Vikb profile

I guess I am a cyclist [aka STA slacker] who also rides technical mountain bike trails. I'm glad you found a compromise on the Banshee you like.

I'm not a particular fan of the steep STA. I haven't found any performance benefit personally. On longer rides I find being pushed forward towards the bars less comfortable then a less steep STA. I've got droppers with 1" setback heads now so I can adjust my saddle position rearward a bit and that helps. There are bikes now with STAs so steep I don't bother even thinking about them as options.

I'm 5'11" with a 33" pants inseam so not particularly unusual body shape.

I've always wanted a steel FS bike so I may go that route at some point so I can get a custom STA depending how things progress towards 90 degrees!

My first thought when it comes to bike theft is getting good insurance. There are a lot of shitty policies out there with low bike loss limits, but there are still options with high limits/unlimited coverage that are not particularly expensive. I do what I reasonably can to avoid bike theft, but you could open my garage's man door with a good kick so I am realistic about that side of things. If my bike[s] was stolen my next thought would be an insurance claim. Not the hope of recovering the bike. The few recovery stories I am personally aware of involved thrashed bikes that were not worth getting back other than for some vague feeling of beating the odds.

I don't buy many used bikes or parts. As you've noted in other articles once you factor in the lack of warranty and the cost of stuff like suspension service it's frequently not much of a deal to buy used. The possibility of buying stolen parts is another risk.

I've got a suspension bearing replacement & brake/fork service procrasti-planned for my FS rig anytime now. I'll book mark this article as a reminder to clean the damn pistons while I am at it! Thanks for the reminder. It's like flossing I know I should do it, but then....

Thanks for another great article showcasing some great riders we don't get to see/hear from a lot. Keep up the good work.

Yeah I find ~74 deg STA great on a ~140mm forked HT.

Yeah for a sweet hardtail review. Stick with it and you will lure at least some friends to the dark side!

Thanks for another article about folks who are not represented in mainstream MTB media much. It's well worth the effort to diversify how we represent the MTB community to the world. Especially if we want more people from different parts of society to participate in our sport. Actually seeing yourself represented on a MTB website [occasionally] is a huge step for a lot segments in society and leads to people feeling like I can do that as well and I would be welcomed. 

I've read some negative comments online about bike related websites and social media channels that are putting some focus on diversity and I think it's funny/sad because even with some good faith efforts from folks like NSMB....mountain biking media is still 90% fit white dudes on bikes and 8.5% fit white ladies on bikes. It's crazy how fragile people's worldviews are when increasing diversity a fraction makes people feel scared/vulnerable enough they have to lash out.

It's the same reason I have a heavy steel HT with a 160mm Lyrik and a 62 deg HTA leaning against my desk. It's not better than a FS enduro rig, but it rides different and that difference is fun. 

My next FS bike will be a short travel aggressive bike like the Spur or TB and I'll probably put some beefier parts on it. Will it make sense? I don't care as long as it's a blast to ride.

For most people just doing regular lower services would be a great improvement. The topic of fork service came up on a ride earlier this year. One guy asked where I got my damper serviced [Vorsprung], one guy proudly proclaimed he had not serviced either end of his FS bike since he bought it two years ago [subtlety implying suspension service was #FAKEnews!] and one lady perked up and inquired "You are supposed to service your fork?!?!".

Next up would be people actually doing some effective setup work on their suspension. It's shocking [pun intended] how many times I grab a bike on the trail and the suspension is not even close to where it should be for the rider in question. Not even counting the "Why are you riding with your fork and shock locked out on the downhills?" moments. It's kind of sad to think about all the effort that goes into designing suspension for mountain bikes and then what actually happens to it once sold to most customers.

I've had custom damper tunes done on a few shocks and really enjoyed the results. For some reason I have not done that at the front of the bike. I try to stay on top of maintenance, but I've left everything stock. I have a hankering to try something a bit more "fancy" next time I build a new FS bike.

Posted by: niels@nsmb.com

I've always ended up with settings that are wildly different from the manufacturers' recommendations or settings posted in reviews and bike checks.

