118 - How to Start Mountain Biking: Bikes, Gear, Trails & Essential Tips

New to mountain biking in 2026? This beginner-focused episode delivers expert guidance on every aspect of starting your mountain bike journey. Learn the key differences between entry-level hardtail bikes (under $1,000) and full suspension options (around $2,000), plus how to determine the right frame size based on your height. Discover why bike shop quality brands like Trek, Giant, Specialized, Norco, and Rocky Mountain offer better long-term value than department store alternatives, and get insider tips on buying used bikes safely, including why 2020 or newer models feature better geometry.

Safety and preparation are crucial for new mountain bikers, and this episode covers all the essentials. Find out which protective gear matters most (hint: never skip the helmet), what tools you need at home versus what to carry on the trail, and how hydration packs simplify your ride preparation. The hosts discuss mountain bike-specific shoes that prevent foot numbness, the ongoing debate about padded chamois shorts, and why flat pedals are best for learning. You'll also learn basic trail etiquette, how to find beginner-friendly trails using apps and local bike shops, and why investing in coaching or skills clinics will dramatically improve your riding faster than just winging it.

Bike brands with good entry level options... 

Trek: https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/

Norco: https://www.norco.com/

Rocky Mountain: https://bikes.com/

Specialized: https://www.specialized.com/us/en

Giant: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us

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Chapters

• 0:00 Cold Open: Clipless Crash And Cactus
• 2:45 Why We Made A Beginner’s Guide
• 5:20 Bike Sizing And Where To Buy
• 12:15 Hardtail vs Full Suspension For Starters
• 20:00 Wheel Size, Frame Material, And Travel
• 26:50 Smart Used Bike Shopping
• 36:40 Helmets, Shoes, Shorts, And Pads
• 47:20 Home Tools And What To Carry
• 56:30 Finding Trails And Trail Etiquette
• 1:03:40 Learn Faster With Coaching
• 1:06:30 Simple Maintenance Habits New Riders Need
• 1:10:00 Closing Thoughts And Listener Help

Transcript

Host - Josh Anderson: 0:19

Mountain biker walks into a bar. Okay. And he's uh he's covered in mud and blood and he's got a torn jersey. Sounds like me today. The bartender looks at him and says, Jesus, man, did you have a rough day? And he said, Nah, I just uh went clipless for the first time.

Host - Dane Higgins: 0:42

It's true. I I I think I've told my story about why I got I got out of clips. No. So I stopped racing cross country and uh I I think I've said this story, so I apologize if people have heard this, but I was riding uh the steep terrain up in the mountains on my stupid light hardtail with like practically bald tires, so they would be light. It was a 19-pound.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:05

This is like circa 1920 or something like that?

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:07

Yeah, super old. It was it was penny farthing. No, um it's like 19 pound hardtail, and I'm clipped in and I'm climbing this we call it the shoots, um, but it's this upper 50 climb, and I spun out and uh my tire slipped and I couldn't unclip and I just kinda tilted over and sat in a prickly pear cactus. And I was just like looking at my life and how it sucks, and I've got to ride the rest of this trail out with all these thorns on my butt, and I'm like, I'm not racing. I'm not why do I why am I clipped in? You know, I'm a downhiller, like I I'm I'm going to flats, and that was it. I that was my last was that before everybody went to flats, before it was cool to go to flats? Way before. And uh the only I the only time I rode flats or uh clips after that was on my road bike, and even now, because of my knees, I switched to flats on my road bikes.

Host - Josh Anderson: 2:02

Oh, interesting. So yeah, that'd be an unusual thing. Well, it is uh January 1st. Happy New Year. Yeah, happy new year, yeah. Merry Christmas. I haven't seen you in a few weeks.

Host - Dane Higgins: 2:10

I haven't seen you since last year.

Host - Josh Anderson: 2:13

That was yesterday. That's awesome. Um, anyways, we thought we'd do something a little bit different, but kind of the same. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's the same, but yeah, I'm still that's what Seth always says in his his Oh, the the his bike X. Yeah, he always says that. Um so yeah, a little kudos to Seth.

Host - Dane Higgins: 2:33

I would like to do something like him where we just carve up a bike and re weld it together and then ride it, and then everybody gives us money.

Host - Josh Anderson: 2:40

That sounds good, dude. It sounds like a fun project. Let's do it. So anyways, we um uh recording a doubleheader tonight. It's uh Thursday night, January 1st, 2026. Um and I think when when the new year starts, a lot of people, like everybody always has like, hey, I've got like, you know, I'm gonna new me, I'm gonna get in shape, I'm gonna not be fat anymore, I'm gonna really exercise this year, all that kind of stuff. And so we thought it might be cool Um to kind of give some perspective, some thoughts to new riders, new mountain bikers who uh are get the inkling to mountain bike. I mean, mountain biking is is amazing.

Host - Dane Higgins: 3:26

We sell a lot of Christmas bikes, yeah. And so the the new people getting getting bikes, you know, like for Christmas or whatever. Right.

Host - Josh Anderson: 3:34

So yeah. So so this episode is is kind of like getting started in mountain biking. And uh we would kind of take you through a whole bunch of different um perspectives. Like first we'll start with the bike, uh, the type of clothes or protective gear that you might want to wear, the tools that you need to have at home, what you should bring on your ride, the trails that you would uh or how to find trails, uh, how to learn to ride and some basic bike maintenance. So a real kind of mountain biking 101 episode uh for new riders. And my kind of my vision for this is like when you and I run into people that want to get into mountain biking, we can be like, hey, go check out episode 118.

Host - Dane Higgins: 4:13

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson: 4:13

Um, and I was just thinking it's a good place to start.

Host - Dane Higgins: 4:16

The people probably listening to this already know all this stuff.

Host - Josh Anderson: 4:19

Yeah, probably don't need any of this, but this would be fun to share with somebody who's getting started. Yeah, so it's a tool for you guys. So, so listen to it. Um, let us know for those of you, most of you, I guess, are probably established mountain bikers. Um, let us know if you agree or disagree with the things that we recommend here.

Host - Dane Higgins: 4:36

Yeah, or if you have like things that came up, you know, like something you know, that that came up.

Host - Josh Anderson: 4:40

Yeah, like a good a good recommendation that we missed or whatever. Yeah, um, that'd be cool. But then also this is a this this episode can be a tool for you, for our listeners, to use to help educate new folks as they come in. That's that's one of our missions, too, is to get more people on bikes. On bikes. So this episode, we'll see how it goes. Um, we're gonna try to keep it simple, simple, simple. Um, we're not gonna try to dive into like nuanced rabbit holes because we want to keep this speaking of rabbit holes. Here he goes.

Host - Dane Higgins: 5:10

I'm just kidding. I actually have a whole story for that if we could go into the rabbit holes, and and I have a rabbit hole about a rabbit hole, but I'm not gonna go there.

Host - Josh Anderson: 5:22

Okay. All right, so we thought we'd start with the bike. Um, and so you decide, hey, I want to be a mountain biker, I think I want to try it out, I need to get a bike, and so holy shit, that's a that's a big topic. Yeah, so we want to try to kind of just cover some real basic stuff and start with um sizing, and I think Dane's got like a public service announcement about sizes before I go into some generic things here, but yeah, so uh sizes have been coming up a lot.

Host - Dane Higgins: 5:50

We've been talking in the shop and just in the industry about sizes. Sizes are tricky because uh you can get away with a lot. So uh because we have fitting in the shop, the amount of people that buy a used bike and then come in to get a fit, which is what they should do, uh, then find out it's the wrong size. Yeah. And they're kind of you know, in they you know, it it's it's tough because you can still ride that bike. You know, I just had a guy in yesterday with this beautiful tie bike, and it was obviously too big. And I told him, the bike's too big. I know he's not gonna give up on the bike. He wants the bike. I said, just you you just need a little bit shorter stem, maybe a non-offset seat post. Just get it fit as good as possible and keep riding it. And um, there's nothing wrong with that. I think your first bike doesn't have to fit like a glove, and I think your first bike isn't gonna be your last bike.

Host - Josh Anderson: 6:38

Yeah. So hopefully. So that brings up a couple good things. First, is I think maybe our first recommendation is like get some help.

Host - Dane Higgins: 6:45

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson: 6:46

Um, get some help with all of this, right?

