Andeh profile

I've seen other people complaining about this issue on MTBR & TGR.  I'm certain the tire beads are fully seated (have pulled valve core out and visually inspected the bead).  My guess is that the insert itself is not evenly aligned in the center channel, or has a crease in it from packaging that causes it to push on the sidewall in a particular location.  I'm going to try removing the tire tonight without disturbing the insert to see if I can tell what's going on.

I'm running Union rims and it's a brand new Maxxis Dissector DD, so nothing unusual.  Same rim and I think a DHR DD when I had this happen in the spring.  That time, I seated the insert first, then the tire over it one side at a time like you would Cushcore.

My worst purchase, twice, has been Tannus inserts.  I just gave it a second chance last night, and both times the stupid thing causes a wobble in the tire.  I know the tire's fine because it's brand new and I test mounted it before I put the insert on.  The first time I tried it this spring, I gave it away and the person who took it said the same thing happened.  I cannot understand how Tannus gets such good reviews.  It's harder to install than Cushcore, and won't seat straight.  I now hate Tannus with a fiery passion.

I've noticed the same thing about taking a short break helping to forget bad habits.  This August I traveled to my in-laws for a week, and my first ride back I was able to clear a couple sets of rollers that I'd never gotten before.  I think I forgot my bad timing, and actually got the right timing on the pump.

In terms of general progression, I often find that I progress suddenly when I stop trying to work directly on something, and instead work on some peripheral fundamental component.  Like, working on flat corners actually improves riding bermed corners.  Braking improves cornering of all sorts.  Riding loose and moving body improves cornering and jumping.

> I hestitate to say how it fits compared to the Santa Cruz Megatower as I don’t quite understand what that bike is about.

Shots fired!  But pretty accurate.  The Megatower might have 10mm more rear travel and a bigger rear wheel, but it's got a steeper HTA, so it really feels like a longer travel trail bike by today's standards.  The few riders on EWS riding SC seem to have all switched to the Bronson this year.

I've noticed less warping with thicker rotors too (Magura vs. Shimano, SRAM somewhere in between), although the material of the rotor might have something to do with it also.  Shimanos have always warped for me if I even look at them funny.  Magura & SRAM stay true until I snag them on something.

The trueness is especially important on brakes with less rollback, like Magura.  On my Codes with more rollback, true rotors just make alignment super easy.

I get the appeal of wanting "normal" looking glasses, but unfortunately they just never seem to vent as well as the dorky looking ones.  I got a pair of Flight Jackets after your review of those, and with the vent switch open, I can pedal with them for hours in 80%+ humidity without fogging up.  They actually only ever fog up when I take them off and rest them on my leg while I'm wringing the sweat out of my helmet.

Yeah, I could drop ~275g running a DPX2 or Super Deluxe instead of coil.  Likewise a Lyrik instead of the EXT would drop about 300g.  100g to take off the bashguide.  50g to run a 180mm rotor.  So that'd put it at like 33.5 lbs instead, but that's still a fairly heavy bike compared to some other brands out there (Yeti, Ibis).  Better to just accept that it's "big boned" and build it how I like it.

WAO Unions with Hydras.  200mm rotors.  X01 cassette.  DD Dissector & EXO+ Assegai.  EXT coil.

It's a great build, but when I look at each component, I'm like, "Yeah, that's the right choice."  Then my buddy tells me his SB165 is 33 lbs with really similar components, and I'm like WTF.

I think you hit the nail on the head where once you start prioritizing performance and reliability, weight just goes out the window.  I still have frustrating conversations with newer riders (or riders on bikes from 1-2 generations back just now looking at upgrading) who obsess over weight without thought of performance.  My Megatrail is sitting just under 35 lbs right now.  I had a Nomad 3 a few years back with similar build intent that was only 30.  Not only has stuff gotten heavier due to getting more reliable, but bikes themselves have gotten larger and therefore heavier.  It's basically to the point where if I really wanted a lighter bike, I'd have to replace the frame (with something that probably is less durable).

I'm also sure there's a lot of us who put stuff on for limited use and just never take it off because we're busy.  I dropped a chain casing a jump a couple years ago, so promptly put on a chainguide (and will never know whether I really need it).  A few weeks ago, I upgraded that chainguide to a bashguide because I was going to ride somewhere really rocky, and probably won't get around to taking it off until this winter.  (I did come back from that trip with a nice ding in said bashguide, so I feel somewhat vindicated about that one.)  My EDC pump is still strapped to the frame from that same trip (and was also used), and is also unnecessary for my local trails.  I have a set of MT7s that are roughly 100g lighter than the Codes I replaced them with, simply because the MT7s have some stubbornly sticky pistons that I got tired of trying to fix.  My EXT fork was a splurge/frustration purchase because I was sick of creaky 36s, and weighs a ~250g more than a perfectly functional Lyrik or similar 160mm fork, but no way it's coming off now.

Interesting that the Float X is intended to phase out the DPX2.  I didn't catch that in the initial press releases.  I'm curious if the internal design is significantly different.  

I've had 3 DPX2s (2 Performance Elites, one Performance) and didn't love them.  The smaller volume made them really sensitive to small changes in pressure, and I had to run them all pretty high pressure (210+ psi) despite only being 170 lbs.  I also could never find settings that provided a combination of good small bump and bottom-out.  They either felt good on small bump but blew through travel, or had decent ramp up but skipped over all the small stuff.  That matches what Vorsprung said about the DPX2:  https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Cq26GH2-Y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

"The rebound adjuster hugely affects the range of the compression adjuster. ...  All the oil displaced by the damper shaft has to go through either the LSC adjuster orifice or the rebound adjuster orifice in the base valve. Because neither of those have a shimmed or otherwise speed sensitive circuit, it's very difficult to get low to mid speed support out of this damper without risking high speed harshness, unless the rebound is valved quite firmly, so that the rebound adjuster can be run quite open."