D_C_ profile

That coffee mug looks sick!

What happens if you get the silicone spray on your brakes? Is it an issue? Probably not the best.

From my experience, running a short offset fork requires a head angle about 1 degree slacker than with long offset to not feel like the front-centre is too short. We were all fine with 65 degree head angles on enduro bikes until the short offset fork thing happened.

How come DH bikes haven’t gone short offset with even slacker head angles?

@Jenkins5 - good to know! 

My last bike came with Race Face ARC Offset 35s and they didn't do all that well. After a few months, the rear had several dents. I've had the older Race Face/Easton ARC rims as well, welded but made of 6061, and they dented quite easily too. It's tough to say if the 6069 ARC Offsets were an improvement. Stan's MK3 (6069, welded) rims I've had have also suffered a similar fate. I generally run 26 psi without inserts in the rear, and weigh about 170 lbs. I don't think any of these are bad rims. This is just what happens.

The rims I have had the best luck with are the Chromag BA30 and older Stan's Flow EX, both which are overbuilt with an extra rib in the cross-section, and come at a weight penalty.

Nice review, Graham! I enjoyed reading that. Sounds like the bike pushed you to send it. Has the confidence carried over to riding your personal bike?

@Jerry Willows - it would be interesting to know how much more durable the ARC actually is compared to the AR. In my experience, all rear alloy rims are toast after some time riding them. The only factor I have found to increase longevity is going with a heavier, DH-rated rim. But an alloy rim is a wear item, in my opinion, and I don't mind product managers going with the AR if they need to find a place to save money (though it would also be interesting to know how much it actually saves at the OEM level).

In contrast, replacing a rear hub is expensive enough that I would put it in the 'buy nice or buy twice' category.

Personally, I couldn’t be fussed whether the bike comes with AR or ARC rims. The weight difference is minimal, and I’d kill either after a season.

But give me a decent rear hub to build that new rim onto. Any time I have ran cheaper hubs, it has not worked out well for me. Having a rear hub fail is expensive; not only do you need to get a new hub (since many lower-end hubs are not easily serviceable), you need to get the wheel rebuilt as well. And usually a rear hub failure means walking home.

Sadly, DT 370s on an $8000 bike is increasingly normal.

There's some good discussion on temperature sensitivity of rubber compounds happening on the forum right now. Someone found information from Maxxis saying that 3C Maxx Terra and Maxx Grip harden below 6 deg C, and their Dual Compound tires are actually a better choice at low temperatures. Others are claiming that Shwalbe tires are more temperature-stable.

https://nsmb.com/forum/forum/gear-4/topic/how-bout-a-good-ol-fashioned-tire-thread-130842/?page=10

It would be awesome to have an article digging into this further.

Reach and headtube length (a proxy for stack) give some idea of how long the front end of a bike will feel. With a short headtube/low stack, you end up losing effective reach with headset spacers. So if you have two bikes with the same listed reach but one has a longer headtube, that one will fit bigger.

I agree that two bikes that appear to be similar in size on paper can fit quite differently.

Well, that was insane.

I went out for a quick one at lunch, a few lower Fromme laps, never higher than Bobsled. There is about 5 cm of slush on the ground in open areas, but it's clear under tree canopy at that elevation. Bridges are the slushiest and are absolutely treacherous.

Anyone get out on Fromme yesterday or today? What's the status?

Posted by: rnayel

Posted by: tashi

2016 Rootdown to ?????

2021 Rootdown

I wouldn’t bother. The Rootdown has seen only minor tweaks since the first B.A. in 2016.

Posted by: mudrunner

I would hope Upper Digger is left alone.

Agreed.

Posted by: niels@nsmb.com

Posted by: oldmanbuilder

Since the heights of old-school we've lost: Pink Starfish, Upper & Lower Bitches Brew, Executioner, old-school Lower Digger, and old-school Expresso.

What happened to Executioner?

Executioner and Bitches Brew were amalgamated around 2011 or so. I’m assuming it’s a reference to that.

I responded to your post on the PB forum but figured I'd keep the discussion going here - I don't see anything wrong with providing that feedback to NSMBA, but as land manager, DNV is the ultimate decision-maker. I would think an email to DNV Council would be useful.

I’m back on Contis on my Chromag Rootdown for the winter, this time Der Baron front/Der Kaiser rear, and am thoroughly impressed. The grip on wet roots is in the same realm as the Assegai Maxx Grip I have on my full-suspension.

I was looking at Continental’s DH casing tires and they do a Der Kaiser and a Mud King, but no Der Baron. It looks like a lot of their pros run the Der Kaiser front and rear; it doesn’t seem like a tread pattern I’d choose for a front tire, given the close knob spacing. What’s the deal, do you think it would work well in front?

Straight down the gut with just enough momentum to get through the holes, then hard braking for the 90 degree left hander after.

Here's the DNV download link to the standalone report:

http://app.dnv.org/OpenDocument/Default.aspx?docNum=4609683

In my experience, X01/XX1 Eagle chains last considerably longer than GX Eagle and are worth the approximately double in price, with well over double the lifespan. Getting the good chain is useful for protecting that $300+ cassette.