gdharries profile

Beauty. So many little interesting part choices gives it some real personality. Do you walk much with the singlespeed going up?

Andrew, as an aside: I'd like to see a full side profile shot of that sweet Honzo of yours. Looks like a cool bike.

I've had 26", 27.5+" and 29" wheels across many different bikes. My favourite is 27.5+" (x 2.8" to be exact). With it, I get more impact protection, more traction and my weight spread out over a more sizeable patch. As for extra rolling resistance, sure I but don't care anymore. I like fun.

I feel like this would be a good article to write: How to stay sane, ride your bike and still have a family that loves you.

Edit: I did it.

I wrote something called How to stay sane, ride your bike and still have a family that loves you.

Man, the seat tube on that XL is a good 1.5-2" shorter than most XL-sized frames. I get that people are buying bigger bikes for the reach, but c'mon manufacturers you have to start adding a XXL (or larger) to your selections.

There's far too few capable bikes out there for people who are 6'4" and above. And don't say just buy a 170mm dropper. That's still not enough tube.

Apart from Ventana and a few others, who's making big bikes these days? NSMB, I'd love to see a test.

I think you actually can have a small government and still be effective at delivering good services that work well and meet most peoples' needs.

The organization itself "just" needs to be much more efficient to do so...and most governments are not. They are stuck following the same patterns they've stuck to since their beginnings.

Adding more government staff just increases complexity and bloat to the existing broken and/or under-performing service. It's wiser (and at the same time, more complex) to re-design government services from scratch. That, though is hard and beyond most peoples' knowledge and abilities.

The UK government's Government Digital Service is doing an incredible job on this front. Same with the United States Digital Service and the Digital Transformation Office in Australia.

> Speaking in broad strokes here I'm always fascinated when people complain about the government but always seem to forget that you get the government that you elect

That's not exactly true.

Citizens don't elect the government staff who actually do the work and provide and support the services. They are simply public sector employees.

The elected officials are the politicians who, again broad strokes give those same employees direction, whether ill-advised or not. This direction often changes when a political party changes.

The public sector employees are the ones who suffer (and at the same time, also make bad decisions) based on the whims of their "bosses".

Government is complicated.

Similar looking to the Marsh Guard is the Beaver Guard, based in Canada.

I think the Norco Sight A (aluminum) series is an equally good value. Add that one to your list too!

I too usually seek out a 21” sized seat tube on mountain bikes. What’s interesting is that on Pinkbike they show a photo of the company’s staff and the guy is 6’6” on this bike.

@heathen I wrote a review back in June, a few weeks after I got the Torrent.

The fork took some time to break in, so now it's more plush (and I get all of its travel; an issue in the beginning) but it's a pretty simple unit. There's next to no adjustment on the Zeron and while it's torsionally stiff, if you're used to a Pike or something like that, the Zeron will disappoint. If I could afford a fork upgrade, I would invest in something better.

In regards to the brakes, I've had no complaints. I also have Tektro brakes on my fat bike and after four years in the harshness of a Yukon winter, they are still going strong and stop reliably.

As you say, these are killer bikes for the price. I wanted something that was fun, versatile, strong, reliable and cheap...and the Torrent is definitely all of those.

Posted by: FlightlessLobster

It's basically a 2016 honzo AL/DL on a 2018 steel frame. I need to get a shorter stem, and I'm considering trading out the fork for a 140mm. But so far its great.

It really feels like an updated and modern version of that old fire mountain I kept for far too long. Still tons of fun, but overall a more comfortable less hand numbing, less twitchy, and more controlled experience. It's kind of strange that what is essentially a 32 pound XC bike can warm my cockles, but it do.

Only thing I miss is that glorious orange paint.

I really dig that purple.

Photo of my then stock Norco Torrent 2 HT, size XL. I've since upgraded a few small parts here and there, but otherwise it's still just as it came from the shop. Super fun, simple bike.

The title of the movie that Temple Cummins and Andy Hetzel jumped the train was Easy Rider, produced by Fall Line Films. Here's a video clip of that gap.