AndrewMajor profile

My goal was to split the difference - nothing stupid light, still running inserts, etc. You mean splitting the split distance?!

On the hardtail, now that we’re back to perfect Shore conditions I’m back to my Plus setup. It’s worth the weight.

To be fair, it’s not like I put on a pair of 2.4” Aspens and road off into the woods.

It’s a 2.4” DHR2 EXO+ up front with CushCore XC inserts in both wheels. Hardly a weight weenie setup.

That said, now that things are greasy again, for the hardtail at least I certainly miss the big, soft, sticky rubber and full sized inserts.

Thanks for the mention of Tairin. One of those companies I’m aware of but I’ve never actually dig into or looked at one of their hubs in person.

That's a heck of a customer service story! In addition to trail advocacy, they are also a brand that's been thinking a lot about packaging for a while now. Lots of great things going on an I9.

Ugh. We were in the same boat and the locals ran out of the unscented ones occasionally as it was. I empathize endlessly.

Really? What's your favourite aspect? The 3mm hex-head bolts instead of a minor redesign to keep faceplates from cracking?

I love snow rides… it’s like daylight on the lowest setting.

I’ve never owned a GoPro. Just bought their standard stick-on helmet mount at the local camera shop.

If you look above you’ll see I apologized already for my comment regarding tow ropes: Oct. 20, 2021, 5:16 p.m.

Every parent/family needs to figure out the best situation for their kid(s). Obviously, as with e~bikes, there are arguments for accessibility that couldn’t exist on a regular bicycles and what heartfelt person would deny that a tow rope is a universally great object in those situations.

Just as it pains me to see all the companies pushing e~bikes in kids sizes now, I don’t agree with what I see as a hyper doing it for our kids culture. I love the DIY nature of mountain biking and have always endeavoured to present the activity to my daughter as I found it.

At the end of the day, does it really matter what I believe? No. And, if an assist is getting them in the woods, and it’s not hurting anyone else (affecting access, etc), I’ll try to keep my opinions to myself.

——

That’s not going to be an issue for our family. There are a plethora of trails my kid can already get to that she won’t be riding for years. At seven, she’s regularly climbing Penny Lane / GSM / BP to the power lines on Seymour which opens us to a lot of terrain. Similarly we’ve accessed a lot of area in the couple other places we’ve visited (Squamish, Cumberland).

That’s certainly not because she’s been endowed with tons of natural athletic ability, or that she’s uncharacteristically tenacious, or etc. It’s about patience, fun, patience, support, patience, and repetition. She loves experiencing improvement, and doing things for herself, and puts in the effort. I don’t think that’s unique in anyway, that’s always been my experience working with kids with a whole range of abilities.

My experiences with I9 have been much better than Hope. Plus, can’t get over the plastic “seal” on the Hope drive system.

DT Star Rachet is always solid but, as you note, completely uninspiring. For money money it’s 5-degrees of engagement or faster.

Posted by: RAHrider

I can't even imagine not being able to ride because my chain is worn out and I can't get another.

KMC single speed chains are still readily available in like 34 different colours, there is no shortage of metric bolts, and single speed cogs and spacer kits are readily available.

Just space your derailleur cage wider for the wider chain, set those limits (may need longer high and low limit screws), and install a cog.

Back riding under $100 with a budget cog.

Posted by: velocipedestrian

Isn't this Honzo one that's been featured around these parts before?

From a Pinkbike article on bike theft.

Frame was recovered after my friend JL chased it down across Vancouver (on foot). JL is a f***ing legend for recovering stolen bikes.

It lives with my buddy “Bone Spurs” Brent now. If you ever see it out on the trails be sure to say “Hi Bone Spurs!”

Many other special parts never made it home... like my limited production grey North Shore Billet bash ring.

Most importantly, I never recovered my king wheels. An old set of Pewter King hubs laced to raw Velocity Blunt rims. Monetary and sentimental value in a rare if not one if a kind wheel set. I’ll recognize those wheels anywhere thanks to some custom details so if you ever see them on a car or on the trail I’d appreciate a heads up.

