grimwood profile

I've had that issue a few times. One solution is to bring it to your buddy with gorilla hands (Duncan). Second option, especially if the tire is toast, is get you tire lever/bead dropper right against the bead, then hit the bead dropper with a hammer. It's worked every time, but I do end up having to re-tape the wheel most of the time.

Tim, this bike is so cool on so many levels. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for your longer travel version in the future (I love over-biking). I think you nailed everything for a trail bike, including the mullet.

Nice review Trevor. My early experiences with my Marin Alpine E2 closely mirror your with the Range. One thing I have noticed is that the rides are not any easier, I just go faster. I try to tell myself to take it easy on the way up, but going fast is fun! I've found the Marin jumps fine, just as long as the lip is long enough to change the momentum of the e-bike. Short lips end up acting like small speed bumps vs a jump.

I haven't done any long rides, but I figure I could get about 1600 m vert on Seymour if I don't run on boost. Most of the time, I'm out for a short lunch time rip and the e-bike works really well for that. Still get fun trails in a shorter time.

Jerry brought up a good point above; an e-bike is fun, but I don't think many people would have it as their only bike. Meat powered bikes are just so much fun.

One difference I've had to Trevor is with rotor size. I noticed a massive difference in hand comfort going from 200 to 220 mm rotors.

Yeah. I think so. I would have been really nice if I could mount the glasses to the Mainline; I'd probably use it a lot more often even if the glasses move around more.

I seem to get more crap in my eyes than others I ride with, so eye protection is a must. I also had to learn how to keep them fog free; keep the group moving, quick spray with water then on the face and drop in, etc. I know this sounds a bit dumb, but I need to see the trail well to ride well. I know others who seem to be able to ride fast just on feel.

I'm with Agleck7; eye protection on pretty much every ride. I know my riding buddies get annoyed that I will faff around with my glasses, but I got tired digging dirt out of my eyes and missing rides due to scratched eye balls. Plus, I've seen a few eye/eye socket injuries that would have been prevented with glasses/goggles. My go to pairing is Smith ForeFront2 and WildCat glasses. Glasses are stored on the lid on the way up, and the helmet pins them in place on the way down.

I've tried the WildCats with my Smith Mainline, but the glasses aren't held in place by the helmet, so the bounce around and slide down. The alternative is goggles, but I find those are only good on dry days that aren't too hot (7 degrees C and rain and the goggles turn into a style piece versus functional).

Nice review Deniz. I think this link would make many Druid owners happy. I ended up getting one for my Dreadnought. I can sum my experience in one work; extreme! Since I couldn't get my EXT Storia to work with it initially (more on that later), I ran it with a Rock Shox Super Deluxe (I can confirm that the Float X2 clears too). At first I had a Meg Neg on there, but that was a bit silly. Even at over 40% sag, I could only get about 90% travel, even when I tried to bottom out. I swapped back to the regular can and that was better. The link takes the already quite progressive Dreadnought and pushes it to 11. I haven't seen small bump performance like that since I was riding DH bikes. Tons of mid stroke support and even with no volume spacers, it was extremely hard to bottom out. I know this sounds awesome, but if I wanted to use close to full travel on most rides, I ended up having to run a bit more sag that desired, so I ended up in the firm mid-stroke (unless I un-weighted the bike or rode front heavy). This was great for pinning it, less great for those days I was tired.

I was told that shocks like the EXT Storia wouldn't work because of the spring contacting the link. I was pretty convinced that a coil would be way better so I got some help from Peter and Pinner Machine shop in Whistler. I sent him my shock and link and he milled an aluminum spacer to move the spring forward a bit so the link would clear. This worked like a charm! Now I could run a little less sag but the bike would still sag under it's own weight. I'm about 185 lbs and I was running a 350 lb spring and this set up was still very hard to bottom out.

The great thing about the link is that it didn't really change the pedaling efficiency.

The big question, would I recommend it to other Dreadnought owners? I'm not sure. It would certainly make some people happy. But it really cranks up a lot of the bike's character. The nice thing is that it's not overly expensive (certainly cheaper than buying a new bike) and it's reversible. I hope this helps!

A couple of updates for those that are looking at this article for Dreadnought setup advice. I ended up getting the rear shock re-tuned (less compression) and went to a 350 lb spring. I probably would have gone to a 375 if the rebound tune was a little slower. Eventually, I ended up back with the dual 29 set up. The mullet was great for ass to tire clearance, but that subtle lowering of the bottom bracket was the nail in the coffin. I know 5 mm doesn't like much, but it can be the difference between slamming the guide off a rock and clearing it...

I also ended up selling the EXT fork. The compression side was the best I've ever felt in any fork. However, when I had the rebound set to my liking, it would top out like crazy. Not when I was riding, but anytime I would pull just a little, it would top out. For me that was a deal breaker (however, I have heard they have updated things in that regard).

I also ran a Cascade Components link on it, but I'll add to the comments under Deniz's review.

Andrew, as always, entertaining read. I picked up a set of those insoles. I think these may be my first after market insoles ever. Mind blown. They totally changed winter riding for me. Even 2 hour rides at near zero, I don’t feel the heat drain out at my clear. A side benefit is that my shoes feel just a bit stiffer (these are 3 year old clapped out Shimano AM9’s). 

For other interested in sizing. I bought a 42 insoles for 42 Shimano shoes. They take up a little bit more volume than the stock insoles.

