AndrewMajor profile

The chain on this setup was a spare with life left that was just too short for anything except my single speed. It's a good reminder that I take to heart when I am selling old parts that I better be damn sure it's not something I'd turn around and use.

Interesting, I would have assumed the Zee's were hollow at whatever point you would have shortened them too?! How long did you go with?

I've seen Tiagra cranks shortened a few times as well as old XTR M950/M952 arms that have been shortened. Also some older solid RaceFace arms. I'd be very curious to see photos! Cool project.

26tx11t isn't much lower than my current high gear on the 2x7 but yes, it sounds very low. Gotta try it. It's a work in progress, and then I need to ride it but yes my next ride on the Banshee will be 1x but with the teeny, tiny ring.

Every step towards straighter counts. Does derailleur still shift the 46t with no issue?

Totally. The same goes for playing with bar width.

I loved a lot of things about my daughter's belt-drive 16" wheeled bike. The one thing I really didn't love for where we live is not being easily/cheaply able to change to lower gearing. Lesson learned and now the big things for me are cassette hubs instead of freewheels (it's remarkable - and disappointing - how many 20" and 24" bike use freewheels still even ones that cost solid a lot of $$$ and where most their competition is running cassette at the same price point) and cranksets that use really common chainring interfaces.

It's totally related... to the next addition of Does The Future Have Fewer Gears... as that's where I've gone with the Banshee. 

Money no object, smaller ring and smaller cassette block spaced outboard provides lower weight (and on an FS bike that's lower unsprung weight) is, I think, the way to go. I'm running a 26t on the crank with 11-36t in the back. 

Ditching the 11t doesn't get you far with most cassettes as it actually overhangs the driver. You can ditch the 11t and move the cassette outboard a bit (you also need a 12t-size lockring for it to work properly) or ditch the next cog or two (12t, 13t) and space the whole cassette out to the 11t. It's just a matter of what your derailleur can handle in terms of cog size at a given location along the driver. 

Hope that's helpful!

SRAM is probably the best choice for kids - money aside - because of the light shifting action v. usable clutch. Certainly NX is easier to shift than Box 4. The big jump to the 42t with this cassette (which is fine with bigger/stronger hands) was the biggest issue though. Well, that and the awful chainline.

I’m very laissez-faire in terms of her learning on her in (as I did) but certainly trying to make the opportunities available with good shifting and good bike geo. Replacing the stock cable/housing helped too.

@Sanesh without a super wide chainring with some kind of bushing interface I don’t see how it doesn’t flex and creak like an ARRRRGGGGGHHHH

@Cooper who said anything about watts? We’re talking about making 14-spd, 15-spd, & 16-spd chainlines possible for Joey McNextbestthing.

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.

Posted by: velocipedestrian

Wow. Badarse.

Gonna read the piece, but first a guess about how many responses came through about the oval of the Thomson being 90° wrong?

It gives you more compliance that way! Hahahahaha.