DanL profile

I picked up the outbound set as well, they've been great, excellent customer support but If I see you out there in the dank it'd be great to compare lumens. (I imagine a set of two mounted either side of the helmet on the chinbar in full Orbital manner would be pretty spectacular)

Few things live up to hype, these do. Patience is definitely rewarded.

It was pretty much the first incredible thing I found when I moved up here which sealed the deal for me. Can't wait until the bowl series comes back

Not sure about that line in Full Metal Jacket , but I definitely shout "you climb like old people f$ck" internally to myself quite a bit

Pangor is my current favourite skinny ride - I like the fact you're right on top of them before you know it and just hit em or miss em, no time to pick them apart. Ladies also rewards this in spades.

Gorgeous hardware and bike, but surely the pumptrack built by Pat is the real dreambuild here?

I like the WBP method of making it straightforwards to find what trail progression avenues there are for people at the level they are at as they find their way around the mountain. The same set of trails for progression and stacked loops on the North Shore would be great to have in a clear well laid out manner in the same kind of format for people starting out or coming over instead of grinding through petabytes of gopro footage.

I made the guess that trails lower down on Fromme , McNair up to Bobsled was the 'entrance exam zone' -  that I'd enjoy the other trails a lot more if I could clean all the lower trails. 

(also, "rite" not "right" - unless you're describing a country's right for its ships to pass through the territorial seas of foreign states - which is also possibly valid for me, currently being foreign.)

This is excellent reading, thank you

Too true on the gym issues, AJ. I rarely encounter a trail feature or a climb where the bike is holding me back compared to my fitness and recovery level. I can hear my dad's voice saying "get fit to play squash, don't play squash to get fit" but it's a lot of discipline to not just go out and ride instead!

Cornflour paste tyre inserts are the future

Who chose those purple LED lamps for the street lighting in that section on Keith Road? it's not too hard to figure out colour temperatures.

Posted by: Heinous

Lots of great info here. My only observation is that once I moved to a well set up rear coil trail bike no fork did it just I’ve until I put a Smashpot in.

Ha, same here. A shock change got expensive fast, but really worth it.

It may feel spendy, but a tubolito 29er inner is tiny and made the addition of a small bag that also contained the WolfTooth Pliers, lever, quicklink and firstaid bits possible on the 'loam shelf' of my Fugitive inside the rear triangle. Then the EDC steerer tube finishes the set. I'd probably get the 70cc EDC pump just because it's so damn good to replace the $25 one I have.

That's still a gold standard for me

The encore has been good to me for 5 yrs now, bought it from Espressotec and they will do full rebuilds etc etc but I've not had issues just as long as cleaning is done. I find the beans from Bean around the World give me the least light husk leavings, so no static cling. At a pinch, Lavazza properly measured out gives a really smooth coffee when I can't or don't grind beans.

The Bonavita has weight measurements printed on the side based on how much water you have in there, so it's really easy to use a kitchen scales and bracket your settings, haha , like sag and rebound. Very handy for me.

If you want a good drip machine without the hotplate, I can heartily endorse the Bonavita - incredibly simple to use and no hotplate which is a huge plus. I was going to get the technivorm but it's twice the cost.

I'm on the fence about getting an espresso machine as I still enjoy the bitter small brews from my Bialetti as well when I'm in the mood.

Posted by: SixZeroSixOne

@blackfly

Knock yourself out...

https://thetrail.net/trailHTML/staticHTML/mtFromme/index.html

That's such a treasure trove

I was picking up some new toys from Function Junction and thought "well the trail starts just over there, why not" and then I learnt why not. Next time those other two choices will serve me better in the long run.

Posted by: Heinous

I'm, dredging this one up...

After a while rolling increasingly bigger bigger bikes, I've been on a Devinci Spartan 29er.  I've really enjoyed it - it's a great bike, and one of the more versatile of the long travel 29ers. I run it coil both ends and that seems to have unleashed it.

Anyway, I'm considering downsizing to a shorter travel frame. Partly due to a move in geography, partly due to curiosity. High pivot tempts me. The two that keep coming back for me are the Forbidden and the Knolly Fugitive LT. I'd like to run a coil, and either seems suited.

The recent Knolly Warden review was positive but somehow fell flat in my reading - what are people's perspectives on the Fugitive LT? Anyone rocking a coil in one? The Druid seems really tempting, it's just so well resolved from a design perspective. 

What are people's thoughts on these two?

to re-re-re dredge and update you -  Knolly Fugitive + cane creek DB coil + smashpot 160mm = tractable ground seeking missile with pop - not as much as my Process and it certainly feels 'longer' but it's handling everything I'm taking it to.

How late into the year does LoTS go? Mid September? Man, that Function Climb and the Dark Crystal climb are two I really don't want to do again in a hurry.
Chipmunk Rebellion->Industrial Waste was a blast however, but I wish I'd carried onto Butterflies instead of turning down Danimal South