Posted by: Poz

Posted by: taprider

you guys are making 2x and 3x sound better and better ;-)

Nah, then we would be debating the finer points of chainring ramp, how to fit multiple rings in a boost frame, and how to fit a front shifter and dropper remote on a single matchmaker to a brake lever!

Manual shift with dual N/W rings. Only need the Grannie for the brutal climbs and taking a few seconds at the top to breathe/shift is no big deal.

Bonus points for getting back to running a super short cage and lower unsprung weight.

Two things I’ve been reminding my friends & frenemies:

A friction shifter will allow you to combine almost any derailleur / cassette with the right chain and even some of the time with the almost-right chain. Having one around isn’t just a replacement for any shifter in your fleet it’s also the skeleton key of intercompatibility! Now you can run Eagle with that old 9-speed cassette in your bin.

You’re less than a dollar away - in the form of two bolts - from turning any derailleur into a tensioner and, by extension, any bike into a single speed. Replace those limit screws and answer the universe’s call for you to be in the wrong gear all the time! Any chain will do, it’s still easy to get an SS cog if you don’t want to just leave your cassette on, and away you go. Beautiful.

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: thaaad

We do have the space for it and I do really love it. 

I'd keep it for this winter. Re-evaluate in the Spring. As long as the above is true and you ride it then keeping it makes sense. If you find you are not riding it sell it come Spring when bike fever is peaking.

Strongly disagree. If you have a Chromag (or any hardtail) with fixed dropouts flip it ASAP! Pretty strong rumour going around that Chromag is finally adding sliders to some of their frames!!! 

Now all you slow-to-conform single speeders will have the ‘option’ to ride bikes a better way!

Covid wants you to single speed! Why else would there be no Eagle chains until July!?!?!?!??!?!?!???

I think the big advantage of CC over other systems remains the run-flat ability.

It’s not that combinations of different tires/inserts can’t create a similar ride but rather the fact that you do in a tire and you’re still walking out or putting in a tube.

How much value that has (versus cost, weight, install) will depend on the tire but it’s really strange to me (not intended as a comment directly to you Ryan, but as a general observation) that the majority of “it’s like CushCore but... insert price, weight, install” comments don’t mention this fact.

Also, short of some awful experiences with true-2-ply “DH” tires, CC really isn’t that hard to install.

I stopped carrying a tube and honestly - as much of a ‘scout as I am - I only carry a pump/plugs because NSMB wheel testing policy is no inserts during test period.

Any other insert I’ve played with I’m back to carrying a tube/plugs/pump all the time.

I’m a well documented fan of Wolf Tooth’s CAMO system. The stainless N/W rings more than pay for themselves in terms of longevity and I’ve run the same rings on e13, RaceFace, SRAM, and FSA (Cannondale) cranks thanks to the swappable spiders.

Not cheap but very nicely made, high quality, and small batch USA manufacturing. And actually, compared to the price of SRAM Eagle rings even the initial purchase price doesn’t seem that crazy.

Anyways, early days but I’ve been liking their new bashguard version. It does look better with my 32t oval ring compared to this 30t. But it spreads the load out when I thump it with either size installed.

How about a 10mm long Mondraker DM stem from On/Off:

https://www.onoffcomponents.com/en/krypton-dh-cnc-integrated-10mm

Posted by: Kenny

After noticing a major difference in arm pump between my FS and HT and not having much luck improving it via setup related changes, I've ordered some revgrips to try. Bit of an expensive experiment, but conceptually I can really see how they'd help in a hardtail especially. 

Shipping from US to Canada is a disaster these days, I guess they all have covid? So who knows when they'll actually turn up, but I'll follow up after some testing.

Any local shop can bring them in. ALBA in Whistler is the distributor. I’ve been riding a pair for a few weeks.

Posted by: RAHrider

I've put in almost 400km on it and I like it 90% of the time but every time I take it on steep tech I wish I wasn't riding it.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried raising the bar 20mm (bar or headset spacers) for the steep tech? 

Or otherwise changing the weight balance - narrower bar, running the shock softer, or fork firmer, or dropping the seat more (mechanically after your dropper is bottomed)?

It just reads like you’re fighting your bike but there’s nothing in your build that stands out as an Achilles’ heel.