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Do you do this also?
...Somewhat absent mindedly on the walk to the shops while here in Swedish Arctic Lapland for a few weeks, I spotted prints in the mud of a ubiquitous Mountain King (2.1), a Racing Ralph, and some sort of Geax hardpack-suited thing, and another Ritchey tyre I can't remember the name of.
Sad, init? But I think I've been doing this sort of thing, absent mindedly, for years.
Furthermore, I began wondering just why someone would choose to run a Racing Ralph in the periglacial sludge that goes for summer trails around here..
haha Yes I do, but generally to try and figure out who from our chain gang has been up the local trails mid-week before me that day for example.
I began wondering just why someone would choose to run a Racing Ralph in the periglacial sludge that goes for summer trails around here..
Very Hemingway.
I think I realised I had a problem, when I correctly identified one of the other riders in the hills one day. "A Larsen? In these conditions? It has to be that guy with the Triad". 2 hours later, there he was.
Yes, most treads are pretty obvious now I reckon
+1 on the RR's, crossmarks, speed kings, small block 8's, fast traks in the slop
Before I realised they did High Rollers and Minions in more 'trail' triendly casings/sizes/compounds I could never work out why anyone would ride around on DH tyres
"they went this way kimo sabi"
"well done Tonto. Hi ho silver!"
I do this, drives the other half insane as i ruin perfectly pleasant forest rambles with cries of 'Racing Ralph' and 'Small Block 8'
Use to able to do it but now so many tyres have similar tread and yes was able to identify who had been riding their earlier in the week too. But not now as it's go much busier on the trails around here now, relatively speaking, that I struggle with that as well.
Yup, me too.
I also try to figure out what direction they were going in.
It used to be known as traxidermy
(Scarily old school MBUK reference there!)
guilty as charged, m'lud.
not very good at it though, unless it;s a fire xc pro 🙂
tick !
ahem 😳
Not really a tread pattern expert myself, I could spot one of the more common Maxxis or Conti Treads maybe but to be honest I find it more fun to figure out what they were actually doing, i.e. look at the lines they took through certain stuff, did they ping off that root or the other, go wide or tight into this corner and figure out if they stuck it or slid out…
You can tell a lot about a trail from what others have done before you…
Yup, same here. Like Mr Synthpop, I drive the leg-iron nutso by reciting the Ladybird Book of Treads everytime we go walking. 😳
nah, life's too short for stuff like this!
I_did_dab
tick !
I was out for a walk on Saturday evening and found myself doing this as usual. Spotted your new Eskar from the previous week 😳
Yes, all the time...Do you do this also?
...and this ^^Not really a tread pattern expert myself, I could spot one of the more common Maxxis or Conti Treads maybe but to be honest I find it more fun to figure out what they were actually doing, i.e. look at the lines they took through certain stuff, did they ping off that root or the other, go wide or tight into this corner and figure out if they stuck it or slid out…
Quite a few times during the winter snow I'd be following a solitary pair of tyre tracks that just disappeared off into the undergrowth. A good way of finding new trails.
yep.
I do this too...then I realise that everyone else seems to be running knobblier tyres than me!
Most people seem to run High Rollers or Nevegals round my way, but I seem to get by with Ardents. Spesh Storms are very common too.
Maybe I'm missing something?
What's the prize for spotting your own rather unique Ralph and Aspen combo as the freshest set of tracks and wondering why nobody else has ridden there since? Do I get my first STW smug points? 😀
Had a friend comment that some other riders with the same tyres as us had been down the track before us..
2 minutes later he realised we had looped back on a track we rode earlier, his sense of direction is shocking though
+1
Yep, I do this, try to figure out direction too and see if they take the same lines and route choices as me too. If on a commute I try to spot if anyones ridden the trails since me this morning/yesterday evening.
I don't get down on the ground and inspect the tread closely or put an ear to the ground or owt....I'm not [i][b]weird[/b][/i] 🙂 just looking as I ride along
Yep, someone has been riding a CX bike on MY cheeky trails.
👿
We are all the Ray Mears of the mtb world.
Yep I do this. Took it a step too far when out on a first date before, walking along and a bike goes past at which point I explained to the poor woman how I knew what rear hub it had due to the sound (Hope). Never did see her again.
Took it a step too far when out on a first date before, walking along and a bike goes past at which point I explained to the poor woman how I knew what rear hub it had due to the sound (Hope). Never did see her again.
Have done this my girlfriend, we were sat at a bus stop and about 100 metres away down the road there was someone on a bike so I said "that's a carrera" and sure enough it was. She was like how did you know that, it had white wheels and black frame(common Carrera scheme) with a rider who looked like he would only buy from halfrauds..
Phew, so glad it's not just me.
Guilty. Traxidermy indeed, great old MBUK memory.
Comments generally around the "ooh, Crossmarks? Bit wet for them isn't it?", "are those High Rollers being run backwards?" and "Hmm, Rubber Queens led down there, worth looking at?"
used to do this down the local trails many years ago - i could tell which of my mates had been there which was quite useful.