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That 600g cassette is the least of our worries as long as we think its fine to run 1300g rear wheels with 1200g tyres and 300g inserts on our trailbikes.

One would need to use a frame designed for a front derailleur. Many 1x only frames have issues with the chain touching the chainstay/bridge if the front ring gets too small.

The nice thing about current 1x12 (and previous 2x10/11) setups is that the same drivetrain works for a wide range of bikes, terrains and riding styles. From the BC riders lugging their freeride rigs up steep trails (we can call them that again, right?) to the northern European XC racers on their high-speed training runs.

A 5-speed setup, while certainly viable, would require different casettes and derailleurs depending on bike type and terrain. While the former is relatively easy to implement, the latter won't happen because no international bike brand will make finely grained localized versions of all their bikes.

Even more terrifying since knee+shin guards have gone out of fashion and everyone is just running kneepads. Does noone slip of pedals anymore or do people just accept the necessity of sacrificing blood to the trails-gods?

Interesting observation. Where i ride (central and southern Europe), i don't notice the influx of middle aged "former golfers" as much. Those seem to be usually found riding expensive E-motos on gravel paths.

What i notice however is a pervasive atmosphere of competition. And not in a good way. "Progressing as a rider" has become a mantra. "Slaying the trail" has become what mountainbiking is about. And for almost everyone this means going ever faster down the same old trails. Average speeds have roughly doubled in my edge of the woods over the last decade (partly due to the gear but also due to riders measuring their self-worth in downhill speed).

Mind enlighting me what "Tire response remained quicker, propelling me forward out of the corner and down the trail." means? I know throttle response and this sounds remarkably similar but i'm relatively sure we are still talking about mountainbikes here?

I have read this article with a mixture of amazement and bewilderment. I find it incredible that you are able to discern the qualities of various lubes while riding and wrenching, something i never could. At no point over the last decade or so have i ever thought about the quality of the lubes i use on the bike. My chain is lubed with whatever happens to be available at the nearest bike shop. The same stuff is used for cables. Most of the mechanical stuff sees some generic lithium grease and suspension lube + oil comes from the nearest moto shop (which generally means either Motorex or Castrol). Admittedly, my DT wheels came with some special grease for the ratchets. The only time i noticed something particular about lube was a cheap multipurpose grease separating into its components after a few years.

Maybe i'm just not doing enough riding in torrential rain.

Good point on avoiding popular spots at peak hours. Especially as a group. As bikers we can cover ground much faster than hikers or dog walkers. We can use this ability to get away from the most congested trails close to towns/trailheads.

Funnily enough, people have none of those problems around cars. We regularly stand only centimeters from 2 tons of metal going past at 50km/h without flinching or even acknowledging their existence. But that 80kg human on his 15kg pushbike at one third the speed is perceived as threatening.

Shows how constant exposure to stuff can warp our perception of risk. Maybe in a few decades, if bikes of all kinds continue to rise in popularity and numbers, we will be just as indifferent to bikers riding next to us as we are to cars.

I feel like such a list should also contain the banshee titan. I would have a hard time choosing between those two.

Are Adidas Terrex Trail shoes sold in Canada? Can't find them on the website. They use 5.10 rubber for the soles but are (reportedly) much better made than the 5.10 themselves. Plus they are actually quite decent for hiking.

Some riders in the alps swear by approach shoes made by La Sportiva. The ones with "Megagrip" soles.

Posted by: rwalters

Very well said. The difference between a given tire with and without inserts is much like an air sprung fork with and without bottomless tokens - tire inserts and tokens accomplish some of the same things. Tire insert allows you to run lower pressures, allowing more suppleness "off the top" (better traction, comfortable ride). A hard hit causes the air pressure inside the tire to ramp up quicker than in a tire without inserts. Of course, the insert isn't solid plastic, it's closed-cell foam, so there is some compression going on in the insert itself. Definitely takes some trial and error to get your settings right, but well worth it.

Wouldn't you need to compensate for the lower air volume by increasing tire pressure? Smaller volume ramps up quicker but takes less force to compress in total, just like with narrow tires.

@Znarf: I know a few people who swear by Syntace bars, mostly because they can be had with a 12 degree backsweep. What sweep are you using?

Posted by: RAHrider

Anyone use the specialized butcher 2.6 GRID tyre? My wife has them on her bike and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it to put a heavy 2.5 minion DD max grip up front for the winter. The specialized are much lighter and if the grip is comparable, I'd let her run the lighter ones in the wet.

I have one as well. Not a bad tyre but grip on wet roots and rocks is in no way comparable to Maxxgrip. Rolls very fast, though.

Keep in mind that soft Maxxis rubber hardens considerably in cold weather. Specialized Gripton and Conti Black Chili don't.

Regarding the TO: Continental Baron and Kaiser in Black Chili rubber are supposedly more grippy than Maxxterra and lighter than DD. Haven't tried them yet so this is second hand information.

More details on the new Banshee Titan, looking very nice. Limited first run of only 100 frames, though. Might be hard to get hold of one.

https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/New-Bikes-from-Banshee-Introducing-the-All-New-Titan-29-and-Rune-V3,3113

Posted by: Endur-Bro

I love how long travel single crowns flex and creak on Mtn bikes. Then the industry acts like these things magically don’t when another 20lbs of bike are added to them. I don’t believe the 170-180mm forks are using the e36 chassis but I(m often) could be wrong

If you are thinking of bikes in the G1 style, I don't see a reason to use anything other than a dual crown.

Axle to crown isn't too different from a 180mm single crown and at that point the weight probably doesn't matter anymore.

Keep in mind that you might want to use the camera while wearing gloves. Once you have a shortlist, maybe go to a shop and try them out with your riding gloves on.

@Hepcat, are you sure about the dual? I remember them as 65/50, harder in the center than 60a maxxpro.

Anyway, wouldn't be running either on the shore, but ymmv. 

How are prices for specialized tires at local shops? They have some good ones for the rear, especially the Eliminator.

Guess who did a scientific test of the potential for Vibrocore bars to reduce vibrations at the hands? Zhe Chermans, as usual:

https://www.bike-magazin.de/komponenten/lenker_vorbauten/test-2016-spank-vibrocore/a33999.html

Just scroll down to the small section "Die Messergebnisse: " or wrangle it through google translate.

To paraphrase: Vibrocore seems to have no effect. The difference in vibrations at the hands between a normal Spank Spike, a Vibrocore Spike and a Carbon bar is very small and within measurement error. If you ignore measurement error the normal Spank transmits fewer vibrations than the one with vibrocore.

One related thing, though. The Spank OOZY vibrocore is a lot softer and more compliant than the OOZY without vibrocore because the Vibrocore-version is made of thinner and lighter tubing. Just compare the weights of both versions and subtract the ~20g for the vibrocore foam.

There was a video some time ago of Remi and TV trying out Instinct vs. Altitude on timed runs to see which is faster. They found something like a 3% speed advantage for the Instinct, but that might be a bit overestimated because the riders got faster with each lap and they did the Instinct last. Somehow i doubt that the Slayer is so much slower than the Altitude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APZUzePObF0