Bagheera profile

Thanks, and a Happy New Year to you, too.

Like your "Best of" a lot, especially since it's a really acessible "best of". Tim's had me thinking "if only I had time/money/balls etc" (a nice read, nevertheless), yours reminded me that bliss can be found in simple things and close to home (*The most contemptible night on a mountain bike is like walking on sunshine. *). And, kudos for those last paragraphs.

I hate to disappoint you, but unfortunately you're wrong about Switzerland. The Valais and Graubünden cantons have very liberal regulations (they depend on tourism), while in other cantons, regulations are very strict (similar to Baden-Württemberg).

You've forgotten France. While on the surface everything seems ok, I've heard stories of strong opposition to MTBers by hikers and hunters, leading in some instances to trail closures.

The increase of lethal accidents is logical when you look at how many new e-bikes are sold. Most (if not all) of these accidents happen in traffic, not in a "sports" context. Giving more and more people who haven't ridden a bike in years the possibility to zip through heavy traffic at 45km/h (legal limit here) on a bicycle.... what could possibly go wrong.... But that's a whole other issue.

As someone living in Europe as well (albeit not in the Alps), I would second MaWas comment. While acces may be a non-issue in areas that depend heavily on (sports-)tourism, it's a different story elsewhere. There are places where MTBs are restricted to gravel roads and a lot of places where MTB access and user conflict are indeed issues.

Ok, I'll bite. You do already adress most of things that could be criticized about your article. One thing that always irks me: The shuttle/chairlift comparison. Trails near chairlifts are professionally maintained, shuttle trails are built with shuttling in mind. An eMTB does not have the limits of a shuttle truck. So areas/trails that were hard to access (and therefore sustainable) will cease to be so. And yes, I'm being egoistical here. I want to keep riding those areas.

Some of your views seem rather too idealistic. Yes, an eMTB would theoretically be better than a shuttle truck. But most people will be to lazy/want to carry additional gear etc. and still ride their Tacomas as far up as possible. Heck, I've recently seen guys with eMTBs take the bus to the top of our local hill (a leisurely 20min climb on an eMTB). (I mean, if they weren't lazy, would they be riding eMTBs? ;) Yes, I know, I generalize.).

Yeah, I think it's great that older/less healthy people still get to enjoy riding. Met a couple of nice eMTB oldtimers on my recent rides. But still, eMTBs for me smack of a culture of entitlement. "I want to ride there, therefore I get to ride there, even if I don't have the fitness level to get there." Doesn't that remind you of a three-year-old? Aren't sports about challenging yourself?

What you do adress but what can't be stressed enough: Just because it may work out in some places, in a lot of places eMTBs pose a great danger to trail access and the relationsip with other trail users. My town will never be on the map as a great riding destination, but there are trails, I can start a climb 5mins from my backdoor (and end a descent there, if i choose to do so). But let's face it, most of what we ride is illegal, and we're tolerated at best (Yes, there have been oranizations fighting for more access. Resulted in 2(!) legal trails in 22 years. Yes, I'm a member.). Still,  I'm depending on these trails to be there. I usually don't have the time to travel somewhere where MTBing is encouraged, and not everyone can (or is willing to) just uproot and move somewhere where MTBs haven't been banned (yet).

I probably come across as more aggressive than intended. I'll smile politely at eMTBers, have helped some of them fix their bikes (too lazy to carry tools.....) and have even ridden with people with eMTBs. Still, my next bike will come from a brand that doesn't produce eMTBs, and I would consider buying a Bold Unplugged just for the sake of the name.

So, heigh-ho, back to work I go. Have fun riding, whatever your choice of steed may be.

"The Average Guy's Guide to Average Bikes". Great. I'd read that. Can I help with the testing, too? ;)

A testers skill level doesn't matter (unless you're reviewing full-on race rigs), what's important is information about his/her skill level/bias/the terrain ridden. This will alow you to gauge the validity of his/her review. Also, the ability to accurately describe a bike's handling, your impressions and relating all this to your skill level.

Sweet trail in the pic. It rarely happens that a pic makes me feel like climbing, but this one does.

Thanks for the reply (also to all others who replied). I'm familiar with ASTA and ESTA but the wording made me wonder whether he was talking about an ESTA measured at his seat height, which, as you mention, could be different from a geo chart. I think he meant ASTA, though.

