MattyB profile

I rode clipped in for the first couple years until one day I went to my local bike park with the intention of trying flats out. I brought clipless shoes and pedals with me, but forgot a pedal wrench and I haven't really ridden clipped in since. I really like the direct connection feeling of flats through corners and clipless has always given me anxiety of clipping out unexpectedly ever since.

Commenting on a couple points made in your article, the rim strips are definitely hit or miss depending on tire brand, I've found that if you are aware of that you can tell by how the tire is going on if you will need to tape it to get material out from under the bead seat. 

Working in a shop setting I've seen drive ring failures in these hubs, its most common in large riders powering up rocky climbs with lots of traction, but I will also state that its a fairly low percentage and the Trek warranty department is amazing to work with to get people rolling as quickly as possible

It's been a while since I ran egg beaters, but I remember them having a very vague transition from the end of float to the beginning of release. I guess it doesn't matter I spend most of my time on flats now anyways

I will argue that for lots of markets organic pads are acceptable. What I don't find acceptable are shimano's resin only rotors, I managed to destroy a pair in less than a season

I always try to be very friendly to all the people I see while out on the trails, I mean I'm playing bikes why wouldn't you be cheery. 

When I went on a solo riding trip to Moab I always managed to find a riding just by chatting at the trailhead and being nice to people as they went by. Met a group of doctors from california, and their friends from detroit. Met a nice couple and their australian friend as we goofed around down the enchilada.

Saying hi to people isn't just a nice thing to do, you can meet some rad people that are gonna make you ride more enjoyable.

I actually had an issue with the Chainsaw fender on a boost Lyrick. The arch was so wide that the fender didn't have enough of a curve to it and the tail could flop a little bit. Hitting rougher trails let the fender hit the tire and it was a bit terrifying

I managed to destroy a pair of X-talon 190s in 2 months. They were fucking fast for orienteering racing though

We do currently split the group, into a fast group and a more chill group, but dealing with larger groups is still tough to organise. We've had issue with riders not calling features on trails, or riders riding features blind crashing. It's just problems with keeping large groups with lots of new people to run smoothly

I regularily ride in my shops Thursday night ride, typically with around 20 people and getting as many as 35 people out a couple weeks of the season. It's been a good for business, but its been harder and harder to keep the ride good for all skill levels and safe for everyone involved. The biggest thing we do is have at least 5 shop employees keeping everything organized on each ride. I can't imagine why anyone would want to travel as a group of 25

Are those packs really warm? There is quite a lot of strap across the chest, and I'd imagine they'd be snug to your back. I'm trying to find a pack thats good for bike park days that isn't too hot but also stays put

I haven't had a ton of riding on the bike yet, I bought Chromag's demo bike when in whistler on vacation got a couple days riding and waiting for it to be shipped to Ontario for me to enjoy it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/H6uE8HCYKgtbxpJ4A

The bike rides amazing, its surprisingly flickable for being such a monster truck. The front end is quite manageable while climbing, and 3" of tire on the ground provides all the traction you need for rooty climbs. One thing that surprised me is that when I took it into the bike park the huge diameter and tire volume just eats up braking bumps and I was riding flow trails way faster than I was on my trek slash. Going downhill the bike is awesome, it definitely still rides like a hardtail, but having the big tire is enough to take the edge off and tire you out less descending. Overall, I don't think I've ever been this happy or excited about a bike purchase before.

I just picked up a chromag arcturian, amazingly capable bike, I was always a fan of the trek stache, and this just shreds harder;

newer posts will have the fix in them, the added a sprung washer under the seal to press it into its seat

I actually know quite a few of the 9point8 guys, they recently solved the air leak issue with an updated mainseal, I think there is a press release posted somewhere, I've had the fix in my post for the past 6 months and it hasn't skipped beat