This is my ideal epic ride bike for Westwoods. It has over 6” travel front and back, (anything less and my bikes seem to snap like twigs). A sub-four pound Maverick Front Fork, DT wheels that won’t fail, disc brakes to stay above the mud and wet, and it weighs around 28lbs. so I can cover a serious amount of trails in a short time.

 

Even if I’m going out to explore, it seems pointless to just hike unless I have a lot of time on my hands. My bike injects me deeper into the woods, faster than I could by hiking alone, (I contend that it’s also safer, but that’s because I tend to trip on roots when hiking and feel more secure under a couple of wheels).

I tend to push this bike up hills toward the end of a ride. But going down makes me seek out the highest elevations in the forest. It’s worth cranking this 36 pound monster up, so I can rocket down at speed. It also lets me forget about obstacles in the trail. I can ride over most rocks the size of nearly the size of ponies without a shutter, on this bad boy. With the gift of ledge rock, from Mom nature and the quarrymen of past, you need something like this to hold up to the beating.

 

In future articles I will get more specific.

Westwoods in Guilford, CT is a destination for bikes of all types. My bikes feature a lot of suspension, lean towards durability over weight, have numerous gears. I ride with people whose bikes don’t have gears or suspension. But the one thing we share is that we all love our bikes. Here’s mine: