matter of function over fashion, since there's no way you'll ever win any style awards with this outfit, but it sure beats the alternative of spending evenings trying to get chunks of mud out of your eyes. Over the past few seasons Ryders Eyewear's Shore goggle ($54.99 USD) has become one of my favorites, and the option I'd recommend to fix your fit issues. Designed specifically for mountain biking, the frame isn't as bulky as moto or ski goggles, which helps keep them from pushing awkwardly against the helmet. The Shore's double lens is also highly fog resistant, and although replacement lens are more expensive than what you'd typically pay for a single lens, they also seem to scratch less easily, and thus last longer. I'd recommend trying to find a shop that has the goggles in stock, and then heading down there with your helmet to ensure that they'll work. - Mike Kazimer |
Considering that you still want a bike that will climb well and having ridden in the Pennsylvania mountains, I can understand why the Stumpy Evo 29er works well for you. Big wheels are a plus for the irregular rocks, gnarled roots, off-camber sections, and numerous steeps that seem to be signature features of your trails. Sorry, but adding ten millimeters to your fork travel will not earn you enough suspension performance if your intent is to ride with your big-bike buddies on DH trails. I'd suggest you go with plan B and buy up to a more capable bike. Your choices: the Slash and Reign, are respected bike park descenders in the hands of good riders and both are proven winners as trailbikes. I'd also suggest that you consider the Specialized FSR Enduro 29. It is one of the more nimble steering trailbikes in the AM/enduro realm. It is an excellent climber, and as far as its descending abilities, it is fearless. Mitch Ropelato races one at pro DH events, so that should suffice for a resume. You already have 29-inch wheels dialed, so the logical step would be to jump up to a longer travel version with better geometry that will let you go big, while retaining familiar performance traits that are better suited to PA trails. - RC |
The Specialized S-Works Enduro 29 is a perfect choice for thel rider who needs a machine that can bust out a four-hour technical trail ride on Saturday and then shuttle DH runs with the big bikes on Sunday.
Personally, I've had great success with workout programs from BikeJames.com. I first found his site around four years ago, and I remember thinking back then he was way ahead of his time. There are warm up and stretching routines, mobility and foam rolling, dietary advice and of course guidelines on how many times you have to pick up something really heavy or pedal really fast. You also gain access to his Inner Circle Forum where you can ask questions directly to Coach himself. In the beginning, the programs might not be what you are expecting if you're of the 'no pain no gain' mindset with a huge emphasis being placed on form and body position which can seem too easy at first when you think you should be 'training hard', but in the long term it will pay dividends, not only with your strength, but also by helping your riding technique and skills, balance and much overlooked off the bike well-being. I have mainly followed the Kettlebell Program as it is simple and you can start with one bell, but it sounds like you have enough equipment to go for the full Ultimate MTB Workout which includes specific programs for DH, enduro/trail and XC, depending upon your discipline. - Paul Aston |
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Also, I'll put a plug in for POC Trabec and Iris Flow goggles; they share the same lines and thus fit very well together.
Function over form...
As far as I can tell larger wheels should offer no advantage on off camber sections, and be a hindrance on steeps as you can't get your weight as far back before that horrible "I'm siting on my tyre" moment.
(And also more speed, but less maniability, but depends on how and were you ride...)
If you have the oportunity, just try a 29er bike, it's REALLY different.
(And for the wheelsize flame, I only have a 26er dirt bike.. just had the occasion to ride a 29er Stumpy FSR like the guy in the article)
That diagram is totally misleading. It is correct that the contact patch gets longer, but it gets narrower to compensate, meaning you end up with exactly the same amount of tyre on the floor.
A longer contact patch is actually worse as it increases rolling resistance. I am sure Giant know this but hey, whatever it takes to sell more bikes I guess.
Think of it this way:
Imagine you weigh 100lbs, and are riding a unicycle (just to get the second tyre out of the equation for now) with the tyre pumped up to 100psi. Psi stands for pounds per square inch, so a 100lb rider on a tyre pumped to 100psi will have a contact patch of exactly 1 square inch, no matter how large their wheels are or how wide their tyre is.
But stiffness of the tire and design of the tire, and widht of the rim are more significant.
That's completely wrong. Pounds/inch^2 is entirely about air effective weight of air pressure vs. the area the air is pushing against. The weight supported by the tire does not come into the equation. If a given rider pumps up a 26" and 29" wheel with the same tire type/width, the tire will effectively contact the same width of ground, only with a longer contact patch.
You said it yourself, "weight of air pressure vs the area it is pushing against"...
100psi means the air in the tyre is exerting a force of 100lbs per square inch of surface it is touching. Therefore it will require 1 square inch of contact patch to support 100lbs, 2 square inches to support 200lbs etc.
@Voxran
Your explanation is good and I agree with you. I just dont see how this applies to off cambers or steeps.
If you think that equation works out, you should do the calculation for your psi vs. body weight, split it in two for your two wheels, and use your mountain bike to see how you're wrong.
