khai profile

I can't read any multi tool review/press release without thinking fondly about my CoolTool...  Not that it would be much use today, but DAMN - what a thing to have at the time!

I've been 100% in the chamois-free camp for all but the longest rides where I know I'll be grinding uphill for a long slog.  (LOTS, bikepacking, etc.)  But THIS just might change things...  https://www.bikemag.com/gear/apparel/first-impressions-bn3th-north-shore-chamois/  

https://www.bn3th.ca/products/north-shore-bike-chamois-black

Shimano makes a kit that imo is a lot to charge for what amounts to a cup with a threaded nipple at the bottom - but seems to work pretty well.  I discovered these guys when I was having fits trying to bleed my Hope brakes years ago.  The guy with the lovely accent in the video makes it seem like a simple and almost calming process - but i found it to be otherwise...

I've had great success with the stuff by Epic Bleed

Last time I was in Suspension Werx I asked James about Ohlins and he said that they're pretty much the best in terms of non-creaky CSUs

Now that you mention it, I think the need for a blind puller was the final nail in the coffin the last time I looked into it.  I have a memory of emailing Wheels/RRP about blind pulling and neither could do it - so I just had Ed at Mighty Riders do the replacement for me.

(Now that I have some space I should set up my own shop for these "intermediate" type jobs one of these days..)

Yeah, that Wheels Mfg kit is P-I-M-P.  Though if you select the "full set" from RRP it isn't any cheaper ($400CAD w/o the tool itself - though it does include extractors as well).  That's a big part of the reason why I never pulled the trigger in the first place...  

Seems the Boca tool is a sane starting point for a home mechanic not looking to build (fund) a fully pro level shop.

My fully is out on loan but between that, the DH, and the HT I don't really want to think about my total score...

How does that tool stack up compared to the Wheels Mfg | RRP |Enduro?  I've been considering one for a while but have yet to pull the trigger, instead cheating by spending most of my time on the HT...

Certification would be good to know as well.  Is it ASTM F1952?

I'll try that.  Thanks!  :)

Is anyone else experiencing problems with Chrome? I'll fairly often get the following error message when trying to either follow a hotlink to the board (say from the main page of from a search), or as I drill down into a specific post/thread: The page you are looking for is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later. If I copy/paste the URL into Internet Explorer it loads just fine. Other times/threads everything loads as I'd expect.

Anyone else seeing this? Solutions as to a fix?

Thanks,

Here's where I pull the "I've owned a 2013 Saint Shadow Plus Derraileur for 4 months now" card and say;
I've tried it, it kind of works, but its definitely not worth you spending your money on buying a product that "kind of works", or trying it to find it doesnt work for you, when there's one that will work infinitely better for the same ching.

Cool - thanks. I'm in the process of building an AM bike and it just sounded really awesome… Not that XT is "bad" by any stretch, but because the shifter is paired with the dérailleur it seemed a natural time to try it out. Or not, as the case may be. I still want to be able to climb anything pretty well so I need that 2nd chainring.

According to everything I've read this is designed as a 1x10 RD. Does anyone know if the cage is too short to be used with a double up front? Tooth restrictions?

I tried the Shimano tech website but all I found was a blow-apart diagram…

Thanks,

I rode it yesterday, and was very impressed.

Perhaps a dumb question given that you were in Whistler, but did you spend any time climbing on it? How pedally is it, say compared to the new 2013 (non-Evo) Enduros that are supposed to climb really well, or the 2012 Enduro Evo?

I demo'ed a 2012 Enduro Evo and thought it was a blast going down - but not that much fun to climb or pedal through rolling singletrack… (mind you, my current bike is a 100mm Titus Racer X so my frame of reference is quite different from that of a shuttle/park/DH guy). I'm looking for a bigger bike to complement the XC race bike but I still want it to be a fun, capable climber.