cam@nsmb.com profile

I have occasionally used that image with her ‘shopped out. Like Ryan Berrecloth in my shot of you on Britus!

That thing was so stiff. It was painful to ride.

Super burly. If you look at stills he came up quite short.  I wonder how much he needs to worry about his speed. Perhaps that is why he didn’t pop enough?

Mike and I are going to do a podcast shortly where I hope to dig into that, but Bike was shuttered while Señor Ferrentino was still an artist in residence. It was apparently profitable and circulation was good, (which were apparently both true of Dirt when it was tossed in the trash by corporate types) and it might have come down to something inspirational and honest, like creating a loss so some multi-millionaire could reap a larger bonus. 

I was a big fan of Bike and I love the people I know at Beta. They produce excellent stuff and fight the good fight as much as possible. Hopefully, it can also survive being part of a corporate behemoth.

Not all of us anyway, but I’m certainly not hard done by! And sometimes there is no bike like your own bike.

If there had been an old one piece post around I would have grabbed it and arrived early!

I recently bled some MT5s but I’m no expert and it was relatively straightforward. 

My thing with bleeds is, if it doesn’t feel perfect, do it over until it does. I get a little better every time.

That is next level mission critical! Next level everything really.

Best laid plans… I had to look up “laws of sod,” which I am familiar with as Murphy’s Law. My trapdoor’s unlikely hiding spot is an excellent example of that.

Well said FM. Tires can be the worst. I’ve complicated that further lately with inserts and attempting thjngs that shouldn’t work - like inserts that are slightly too big for the tire which turned into a multiple session adventure. (I gave up after 90 minutes with 6 inches of bead still unseated but then decided to give it one more try a day later and made it pop into place).

Whoa. I've missed you guys. 

I'm on day 14 of quarantine but as of midnight tonight I can get poked. I just need to find a poker.

Insurance for a kid as primary driver is fucking absurd.

LOL. Nothing too dramatic POZ but a couple of scrapes for sure. We might have hit a stone wall with me riding shotgun. Luckily the sidewalk wasn't littered with babies and we didn't hit too hard. 

Thanks Andy. Mike is a friend of a friend so I'll get in touch with him. A good start.

Just bolted a 170 mm Fox 36 to the front of the Honzo ESD for the final chapter of the test. Looking forward to trying it but I wish more of my buddies rode hard tails. That would make it more fun, and less punishing trying to keep up. It’s pretty rewarding when I do though.

Does anybody know a keen mountain biker who owns or works at an auto body shop and is interested in contra? I currently have a lot of great stuff to trade, and a daughter who is learning to drive!

I cut grooves in a couple of regular valves and they worked just fine. But if you buy a set of Cushcore valves are included.

If you look at how easy trials motos are on trails the answer may be no Mark. Improved grip means less sliding as well.

Had my second ride on these yesterday and I’ve been blown away. I think there is a lot more going on than the Tannus PR indicates. It seems the insert acts like suspension and when there is an impact to the tire it increases pressure so air that is within the insert stays put until it is slowly released by the 4 slits. It acts a little like Procore st first and it allows outrageously low pressures to provide ample support.

I’ll have to check but I think I was under 14 psi front and rear on a top to bottom that included TNT and Cambodia yesterday. Sidewall support and grip are ridiculous. And this was with DHR2s with exo casings.

All this for 160 grams. I was on Rimpacts before this and they are very good aside from the sidewall support, but they don’t come close to the new Tannus.

I'm late to this thread but this may not have been mentioned. Tips from pro rider etc. about how to deal with a slump. 

https://nsmb.com/articles/15-tips-dump-slump/

I just did a rebuild with Jeff at Bikeroom on a set of XTR 9100 hubs and before I publish my article I wanted to hear some opinions from the big brains in here. And the small ones actually. 

Do cup and cone hubs scare you? Do you love cartridge bearings? Do you run Chris King to get the best of both worlds? 

Personally I'm a bit of a traditionalist so I appreciate them from that perspective and I like the user serviceability without special tools, aside from 22mm cone wrenches. I also like never worrying about my hubs getting destroyed because of a lack of maintenance which tilts me toward cartridge bearings. 

I'll add a poll question.

I just wanted to say thanks to those of you on the Gear board for keeping things moving so nicely. I always learn new things when I'm lurking and I appreciate the excellent group think that goes on here.

About that request...

If those of you who haven't yet filled out our survey could please give it a look we'd be eternally grateful. This not only gives us valuable info, it helps keeps the lights on around here. It only takes a few minutes.

https://nsmb.com/articles/yftc-nsmb-reader-survey/

Hope to see some of you on the trails in 2020!

Cam