NSMB - 2022 - Hardtail Thread...

Posted by: Ned

Cracked a weld on the seat tube gusset where it joins the top tube.... sad day but it's not wall art yet.

Any of you epicureans know of anyone qualified to make the repair?

I broke two of those. They have a lifetime warranty! The last one I broke, they didn't have another ti honzo so I got a process for a slight upgrade fee. I wouldn't bother fixing it personally.

Bilenky posted one of these he was repairing recently. Had also gone at the ST / collar gusset.

Thanks Heinous, possible plan B.  

RAHrider, therein lies the rub, no equivalent to replace it with so back to a fully the old dog goes.

Posted by: Ned

RAHrider, therein lies the rub, no equivalent to replace it with so back to a fully the old dog goes.

Ask for a warranty swap for 2 steel frames....maybe a Honzo ESD and a Unit or whatever floats your boat? Build the Honzo as a hardtail and the Unit as a low cost SS rigid machine. Going FS isn't the only option.

Nope, it is not and nothing is permanent.  A FS fits some ride plans I have and the needle jumped out of the haystack so I will pursue and see where/how it goes.  

And, if fixing the Honzo is a bust I will find a steelie to hang the Honzo's guts upon.  More as I know.

Did you talk to Sam @Naked?  He seems to work primarily in ti these days.

I packed a saw and a shovel to recon the Cumberland trails and do some maintenance. Despite snow in the open areas there was a lot of good riding with hero dirt and packed snow in various areas. 

Having gears was a novelty in Cumby. It sure makes the riding easier and more relaxed. Not better or worse....just different.

I didn't get to break out the shovel once. Zero puddles to drain. In fact I was pretty blown away by how dry the dirt sections of trail were.

I cleared a lot of fallen branches off the trail, but came across just one tree I couldn't move without cutting it in half.

I wore gaiters to keep dry, but they weren't needed. The snow was hard so I could walk/ride on top and there were no puddles/mud to deal with.

There was a ton of great riding to be had with just enough HAB/access challenges due to the open areas to keep most people away.

I'm going to explore higher next week and see what's shaking further off the main trails. I'm optimistic for some really fun riding.

Posted by: tashi

Did you talk to Sam @Naked?  He seems to work primarily in ti these days.

No hablo who that or the operation is.  So I plugged it into Goggle and it jogged my memory about the dude up on Quadra I once read an article on. Thanks for that!

Posted by: Vikb

If you'll indulge me with another bit of rambling about bike nerdery...another thing I have learned [just for my own situation/preferences] is that there is such a thing as too much dropper drop. I swung for the fences and put a 200mm dropper on the Bird. It fits fine so that's not the issue. What I am finding is that I am missing the more useful end point saddle height of my 150mm & 175mm dropper on other bikes. My habit on my bikes is to ride the saddle down until it hits bottom when I drop it. That position is low enough I can attack a descent just fine, but it's also high enough I can sit and pedal comfortably for those intermediate sections where you don't need to stand, but you know you'll need the saddle down in a moment or two so it's not worth futzing with the dropper lever. On the 200mm dropper the low end point is so low it comical and I can't sit and pedal. It's also so low I don't feel like I am getting any incremental benefit with that extra 25mm drop vs. a 175mm dropper.

I have been trying to lower the saddle without hitting the bottom of the drop range. That sort of works, but has some issues #1 it takes some extra brain power right when I am getting ready to drop into something spicy [hence lowering the saddle] and #2 the saddle ends up at different heights each time which is annoying and takes a bit of attention to adjust to. So while this does improve things it adds in some new problems that I don't enjoy.

So one of my projects for today is to watch some YT videos on the method for adjusting the drop on my PNW post. I think I can set it between 170-200mm. I'll go all the way to 170mm and see how that feels.

In the future I'll shoot for 175mm droppers. That seems like the sweet spot for me.

I have short legs and have the opposite problem. Long dropper posts put my saddle too high and don't fit  into my seat tube far enough. The sweet spot for me is 175-180 mm. I am riding a small frame with a short seat tube, and a 180mm one up slammed as far as it will go is perfect.

Finally built up my custom Egerie hardtail with matching Formula Selva R fork. 

Slackish and longish (63.5 ha and 510 reach) built with Reynolds 853 and Columbus Zona. 

And no, the Mag21 replica look was not intentional, but I think it looks alright :)

Posted by: olaa

Finally built up my custom Egerie hardtail with matching Formula Selva R fork. 

Slackish and longish (63.5 ha and 510 reach) built with Reynolds 853 and Columbus Zona. 

And no, the Mag21 replica look was not intentional, but I think it looks alright :)

Nice looking ride!

Posted by: PowellRiviera

Nice looking ride!

The matching fork is a nice touch.

Posted by: skooks

I have short legs and have the opposite problem. Long dropper posts put my saddle too high and don't fit  into my seat tube far enough. The sweet spot for me is 175-180 mm. I am riding a small frame with a short seat tube, and a 180mm one up slammed as far as it will go is perfect.

I really like the new easy tool-free drop adjust mechanisms. It's great to buy a dropper and not have to get the drop nailed based on geo charts and such. It also makes moving them between bikes nice to adjust to different situations. Such a nice feature.

Yeah that is a nice feature. With my Short seat tube it's tricky to optimize the post insertion, saddle height, and travel. A long-travel post doesn't work for me because I can't insert it far enough. Then my dropped position is too high and I have to shim the post alot to get the proper extended position. 180mm is almost fully inserted and doesn't need shimming.