Bull_Dozer profile

How do they compare to the Shimano ME7?

Yeah I came across the Indy recently and they looked like the perfect knee pads for North Shore pedally rides - light but still with real knee protection. The charge seemed more like beefed up leg warmers to me (not saying that in a bad way, just serve a different purpose…much more on the XC side of things).

For someone who isnt a weight weenie - are these an obvious choice over the more expensive XT & XTR versions, or are there other things to consider as well (someone mentioned durability above)?

I've only ridden in the Fraser Valley a few times but as soon as I rode there my first thought was how underrated the area was for mountain biking... tons of great riding but for whatever reason the North Shore & S2S get all the attention and people rarely talk about the Fraser Valley. 

Which trails/routes would you recommend @ Red? Was hoping to check out either Red or Bear in the near future.

Posted by: TheSpangler

Value added has one spicy slab with an easy route down it and a harder route. That's what makes is double black, otherwise if you can ride Boney Elbows you will really enjoy this trail, it's definitely worth checking out!

Awesome - that's exactly what I wanted to hear! Thanks

How difficult is Value Added? Trailforks says it's a double black and even some of the single blacks in Squamish can be pretty tricky, so I assume it has some pretty spicy sections... do the sketchy parts have ride arounds (or can you safely walk down them, etc.)?

OP here - tried to adjust the PSI in my shock for the first time in a while and that reminded me why I created this thread in the first place. Found it very challenging to get an accurate amount of PSI in the shock in the first place - the dial on my shock pump is only 1 inch in diameter and goes up to 300 PSI, so each 10psi increment is extremely small and hard to judge. Also, when I remove the pump I do hear a fair amount of air hissing out - I know there is a 2 stage air release usually so a lot of the air that you hear isn't actually coming out of the shock itself.... but long story short, I ended up having to do trial and error for about 10 tries to get a moderately accurate amount of sag. 

What am I doing wrong here? Is it this hard for everyone? Or do I just need to invest in one of those high end digital pumps?

Probably not a popular opinion.... but I still think a large portion of the hate against e-bikes is the fact that more fit riders are butthurt by the fact that riders who are less fit/skilled/capable as them are able to beat them up the hill using artificial means. 

I don't see myself buying and e-bike anytime soon but if another ride wants to use one it doesn't really bother me as long as they act responsibly on the trails. I do think they need to be regulated though (max power/speed, etc.) so they don't evolve into lite dirt bikes.

Thanks for the info - sound like I should give Dirk's Diggler a try. I fumbled my way down In and Out Burger and prob won't ride it again... it would be cool to do for the sense of accomplishment but other than that it's literally just death gripping your brakes and hoping you don't die on the way down! I can live without that. 

After seeing In and Out Burger in person it makes me realize how insane it is that Bernard Kerr did the nose wheelie down it! Makes you realize how big of a skill gap there is between the pros and avg. Joe riders like myself.

How the heck is In and Out Burger only rated single black??!! It was way steeper than it looked in the videos. Funny to me that it has the same difficult rating of Rupert, Credit Line, etc. Perhaps I am just not used to slab trails and just gotta learn to trust the grip...

Can someone rank the Alice Lake slab trails in terms of difficulty? I've done Room with a View (I think that's the easiest) and Boney Elbows - what's the next easiest one after that? Would that be Dirk's Diggler or In and Out Burger? And for In and Out Burger - for the big main slab, is there an easier line to the riders left? I like slab trails but don't have a ton of experience and the big main line on In and Out Burger looks a bit intimidating.

Posted by: RAHrider

I assume the OP is on a 29? Glad he likes the ring. Not dismounting and pushing is a very good thing.

Yeah on a 29 inch modern geo enduro bike, which is a surprisingly great climber (78 degree STA is awesome!)

OP here - bought the 28T chainring and tested it out for the first time today. Definitely was the right purchase for me! I'm not in the best physical shape so there's always been certain parts of climbing trails that I would get off the bike and push. With the 28T I find that I am able to stay on the bike a lot more on those types of climbs - usually it's just short sections of trail where it is unusually steep + technical. I feel like a 28T wouldn't make sense in many different riding areas, but if there is an area where it makes a ton of sense I think it's the "sea to sky". Most of the riding up here seems to be steep climbs followed by steep and technical descents. The only time I am using the highest gears on my cassette are when I am riding on pavement so I really don't value that range of gears at all. When you are riding a DH trail on the north shore, how often do you actually need the higher gears in the cassette? I'm almost never pedaling downhill in those gears... the bike park is the only place where I would want that option.