Host - Dane Higgins: 6:48

Well, this is where our listeners could come in because they can be the expert, they can be the one that that helps the people kind of wade through a bunch of the BS. I mean, one thing, you know, pitfall that happens a lot is people go to Walmart. And yeah, you know, a Walmart bike can actually work for some people, but in a lot of cases, uh not every case, but a lot of cases, department store bikes will size them by the wheel size. Yeah. And then if the person is appropriate for that size and that wheel, that's great. But if they're any taller, it's just like a like a circus bike.

Host - Josh Anderson: 7:20

You get a bad bad fitting bike. I yeah, I think for the purposes of this, we're gonna recommend bike shop quality bikes versus uh department store or Walmart bikes. Yeah, um, but get a friend. Another great place is to go to a shop. Yes. Into a bike shop uh in your local town, and they will help you get go through all these things. But let's I'm just gonna give some kind of generic so so I got a disclaimer too for that.

Host - Dane Higgins: 7:42

Go ahead. Um, the one thing that I would say that when you do use your local bike shop, build a relationship, also um just value their time. Uh sometimes people will go in, use them as a resource, and then not purchase from them. And that can be a no-no. And that's one of those things that you just have to be respectful about.

Host - Josh Anderson: 8:02

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins: 8:03

And uh those people are getting paid and they have to get paid and they need their their time to make money so that they can put food on their tables. Obviously, that's me, so I'm kind of talking personally.

Host - Josh Anderson: 8:13

Um, but but if you're using them as a resource, you should you should buy the bike from them as well.

Host - Dane Higgins: 8:17

Well, or buy the products from it. And if you don't, you know, because we have this happen, if you don't, you know, be upfront about what you're trying to do and then use them for whatever possibility that you can, you know. But just remember their time is worth something. Yeah, it is, and their resource is worth something, and that's an investment for you because if you keep riding, they're really gonna be there for you.

Host - Josh Anderson: 8:39

So get a shop that you like, um, get a friend that's a mountain biker uh that can help you through this. But let's we're talking about the bike, let's start with sizing. Um, and so I'm just gonna go by height, and I think the nuance here is that every single bike brand is is different, is unique. This isn't like uh a rule that works for everything. This is just kind of like general kind of guidance. Yeah. If you're pretty short, you know, five foot, five four, extra small frame.

Host - Dane Higgins: 9:09

Yeah, yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson: 9:10

Uh a little taller, five four to five eight, you can get away with a small frame, uh five eight to six foot medium frame, six foot to six two large frame, and six two and above extra large frame.

Host - Dane Higgins: 9:25

Yeah, and there's a lot of crossover there. Tons. Uh if you're six foot and you get an extra large um, I'm sorry, if you're six foot and you get a medium, or if you're six foot, you can get a large. Yeah. You can be in between. Yep.

Host - Josh Anderson: 9:38

So yep, yep, yep. Uh okay, so that's kind of sizing. Uh and and again, your friend or your bike shop can help you, but that'll kind of give you a feel for um different sizes. From a brand perspective, again, we're gonna recommend um that you stick with uh a bike shop quality bike, not a department store bike. There's a lot of reasons why we would recommend that. Um uh just the quality of the products that are in bike shops, it's just a different level. From a safety perspective as well, from a maintainability perspective as well. Um, all these things is why we would recommend like a bike shop quality bike.

Host - Dane Higgins: 10:16

The the assembly process in a bike shop is very different than a department store. Yeah. And if you go to a sporting goods store, like a big box sporting goods store, it's very common that sometimes they'll have a stock person put together their bike. Walmarts, you know, that type of business that's not a sporting goods, it's really trying to do everything, it's even less specialty. Yeah. And uh, you know, these are the ones where you see those pictures where the forks are on backwards and and nothing's tight. And those bikes will not last you. If you take a cheap bike and actually build it correctly, it will live a much longer life than one that's not. And then the bike shops also usually have a minimum of quality level that they'll deal with. So right, right.

Host - Josh Anderson: 11:00

So we got a handful of brands here, and we could argue for fucking ever. Yeah. I mean, maybe I'll take out the F in this in this episode, but we'll we'll argue forever about the brands. But I've just picked out five brands here, yeah, and we can debate this. But um five big uh bike shop quality bike brands, Trek uh bicycles, uh giant bicycles, specialized bicycles, Norco bicycles, and Rocky Mountain bicycles all seem to have good kind of entry-level quality, not super expensive bikes that are good to start with. And there's and there's other ones out there, but those are just off the top of our heads. Yeah, so yeah, for sure. Um, another thing we'd want to say is uh we we would recommend that you avoid the direct-to-consumer for the first bike because I think you need that help. You need that shop or you need a friend, so you know, someone to help you, mostly the shop to help you, you know, work through getting into the sport.

Host - Dane Higgins: 11:54

Yeah, um the direct-to-consumer uh really relies on giving you all the info themselves to you. The problem is they don't give you any advice on what's wrong with their product because that's not what their marketing department's gonna do. And a bike shop will actually do that. The bike shops will give you advice, even though they're selling that product, they'll tell you why you may or may not want that product. And that's one of those filters that's really nice that they provide.

Host - Josh Anderson: 12:19

All right. So when it comes to mountain bikes, you have kind of two main different categories to select from. You can get a hardtail, and that essentially means that you have no suspension on the back of the bike and you have a suspension fork on the front, so they call that a hardtail, or you can get a full suspension bike that has suspension both on the back and the front of the bike. Um, from a pricing perspective, uh, for new, you're talking about for kind of what like the level that we would recommend for entry level for hardtail, it's like $1,500 to $2,000. For full suspension, $3,000. Dane, what do you think about those numbers?

Host - Dane Higgins: 12:58

I th I we've got a couple hardtails that we have been selling. Um so our shop does a lot of boutique stuff, higher end. Yeah. And so it's very that's spot on for nice hot boutique y stuff. Um, Trek does a great job in our shop because they cover they're they make really nice bikes, but they also cover all the way down to the low end. And I just sold a Trek Marlin for I think it was like six or seven hundred bucks. Oh, six, seven. Um so uh sorry, it comes up all the time. Anyway, uh so uh a good hard tail. Um now it's funny that that that person is buying that Marlin. They came into the shop, they had already purchased a different bike from a big box sporting good. Uh um, they bought the house brand at the big box sporting goods uh place. Sounds like an REI. I I don't know. I'm not naming it, not naming any names, but that company had said, hey, we're out of it and you can't get it. And so he he was actually looking for himself, right? But this bike was meant for his son. Um we actually I pulled up in uh and this is where a bike shop can help, you know, and I didn't intend on actually selling him a bike, honestly. I I was just trying to help a guy out, help another father out near Christmas, you know, get a bike. Yep. And um I pulled up uh on our computer that bike that he was looking at, and then I pulled up a Norco that we do sell, right? And then I pulled up a trek, and then I just went over the parts with him and told him which ones were better, and the trek blew away both of them, and then his son really loved the the color. And so funny. Yeah, and so it ticked all the boxes and it was the same price. So he didn't he didn't pay extra. He he we did have to order it to get the right size. Um, but that was a a clear case where somebody went to this big box place thinking that they would get a better deal than a bike shop, then went to a bike shop, got a lot more help, and actually did not spend more or have any problems.

Host - Josh Anderson: 14:57

So that's great. So so so what you're saying is I overshot the pricing a little bit. So on the hardtails on the hardtails, yeah. Like a decent entry-level hard tail, you sub thousand dollars.

Host - Dane Higgins: 15:08

Yeah, I think sub thousand is solid. Like I prefer to see a name brand suspension fork on the front. Right. Because I I feel like if if you want to grow into biking and not feel like that thing's kind of an anchor, that's probably the the minimum. And those are right around a thousand. Right. So with a either a rock shock or Marzoki or some some name brand uh fork on it.

Host - Josh Anderson: 15:28

And the good thing about uh like an entry-level hardtail is that for the most part you can upgrade it, yeah. So you can spend a little bit of money, the frame will be good, and then if you want to put a better fork on or better components or better wheels or whatever, you can do that as you grow with the sport.

