So here are a series of short video tutorials on hot to shoot steadicam videos by Sebastien Montaz-Rosset, famous for his slack line and wing-suit base jumping videos.
So what is rebound damping in a MTB suspension fork really?
Think about this - every time you ride over an obstacle on the mountain bike trail, your front wheel takes the shock. The suspension fork compresses as to absorb the impact shock and then it bounces right back. The rebound damping mechanism controls the speed at which the the fork comes back.
Keeping the tire in permanent contact with the ground is the main job of this mechanism. You can control the rebound depending on the terrain you're rolling. Leaving the rebound in the fast mode means your fork will bounce back quickly, transferring the force into your arms through the handlebar and making the front wheel loose contact with the ground. Instead of having a smooth ride you get a bumpy run. That's why keeping the rebound lever somewhere in the middle is advisable.
If it takes a fraction of a second for the fork to sink as you hit a rock or dip into a hole in the trail, then the fork will come back to its initial state in more than one second when the rebound is on slow mode. This is good for you (the cyclist) because you can keep control of your bike (direction) due to the permanent grip between the tire tread and the trail - which is granted by the slow rebound.
Adjusting Front Suspension Damper Settings on Downhill Mountain Bikes
Have you ever wondered what's the story behind building mountain bike trails? It's something that you may take for granted but there's serious work and planning for each MTB singletrack out there.
Of course you can build your own trail without going through all the trouble with permits from authorities, forestry people and so on. But by doing so you might do harm that you cannot see. The impact of any human action in a natural environment can be crucial to certain species of wildlife and flora and can also cause soil erosion, ravines, etc.
Below is a collection of videos made by International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and United States Forest Service (USFS) that teaches you how to build and maintain mountain biking trails - they also published this book. Use these clips as well as the bullet-ed transcripts as a reference in designing your dream MTB course.
Building Sustainable Singletrack Video - Intro
Mountain biking is one of the most popular activities around the world.
It offers exercise, adventure, challenge, thrills and solitude.
There different riding stiles: Cross country riders are looking for long rides to increase their endurance. Downhill riders are seeking speed and technical challenge. Free riders want the thrills and excitement of conquering obstacles.
Singletrack riding is an exciting outdoor experience that provides a close connection with nature. It takes concentration, skill and physical aptitude but it's also esthetically pleasing.
A singletrack 14 to 18 inches wide takes you through the geological features of the landscape being also easier to keep from eroding.
The trails can also be used for hiking and horse riding.
Chapter 1 - Most Important Steps
Build relationships and gain permission from land owner and/or manager.
Show them that the trail will benefit them and other people as well - a good and popular trail can bring revenue in the area through tourism.
Bring a detailed proposal showing the goals and the benefits of the trail. Spend time in the field with the land agency and discuss the obstacles you want to have in the trail and other technical aspects.
Be patient! It takes time for your trail design to be approved.
Consider the environmental study that must be done prior to building the trail. This will help preserve wildlife, flora and particular landscape features. Building a legal trail must pass through this process but the convenience of this step being fulfilled is that the trail will get attention, maintenance and support from all parties involved (local authorities, individual cyclists, non profit organizations, etc).
Avoid the two design mistakes that cause water to erode trails:
Building the trail on the prevailing slope (fall line) - water erodes the track and as bikers try to avoid the ruts, the track becomes wider and wider, spoiling the singletrack experience.
Another design flaw is building the trail on flat terrain - rain water will form puddles and mud which will then be avoided by cyclists thus leading to widening the trail.
Keep water off the trail and most other thinks will take care of themselves.
Chapter 3 - Designing Sustainable Trails
Use a contour map and draw your trail, taking the biker to all points of interest like waterfalls, lakes, rocks, scenic overlooks, etc.
Use loops as to add adventure to your trails. Each loop may have a part that overlaps with another trail of higher difficulty. Easy, wide and accessible trails should be closer to the trail head.
