jshuman

The only thing "sacred" on my full-squish bikes is the shock. A lot of time and $ goes into frame/shock kinematics. I doubt the average garage/shade tree mechanic can do better than what is already specced. Only deviation might be if the person is on the extreme ends of weight and use case. Then a revalve might be in order. After that, braking and cockpit would be the next "sacred" pillar. I know what I like and what works. I'll pay more for what I know works.

@Dtower92: It's nice to have a winch and plummet option also. No doubt. There's also a place for the 1-1.5 hr option where you might not want to spend hrs climbing up something. Or don't have the time or legs for lots of climbing that day. What we lack in overall elevation gain here, we make up for with interesting gnar and more recently really well built jump/flow trails with multiple line options. Trust me, you won't be bored riding here or lap the place in an hr or so. You could easily spend 2 days here and not really hit everything. Then there's Carvins Cove (IMBA silver-level), Mill Mtn., Mountain Lake, Mill Creek (Ralph's trail is fantastic), Havens Wildlife Mgmt Area, around Dragons Back area, Draper Mtn. in Pulaski ...

Here's a link to the ArcGIS map. https://arcg.is/1WPWCO2 Or Trailforks map. https://www.trailforks.com/region/blacksburg/

@chrisclifford: Hmmm. I hear there might be a video series sponsored by Pivot Cycles and shot/produced by this rando guy named Brice for that sorta thing ... Rumor has it he's got a little steeze on a bike. Carvins Cove, VA Douthat State Park near Clifton Forge, VA Massanutten, VA (Western Slope and The Ring https://ultramtb.net/routes/massanuttenring/) Reddish Knob/Mt. Solon, VA area lots of WV including Davis, Canaan, Snowshoe, etc. Brevard, NC Old Fort, NC Copper Harbor, MI Mt. Nebo in Arkansas if you wanna get away from the crowds at Bentonville Del Norte, CO Boulder, Utah Revelstoke, BC Heck, even the area around Penn State (Rothrock Forest) has some excellent riding. I spent many years there. One doesn't need insane elevation change for great riding. Just some sensible loops, infrastructure, cooperation with the various land/legal entities and a dedicated core of people to build and more importantly maintain trails.

@Dtower92: Right. Different style of riding. More punchy/technical. Couple of the trails up (Old Farm/Gateway, Snake Root, Jacob's Ladder or Beauty) can be cleaned without dabbing by good technical riders but it'll be more red-line/anaerobic for bits instead of grinding up a long climb. Most of the mountains in SW VA will be in the 4K ft range or so. Enough to be fun but no super long descents or climbs.

@Bike-JAM-AMA: A lot of other old school guys who live in the area totally disagree with your assessment. Including me. Some of us are so old school we used to use faxes for the weekly ride meet-up. Not email or text. Faxes. Some people enjoy jank and rock gardens. We also enjoy some of the newer safely designed jump lines and flow trails. It's nice having options. It's really not that hard to link the old and new trails together.

@Dtower92: It depends. Where Brice was mainly riding (front side of Brush Mtn. on Yard Sale, Chasers, etc.) the elevation gain from the parking lot to the top of the ridge is ~ 800 ft (1910 ft bottom to 2710 ft top). https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42851652. Bottom of McDonald Hollow to top around 820 ft. The entire linked trail system sits on two mountain ridges with a valley between them. No matter how you slice it, get ready to climb. Unless you just ride the valley basin from Pandapas Pond. The Gap side trails are generally rockier and more technical. But doable either direction.

Typical 1.5 hr ride often around 2K ft of elevation gain.

So which birds are on Dario's life list? Isn't that what we all wanna know? BTW, interesting premise for a review. I like it. Ride what you can affford/brung.