nzstormer profile

Yeah that will teach me for relying on the name you had in your article rather than taking a moment to think for myself. Regardless, thanks for responding, it sounds like it might be worth a try.

A lot of detail, thanks, but I'm not really looking at the coil shock, just the link.

Cam, did you notice any downsides to the cascade link, while using the float dhx? Apart from the cost, it all seems very positive.

At least there are a few more to choose from now. I have the TLD stage, the Smith mainline looks nice, ixs  trigger looks nice, 100% , leatt and I'm sure there are a few others. I think this style of helmet is fantastic, and encourage anyone to consider it.

I think it's all changed as bikes and trails have changed. When I first started riding on the shore (2007), trails were a lot slower with a lot more debris and bikes seemed like they didn't really want you to stay on them, so crashes were frequent (like every other ride), and full face was pretty much essential. 

As trails got more more predictable, bikes got better, and I got better crashes became rare, so I shifted to the half lid. 

The nice thing about the half lid is that you just don't think about it. I put it on at the start of the ride, take it off at the end and it doesn't even cross my mind for the duration of the ride . . . until it goes bad.

Now I think we're at another point where bikes let us go so damn fast (even difficult trails are fast now) that the consequences of a crash have gone up. I bought a TLD stage last year (It was a toss up between that and the fox proframe) and wear it for most rides. If I pedaling up a fireroad, I'll just hang it off my bars.  If I'm pedaling up singletrack, I'll wear it.

I do think about it more on the climbs, it's annoying swinging on my bars, or a bit hot wearing it. But it feels great on the downs having that extra layer of safety assurance, and these new enduro focused full faces are so light that they don't have that restrictive feeling the old DH helmets had.

Ah this makes me want to go back. I spent 5 years in Wellington (working for Caleb's father) before moving to Vancouver in 2007. I learned to ride on Makara and coming to ride the shore at the time was a total shock. Wellington is such a great city on a good day (but such a horrid place when the rain and wind kick in).

I bought these about a month ago after my GR9's finally gave up. These aren't what I wanted, but they were the only shoes I could find in my size. 

These have more grip, and a bit more bulk. The extra bulk is noticeable on long or technical climbs, but it's also a really solid feeling on descents - a lot more so than the GR9's. 

I agree with everything in this review. They were a bit stiff initially, and it took a few rides to find the sweet spot for the laces and strap, but once I had that figured out, I'm quite enjoying them.

For 20", I've found that a fat tire up front made a massive difference in confidence levels. 20" suspension forks suck unless you're paying really big dollars

For 24", I say spend the money on a good setup. The bike I bought for my oldest son will be used by my youngest son, and then the next generation to sell it to is literally being born every day. Look a the used market (even before this current shortage) for kids bikes, and the used market is always a sellers market.

The more expensive quality parts makes the whole riding experience so much more fun for everyone - I don't have to spend my life fixing parts that aren't working properly, and they get a much more pleasant controlled ride.

You pinch flatted a tubless tire with cushcore? I didn't even know that was possible.

Cam, have you tried the shimano gr7? I have been using those and need to replace them. I'm curious to know how the grip compares to Ride Concepts.

I thought I read somewhere that the new Enduro Expert was going too be running the 1x11. Maybe I was just hoping

It's as if Jeremy Clarkson took up mountain biking, and wrote a review of a saddle. Very entertaining

I was hoping that it would be at the start or the end of Half Nelson, but you only get the last 1/3rd (ish?) of half, so it's really a separate trail.
That minor complaint out of the way, in and of itself, the trail is amazing, build quality is mind blowing and I swear you could ride it 100 times and figure out a different line option every time. It's the work of a genius, and I must say thanks to the designers and builders for their work, and Red Bull for their money.

I've been making a list in my head of what my dream bike is, it's pretty much the list above. That is beautiful!

A friend and I will come up for our first trail day, so expect a couple of rookies.