Vikb profile

Exciting news. Keep us posted. :)

That would be worth a shot.

Doesn't matter. In a few years Giant will be going for the longest CS and denying they ever believed anything else. ;)

I've got 2 sets of Next SL cranks with several years of riding and a new set of Next R cranks with a few months of riding. I'm 200lbs and ride coastal BC trails. No issues so far on any of them.

That's ~$9,350 Canada Bucks without the shock upgrade or carbon wheels!

I hope Shimano fixes this problem soon. I went SRAM Codes on the new bike instead of the XTs I would normally spec. The SRAM brakes have been flawless.

That's what stickers are for. :)

It's not a zero sum game. You can have top notch suspension performance and a water bottle in your frame and whatever fork offset you want.

Nothing wrong with wearing a pack if that makes you happy. I put my pads on in the parking lot and wear them the whole ride. I did that most of the time when I wore a backpack.

I've been enjoying packfree riding since last year. Can't see myself going back unless it's a tour. I did use a fanny pack last year for longer rides to carry a bit of extra water. Since I drank that water first by the time we started pointing down it was gone and the fanny pack disappeared from notice so it wasn't a bad solution.

I did use a Porcelain Rocket downtube bag on my Knolly to carry all my tools/pump/spares last year. That worked really well.

Knolly Endo --->  https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4418/35540597914_c38a8b72a0_k.jpg

Buying a new 29er this year I got a Guerrilla Gravity Smash. With mounts for two water bottles and room inside the frame for a bag I'm now totally bag free unless the rides start pushing 5hrs+ in the summer.

GG Smash ---> https://farm1.staticflickr.com/981/42048172211_92c5001037_k.jpg

I love the lack of stuff hanging on my body. But the key for this working is:

1. it can't compromise my ride

2. it can't compromise my ability to fix normal mechanicals

At this point I wouldn't even consider a bike that can't fit a water bottle in the frame and a bag under the down tube. The GG has spoiled me with two bottles and a frame bag.  Not sure I'll be able to beat that going forward.

I had been wanting a 29er for a few years. I demo'd a bunch of bikes and remained intrigued, but never managed to settle on a wagon wheeler that checked all my boxes. So I bought a couple 275ers and rode those. Fast forward 5yrs and I stumbled across Guerrilla Gravity bikes. They look great. Have all the features I wanted and my 29er stoke was high so I pulled the trigger.

A couple blog posts about the build and why I picked the Smash:

https://vikapprovedblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/guerilla-gravity-smash-29er/

https://vikapprovedblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/09/guerrilla-gravity-smash-build/

3 months in I'm really happy I made the choice. This bike was fun from the first pedal stroke [unlike my 29er demos] and has exceeded all my expectations. I knew it would be a great a descender, but the climbing capabilities of the Smash are a nice surprise. I'm glad I took a chance on GG and finally got a big wheeler. It's been a blast to ride.

I'm working on a review, but I have been feeling lazy. I'll post a link here when I get 'er done. :)

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vikapproved/sets/72157691878835305

Posted by: PSY

for you guys that use waist packs...do they ever move around a lot while going through chunder and stuff?

Our rides all seem to start with big climbs so the fanny bag is no issue for that and I will empty the water in the fanny pack first so usually when I am headed down and things get zesty the fanny bag is empty or nearly so and I don't even know I have it on.

Posted by: PSY
thanks for sharing this - good tip on the soft bottle. definitely gonna try this setup out
what's inside the timbuk2?

I carry my phone in there...mostly to take photos with.

Posted by: grambo

Semi thread jack -- what fanny packs are people running? Anyone using ones with built in bladder? For longer rides, I have an Osprey hydration pack with a 3L bladder (never use 3L except Chilcotins -- usually 1.5-2L for long hot days). For after work shore rides I am dumb and just carry a multi-tool in pocket and my 500ml water bottle on bike, if I flat I walk/trail run out. Fanny pack with 1L seems like it could eliminate my need for the pack on pretty much all rides.

