Vikb profile

I've got a couple long suffering Dinotte lights with head units + separate batteries. The batteries have lost a lot of capacity so I really need to buy either two new ones or at least one new one and then the 2nd light can have 2 older batteries. Given a single battery is $121CAD + $61 shipping it's tempting to try something like this all in one unit and given up on the old lights. Analysis paralysis! 

My crappy getting worse eyes lean me in the direction of maximum light firepower.

I also meant to comment sweet hardtail Mike. Bring that up to BC! :-)

Welcome Mike.

Yes. Always the night before vs. the morning of. I've learned that lesson the hard way a few times. :-(

Maybe. It will depend on what it costs to buy new and what it costs to repair. As soon as repairs reach a significant % of new most people will buy new to get the latest greatest tech. 

If repairs can be done affordably and if they are reliable there will certainly be a market for them...at least as long as the rest of the e-bike holds up in terms of MTB standards compatibility.

My SS Krampus is definitely one of my forever bikes. I might need a derailleur in my elder years!

I think the real problem with e-bikes is that when any part of the electronics/power system fails it will be a boat anchor unless you can get spare parts. How long will Trek or Spesh stock a control board or display or battery for a 2021 e-bike? 

If e-bikes systems were generic like other bike components you could at least get a replacement aftermarket, but if they are manufacturer/model specific you are at the mercy of the manufacturer to stock parts and sell them to you.

I suspect this will make selling a used e-bike a challenge and the effective service life quite short. Then the question is how much of that e-bike gets recycled into something useful and how much ends in the landfill.

Capitalism is the worst system ever except for all the alternatives. Given none of the world's capitalist economies is truly running without Government intervention we can setup a regulatory structure that incentivizes companies to meet whatever targets/goals we want them to. The problem is we don't do that. We talk about protecting the environment and then we rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.

What should be happening is the full lifecycle cost of a product should be charged to the customer and used to pay for the product and all its impacts. Then that $10K e-bike that's obsolete in under 5 years would be more like $15-$20K and riding steel/AL hardtails would seem like an even bigger bargain. Currently we let some folks shit the bed and make everyone take the stinky sheets to the laundromat and pay to try and wash the brown out. That doesn't put much incentive on companies making the products or people buying them to reduce their impacts.

I buy Shimano simply because of SRAM's distributor system. It doesn't matter how good their stuff is if I can't get it from the vendors I want to buy from because I live in Canada. I am not horribly picky about shifting and braking [wandering bite point aside] so at the end of the day I don't care what I hang on my bike as long as it's available for purchase, it works and the price isn't crazy.

The gender generic version of a "Bro" is a "Doh". For example...Did you see GnarGnar's IG feed today? What a Doh!

RSD has a 510mm rigid fork, but it's not in stock until 2022.

https://cad.rsdbikes.com/product/510mm-aluminum-fork/

Posted by: Kenny

Anyone on full rigid? 

She mostly sees urban assault and gravel these days, but I have taken up and down a lot of gnarly trails bikepacking...running gears! My new winter bike [Pipedream Sirius] was designed for rigid fork use and I have considered it very briefly. I'm enjoying riding it at full fury with a 140mm fork too much at the moment to want to slow down and abuse myself with the rigid fork option. My arms are my weak spot for MTB riding these days so I am trying to be kind to them as much as I can.

On that note I noticed that Naked has gone full Ti for their bike options**. Makes sense I guess.

** - you can have steel if you really want, but the cost for steel is the same as Ti.

Posted by: velocipedestrian

Ti? Why are there bosses on the seat tube? Wheelsize? Angles? Are Turner still around, or is this NOS?

https://turnerbikes.com/collections/nitrous

Well I finally did it...I'm going to ride a SS rig this winter as my main bike. I blame Andrew. I decided to swap the parts from the Cotic BFeMax large frame to this Pipedream Sirius Long [aka medium] frame so I could leave my Daambuilt hardtail setup in gravel/road/bikepacking mode. I don't have a road/gravel bike so when I want to explore someplace on the map from my door that's my ride and I didn't want to lose that capability.