Host - Dane Higgins: 15:45

Yeah, and our experts listening that are talking to their friends about this stuff, they want to kind of help their friends understand the possibilities. Yeah, because if you're not gonna upgrade, and I tell people this in the shop all the time, if you're not gonna upgrade and you're just counting on just getting a different bike, you know, hey, uh if I like this, I'm just gonna bail on this bike and get a different bike, that's fine too. Uh, then you can go a little bit lower price and kind of just see if you like it. Um, if you're planning on upgrading, you kind of want to spend more because you want to make sure that you are getting the better frame and a couple features. Uh, I'll give you an example I use in the shop all the time. Front um cranks, cranks on a bike. Yep. If they're stamped steel and riveted together, and you have to change the crank out when the then when the gear wears out, when the chain ring wears out, that that costs a lot more than just a chain ring. And so if your next model up, you know, with a little bit better parts on it, costs more, but has that interchangeability, it's much more upgradable.

Host - Josh Anderson: 16:46

And the and that if you think about like in my strategy job, we talk about like total total cost of ownership. Yes. Which is not just the original purchase price, it's everything. Yeah, you look at the total cost of ownership of the bike. If you would if you think, hey, I might want to upgrade this, if you spend an extra 50 bucks or 100 bucks and you get it so that it's easier to upgrade, it actually can be cheaper in the long run. Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins: 17:06

Could you imagine going to a direct consumer website and trying to figure that out? Like you can't, right? You just you can't figure that out. But if you do go to a bike shop, you'll get that help.

Host - Josh Anderson: 17:18

You get the help, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Okay. Um, and then what do you so so on the uh so I had estimated around 3,000 for full suspension. Am I high there as well?

Host - Dane Higgins: 17:27

Yeah, I so we have a Norco in the shop. I think it's on sale, um, but it's like $1,800 and it's a nice bike. And um, so I want to say it's around two. So I think $2,000. Right. And that has a rock shock suspension on it and hydraulic dis brakes, and it's one by and it's a good pedaling platform, uh, suspension-wise. So I think there's definitely full suspensions that are around two maybe even cheaper that you can see.

Host - Josh Anderson: 17:55

So sub thousand for for hardtails and two thousand roughly for entry-level full suspension. Yeah. And again, you'll want to get these bikes with the help of an expert, either a friend that's really knowledgeable or the bike shop itself, because because because if especially when you're spending lower money, there are some a lot of really bad options out there as well.

Host - Dane Higgins: 18:15

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's it'll be hard to find them at the bike shop because they do filter and kind of you know run defense against some of the crap stuff out there. Because if you buy crap from them and then it goes bad, you go back to you're not gonna get the crap from a bike shop, is my point. Yeah, yeah. But if you go to Walmart and you know, I should I I should not protect the other guys and then keep calling out Walmart because Walmart has has a couple bikes that people are talking about.

Host - Josh Anderson: 18:42

But yeah, Ozark Ozark Trail.

Host - Dane Higgins: 18:44

The Ozark Trails, yeah. They're they're not, you know, when you put that cost of ownership, that overall cost of ownership, they're not that great a deal. But initially on paper, it like looks good. This looks good, yeah. And so um there's little nuances. The problem is when you go into Walmart, nobody's there to help you run interference or really help you get your need to to be their goal. And they just you just go up to a rack full of bikes and you pick one, you know. So I'm gonna keep going down this path.

Host - Josh Anderson: 19:14

Okay, we're talking about new bikes. Yeah. Before we leave the bike topic, let's come back and we'll talk about used bikes, but let's stick on we'll stick on new for now. Okay. Okay. Um, material. I think for an entry level, an aluminum or an alloy frame is fine. You don't need to go with carbon fiber, that adds cost. What do you think about that?

Host - Dane Higgins: 19:33

I think that's accurate. Um, I think steel is uh an option if you're in the higher end, because this the higher end steels really ride great. They're made well, they're they're lighter uh than uh low end steel. But aluminum, um, they're not all created equal. So there's aluminum that's kind of heavy. Uh, but in general, it's harder to mess up aluminum. So and uh I would say you get the stiffness, which is power transfer. And whereas uh with steel, you may just be bending a lot of stuff if it's a low low caliber one.

Host - Josh Anderson: 20:05

Yes, okay. So aluminum. Yeah. And then uh pedals. I was gonna recommend, and we we you told the story earlier about clipless, and we had a joke about clipless, but yeah, for for new riders, I recommend you start with flats.

Host - Dane Higgins: 20:17

Yeah, yeah, it's just simpler. You're you're not learning the bike and how to clip in. And there's gonna be a lot of our um listeners that are experts that will tell their friends to get clips right off because it's better, it's better uh power transfer, it's more efficient, you're more secure. Just kind of stow that for a second and think about the person just starting and how low cost it is to put some flats on there if they don't come with them. And um, that's a bike shop secret, by the way. A lot of bikes don't come with pedals. Uh, just a lot of people aren't ready for that sometimes. So um you have to pick them and you don't have to go crazy, but it would be nice to get the poly, the nice poly pedals. Yeah. Uh they're around 50 bucks. Um, if if it came with plastic ones, you can ride them a little bit, but they're not gonna last, and definitely don't be doing any jumps or drops or anything with those. Yeah, so very cool.

Host - Josh Anderson: 21:09

All right, so so start with flat pedals, and that's just like a normal bicycle pedal that you probably have seen people you know riding. The the alternate to that are pedals that your your feet actually wear special shoes and your feet actually clip into the pedals and or the old school, the toe cage, toe cages, yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins: 21:25

Which which we don't see too much, but they could, you know, they could show up. Um we've sold them before. So very cool.

Host - Josh Anderson: 21:31

All right. Uh next thing I was gonna talk about is wheel size. So pretty much the industry standard wheel size for mountain bikes right now is a 29-inch wheel. That's the diameter of the wheel. Yeah. Um, there's also another option that's 27.5. And I'd say just to keep it really simple, for most riders, 29ers probably the best way to go for uh really short riders, like those people that are in extra small, maybe small frames, 27.5 might be an option. There is we don't want to get too nuanced, but there is something called a mullet bike that's got a 29 up front and a 27.5 in the back. But what do you think that how do you feel about that? Is that feel right?

Host - Dane Higgins: 22:10

It's it's tough that no answer will satisfy everybody, you know. Uh, because I know guys that are on extra large uh 27.5s, and I know uh tiny, tiny people on 29s, and it really kind of you can't go wrong with either one, they'll have their little nuances, like you said, and it's really gonna be are you a truck person or a car person? You know, it just depends on who you are. And um I think logically uh tying them to your size makes sense, but it doesn't work. I I I wish that worked that way, but it doesn't. Bike industry is not logic. So uh it is so what so what would you recommend to a new rider? Just 29er for everybody? Uh just to keep it simple. Well, so again, your your example of of height comes in. So if you're really small, 27s are probably gonna be easier for you to get used to right away.

Host - Josh Anderson: 23:00

Yep.

Host - Dane Higgins: 23:00

Um what people don't like about 27 is when there's not a real uh windy trail, or you're not looking for the wheel to be significantly stronger, and you're not looking for particular aspects of the bike, the 29 is one rotation of that wheel will go farther than the 27. And as soon as that gets cemented in your head, you always feel like the 27.5 is not gonna be as fast. And so, um, but the people that ride 27.5 will totally disagree and say, I can go around corners better, I have a stronger wheel, I can do a lot of things. So you can't go wrong with either one. If you find a, you know, like we're we're gonna talk to you about used bikes soon. Yep. And if you have a choice, um again, asking your friend, your expert who may be listening right now, or uh going to that bike shop and and getting an opinion, because it may be trail specific. If the trails around your area are really smooth and flowy, I would say try and get on a 29 if you can fit one. Um if you're in square edge uh bumps, the 29 is a little smoother. So but if you're in really tight uh trails or you want a really playful feel, or you're at bike parks, 275s have stronger wheels and usually shorter wheel bases, so they're more maneuverable.

Host - Josh Anderson: 24:19

Okay.

Host - Dane Higgins: 24:19

Very cool.

Host - Josh Anderson: 24:20

All right, and then uh the I think the final thing here, and then we'll talk about used bikes, is like you have to decide how much travel you want. Yeah, yeah, whether it's up front or in the back. And and so I would say that this is a very, very, very nuanced topic. Yeah, lots of different options. Just like the wheel subject. Just like the wheel subject. There's tons of different options, but I think for my gut is for a generic trail bike, yeah, just trail bike that you would ride on trails, yeah, without getting super specific, like about 140 millimeters feels right for the amount of travel.