The key for trail sustainability is to have water run across the trail, not down it.
The 10% average guideline says that for each uphill and downhill section, the average grade of inclination should be of 10% or less. To calculate this, divide the elevation rise over the run (distance) - e.g. an uphill section of 475 feet elevation that measures one mile in distance (5280 feet): 475/5280=0.9 ~ 10%. Calculate this for each ascending and descending section of your trackand keep it below 10%.
The half rule says that the trail must have an inclination equal to half of the hill's slope. In order to find out the slope of a hill or mountain you need to use a clinometer. Don't use spray paint for marking the line of your trail - use flagging tape instead (it can be removed after the work on the trail is done).
The maximum sustainable grade states thatwhen a hill slope is too steep you may exceed the 10% average inclinationbut this is conditioned by the type of soil, amount of rock, annual rainfall and users (traffic).Example: trail grades can be steeper on solid rock but dry soil require gentle grades.
Add ups and down to your trail - grade reversals. Their purpose is to help water exit off the trail. Look for natural depressions or obstacles that will force the trail to go up and down every 20 to 50 feet.These will also add thrill to the ride.
To keep water running across your trail, you need to ensure the path has a 5% outslope tread. This means the outer edge of the trail tilts slightly down-slope.
Avoid sharp zig-zags when designing a trail on a steep slope - the sharp turns disrupt the natural uphill riding flow and cause bikers to skid when cycling downhill. The skid marks cause erosion which you want to avoid at all costs. Instead, you can follow milder slopes and design larger turns (20 feet radius of the curve) having grade reversals both before and after the turn (water escapes).
Chapter 4 - Let's Get Dirty
Outline the trail with pin flags either in the middle of the track or on the side - make sure to inform the working team about the way you marked it.
Cover safety issues in the technical meetings. Pay close attention to the circle of death - a man working with his tool shouldn't reach a fellow worker - that is to say space each other out while working on the trail. Wear protective equipment like gloves, hard hats and sturdy boots. Bring food and water with you.
For easy trails you may want to remove obstacles but for more challenging routes you should leave down logs and rocks as to add the extra push for the rider.
Clean the corridor by trimming trees and bushes. Leave arching vegetation above the trail for a closer connection with nature. Natural landmarks like small tress left near the edge of the trail will keep bikers within a reasonable speed limit while keeping the trail from becoming wider.
Dig the trail in a full bench - cutting the whole tread in the hillside. This design is recommended because it creates a stable tread and requires less maintenance.
Shape the backslope for an even transition form the hillside to the tread. Use a McCloud tool for compacting the trail and the backslope. All the margins should be smooth.
Outslope the tread - a McCloud tool will lean slightly downhill when placed on the trail - that's how you can measure the outslope.
Disguise the construction efforts by covering dirt (resulted after digging the trail) with the branches, leaves and grass you got when cleaning the corridor. Make the trail look like it's been there for years.
Chapter 5 - Armoring
Armoring is a method used to harden section of trails where the soil is too soft or the slope is too steep. It consist of embedding flat rocks into the tread. Define the sides of the armored area with logs or rocks to keep rider on the trail.
Water crossings can also be done using armoring, especially where the water is shallow. Bridges involve spending money and having engineers in the team - it's more convenient to design the trail to lead through parts of the stream where armoring will suffice.
Chapter 6 - Creating Challenge
Technical trails don't require mountains. Work with what you have, no matter where you are. Use natural obstacles (rocks, logs, bumps), add exposure and you will design a thrilling trail.
Create landing zones sloping downward 5% to 15% for drop-offs. Give warnings of the challenges ahead - provide good sight lines or add signs.
Place high skill level qualifiers at the beginning of the trail as to let the biker know about the type of trail he/she is entering into. This will help the rider asses early on whether the trail is within his/her capabilities.
A well designed trail with fun contour lines and challenging obstacles will keep riders coming again and again. Make your trail as popular as possible.
