Timer profile

Not a great fan of equipping each bike with an expensive, fragile, commercial  surveillance device that needs constant charging. 

I suppose a strong deterrent would be for the major buy & sell platforms, as well as every suspension service shop, to ask for the receipt before doing business. That’s what the official sram & fox service stations do around here, and what most shops who work on e-bikes require.

Would be sad if it wasn't. I don't see much point in paying for expensive electronics, if the underlying mechanics are the weak link.

Are you willing to share your views about the Griffus? Looks very interesting, but hard to find anyone with first-hand experience on them.

Pipe cleaners?

My takeaway from that is that it doesn't matter. There may be pros and cons to both, but they are either too small to matter, or balance each outher out.

Thank you for the in-depth, technical review. I like that they make a relatively light Grid Trail version with the soft T9 rubber.

Gripton has been used as a term for Specialized rubber since at least 2016. Ever since Wolfgang Arenz (now of Wolfpack Tires) helped develop compounds for the brand. The same guy worked in rubber development for half of all tire brands (Conti, Speci, Schwalbe).

Is T7 a new compound or is it the same rubber as was used on the previous gen tires? But what would that mean, given that Grid and BLK DMND had different rubber?

That sounds like a conversation from 10+ years ago. ;-)

For the last few years, frames have been heavy across the board, even the high-end carbon ones. I'm not convinced that this results in stronger frames, maybe it's just cheaper. It seems like the only companies still actively trying for light frames are Specialized and Scott.

"My opinion/theory is that people are drawn to these bikes because they are lighter and pedal better."

The thing is, once a shorter travel bike gets "upgraded" with a Fox 36, big brakes, burly wheels, maxxgrip tires, etc. the weight advantage is gone and the pedaling is only marginally better than a bigger bike. I don't see the point, honestly. Keep the light bike light, and if that isn't possible get a bigger bike.

Depends on the price differential between local and online shops. For the money i saved over the last ten years by ordering online, i could have bought an entire bike as a spare. (no good shops around either)

Wouldn't be true today, though. Price differentials are shrinking and online shop service quality is increasing.

Not an industry insider, so maybe someone with more knowledge can expand on that. My impression is that super-cheap mass production has changed the way warranty is handled. More companies are quick to replace or just send fresh products to customers. I guess its because manufacturing itself is quite cheap, relative to marketing and design, that generous replacement has become a viable strategy.

I have two relatively cheap SKS pumps which I had strapped to the frame for many years without any protection. Still working fine. Mud, snow, dust, hose, whatever.

Posted by: WeTYC...
One question mark though is the compound.  I'd always though that black chili was black chili, but it looks like you're right and they do fiddle the compound a little from one tire to the next.  Now I'm curious if there's someone out there with durometer measurements for the various tires...

Your arguments concerning the different thread patterns make a lot of sense. Rubber is a big issue, though. Judging from Maxxterra and Maxxgrip, compound makes a huge difference in rolling speed. Annoyingly, Black Chili is more of an umbrella term for their rubber technology.  Similar to "Addix" for Schwalbe or "Gripton" for Specialized. They make everything from road tires to DH mud spikes in black chili.

Posted by: WeTYC...

Unfortunately even with all the combinations and permutations of bikes and Conti's I've ridden, I've never ridden the same size of Barons and/or Kaisers on the same bike.  The Barons have only ever been on my more "efficient" bikes.  Even though I don't have a direct comparison, I think the 2.5 Kaisers roll easier than the 2.4 Baron Projekts.  To further devalue my opinion though, I'm not the most sensitive to rolling resistance.  If I could get a 2.35 Smoke, I'd probably run them front and rear!

One thing I do though is try to install new tires in the fall then run them through the summer so the knobs are a little more worn down and easier rolling for the longer summer rides.  Although I don't usually use a tire until it's a slick--maybe 50% worn at most?

The 2.4 Kaiser Projekt Protection Apex looks like a very different tyre than the 2.5 Kaiser Apex (26"). Different thread, different casing and probably different rubber. The former is advertised with a fast wearing competition compound, the latter as hard wearing, fast rolling.

1. Living somewhere with mountains and trails again

2. Slowly regaining my confidence after years of abstinence from biking (see above)

3. All day, all weather commuting on the bike. Great way to avoid catching the bug on public transport and the merciless battle for civilization’s most precious resource: the parking spot

4. Complex suspension that isn’t a pain to set up thanks to good setup instructions (MRP and DVO in this case)

Fresh pedals, Works Components angleset, a courtesy bell and a digital pressure gauge (got royally fed up with trying to read 2psi increments from a coin sized dial that goes to 350psi).

Posted by: D_C_
Is it really possible to have a rubber that doesn’t harden in the cold?

Probably depends on your region and definition of cold. ;)

Schwalbe Addix, Conti Black Chili and Specialized Gripton all work fine in the tempereatures i usually ride in (-5°C to 30°C ). Maybe they harden a little bit, but not enough to notice on the trail.

Posted by: tungsten

Oh, thanks for that. How did you know, are you a rubber tech? What would the gummy (durometer?) curve look like? Gradual hardening or stable until 0deg then fall off a cliff?

I'm no professional, but me and my buddies have been riding and alternating between Schwalbe and Maxxis for many years, all year round. None of us noticed any obvious difference between maxxterra and addix soft except for the temperature thing. This was no scientific test, so i can't give you a curve. It was noticeable that in the temperature range around and below zero, maxxterra felt different. On a particularly cold day, one rider on maxxis complained about grip and noticed cracks around the knobs after the ride.

We looked around and found some info on the German Maxxis website. They advise against using Maxxgrip and Maxxterra at ground temperatures below 6°C, because the soft rubber compounds harden, loose grip and might start cracking when used in the cold for too long.

Addix Soft is equivalent to Maxterra, most of the time. The main difference is that Maxterra hardens when temperatures drop below zero and loses grip. Addix doesn’t do that.

Posted by: XXX_er

FF helmets were an easy sell to parents, I told them it was cheap insurance  for the 6K they spent on orthodontic  work

Related to that, do any of you wear a mouth guard when riding with a half-lid? I got one made by the dentist after expensive orthodontic work. I wear it whenever i'm riding without a chin bar. But i haven't met anyone else who does.

As to the original question, FF only when shuttling/using a lift. I overheat too quickly, even in modern, well ventilated fullface helmets and the trails i ride are more mellow than those on the shore.

Posted by: JVP

I feel (somewhat) vindicated. I’ve been railing against threaded BB’s in carbon frames for years. That bonded interface for your aluminum threads is just an extra part (incredibly high-stress junction) waiting to fail and ruin your precious frame right after the warranty runs out. Or all the companies now offering really long warranties on their carbon superbikes... holy shit, threaded BB’s are going to get really expensive for you.

I’ll take pressfit every time in a carbon frame. Aluminum frame, I’m happy with threaded, but either way works. Worst case scenario you need a Wheels manufacturing BB to solve creaking in a pressfit.

Isn't the take-away from this video that you should only take a Pressfit frame if you know that the tolerances and QC are good? And that usually means no north-american frames. Threaded BBs are theoretically worse, but work better than PF in the average frame.