pete@nsmb.com profile

Thanks, Max. If people learn something or are enlightened, that's great. Even better if you enjoyed a few words. Always appreciate the feedback.

You may know more about my setup peccadilloes than I do! To be honest, I set up the levers to be even by sight and by feel, but then, as everyone knows, over the course of the first few rides, you make small tweaks until it feels 'right'. Now, I won't say that a mm here or there would totally throw me off - I'm more about being within a specific range and then I can deal with it. Maybe there is an injury or biological asymmetry - I don't know for sure but it wouldn't shock me. Once upon a time I had a really, really talented and elite road bike fitter do a once over on my setup and it was asymmetrical everywhere, but that was due to a leg length difference that was playing havoc with my hips and I don't have those issues anymore...I've also got some past shoulder injuries that just maybe are at play even though they don't bother me.

Anyway, interesting to think about and I'll pay attention to it for future interest's sake.

Thanks Tim. Deniz did a great job with the photos as usual.

Thanks, Ona. I haven't tried a Cascade link but it would be interesting sometime. I will say I loved the original Sentinel as well. Completely different personality, esp with a jump in size, but equally fun to ride. 

And I certainly agree about the fine folks at Transition.

I made a comment down below, but yes, frame tests are interesting for different reasons than complete builds. Depends in large part on the reader: for some of you, your next bike will be chosen based on brand or model or price (or what your LBS has in stock) whereas others will always want to start with a frame and go from there - or port parts over from one frame to another. 

From our side, building frames up allows us to test multiple components at once and control that part of the process, but it's also a lot more work and organization. Equal list of pros and cons.

We'll continue to primarily test complete builds due to simplicity, but we'll also look for frame test opportunities - and it's good to know they're appreciated.

Hi Omar,

As Andrew said, Banshee was keen on the frame only review idea - it actually started with them and for a reason that won't surprise you: like the rest of the industry they are carefully watching their supply chain and it can be hit and miss. It's even trickier for smaller brands who usually aren't at the head of the delivery pack for certain vendors. So, they presented us with the choice of taking delivery on a frame in the short term or potentially waiting for a complete build (or not being able to get the right size/build combination). Andrew was keen to use it as a test bed rather than start with a complete bike and replace parts bit by bit to do the same thing. So it was a winning prospect all around.

There are a lot of things that go into a good jacket - a really good one in this case. Cut and design, manufacturing quality, and materials. There's no real way to cut corners on the last two of those things (cut and design can be ripped off). 

You can get a jacket that costs less that breathes well OR is waterproof, but not that one does both that is also well-made (and low cost). Other options in the market always - always - bear this out. There are plenty of $100-200 riding jackets, but I can point out the reason(s) why they won't perform as well as this one with a quick glance at a spec sheet and a product photo or two. Does that mean they're useless? Hell no. For many people, a $115 Patagonia Houdini or any other thin shell will work for a lot (maybe most) of the time they'll need it. Even here - IF you're content with not riding when the weather is really bad.

But if you live in a place like the North Shore or the Fraser Valley where it rains hard AND can be cool/cold - in other words, the most challenging layering situation to dress for - you're not going to get good protection from the elements AND good breathability. You're going home sweaty because it's easy to make a jacket waterproof but not easy (or at least cheap) to also make it breathable.

Mud is no big deal, really. In a pinch, you can wash your outerwear with no detergent, or really mild detergent - but the best is to use the right stuff, which is a dedicated cleaner (Nikwax or Granger's) - or at least to use it sometimes.

As for tears and abrasion - well, that's always a risk, but it's not hard to sew up a jacket or use a product like Tenacious Tape which does a fine job on small and medium tears. Large or complicated repairs will be harder to do yourself but all the brands selling pricey jackets will take care of it for you or help faciliate a repair. I hear a lot of comments from people concerned about tearing their expensive jackets, but I've yet to hear about a jacket being ruined in a crash.

Nailed it with a lot fewer words than I needed!

Haha. The photo is taken from slightly off center so that may explain why you can see one lever and not the other but I can assure you I'm pretty picky about having the lever hooks and angles be the same. Re the controls, the SRAM AXS shift paddles and AXS Reverb paddle are not the same shape and don't have the same actuation angle, so it's not unusual to see them look different like that. 

Setup looks different now since I'm running the new AXS paddle but I'll make sure the cockpit photos are copasetic ;)

Whatever point(s) you're trying to make in that mess, they didn't land. 4,000 Americans are dying every day and you're pretending it's not a big deal, which is astounding - and also one of the gross malfeasances of Trump and all the toadies that are too callous, ignorant, and downright stupid to realize it. Wars were started over 9/11 but you've lost more of your fellow citizens every day for almost two weeks and yet the overall response is apathy. I have a lot of American friends and love the country, but the way you treat each other lately is disgusting. You've gone from being a jewel on the world stage to a laughing stock.

