MEATengines 2022...

Posted by: Vikb

Once I festoon Muhuggers and cargo bags/bottles all over my bikes possibly with a setback dropper and always with an excessively high rise bar I feel like they end up pretty unique if not "pretty". I can appreciate a sleek unencumbered bike under someone else, but I can't avoid the spiral of decisions that leads me down my own particular path. 

I have not had a bike stolen in a long long time so perhaps my choices do have a theft deterrent value. ;-)

Since you mention stolen...

Back in 2014 we got a different vehicle and rack with it. First three days had multiple text messages, emails, and MTB Club FB Goup page posts because some club members thought someone stiole my bike. LOL Apparently being the only guy in Kingston who actually has and rides Chromag frames made it very distinctive- at the times was riding a black Chromag Samurai.

Might explain thinking about it now a year later when got the Stylus frame repaired and back riding that when it was stolen. It completely disappeared unlike all the other stolen bikes in this world's biggest village that get stolen seem to have multiple sightings and so on.

Buying spare wear items always seems to bite me. i.e. if I buy spare brake pads, the brakes they fit will fail in a non repairable way before they're needed. I've taken to ordering parts as needed, or when it'll be needed soon. Tho, I have multiple bikes so am rarely bikeless. Glad you'll be able to ride offroad again Andrew!

Posted by: AndrewMajor

Posted by: [email protected]

However I usually hang on to bikes for many years and over time they get scratched which gives them some uniqueness and some scratches tell a story. I kinda like that. I'll never ride-wrap my bikes.

I love this! Sorry to Ride Wrap and the equivalent but I love all the scars on my bikes.

I've just re-sprayed mine as it's three years old and I was bored with the colour.  It looks reasonable - just used rattle cans from an auto store.  

I wouldn't bother with Ride Wrap - scars tell a story and look cool.

The best finish for AL is raw. The best finish for steel is clear coat. I had a clear coat transition trail or park (dj bike), it was gorgeous, sad day when I buckled the dt. Transition gave me a replacement at cost that unfortunately was bright yellow, oh well.

btw a quick way of shining up a raw Al frame is to polish it with citrus pumice hand soap (you know the kind that actually gets grease off your hands, "fast orange" is the off brand name that I use). I mean, silver polish and 3 days of labor will get the best results, but 15 minutes of fast orange will get you 90% as shiny.

Spotted this from IMB online mag FB feed.

"Delivery times, marketing bla and compatibility issues. The end consumer takes the stage to rant."

The Raging End Consumer.

https://www.imbikemag.com/issue70/?page=133

Posted by: kcy4130

The best finish for AL is raw. The best finish for steel is clear coat. I had a clear coat transition trail or park (dj bike), it was gorgeous, sad day when I buckled the dt. Transition gave me a replacement at cost that unfortunately was bright yellow, oh well.

btw a quick way of shining up a raw Al frame is to polish it with citrus pumice hand soap (you know the kind that actually gets grease off your hands, "fast orange" is the off brand name that I use). I mean, silver polish and 3 days of labor will get the best results, but 15 minutes of fast orange will get you 90% as shiny.

Agreed. My raw aluminum Knolly Fugitive is 3 years old and doesn't look much different from when I bought it. I have spent zero effort on trying to shine it up but the natural oxidation patina looks just fine. I understand that their raw frames are the biggest seller.

Posted by: kcy4130

The best finish for AL is raw. The best finish for steel is clear coat. I had a clear coat transition trail or park (dj bike), it was gorgeous, sad day when I buckled the dt. Transition gave me a replacement at cost that unfortunately was bright yellow, oh well.

btw a quick way of shining up a raw Al frame is to polish it with citrus pumice hand soap (you know the kind that actually gets grease off your hands, "fast orange" is the off brand name that I use). I mean, silver polish and 3 days of labor will get the best results, but 15 minutes of fast orange will get you 90% as shiny.

100% agree on aluminum. Have seen some polish jobs on older frames that were so sweet too. 

For steel there’s a reason companies don’t generally offer those clear finishes anymore. See BTR for a high end example (they recently had an in-depth explanation) but other brands experimented with it as well and abandoned the finish because of rust issues.

