Bad-Sean profile

I’m pretty set on this being my next bike at the end of the year. The riding on my farm I want it for is: fire road up, party time on the way down.

Greater sweep in bars may look dorky but it’s comfy as hell and I really think more people should give them a go. Even if only because I would like more of them to be available in different widths and sweeps. 

Whilst I certainly don’t fall into the category of people who are susceptible to hand and upper limb strain issues, I am definitely paying more attention to ergonomics as I am aiming to get in minimum 20km of riding everyday. I live on a farm so this isn’t as silly as it would be if I still lived in the city. 

I’ve had an answer 2020 bar on my trail bike for the last six weeks. The amount of difference the increased sweep makes on my daily ride is quite surprising. I feel more relaxed on the bike and come off it feeling a lot fresher, even when I’m riding in 40c heat. I like them so much so that I am considering buying another one for my enduro bike.

I absolutely love all my wera tools. I can’t deal with all my old cheap stuff anymore.

Yes many times over. As a tall and heavy rider, 36’s feel a lot more flexy to me than your typical compact and svelte enduro bike buyer. I am definitely going to be running DC forks on my next big hit bike, probably a shore or ransom. The forks it comes with will go on my “xc” bike if they’re 29”. 

If the industry really was serious about DC the 300gm weight delta between zeb and boxxer could disappear quickly between the DM stem, skinnier HT, and smaller headset parts before you even start to talk about saving weight in the fork itself. If only they decided DC would be the next industry trend...... haha I know I’m dreaming.

I’ve always liked banshee bikes. I wish they would update the darkside with a bit more reach, I would definitely put it on my shopping list if that were the case.

Excellent article as always. I think people also underestimate the impact of the pandemic on two key inputs to global trade, people, and surface transportation.

One of our products at work relies heavily on overseas sourced components. A couple of those are heavily affected by the vendors ability to get qualified/experienced employees to work at their factory. Travel restrictions are preventing people getting there. One of the other components is quite a large assembly and whilst getting it produced isn’t a problem, a previous 6 week journey from the factory in Korea to our workshop in Australia, is now 14 weeks for the units we are getting tomorrow. Even sending stuff by air is slow due to the demand for logistics from online shopping.

Multiply this by every part on a bike, from hydraulic fittings and cables to valves and seat rails, it’s bound to be chaotic.

I think by virtue of trailside maintenance, not to mention established market position, 6 bolt rotors won't be going anywhere on MTB. The lower cost of manufacturing the rotors will also ensure its ongoing presence in the market. 

My bike was ex sponsored rider, he had loctite on the rotor nut. It was a bitch to get off when I did a rebuild a few years ago, but I put some back on when reassembling, and they've stayed in place since. I'm sure shimano advises not to somewhere....

I think the majority of resentment towards CL is because it's seen as proprietary. I would be quite alright if my next bike had them, but I don't expect that to be the case.

Now that geometry doesn’t condemn riders to knee strikes, there is really no reason for dual crowns to not be on bikes 160mm travel and up.

I’m tall and heavy. There are very real benefits for me that I’m sure also exist for riders with less static load but more dynamic load. 

The 300gm delta between boxxer and zeb can easily be dealt with over a few seasons of development. This will be even less when you consider the direct mount stems have the potential to be lighter than the units we run now on SC bikes.

I plan on getting a 170-180mm 27.5” bike like a norco shore and throwing a DC on it. An OEM boxxer or suntour/dorado if I can find one cheap, will grace the front and I will be a happy boy.

I’ve also been on 220mm rotors at the front for almost two years, I can’t remember precisely. I am about to install one on my 130mm “XC” bike that I put 100km+ on each week.

I’m a big fan of DHR in the front and minion SS out back. I’ve ridden this combo for the last 18 months on both of my bikes. I have assegai and aggressor on the shelf atm because they didn’t work out as nicely for me as DHR and SS.

I’m clearly in the minority, but I have never had an issue with centrelock. My current hard ridden bike had xtr hubs at both ends which survived perfectly until I wanted to move up to 220mm with a galfer kit. I sourced a 6 bolt front wheel and have found myself needing to remember to tighten the bolts periodically. 

Centrelock gets a check once a season and have never found it needing adjustment.

Tbh whenever I've had wheels built, I've almost always used shimano hubs. 

They're cheap. Extremely reliable. Pretty easy to work on (if you use their service manuals), easy to get parts for. Occasionally I've used a different front hub, but rear I've always used shimano. I've never had a problem using or replacing centrelock discs eitherm

I'm really hard on gear, but my current xt hubs are four years old and have worked flawlessly through too many rims to remember. The only time I've had them apart was to replace seals preemptively (twice), and only because I was waiting on new rims to arrive for them.

I would add that a swiss ball and half ball are very good and cheap additions to any gym. I use the swiss ball instead of a bench for everything except vertical rows and standing stuff. Standing stuff I do on a half ball.

Pro athletes often do their standing stuff whilst balanced on top of swiss balls. Madness to me. The half ball is tough enough.

It really works wonders for your fast twitch balance. My riding has definitely benefited from using the balls. My main gym goal (aside from weight loss) is to improve my conditioning for moto enduro riding. I ride with former mx racer bros and can keep up with them for the first half of the days but start to lag and fatigue later in our rides. 

My trainer friend also said if I want to benefit my riding, I should use a broomstick cut down to bar width and hold it when doing stuff like squats, box jumps, side skips and general body weight stuff. I hate that stuff so I should probably do more of it.

Posted by: craw

Go try them. They all fit differently. I tried the Smith, TLD, IXS, Fox and Leatt. The IXS was perfect for me, the Fox second.

I would but there simply isn't much stock in larger sizes in my city. I haven't found a single full face remotely large enough at any of the lbs in my city. The proframe being the exception. I will just have a chat with the adult dh crew next time I visit my lbs.

Wish and Ali maxxis are legit. They source them from maxxis se asia. Btw tyres and shimano stuff cost nothing in se asia for obvious reasons....

Regarding the jerseys, I wish the counterfeit vendors would sort themselves out and make them in western sizes. I find asian sizing so unsuitable at 6'5". They have some comically laid out jerseys covered in the most random logos that I would use for the sheer humour.

Do any of you guys have an enduro full face that goes up to 65cm or 25.6 inches? The fox proframe is just a touch too small for me. I know the TLD D3 comes in my size but want something a bit more breezy than a DH helmet. 

I currently run my MX helmet for rowdy stuff but it's just too hot for the pedaling in summer. I think a DH helmet is probably overkill for me too.

I'm looking for a new open face lid. My head is a true 65cm and my LBS has Giro in my size but I was wondering what other lids you guys with larger heads have had success with?

Posted by: velocipedestrian

He said it was from the same factory, and the North Face guys just had someone on site doing QC while their order was made. When he left the factory kept sewing...

The fabrics seemed legit, but the seams were a bit shit.

Haha that's the classic fake sellers story. My Dad was suckered into buying me a jacket by them with the same story. 

Living in a warm and very dry part of the world it still served its purpose for a year until I took it on a fishing trip up north of the state. The first sign of rain and whatever they had sprayed on it washed away. Our battery packed it in so that was a nice wet 4 hours drifting until the other tender found us. At least it wasn't cold.

The moment I got home, I went and bought a proper warm weather breathable jacket. The moral of the story is, cheap chinese stuff only if it isn't critical. 

I hope the op doesn't need the cassette soon. Multiple things I ordered off aliexpress end of April still haven't arrived.