Moab questions

**Freebird** · 03-14-2006, 09:24 PM

New to biking in Utah. I ride a Marin Eldridge Grade hardtail, and I prefer XC, and single track, never got into downhill. So I'm looking for suggestions of where to go, what to check out in Moab (trip planned end of April, early May). I'm used to technical eastern single track, and can ride for a long distance. Besides Slickrock, what else would you all suggest checking out? I'll probably have two days on one end or the other of a WFR course... Oh, and I do plan on going back, so it's not like I have to get the highlights or anything. I just want to ride, not to spend a lot of time moving from parking lot to parking lot. THX in advance.

**Particle** · 03-14-2006, 10:21 PM

Avoid Porcupine on a hardtail. In fact, I'm not sure what you'd want to ride in Moab on a hardtail... Maybe Sovereign...but I haven't hit that one yet. Slickrock should be OK on a hardtail.

**altagirl** · 03-14-2006, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by Particle

Avoid Porcupine on a hardtail. In fact, I'm not sure what you'd want to ride in Moab on a hardtail... Maybe Sovereign...but I haven't hit that one yet. Slickrock should be OK on a hardtail.

Sovreign is fun, but it'd be bouncy on a hardtail. It's not THAT hard though, and it's best done as an out and back from the south trailhead. So you could at least give it a try. And then go demo a FS bike in town if you want.

My brother in law came out and rode with us on his hardtail a few years ago. He's a kick-ass rider, but he didn't like Moab much, especially Porcupine. Which really surprised us - this is a guy who can do backflips on a BMX bike and kills it in XC races. But he just beat the hell out of himself and wasn't used to the dry heat either. He'll be on a big bike next time.

**Ski Monkey** · 03-14-2006, 11:03 PM

yentna rode porcupine on a hardtail three times....I don't think she will ever attempt that again though since she saw the light of her big squish bike. It will however make you a better rider if you survive it on your hard tail.

I've ridden it a couple times on a 3.5 inch xc bike and while enjoyable, it was no where near as fun as riding the bullit down.

**DerJaeger** · 03-14-2006, 11:59 PM

While I wouldn't especially want to do any of the trails on a hardtail, I don't think Porc Rim or Sovereign would be that bad on a hardtail. Definitely don't recommend Amassa Back on a hardtail though.

**SkiingBear** · 03-15-2006, 09:21 AM

I've done Porcupine on my hardtail, and it's really not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Slickrock is a good choice.

**mtnbikerskierchick** · 03-15-2006, 09:28 AM

You should enjoy Soveriegn trail. That loop is fun. You might also like Gemini Bridges. Personally, I don't think Porcupine would be that bad on a hardtail. My personal favorite is to ride from town, up Sand Flats, do a loop around Slickrock, head back up Sand Flats to Porcupine, take Porcupine down, and then ride the road back into town. That's a 5-6 hour ride and I just love it.... just a suggestion if you're up for a longer ride b/c so many of the rides are quite short in Moab. The Sovereign trail loop for instance should only take you an hour.... Slickrock loop should take less than an hour and a half.... short rides.

CS · 03-15-2006, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by mtnbikerskierchick

My personal favorite is to ride from town, up Sand Flats, do a loop around Slickrock, head back up Sand Flats to Porcupine, take Porcupine down, and then ride the road back into town. That's a 5-6 hour ride and I just love it....

You have issues.

**altagirl** · 03-15-2006, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by mtnbikerskierchick

You should enjoy Soveriegn trail. That loop is fun. You might also like Gemini Bridges. Personally, I don't think Porcupine would be that bad on a hardtail. My personal favorite is to ride from town, up Sand Flats, do a loop around Slickrock, head back up Sand Flats to Porcupine, take Porcupine down, and then ride the road back into town. That's a 5-6 hour ride and I just love it.... just a suggestion if you're up for a longer ride b/c so many of the rides are quite short in Moab. The Sovereign trail loop for instance should only take you an hour.... Slickrock loop should take less than an hour and a half.... short rides.

Um, yeah. I think I'd need to be on my moto to keep up with you. Not to mention, you're apparently insane.

**mtnbikerskierchick** · 03-15-2006, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by altagirl

Um, yeah. I think I'd need to be on my moto to keep up with you. Not to mention, you're apparently insane.

Why thank you for the compliment

Hope your knee is feeling okay today!

**altagirl** · 03-15-2006, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by mtnbikerskierchick

Why thank you for the compliment

Hope your knee is feeling okay today!

No problem! I fully admit, I only go even remotely fast on the way down.

**homerjay** · 03-15-2006, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by mtnbikerskierchick

You should enjoy Soveriegn trail. That loop is fun. You might also like Gemini Bridges. Personally, I don't think Porcupine would be that bad on a hardtail. My personal favorite is to ride from town, up Sand Flats, do a loop around Slickrock, head back up Sand Flats to Porcupine, take Porcupine down, and then ride the road back into town. That's a 5-6 hour ride and I just love it.... just a suggestion if you're up for a longer ride b/c so many of the rides are quite short in Moab. The Sovereign trail loop for instance should only take you an hour.... Slickrock loop should take less than an hour and a half.... short rides.

Ha! great loop.

Don't worry about the hardtail, people here seem to think you can't leave the house without 8" of travel. Just ride the bike you have and have fun.

(fruita has better riding imho - more singletrack, fewer jeeps/moto)

**flowtron** · 03-15-2006, 10:04 AM

Porc is fun on an HT, invest in the biggest tires that will fit in your frame and fork and make sure they have good sidewalls. When I first moved down there, all I had was 2 HTs for the first 4 months. Amasa Back is of course another fun one no matter what bike you have. Its all just riding bikes..you just gotta pick different lines and stay loose and smoove.