Chapter 7 - Maintaining Trails
A trail needs to be maintained on a regular basis.
Reopen the corridor by trimming vegetation and removing fallen tress.
Restore the 5% outslope - remove the excess dirt on the outer edge of the trail. Remember to compact the entire surface.
Improve water drainage bu building knicks where puddles form. Use foam balls to find out where the water will flow on your track (forming ruts) and where it will stagnate.
If for some reason drainage problems persist you may consider re-routing your trail.
Chapter 8 - Reclaiming Trails
Reclaiming portions of damaged trails is as important as designing sustainable singletrack.
Loosen the dirt at least two inches deep after which add logs, rock, grass (turf), plant trees or shrubs. This will scare off bikers, pushing them to ride the re- route.
You can buy the book (Trail Solutions) and learn more about building sweet singletrackhere.
I had a hard time getting the water to boil as all the wood I used was either wet or damp. For this reason this first test is not relevant. The water became hot enough for the broth to get done but that's not satisfactory for me - I want it to get to boiling temperature.
The design seems to be good - with the tin can and the fire grate. However I would add some more lateral holes (air intakes) for a better ventilation and more efficient burning. The triangle holes at the top of the can allow the flame to get out and envelop the pot - which is a nice thing to watch as you're cooking your meal outdoors.
I must stress that I had about 1.5 liters of water in the pot. Perhaps I could have got a cup of water to boil in a few minutes. I normally cook a consistent broth for two or three persons when I go mountaineering and camping so I needed to see how the hobo stove would handle such a task.
It took me about 30 minutes to get the broth to an edible state... I guess this time can be improved with dried wood and some small adjustments to the design of the stove. It's crucial to have a constant flame hitting the pot.
Try to make your own hobo stove and leave me a comment or a video response with your experience. Cheers!
But since I embrace DIY and improvisation I gave it a shot in making one. I used the plastic plate on which the camera is mounted when you get it boxed. I failed! And then I just used the helmet mount which I strapped onto the tripod head - it was that easy!
The advantages of improvising a tripod mount
You don't need to carry additional pieces. The GoPro accessories are small and easy to loose and if you choose to use the helmet mount on your tripod you just solved the problem. You are more likely to carry the helmet mount all the time.
The quick release buckle is your friend. Just have a look at the original tripod mount for GoPro camera and you'll see it cannot work with any of the quick release buckles (that's just silly). In order to use it, you must unscrew the camera from your mount and then fix in place the tripod accessory and then mount it on the tripod - too much work for an action sports camera!!! With my improvisation (I'm sure others have figured it out as well) you can have your camera on the tripod in a snap.
It makes you feel smart and self reliant! - this is my biggest motivator - :-)
If you want to change the theme of your Blogger blog, now it's easier than ever! Blogger in Draft is a service from Blogger that allows users to test upcoming features of this free blogging platform. You can log in to Blogger in Draft using your Google or Blogger account and benefit from all the new cool stuff that's being prepared.
Even though the tested features are only available there, the changes you make to the blog's design apply permanently to your Blogspot blog. So before you make any changes, save your current layout if you'd like to switch back to your old template later.
With the new template designer you can:
create new columns for your blog (two columns or three columns blog)
create new columns in the blog's footer (split footer column, add extra fields)
adjust the width of any column by sliding a marker (see the changes take effect in real time)
add a background image to your blog (choose from lots of quality pictures and patterns hosted on iStockphoto.com - nature, sports, travel, science and other categories)
15 new, highly-customizable templates from our design team, split into four families: Simple, Picture Window, Awesome Inc, and Watermark
One-, two-, and three-column layouts for each template, with complete control over the size and arrangement of the columns
Hundreds of background images and patterns from iStockphoto, the leading microstock image marketplace
Try it Now Go to http://draft.blogger.com/ to log in to Blogger in Draft. (If you’ve never been there before, Blogger in Draft is just like regular Blogger, except with new, in-development features like this one.) Click on your blog’s “Layout” link to go to the Layout tab. The link to the Template Designer is at the end of the row of sub-tabs.
