BadNudes profile

The mooh-lah baby! My self inflicted b-day present this year was either a second hand Thomson and the KRS or a new dropper. 

And honestly, I'm loving the no dropper only two cables look, very "ATB",  and at the trails I ride regularly I can manage fine with a QR seat collar.

What a nice rig! I think I would pay new xtr prices for those brake levers as-is. I've lost too many hours of sleep hunting for some dangerboy/straitline blades and compatible MCs.

Thanks Andrew! This review really serves to validate my recent purchase of the original KRS seat, even if I may be getting ahead of myself a bit (little'un is so close but not quite walking on his own yet). I guess it's not surprising considering you gave me the nudge to buy in a recent email with your 'Barney Stinson' 'KRS rulez!' routine. But it's uncanny how you pinned me down with your thoughts on "if I had to choose between a Kids Ride Shotgun saddle and having a dropper post..." because I'll be high-posting this year in exchange for the option to bring a little passenger. So excited!

Single pivots rule! Just because it's simple doesn't make it a lesser design. Antoine de Sainte-Exupery would even say single pivots are a more perfect design, "...nothing left to take away" and all that. 

Most generalizations I've heard about single pivots are total BS. They can be designed to be progressive, have rearward axle path, be stiff and light, or basically whatever you're looking for. They can also be designed poorly, like any DW/Horst/VPP/ABP linkage can. Anyway, I don't think single pivots should be ruled out compared to "current" designs. If a bike is held back it'll be by the geometry or the kinematic design of the frame, not just because it has less bearings.

I think the Mbuzi would make a great min-max article.

I think the limit for most bikes would be about 10mm above the top tube joint/weld. You need to leave enough of a stub to get a collar on there. I'd also try to check the internal profile of the seat tube, some seat tubes are internally butted (i.e. thicker tube walls at the top where they grip the seat post) and I'd be hesitant to shorten that butted section too much, say below 75mm or so. 

But before getting the hacksaw out remember to also consider the bottom of the seat tube; cable ports, bottle cage inserts, pivots, bends etc. can stymie your long-drop dreams regardless of where the seat collar sits.

I waffled for so long on the MT5 vs MT Trail based on the lever (I never saw the MT5 HC when shopping). Went with the long levered MT5 and glad I did. I guess the clamps end up a little further inboard, but longer levers give more power and more modulation in exchange for more lever throw. I like to run my levers pretty far out and use those cheesy 'sticky fingers' style brake lever grips for some insulation from aluminum lever heatsink effect on cold rides,  so maybe that helps with the feel of the lever compared to the HC, or at least just means the 2 finger lever suits me very well. I've used the MT Trails on a test ride and like to think I could feel the decreased power of the shorter lever on the front brake  but might've been down to poor bed-in/set up (rear brake was definitely less powerful, but to be expected with 2 fewer pistons).

They do take a long time to bed in, and I get plenty of the gurgle noise on hard stops with 1 piece rotors. I'd also noticed that on cold rides I sometimes needed to warm up the brakes with a pull or two to get working properly, but this seemed to go away as the pads bed in more. I think the "30 stops" recommendation is sort of the minimum needed to get the brakes working safely, but the brakes seem to keep bedding in and getting better for a few rides after that. Maybe I've just been lucky but I've found bleeding easy and trouble free. In all, the best brakes I've used.

Wow, there's even one build option that comes in at under 10k! Such value! How did they do it?

Isn't the 'tiny allen screw with a recessed nyloc nut' the defacto pin standard when it comes to any half decent plastic pedals? RF Chester, Diety, Oneup etc. all use the same system as far as I remember. Threads cut right into the plastic wouldn't last one ride.

In my experience it works fine. Compared to an alloy pedal the pins are much more likely to bend, or really the pin stays straight but the plastic pedal body at the pin seat deforms, but generally they bend back pretty easily with little signs of damage. Aluminum pedals can shrug off a harder hit (cosmetic scratches aside), but when something does bend or break there's more likely some irreparable damage.

Thanks for sharing Bronson's story! Cool to see someone so young experimenting and actually making stuff. I think he's on to something here. 

I'm riding on moto style bars from WZRD and Surly with around 85mm rise and 16 to 20* sweep. Seems wacky when you first get on, especially coming from something 'normal', but after riding for 15 min I start wondering how many more spacers I could get under the stem. I still haven't found the limit of 'too high' for me, but maybe Sam Pilgrim has?

Love my picquic drivers, one would definitely be in my essential tools list or my son's first tool kit - I have two of the home-gamer phillips, flat, roberston varieties because one always goes missing. I also got the metric hex driver which is nice for some bike jobs, but doesn't see as much use as I thought it would. It can be hard to pick the right sizes, especially since they included a 5.5mm hex; do corresponding screws even exist? I think if I replaced the 5.5 with a T25 it could be a great tool for handlebar controls or anything else not requiring high torque, but as is it sees more use assembling ikea style furniture once a blue moon.

Also love my knipex pliers and olfa knives, and my new wera hex/torx keys have been pretty nice, but the T25 fits a bit too snug in most bolts I've used so far.