Tjaardbreeuwer profile

Another good one Andrew!

I went and did a quick check, and same as you, was disappointed. The ice cream shop makes ‘steel level’ , many other small business are in the in kind donation list, but other than an orthodontist’s office, no dentists to be found.

Cool looking bike @Vic! Is that a stock color/pattern or did you add it yourself?

@Andrew: Blister’s reviewer David Golay did test the 240 mm dropper and reduce the travel back to 220 or something like that. So there is at least one case out there ! 

However, he is not tall, so indeed, for us long legged folks, it will be interesting to see if any of us run into a post where we think it’s too tall.

Just like too big bike frames, I believe it is out there, just haven’t had it happen yet, nor heard of other tall people who went down in frame size or dropper post travel.

I use an e13 11 speed in the bikepark, so not much use, but it has been fine.

On the trails I use Garbaruk. Not cheap, but close to E13 , with weight similar to top of the line Sram at nearly double the price, and all steel except for the biggest cog.

@Andrew, what rim width did you have the DHF on?

I too love my 27.5 x 2.8 DHF (Maxterra, Exo).

Yes there is a channel, but on my 40mm (internal) rim, and at plus tire pressures, I get a ton of cornering traction in most conditions.

I don’t know if it because the side knobs sit fairly high on the shoulder, or that the double center knobs provide a lot of cornering traction pretty far into the lean, or maybe that the soft pressure means the tire is flattened out enough to get the cornering knobs on the ground sooner?

Either way, I have been very happy with them.

Tried some Terravail Kennebec and hated those. The Cornering knobs sat way to far down on the side, they would never have engaged.

Conversely, I loved the old Nobby Nick’s in standard sizes, fast rolling, and reasonable grip, so thought the plus would be great.

Total fail up front. Unpredictable wash out, due to sudden los of cornering .grip.

I think Schwalbe’s mistake was keeping the same number of knobs as the standard tire. There the cornering knobs were slightly stagger a bit more inboard and a bit more outboard. On the plus tire, they pulled that offset further to the inside and outside, with the result that basically every other cornering knob is missing( it has become a transition knob). Huge stretches along the length of the side without side knobs, then a small knob, then nothing again…

They live on as rear tires, until they are worn out. I won’t be buying more.

Other than that I ran a Dirt Wizard for the bike park, later replaced by a Vigilante 2.8, light, high grip.

Aside from casing support, plain old traction of the DHF is not that far off those for me.

Strange how we have such different experiences with the same tire. I suspect riding style and skill play a big factor, as well as terrain. Ours is mostly hardpack, loose over hard, kitty litter, or dry rocks, slabs and a few roots, so very different from yours.

And this is why NSMB.com is my first click any day I feel like thinking about mtb’s (which is most days from April to October).

Even though I have no intention of buying this bike, you make it such a fun story to read!

Great work, all of you here at NSMB.com!

Yeah, if we think that each frame size is meant for a rider ~2”/55mm taller, and we think their hands end up somewhere around half that height, stack should increase about 12mm per frame size. 

So on a 6 size range (XS-XXL, which seems to  be the biggest range available), stack would increase 72mm!

On the Stumpy Evo I just bought for my daughter, the range is 41mm! The steps are only 9mm per size, except for the S1(XS) to S2(S), where it is only 4mm.

It is understandable that there is a lower limit to stack with longer travel forks and big wheels, but then the reach should have a bigger jump shorter to compensate.

And there is no reason the biggest sizes can’t be taller, creating more spread in the rest of the size range.

Trek Fuel does great, especially  for short people, with a range of 82mm*, and quite low stack on the smallest sizes, by switching to a 27.5 wheel.

They also add an extra frame size in the middle to create a smaller size step there.

*on the alloy frames, which come in XXL, carbon frames don’t.

Haha, I am also in that camp: 6’5”/196cm and switched to 170mm cranks to gain a tough more ground clearance. I have not noted a difference. Same when I tried 180mm cranks in the past.

Of course, 5mm is a pretty small change, especially for my long legs

Never thought of this, but waxing chains works well, so why not cables?

As a tall bikefitter, I too like the fact that bikes have gotten longer for my tall clients and myself, but the small size bikes have also gotten longer, which is not good for the shorter riders. I hope brands start dialing that back.

Also, stack/height is still too tall for short riders and too low for tall riders, just like it always has been.

Basically, what I want to see is a wider spread in stack and reach between the smallest and largest sizes.

More related to this article, standover clearance of frames has improved. One ‘trick’ that can help with that is using a saddle with a “lopped” of nose. I use the Specialized Power, but many brands make one.

This has become even more important as we slid our seats further forward. Long saddles force the rider to straddle the frame closer to the head tube, where it is taller.

Oof,  that makes me love our  town, Duluth, MN (85,000 people), is building out to ~100 miles of mtb trail. All built and maintained by our local trail club, city staff and contractors paid by government funding and fundraising.

There is no fee to ride our trails, but the club definitely gets donations from me (labor, donations for auctions, and cash).

All of the trail networks around us like that.

Many years ago, a German magazine did a comparison test of plus tires vs ‘normal’ tires and normal tires with Procore inserts.

In many aspects, the Procore set up performed similar to the plus sized tire.

It sounds like @Cam is running plus-like pressures with these in skinny tires.

It would be great to see some comparative testing of 2.4, 2.6 and 2.8 inch tires with inserts (these or Cushcore) in the narrower widths.