Apples and oranges - and knobby tires

I was in my early 20s when I purchased my first mountain bike. This was the mid-1980s, and the sport had just gone mainstream, with bikes actually for sale in many retail bike shops around the country.

Now when I say I bought a mountain bike, you have to know at the time that they looked fairly similar to road bikes of the era. Neither had any suspension, and the geometry of the frames were close to the same. Granted the mountain bikes had — and still have — flat handlebars, and much wider, off-road tires as opposed to the slender counterparts used in tackling asphalt. Suffice it to say, I got plenty of use out of my Specialized Hard Rock, which, thanks to the 2-inch tires, was able to crawl over most of the stuff I found off the pavement.

In the course of my transition from single guy to married guy to father, the mountain bike saw less and less activity. Finally, it was relegated to a far corner of the garage, mothballed until a block of free time presented itself. That free time would take well over a decade to surface.

Recently, I got into cyclocross, and dusted off the Hard Rock and hit the trails. It worked well for my first year of competition (in a class especially for mountain bikes), but now that I’ve acquired a dedicated cyclocross bike, the Hard Rock again gathered a bit of dust in the garage.

This year, I spent a bit more time discussing current mountain bike technology, local access and the like with my cycling buddies who also spend a fair amount of time off-road.

After much research and inner turmoil, I narrowed down the vast array of off-road bikes that I might enjoy, and then went and sought the advice of Mike Gaertner at Vertical Earth. Mike’s a friend of mine and I’ve been buying bikes and racing with the shop’s road team for about five years now. If anyone would know exactly what it is that I would enjoy in a mountain bike, it’d be Mike.

Finally, we zeroed in on a Scott Spark 960, a bike that has a full suspension (front fork and a shock mounted midframe which allows for rear-wheel travel — and a happier butt). After getting fitted, I took the bike out to the Coeur d’Alene cyclocross course off Hubbard and spent a couple hours getting used to shifting, turning, braking and accelerating. Mountain bikes take some different techniques to ride efficiently, compared to a road bike.

Once I felt somewhat comfortable with my operation of the bike, I was able to spend a little time the next day introducing it (and myself) to Canfield Mountain. I rode up Trail 8 and was met with a stellar view of Lake Coeur d’Alene, which was easily worth the effort to get there. I rode around on top, going back and forth to Penn Station (since there was really no one around, I could concentrate on technique and trying to maintain momentum in the cross-country sections).

Confident that I wouldn’t make a complete fool of myself when I rode with others, I headed home, anxious to tackle the mountain again soon.

On a recent Thursday, I was able to participate in Vertical Earth’s weekly casual group ride on Canfield Mountain. With only a few days worth of riding under my belt on the Spark, I was more than a little hesitant to stray from my narrow comfort zone. Luckily, the Spark performed flawlessly, making up from my shortcomings on the hills, cross country as well as the downhill sections with its versatility and 29-inch platform.

Although I was bringing up the rear more often than not on the downhill sections, I quickly found my tense muscles relaxing as confidence built based on the rider/bike cohesiveness.

Since I’m talking about downhill mountain biking, this is the perfect spot to discuss the differences and evolution of mountain bikes. Yes, all mountain bikes came with rigid (no suspension front or rear) as standard equipment when they were first mass produced in the early ’80s. It didn’t take long for manufacturers to heed the pleas of devoted riders, wanting some forgiveness. Less than a decade later, hardtails (bikes with front suspension forks) became the norm. First came simple spring designs, which then evolved into actual shock-type setups, similar to what is used on motorcycles and cars. Nowadays the pricier front forks have titanium springs and hydraulics to ensure the best performance in a lightweight package. Compression (damping) and rebound can be adjusted to each individual rider, and his preferences. In a nutshell, suspensions can be adjusted to suit any terrain you’ll be riding on — and over. This helps make you faster and causes less wear-and-tear on your body, as the suspension travel seems to increase yearly.

Since riders are faster than ever, they also need to stop quicker than ever. Brakes have evolved along with all the other systems on mountain bikes. Disc brakes have become the norm, replacing the antiquated cantilever, or v-brakes. While a little care is needed to keep the disc brakes clean, it is well worth it in much improved stopping power.

Also, the brakes have become more user-friendly, since nowadays the systems really require only one (index) finger to operate, allowing a rider to keep the rest wrapped around the grips for better control.

It took me a little while to get used to the disc brakes, but now I can’t imagine going back to the old cantilevers. The response and finesse is leaps and bounds better with the new brake system, and also disc brakes perform much better in muddy or wet conditions, since they don’t have to work on a rim that is continuously being dipped in junk each revolution. Once the cantilever brake pads get muddy, your braking response and abilities all but cease, rendering you an out-of-control missile should you come upon a quick downhill section.

Although my new bike is much larger in frame length, it actually weighs a tad less than my old rig thanks to the aluminum frame. While it won’t keep up with the lightest hardtails on the market these days, it’s so much quicker to accelerate out of corners and over hills than the Hard Rock.

My biggest tips for anyone looking to take up the sport is to A) consult a professional and make sure you buy a bike that will help you achieve whatever it is you are looking to do, and B) take the time to learn how to ride off-road, since dirt/sand/gravel surfaces are not ever forgiving, but great fun once you get the hang of it. Finally, continue to be a student, since no matter how well you ride, there is always some other trick or technique to perfect. A modern bike can help you get to where you want to go — regardless of where that is exactly.

See you out there on the trails!

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Jerry Hitchcock can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2017, via email at jhitchcock@cdapress.com, or follow him on Twitter at HitchTheWriter.