nouseforaname profile

I must be thinking of a different trail.

That trail (all but the last photo) is actually in Squamish. Comes off Angry Midget. I'm surprised to see it featured so prominently.

Well today i learned that Saffers call chainstay protectors 'slap socks' @timmigrant can you verify please?

Meh. Cheap bikes should have cheap tires. 

If you're buying a bike at pretty much any price (but certainly at a price where 'tires matter') and the shop won't work with you on a deal to install your choice of tires at the point of purchase - you're shopping at the wrong store.

Hey Tim - are you running cushcore in full on DH casing tires, or did you step back and run lighter sidewall versions? Do you run DH casing tires on your Range?

A Shimano cassette locking tool is not the same as a Shimano freewheel removing tool. Sorry.

Park FR5 is the cassette locking tool, but the FR1 is the freewheel tool. Easy to mash your stuff up trying to cross use these tools.

Absolutely spot on. The blame lies with GT. Just because they couldn't check on the spot doesnt mean they couldn't have got ahead of the issue and gone to the UCI.

Isn't that one of the things OneUp was touting about their dropper lever? That being closer to the bar meant less grip disengagement?

"EWS proven" is (becoming) as overused and meaningless as "Aeropace Alumin(i)um".

Because they're sexy looking. And probably a little lighter. Bontrager (comparable wheels IMO) use J bend on the cheap wheels and straight pull on the higher end. The spoke tension on the straight pull wheels is higher.

Posted by: NickB

Haven’t tried the rim strips, but the plugs that come with Roval wheels are genius. They’re plastic with rubber seals and you pop one in each spoke hole. 

They never lift up when you change a tyre and they save about 50 grams a wheel. Not sure why the rest of the industry hasn’t done us a favor and stolen this idea.

Velocity Rims used to sell these - VeloPlugs i think.

That was one of the options offered to my wife, but the surgeon said that if there was an underlying weakness there was zero guarantee that it wouldn't herniate again at any time. She opted to go for a double disc replacement - hers was pretty severe so that may not be on the table for your wife.

Surgeon reckoned on a 4 week recover time with limited movement IIRC - no bending twisting lifting etc.

Good luck!

Mavic (and others) used the top type to convert their wheels for years with no issues.

I don't see an issue with them either way.

Posted by: Xorrox

I have been able to find zero reviews or write ups of people's personal experiences with the MRP Bartlett dual crown "enduro / freeride' fork anywhere on the internet. Is there anyone here who is running one of these and can say what they think about it?

Also, what is involved in mounting these in a normal head tube designed for a standard single crown fork with a tapered steerer? What type of headset would I need?

As per this thread (https://nsmb.com/forum/forum/gear-4/topic/any-options-to-stiffen-the-steerer-tube-on-a-fox-36-fork-131197/) , I'm currently running a 2019 Fox 36 Grip2 29er fork at 170mm travel on my bike and really love the damper and air spring but don't love the amount of flex I get, especially over rough terrain at high speed or when using the front brake on steep downhill sections. (I am a heavy guy and I love to plow through stuff so I'm definitely a fork designers worst nightmare).  The Bartlett seems to be a good option to correct this but it's a LOT of cash to put down on a new fork without any independent information or reviews.

Headset - probably just a reducing crown race for your existing headset. If not - check out FSA - they'll have a headset that is for a tapered (44/56 or whatever) frame that uses a reducing crown race.

I don't think that reduced offset is as big a deal as it is made out to be.

Posted by: grambo

Updating this... finally fixed it, my (stupid ass) mistake was trying to tape washers onto the rack and then insert it into the hitch... installed the rack in hitch then jammed a large washer into the gap (while pressing down on rack to make gap as large as possible) and then taped in place.

Oh yeah and didn't realize the torque specs of the locking pin and bolts were as high as they are so I use some decent box wrenches to crank those suckers down.

Only a small amount of play from the lower mast pivot now, I think that will always be there because the sliding pin you use to choose which of the 3 layback positions the rack is in is it not super tight tolerance so there's some wiggle room... no biggie though, it's night and day improvement from my video in this thread.

I never folded my NSR so I replaced that blind pin with a big bolt which reduced some noise.

