Top Bikes, Top Money.

If you want what professionals ride you will have to pay a lot of money a professional MTB. As with road bike at top of range, you can specify what you want to build up your dream bike. Top bikes frames to spend your money on could be Klien, Scott, Rocky Mountain, Gary Fisher, Santa Cruz and K2; these are some of most sought after bike frames in world and would be envy of your friends. Probably best forks to put on your frame would be RockShox SID’s these are light and do all things you need with control of all functions, there are many other to also to consider, look at how much travel they have and rebound and damping systems. Gears again will be either SRAM or Shimano Rapid fire, XT or XTR, more money could be spent on carbon or very light alloy cranks, brakes should be hydraulic discs from Hayes, Pace or Magura or stick to trusted V-bakes. Wheels from Shimano or Mavic or some fancy carbon wheels, but remember they will have to take a lot of punishment, so maybe better to go for reliability over light weight expense. Carbon handle bars, stem and seat pin and a light weight race saddle and Time or Shimano SPD clipless pedals, then your choice of tires will depend on what terrain and ground conditions you are going to ride on.

And Downhilling?

Downhill bikes are very different, more like a cross country motor bike, but without engine, low center of gravity and a lot of travel on suspension on forks and rear end, disc brakes, wide rims and fat tires, gears are only at back as usually a single chain set is used. Unless your going to do a lot of downhill racing then there isn’t much point in buying one as you have to get up hill first before you can come down and as light weight is not an issue with downhill bikes, they are very heavy to get up hill with out use of a tow rope or a ski lift.

bike parts

When you've arrived safely at your destination, don't despair. Most boaters hate and fear launching of their boats more than anything else. When you think about it though, as drivers, we're usually taught to keep our vehicles as far from water as possible. The important thing to remember is that you're not alone. Once you drive up to ramp, you're probably in line with many others who are just as apprehensive as you are. Most fellow boaters won't mind lending a hand and a second set of eyes can make your launch a piece of cake. Since most boaters tend to hit ramps in early morning and late afternoon, it's important that you launch quickly to avoid creating a back up. When you arrive at your destination, stop away from launch. Transfer necessary items from your vehicle and take time to walk over and do a quick inspection of ramp itself. It's also a good idea to disconnect your trailer lights prior to moving to ramp. The lights don't last that long to begin with so by disconnecting them before you put trailer in water; you may be able to extend life of bulbs. Before you approach launch ramp you should prepare your pontoon or deck boat for launch. Park well away from ramp and transfer any and all items from your vehicle into pontoon or deck boat. Walk over to ramp and inspect surrounding area. A few important things to note are how ramp lies in comparison to road and whether or not you'll need someone to guide you down. If you're alone, (which isn't ever recommended when you're on water) ask someone to help you. You'll also want to check for any obstacles and whether or not there's a place to dock while you park your vehicle. When backing down boat ramp, most important thing to remember is to take your time. Moving your hands to bottom of steering wheel will allow you to turn wheel in such a way that your boat will follow same direction automatically. Boat ramps are often uneven. If you notice this, shift your approach a few feet to compensate. When your day ends, simply reverse procedure. The only thing that you need to remember when putting your boat back on trailer is not to back up too far into water. With a pontoon boat, it will load more easily if undercarriage is between 1/3 and 1/2 of way forward. Water in tail pipe can also cause your tow vehicle to stall.