In my world, age is not a factor when it comes to the value of a life and, by the way, plenty of young people are dying of it - you don't have to look hard to understand that. We don't yet know about the long term impact but it's leaving some people with issues ranging from fatigue, reduced lung capacity, even mood swings and mental health repercussions. But your social circle is apparently not impacted so I'm sure it's no biggie, bro. 

You might feel smart for using a word like 'pogrom' but either your grasp of history is several credits short of an introductory course or you're an anti-semite. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt - you pick your poison, since that seems to be your answer to the state of your once proud nation. 

Keep the politics out of it? Sorry. There are places you can go to bro down and pretend that bum rushing your seat of government in the name of protecting the constitution isn't treason and that a global pandemic is slightly more than an inconvenience, but this is not and has never been that place. I can't help it if you don't think your country is burning, but that has been both literally and figuratively true in 2020. Thanks for popping in.

Posted by: rnayel

Posted by: Mic

Read through the thread and had to think of Kitsbow, are they producing in BC?

Old Fort, NC

Right. One thing they are doing that's unique in the apparel world, though, is producing many of their pieces to order. Their stuff is pricey but they're taking lots of steps to reduce the waste that is so common in the apparel industry.

I think I can add some useful info to this thread. 

First, I'm also a big fan of photochromic lenses. I've had great luck with Smith and Ryders and most recently, these shades from Julbo: https://www.julbo.com/en_ca/segment

For north shore/heavily forested conditions, particularly in winter, even the 'clearest' photochromic lenses usually have a small amount of tint that inhibits a bit of light, so when it's really dark/crappy and wet, I go with a full clear lens (I never find myself wishing I had a tinted lens - even on the ride home - btwn October and March anyway).

Lenses and their coatings can get saturated - even Ryders' vaunted antiFog has its limits, and you'll meet those limits while climbing through wet conditions on a colder day. So, if the ride involves a climb first (don't they always?) I'll begin with the glasses inside a lens bag, in a pocket that won't get wet or see pass-through condensation. In other words, NOT a jacket pocket, back jersey pocket, etc. Hip bag/pack all the way. Pull them out for the descent, and the antifog coating will be intact and you've given yourself a head start. Use that lens cloth to dry/clean them periodically, then stash it in a dry pocket.

Stashing on the helmet when climbing is convenient if you can pull it off, but works a lot better for roadies or fast rides, otherwise the heat coming off your head will outmatch the air flow and your glasses will be fogged up. Again, in warmer conditions you'll have better luck, but below about 15 degrees C, it's tough to manage. A roadie trip that does work, however, is clipping the glasses to the back of your jersey or jacket. They won't be subject to ventilation or condensation. They can still get wet back there but it's not too bad, they'll stay in place for mellow riding, and you won't likely forget them there. They're also easy to get at if you decide you want them on while climbing.

Public parking in the Dempsey/Braemar area has been restricted to the north side of Braemar for quite a few weeks now. Residents only on the south side. It's been busy, but when the packed up cars are focused across the road from the residents, that at least provides a bit of a buffer. And the packed area doesn't extend too far away - you can park 300 meters down the road and have all the room you want.

Unsurprisingly this thread strayed a bit from the original question but it's been a good read. 

The poll is flawed, though: you need to include an option stating that the respondent feels as safe riding in the US as in Canada. Instead it goes from 'only when choosing a riding location carefully' to 'feel safer riding in the US than in Canada'. In any case I realize the poll is secondary to the question. 

I think it's an interesting topic and a use case outside the typical assumption for gun use - at least to people outside the US, whereas for many Americans this question probably doesn't seem out of the ordinary at all. Personally, I've been traveling to the US very frequently since I was very young and can count the number of times I've felt unsafe on one hand: one of those was when driving in Palo Alto and a wrong turn had us driving through a neighbourhood complete with several porches filled with guys that looked like gang members drinking Olde English in the middle of the day. We definitely missed the turn to Stanford. The irony of it all wasn't lost on us, once we had a chance to exhale and laugh about it. 

Anyway, I understand why people feel unsafe in the US but I also think it's irrational. Life is inherently unsafe and driving a car is the most dangerous thing you do on a daily basis. Of course there are dangerous people and your chances of being shot are higher in the US than Canada, but a high number of gunshot wounds are also either self-inflicted or caused by a weapon owned by the injured. Don't carry and your odds reduce significantly. 

But I also understand the American psyche and the attitudes and history that shaped the ideas around self-determination, guns and freedom, having studied it in university and being fascinated by American history for some time before and after post-sec. 

