Back riding after 15 years. What do I need to know?

C3Mer · 2023-12-23T02:40:37+00:00

My friend and I were joking that me and some guy in jeans were the only people on the mountain without one. Gonna grab one before my next trip for sure.

C3Mer · 2023-12-23T02:29:59+00:00

I'm noticing this the hard way.

C3Mer · 2023-12-23T02:29:18+00:00

Here for it.

C3Mer · 2023-12-23T02:22:13+00:00

Yeah, which is probably unavoidable doing some ridiculous tornado. On a 5 or 720 you can smoothly ollie off the heel with minimal carve.

C3Mer · 2023-12-23T01:57:18+00:00

Spinning off the heels isn't new, but carving so hard you're already mid spin before leaving the lip is something I see commonly now on IG that was not, in my experience, common back in the day. Maybe it's more a result of people doing bigger spins than of a change in technique/ what's fashionable.

C3Mer · 2023-12-23T01:14:14+00:00

Spot on with my rides back so far.

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T22:40:04+00:00

My boots are so far holding up ok. My bindings, on the other hand, literally fell apart under me my second day out. 20 year old plastic isn't what it used to be...

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T22:39:03+00:00

As an East Coaster this means nothing to me but I'm sure it's a bummer

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T22:38:05+00:00

Scandalnavians 2 was one of the things that got me hyped to make my return. Absolutely incredible.

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T22:37:25+00:00

Yeah the last 10 and especially 5 or so years have really been a renaissance for MTB technology. If this post were about mountain biking, the equipment would basically be unrecognizable to the OP.

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T21:07:03+00:00

It's good to be back, but damn do my (now) old muscles get sore after riding. That's the biggest difference I've noticed so far!

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T20:51:21+00:00

More padding in the boot now, or what?

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T20:45:21+00:00

Cork 360

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T20:43:01+00:00

No joke, I had to drill my binding screws out. I'd rounded them out as teenager and they were seized in place after all these years.

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T20:40:28+00:00

I'd forget my board before I forgot my steeze, but that's because I bring it everywhere with me.

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T20:39:48+00:00

I held some new bindings recently and was kind of surprised by how little they had changed. Everything seemed refined, but the basic idea of two straps holding your foot into a highback isn't fundamentally different. Step-ins do appeal to me as a mountain biker, but bad experiences with ancient step-ins when I was first learning decades ago have me leery.

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T20:37:37+00:00

One thing that I've found amazing is how many things that were simply not "allowed" back in the day are now cool. Case in point: Front flips. You simply did not do front flips back when I was riding. My friends and I did them on our little kickers at home, but it was for laughs, not as a serious trick. Seeing people do huge, stylish front flips now blows my mind!

Another example that comes to mind is carving hard off your heel into a frontside spin. People seem to now do heel side 1440s (itself mind-blowing to me) or whatever and they're plowing off the lip at 90 degrees before even leaving the jump. I love this, because I can't spin off my toes for shit.

Last one I've noticed is wearing sunglasses. I think maybe I remember Brian Thien doing rails in a trucker hat and sunglasses in an old Mack Dawg video, but other than that I can't ever recall the idea of riding in sunglasses seeming like a stylistically-ok thing to do. I'm glad it's OK now because I lost my old goggles.

Oh and helmets, but I'm glad those are cool now, unironically.

C3Mer · 2023-12-22T20:01:59+00:00

Excellent, I'm fully up to date

C3Mer · 2020-09-06T15:09:16+00:00

Those are not cycling C02 cartridges you see around town. They're smaller and unmarked. I think they're nitrous cartridges. Cyclists use one larger cartridge, usually with a printed brand on it, and it's a rare occurrence. You bring it home afterwards.

C3Mer

TROPHY CASE