Jeff-M profile

Nice!

> > Ouch.
>
> Early dismount? So this happened without your weight on the bike? If so that's crazy. > >
> Nope, 100% of my weight came down with the rear wheel onto a single rock the size of a softball. Something had to give.

Ahh, that makes more sense.

Oh man.

Ouch.

Early dismount? So this happened without your weight on the bike? If so that's crazy.

:lol:

That thing needs some motors on it.

Wow,

embarrassing.

Buckwheat!

EX-rental bike. You can bet that thing has been ghost rode into plenty of trees.

Upside down bike.

Definately sponsorship material.

I'm lovin' it.

IXS Carve Evo for me. Great all around knee pad. Comfy and hold their position well (had issues with previous 661 and raceface pads sliding down).

Well after procrastinating a couple of weeks (and a few more rides sliding around on my current tires), I finally decided and pulled the trigger on a set of tires.

I went with a pair of Magic Mary's 2.35" Evo Addix UltraSoft SnakeSkin Super Gravity  (what a mouthful, and honestly Maxxis is just as bad now).

Planning to run them front and rear through spring and probably swap to a faster rolling rear tire when summer rolls around (old WTB Trail Boss back on or buy something new).

Hoping for massive levels of grip and expecting lots of rolling resistance! We shall see.

I've been using chain bar oil the last few winters (and sometimes in the summer too). Good adhesion and unbelievably cheap compared to bike sized lubricants. You do need to clean your chain somewhat regularly as it attracts debris. I've used the Phil Tenacious oil in the past and it has the same tradeoff (sticks well to the chain but debris also sticks to it).

It will leave an oil slick on your driveway if you blast it directly with high pressure water but a thinner lube probably washed off while you were still out on the trail...

Triflow hasn't worked for me in winter conditions. Washes off too easily and you're left with a noisy, unprotected drivetrain halfway through the ride. Can be a decent summer lube and slightly less drivetrain friction vs the thick lubes.

CNC machining a frame seems like an insane waste of resources (recycling the chips notwithstanding).

The finished product looks pretty incredible though, more lust worthy than any of the current carbon frames in my eyes.

Posted by: Stuminator

I am considering the WTB vigilante. How did you like that tire?

Overall I like it but think it is best suited as a front tire. I started out with the Vigilante front and rear. Slow rolling rear and I wore out the centre nobs pretty quick. Swapped to the Trail Boss rear on the second go around, much better rolling and increased durability. Good combo for summer but I think grip could be better on wet, greasy wood + rocks, hence thinking I'll try out a softer tire this time around. As mentioned before someone who has ridden a greater variety of modern tires probably has

I should mentioned that all of my WTB tires have leaked Stan's sealant through the sidewalls to some degree. Always minor but not exactly awesome either. Is this a common issue with other brands?

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone else?

Old time poster re-emerging here. I need new tires for my Reign and these new Addix compounds from Schwalbe have me intrigued.

Looking for input from people who have ridden them in local conditions though.

I'm thinking I'd try Magic Mary front in the Ultra Soft Addix Compound, undecided on best rear tire to pair it with though.

The tires they'd be replacing are WTB Viligant front and Trail Boss rear, overall I was happy with this combo but game to try something a little more grippy, especially for winter conditions.

The bike originally came with Hans Dampf's front and rear which were awful but I attribute that to the cheap OEM compound and thin casings, so willing to give Schwable another try if these other compounds are decent.

Back in the 26" days I rode nothing but Maxxis DHFs front+rear in the 3C compound which I also liked, but wasn't doing much climbing then.

Anyways, hoping you guys have some input on what to buy. A set of tires lasts me a year these days (need to ride more!) so not too practical to experiment.

Thanks!

Oh dear.

Those are some gems.

I'm almost exactly the same height as you and riding an XL Trek CrossRip.

Extremely versatile bike and cheap too (mine is the low spec model, now called the "Comp" I believe, about half the price of the Ridley you posted). Ride is fairly upright for a drop bar bike so not particularly fast as a "road" bike but I've done a few 100+ km rides with no complaints. That upright position makes it great on gravel and I also like it for commuting (my primary use for the bike actually).

IMO for these type of bikes it's nice to have something that isn't too high-end. I like being able to lock it up (good lock of course) at the store/coffee shop/pub for a quick stop and not worry too much (something I can never do with my mountain bikes).

For reference my mountain bike is an XL Giant Reign which I'm also quite happy with the fit on.

I'd certainly caution against spending big money on 100x15 and 142x12 hubset as they can't be converted to Boost.

More generally I think the days of purchasing for the long-term are done.

Boost seems to be developing into the new standard. But how long until? Boost+, Boost++