Host - Dane Higgins: 24:53

Yeah, I'd say 120 to 140. Calling it a trail bike is probably better than anything. Yep. Because uh the old trail bikes and the new trail bikes have similar travel. Okay. Uh so I think uh if you go for a lightweight cross-country bike, you're gonna get into a category where the bike is specialty. And if you're gonna go into an Enduro or free ride or a bigger hit bike, it's specialty. Whereas the trail is meant to kind of do everything.

Host - Josh Anderson: 25:18

Yep. So do everything bike. Okay. So we talked about sizes, we talked about some brands, Trek Giant, specialized noracle, Rocky Mountain. You gotta maybe we didn't um we need to we need to cover before we move on to this, we need to cover use. We will, we'll get there. Yeah, but uh we we talked about the pricing on hardtail versus full suspension. Yeah, but I don't think we talked about anything other than the pricing. So like oh yeah, that's a good call. So like why why get a hard tail, why get a full suspension?

Host - Dane Higgins: 25:46

Maybe you can help expand on that. What I usually tell people is uh in general, a hardtail will be less money. Uh if you had all the same parts, uh in most cases the hardtail will be less money. Um again, the type of terrain, how you're gonna ride it, um, usually the hardtails are a high value. Um when we're dealing with kids, okay, so one of the demographic that's getting into bikes would be a kid, uh, somebody who's starting to ride for the first time. Yep. Kids are a little more rubbery, they don't need as as heavy a bike, so the hardtails are genuinely uh a little bit lighter. And um if the kid is gonna get into any kind of competitive, like now you can get into racing in your middle school and high school. Yep. And so if that becomes the case, the hardtail is actually an advantage in for most cases. Um I'm old, so I think some people may know that. Um all they have to do is look at you, bro. Um I creak when I walk, and so I often will tell people, look, I if for the terrain that we're in, which is really rock, rough, rocky, square edge, harsh terrain, I like a full suspension because it takes I I take less of a beating and the bike is smoother. I'll put up with a little bit more weight, and if I can focus on a bike that's pretty efficient, I can get a smoother ride and I'll feel more likely to ride the next day, whereas a hard tail beats me up. Yep. And so that's one reason to pick a full suspension. Yeah. And then depending on your terrain or how you want to grow, you know, the this is something that people have to think about is how they want to grow. If if what appeals to them, like if you like this, you know, what are you gonna get into? Right. You know, and if you're gonna get into if you're really into like running and if you're really into swimming and stuff like that, you may be a racer type mentality, and that's gonna be kind of push you towards the hardtail a little bit. Right. But if you ex moto guy or ex BMX girl or somebody who's who's like likes adrenaline when they're doing things, you know, maybe maybe he's a skydiver or whatever. Um, you may want to go towards the full suspensions because they get opened up on rougher terrain and create a little bit more adrenaline. So so that's how you grow into the bike.

Host - Josh Anderson: 27:59

All right, let's talk about used. So so we talked about new. Um I'd say same thing. A lot of bikes, your your shop and a lot of shops do consignment, so you can get used at a sh at a consignment. But there's Facebook Marketplace, there's Craigslist, there's you know, all kinds of uh there's bike swaps, there's you know, whatever options to buy used bikes. Um I'd say all those same rules apply. Get a friend.

Host - Dane Higgins: 28:24

Yep. Right? Yeah, that if you don't know, so I would say the the biggest advice that I give to people all the time is if you know what to look for, a used bike is a really good value. Uh there's a lot of people that are constantly moving to the latest and greatest. They're kind of moving out of their bike, not because it was worn out or anything, but because they're just they like the new stuff and they're into this hobby so much that they really like that, or they're competitive. Um also when I was coming up, uh, I would buy, I would get to know some of the pros in town, and I would buy their old stuff because they got new stuff from the company. Right. And so I knew one season of a pro, yeah, it they worked it over pretty good. But it's still a good bike. It was pretty good, yeah. And so um, so you can get some really good deals. But if you don't know what you're looking for, you can really get yourself in trouble. Get yourself in trouble.

Host - Josh Anderson: 29:16

I cannot tell you how many people I have helped like rebuild a bike because they bought something used because it was a great deal, and it was just not at all. Yeah, I've got a buddy who bought his wife a 27.5 like Enduro bike. Yeah, she's riding like cross-country stuff. Yep, yeah, and it had big, fat, giant tires on it with huge knobs, and we had to go through and kind of you know, cross-country out that big enduro bike as much as we could, and it's not the right bike for what she rides, right? But he got a good deal on it, right?

Host - Dane Higgins: 29:46

I have my uh one of my downhill bikes, one of the most winning downhill bikes I've ever had on up for sale right now, and somebody contacted me about it. And his first question is like, you know, yeah, you know, uh, is it in good shape? And uh, yeah, and and uh then he's like, Yeah, well, um I want to come take a look at it. And I'm like, uh, so where are you planning on riding? He's like, Oh, well, I was thinking, you know, Star Pass, which is in our town for that bike, it's a very rocky, so the suspension's great. But um, he didn't not he did not understand that what a downhill bike was, and it's not something that you pedal. This has got a tiny little cluster of gears, you can't pedal it very hard, it needs gravity, and the geometry, that's the other thing, is the angles that the bike has are built for a certain um uh if you if type of riding. Yeah, but if you picture the bike on level ground um as a pyramid, I tell people all this time. So picture a pyramid sitting on level ground and the tip of that pyramid is centered over the two other tips which are near the ground, and that's your center of gravity. A downhill bike is designed to put that tip at the top centered more towards the rear one, uh, so that when you hit something with the front, you don't flip over.

Host - Josh Anderson: 31:00

Right.

Host - Dane Higgins: 31:00

And a cross-country bike is that same period pyramid the other way around where the tip of the top is much closer to the front so that you can climb faster. And that little visual helps people kind of understand that not every bike can do the same thing. Because if you swap those duties, they don't do very well.

Host - Josh Anderson: 31:19

Right.

Host - Dane Higgins: 31:19

So, and uh, and so it you know, when you're getting a used bike, knowing what it's appropriate for, and then we were talking off-air about years, you know, and what years are appropriate. Yeah, and that's tricky too, because there are some times where there's been big changes, you know.

Host - Josh Anderson: 31:36

For sure.

Host - Dane Higgins: 31:36

Uh going from rim brakes to disc brakes is a big one. Uh, we were talking about geometry, like 2020 really saw kind of a solidification of a good geometry. Before that, you have some that are good and some that aren't, and some that are totally doable, um, but then some that were really horrible. So and uh and so it's harder to identify the best ones.

Host - Josh Anderson: 32:00

Yeah, I mean the the advice I know that you don't totally agree with this, but the advice that I give uh anybody that's looked that's if they come to me as an expert and they say, hey, I'm looking for a mountain bike, an entry-level mountain bike, I my advice to them is always if you're gonna buy something used, buy 2020 or newer from one of the from a main main, you know, major uh bike shop quality brand, like one of the five that we talked about, right? Um and the reason why I say newer 2020 or newer is because the the bike I think mountain bikes went through lots and lots of gyrations on geometry, and I think somewhere around 2019, 2020, they kind of nailed it, and there's very few bikes that have come out after 2020 that are garbage from a geometry perspective. They pretty much have it figured out.

Host - Dane Higgins: 32:47

I I'll I'll give you an example. Um Rocky Mountain is a brand that we've sold forever. Yep. One of my favorite bikes ever is a 2020 Altitude, and it's a 29er. And I had the uh Slayer before that, which was a 27-5. Um, but one of my good friends, Luke, rides a 20. Ooh, I may get this year wrong. Uh 17 or 18. I can't remember what year. Um Instinct BC, which is basically the one right before mine. Right. It's 29 inch, longer travel than an instinct, and uh 160 in the front and 150 or 155 in the back. Uh-huh. And my bike is 170 in the front and one sixty-five in the back. And um they are both amazing bikes. And they're two different big big ear jumps, and they're actually two different bikes. Right. But uh, your um uh Scanders bike is an older one, like uh Luke's BC. Yep. And so it's totally usable. I've been I've seen some specialized cambers that just are like endo machines, like the geometry was just so goofy and the steer tubes are so steep that anything technical you would flip over the bars. Right. And ironically, that same bike, the camber, used to be a long travel and then they turn into a small travel. So depending on the year, you don't even know which one you're getting, unless you really know. And so so that's the that's kind of the trickiness, uh, and that's where used can be really good because you can pick up a used bike at a really good value. Right. If we skip past like the actual bike itself and just the parts, uh so if you're looking at used, you really need to pay attention to the wear. Right. Um, there's certain things that you may want to like tick off boxes. Like everybody now is starting to get droppers on their bikes. And so if it has a dropper, great. You know, uh if it's full suspension, I tell people this all the time if it's full suspension and you're buying it, use and granted I'm biased because I do suspension for a living, but you probably want to get the suspension serviced. And that's because we approach suspension like an oil change in your car. And if you buy a used car, I would give you the same advice. Go get the oil changed, just do it. Like if the guy told you he did it, great, but just have the peace of mind and set that odometer to zero.