As a perpetual over-biker, I take this comment a little personally. So I’m having fun wrong? I’m mostly joking here… mostly. People ask if me really NEED the set up I have. Probably not, but I also don’t have the most skill, so I’d prefer a little insurance. I’ll gladly pedal a bigger bike for those days that Cooper shows us a “new line” on Boogieman.

You dodged a bullet. The OG Onyx are/were awesome. The Vesper is hot garbage. But at least it’s expensive? I haven’t talked to anyone in person that hasn’t had real issues with the Vesper. 

Ryan, I really liked the review. And those moves pictured are super spicy. Well done!

Breakdance32, I’m running the same bike as you. I went from EXO DHR2 with cushcore XC inserts to assegai DD up front. I found that while it’s heavy, I wasn’t paying a large resistance penalty. Definitely worth it. I had a DH DHR2 maxx grip out back. Good traction and decent rolling. I would say it was the best all around. Then I went to an assegai out back too. Definitely noticeable. Tons of traction but tons of rolling resistance. 

I can’t recommend the inserts enough. They are awesome. The XC guys are super easy to deal with. And not crazy heavy.

I'm running the big pump from One Up with the EDC tool tucked inside. A bit of cash, zip ties, sticker patches, tire boots, and quick link for the chain. I don't think the tools are the best, but they will get out out of a jam and since everything seals up nice, they are always on the bike and with you on a ride. And that's kinda the point... I used one of those RaceFace gear straps to attach the tube to the top side of the down tube. Doesn't feel like the most secure set up, but it works. Maybe check out the One Up gear straps.

I get that some people want to keep their bikes as light as possible, but I'm going to carry the gear anyway. So I'd like to get it off my back so I don't have to bring a pack. Especially on short-ish rides.

Posted by: tungsten

Meh, fender season's about to end, eh? But thanks for the heads up on where to get the Mudhugger locally.

Yeah, I hear you. But there's always a few days until the end of June that seem to be super wet. Plus, these fenders are burly, and will gladly wait out the summer season ready for that first mucky ride in the fall!

Yep. I ran the Mudhugger on both bikes for a while, then the RRP Max protection on my smaller bike (with 29er 2.3 DHR 2's) and the Standard on my Enduro bike (with 29er 2.5 DHF wide trails or 2.5 DHF DH tires). Full disclosure, I purchased the Mudhugger and Phil from CCN bikes let me test the RRP guards.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

And if you're looking to purchase these fenders in the Lower Mainland....

Lynn Valley Bikes carries the Mudhugger Front Race for about $60 CDN.

RRP fenders are distributed by CCN Bikes and you can buy them online here

This past weekend was glorious. The shore was basked in sun and it felt like a gift from above. I head out the door in T-shirt and in a matter of minutes I’m on the trail and something hits me; winter still has a decent grip on the dirt under me. Perfect time for testing some fenders. It seems like the Marsh guard (or similar products) is the most popular around here; it’s light and is way, way better than having nothing. But I’m going to focus on three fenders that are wet weather experts; the Mudhugger Front Race, the RRP ProGuard Standard, and RRP ProGuard Max Protection.

I seem to have a unique ability to catch all available mud on the trail with my eye balls. Right in the balls. And it seems to happen more often on the lip of a jump or mid air, right when sight is non-optional. So you can probably see why I’d want a massive fender up front.

First up, the Mudhugger. This was my first serious fender for winter riding and I was impressed with the size (~17”). It weighed about 0.08 kg (on my scale) and on the trail I didn’t notice the extra heft up front. What I did notice was how clearly I could see. I still have one nugget or two make it past the fender during really nasty rides, but that’s a big change from 10+ with the smaller fenders. One thing I really liked on the Mudhugger was the lip at the front of the fender; it brings the front of the fender really close to the tire and I imagine that it helps with reducing the amount of mud flying forward, directly in the riders path.

Next up are the RRP ProGuards. These fenders are big, at (~19.5”) for the standard and (~23”) the Max Protection (this thing is huge). The fenders come in at 0.12 kg and 0.13 kg, respectively. Both fenders work really well, but I can only think of a few bikes that would be better suited to the Standard vs the Max protection. I’m thinking 29er’s with under down tube mounted water bottles (i.e. Yeti SB 5.5c, Kona Process 111, etc.). I haven’t tested it, but there may be some clearance issues, so check things out before you dive in.

OK, back to the fenders. The standard fender is awesome, much better than the smaller ones you see around. But if I’m spending ~ 120 g on a fender, I’m going to the Max Protection. It’s awesome. My unscientific data says that I get slightly less crap in the face than the above 2 fenders. It inspired confidence in nasty conditions and I felt I could push harder knowing that I would be also to see any wet, diagonal roots that seem to reach up and pull back to earth when you least expect it.

I really enjoyed my time on all these fenders. If I was buying fenders for some serious wet weather riding, or to just keep faceward trail debris to a minimum, I’d probably go with the RRP Max Protection for the late fall through early spring, then the Mudhugger for the summer. After trying these well made products, I’m not going back to the smaller fenders, even if it pushes my XC bike over 31 pounds!

If you have any questions, please post below and I’ll try to respond quickly.

Hit TNT the other day and is clear of snow and running pretty good. The rest of the trails on Seymour are also running pretty well. Maybe a little standing water here and there after some of those massive dumps of rain. But a couple drier days seemed to sort that out. Or the trail fairies..

Pedalled up to 7th yesterday. No snow on the road, but still about a meter of snow on the trail. We descended the road to upper oil and went down that. Still probably 50 cm at the top in places. Mostly unridable until the very end. Leopard and crikum were mostly clear.