I've tried a number of fanny packs. My favourite is this $15 MEC bag. Holds a 1L soft bottle plus a couple extra things. With 500-600ml on the bike plus tools on the bike I rarely need more than this. I drink from the bottle on the bike and refill from the soft bottle in the pack. That means by the time I am ready to get shreddy on the descents I don't have much weight in the fanny pack I don't notice it at all.

My two bike storage setups. Upper bike I can ride without a pack up to 4hrs in the summer and longer in the winter. Lower bike I add a 1L soft bottle in a $15 MEC fanny pack for rides over 2.5-3hrs in the summer. I carry my full tool/spare/pump on the bike. Crazy thing is I help folks with hydro packs fix their bikes all the time. In theory they have all the cargo capacity to carry tools/pump/spares....but seemingly they don't.

I have since ditched the CO2 for a pump and added a derailleur hanger. I'll often throw $20 in there for emergency pub money.

I carry basically the same items on both bikes. On my Knolly my pump is external so it does get a bit dirty. I was going to put it in plastic bag at work and seal it, but I keep forgetting. Porcelain Rocket under DT bag is 6-7 years old and going strong. Contents stayed dry all winter despite splashing from front wheel. Only getting one bottle on the bike is less awesome than the GG, but still it's enough for 80%+ of my rides.

Places I've ridden somewhat recently that prohibit e-bikes:

• Sedona [sign above] on most MTB trails [everything managed by USFS]

• Moab banned on all MTB trails. Okay where motos are allowed. [also USFS managed]

• Pemberton banned on non-motorized hiking and biking trails. Well signed.

• Cumberland banned on MTB trails. I didn't check the signage.

• Victoria area CRD MTB trails are banned. Not signed. Okay on Regional Trails - ie. the Goose and Lochside, etc..

Anyone out there running the same carbon rims on their AM/Enduro bike for more than 2-3 years? How far would you take them before selling them or relegating them to lighter duty?

My carbon light bicycle rims are 4yrs old in 2017. I'll be using them until they break. So far I have hammered them on rocks, pinch flatted tubless tires and still not a mark on the edges of the rims.

I've got plans to replace them. No idea how long they'll last.

Just moved to Van, have been on a santa cruz 5010 for the past season out in the kootenays where it was great. After riding mostly Fromme the 5010 feels like not enough bike. I would really like to get into the more rowdy and jumping riding. Would upgrading to the nomad kill my climbing? Should I just suck it up and get better riding the 5010….. it is such a great bike.

What fork do you have on the 5010?

Unless you've already got a burly fork up front swapping in a longer/stiffer fork would probably be all you need as it a lot cheaper than a new bike.

You won't be able to plow chunder on a 5010, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

you need to look a bit more closely at the numbers. the given hta and bb drop for the wednesday are based on a fork 20mm shorter than the one on the ict. running a 100mm fork, the hta will slacken but the bb drop number will be even smaller, so the bb will be higher. and tire size doesn't factor into bb drop - it's relative to the axle, not the ground.

The BB drop is only important relative to the ground because it determines where the BB ends up. You can run 3.8" or 4.6" on a Wed the BB drop is the same, but the BB height is different and the height is what matters.

Looking at the BB drop and not considering the tire size is meaningless when the tires are not the same.

I'd also consider the Surly folks have played around with lots of fatbike designs. If they decided that this BB drop was a good thing for the Wed considering the tires it was going to run and testing it would with a 100mm fork it may be worth actually waiting for some ride reports to come out before panning the bike. You are not going to ride a geo chart.

i want to love the wednesday. the price, suspension fork compatibility, short back end, threaded bb and tire size are all appealing. but it's a step backwards geometry-wise form the ict, with less bb drop and a steeper hta. even if surly's ringers can make it look good for the camera, the bike will likely feel weird with more than 100mm of travel up front, and i don't think that will cut it on the shore

The Wed HTA is the same as the ICT with a 100mm fork. The difference in BB drop is 5mm I can't get excited about that given that the Wed is designed to run on smaller tires than the ICT so the actual BB heights aren't going to be that much different.

They are both designed for 100mm suspension forks.

I agree I wouldn't choose either of these bikes as my main ride for the shore.