Host - Josh Anderson: 35:18

You know, yep. Um and and it and you're looking at a hundred and fifty dollars to service roughly, right?

Host - Dane Higgins: 35:24

Yeah, depending on what you need, and and and so um you want to factor that in too. Yeah, because let's say you're finding uh an older bike, it's aluminum, and it's fifteen hundred and it was three thousand and it's a twenty seventeen, uh right? Yep. Um and you know, fifteen hundred bucks, but the tires are worn, the drivetrain has half its life, and you should get the suspension serviced, you know.

Host - Josh Anderson: 35:51

So you're talking about like a thousand dollars of well or seven hundred and fifty anyways, even to replace the tires and drivetrain and uh even if it was five hundred, yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins: 36:00

You're now at two thousand. Yeah. And so now you got to look at that bike that we may have at two thousand that's brand new, now it has a warranty. Yep. Uh if there's a crack in it, it'll be taken care of, and everything's new, so you have full life in it. So that's where it gets a little tricky. Yep. So get that friend to help you.

Host - Josh Anderson: 36:17

Yeah. All right. So if we move past the bike. Okay. Um, the next thing I want to talk about is like what do you wear when you ride? And it's hopefully clothes. Clothes, right? So, but what type of clothes? So, first and foremost, I think a hundred percent if you're mountain biking, you're you know, you're in the woods, you're on trails, you need to be safe. I think a helmet is like a must-have.

Host - Dane Higgins: 36:41

Um yeah, uh sometimes it's required, depending on age. Yep. But yeah, if you're not wearing a helmet, man, there's been times when I forgot my helmet and I did a ride without my helmet on. And uh you feel naked to it totally now. You know, I when I was younger, I used to drive around without a seatbelt on. Yeah. You know, uh at some point you're just come close to death, I think, and you're just like, all right, I'm gonna try and be safe. But but yeah, helmet is is you there's so many things that can just happen and you just so quick and you don't even know, and it has nothing to do with your skill level. So it can just be circumstances.

Host - Josh Anderson: 37:20

And in your bike shop will have uh all types of uh helmet options. From a pricing perspective, I was kind of looking at the pricing and it it kind of felt to me that like the entry levels were like sub-50, the mid-levels were like sub-100, and then the high end was like sub-200. Does that feel about right?

Host - Dane Higgins: 37:37

Yeah, that's about nailed on. The little secret of that is that that $50 helmet and the $200 helmet all meet the minimum safety requirements, all have the same safety ratings, but they minimum safety requirements. Minimum safety requirements. The 200 may go beyond that, or the 200 may have a bunch of holes and be way lighter and way more ventilated and have the same strength. Yeah. And so when you think about you know how much it go it takes to make something that has less material just as strong. Yep. So uh that's because people say that all the time. Like, I'm just getting more venting, you know. Yeah, I I'm getting less material and I'm paying more. And I'm like, nah, you're paying an engineer to figure out how to keep your head safe with less material.

Host - Josh Anderson: 38:19

And some of the like the kind of main main come main main brand helmet brands like Bell, Gyro, what else would you say? Specialized, pop. Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins: 38:30

Um I the ones we carry are M E T, Laser, um Laser's a Shimano product. Yep, yeah, yeah. And laser is the oldest helmet manufacturer in the world.

Host - Josh Anderson: 38:39

Okay.

Host - Dane Higgins: 38:40

Isn't that crazy? Yeah. Um, so but um, you know, again, I this is where I would definitely say even if you bought your bike at Walmart, don't buy your helmet there. Yep. And again, I'm sorry, Walt Waltons. You know, I don't mean to call you out. It's just that keep doing it. Yeah, it's there, they are trying to get you the cheapest possible version. Don't skimp on your head. You know, there's nothing wrong with getting a good helmet. You don't have to buy the $200 one, um, be more of a slave to fit, and then get it from a good source. So uh that comes to like buying online. So it's very easy for people to buy a helmet online. It's much harder to buy a bike. Yep. Um when you're buying something online, especially safety equipment, be really careful. Like I there's a lot of fakes, there's a lot of things that don't have the same uh, you know, uh, I guess regulations on how they're built. And uh so be really careful, and they can come through the same channels that you're getting all your other stuff, and you may not you may trust the channel, but the person making that helmet may not be the the best place.

Host - Josh Anderson: 39:47

So would it be a safe recommendation? We've talked about this on the podcast before, but I I think I I always recommend don't ever buy a used helmet.

Host - Dane Higgins: 39:54

Yeah, that's yeah, I I think that's safe. I think if you know the person and the circumstance, it's You know, uh it's sometimes it's unavoidable. People will do it because they just save they're wanting to save money. The the uh helmets are are in most cases styrofoam and they're a crush material. When they take an impact, they weaken. And so even if you can't outwardly see the impact, it could already be weakened. And then if you take an impact with that weakened helmet, you may not have the same level of a protection. You you may get more damage to you than than if you hadn't. And so if you're talking 50 bucks, like you know, the biggest one that drives me nuts is when the parents won't spend the money. And um, I'm sorry if I'm calling out any parents that have done this, but if you go into a shop and you're only you're griping that the helmet is 40 or 50 bucks and not 20 for your kid, ah yeah. I mean, trust me, kids do stupid stuff, they need good helmets.

Host - Josh Anderson: 40:50

So uh don't buy a used one. 50 bucks for entry level. Yeah, all right. The next um thing I thought was shoes, and is just to go along with, we had recommended that you start on flat pedals, and so bare minimum, you can just wear some tennis shoes, right?

Host - Dane Higgins: 41:03

Yeah, yeah. There's as you move up in the shoe, like you get performance features, but ultimately you can just roll out in your new balance uh or your your Adidas or your sketchers or whatever.

Host - Josh Anderson: 41:16

Would help to have a flatter bottom. Yes, right, yeah. So t actual tennis shoes, basketball type shoes, um skate shoes work really well, actually. They have BMX shoes, like like vans or uh so there's there's probably three levels of performance.

Host - Dane Higgins: 41:32

So the first one, when you move to that flat sole, they interface with the pedal butter. And then hopefully you get a quality pedal. In most cases, you want to get uh metal uh pegs or spikes on it. Excuse me. Um and so the uh so that's the first thing is having something flat that sits well and so you can move your foot around, you know. Yep. As you get better, you want to increase your performance. A couple things happen. Um one, you can get some foot tingling and uh tender uh or um tingling foot and uh foot pain. And a lot of times when you switch from that skate shoe to a cycling shoe, they have a stiffer midsole, and the shoe itself will sit on the uh pedal and not bend around. Doesn't deform. Doesn't deform. Like a regular tennis shoe weight. Exactly. And so when that deformat uh deforming happens, it causes pressure points, it can cut off circulation, you can get hot foot, which is usually lack of circulation circulation. Um you can get tingling, you can get numbness, all kinds of stuff. And so the first thing that you advance as you ride more and more is you go to a cycling shoe that has a better midsole. We actually sell uh a cycling shoe with the rubber that is made to grip the pedal really well, and it's a casual shoe and it has a flexible um sole. Then the next level up goes to the pro. They they literally call it the pro, and it has a very stiff midsole, and so your power transfer is better, you don't get the tingly toe, you don't get that. And then the third level is when you actually start riding to a degree where you're doing bigger stuff on the bike. So and and two things happen on the shoe. One, you want that stiffer sole because if you don't have it, if the shoe flexes too much, you can actually flip your foot off of the pedal. Yep. And one, you can get shinned and it hurts. Uh yeah, it steel pegs into your shin does not feel good. Two, if you're coming off a drop or a jump or something, your foot can slip off. Um, and then the other thing that that third tier usually has, and this is like the the hardcore, and in one of the brands we carry, it's called Impact. It's actually got a not a steel toe, but their protected toe box. So if you hit a rock or something at a higher rate of stuff, or cactus. Well, yeah. I mean cactus can get through a lot of stuff, but but if you've ever tagged a toe, you know, it hurts and you can break a toe. And so these shoes are at the level where you're riding enough and riding fast enough to where that may happen, you want to protect.