I like the patina look personally (going from my ‘02 Balfa Minuteman that had a clear-over-raw finish). Was going to go that way on my V1 Walt but Harald really advocated against it hence ending up with the pink/purple dirty fade.

Posted by: skooks

Agreed. My raw aluminum Knolly Fugitive is 3 years old and doesn't look much different from when I bought it. I have spent zero effort on trying to shine it up but the natural oxidation patina looks just fine. I understand that their raw frames are the biggest seller.

Another reason to buy raw, if a company offers it, is those frames are always pulled first in terms of having the nicest welds. (Or at least that’s true of brands I’ve talked to). 

That doesn’t mean they’re aligned properly etc, but it’s still a visual indication of premium quality.

Regarding Triple B's

I made this decal for a tall female's Santa Cruz TallBoy

Posted by: taprider

Regarding Triple B's

I made this decal for a tall female's Santa Cruz TallBoy

That is sweet.

Posted by: kcy4130

Buying spare wear items always seems to bite me. i.e. if I buy spare brake pads, the brakes they fit will fail in a non repairable way before they're needed. I've taken to ordering parts as needed, or when it'll be needed soon. Tho, I have multiple bikes so am rarely bikeless. Glad you'll be able to ride offroad again Andrew!

have to agree with this. no sooner than months after I ordered 4 sets of pads for my "these last forever!" XT brakes did i toast one of the bar mounts and the piston on the other one wore out. Has anyone tried out the Loam Goat pads? local to vancouver and cheap... Seems like a cool option.

I tend to use the same parts on multiple bikes. So if a set of Shimano brakes dies even if I don't replace them with Shimano brakes the extra pads will get used. Just this week I was riding with a friend and her brakes were making some bad noises so post-ride we looked at them and they were almost to the backing. She was running Shimano brakes so I had spare pads which we would have been stuck for since it was past LBS hours. If you are running relatively common components you aren't going to be stuck with normal spares for them.

Posted by: silverbansheebike

Posted by: kcy4130

Buying spare wear items always seems to bite me. i.e. if I buy spare brake pads, the brakes they fit will fail in a non repairable way before they're needed. I've taken to ordering parts as needed, or when it'll be needed soon. Tho, I have multiple bikes so am rarely bikeless. Glad you'll be able to ride offroad again Andrew!

have to agree with this. no sooner than months after I ordered 4 sets of pads for my "these last forever!" XT brakes did i toast one of the bar mounts and the piston on the other one wore out. Has anyone tried out the Loam Goat pads? local to vancouver and cheap... Seems like a cool option.

I bought some Loam Goat XT 4 piston pads. Work ok, good thickness for lever feel, no weird heat issues, no weird sounds. Excellent price point! 

Would buy again.

Posted by: AndrewMajor

Posted by: kcy4130

The best finish for AL is raw. The best finish for steel is clear coat. I had a clear coat transition trail or park (dj bike), it was gorgeous, sad day when I buckled the dt. Transition gave me a replacement at cost that unfortunately was bright yellow, oh well.

btw a quick way of shining up a raw Al frame is to polish it with citrus pumice hand soap (you know the kind that actually gets grease off your hands, "fast orange" is the off brand name that I use). I mean, silver polish and 3 days of labor will get the best results, but 15 minutes of fast orange will get you 90% as shiny.

100% agree on aluminum. Have seen some polish jobs on older frames that were so sweet too. 

For steel there’s a reason companies don’t generally offer those clear finishes anymore. See BTR for a high end example (they recently had an in-depth explanation) but other brands experimented with it as well and abandoned the finish because of rust issues.

I like the patina look personally (going from my ‘02 Balfa Minuteman that had a clear-over-raw finish). Was going to go that way on my V1 Walt but Harald really advocated against it hence ending up with the pink/purple dirty fade.

I would love to raw / clear coat the front of my Murmur (with a black rear end) but I have read so much advice against it.  Joe from Starling mentioned that the clear lacquer is much more porous than paint therefore rust builds up underneath.  Saying that I wouldn't be adverse to having it re-done every year as part of a yearly rebuild.  Waxing / oiling sounds interesting tho.