RC has a strong opinion about larger wheels, whatever. Something tells me he also likes to piss off people on purpose with such things - he trolls in a way.
bansheebikes.blogspot.com/2013/11/wheel-size-facts-part-3-contact-patch.html
150lbs at 20psi in each tyre = 7.5 square inches of contact patch spread over two tyres
3.75 per tyre
about 1.5" wide and 2.5" long per tyre
Sounds about right to me. How about you?
Cheers for the link. Very interesting. I've read Pt 1. Pt 2 should make for good lunchbreak reading tomorrow if I can find enough odd jobs to keep the minions off my back for 5 minutes
Force = Pressure x area
If pressure and force stay The same, so must area.
The tread pattern changes the contact area far more than wheel size will!"
What are we comparing here is similar to compare wich of the puzzle fractions is better.
As for me the better to wee the whole picture.
"What are we comparing here is similar to compare wHich of the puzzle fractions is better.
As for me the better is to See the whole picture."
Many variables here - geometry, weight, suspension performance. However, my Jekyll weighed about 29lbs, the same as the Stumpy, had 130mm of suspension, as does my Stumpy, and a similar head angle (69 degrees). The suspension on my Jekyll was more plush/forgiving/less stiction than my Stumpy (everyone should try a Lefty) and I had Minion DHF's front and rear on my Jekyll compared to Purgatory/Ground Control on the Stumpy.
Anecdotally, my experience is that a 29er provides greater cornering grip than a 26er, even if the 26er has more forgiving suspension and better/more aggressive tires.
To me riding off camber would engage the same area of a tire that cornering leaned over would engage, so IMO I don't think that Richard is too off-base claiming that big wheels are a plus in this kind of riding. 26 or 29, I still hate riding off-camber, but any advantage is welcome. For roots and such, a 29er wheel deflects less and so grip is sustained better compared to a 26" wheel.
I love all kinds of bikes. I would still be riding my Jekyll if the frame hadn't cracked and when deciding on a new bike chose a 29er mainly to minimize obsolescence.
Or, perhaps I have inadvertently drunk the marketing cool-aid.
I also find it hard to believe that your 2004 suspension is better than your 2013 suspension.
I would say a new set of purgatory/ground controls wouldn't be dissimilar to a used set of minions. Dunno how used your Minions were tho so that one is hard to judge.
Minions were almost new, less than a season of use. Super tacky front, 60a rear. They seem to be the gold standard still, but Specialized tires have a good reputation as well.
2013 Fox CTD Evolution fork and shock...need I say more? Hard to believe but the 8-year-old Manitou swinger and Lefty Max on the Jekyll had much less stiction, were more controlled through their stroke, and more plush over stutter bumps. A significant downgrade in suspension performance overall.
To better understand you need to understand the theory of how altitude training works in the first place. The benefits stem from the body getting used to operating on less oxygen, which cause more EPO production, which produces more oxygen carrying red blood cells to form. Then when you compete at lower attitude the blood is primed with all the extra red blood cells.
In theory it makes sense. But wearing an air restricting mask on the other hand doesn't. First and foremost, even if the mask did properly replicate a high altitude environment (which it doesn't), you need to spend long lengths time at altitude. Basically you need to live there, for weeks at a time to see any benefit. Wearing it for an hour or two while you spin or go for an XC ride does nothing except make it hard to breathe.
Second, as I mentioned, the mask does not replicate a high altitude environment. Even if you did wear it all day and sleep in it you'd still see no effect. It simply makes it hard for you to take in air, but its the same air. Air has an oxygen content of around 21% at sea level. No matter what kind of mask you put on you are still breathing 21% oxygen air, you just can't breath it as deeply easily. This will not cause your body to adapt to anything. You need to be breathing actual reduced oxygen air (16% at 7K feet for example) for the body to react to it.
The only thing the mask will do is maybe strengthen your lungs a little due to the body physically working harder to expand the lungs. But those benefits are outweighed by the losses you experience by wearing the mask because it hinders your ability to train as efficiently as you would without it.
I'm not just trying to be argumentative here. Your original question was about getting the most out of training, and wearing that mask is likely hindering that more than helping. I totally understand your point about forgetting to breath during race. But your probably better off working that issue out some other way than wearing a mask that restricts your breathing while you are working out.
So even if the mask did replicate high altitude, just wearing it for a workout is the complete opposite of how one would apply altitude training in the first place.
And I don't come to the comments section to piss on things unsolicited. This guy @smitty2661 wrote in specifically looking for workout advice. And although the PB response glossed over it, I saw his mention of an elevation mask as a red flag and simply offered some friendly advice to get rid of the thing. At the end of the day I don't care how he trains. He can do what he wants. But when I see people making a mistake I'm going to point it out because I would appreciate someone doing the same for me.
waki-leaks.blogspot.se/2014/05/test-ultimate-mtb-workout.html
There is nothing worse though, than people riding XC with a standard XC lid and motostyle goggles, in the summer, where there is no risk of getting stuff in your eyes anyway.... that´s goofy..... but then again, nothing beats the good ol´ "Taking my goggles on" -shot, at least not in an epic enduro specific edit :-D