DanL profile

I'd love to change out the XD driver on my FS for an HG and all the goodness that entails but I'm in the "it ain't broke" portion of the parts that are inherited on it (used bike purchase) and the SRAM derr, crankset etc are all in good order.
The OneUp switch chainring setup that was also inherited has been excellent as well although, like the E13 I'm continually/pleasantly surprised that these seemingly little bolts can accommodate the torque - ok probably not that much looking at my non-dangerholm legs haha

Due to the slings and arrows of supply chain misery two years ago and having an XD driver and SRAM drivetrain setup, I was running out of options for a reasonably priced cassette . So I thought I'd give that E13 trs+ cassette a go - at the worst it could see me through for a bit.
It's on it's second set of large cogs with no replacement of the smaller section, so it's just amortized itself against 2 GX cassettes and I have no reason to want to change it. If I has a microspline it might have been a different story but I do like the intent to split out for replacement more used cogs vs less used cogs

I just finished building up a Rootdown as I was hardtail curious, and I am enjoying it so much, a lot more than I thought I would. I'm having so much fun on trails that I'd normally avoid unless it was just to get from A to B. 
In some ways, I wish I hadn't had the opportunity to see the Ti Tyaughton at their office - it's a beautiful piece of work and it's great to hear it rides as good as it looks.

That's really, in my eyes, a glaring consumer rights issue right there. Warranties that don't transfer across users even when they are based on time of usage, like the drivetrain etc on a car is.

Is one of the elephants in the room here the terms of warranties that manufacturers apply to any of their equipment?
I get time limited warranties and manufacturing error, that makes sense. What I don't get and would like to see change is the 'original owner' terms of any warranty in spite of any time limit.

How is this a thing - I'm not being rhetorical here - is there a compelling argument to be made that this is a reasonable warranty condition : you have to be the original owner.

The Arrival was one of the first things I though of whilst reading this.

I was looking at their SP2 and thinking about the price, most of the reviews mention that it is a great bike to ride but unfortunately, very expensive. But there seemed like a bit of cognitive dissonance going on there for me....

When you take out the wheelset and frame and bars - which are the WR1 handbuilt items, you're still left with high tier suspension, drivetrain and then a decent set of brake and tyres added on. 

Then you include the company story, the background, the handbuiltedness, the beautifulosity and all the other groundbreaking things that they're doing and I can't get past how good a pricepoint it comes in at.

They should set up an NSMB groupon for these kind of reviews ! I'd love to see the metrics on google searches directly after reading this article

HAHA great, thank you Claire! IPA for the brakes, IPA for me.

I’m second guessing myself suddenly, but isopropyl alcohol is still the cleaner of choice for the calipers when you’ve split them open, removed the pistons and seals and are shifting the filth out of everywhere prior to a full rebuild?

Great article Andrew, and talking about buy once cry once + brake maintenance, I sprung for the SRAM bleed kit pro and it just makes every bleed day an exercise in mechanical bliss. Dominions and Codes are a trifle to bleed now - one thing that does help me was using leftover 30amp copper wire to fashion syringe holders for top and bottom.

"Suspension just lets you ride the same trail much faster - increasing the severity of a crash. Rigid makes you focus on the trail rather than speed"

I've been riding my new-to-me hardtail exclusively so far, mainly as I'm in the new bike honeymoon period (first hardtail since a long time and first time I've had 2 bikes to choose from) but also because I am loving the simplicity, weight and precision to the handling and responsiveness. I don't really jump or "send" anything more than 2-3 feet and I've noticed how much I used to just smash my way through trails on my Fugitive. It's made me seriously question where it fits in my enjoyment tier. Maybe I need to ride the FS bike soon to see how my enjoyment has changed as I always had a massive grin on my face....

But to your point, I'm still hitting speeds on flow trails that if I went any faster, I wouldn't have the reflexes or skills to get out of trouble and for the slower tech that is in my wheelhouse I don't necessarily know if having rear suspension makes too big a difference as compared to the nimbleness and response I get from a much lighter bike.

I also get into the lego building aspect of this kind of bike. I went all-in and have a single speed and no dropper with mismatched brakes as I always wanted to try Hope V4s and found a single front I could stick on. Easy peasy on this bike.

Next up, an 8 speed 11-42 from S-Ride via Natural Cycle Works, a Zee derr and a friction thumb shifter to change things up again. Doing this kind of thing and riding this kind of bike makes me feel like a kid again in the best sense of the word and get back to not being so serious about it all.

I possibly may just go fully polarised and stick with the Rootdown, lose the Fugitive and get a full on DH bike for the other end of the riding spectrum

Official branded fork oils appear to be the big shortage item right now.

Posted by: heathen

I have the Bell Super DH. It is the only removable jaw helmet that is DH rated. I really like it.

I believe the Giro Switchblade is also DH rated with and without the chinbar - but it's also effing hot at the best of times. 

I liked it a lot (and Giro fit my skull perfectly which Bell do not unfortunately) but considering I was carrying the chinbar with me on all rides, it didn't make much sense to have a removable chinbar as I so rarely wore the halfshell on it's own, apart from low consequence trails/speeds - but the Giro was very hot and made a terrible halfshell.
So enduro-lite FF helmet on most rides which I can hang off the handlebars or pack for riding up, half shell for toddling about and a DH certified FF helmet for big speed and consequence lift accessed rides

A wife and two daughters means that I can get a nail varnish colour match for my bikes in seconds. Metallic thru to matte finishes!

Posted by: AndrewMajor

B-Tension screw gives you some ability to move the Guide pulley out of the way but not enough to build something like the ‘Wide 5’ setup Marty and I are always going on about.

The closest I can find is the rivendell wide range 7 speed (thanks for that, Nothingfuture), but the postage is brutal from the US; so a Sunrace 8 speed + altus is close as well and quite available.
But in reality I think I'd be happy with 3 in the rear that I would just change by hand to keep it cheap.....42, 24, 12 possibly but I doubt I'd really want a 12 as I enjoy trying to keep my speed though a given trail using pumping and corner speed and my 24 is fun enough. If I was going to go boutique/hand built I'd really like to see how well that Archer D1x could handle arbitrary shift gaps.

In a mad scientist manner, what governs the difference in cassette cog sizes that a derailleur can step between, if the largest radius is not past the maximum that the cage can move to/from. I'm taking cues from the standard sizing of the 10-52 cog step sizes here

7IDP project 23 works really well for me across the board for non-bike park riding and I've worn it when I'm riding at WBP as well, but it doesn't feel as locked in like a "proper" DH helmet like a Giro Disciple for example. But then again, I'm not riding Dirt Merchant, Schleyer, A-Line or Goats Gully either yet.

Those look like the perfect accompaniment to an Archer D1x setup I’ve been thinking about (not apples to apples for friction shifting either hah)

The Rocky Mountain Pipeine 'dumbing down the shore' advert that Wade Simmons filmed with Race Face was/is very prescient. 

I'm really enjoying the single speed hardtail no dropper post riding that I've been doing recently.
It's freeing in quite a lot of ways and in a perverse way, if I only have a short time to get a ride in I'll always want to take the 1FG out as it makes the ride up and down more rewarding as I will have achieved a lot more in a short space of time, if that makes sense.

That is a brutally beautiful colour