Cheez1ts profile

I had a Boxxer on my Kona Steely because I needed a fork with a long, straight 1 1/8 steertube to fit the huge headtube on that frame. I ran it that way for a year at 140mm and my tight radius corner experience was similar to Ryan’s. I sometimes did use the bump stop, but it was rare. I don’t think I ever failed to make a corner because of it.

Also sort of on the topic, I found it strange that Machine Gun Kelly, with an album that sounds like a lot of the old Blink 182 hits, started topping the charts recently. 

It was just after my girlfriend and I started listening to old blink 182 and sum 41 and fall out boy when we were cooking, tired of mellow stuff we usually played in the background.

It seems you’re not alone in wanting to hear nostalgic, energetic music.

I had the Jacket I for test and had a similar experience to you. They were okay on the full suspension bike, less okay on the hardtail, and not okay for anything technical in the Whistler Bike Park. 

But I liked wearing them around campus on my commuter, and I pretty much lived in them for 4 months when I was living in the prairies and riding flowy single track trails every day after work.

I don't normally read music club because I don't don't have the same taste in music, but I really enjoyed this piece. The analogy for Cooper's piece is perfect.

And I really enjoyed Natbrowni's contribution, which re-affirms I have different taste than Dave. Thanks for sharing some alternative recommendations.

What size did Tim get?

I know a bike's reach isn't the whole story to it's geo, but the M Sender has the same reach as the S4 (XL) Spec Demo:
Sender M = 460 +/- 8
Demo S4 = 465 (or 466 for the 27.5 mullet option)

I've gotten into skinnies for the first time in my life since your scare yourself article, thanks Andrew!

That fork sounds brutal. I think I’d rather have no damper than an inconsistent one.

It would be nice if low end forks came with a high-end compatible chassis (I.e straight 32mm or 34mm stanchions). As you mentioned with finding an old Saint calliper for the brakes, you could probably find old high-end dampers and springs to upgrade the suspension from old forks with worn stanchions or leaky air-springs. Suntour could ship their fork with the double-springs and plastic top caps, and the buyer could easily find new internals from friends or the buy’n’sell. Suntour would get the added bonus of their name still being on the chassis too.

In my personal experience it doesn’t seem to matter how wide or firm a saddle is. When I move into a more aggressive position for a steep climb, I roll off my sit-bones. The narrower the saddle, the more upright I need to be to stay on my sit-bones.

The photos for this piece are perfect. Great job Andrew.

After seeing the price, I'm now curious why there's all this hype for the new Hayes? They're priced pretty close to the Code RSC, and far above the Code R.

Posted by: DemonMike

Do you have a trail bike in mind already ? I will more than likely be getting rid of mine. It,s a 2017 Django aluminum 29er. Much like you I have a small fortune into the fork and rear shocks LOL.

I'd like a burly, smaller travel 29r, on the budget end of things around 480mm of reach.

• Giant Trance X
• Ibis Ripmo AF

• Marin Rift Zone

• Kona Process 134

Django looks a little steep and short unfortunately. But I'm probably all talk and no action anyway, I'll likely ride my current process until it cracks.

I followed along with this thread and have pedaled up BLT on Cypress a few times in the last few weeks. I wish traffic wasn't so terrible to get out and back from there, because the trails are great.

Based on what I've ridden, I think Neil's suggestion from the Sex Girl thread probably would have made for the best "first ride" at Cypress:

Posted by: niels@nsmb.com

Posted by: grambo

Thread drift, but I have only done DH bike shuttle riding at Cypress (on the upper east trails, Meat Sweats, Jersey, Mystery DH etc)... what's a good pedal loop for a trail bike that is not too wild? Single black tech kind of stuff would be good.

Up BLT to works yard. Down Blind Skier, Slippery Canoe, Pull Tab, Upper Tall Cans, Wutang. One of my favourite loops on the shore except that the BLT Climb sucks!

Conditions update:

• 5th Horseman was running great! There's a couple of trees in the uphill/flat section before the turn off to the Alt Line halfway down.
• No trees down on Roach Hit either.

Posted by: mammal

TLDR: As soon as I reached a point in my life that I could afford upgrades for the sake of upgrades, it all starts with one bike/component. Then the others need it. After typing all this out, I understand why many are saying "don't demo bikes regularly unless you want to buy". This also makes me understand the appeal of one do-it-all bike, but I guess that's just one compromise

I'm not willing to make. Upgrades can be a slippery slope with no end, if you don't find a reason to control the slide.

Thank you for sharing. I do occasionally stress sometimes that my other bikes wont be good anymore once I get one new trail bike.