With these new design options, Blogger gives you more control over the look of your blog - just like WordPress premium themes. I still wonder whether a blogging platform, given the same content, can make a difference in a blog's traffic... What do you think?
You may see many GoPro HD videos that are either shaky or they have that "click" noise in the background. This is mostly because the quick mounts aren't so tight - there's a backlash between the quick release buckle and the mount. And if you use the long arm for your camera you'll get an even shakier footage - that's silly for the most popular action sports camera...
I saw the little orange rubber in my GoPro kit and I had no idea what it was for. The video above made it clear for me but it's a bit too late now... I've already fixed my shaky camera mounts by adding two or three layers of duct tape to them, as you can see in the picture below. I believe my solution is better as you can loose the orange rubber whereas the duct tape will remain in place with no effort on your part.
I love fire! For a few simple reasons: it brings light, it gives me warmth and it makes me happy.
There are occasions, often while being up on the mountains, when I light a fire for pure joy, just to lift my spirit. And since I'm such a big fan of fire I should be able to light one in almost any type of weather conditions, right? I thought so too but in my last mountaineering trip I had a little bit of a struggle...
It was dark, freezing cold, the snow was big and all the wood we could find was either wet or frozen. We even tried to light the fire using one of our camping mini-stove and still failed. So then we brainstormed and came up with a neat solution that worked first time like magic:
Over prepare your fire starter fuel! Don't you ever think you've gathered too many twigs or that they are too thin. More is better and thinner is even better. Also, any other type of tinder will help - you can't find much in wintertime though - dry grass, leaves, pieces of dry tree bark.
Find a small opening between trees. You want the smoke to go up and you don't want to set the forest on fire.
Clear the snow or tread on it until you have a flat spot for your fire.
Make a U shaped bed for your fire. You don't want to waste the fire's energy for melting the snow, at least in the beginning you don't want that as the fire is weak. Also by doing this, you will ensure a better ventilation for your fire as it will be slightly above the ground. Build the bed out of spruce branches, dried wood of various thicknesses.
Take a few medium sticks and roll them into sheets of paper. Three or four will do.
Put the kindling paper inside the U shaped bed and add the "paper sticks" across the bed.
Add the bundle of thin twigs and tinder on top of the establishment.
Light the paper under the paper sticks. Try to light it from both sides so you'll increase the chances of drinking hot soup later.
You should now have a lively flame which asks for more wood. So add more wood to the fire. Increase the thickness of the wood as the fire grows stronger.
Now you can prepare your food, get some warmth, dry your clothes and let's not forget - tell stories by the fire.
Conclusions: It's essential to prepare thoroughly all the details before kindling. If the wood is wet or frozen you need more paper for starting out your fire. More tinder plus very thin twigs are always smart things to have before building the fire.
These tips are not necessarily for a survival situation. I usually carry matches and paper when I go outdoors, trekking or hiking, for more than one day. I sincerely believe it's good to be prepared for bad situations - frost or falling into water or whatever - and carrying some extra gear and gadgets is one way of being prepared for the unexpected.
I've learned that some bikers don't know how to fix a flat tire on their bike. Of course, there are many "How to" resources and tutorials out there. This is just one of them.
Also, this video on how to fix a flat bike tire may help.
Tips:
You don't need the yellow levers the guy uses in this video; any slim pointed object like a a key, a small wrench will do just fine.
After you remove the tube, pass your fingers along the inner side of the tire as to feel any sharp object that may have created the puncture; you may find small pieces of glass, wire, nails, staples.
Inspect thoroughly the tread of your tire as you may find objects (sharp pieces of rock, etc.) that only half penetrated the tire - these objects may not have created your current flat but they can cause a future one as they will go deeper into your tire till the tube is reached and punctured. Mountain bike tires tend to gather such sharp objects in their soft and thick rubber.
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