Host - Josh Anderson: 44:11

Yeah. So you can ride with tennis shoes, flat shows is better, but to but but each level mountain bike specific shoe is gonna have a stiffer, you know, insole.

Host - Dane Higgins: 44:21

As you do more and more, you know, don't forget your shoes. Yeah, you know, it they make a difference.

Host - Josh Anderson: 44:26

Uh okay. Next I was gonna say if you're riding with shorts, um, they have all kinds of specific mountain biking stuff, but my recommendation is this that you ride with shorts that are not super baggy and that have some waist that ties, whether it's uh a belt or a built-in tie in there. Uh, and maybe that's because I'm a fat guy and I need that. So I got a I got a question.

Host - Dane Higgins: 44:47

Shoot chamis or no chamis?

Host - Josh Anderson: 44:50

I wasn't gonna recommend chamises because they seem to be out of style now.

Host - Dane Higgins: 44:53

I can't ride, I can't ride without them.

Host - Josh Anderson: 44:55

I don't ride with them. You don't? No.

Host - Dane Higgins: 44:58

Man, I feel like you'd be faster if you did.

Host - Josh Anderson: 45:01

Like chamois are like a padded diaper type underwear. Yeah. So yeah, so it can help. I here's what I would tell you. When you first start riding, your butt's gonna be sore. Yeah, it's gonna be really sore. Yeah, and then I promise you, after a month or two, you will get used to it and they won't be sore. Yeah. The chamois will definitely help accelerate or make it feel better. Yeah. So this is like a specific type of cycling shorts that has like built in either it's it's a lycro thing that it's like built, sewed right in, or it's got like a lycro thing sewed inside of it.

Host - Dane Higgins: 45:36

Yeah, like the line, it's either a liner or it's built into the short and doesn't come out. So uh then all the new shorts are a lot of companies are selling the shorts um as floating, which means that they're not sewn to the liner, which is uh like a spandexy, but it's super airy, so you don't get hot. And then um so my big thing with the chamois versus no chamois is two things. One, I don't wear briefs, and so the chamis help keep the boys out of the way. So I don't have I don't have you just lost like 13% of our listers, but keep going. I get that, so that's an issue. And and for that 13%, there are men and women specific because there is tender areas are in different places on men and women. Yep. Which is one of the things that you'll notice uh men and women have different saddles too that try and address those areas. Yep. And so when you're looking for comfort, so here's my quick rabbit hole story. I I had chamis that were like older than my kids and super old. I just hadn't changed them, but I was in the habit of always wearing them, and I always felt like they made it more comfortable. And then I don't know, one year I just bought like four new pairs, you know, and started riding them. I could ride longer, and I was not I did not realize how much discomfort I was getting from that old chamois that's crushed, the foam is gone, you know, like yeah it's not providing any padding. And now I was on this more padding, I was way more comfortable, and I was like, I remember one of the first days was um Rob from Sport RX. He and I went on a ride, and I felt so fresh after our ride. I wanted to go out and and keep riding, you know, and I couldn't figure out what was different. It was his sparkling personality, but um probably more Rob does have a sparkling personality, right? That was the wrong sound effect to use, but yes. But but I think it was just the new padding because I wasn't riding these worn-out shorts. So I would say a new rider will get more benefit out of that chamois short more than uh like me.

Host - Josh Anderson: 47:47

Yeah, than I I I wore them for years and years and years and have gone away from the shit. Your butt's already conditioned, so it's kind of like my butt's like old leather.

Host - Dane Higgins: 47:54

Yeah, it's like a gateway, it's like a gateway.

Host - Josh Anderson: 47:56

Okay, so you're saying shorts with chamis.

Host - Dane Higgins: 47:58

I think chamis. Now, here's the the we to we always do our shows on uh bike shop secrets. Here's one of those secrets. Chamis, um so we say chamois, just we should clarify. Shamis is what they oh in the olden days they were made of. Really what they are is padded shorts, and they're made usually specific men's and women's. The um one version that they make now is called a liner, and it is like a spandex, but don't wear it by itself because it's so airy you can see through it. So people will see your butt crack, and you don't want that. Uh but that can be put on and then not just the top of your crack either, the whole thing.

Host - Josh Anderson: 48:36

Yeah, yeah. I've ridden behind people like that and it sucks.

Host - Dane Higgins: 48:40

Um so um but truthfully, these liners are really cool because you can take a regular, like I just got some new shorts for Christmas. Uh-huh. Um they're I think they're golf shorts from Under Armour. And they're they're great. You know, you can put those over the top of those padded shorts. Those padded shorts, those those liners, and you can get the same result as if you buy a cycling specific. The cycling specific stuff will have a couple features that other shorts don't have, and I'll tell you what they are. Not so much the cinching, which you're saying is just keeping them up, but they will usually be cut higher in the back. So when you're bent over, you don't have the plumber's crack. So that's one of the biggest things. And then the second is usually a way to vent. So they'll usually have some sort of venting on the inside of the thighs that helps you cool. Okay. And so those are the two probably biggest things that you'll see in uh cycling shorts versus regular shorts. But a little hack is to run the liner under your regular shorts that you probably already have as a beginner. It's a low cost entry.

Host - Josh Anderson: 49:49

Okay, cool. And then pants, I think everything we just said is the same. Yeah. Same recommendation. There's one nuance to pants that I just want to make sure. Specifically on the right side of your body, on your right leg, yeah, you do not want to have baggy pants on your right leg because that can get actually caught and sucked into your gears.

Host - Dane Higgins: 50:09

Yep, yeah. Yeah, so I would say the there are three things. Um, like jeans, probably you see people with jeans on, but the the heavy, the heavy seams can cause pressure points, especially in your butt area. And then uh stretchy material is probably preferred. And then the like you said, the skinny, skinny jean cuffs, you know, so that they don't get into your or you can even take if you got baggy pants, that's all you got. You can even like tape them or they make little cool little reflective ones, like like the commuters use and stuff like that. It'll just keep them out of there.

Host - Josh Anderson: 50:41

So uh I had in here optional for gloves. Dane says gloves are not optional. It's the R terrain, you know. R terrain here. So I said for sure, if you're in rocky terrain, yeah, you should wear gloves because you at some point you're gonna crash, and it's it's the difference between having your hands all cut up in an awful shape and and your hands just a little bruised.

Host - Dane Higgins: 51:00

Yep, yeah, yeah. I mean, I've I've cut through gloves that I wonder what would have looked like. I uh it would have been a trip to the hospital if I didn't have gloves on. And the gloves, you know, I still got scarred up, but uh the gloves kept me from being filleted open or whatever because I'm landing hands first. Your hands usually go out, you know.

Host - Josh Anderson: 51:18

Yeah, it's interesting. You say I put them here as optional, but I I all I will not ride without gloves.

Host - Dane Higgins: 51:23

It's weird too, because your hands sweat. And so again, uh, you know, we talked about the shoes where you kind of have this first level where you just wrote you roll your Etnes or your Adidas or whatever, and then then as you ride more and you get as a better rider, you're gonna go to the next level. And then if you ride even more, you're gonna go the next level and get even even more specific. I think uh, you know, the the performance reason to get gloves is your hands sweat, and as you're riding harder and your hands get sweaty, you can slip your hands can slip. Slip off the bars, and that's that's bad. And so uh they'll help with that. But the crashing, I would say, is the safety part. Yep.

Host - Josh Anderson: 51:58

So and then you know, another thing on safety, and I think these are optional, is um knee pads and elbow pads. Yeah. If we if I ride I have them, I don't work, I don't wear them on every ride, but if I go somewhere that's like at the top of my skill set, uh, or I'm gonna be riding with Dane somewhere really super fast, I might throw my knee pads and elbow pads on just as an additional set of um uh you know safety protection. Yeah. If I'm if I'm on the edge of what I'm comfortable with.

