T-mack profile

Why do crown races need to be press fit anymore? I always put a slice in mine so it slides right on sans tools. When you tighten the headset it gets squeezed against the steer tube anyway. Notice how there's a race in the top cup that already has a slice? Same same.  The days of bearings actually running on that race are over so I don't see the point anymore.

I find it hilarious how the masses would rather have a water bottle first and suspension design come second but something small like fork offset is a huge deal.

This is what Its all about:

Imagine you're Sam Hill and you're going to race the EWS in Whistler. Do you want a stable at high speed front end or twitchy tight turning front end? Probably stable at high speed so you tell Sram you want the 37mm offset fork. Now you have to race France or something that's super tight with lots of switchbacks, go with the 44mm. Now the general public isn' going to buy 2 forks for each race so you run what you think you'l be most comfortable on most of the time. All of this BS about bikes being built around the offset is marketing.

I'm running the Magura MT5 brakes. Maguras bleed technique is whack imo, ive got a way better system that works so easily. Too much to explain but I feel its a shame that they get a bad rep because of the bleed procedure.

I'm running an R on the front and + on the rear. I actually trimmed a 45 degree angle into the middle knobs to resemble a High Roller and its been awesome. Fave tire combo so far.

Rode Vedder yesterday. Dilemma down is prime. More trails might be opening up as the weather was warm today.

Yes but who are the ones doing those shootings? Some gangbanger isn't going to take the 401 from 8 mile all the way into town to light up a church when he's got drugs to sell back at home. The ones shooting up schools and churches are troubled middle class teens and adults who's only agenda is to murder innocent people to prove a point or whatever.

The murder rates in those cities are because of the poverty stricken areas and drug use etc. I hate to say it but the people murdering other people in those areas don't care about mowing down a school full of kids and keep to themselves so to speak. In fact I would even say that jailed criminals from those areas would be the same inmates that kill child molesters in prison. Point being when they murder or break the law its out of a hopeless necessity to stay alive and live the gang life or die. Thats a totally different issue and needs to be addressed asap. We have the same shit in Canada but it tends to stick to poorer areas. 

A 19 yo buying ANY gun that can fire multiple rounds from it' chamber with the sole purpose of doing lots of damage so they can shoot up a school is not the same as above. These kids are troubled middle class people that need help. Putting school shootings and homicides from the 'ghettos' is ridiculous imo because the root cause is totally different. The only thing they do have in common is the use of easily accessed weapons.

That is your right correct. They'll probably lose much less business from your group than from my group so still a good decision imo.

Healthcare is one of the problems, but that wouldn't have stopped the Vegas shooter as he was a 'normal guy'. Healthcare is just one of the problems as is the ease of which guns are obtained. The biggest problem imo with America is the propaganda machine that is the NRA. We don't have anything like that in Canada and thus our gun problems pale in comparison. We still have mental health problems, we still have criminals that get their hands on guns and yet I'm not scared of my neighbour. I don't FEEL the need to carry a gun.

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: craw

I won't ever buy another Pole but thanks for thinking of me. I have a Geometron in the mail so we'll see how that goes. I think there's more to pedigree, impeccable manufacturing and the slacker HTA+reduced offset than the machining innovations from Pole. I'll let someone else guinea pig that $5000 frame.

The Pole experiment didnt work out for you?  What was the problem/issue you found with it?

Didn't work for me either, and it wasn't geo related, for either of us. I'll hold my story until my issue gets resolved.

Posted by: tungsten

John Crandall, who owns Old Town Bike Shop in Colorado Springs, is one who’s under attack. He offers fair prices, provides good jobs, pays rent and taxes, and lives in and supports the community.

But he’s noticed that more and more shoppers come in to try out bikes and get advice, yet not buy anything. Instead, their smartphones scan the barcode of the bike they want, then they go online to purchase it from Amazon — cheaper than Crandall’s wholesale price.

https://otherwords.org/skip-cyber-monday-support-a-real-local-business/

It's unfortunate but unstoppable. People will always want to save money. I've heard of a few shops now telling their suppliers to beat it and they just stock their showroom floor with bikes bought on Amazon. Why not right? Upcharge a bit for assembly and there you go. Evolving times means evolving business models imo.

