fartymarty profile

Trips - how does your butt to bar compare between bikes? My Krampus (441r) and Murmur (515r) have a similar (within a few mm) butt to bar.  You are probably a lot further forward on the Sight hence the feeling of going over the front.  

Have you tried lifting your bars?

How are they when they get wet?  I love 5-10s but boy are they sponges.

Alex, for reference i'm 6'1" and ride an XL Murmur (515 reach) with a 160mm fork.  I was previously running a Pike RC and 2.5 DHF exo w/o insert on a 30ID rim.  I was running a 16 degree SQLabs bar (high rise).  I ran the 40mm stem slammed as the steerer had been cut too short by the previous owner.  I try and run the centre of the grips through the centre of the steering axis - as noted in Paul Astons G1 setup.

In Jan I switched the fork to an Ohlins coil m2 which has similar offset to the Pike.  I left the steerer long enough to get 20mm of spacers under the stem.  The basis for this is that if I run my 70mm rise Ergotec 12 degree bar (currently on my HT) I could raise the bars quite high (90mm overall rise) or put on a flatish bar and no spacers if I wanted the front low (say 10mm overall rise).

I ran the 70mm rise bars once I got the fork on with the stem slammed and also changed the front tyre to a Verdict High Grip Light for UK winter (which has a much more supportive casing than the DHF exo).

I think the combo of the supple fork and super grippy front tyre gave me more front grip or more confidence in the front.  As such I didn't need to actively weight the front as much therefore could lift the bars.  I switched the 70mm bars to a 50mm rise Ergotec 12 degree and added the 20mm of spacers under the stem.  I think also changing the bars from 16s to 12s has moved my weight forward slightly (more weigh on the front wheel) which has also let me raise the bar height.

As an interesting experiment I should put the 16s back on and see how this affects things.

Damn you Uncle Dave - now I need to get rid of all the push on / glue on / wire on ultra tacky grips that Mr Major has coerced me into buying and try something fugly enough to match my ultra long rear Mudhugger....

Joking aside thanks for trying these and please do report back.  I've just gone back to Renthal ultra tacky bolt on grips and am getting wrist issues again after being on Renthal pushons for a few years.  Convenience isn't always better.

Edit- I think NSMB readers are more on the function side of the sliding scale than the majority.

The triangle looks spot-on.  It's the first time I've seen this used but makes a ton of sense.

The reason I asked about bar height is because my bars have come up a lot in the last 12 months but I've changed forks (old Pike to Öhlins m2 coil), tyres (Exo to Tough WTB) and bar sweep (16s back to 12s) which has let me raise the bars.  I think my position has changed as well to being more over the front of the bike.  I think it's one of those things that is very personal and depends on so many factors that you can't just out a number on it.

It's interesting for me to see different people's logic in how they set up their bikes.

Alex, what is your bar height (top of grip to ground) measurement?  Your bars look low in the photos but it is probably because of the long HT.  Thanks Martin

You can always run and SKS anywhere mount.  I run one on my Murmur and it works well.

That's because its the best bike ever made (IMHO)

I watched this on Vital yesterday.  I see a future where DH and Enduro bikes have the same frame and different components hung off them.  Very much like the G1 - compare AJs more "trail" setup to Paul Astons more "DH" setup.

11-36t cassette - it solves #1 and #3 above by forcing you to get fit.

Has anyone tried a Tough Fast Rolling WTB Riddler?

Ditto.  £4 + £7 postage!!!

I'm  new to this thread - 

I've been on tubeless since 2010 and started with split tube then ended up ditching the tubes and running Gorilla tape.  I always run schradder valves but that's a different discussion.

I've previously used 25mm wide Gorilla tape on a 30mm ID rim.  The tape partially covers the bead seat  and it generally seals up fine.  Removing tyres can be a PITA as the tape bunches up against the inside of the bead therefore pushing the bead into the drop centre can be difficult on tight tyres (like the WTBs i've recently changed).

I changed a set of tyres over the weekend and used 3 wraps of electrical tape which is 18mm wide (maybe 19mm) and it doesn't cover the bead seat (only the drop centre).  I am hoping that as the bead will not interfere with the tape it will last longer than the wider Gorilla tape and I can change tyres without having to re-tape and re-installing the valve.  Ideally I want something that will last a while.

Has anyone tried Tesa 4289 tape as this looks good.

My Krampus with 120mm Pike and -2 HS.  I've done 2 proper rides on it this week and really loving being back ragging a HT.  My Murmur is in the shed getting very jealous...  I'm now running 70mm rise Ergotec 12 degree back sweep bars with 10mm of spacers under the stem and its feeling good.

Posted by: FthisNewForumIsAnnoying

Wow, that's a bit nice.  That's a bike for life.

Posted by: michel77

Surface still going strong! Swapped some parts over to the new full-sus so this will be a lighter build this year. Thinking about trying a rigid fork on this but at the same time, this bike is so dialed right now that I might feel like I'm missing out.. Anybody here try a rigid fork on their hardtail, worthwhile experiment?

I run a rigid fork on my Krampus occasionally.  It climbs really well and I can still ride most of the same trails albeit slower.  Definitely worth a try especially if you are running bigger tyres.

Has anyone ridden the Vigi TB combo. I'm looking at them for UK summer tyres in 2.3". HGL Vigi, TFR TB. I'm currently on Verdict / Judge for my winter tyres - which I like but they're big old tyres.

I've just pulled the V/J off and they were nearly impossible to get off the bead even with a lever.  I've now got the Vigi/TB on so will update once I have some time on them.

I'm running a very progressive 120mm my Krampus and would probably only run 140mm max (if it didn't mess up the STA). Any more fork travel and rear gets overwhelmed. If I were riding steeper trails all the time I would lift the bars - like Mr Majors Waltmag.

Mudhugger rear fenders are awesome - got them on both bikes.

Nice Honzo, did you coat it in anything after you stripped the paint?

Cam - Keep us posted on the ESD. I would be keen on one if the CS were a bit longer.