Vikb profile

Since moving to Van Isle 10 years ago from YYC and starting to ride year round with half the year being wet my chain maintenance regieme has evolved or devolved [depending how you look at it] to the following:

- buy cheapest SRAM chain I feel good about

- wipe down after every ride

- lube before next ride in winter

- lube once every 3-4 rides summer

- use whatever runny liquid lube falls to hand [Pro Gold/Triflow/etc...]

- measure chain wear regularly

- replace chain at first sign of significant wear

No other chain cleaning. My drivetrains last a long time. Shifting remains good.

I do not use a hose to wash my bike unless it's truly mud-pocalypse. Typically I let bike dry and brush dirt off then wipe down supension/dropper. Using Mudhugger fenders keeps most $$ bits relatively clean even in wet winter conditions.

- Slow down for everyone

- Say hello

- Chat briefly with anyone else on the trail

I do this ^^ every ride. Doesn't hurt and I want to leave a good impression with other trail users. Perhaps living on Van Isle and having [largely] under utilized trails] makes this easier as I don't encounter other folks every 5 mins. Perhaps  once or twice a ride at peak times on weekend in good weather.

I got a "modern" geo hardtail this year. Mostly for bikepacking, but I figured it would be fun on easy trail rides. The more I ride it the more amazed I am at how capable it is despite having zero travel out back. 

On some of the chunky sections I am getting bounced around a bit I've been thinking if I had even a small amount of travel out back that could be pretty sweet and I've been dreaming about a aggressive short travel bike.

So why bother with no travel or a limited amount vs. a 140mm-150mm bike? Basically because the no to low travel options feel quite different and that ride feel is a lot of fun on a lot of trails. I have been grabbing my hardtail for rides my mid-travel FS bike would be a "better" option. Logically I should grab the FS bike as it's the "correct" tool for the job, but the hardtail is just a blast to ride and it gets up and down a lot of the same trails just fine...although you have to ride it differently.

All the best for 2020 Andrew.

Both of the mountain bikes sitting in my man cave right now have Porcelain Rocket bags on them. Great products. My oldest PR bag is ~9 years old and going strong despite regular use. Occasionally I'll chat with Scott at PR about one of his sweet new bags and he'll ask if I am interested in ordering one. My answer is usually yes, but I'm still wear out the old one that it would replace! A good problem to have I guess.

My Guerrilla Gravity Smash 29er is a great bike from a rider focused company. Well made in the US. Great geo and suspension. Great customer service. I rarely buy complete bikes as I'd end up replacing so much stuff, but the combo of GG's smart build kits and the ability to change parts before the bike ships meant I got to enjoy the OEM cost savings and have the spec I wanted to ride. 

I've wanted a custom MTB for a while. I finally pulled the trigger on a steel hardtail made by Peter over at Daambuilt in PQ in 2019. Custom bikes are $$$ compared to a production frame so I was a bit worried it wouldn't live up to my own self-generated hype. With 5 months of riding under my belt I can say it was well worth it. It's so nice to have a bike that fits me well and has exactly the features/geo I care about. 

Finally I'll give a shout out to RSD Bikes in Toronto. My GF was envious of my steel hardtail stoke. She started riding 10 years ago on a SC Nomad Mk2 so never went through the rigid/hardtail phase of MTB evolution us older riders did. She wanted to try one, but didn't want to spend huge $$. The RSD Middle Child was an amazing deal on a well built frame with up to date geo/features. Best of all as I built up her complete bike every part was a keeper except the dropper remote. Right down to quality inner tubes, saddle and grips. Getting a quality frame, progressive geo and excellent build kit from a Canadian company at a very affordable price seems like the promised land. Great news is she loves the MC and loves the hardtail experience.

I've had VW camper van fantasies for so long. What [mostly] cured me was going on a few long trips with a few different friends that own them. When they are parked at camp it was amazing and I loved it so much. The driving was not awesome and the inevitable field repairs were not a lot of fun. I love working on my bikes, but I just want my vehicles to work without any hassles.

So I've re-targeted my travel van crush onto something new-ish that won't need a lot of repairs. It won't be anywhere near as cool, but I'm okay with that trade off.

Rob's Syncro does look really nice. :)

A full article! :)

Yup. Super fun to watch various parts of the bike moving around in the corners. I bet they left some cool footage on the cutting room floor.

