Znarf profile

I was very curious for this new Ibis. With long legs and arms and typically between L and XL on most frames, I have a very hard time imagining me on a large with this tiny headtube. 

I’ll have to test ride. Maybe an XL with 3cm of spacers below the stem, but I’m highly skeptical. 

My current large frame has 130mm headtube, 480mm reach and 657 stack with a 170mm fork. (I ride a 180mm with around 10mm (headset top cap and 5mm spacers) and a 20mm rise bar. Feels perfekt with 440mm chainstays.

Most fork manufacturers forbid more than 30mm of headset spacers btw…

Nice, informative article!

If you already don‘t feel jazzed about the suspension right now, wouldn‘t it be the right thing to have them re-shimmed or upgraded even for the review? The Carbon 50 isn‘t „affordable“ anyway. Most buyers in this price range will just upgrade, no? So it would be interesting to see what the frame is capable of…

@Tashi:

This assessment sounds a lot more realistic to me, and a bit fatalistic also. 

In geologic times human society will (most certainly) be a mere blink (which could mean a couple hundred thousand years or a couple hundred million years).  Like several organisms/systems of organisms which "dominated" earth for longer or shorter periods in the past 4.5 billion years, we humans affect our environment as a species. Like them we will be extinct at some point or changed so much that we probably wouldn't register our far descendants as humans. (maybe A.I. will be our heritage?) 

If we look at a human timescale rather than a geological one however, I'm sure there are some people in the world who'd argue for or even benefit, if we made sure that the planet won't be largely inhabitable for humans in the next 30-50 years. Every year, decade, century or millennium we postpone this state would be a win (especially for posterity and people who still want to live).  

Why isn't that an argument for living/milking the moment in the sense, why care, we are fucked anyway? 

Because we can greatly influence the rate at which we degrade our habitat and there are new ways, means and systems (not ONLY technological) which were never available before and might offer solutions or prolong the inevitable (remember, in geological timescales). 

I also believe that human consciousness and ability to reflect, morals, scientific and social progress should be a motivation to try and make things better. 

Imagine if everybody in the 18th century would have accepted slavery, hunger, disease, (religion ;-)) or the absence of human rights as inevitable and as a consequence would have given up. There'd be no bikes today, illegal trail builders would be hanged or quartered and for what it's worth, my life would have been a lot worse for that alone. 

We as consumers and individuals form society, economy and global populace and I therefore am of the decided opinion that we can influence or at least try to influence the direction we/it/this is going, however small that individual influence might or might not be. 

I am not trying to convert/brainwash anyone here, I DO enjoy the conversation and find it remarkable, that the tone stays polite even with this topic, which is a big compliment for the NSMB audience not many online communities warrant!

I beg to differ. Yes, corporate and global industries like construction, power plants, manufacturing etc. have BIG impact on total greenhouse emissions, but there is a lot an individual CAN do. If you burn a gallon of fuel, the emissions WILL be in the atmosphere. If you DON’T, they won’t be.

Especially if your income lies above the global average (which it probably does, if you own a device to post in this board), you have choice and responsibility.

Every bit you do for the environment WILL have an impact. And if you lead by example, others CAN follow. It‘s like democracy…

I am no saint, I consume more than I ideally should, but my family rearranged our lifes a couple years ago and reduced our carbon footprint by 60-80 percent. While changing our way of life a bit, it for sure didn‘t decrease our happiness. It is much cheaper, we could/do work less now, with more biking btw.

While I find these articles on cars well written, with great pictures and I also am emphatic with the joy these cars hopefully bring to their owners, I wondered several times if the glorification of cars on a biking website is right.

I love vintage cars and these travel vehicles suggest great freedom, that‘s why everyone loves the idea. If I am totally honest though, I am experiencing freedom much more intensively if I just ride my bike. Even on local trails, pedalling right from the doorstep TO the trails, or build or repair trails.

Glad you like it so much! 

One question on the „same cadence“ - friends spinning away thing though: 

Couldn‘t you just go one gear harder and be as quick? At least on a road the mullet setup shouldn‘t pedal slower, apart from the small effect of a different seat angle. Same tire model/wheel of course. Or is there more to it?

I have a linkglide XT group on my electric cargo bike, which I ride up and down steep gravel roads for commuting with my kid a lot. 1500km+ on it, it still shifts like new and the chain seems to be good to go so far.

Freaking 48t chainring seems to minimize wear as well, as the big cogs see actual use on the cassette.

I have a solid month on the exact same fork with a 170mm air shaft. Compared to my 180mm Lyrik with a Luft-Fusion air cartridge it is much less comfortable so far and offers less traction, but feels more controlled on repeated rough hits.

With the stock Fox gold lower lube it becomes almost unridable below 5deg Celsius. 

Swapped the air side to 10ML Rock Shox 0w30 and now it’s much better in cold weather.