CS · 03-15-2006, 10:52 AM

Back in the day when nothing else was available, we'd ride Porcupine with hartails and 72mm forks. We'd say then it was the funnest trail anywhere. The full squishies have just made it faster and even more fun.

I'll also echo flowtron on the Amasa Back suggestion. Pretty much a baby Porcupine.

You can leave you house with a hardtail, but why if you can ride a squishy? So much more fun. Unless you like that jackhammer feel.

Oh, and fruita is boring.

**Eldo** · 03-15-2006, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by CS

Back in the day when nothing else was available, we'd ride Porcupine with hartails and 72mm forks. We'd say then it was the funnest trail anywhere. The full squishies have just made it faster and even more fun.

Whoa, this thread makes me feel old.

We rode most of the classic Moab trails back before FRONT suspension. I remember finally riding Porcupine in 1992 with my brand spanking new Mongoose IBOC with a Mag 20 fork. That was a revelation. Like riding a different trail.

Sure is nice to ride with today's bikes. Almost makes up for the added years.

**altagirl** · 03-15-2006, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by homerjay

Ha! great loop.

Don't worry about the hardtail, people here seem to think you can't leave the house without 8" of travel. Just ride the bike you have and have fun.

(fruita has better riding imho - more singletrack, fewer jeeps/moto)

Chances are you wouldn't prefer fruita if you had a bigger bike though.

**LeeLau** · 03-15-2006, 01:43 PM

You could ride Moab just fine with a Hardtail but it will punish your back and you might have trouble recovering between rides.

Same thing with Fruita.

Both places are very different and have different flavors. Post up the kind of riding you like to do and i bet any of us could give you recommendations.

Personally, and I know I will get flamed for this, most people use suspension as a crutch for skills. Mind you like eldo I rode Moab and North shore trails rigid so wdik. Again, personally, I like a 4x4 dual suspension for both Moab and Fruita - a RM Element in my case. I'm one of those guys who likes the fitness aspect of doing the entire Porc Rim loop without car shuttles so that's where Im coming from.

Squatch · 03-15-2006, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by LeeLau

Personally, and I know I will get flamed for this, most people use suspension as a crutch for skills. Mind you like eldo I rode Moab and North shore trails rigid so wdik. Again, personally, I like a 4x4 dual suspension for both Moab and Fruita - a RM Element in my case. I'm one of those guys who likes the fitness aspect of doing the entire Porc Rim loop without car shuttles so that's where Im coming from.

When I was learning to ski pow, fat skis definitely made up for less skills. I'm sure the same thing happens with bikes. Do I feel bad about that? No...it's all about the enjoyment. Yes, I know nothing will make you a techincal rider like riding a rigid, but it can be a lot of full to bomb down a trail quickly and sloppily on a plush bike.

**LeeLau** · 03-15-2006, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by Squatch

When I was learning to ski pow, fat skis definitely made up for less skills. I'm sure the same thing happens with bikes. Do I feel bad about that? No...it's all about the enjoyment. Yes, I know nothing will make you a techincal rider like riding a rigid, but it can be a lot of full to bomb down a trail quickly and sloppily on a plush bike.

squatch - don't get me wrong. Im not disagreeing with you. In the end its about the fun but I dont think you NEED a fully to ride Porc Rim like some of the posters have implied.

I dont want to get into the tradeoffs of too much suspension too. Its still much too early for me to think about bikes.

Squatch · 03-15-2006, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by LeeLau

Its still much too early for me to think about bikes.

Agreed. Colorado gets two weeks of spring and all of sudden people are looking for their tire pumps.

**altagirl** · 03-15-2006, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by LeeLau

squatch - don't get me wrong. Im not disagreeing with you. In the end its about the fun but I dont think you NEED a fully to ride Porc Rim like some of the posters have implied.

I dont want to get into the tradeoffs of too much suspension too. Its still much too early for me to think about bikes.

I don't think anyone said you NEED a FS bike to rid Porcupine Rim or any other trail. Just that even if you're a really skilled rider, you MAY be totally miserable being bounced around on rocks all day.

We rode the Mid-Mountain trail and came down Holly's up in PC last summer with a guy who's an amazing rider who was on a rigid singlespeed. And that's a fairly smooth trail to those of us on FS bikes, but on that bike it looked like pure hell. He needed someone to peel his hands off the bars when we stopped. And I'm sure he'll be out riding it on his rigid singlespeed again. Some people are into torturing themselves like that - others like being on the bike that makes the experience as much fun as possible.

Of course, some people apparently have the most fun on the way uphill. I think they may be aliens, but hey - ride whatever bike makes your favorite part of the ride the most fun.

**truth** · 03-15-2006, 03:47 PM

You can ride anything In Moab on a hardtail, just don't try and keep up with those on FS rigs. Moab was ridden long before FS made it's debut.

**rideit** · 03-15-2006, 03:51 PM

IMO, The dually discussion boils down to this:
Sure, you CAN ski powder, carve turns, and go big on skinny skis, and sure, you CAN have fun doing it.
But I'll bet that 99% of the skiers here would have MORE fun on some fatties.
Nuff' said.

**homerjay** · 03-15-2006, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by rideit

IMO, The dually discussion boils down to this:
Sure, you CAN ski powder, carve turns, and go big on skinny skis, and sure, you CAN have fun doing it.
But I'll bet that 99% of the skiers here would have MORE fun on some fatties.
Nuff' said.

Whoa, a FS v. HT discussion has never happened here!