2008 Novara System 2.0. Basically pieced together by REI. Decent components but very heavy. Gets the job done. Only $950 when I bought it. Yea, one day I'll probably upgrade to a Giant with 27.5 " wheels, but like others spending too much on the 4Runner.

Believe it or not, a lot of good trails in the Dallas area. Grapevine Northshore trail is about 22 miles long and has something for just about everyone. I wouldn't say the hardest part is expert, but maybe advanced. Too old to do anything too hard.

One day I want to do the Womble trail in Arkansas. Lake Leatherwood has some good trails near Eureka Springs, AR.

Womble & Eureka Springs are great, actually most Arkansas trails are awesome.

Everyone seems to be raving about Bentonville. Spider Mountain down by Burnet would probably be a fun way to spend a long weekend, too.

Agreed, DORBA does a great job of maintaining the trails in the DFW area.
Went to Austin this past weekend and hit Cameron park Friday and Spider Mt. Saturday.

I hated my bike rack setup on my 4Runner. I had the OEM crossbars (came with the truck) but no trays that fit them between a 1up tray, Rockymount, and Thule bigmouth that were carryover from old vehicles. In order to carry more than my hitch mount would handle, I had to install these 72” wide crossbars to get any bikes on the roof... time consuming, looked ridiculous, noisy square bars. Also, the hitch stuck way out the back and couldn’t clear the tailgate when in the stowed position.

Looked like this.



My wife’s MINI has t slot bars, so the Rockymount and 1up worked fine for it but mismatched trays annoyed me.

So, I made changes.

Enter the 1up tray to hitch adapter. Clears the tailgate in the stowed position! Build quality is great and I don’t mind leaving it installed all the time versus the Thule that was showing wear even though it was in the garage almost any time I wasn’t riding because of the length and annoying double motion required to enter the cargo area.





So, what to do when I have the wife and kid along? 2 Yakima Highroad trays. They are aero bar and T slot compatible so they work on both cars and install in minutes.







They even come in the right colors. Plus, since I now have 4 bikes with Lefty forks, I don’t have to use the adapters to roof mount them.

Bonus, I kept my old Rockymount tray so I can go 3 up on the MINI or put it inside the 4Runner for more security without having to put all the rear seats down.

For what I sold all of my old stuff, it was $100 or so out of pocket. More garage space, less clutter, more zen Quen-tin. Pretty happy with this setup for my family of 3 (and 10 bikes )

Latest pickup: minty fresh 2001 Cannondale F700


Looks like it was never ridden. $200 on Facebook. I put another $400 into it with grips, brakes, shorter stem, wider bars, and pedals as my neighborhood whip.



My mountain bike that gets the most love these days is my Bad Habit. I have 29er and 27.5+ wheelsets for it. Weighs a ton more than my XC race bike but so much more fun. I guess I’m hitting that age where having fun matters more than Strava segments.






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2014 Pivot Firebird finished putting it together a couple of weeks ago. Now working on a hardtail frame I just purchase.

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New to the forum so I'm diggin this thread out from the grave. Owned several bikes throughout my time in the Bay Area, CA. Now located in Seattle. My current bike is a 2022 Santa Cruz Chameleon that I built from the frame up. Any other MTB'rs in the PNW? Would love some recommendations for places to go

Now that this thread has been resurrected, I’ll play.

I have a Marin 29er that I bought ~15 yrs ago.

I have only ridden it on a hilly, but paved, bike trail. It has road tires on it right now.

I also have four road bikes, the newest (2014) and nicest being a Pinarello Rokh. The other three are all older, steel framed bikes.

Nice Chameleon!

I'm in Wisconsin, good riding here, surprisingly, if you dig!

I have a 2016 SC Hightower. Love the Santa Cruz lineup each and every year!

Happy trails

Nice whip and welcome to the PNW. Check out EvergreenMTB.com for starters.

If you're in Seattle proper you can head east on i90 and hit up Tiger Mountain, Exit 27, Raging River, and then some. There's even a park under i5 in Seattle. If you're more cross-country there's SeaTac. Then there are a ton of places up in Bellingham, and south my direction on the Key Peninsula.

I mostly ride 360 in Gig Harbor because it's essentially my back yard.

Great suggestions! I visited a bike shop and the guys there also recommended Tiger Mountain. I'll put those on the list, for sure. Actually don't have a car at the moment. Hoping to land a 3rd gen soon. Once I do I'll start heading out haha. Definitely want to try out Bellingham and Galbraith Mountain.

I've tried out Duthie Hill Bike Park already. Holy moly it's packed with kids and definitely more jump parky.

What are peoples thoughts on Transition and Evil?

I’m a transition guy I have an 18 patrol and a 20 TR11. Love ‘em both!

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Duthie is fun, but you're right, it's jumpy. EvergreenMTB has a knack for that. You'll like Tiger. Hook up with the shops and make friends ☺

I know you're looking for a 3rd gen, interested in a 1st gen? 250k 3.0 5 speed.

Ooh, just seeing this post now. I've been riding for years on and off, basically since the mid-90s when I was a kid.

Current ride is a 2022 Ibis Ripmo AF that I bought last fall. Boring looking bike, but I love riding it, it makes me feel like a hero. I can't believe how good this thing climbs for 150 mil rear travel bike. I thought it might be a little bit too much bike for the trails I normally ride. They're fairly rocky and technical, but not too much descending in RI. Turns out the bike was perfect for that though, definitely a good jack of all trades bike.