I was wondering, when you're talking about "true STA", do you mean what's usually referred to as "actual STA" (the angle of the seattube) or the actual angle measured from your seat height to the BB? If the latter, those 68 degrees would be rather shocking.

May I suggest buying a Yari (same chassis as the Lyrik) and have some competent suspension service put in a damper custom tuned to your weight and riding style? No idea who would do that in your part of the world, but I'm sure there's someone. Will probably make a way bigger difference than the one between a 36 and a  Lyric.

*drooool* Looks tiny from this angle ;)

@ddean: The Legend, Darkside etc. was an example for a quiver (Legend -DH, Darkside - FR, Rune - EN, Spitfire -TR). But by all means do keep your Legend, it's a freeride bike, somebody on the internet said so... ;)

@XXX_er: Yeah, the butler and personal mechanic were missing, how remiss of me....

Posted by: Ddean

Evils are so sexy. The lust is high!

I really feel that you need 3 bikes for the Shore. DH rig for shuttling. Enduro bike for when youre pedaling up to the Gnarly stuff and then a XCish bike for when youre surfing the smooth loamers (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE to do). 

Anything fewer is simply a gross injustice. Inhumane really. Torture!

You forget the hardtail for the winter, the fatbike for snow days, the Trail bike for the stuff that's too gnar for the XCish bike but too tame to lug your Enduro bike up the hill for, oh, and the gravel bike for when you just need to build up stamina. Oh, and maybe a XC hardtail (or full susser) and a freeride bike (think Banshee Legend, Darkside, Rune, Spitfire andt then somethng else for the XC/hardtail/fatbike etc.)? ;) n+1 forever :)

Only rode one for two days as a demo bike. Size L, which is too small for me. Was impressed with the climbing on steeper/rockier stuff, lots of traction and the front wheel stays down. While climbing fireroads/roads it felt like a lot of bike. Times weren't that bad, but it always felt like a lot of work to get there. Descending was good, sometimes even excellent. Turns, you have to lean, not steer. Tight corners (especially one after the other) are not it's forte. Go demo it (sorry, I'm not local), if it suits you, you'll love it. While I liked it (even a lot, sometimes) it just didn't feel quite right for me.

Posted by: Ddean

To that I ask “so what?”

None of us get the max from our bikes. It doesn’t mean that we should not be riding them.

Amen to that :)

Posted by: T-mack

Posted by: Bagheera

Hasn't been mentioned in this thread, IIRC:

https://www.boldcycles.com/shop/bikes/unplugged/

Nice bike, climbs ok,  when seated it seems shorter than the numbers would suggest, steering is extremely "direct" (for lack of a better term).

Do you have one? Dealing with Pole has turned me off of any small brands overseas so as much as this bike looks cool I'm VERY apprehensive about it.

No, I don't own one, but I did two demo rides (each about 1.5h) on one (actually, two different bikes). Since I'm torn between the Bold and the Evolink, I'd be very interested in hearing about your issues with Pole.

Hasn't been mentioned in this thread, IIRC:

https://www.boldcycles.com/shop/bikes/unplugged/

Nice bike, climbs ok,  when seated it seems shorter than the numbers would suggest, steering is extremely "direct" (for lack of a better term).

Like my Agent shorts. The thingies that are supposed to make the seams waterproof have a tendency to fall off, though, and after two (or is it three?) winters, the fabric on the back is wearing a little thin. But the most comfortale waterproof short I've worn so far. MUch better than my Gore Bike Wear, since the Agent shorts feel like "real" shorts. The Gore shorts feel like you're wearing a shopping bag. Superb waterproofing on the Gore shorts, I must say.

Posted by: RAHrider

Posted by: pedalhound

God I love Ti bikes! That's a beautiful rig Rah!

Thanks, I always wanted one ever since I couldn't afford one back in the 90's. Now that I can get one, I figure when building a hardtail (a technologically regressed platform) why not use an outdated medium that costs more than carbon? Hardtails don't make sense to most riders, so why not take it to the limit?

I can't tell you how often I have heard

"why a hardtail?"

"why not get rear suspension?"

"Why titanium? Why is it so special....I always hear about it."

If you're going to buy a Hardtail (voluntarily, not because you can't afford a fullsusser), and if you've got the money, why would you ride anything else than Titanium? :) I agree, great build on that Honzo.