trumpstinyhands profile

I've seen more broken Onyx hubs than DT350. The bearings also last longer and the POE isn't strangling suspension action through chain growth.

Riding a hardtail with a 77 degree seat tube angle, this has reminded me that I need to angle the nose of my saddle up a bit. I always have it flat, but moving the saddle so far forward, and having the front of the bike dropping a bit when on it means that I am constantly sliding forward on the saddle. The trend for really steep angles and horizontal brake levers insinuates that bikes are only for riding up super-steep climbs, and then down cliffs.

7 sp XT thumbshifters with the 'extra' click so you could still use them with 8 speed. Mounted upside down (so with the RH shifter under the LH brake lever) for better ergonomics, other than needing 10cm long thumbs to get into first gear ;) 

Re. Rapid Rise, possibly still the fastest shifting I've experienced was 8 speed (I think) XTR Rapid Rise. But yes, weak derailleur springs seemed to kill that idea off.

Re lubing the pistons. Sram officially say that you don't. Shimano officially say that you do. Welcome to bicycle component engineering ;)

I've got a bike on order with the 'standard' pawl system Deore MS freehub body. I'm hoping that it will be more reliable than the XT one that I've had previously that would make horrific grinding sounds. People 50 meters up the trail would look around wondering what the hell the sound was. It would go away with a full strip down and lubrication of the 'do not take apart / lubricate' bits but always come back again. Deore hubs seem to be another area where 'min-maxing' makes sense.

I remember a certain person saying that they'd turn around the sign on the tree a few feet down from the trail head so people couldn't see it 10 plus years ago. Weird behavior if he didn't build it. I'm assuming they wouldn't be sad enough to mess with the current work though. Its a shame that the sign by the steep skinny mentioned went missing. Hopefully its in Digger's living room!

I just looked at that, but I can't see how what would stop side-loading on shocks. It's just aligning the rear wheel into the frame (which isn't a bad thing of course). It's doing nothing to align the frame itself.

It's a grey area but based on other areas I'd say the likes of the trails on Cheema Lands are legal in that the landowner is aware of the trails and allows people to use and maintain them (currently). I don't know who owns the other lands though. Some background to this can be given by Lee Lau on this old thread (posting under MTB Trails) below. Maybe not ideal publicizing them though at a time we are being told not to take risks, and some of those moves are waaaay more sketchy in real life than they look on a video. 

https://nsmb.com/forum/forum/the-shore-3/topic/west-vancouver-upper-lands-review-future-of-cypress-trails-merged-4743/?post=96578

It's weird because when you look at the article they come across as a great company (and I'm sure they are), but their marketing / on-line presence makes them seem 'super-bro'. A long list of athletes / ambassadors and not a single woman, and product names seemingly aimed at teenagers who might not be the ones spending well over $200 on a pair of pants. The clothing equivalent of a lifted F150 ;) In reality, everything about the company seems awesome so maybe lose the 'sausage-fest' image just a little? :D

Yes, Fork Cork was the one!

The local industry seems to operate inside a 'bro-bubble'. They do what people from Vancouver and the S2S think is 'cool', i.e. ripping up loamers and riding whatever new unsanctioned trail is the flavour of the day (and will be forgotten about tomorrow). When's the last time all these bro-pros filmed on Upper Oil Can, Grannies etc? They'd make great backdrops for selling pumps or whatever. It's really ironic that we have all this legendary terrain here, yet it's 'cool' to film trails that look like they could be outside Birmingham in the UK. Sick braaaah ;)

Credit to RaceFace and Wade Simmons for using sanctioned trail for their latest series.

Just keep checking on Pinkbike for the latest 'influencer' video. Twice so far this week we've pretty well seen directions to 'sick loamers' thanks to showing really obvious landmarks such as roads and water towers..... You'd think that in 2021 they'd finally smarten up?

Awesome cinematography but weird trail choice IMHO. Surely a bike like that should be filmed smashing Incline at high speed, not riding generic loamers? ;)

I wouldn't say that above $5K is excessive for a first bike if one has the money. I think a decent aluminum frame and GX / XT type components at 5-6K is the sweet spot between getting a bike with decent enough parts, and minimal 'marginal gains' type stuff. If one has the money but choose not to spend it, you'll just end up spending it anyway by upgrading the brakes, NX / SX Eagle drivetrain stuff, badly spec'ed tires etc. 

Buying used can be a lottery. You can win, but you can also buy a bike with a cracked frame that you didn't spot at the time of purchase, have shot pivot bearings, worn drivetrain, fork stanchions worn under the seals that you won't spot in time.....the list goes on and can get very expensive.

Around here is the worst place to buy a used bike as they get so hammered (unless it's mine, in which case it will have been stroked a lot, had endless photos posted to Instagram, and then sold after 4 months as the chain is getting close to .5 on the checker.....).

I've had two bikes with GX Eagle, one with an XT/SLX 12sp mix and then back to GX Eagle. While the Shimano set-up feels a bit more positive and precise, I think either option is perfectly good for the purpose. Especially if you are not having to use the 'high end' Shimano Microspline freehub.....

Posted by: Vikb

I bought 2 sets of carbon cranks back when they first came out and I was working in aerospace composite manufacturing...just out of professional interest and a 3rd set came on a complete bike I bought. My GF has a 4th set that came on a complete bike. Logging many years of riding on all those cranks I managed to loosen the pedal insert on the set installed on my one bike with a low BB after several seasons of use including the many crashes that happen MTBing. The damaged pair were the lightest XC/trail variant of that crank. 

While I'm not motivated to buy more carbon cranks at this point I wouldn't say no if they came on a complete bike or I got them at a discount. I expect I'll be riding the carbon cranks I have for many more years. They don't seem particularly fragile especially the later versions that were built even stronger with feed back from the lighter duty versions.

We have sooooooo many door and drawer handles at work made from failed carbon cranks.

My armchair engineering thinks that as wheelbases get longer, BB heights should actually go up a bit in order to get the same amount of effective clearance. We are already gaining shed loads of stability through wheelbase, head angles and chainstay length, that I'd sure BBs could go back up a few mm without having too much negative impact on either cornering or straight line stability. There are sections of trail that I just can't be arsed to ride these days due to having to get pedal positioning / ratcheting 100% perfect. On an old Bullit with 66s I've just ride through it without a care in the world! I don't think we need to go back to those days but there could be a bit more of a compromise.

Edit: I've just checked the BB height on my hardtail and it's only about 15mm higher than bikes I had in 1989, yet the fork compresses 160mm! I do love the way the bike rides, but with a 70+BB drop, I wonder if it'd ride any worse for adding 10mm to the BB height.

No problem!

Frogs may have been very loosely involved but I highly doubt that Pink Starfish was some sort of frog highway. It was 'environmentally unsustainable'. As the trail was around 20 years old when it was finally closed, it'd be interesting to know what damage it did to the nearby environment and how was it different to the other trails in the area in that respect.

Ok!