Wile_E. profile

No apology necessary.  Thanks for the reply.  I'm going to give it a try and I think it will all work out okay.  With the headset, my bike returns to stock geometry, but with a slacker head angle and longer wheelbase.  Fit shouldn't be an issue, it was more a concern with what I was trading off with handling, but I don't kinow that I ride well enough to really push the bike anyway.  I'll let you know how it goes, and thanks so much for the offer to brainstorm if it doesn't end up as expected.

Interesting read, Andrew.  I had my fork warranty serviced by Fox a number of years back when they changed a creaky CSU and didn't notice until James at Suspensionwerx pointed out that the fork came back 10mm longer.  I had been changing around the cockpit and noticed that my bike descended much better, but the front wheel got really floppy on climbs... something I decided to live with.  Once I realised the change was fork related, I found the MTB Geo calculator to see what had changed, and have now discovered that I can restore the stock geometry (reach, BB height, top tube, etc.) with a -2 degree headset.  The HTA will drop almost 2.5 degrees from stock while maintaining the STA.  The wheelbase will grow 25mm, all front centre.  My only hesitation is what new problems may emerge in handling moving the wheel that much forward.  Any thoughts?  I reduced the stock stem from 80 to 55, would going back up somewhat help, or should it be okay.  The geo of my bike after the headset change will look pretty similar to an Altitude or a Sight... both bikes I like.

Love the article, Cam.  I suffer from being old and new.  I started riding 5 years ago at age 48.  I regretted getting into mountain biking as late as I did and often wondered what kind of rider I'd be if I started riding in my 20's... then I watched things like The Moment and I'm glad I waited until trails and bikes would afford me a recreation that wouldn't kill me.   

Maybe it's the age, and not that you've aged, but I too find joy in the incremental improvements, the moments where it all comes together, and the humbling reminders usually shortly after that I have many more incremental improvements to go in my riding career.

It's nice to reflect with other riders finding joy without having to ride like I'm training for Rampage.

I love the music selection, given the topic.  Let's all vote while we listen to Murder The Government!  Brilliant.  I also couldn't help but imagine all the complaints when the unpaved streets knee deep in shit were dumbed down all those years ago... 

In all seriousness, though, as I become more involved in the mountain biking community and start to understand the complexity and necessity of stewardship be it on trails or roads/traffic lights, I am now looking more to municipal politics and will be voting.  Thanks for another good one, Uncle Dave