Same here. I don't look at the manufacturer's recommendation for my suspension and just set it up based my preferences. Ocassionally I'll look later on when it's raining out and I am bored. It's funny how different their suggestions usually vs. what I like.

Other than sitting on someone else's big to validate sizing I don't bother demoing them. The setups are usually so far off it's not going to tell me much and people get annoyed when you adjust 10 different things on their well dialed bikes!

Posted by: RAHrider

Anyone else have this same experience? I am going to get the shim stack tuned with my next service. Don't even get me started on how overdampened my wife's suspension is always.

My technique on all my forks [MRP/Fox/SRAM] is to open the HSC/LSC fully. I'm ~180-190lbs out of the shower depending on time of year. I've never wanted more compression damping unless I was on the road for a good long time. That said I haven't felt that the wide open compression damping setting was still too aggressive on any of these forks.

No I cleaned out my sausage casing gear over the last few years and sold/donated/recycled it as appropriate. While I still had a drop bar road bike I was that weirdo that rode it in plaid shirts and flat pedals with MTB shoes. My go-to MTB riding wind vest was made for trail running and I use it and a bunch of my MTB gear when hiking/skateboarding/etc... So I get the cross-sport-gear pollination, but I don't drink the roadie nectar in particular.

Posted by: syncro

Just letting the bike dry on it's own is the faster way to cause wear and tear. 

That ^^ doesn't make any sense to me. Other than the chain water on the outside of your bike is not going to cause any extra damage drying vs. hitting it with hose and then drying the bike. It's not the water on the surface that is causing issues it's the water that gets pushed past seals because of the hose that's the issue.

I put protective tape on all my MTBs [not Ride Wrap] and I dry brush as needed. I'll wash with a bucket of soapy water and a rag at the end of the winter or when I need to do a big service and I'll be handling the bike a lot. So I wash with water usually twice a year.

I never understand people hosing their bikes off. Just seems like a great way to accelerate service intervals.

Nice work. I do home DIY carbon "repairs" and black "anodizing" with a Sharpie marker. Looks okay from 4' away! ;-)

Posted by: michel77

Decided to try a full-sus again this year. Accumulated some parts during CoVid downtime and built up this Starling Murmur when I finally got the frame from the UK. Been out for a few rides and I'm very impressed so far. Pedals and climbs much better than I expected, smooth and quiet on the downhills. Think this one will be around for a while :)

Wow. Great looking ride. A steel FS rig is one of the things I'd like to try sometime in my MTB career given how much I love to ride steel rigid/hardtail bikes. Enjoy the new bike!

Posted by: Heinous

I guess a bike intended to be ridden that aggressively has to be pretty strong, and at a certain point you’re just reducing travel, but not weight, or improving ride characteristics any more!

Sure. It's like riding an aggressive steel hardtail. On paper it kind of doesn't make sense. It's going to weigh as much or more than a FS bike without the performance of the rear squish. But, the folks that are passionate about riding hardtails do it because they ride differently not necessarily better. Or at least not better in a way we'd all agree on. I think the same goes for short travel aggressive bikes.

Posted by: cam@nsmb.com

Just bolted a 170 mm Fox 36 to the front of the Honzo ESD for the final chapter of the test. Looking forward to trying it but I wish more of my buddies rode hard tails. That would make it more fun, and less punishing trying to keep up. It’s pretty rewarding when I do though.

I'd like to throw a leg over an ESD. It's one of the few hardtails I am keen on where that might actually be possible!

I feel like am being a good role model as the number of people I ride with who are adding hardtails to fleet grows. I'm also seeing 3 or 4 times as many hardtails [mostly quality rides vs. people getting on old hand me down rigs] on the trails these days than in previous years. Could be COVID related or could just be a surge in interest.

Posted by: AJM

Thanks for kicking off the 2021 thread Vik (and your note a while back on bikepacking setup). Keen to see what 2021 brings on the thread and will try to share more with my Chromag Rootdown now in play. Cheers all!

We need more Rooty photos for sure. I've started focusing on my bikepacking rig and putting mileage on it [while staying local] so it and my body will be dialed once COVID restrictions ease and we can travel around BC again. I've got some trips in mind that will be fun starting with some island riding and hopefully getting back to the Chilcotins as well.