The Mountain Bikers — Will You Ride with Us?

Hi,

Many people on TT love mountain biking.

This sport is a great way to exercise and have fun.

It might be challenging for our ears though:
- wind is noisy
- tyres can be noisy too, depending on the nature of the ground
- the bike itself can be loud at times and transmit vibrations
- you can cross roads and meet motorbikes or forest trucks
- you might be caught in the middle of a storm especially if you ride high mountains

So this thread could be used to share tips: How do you ride and where? What kind of bike? Do you use earplugs and which ones, etc?

Some great websites to enjoy news and videos from the MTB world:
https://www.pinkbike.com/
http://www.mtbr.com/
http://singletrackworld.com/
https://www.singletracks.com/

I will add news and links regularly for people to know MTB better.

@astronomer @Rubenslash @SilverSpiral @Alue @Samir @Sam Bridge

 

Full suspension is the way to go. It cuts way down on the vibrations.

I just noticed there is a bike in your avatar.

 

Yep, my avatar is about joy and hope, it's not about death

I agree, full suspension + low pressure tyres is the best for us.

By the way, be very careful when you inflate a tyre, those things can explode and that's no fun at all, it's just like a gunshot, even more powerful and next to you.

 

mine is a full suspension GIANT DS/1, yellow/ black frame/yellow rims , hayes disc brakes, Manitou forks, I single track through local forests with obstacles and courses made by mountain bikers, hardwood hills is our mountain bike center which I use in oro medonte, Ontario Canada, have had a broken arm, broken wrist, cracked ribs,cuts and bruises and a ringing ear, but bike is fine !!

 

O' I know all too well about the dangers of air pressure... I wear earmuffs when pumping up tires lol. Not because it's too loud, but just in case.

 

@astronomer wow take it easy, MTB is for fun, not for hospital
I had several Giant some years ago, including a VT and an AC.

@Alue now I ask my father to take care of the tires when he's around... Or my girlfriend !
I ask them to wear earmuffs though.

I'm going to get this baby in a few days :

 

hey foncky

yes, I agree, its for fun not for hospitals,those were the days I did competition and obstacle courses, now that those crazy days are behind me I ride single track more responsibly, no more teeter toters !

 

Hi there.

It has been a lot of time since I rode my MTB. It´s a Megamo Natural 40, 29" and only front suspension.
I want to ride it again because I love it, and want to do it again despite T and floaters. But I´m somewhat afraid of the wind in my ear. I remember it can get quite loud.
Do you protect your ears? How? With earplugs?

 

This is my bike.



I've had it forever, but it still gets the job done.

 

Nice one Alue !

I'm going to try different plugs (foams or musician ones). The biggest problem with plugs is that you may hear vibrations a lot.

 

Hey guys,

I made a great find : http://www.wind-blox.com/

They claim to stop 80 % of the wind noise with this simple device. No need for earplugs : https://restoredhearing.com/2014/08/19/i-want-to-ride-my-bicycle-in-peace/

That would mean the only problem remaining is the tyre noise.

That would be fantastic, I'm gonna try it !

 

That would be fantastic, I'm gonna try it !

Looks interesting. Have you seen this?: https://www.cat-ears.com/

I don´t know which one would be the best protection for air.

Do you think that could be a problem in a MTB? I Don´t think my tyres are that loud.

 

Yes different brands make them but it would seem that the Wind-Blox Pro give the highest protection (25dB).

It's available on Amazon.

I have severe H so yes, tyre noise is a problem for me. Probably not dangerous but I like to ride my bike for 8+ hours so... It depends on the ground of course : in sand/dust, it's really ok, over unsteady rocks it can be very noisy.

 

8 hours?? Wow. You're in much better shape than me!!
Have you purchased it yet? Please come back here and review when you try it. Have a happy ride!

 

The last time I did that it was a 85km ride

I ordered the Wind-Blox device, I'm really glad that some companies thought about it. I understand how it works and it should be very effective at low speed.

My only concern is to use it along with sunglasses. Will have to find a way to make it work.

 

Yes, sunglasses are a must with floaters... I haven´t ride my bike since my onset of floaters.

 

I also found this: http://www.windrushgear.com/index.php/site/activity/cycling/

Let us know how your device is working. We have some options to try now

 

Hi @Foncky , have you tried them yet?

 

Not yet but I got them !

Nice for winter and/or paragliding as far as I'm concerned

 

Something else to reduce wind noise: http://www.slipstreamz.com/

 

Have you tried it yet?

 

Nice - I found this Mountainbike Thread!

I´m into Mountainbiking for more than half of my life now. Beyond my main job I work as photographer and editor for caycleholix.de online magazine (sorry - german only).

Generally, riding one of my bikes distracts from my T, but this year I got some bad T-days on my bike.

 

Dam right I'd ride