Posted by: robnow

Scott has never been on my radar but minus the Twinlock, I'm not seeing anything wrong with the new Ransom.  I must be drinking the KoolAid from the reviews I've seen so far (Vital, Bike, etc.).

Agree.

Also the Kool Stop 1 piece pads work awesome and cheap af

Posted by: Bull_Dozer

What's the benefit of a slack STA? I look at a bike like the Trek Slash and think "looks like a sweet bike"

You answered your own question

Posted by: DemonMike

Tmack rides a Sentinel . and another buddy has one . Both speak highly of the bike.

Yeah I do wish I had the XXL though.

I'm running a Sram mount on my Fork with my MT5s and had to file a tiny bit of material to make it work. The lower piston contacted the bridge of the adapter but just barely, really not a big issue. Just to make life easier though just order the proper adapters.

Posted by: craw

Posted by: T-mack

Posted by: Bagheera

Posted by: T-mack

Posted by: Bagheera

Hasn't been mentioned in this thread, IIRC:

https://www.boldcycles.com/shop/bikes/unplugged/

Nice bike, climbs ok,  when seated it seems shorter than the numbers would suggest, steering is extremely "direct" (for lack of a better term).

Do you have one? Dealing with Pole has turned me off of any small brands overseas so as much as this bike looks cool I'm VERY apprehensive about it.

No, I don't own one, but I did two demo rides (each about 1.5h) on one (actually, two different bikes). Since I'm torn between the Bold and the Evolink, I'd be very interested in hearing about your issues with Pole.

Basically ordered the frame, got slammed with exchange and VAT which isn't a fault of Poles. Rode the bike for a while, noticed the shock acting weird (weezing, clunking etc). Remove shock to see top tube shock mount is bent. Hear through the grapevine and later confirmed that some other locals with Poles have the EXACT same issue with bent frame and clunky shocks. Send mine in for warranty (on my $ again so now the overall bill is getting quite high). I get told i hit 'too big of a jump and bottomed out hard' and got offered a crash replace deal which is going to cost over $1000 cad for a front triangle which I can't even ride here because they're weak af. Stay away is my advice.  There's alot to be said for buying locally designed bikes as our demands here are quite different from the rest of the world.

This sounds about right. The Monarch on my Evolink 158 had low IFP pressure straight from go. I just got it rebuilt and it feels like a new bike. It would be great if a North American brand would sac up and make a bike like this. I'm looking at Geometron but damn those are even more expensive and come attached to an equally curmudgeonly designer who I would hate to get on the wrong side of.

We live in frustrating time my man

Posted by: Bagheera

Posted by: T-mack

Posted by: Bagheera

Hasn't been mentioned in this thread, IIRC:

https://www.boldcycles.com/shop/bikes/unplugged/

Nice bike, climbs ok,  when seated it seems shorter than the numbers would suggest, steering is extremely "direct" (for lack of a better term).

Do you have one? Dealing with Pole has turned me off of any small brands overseas so as much as this bike looks cool I'm VERY apprehensive about it.

No, I don't own one, but I did two demo rides (each about 1.5h) on one (actually, two different bikes). Since I'm torn between the Bold and the Evolink, I'd be very interested in hearing about your issues with Pole.

Basically ordered the frame, got slammed with exchange and VAT which isn't a fault of Poles. Rode the bike for a while, noticed the shock acting weird (weezing, clunking etc). Remove shock to see top tube shock mount is bent. Hear through the grapevine and later confirmed that some other locals with Poles have the EXACT same issue with bent frame and clunky shocks. Send mine in for warranty (on my $ again so now the overall bill is getting quite high). I get told i hit 'too big of a jump and bottomed out hard' and got offered a crash replace deal which is going to cost over $1000 cad for a front triangle which I can't even ride here because they're weak af. Stay away is my advice.  There's alot to be said for buying locally designed bikes as our demands here are quite different from the rest of the world.

Posted by: Bagheera

Hasn't been mentioned in this thread, IIRC:

https://www.boldcycles.com/shop/bikes/unplugged/

Nice bike, climbs ok,  when seated it seems shorter than the numbers would suggest, steering is extremely "direct" (for lack of a better term).

Do you have one? Dealing with Pole has turned me off of any small brands overseas so as much as this bike looks cool I'm VERY apprehensive about it.