Does anyone need an update anymore?

Concerning packs vs on-bike storage... I guess it depends on the kind of trails or use. I bought a Camelbak Repack LR4 on sale and I had never expected it to change my riding experience that much.

I drink 500-700ml of water while driving to the trails, then I can do a 3hr ride with my 1.5l reservoir. I swapped the Camelbak reservoir for a Dakine which is slimmer without the big plastic water opening which has saved me some space in the pack. Everything I need to cover repairs fits in the space left : a 29" tube, tubeless bacon strips, multitool with chain tool, tire levers and spare chain links, clif bars, small first-aid kit, small Lezyne pump, 2 bandanas for emergencies, car keys, cell phone. I can also bring a small jersey or rain coat tightened around it or clipped in a small pouch over the pack.

Some people hate the hip pack feeling, but even fully loaded, I don't even think about it. Most of my rides start with a long uphill though, so I have time to drink a bit of water and adapt to the weight maybe. All the pockets are well placed and I can easily access a Clif bar on the right and multitool on the left without having to undo the pack. No sweaty back is awesome!

I'd totally stuff everything I could on my fat bike if I had bags and stuff, but since I don't want/need to buy those, I carry a waterbottle on the bike and the rest in the hip pack. Fat bike trails here aren't technical so I don't mind having more things strapped to it.

Oh, and concerning the updates, I'm waiting on the new E13 tires that should come out at some point (saw them on Remy Metailler's new bike), and a few other non-vital items that are backorder (stem, pedals). I'll grab them as soon as they are out but it's not a necessity, just a little refresh to have a new bike feeling on my 1-year-old steed : )

USWE airborne 3 pack. 

Has a 2L bladder and a clip off external pouch and works well for just a single lap or heading out for a full day if you need more water. Most of the time I don’t use the bladder or the external pouch and I don’t even know it’s there.

Posted by: tashi

I find it easier to spin higher cadences if I shift forward and easier to grind if I shift backward on the seat. Shifting the seat forward is just an extension of this

Lance comment was just for context - I started grinding because of Indurain, I started spinning because of (post cancer) Lance. I started shifting my position forward on the MTB when I started connecting the dots with my back pain.  Edit: I started shifting my cleats back a bit, and got a bit fussier about “KOPS” at the same time, probably complicating any analysis...

I deal with numb hands as well, but in my case, it’s something that pinches in my upper back so having the back all lined up is what fixes it. I like weight on the front end for aggressive riding, both mountain and road, but I think if your seat angle is tipping you forward enough that you’re always shifting back or it’s affecting the pressure on the handlebars you’ve taken it too far.

I don’t have a lot of pressure on my saddle in my high-performance bikes (pedaling hard, standing up, throwing the bike around, etc) so saddle position for me is mostly about getting the hips and knees in the right spot. doesn’t matter too much what saddle I’m running as long as it’s out of the way so I use Flites. It’s a different story for touring and city bikes - I tend to set those up so I have very little pressure on the hands and my taint etc are all comfy sitting for a long time. No idea how seat tube angles play into the taint comfort part of the equation as there seem to be a lot of - ahem - moving parts in that department.

Man I like nerding out on this stuff too! I’ve figured a few things out over the years with my setup having these conversations trying to understand other people’s setups.

I think I get what you are saying. I suspect you are not so much noticing the sta as your hip position (rocked forwards). When you have your hips tilted too far backwards it is hard to engage your quads. That being said, you can rotate your hips forwards in any seat position depending on the size of your gut and back flexibility. It is definitely easier to tilt the hips forwards if you have a steeper sta.

As for Lance, I get it. He was awesome at the time. It's too bad that people can't get over the fact that he's a douche and everyone in professional road cycling is cheating and many other racers are also primadonas and douches. When it came out that he had been doping like crazy it didn't change my view of him at all - I figured he was doping and a douche before he got caught. Did everyone else really think he won the tour over and over clean while other teams had their managers being stopped at the boarder with suitcases full of performance enhancing drugs? People need to stop idolized athletes. 

Finally, your hand numbness generally doesn't come from your back, unless you mean neck? All the nerves in your arms leave the spine before the thoracic spine (above the little nob at the bottom of your neck).

Numb hands can be from wrist issues as well. I run slip on grips as it,s helped with numb hands while climbing.

We're one big train wreck here eh. 

That's what happens when you spend your youth swinging a pick and digging ridiculous stunts which you then repeatedly drop to flat off of. Bah, it was worth it.

Which slip on grips are you liking?

Posted by: DemonMike

Numb hands can be from wrist issues as well. I run slip on grips as it,s helped with numb hands while climbing.

Slip on grips have awesome high frequency absorption too.

Posted by: Hepcat

We're one big train wreck here eh. 

That's what happens when you spend your youth swinging a pick and digging ridiculous stunts which you then repeatedly drop to flat off of. Bah, it was worth it.

Which slip on grips are you liking?

ODI F1  Vapors . Similar feel to the ESI and the likes . But more durable when banging into trees and such.

http://odigrips.com/store/mtb/mtb-products/f-1-vapor-mtb-ply-grips

I would change out the ESI yearly due to then tearing and drying out a bit. ODI,s are on their 3rd season. Granted I did not ride much last year.

Posted by: DemonMike

Posted by: Hepcat

We're one big train wreck here eh. 

That's what happens when you spend your youth swinging a pick and digging ridiculous stunts which you then repeatedly drop to flat off of. Bah, it was worth it.

Which slip on grips are you liking?

ODI F1  Vapors . Similar feel to the ESI and the likes . But more durable when banging into trees and such.

http://odigrips.com/store/mtb/mtb-products/f-1-vapor-mtb-ply-grips

I would change out the ESI yearly due to then tearing and drying out a bit. ODI,s are on their 3rd season. Granted I did not ride much last year.

That's crazy durability for silicone grips. I agree that these help immensely with hand comfort. I will never use lock on grips again. Hope aluminum bar end plugs offer some protection against trees. I'll have to give the odi version a go. I tried to cheap out and got a set of silicone grips from aliexpress. They are useless. I didn't even need an aircompressor to skip them on. Didn't even bother riding with them. 99cent experiment that went straight into the garbage.