I've done 26er/275er tube to 29er several times with no issues. Tubes stretch so much I just can't see how that didn't work??

If you are like me and rarely get a tubeless flat that you can't plug you can carry a spare tube that is much smaller than the wheel/tire size it's a spare for. It will save you bulk/weight and be cheap. A tube will expand a great deal so a 700x 38mm tube is fine for a 29er MTB as a spare or a 26er x 2.1" tube for a 29er.

I have given away my spare tube several times over the last few years, but never needed to install it on my bike. That's a lot nicer with a $5CAD tube than it would with a $50CAD bling tube.

If you have the adjustment room a setback dropper and shorter stem [and/or bars with more sweep] would move you back from the front wheel. Maybe another couple spacers under the stem or a higher rise bar to also rotate you backwards from the front wheel? Maybe extend the fork to 160mm if you have that capability?

Posted by: DemonMike

No doubt , one sexy bike. I,m curious how the single pivot design feels. Have not ridden a single pivot design since the late 90,s. Biggest things I remember . Bio pacing and brake rise . I designed a built my own floating rear brake. That helped a ton.

There was a Starling review on NSMB and perhaps questions in the comments will continue to get answers if you want to find out more about the suspension? 

https://nsmb.com/articles/starling-murmur-29-factory-reviewed/

Posted by: tashi

Minus 20% you say?

Veryyyyyy interesting...

Edit: I don’t think it’s correct though. I changed my address to France, and VAT was applied. Leads me to believe the 1475 pound price is already without VAT.

Yes sorry. Looks like 1475 UK Pounds is ex VAT already. So $2506 CAD with the front triangle built in the UK.

Gratuitous Starling photo. If the BB was higher and it could fit a 29 x 2.6" tire I'd own one.

Posted by: Kenny

That'd kill me. I'm a child of the 90s and I can't resist skinny straight tubes.

I've been dream building steel FS bikes lately and ya skinny straight tubes are pretty nice. My current favourite Project12 Vertigo.

Posted by: thaaad

I'll be really shocked if it's that cheap.

I guess it depends if they make it in Taiwan or Canada. As a comparison a UK Starling Cycles steel Murmur FS 29er [Taiwan rear triangle and UK built front triangle] is $2506 CAD without a shock. Edit - corrected price.

Posted by: Ouch

Is this the one you have - https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5033-982/Gem-Short-Mini-Pump ?

Definitely cheaper than the Oneup pump.

Yes. Works pretty good given its size.

Posted by: Ouch

On your rides do you bring a mini pump, CO2 inflator with extra CO2 cartridge or a combination of both?

Crank Bros mini-pump. CO2 is $$, generates excessive waste and is easy to have fail on you at a critical moment. Seems like a bad idea IMO.

Posted by: james-oborne

My buddy always rides over to me at Seymour from Commercial Drive and then we ride up. I'm always jealous of the extra miles he gets in. I need to start bike commuting to work again.

Riding to work is a great idea. Saves you money, lowers stress and builds fitness. Just start small with one day a week on the nicest weather day and go from there.

I'm the earliest riser in my riding group and people aren't fond of 6am ride start times! So riding to the trails the long way gets me extra mileage and an early start plus let's my buddies sleep in! ;-)

Posted by: Timer

Are Adidas Terrex Trail shoes sold in Canada? Can't find them on the website. They use 5.10 rubber for the soles but are (reportedly) much better made than the 5.10 themselves. Plus they are actually quite decent for hiking.

Some riders in the alps swear by approach shoes made by La Sportiva. The ones with "Megagrip" soles.

Jenson ships to Canada for free over $150.

https://www.jensonusa.com/Adidas-Terrex-Trail-Cross-SL-Shoes-2019?_br_psugg_q=addidas

Posted by: Brocklanders

The distance thing/ longer in the saddle for sure burns more calories. Looking at getting a gravel bike so can do some longer rides at lower intensity, switch it up a bit.  The Fisherman's /Seymour dam lap is a great ride

That's ^^^ a good idea. I've been riding to the trails and then back home [+extra 30kms or so] and jumping on my SS MTB for running errands around town or walking if stuff is close by. I MTB enough that doing some different activities that are lower intensity and less impact on the body is nice. Having a gravel bike should be fun. Enjoy!