Skeen profile

Thanks Andrew I love your kid kit articles. My mini shredder is only 2 so the only experience i have to add so far is a horn or bell (safety and fun).  And some kind of storage bag to stow the gloves and snacks, and to make the bike just like dad’s. Peace!

I picked up a new honzo with deore 4 pot brakes in November. The front pads never bedded in but the rears did. I called the shop about the issue and they claimed they send all new bikes out the door with fully bedded brakes (so it was my error according to them even though I received the bike with neither set bedded and the rears worked in just fine). I stubbornly rode the bike with a crappy feeling front brake u til I finally replaced the front pads with galfers today. I cleaned the rotor with isopropyl before and did a quick/ partial bed in on the street and they are already feeling better than those pre-contaminated pads that came with the bike. I wonder what happened with those, but the rear shimano pads bite well as do the new front galfers.

I have been running the one up v2 in 180 for 2 years with the occasional bushing clean/lube and add a few (tens of) psi and no further issues. Another brand to mention is tranz-x. Their stock post on my honzo has been flawless for its first 5 months and ~300 miles of heavy use. Not too many miles yet but lots of post-drops within those miles. 

On a related note I’ve been running a KS Lev on my fat bike with about an inch of air leaked squish for 4 years (100mm total travel). It was a hand me down from a different bike. I tune the seat height to the “sag”. I even have a second identical post with no issues but prefer the one with some cush. Granted the bike doesnt see tons of miles each year and i know its a bit risky but dang it takes the bite out of that rigid ride.

This article and the ensuing conversation are awesome! Not applicable for my 2 year old and his strider yet, but gets my gears turning for future builds and continues to justify my big ol box of spare parts (drive train components and lots of other stuff), i hate throwing out old parts that still have life left, even if its a chain stretched to 0.5. More importantly: good chain lines, shift action, and gear ratios for my up and coming grom. Thanks for the insight Andrew.

As the thumb shifter is on my rigid fat bike it sees a lot off  bad conditions. I use it for snow rides and as my “muck bike” so yeah it is overdue for a good cleaning and relubed if not new shift cable. I should have thought of that! But I couldnt remember if the thumb shifter ever felt much better although given your confirmation i know to check it out. Thanks!

If the grip shifter can be cut down so i can get my hands on a full solid grip, then reposition to shift the inner ring i’d be very interested to try. 

I also like my 11 speed shimano thumb shifter in friction mode on my rigid fat bike to increase the old school flavor. Although whether in friction or index mode it is very difficult to push the thumb shifter from smallest cog to the next few gears, seems due to ergonomics but also the force/ leverage(?) needed. Not a big problem on my slow going fat bike but I wouldn’t like it on a higher performance FS bike.  Do you have any input on how to improve this?

Awesome article Andrew! Reminds me that I have a stock trials bike in my fleet circa 2006. I am still running a 2x8 with an XT short cage RD. Used to have cut off grip shifters with only the larger inboard ring with no grip part. Theory was less hanging bits to damage but they both eventually broke and i replaced with a shimano trigger shifter for rear and manual shifting up front! I run it in small ring mode for trialsin and middle ring for moving between session locations, bash ring on outside of course. Thanks for reviving the manual front shift idea in the context of modern NW rings. Sick!

How about just open the master bleed port so you can push the pads back without much force? Or am I missing something?

I have been diving deep on the Frankenbrake discussion on ride monkey. Brake nerds there recommend a grease that is compatible with mineral oil or dot accordingly, but not brake fluid because it washes away too quickly. And definitely a very light coat so as to not get everywhere and contaminate the pads. 

I appreciate the comment above, warning about over lubing pistons and needing some friction. I hadn’t heard of this but it makes sense. I may not lube after cleaning unless I notice an issue although I have never done a piston cleaning myself yet. I will be a bit worried about accidentally pushing out pistons, I have done that before and it sucked (do brake work with scrap cardboard floor protector in case of spills) but didn’t ruin the calipers. 

Great article overall, I appreciate the pictures and that diagram from park. Cam, just check step 2 for 4 piston calipers. In the same section I believe you refer to the calipers and the pistons as rotors. Not a big deal, obviously just a typo/ brain fart but something to maybe edit. Thanks for the write up!

Interesting to hear your perspective, especially going to a 170 fork! I live on front range of Colorado so not quite as much winch&plummet style but lots of chunk. My first ride on the ESD beat me up real good, next few rides going fast as possible smoothed things out, then I learned to smooth my style at a slower pace. Great review, thanks for posting!

A few honest questions (not trying to bash) how much more torque can an average ebike put out? How much more likely are unskilled ebikers going to spin out and wash out steep tough climbs because they can just dump in bonus power instead of ride up with finesse? I am not worried about trail wear from more laps, just unchecked torque ripping up steep climbs. Any insights out there?

I have a 2018 mega trail, it has 2 rear shock mounting positions to switch travel between 165 and 150 mm along with a slight Geo change.

I got a second, shorter stroke shock with same eye to eye so Geo is the same but travel is reduced to 145 or 135 mm. This is basically the same as a shred Dogg but with my same longer travel fork. Although I air up the fork so effective travel matches the reduced rear.

I think the 29" smash could do the same thing but recommend just contacting guerrilla gravity they are super helpful folks.