Henry-Chinaski profile

Same experience.  The agent shorts were possibly the single worst mtb clothing item I have ever purchased.

Yeah, use sacki@crankingsolutions.com.  Literally one of the fastest responses I've had.  Dude is on it.

I don’t think that’s the right takeaway. The companies that are advocating for shorter offsets here think they work better for their respective bike geometries. Read Lars’ entry again. For the bikes Transition has designed, that’s not the sound of a guy that thinks that decreased offset (and the resulting trail figure) is “not really significant”. I’m building a Geometron and I purchased a short offset fork, mostly because Chris Porter has forgotten more about bikes this week than I have rolodexed. Will I notice the fork offset nearly as much as moving from a 480mm reach to 535? Likely not.  If I were buying a YT I probably wouldn't have made the same decision. I had a choice, and that’s a good thing.

The below doesn't make it sound easy if you're not a business or trail organization.  Do you consider the process uniformly fair for anyone who applies for a permit?

> I tried once to apply for a section 57. I waited two years, and then was told that since I was not a company, or trail building association, that my trail was denied. After that, I realized that getting endorsement was a political friend thing, and not based on merit, or past building experience.

I love the Uncle Dave contributions and as usual I think the content was on point.  However, I think you let Fildo off easy.  Dude sends you a note about how he has a great wife and smart kids.  Fildo suggests that he is very funny, a great employee, with a nice sense of humor.  I’m thinking to myself, this has to be sarcasm, right?  Then he cites his riding prowess .  Fildo deserves a cast for the broken arm he suffered while patting himself on the back, but instead you’ve promptly rewarded him with a Loam Ranger jacket that is bound to be the envy of his riding group.  Uncle Dave nailed the following:

> Life is challenges. Life is ugly. We need to embrace that ugliness. We need to get into the gutters and start seeing and showing the parts that people don’t want to see.

As a point of clarification, I think the important verb here is showing.  Before recognizing imperfection in others, it’s probably more important to identify our own.  If you’re in a position where your envy of travel photographers is causing you to question your choices, another trip to the Chilcotins with an expensive camera (to fill your Instagram with beauties) is not going to solve your problem.

Fildo, if you’re riding 3 days a week and still whooping everybody’s ass down the hill, why not drop a day and volunteer some time?

I guess you're right. It's definitely hard to find specifics.

Here is a Metro Regional Parks regulation document that spells out some specifics. This would cover many trails that I ride. See part 10.

The contents of my pack is usually dependent on how deep the ride is. That said, I always carry 9, 10, and 11 speed power links to help speed up the occasional chain break. I ride alone much of the time, so I also carry 3 bear bangers and a pen launcher. Nice to be able to sound louder than your group size.

The jumps would be a deal breaker for me as well. Even on 1×11, I often find myself searching for smaller intervals (to no avail). I’m sure it would be perfectly suitable for some. I wonder if we’re not moving in the direction of “design your own custom drivetrain”. You want 1×12 with smaller jumps on the low end? Login and configure:-)

Really enjoyed this. I'm glad to hear that rebuilding is as easy as advertised!

I can understand not making a small but why no XXL? I was expecting sizing to stay similar to the Tallboy/Highball. I wonder how the 6’1 and 6’6 crew will dig this bike.

Posted by: syncro

Maybe I overstated the dogpile analogy, but so is saying that his post was a childlike rant. His response was that he's kept most of those ebikes short term and then sold them on to other people so the batteries didn't need to get recycled as they were still in use. He also stated that the batteries are good for many thousands of km's. The hypocrite suggestion came from the idea that a pedal mtb is way more green than an e-mtb. Sure the pedal mtb seems greener, but it's not by a huge margin. For example if the ebike is being ridden to the trail head instead of being driven then there's a chance the ebike may actually be more green. I'm not sure where you're from, but in BC there are mandatory recycling programs for most things these days including batteries, so the chance of an ebike battery here in BC not getting recycled is probably pretty low.

I agree that the footprint with ebikes is potentially bigger, but it's not guaranteed. Like you say there is a continuum of consumption and waste. Maybe that is more important than generating funding for trail crews but it's a bit off topic from my previous post that got this green bit started of trying to tie trail funding to mtb'ing purchases considering that they are essentially a luxury item - especially if one is buying new.

I've been perusing this forum for a long time.  Most of what Norona has posted over that time sounds like it comes from a child.  Not sure what to say...