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: nouseforaname

I've logged 600+KM on dirt on a 2019 Chromag Primer 29r since April 15 - squamish, loamers, whistler, epic ish rides. I know how good the new progressive HTs are.

But..... Coming 'back into the sport' why beat yourself up? Sorry if i hurt anyones feelings with the hardtails are for poors comments. It's still true though. 95% of folks who have a hardtail that they ride around here, do so with a FS bike in their quiver also.

Hardtails are fun, but hardtails make things harder. Why would you want that as a novice, or returning rider? That's just backwards. Unless it's for budgetary reasons - which is the best reason to ride a hardtail (other than also possessing a desire to be whipped and spanked in your off bike time. In that case only riding a hardtail makes perfect sense.) 

If it's because you enjoy making things harder for yourself OP - buy a hardtail. Flaunt your masochistic tendency every chance you get - don't ever let anyone know how much more awkward a hardtail has made things; just act like it's the most normal thing in the world. Read some (all) of Andrew Majors posts (even though even he has a FS bike). Embrace the life.

Or - buy a second hand full suspension bike - (re)grow your skills faster and rock the trails.

Isn't it a bit self righteous to be assuming to know why someone might want a hardtail and what another rider considers to be fun?

I also tend to highly disagree that one will "(re)grow your skills faster" on a fs bike than a hardtail. just because they might be riding faster sooner with a fs bike doesn't mean their skills are progressing faster than on a hardtail.

Well I'm a self righteous asshole a bunch in real life too.

Posted by: thaaad

I am fairly sure Tim is correct. I'm also fairly sure that the Fox Grip2 and the Marz Grip2 are the exact same cartridge but with different knobs.

Aside from the footnuts and topcap threads the Grip2 damper doesn't touch the inside of the fork uppers or lowers at all. The wall thickness should not matter.

But I stopped working at OGC before any of the new Marz stuff came in so I don't know 100%.

This. Because the marz fork uses an e bike csu.

Posted by: pedalhound

I agree, I used to be a full suspension snob like nouseforaname, but the new progressive HT's are pretty amazing.

Here's another one to look at:

https://www.marinbikes.com/ca/bikes/2019-mountain-hardtail-trail-27.5-san-quentin-1

I've logged 600+KM on dirt on a 2019 Chromag Primer 29r since April 15 - squamish, loamers, whistler, epic ish rides. I know how good the new progressive HTs are.

But..... Coming 'back into the sport' why beat yourself up? Sorry if i hurt anyones feelings with the hardtails are for poors comments. It's still true though. 95% of folks who have a hardtail that they ride around here, do so with a FS bike in their quiver also.

Hardtails are fun, but hardtails make things harder. Why would you want that as a novice, or returning rider? That's just backwards. Unless it's for budgetary reasons - which is the best reason to ride a hardtail (other than also possessing a desire to be whipped and spanked in your off bike time. In that case only riding a hardtail makes perfect sense.) 

If it's because you enjoy making things harder for yourself OP - buy a hardtail. Flaunt your masochistic tendency every chance you get - don't ever let anyone know how much more awkward a hardtail has made things; just act like it's the most normal thing in the world. Read some (all) of Andrew Majors posts (even though even he has a FS bike). Embrace the life.

Or - buy a second hand full suspension bike - (re)grow your skills faster and rock the trails.

Posted by: heathen

If you can spend a few more dollars I would highly recommend the Giant Fathom 2. You get solid components that will last and you get plus size tire to help cushion.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ca/fathom-2

If he can spend a bit more, he can stop being a poor and buy a full suspension bike. And enjoy coming back to the sport instead of hating himself for large portions of the ride. 

Here's 30+ bikes in XL or XXL all sub $1700 - so all easily haggle-able down to $1400 or less IMO.

Unless he also enjoys self flagellation - in which case roll on OP - no further judgement from me!

Posted by: Boldfish

Thanks All!  Really appreciate the input. 

Local = Vancouver/Fraser Valley Canada

Cheez1ts is right, other than the link Kenny sent, there is virtually nothing on the used market for someone 6'4"

That Chromag is barely a fit for someone at 6' never mind 6'4".