UFO profile

I've never had the pleasure of playing with 9 speed xtr, but I'm trying to hoard 10 speed xtr/xt shifters. I love how light and accurate that shift feel is for me. 

On my big bike I've been toying with going back to a manual shift granny and 34t narrow wide up front with an 11-36t 10sp xt cassette, which would allow me to run my 10sp xtr rd with zee cage. I find the spring tension on the short cage rd so much stronger which helps with retention even in the non nw granny, and of course the clearance related benefits too.

See you at Top of the World this summer aboard your hardtail Cam ;)

I'm sure you picked up new skills and flow aboard the ht that will transfer over to your squishy bike. For me though, it usually takes a few rides for anything like that to show up. I find FS bikes just 'move' differently, and how I move within the bike also has to adapt based on that.

The irony in this is that based on past performance, some brands do use these 'leaks' as part of their genius marketing play followed up with a long term media review/release several (or the next) days after. Though it appears in this case missteps were taken, I can appreciate both sides.

I'm just going to say if you make the bed, get ready to sleep in it too. It's not up to Joe Consumer/Photographer to figure out and keep track of which brand is on which side.

So what I'm reading is that SX and NX may no longer be viable OE options? Darn

I got our turning 7 in January girl a 20" Early rider this Spring, rigid with the 3 spd IGH and belt drive. It was a nice step up from the 16" Belter. When she first got on the 20, she appreciated the light weight (even compared to the 20" aluminum Liv I had bought previously), and also really liked the easy climbing gear. 

On longer flat rides this Summer though she did have problems finding a good gear to keep pace with her friends but not too high to tire herself out.

What's the point to all this... we have her seat set fairly high on the 20 and recently I tried her on an old hardtail with 24" wheels that I've been piecing together over the last 18 months, 28x42 is low enough for what we ride and she has more taller gear options too now. She rides it comfortably, but getting on and ejections are a bit sketchy. Next Spring will be primetime and graduating yet again to a real bike now  -- I'm so excited!

I think the 420 has the cheaper looking non servo long lever, resin pads, and im guessing the same caliper as the 520. The 520 shares the same short hook style servo wave lever as the higher end brakes, and came with metallic pads (at least last year they did)

I've always found the big gains in Shimano 4 piston brakes isnt a huge increase in power -- we know the 2 pots have a reputation for an on/off feel -- but better control in how to use that power IMO. 

My first experience with Zee's I was a bit disappointed because the interweb had played up their huge power. But once things got steep and more finesse was necessary, this is where they showed their worth to me.

I've been happily riding M520 (non-series Deore equivalent) 4 pot calipers since they came out, mated to some old M985 XTR levers and don't desire for more power or control.

I'm so glad you got the chance to try a real hardtail Cam. 

I gave FS a semi honest try, but back to the hardtail I go for what, where, and how I like to ride.

Let me know when you work up the desire to drop TOTW on a hardtail ;)

I couldn't get along with the 11sp SLX shifter. Yes the shifts were lighter than 11sp XT/XTR, but the shift feel felt imprecise, cheap, and plasticy -- worse than a 9sp Deore shifter IMO. Sounds like that has been corrected with 12sp. 

So I guess the question is what/if there are any real world performance gaps between 12sp Deore and SLX as the feature set is seemingly identical

SLX does seem like it has been given the squeeze.  Traditionally,  SLX has been the proper entry level offroad group,  whereas Deore served to be a top end recreational group that could transition casual riders into more regular offroad riding. 

I guess Shimano could have called the Deore 12sp group here SLX and eliminated the current actual SLX, and keep there Deore branding for 'lesser' 11sp and 10sp groups. 

But I do still see a place for current SLX as it stands. XTR is the race group, XT is the high end group for mortals, SLX is the solid mid end,  and Deore remains entry level, all at 12sp.

Posted by: twk

The aforementioned M6000 Deore 10spd Derailleur does indeed work with no mods on an 11-46, provided it is the model with the GS cage (no idea about the SGS variant). 

The SGS long cage works fine for the 46t as well, but the longer cage is redundant for 1x setups. The longer cage allows it to pick up the extra chain slack from a 2x front chainring, presumably a 24x36 or something along those lines.

Easiest upgrade route is a Sunrace 10 speed 11-46 cassette, and a M6000 Deore clutch rd. The M7000 slx and M8000 xt rd work the same as well if you feel like splurging

The 10sp shimano shifters and above rd work without needing any links or any other modifications to the rd

The MT520 4 pots are very good, no discernible performance benefit to the higher end offerings IMO. I have them paired with old 985 levers.

Posted by: Poz

No doubt! 

You need a “wide load” sign on the back to drive on city streets. 

Nice looking machine by the way

I won't deny the bike is long, and my car is small, but this is mostly camera tricks. In real life either tire sticks about maybe 2" at most.

This is my big bike for 2021, will serve 3-5 days park duty as well. The cockpit geo feels very normal, I guess it took the industry about 4 years to catch up with Pole's progressive geo back in 2017. 

140mm rear with 140mm front right now, though I'll bump that up to 160mm for park days. It pedals better than the V1 Sentinel I was on last year, excited to get this beast on some proper trails for a shakedown run

Posted by: rnayel

one plug in and one ice car in the driveway going forward. We already have the electrical set up, just need a charger once our current lease (ice) is over.

We've adopted this for the past 6 months. Our larger SUV sits largely idle as my wife gets to work from home, permanently now. But we want to keep it for summer road trips, and the rare instances right now where we need to have both cars in use. 

The BEV has been so good to us utility wise as a primary vehicle, and we only use the super slow wall plug charger. The driving experience was a real eye opener, and aside from the noise of an ICE engine, IMO there is nothing an ICE does better in a relative sense. And this is coming from a pseudo car enthusiast.

Personally this is making me look toward getting an older 4 seat convertible couple for a summer play toy.

I found this interesting for perspective, both rear axles are lined up. The Pole is definitely longer, but the extra length comes almost entirely in the rear end as the seat tube is shifted forward about the same as the head tube is in the picture. 

The NS is running a Pike at 160mm which has sagged to around 150mm and 27.5x2.8 in the rear, while the Diamond on the Pole is 140mm which I'll bump up to 150 or 160

Posted by: Taz123

Has anyone done some experimenting?

Yes! For the past 4 years or so, my preferred setup is a 28t oval ring mounted to the granny mounts on my 104/64 non boost 2x cranks,  boost rear end.  This usually just clears the chainstay (a more conventional 3x crank would not without sketchy bb spacing).

I find this gives me a perfect centered chainline on my 3rd lowest gear (out of 10).

Posted by: Brocklanders

Posted by: SixZeroSixOne

Also consider the sag of your shock....

Anecdotally, I seem to have more rock strikes when I've lost a few PSI from my shock. I must remember to check my shock pressure more often. 😳

This

On a similar note also have to consider how a bike uses it's travel. I had a horrible time with the original Norco Range and pedal strikes while climbing. Had to do with sag, wallowy mid stroke, short chain stays, slack sta, steep climb, and some magic combination involving all of the above. 

FWIW with a modern hardtail none of those issues are issues

Posted by: XXX_er

ok, how did you get the white lightning off the chain ? I posted hot water up above but before thinning Squirt down with water what I actualy did was heat-gun the chain to get the  wax in and so thats probably how to get excess wax off

Really testing the memory here.... but I'm pretty sure I just wiped it down with a cloth repeatedly. And again. And again.

With my wet/light lubes that I use now it just kind of wears off and wipes off easy. And reapplies easy too