I'm from Western Washington and have been in BC for 10 years.  Honestly, I have no idea what percentage of lithium batteries end up being recycled in BC, relative to other places.  I couldn't find it with quick google query.  You're right, the footprint probably does depend on your use case.  I personally couldn't ride an e-bike cleaner than and acoustic.  I hope people are using this line of thinking when purchasing these bikes.  I'm all-in on a luxury bike tax.

Posted by: syncro

Maybe for some, but is it fair to say that about everyone? I know Norona is an easy target for a lot of reasons in this thread, but to light him up on the enviro front without knowing the whole story is a bit much imo.

I don't understand what you're going on about? During one of his childlike rants, Norona alluded to the recycling of his batteries. Rightly, someone asked him where he recycled these batteries. His response (though hard to read) suggests that he doesn't recycle the batteries and that everyone who rides a bike for leisure is a hypocrite. What am I missing?

I'm not a pedal-assist hater, but I think it's important to point out that the footprint is bigger with these bikes. All personal mountain bike consumption is not equal. One of my favorite riding partners is on a 2006 Slayer and can't be bothered with the marketing. He consumes far less than I do. We should all acknowledge that there is a continuum of consumption and recognize where we exist on its scale. Far more important than generating funding for trail crews.

Posted by: gramm

Agreed that the guy could have chosen a different trail for the time the race was on.  Lots of people climb Griffen, one would want to so they can avoid the boring road climb.....and to climb single track.

If you're choosing that as your climbing trail on a busy Sunday at 11 am, be prepared for many encounters where you're likely not going to get the courtesy yield.

Yeah, puzzled. I figure he has to be one of the self-entitled, grumpy forum members.

I used to occasionally climb Upper Griffen, and definitely appreciated the courtesy of getting a yield when I was the uphill rider. That said, ignoring the fact that it was a kids event, that system is so busy now that you couldn't pay me money to do that climb on a Sunday in September. Especially given the climbing alternatives.

Many thanks to Endless biking and the NSMBA for hosting another kids Fiver on Sunday. Super cool for young kids to be able to get a chance to compete in such a supportive environment.

My one gripe is directed at the middle-aged++ dude who decided to repeatedly ignore the teenage race volunteer and climb Upper Griffen, despite knowing kids were racing down it. Then, proceed to reprimand kids on the way down for not yielding to the uphill rider. Had I known you ignored a race volunteer and lit up the kids when I encountered you (pushing your bike because you couldn’t make the climb) as my 8-year-old daughter was dropping into Upper Griffen, I would have let you have it. You finished dead fucking last, buddy. May you have 1000 unpleasant Ebike encounters this year!

I like the new album but times have sure changed...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fScQo9jA9VI

Posted by: DanL

Extremely impressed with Jeff and co at WheelThing

Such a gem.  I was hoping no one would mention WheelThing...as the turnaround is also unbelievable at this point.  I do most of my own work.  Previous experience with shops has often left me dissatisfied as the work is not much better than my own.  Jeff and Co are an outlier.  The work is top-notch.  So clean and detailed.  Probably the best thing to happen to my bike since the dropper post.

Also should give Lou at Obsession a shoutout.  He's taken my rig a couple of times when I was at the end of my rope.  Once, hours before a trip to South Chilcotin.  Saved my ass!

I just got back from a couple of days in the park.  Most of my riding is slow tech or slabs these days, so I feel much more comfortable on trails like In Deep, Detroit Rock City, Schleyer, and even Goats.  But, I'm also picking my way through things on an Enduro bike.  Thinking of blasting those trails on a downhill rig, I could definitely see having some unintended ejects.

Even after tons of repetition, the speed of the bigger flow trails still makes me shudder. I took no falls but landed super nose-heavy a couple of times on some Aline transitions.  I'm riding mostly with my oldest and every time we finish a run of  Aline/Upper DM, I'm just happy to be down and feel like I stole something :-)

A ton of good posts.  Thanks for all the thoughts.  Loud and clear on putting in the time.  I've been a 3 day/year park rider for as long as I can remember, which is likely why it never feels right.  Trying to get a hall pass for July 19th - 23rd.  ReductiMat, I may hit you up when I make some solid plans.

I'm thinking about trying to avoid another year of bike park days spent casing jumps.  Can anybody recommend someone that might show a middle-aged un-bro how to huck his meat?