What's funny though is that despite all my time spent down there skiing, riding and golfing - often in remote places - I never encountered the discussion of carrying a gun while riding until about 5 years ago. We were in rural Oregon and bumped into a few fellas also out riding and we ended up shutting back up together. They were friendly and showed us a few trails. We had fun. At some point the topic of carrying while riding came up - I think because we encountered some shells on the ground (not a rare occurrence in Oregon) but one of them may have broached it when mentioning that there were some meth-cook RVs in the area a la Breaking Bad. Whatever it was, the one guy mentioned that he always carries when riding in that area - and always, as I recall. 

We asked if he'd ever bumped into any meth-cookers in the area? 'Yes'. 

Had any of them ever been a problem or made him feel threatened? 'No'. 

Huh. Ok then. America and guns in a nutshell. 

The other mention I wanted to make was with respect to wildlife and protection - bear spray vs guns. Came across this article awhile back and thought it was worth posting for those that are interested. 

https://www.outsideonline.com/2401248/does-bear-spray-work

Posted by: Stuminator

Played golf & rode on the same day. Life is good. (Did a lot better on the bike, lol)

As someone who loves golf and used to pack them both into a day on a regular basis, that is good living indeed. 6 or 7 am tee time, done before noon, ride in the early afternoon and retire somewhere with a bit of sun and a beer.

Had a quick thought about the second part of your post - that you did a lot better on the bike - and that made me think 'yep, that's me too these days'. But part of that is the quantifiable nature of golf. We don't HAVE to keep score, but we always do. The bike equivalent would be to monitor your speed in real time (a la Strava premium) and judge ourselves 60+ times over the course of a ride ("you suck! what kind of line was that?", "Damn I'm fat and slow" would be 90% of the time, and every now and then: "I am the greatest rider this trail has ever seen (at least in the last hour)").

Which made me go even further down the rabbit hole. Part of the misery of golf is that we obsess with keeping score all the time, but it's not necessary in some ways - and in mountain biking, we're free to enjoy ourselves and play like kids and not worry about bogeys or double bogeys (or losing $5 on a hole). Is this an inherent advantage of a sport like mountain biking? Yes, I think it is.

And lastly, a round of golf for the average hacker can involve a lot of bogeys, double bogeys, etc. Is there an equivalent in golf? If a par is making it through a section of trail according to an arbitrary standard (fairly smooth and fast, no mishaps) then a birdie would be hitting it faster or smoother than usual, or nailing a section you don't normally expect to ride clean. But a bogey, or worse, a double bogey? A come-off, and one with consequences. 

Good thing we don't have that many bogeys on a mountain bike ride.

Posted by: craw

Posted by: pete@nsmb.com

Hey craw, the new XT Trail pedals seem to have a stiffer spring than the new XTR Trails. I noticed this recently while swapping between test bikes and using both sets of pedals (both new). I fired a question off to Shimano to find out if the XT Trails have a stiffer spring but haven't heard back yet. I love the XTRs and run 'em cranked all the way down and that's sufficient for me, whereas those XTs were too stiff and I hadn't even cranked them in all the way. Only slightly heavier, but cheaper = great option.

That's an ideal solution if it's true. My current pedals are XTR but I have zero issue using XT. Do you think this logic applies to DX pedals as well?

I haven't had a reply. Will ask again, and include DX. Also, keep your eyes open, the new Saint clipless pedal will be available soon - we're trying to get a pair asap for testing and spring tension is something we'll pay specific attention to.

Posted by: grambo

Posted by: tungsten

They offer frame only yet?

Nope, not part of their business model which depends on doing massive OEM parts orders with Shimano, e13, Fox, RockShox etc. Also why they don't offer customization options instead focusing on limited SKU's with high volumes.

Pete: have had NSMB whitelisted on uBlock, no issues with ads.

Thank you!

I use uBlock as well. But you guys are whitelisting your favourite MTB site(s), right? And if not, I'd love to hear directly if we've been running ad types that you find offensive. We try to keep a pretty clean reading environment around here, but some ads are necessary.

I had the same problem with RF Indy pads tearing, but that was before I knew this trick (applies to ALL slide-on knee pads): 

When you put them on or take them off your foot, rotate them so that they face backwards. This puts less stress on the stretchy material, and they'll slide on and off more easily. Whatever knee pads you run, they'll last longer.

Also, I don't know if you can find them in many places yet, but I can recommend the Sweet Protection Bear Suit knee pads. Nice to pedal in, stay in place, no chafe.

Hey craw, the new XT Trail pedals seem to have a stiffer spring than the new XTR Trails. I noticed this recently while swapping between test bikes and using both sets of pedals (both new). I fired a question off to Shimano to find out if the XT Trails have a stiffer spring but haven't heard back yet. I love the XTRs and run 'em cranked all the way down and that's sufficient for me, whereas those XTs were too stiff and I hadn't even cranked them in all the way. Only slightly heavier, but cheaper = great option.