I will have the bushings checked/resized at the next service. And yes, forks are amazing nowadays. 

I love all the features Fox built in (floating axle, air bleeders) and miss them on my Lyrik.

But honestly, the Lyrik with its „simple“ feature set works absolutely incredible. Setup is shockingly easy. 

I am curious what I’ll think after a full season on the 2023 36.

(My last couple of 36s started MAJOR creaking after a couple of months.)

The new Conti enduro casings are more durable/more stable/beefier than EXO+ in my experience (had the older style Exo+ and new style Exo+). I can ride them (Conti Enduro) on the rear wheel without insert without any problem. I flatted Exo+ not regurlarly, but occiasionally even with a medium density insert. 

Thread life, especially side knobs, is much longer for me on the Contis. 

I used to love Maxxis, loved the last-gen Barons in cold, wet conditions. LOVE the new Contis all around. Over here they can be cheaper on sale as well compared to Maxxis.

I have almost a year on Dh Kryptotal Super soft front and Enduro Soft Kryptotal rear on my enduro bike. Similar terrain and conditions to the north shore. I absolutely agree with your review. Same experience. 

I swapped my worn, but still rideable for summer Krypto Front for a super soft Argotal DH. 

And it is a monster for fall/winter conditions. Grip on wet roots, rocks and soft stuff is a noticable step up even compared to the Krypto FR. I find the 2.4 version still rolls well and there‘s no vague feeling or strange stuff on hardpack or rock surfaces. Very versatile, like a much better Baron.

Cool list and I wish you great health for the new year!!!

Btw: The Bikeyoke Revive is and has been widely available in 31,6mm and 210mm drop. Been riding one for two seasons…

I did exactly that on a 23 SD Air. The new body was 30€. Shock needs to be depressurized and disassembled. But if it‘s due a service anyway…

One time a friend bought a 100 foam rings on aliexpress for a couple bucks. He raved how they were so much cheaper. Turned out they didn‘t hold any liquid. Maybe the material they were made of would have been perfect for tire inserts in that regard.

Apart from that I used Fox 36 foam rings in 35mm Lyriks. Worked. Other way around as well. Installation can be tricky, if they are too loose and get caught in the bushings and rip. But you‘d feel that for sure. I did and had fun to fish all the bits out of oily lowers…

The bearings on my Raaw Madonna last multiple seasons, which is a first for me. 

My wife‘s Santa Cruz Hightower LT also runs smoothly for a long time. 

Never pressure washing them and wiping them off with a wet rag instead of excessive water with a hose or bucket also increases bearing life drastically for me.

Incredibly cool bike! Best thing that can happen to kids. 

My dad rode me around on a similar Longus on a top tube mounted child seat. That got me hooked on mtbs…

Have you bought already? 

A thing to keep an eye on. Several friends of mine had headtube issues/failures with the current enduro. They had little cracks in the carbon headtube where the bearings sit, upper end. Freaking creaking and all their frames got warrantied. No catastrophic headtube ripping off or something. The ticking/creaking drove them nuts before anything happened. 

They all ride the black/white s-works now, while they originally had flashy colors. (I loved the red one most!)

That said, they got new frames without questions (some waited almost a year though, covid…). And new frames are supposed to have a new layup, we will see, if they hold up.

They also mostly love how the bike rides, very plush, not a fantastic climber, but great descending bike. 

Looks spectacular.

I‘d keep a three bike stable. The Titan as a proper bike, you seem to love it. 

One faster, lighter mtb with faster tires. 

One commuter to reduce time in the car and max ride time. 

So I‘d pick the most efficient mtb apart from the Titan and put fast tires on. Maybe sell four and get one additional really light and different one to the Titan instead.

Two bottle cages are great! I make do with an additional flexible bottle in my hip bag or in the storage compartment of my bike, but two bottle cages are much better =)

Cool bikes btw!

Yeah, some interesting conditions at the moment. I am regularly noticing how much more grip my tires offer compared to my oldish FiveTen freeriders. Stopping or stumbling with a foot off the pedals can result in dangerous tripod-slow-crashing =)

How come? 

Lack of motivation or lack of opportunity?

I wish you many happy rides for 2023!

Happy New Year to everyone!

Here is my new build - all with used parts (some are bought second hand, but unused before)…

Today I‘ll take it for a first test ride in the forest.

Why a new bike? I could not be happier with my Madonna in it‘s 4th season. I always wondered if weight made a difference or not, though.

I came across this used but like new Tarvo frame (with full warranty) and figured, I‘d give it a go.

If there‘s not a marked difference in ride feel, I‘ll stay with my trusted alloy frame. :-)

Same parts apart from the fork (Lyrik versus 2023 36 170mm). 

Tarvo frame WITH fork weighs a little less than the naked Madonna frame, so roughly 2kg weight difference. Mostly static weight though. 

Wheels and components are pretty light, but durabiltity is my main focus.