Host - Dane Higgins: 52:26

Yeah, yeah. And sometimes um, so in our area it's hot most of the time. Uh we as a shop try and sh try and stock the pads that tend to be to make the most sense. Yep uh and since we don't have a chairlift near us, we we tend to have like really airy, uh easy fitting, uh, easy move mobility uh pads so that you don't feel like you've just got these these things that are just all kinds of pressure points and binding and and tight and just hard to move in. Uh those are fine when you're on like a gravity bike uh at a bike park because you're not pedaling to get up the mountain, you're using a chairlift. And so as you're coming down and careening, you're getting a thicker, stronger pad, and that's important. Uh when you're doing cross country, you look for the lighter ones. Yeah. So all right.

Host - Josh Anderson: 53:16

So we have uh a hand, we're already 53 minutes in.

Host - Dane Higgins: 53:19

I I felt like we were doing good, and then I started talking.

Host - Josh Anderson: 53:22

So we have a bunch of other topics, so we probably won't go too deep into each one of these topics, but we want to make sure we cover them. So the next one is like, okay, so you got a bike, you got your clothes, you need to have some tools at home. Uh, what are the bare minimum set of tools that you need at home? So I'll say you need a bike pump. Uh most bikes use presta valves, it's a specific type of valve. The higher quality. Higher quality ones. Yeah. Um it should have an air pressure gauge on it so that you can tell when you're pumping your tires up how much how much air you're putting in because tire pressure makes a big difference.

Host - Dane Higgins: 53:56

I got a question for you on this. If you only could have one pump, would you have a little mini pump, which are meant to be able to go with you when you ride in case you need to air up your tire, or would you only own a floor pump with a gauge on it?

Host - Josh Anderson: 54:11

That's a good question. I would probably only own well, you have to have it when you go out on the trail. Yeah. It's it's tough, it's not as convenient. It's not as convenient. I think I would own a bike pump, like a floor pump. Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins: 54:24

And then I would get CO2 cartridges and carry those with me. That's something we run into in the shop all the time, because it's an added cost, and you kind of need both, or it's it's really uh would be better to have both. One of them that you you hope you never use, and that's the small one that you try and take with you. Yeah, the other one you should almost use every single ride. And we tell people that in the shop. So every time you ride, you should be checking your pressure because it's easy for them to go down. And so I would say the floor pump is the first thing. It's funny, man. I have to pull teeth sometimes to get people to buy a floor pump. And we had one guy coming in the shop that would come in like every week and pump up his tires. And we're like, why don't you get I mean they're 30 bucks or whatever it was, and like just get the floor pump, and like he'd come in and want to come into the service area and pump his tires up, and then we're like, just get a floor pump.

Host - Josh Anderson: 55:14

So we think we think you need a floor pump. Yeah, you need a you need a metric Allen key set. Yep. Um, and I've got 1.5 to 10 millimeter, it covers everything. You need a Phillips and a straight screwdriver, kind of a medium small size screwdriver. You need these things called tire irons, yeah. And that's which are plastic. Tire levers as well. Tire levers because they're actually plastic. Yep. Um, and that's how the those are tools that you use to put on and take off your tire. Yep. Uh and I recommend some needle nose pliers and some wire cutters uh or dikes, um, wire cutting dykes. Um and I think that's the bit that's the bare minimum that you need to kind of do some basic maintenance on a bike.

Host - Dane Higgins: 55:51

Yeah, the um, yeah, that's pretty close. There's you know, there's so many things. So if you buy a Scott bike, you're gonna need to have a torque set.

Host - Josh Anderson: 56:01

Yeah, maybe maybe torques instead of a hex. And then you can get into like, do I need a chain brake tool because I might have to fix my chain? Yeah, there's lots of stuff. Yeah, yeah, we can go forever, but I'd say that's kind of the the minimum. Yeah. Um water bottles. So, what should you bring on the ride? Yes, right? So that's the stuff that you had at home to maintain your bike.

Host - Dane Higgins: 56:23

What do you bring with you on the ride? I have a saying in the shop um you should have safety, hydration, and flat repair. Those are the three things that I push on people. I tell people all the time if you're gonna buy a bike, I'm not gonna try and sell you fries with every single bike. I'm not trying to upsell you. I just want you to be safe. So that's usually a helmet. Yep. Um, gloves come in secondary, but a helmet at the minimum. Uh hydration is either water bottle cages with water bottles. Yep. Because we live in the desert and uh I think everywhere you should have hydration. Um, you can get a hydration pack, uh, which is like a backpack with a bladder inside. Cable back. Yep, exactly. And then um, and then flat repair. And so some of the tools that you may get uh for your bike, you may want to get small enough to take with you. Yeah, to take with you, so that tire levers and maybe some Allen wrenches so that you can fix your flat and not get stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

Host - Josh Anderson: 57:17

So I've got a list here of things that you should bring on the ride that are right in line with that. So so some type of hydration, so either either bottles on your bike or a hydration pack. Yep. Uh some type of multi-tool that has those Allen wrenches or torques or whatever, whatever it is, the tire levers, uh, a spare tube. Yes, yes, uh, and a way to inflate that tube. This is the small pump. So either a small pump or a CO2 cartridge with a little head that you screw onto the CO2 cartridge so you can inflate it. Uh, I do recommend, especially new riders, bring some type of snacks or hide electro electrolytes. Um, and then how should you carry all this stuff? Well, there's a whole bunch of different options here, but just the easiest way to start out is just a hydration pack.

Host - Dane Higgins: 58:02

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson: 58:02

Just put all that stuff in your hydration pack.

Host - Dane Higgins: 58:04

Yeah, and you can get big ones, little ones. I have a little hip bag one that I carry, just about all this in it, and it's adequate. Longer rides, I have a big backpack that I can put lunches and and even spare parts in if we're gonna be way out there.

Host - Josh Anderson: 58:17

And for that matter, so you don't even you could if you have a backpack, you could just carry some water bottles and put this stuff in a backpack and ride with that. Yeah, yeah. Right? You don't need to have a specific right.

Host - Dane Higgins: 58:28

Yeah. Or or you forgot one. What's that? A s a a friend or a significant other.

Host - Josh Anderson: 58:34

Can carry all your shit for you, yeah, which happens when I ride. All right, so those are the tools you need to have at home. That's what you we think you should bring on the ride. But where should you ride? How do you figure out where to ride? Where are the trails? So a couple things we'll we'll tell you. Uh, first, your local shop, you know, that that those experts or your friends, they can help you. Um, there's a great app that you can get for your phone called Trail Forks that um it'll tell you here's all the trails, and they'll actually have like a green is easy, blue is medium, and and black is hard. It'll tell you like the level of the trails, and it'll tell you a little bit about them. Sometimes there's pictures on there. So Trailforks is a really cool app that will help you find. And it's I've used Trail Forks all over the United States and been able to find um I think outside owns them, part of Pink Bike Trail Forks that's all together.

Host - Dane Higgins: 59:25

Do they still have a free version?

Host - Josh Anderson: 59:27

They do.

Host - Dane Higgins: 59:27

Okay, and then you pick your zone.

Host - Josh Anderson: 59:29

Yeah, you I think you can pick one zone for free, and then if you travel, you might have to pay an upgrade to like get different maps or whatever. I pay for the the professional ones. We're trying we're riding all over the place. Um also, uh, I was gonna say um you can look for ride groups. Yeah. So a lot of times on Facebook or other social media, um, you'll or or even in your local bike shop, there'll be groups that ride, and sometimes they'll do beginner rides or or intermediate rides or whatever, but they can help you find um trails. So Trail forks, local shop, ride groups, those are ways to find trails. I just want to talk a little bit about etiquette. Just three really quick things. First, don't ride on wet trails. What happens when you ride on wet trails is your tires actually can damage the what we call the tread, which is basically just the trail, it can damage the dirt. It just kind of makes divots in there, and then when it dries, that can get hard and it can kind of mess up the trail. So don't ride on wet trails. We always wait for the trails to dry out before we ride. This is also something that might might not seem uh natural, but when you when you when you come up on someone, if you're riding and someone's riding towards you, the person going uphill has the right-of-way.