This Pipedream had the benefit on being in stock and easy to order as well it fit all the parts I wanted to swap over. The Sirius was designed for a 100-120mm fork. The MRP Ribbon Coil I had was convertible 140-160mm so I lowered it to 140mm and slapped it on. All Pipedreams have short head tubes so I threw on as many spacers under the stem as I could and then added 70mm rise bars as well. This gets the grips approximately level with the saddle on the unsagged bike.

Unsagged HTA is ~62 deg based on my phone and the unsagged STA is 75 deg. Tires are 29 x 2.6" DHF/DHR on 30mm IW rims. CS are 425mm at min length and I had to add a few mm to that to tension the chain with the sliders. I wanted a smaller front centre, smaller rear centre and smaller saddle to bars distance. I got all three.

Gear ratio is 30 x 22T.

My initial riding has been on my local rolling XC trails. Sizing down has got me the agility back that I missed when riding the Cotic. I don't have to be going crazy fast to get the bike into the air or on its rear wheel. It loves to slice and dice between the trees and carve turns. I feel much more in control vs. being along for the ride. Riding SS has been very engaging and the easy rolling terrain is perfect for one gear...as you would expect.

I'll head to Cumby tomorrow and ride some of the lower trails to see how that goes with one gear.

My initial thoughts are that the sizing and geo of this frame are a good match for where and how I ride. I suspect that whatever capability I lose by having a smaller less stable frame I'll get back by feeling very confident and in charge of the bike. I've got no idea how I'll feel about SS when I head to the real mountains, but there is only one way to find out. I can throw a 28T ring on the bike if I need a lower gear...especially for the first month or two, but we'll see.

Frame flex is key for my enjoyment of a hardtail. The Sirius is flexier than the BFeMAX and feels close in flex to my Daambuilt. The BFeMAX wasn't what I would call overly stiff, but I am happier on a frame with more flex than that so the Sirius is a good fit in that regard.

As with all my winter bikes it's got full fenders and frame bags so I can do a long ride packless in any weather and not hate life.

Build Kit

• Sirius S5 frame in silver [Long size]
• 140mm MRP Ribbon Coil
• Hope hubs + Velocity Blunt 35 wheels
• Maxxis DXF/DHR 29 x 2.6" tires with a Tannus Tubeless insert in the rear
• Shimano Deore 4 piston brakes 200mm/180mm rotors
• 30T x 22T SS drivetrain
• RF Next R 170mm cranks
• RF Chester pedals
• I9 35mm stem
• Ergotec 780 x 70mm rise bars with Ergon grips
• 9point8 150mm dropper
• WTB Pure saddle
• RRP front fender
• Mudhugger rear fender
• Rock Bros frame bags
• PDW DT splash guard
• Fabric bottle

I just care that my suspension feels great. If I use all my travel every/most rides is not important.

Posted by: RAHrider

Can we talk about how addictive frame bags are? Vic got me started on them and now I can't stop. 

I'm glad it's not just me. ;-)

You can get custom bags made to fit any frame/mounting situation from the slew of small bikepacking bag makers. Not as cheap as an off the shelf bag, but not crazy expensive if a really good fit/use of space matters to you. Ibis are the only folks that make custom bags to fit their frames that I can think of.

I bought a frame bag from Cotic when I bought a hardtail from them thinking it would be nice to have a purpose built bag, but the fit was poor so it ended up being a waste of $$.

Posted by: mountainmike

Just curious what everyone is running for tires? Now that things are getting wetter the Bontrager XR2's on my procaliber are not cutting it.

29 x 2.6" DHF/DHRII Maxx Terra EXO. Tannus Tubeless in the rear. 30mm IW rims. I want to be able to put 30K of paved riding on them to get to/from the trails each ride so I am not running a softer compound.

Although I am not a fan of the uber low TT's on modern MTBs the argument for them is a low TT fits more people and since most people don't want to carry anything more than a water bottle inside the frame [if that] there is no downside.

I've got long-ish legs for my height so I can get on a long enough bike without worry about a low TT and I like to stuff my frame full of as much water/gear as I can so I am not the target audience for that design language.