My DH bike has the same reach and wheel size as my trail bike. I'm afraid as soon as I go to a longer, slacker, 29" trail bike, I will also need to buy a new longer, slacker, 29" DH bike. Aside from the $$$, that will be tough to do during a pandemic.

Posted by: DanL

I was in exactly the same place last year, 2015 Process153 that I had upgraded over 4 years so the only thing left was the frame and the Pike. It was a tough decision as I was desperately trying to figure out how I could transfer the parts to a new frame and then recoup something for the frame that was left over etc etc and then I had the term 'sunk costs' mentioned to me. I sold the entire bike to a very stoked kid and ignored how much I'd put into the bike. Found a great deal on a sorted 2019 bike and am now very carefully balancing upgradeitis vs new and shiny vs actual running costs. I think Tannus will be the only thing I'll add to the bike right now.

To repose the original question asked by OP: is there anything in particular about your new bike that makes it a no-brainer to upgrade? I found one bike I'd buy in stock and I know I need to act soon.

My internal struggle is is mostly in my fork. I have a lot of sunk cost in my Pike: coil conversion and Avalanche damper upgrade. The damper only fits a pre-2017 pike. My CSU creaks, and it's way too expensive to fit to a new fork.

I just bought the Tannus inserts, but haven't tried them yet. Hopefully today. They'll go in my DH bike if I sell the Process and buy a 29r.

I got one of the early long and low bikes, the 2015 process, and now I'm stuck with any part I have or buy probably not being able to transfer to the next bike, and the current bike likely to crack eventually.

I'm very tempted to ditch the nice old rig for something available with new standards, but I don't know how much of a benefit having warranty is actually going to be this year.

I'm currently trending more towards spare everything, frame included.

Posted by: Vikb

My MRP Ribbon coil uses an open bath damper so I bought the bleed tool and I'll be trying my first damper service this year. You just dump the oil, refill with clean oil and then bleed it without really taking the internals apart at all so it seems like something I can do. Not having to mail away that fork would be nice.

Avalanche Racing offers an open bath damper for RS forks. I've enjoyed custom rear shock dampers, but never done a fork yet. It's a lot of $$, but OTOH if I can do the damper service at home that would balance out in terms of cost in a few years. Plus based on how nice the custom tuned rear shocks have worked the ride quality would likely be amazing.

The old RockShox dampers were pretty much the same. For the RC and R2C2 and RT3 at least, you generally just dumped the oil and filled it back up, didn't even need to bleed it.

I had the same thought and have 2 avalanche dampers. The Boxxer damper has been a great purchase as its fit every DH bike I've had for the last 10 years. The Pike damper is a bit harder to stomach as it only fits my non-boost 27.5 fork. I do like how little I need to service the fork, but most stock dampers are pretty good now. I wouldn't buy another one.

RockShox you can generally get away with servicing yourself. I haven’t done a charger damper yet, but I think the only special tool it requires a bench vice. Their air shock required a $12 adapter that to “charge” the damper, and a pipe strap to get the air can off. Dunbar had the adapter in stock and other shops were able to get it for me so it’s not totally uncommon.

There’s a manual for all of Rockshoxs products and dampers that I’ve generally found easy to follow. Take a look for your fork/shock and see if it’s worth doing for you.

I am not a pro and I have had the whole damper or airspring spin in the lowers instead of allowing me to unthread the foot bolt. Definitely use a torque wrench when doing things back up and use lock-tite where it says to.

Fox and Xfusion typically use a nitrogen charge port, but there’s a guy on mtbr that screwed in a fuel rail bleed port off of an old ford V8 engine that allowed him to charge a fox shock with a regular air shock. Fox lists the pressures for nitrogen, which I assume would be the same for air. Xfusion is a guess based on similar fox and RockShox pressures. Probably just send those shocks off for service.

Taking anything apart that’s pressurized is dangerous. Make sure you release all the pressure in a shock or fork before you begin to disassemble it.

Has anyone had any luck with Alibaba or equivalent for fork seals? 

Regarding damper, I also use that $7 Lucas oil for my dampers and do those once a year. Never any issues, including the two bikes with Avalanche Open-bath dampers. I used it in my rear RS shock too, although I will admit my rear shock doesn’t feel great, but it never really did.

I use Lucas Synthetic Fork Oil. It’s $7 at Lordco for a 16 oz (473 mL) bottle. I’ve never had any problems with it. I do my lowers once or twice a year depending on the bike and how much I’m riding.

Riding More

I rode more this year, and it made me happier, better at riding, and much less worried about upgrading and replacing my aging steeds. It’s just fun to get out and ride my bikes, even if the dropper post is finicky and the geo is a bit dated.