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:00:42

That's so so uh yeah, I'm gonna you keep going because I'll have stuff to say about that.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:00:46

Yeah, I mean, I don't know that it I mean yeah, whether I agree that that's the right thing or not, I don't. Yeah, I actually think the person coming downhill should have the right of way, but that's not the the the rule, the you know, generally accepted rule of the trail etiquette is that the person climbing has the right of way. So you're supposed to stop for the person climbing and let them pass. And then the final thing is just be cool. Yeah, like just be cool, man. Be cool to horse riders, uh, be cool to hikers, be cool to other cyclists. A lot of the trails we ride are multi-use, so they have all different types. Um, just be cool.

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:01:19

Um, okay. Uh the wet trails, I totally agree, except there's a lot of places where they're always wet. And so if you're in the UK, uh the trails are built with that.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:01:29

Or the PW. P and W.

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:01:31

Yeah. So you just be aware of what's going on in your neighborhood. We live in the desert. If you can't wait a day to ride your bike, or two hours. Yeah, or two hours, like you can you can do that. Um, but in some places you can't, and so be aware of of what they do to make those trails rideable even when they're wet. Yeah. And then um, and then you're looking at things like fenders and things like that. So it's a different, a different uh each region was gonna have different requirements. Um as far as the uphill, yeah, the uphill uh person the person going uphill has right-of-way. That is always contended. People argue about it. I don't really know if it's actually written down other than like IMBA or things like that. Yeah. Um logically, what it what what they're saying is that uh somebody going downhill can put their brakes on, and the person going uphill is in most cases working the hardest, and losing momentum can stop them from even achieving the climb. Um, downhillers will complain because they're like, We're you killed my speed. Well, not just that, but uh putting on the brakes uh is is more dangerous. Uh they'll have a lot of reasons why they're supposed to be it's easy for somebody who's going uphill to just quickly put their foot down and get off the trail. It's very hard for a downhiller doing 20 down the trail to come to a safe stop. So without debating it though, the generally accepted thing is that if you're climbing, you have the right way. The big thing uh is the the be cool. That is the number one thing. Yeah, when you're on the trail, if some if you can give somebody right away, whether it's it's their right of way or not, just do it.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:03:02

Just do it. Yeah, be nice. I do it all the time and then I and communicate to other riders. Yeah. Like, hey, you know, if someone comes up behind you and they're faster than you, you know, pull off and let them go past you. Yeah, just talk, be cool, let them know what you need. If you see someone that's jacked up, they're on the side of the trail. Do you have the stuff that you need? You know, are you okay? Are you hurt? Yep, you know, we got to look out for each other. So be cool. All right, uh, two more topics. Uh learning to ride. Okay. I feel very strongly, and I'm gonna throw this out there to the men. Okay, because the women seem to already know this and accept this. Like it's so true. But men do not. Get some fucking coaching. Yeah, yeah. Get some coaching, go to a clinic, yeah, learn. Because I tell you, there are nuances, and as I've continued to study and learn from people that are experts and professionals, my writing has gotten so much more safe, so much faster, so much more fun. Yeah. And I rode for 20 years before I got coaching.

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:04:03

Yeah, yeah. It's so true. People um people sometimes forget how much that can that can really matter. And and somebody can just make a click with you sometimes, you know. Yeah. Even if you uh you put in your notes, like even if you watch something on YouTube that gives you some points. Um, you talk to other riders, even if you have a buddy who can, you know, you can just say, Hey, would you just uh show me how you rode that or can I watch your line through that area or something like that? That little bit just helps a lot.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:04:32

So yeah, so so um YouTube, you know, uh Pink Bike, GmbN, Live Cycling, Burn Peak, there's skills with Phil. Yeah. Um Joanna Yates, yeah, uh, who is up in Sedona, she's got a great coach Jody. Coach Jody here in Tucson, but Joanna Yates has got a program that you sign up for that's like a 30-day skills program. It's virtual. Yeah, she teaches you a skill and she goes all over it in her videos, and then you go out and you practice it for like 10 minutes a day, and every couple days there's a different skill. And I've gone through her program, and that just that me, like her watching it. Okay, do this, don't do that, do this. This is where your butt body should be, this is how you should start that out. I have gotten better just doing those. So get some coaching, basically. Yeah, um the final thing, basic bike maintenance. Yeah. Um every time you ride, there's two things that there there's there's three things that I do every time I ride. The first thing I do is I check my tire pressure to make sure it and tire pressure makes a big difference, right?

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:05:39

And your tires can go low over time. And so so you you may not have a flat, but your tire can go flat if you haven't ridden for a long time.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:05:47

Yeah, if you just let the bike sit there, yeah, air will seep out. Yes. Just naturally, even if everything's good with the system, air will seep out. So you have to so you check your tire pressure every um every time you ride. Yeah. I check my chain every time I ride to make sure it's it's lubricated well. Um and then I I do like a quick, like I call it a loose bolt check, but I'm just making sure that there's everything's tight and nothing's like jingling or jangling or gonna come apart.

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:06:15

Yeah, if you can run when you're doing your chain, run through the gears. Just make sure they're not jamming or anything. And um, if you don't have a bike stand or something to do this, uh a trick is if you can hang uh a rope out of a tree or a rafter or something in your garage uh and have it hook onto your saddle and just hold the back end of the bike up off the ground. Yep. You can it's it's like a super cheap, uh easy way to kind of pedal through the gears without uh the bike being upside down. You could also flip it upside down and do it, but just watch what yours what's on your bars because sometimes they get scratched. Yeah, you don't want to get scratched. The tire uh learning uh bike maintenance we were talking about is um I suggest everybody who gets a new bike sit at home in their garage, living room, porch, whatever, and change a flat. And don't, I mean, just just learn how to do it. Uh there's a lot of YouTube videos, there's uh the bike shops will usually help you with this, but take a perfectly good tire apart and put it back together and make sure it's still perfectly good because you need that practice. Because in your living room, in your garage, in your on your porch, wherever you do it, um, is so much more comfortable than when you're on the trail and you're trying to get out. And you need to practice. And it's just it's not super hard. Um, it's something you can do just sitting around. You know, if it's raining out and you can't go ride, that's a perfect time to just take your front wheel off. You don't even have to do the rear wheel, but uh take the front wheel off and watch a YouTube video, uh call a friend over, uh buy him a beer or a soda or whatever, and then uh and change that flat and just learn how to do it. Learn how the tire levers work and learn the little nuances.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:07:53

So yeah, better better to know how to do that at home than find out on the trail. Yeah, I'll never forget my sister who is an avid cyclist and had been riding for years, didn't know how to change a flat and got a flat, called me and she's like, I I don't know what to do. So I drove 15 miles out to go find her and then help her change her flat. And then I was like, all right, you're gonna learn how to do this now.

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:08:17

And and and and and uh this is to you experts that are gonna help your friends that are listening right now. Yeah. Uh we forget how hard it is to learn this. Uh we do it so easy and and we do it so much that we forget how hard it is. You need to practice this. It's not hard to do, yeah, but it's nuanced. You just gotta learn how to do it. You just have to do it a couple times for it to click. Yeah. And then uh and then you you won't forget, but man, we forget that we needed that little bit of uh uh practice to to get that to click.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:08:48

And the final thing here is like I think know how to fix your chain if you have a chain problem. And and that might actually mean I need to add one thing that you need to carry with you when you go out on the trail. Yeah, and that is a mastered link.

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:09:00

And like we were talking about on the shoes, as you advance as a rider, there'll be things that add to this. And so the next level up after you started riding, you know that you want to do it. You just went out and got those shoes that perform better. And uh what was the other thing that you you there was something else that we were like, yeah, you could do this too. Um this is the next level. Then you start working on your chain and making sure that you could just fix that link that breaks or have a quick link with you, uh things like that. Master quick link, yeah. Yeah, you just start building on that knowledge.

Host - Josh Anderson: 1:09:32

Yep. Awesome. All right, Dane. Well cool. Hopefully uh this can be uh this episode can be a resource to new remote.

Host - Dane Higgins: 1:09:42

This is the first time we've asked our listeners to help. To help to use this as a use this as a resource. Most of our most of our episodes are silly and you know you don't need to tell your friends. You may be embarrassed that you listen to us. Um but but this is one that I think you should should tell your friends that are thinking about biking and uh and and spread the word on this. And and there's a lot of this stuff out there, yeah. Um, but nobody's as cool as we are. So uh so introduce your friends to us and let them know. We appreciate you guys. Yes, for sure. Merry Christmas, happy new year. See you next year. Oh, wait, that doesn't work. Well, it could be this year. Yeah.