mammal profile

Gotta as about the creak:

Did you clean and reinstall the cassette?

I had a terrible creak under power this summer. I needed to disassemble the NX cassette, then clean/re-grease the interfaces between cogs. Each cog is an individual piece on the NX, and I guess the dry conditions packed the whole thing in greasy dust. Everything's whisper-quiet since then.

Oh ya! That DH bike was very cool.

Looks like the Convergence Triad (30mm) is currently  available in 27.5 rim-only.

Damn, those are some SEXY rims.

It's definitely a bike you're not asking for, but it's a stretch to say nobody is.

I agree. I saw this on the Pinkbike article, and wasn't nearly as interested then as I am after reading about the shock architecture.  Admittedly, I'm not the target market based solely on finances. I really hope it catches on though, and more models are introduced (a 155 bike would be sweet).

I can't imagine that any company (bike or otherwise) puts that data out to the public unless it's mandated by regulations.

"I still have a hard time knowing the material close to my body was used as a plastic bottle that somebody slurped liquid from."

How about the thought that the water molecules you're drinking could very well have passed through another animal's body before they made there way to you? The world is full of "wait, ewwww?" moments.

That guy is just a peach, tell ya what. I DM'd him to to find out where he was coming from with this Ibis comment, and that the community here expects/deserves better than offensive/trolling jabs. Summary of his reply to me:

• I am the reason the bike industry sucks. People that dump on product that have no idea how it even works [I didn't dump on any product here, LOL]. People that point to the product as the reason they can't do things on a bike [Not product, setup]. People that have zero accountability for themselves and assign blame to everything but them. 
• I have an entitled attitude, and it's people like me that suck all the fun out of it.
• [Responding to my mentioning that I haven't had any problems like this in my 22 years of riding, no previous jumping issues] - Screw your 22 years. You'd think in that time you would have learnt to jump...
• don't like being called out online.. feelings hurt? suck it up buttercup its the internet its going to happen and you can't complain to get your way. The fact you messaged shows your entitlement and its sad. [Thanks for the interwebs lesson, but it's really not clear how I was attempting to "complain to get my way"]
• Don't try parade NSMB like its more high class. Its the same bunch of people commenting on all bike industry posts. [It's actually a pretty civil and knowlegable group of bike nerds, too bad you only stuck around long enough to sh*t on my post]

Anyway, glad I don't need to read his toxic waste here very often. Here's to a nice little bike website community and respecting our fellow riders.

Why do you feel the need to be so completely sh*tty in the comment section here? I purchased my bike because of the sheer value aspect of the frame, parts, and suspension that I can service myself. FWIW, I've got it to a really good place, it works well and fits well. Take your trolling negativity elsewhere if you don't mind.

Replying to Onawalk - 

I don't have that issue on my DH bike, largely because it uses a coil shock (linear spring rate). It isn't storing a whole bunch of extra energy as it compresses toward bottom-out, and then releasing that extra energy in the beginning of the rebound stroke, as happens with an air shock jammed full of volume spacers. As mentioned before, this is not just an issue I have with jumps, it's other similar events where the shock is loading up and spitting out, and an overwhelmed rebound circuit plays a role here, as does a rapidly increasing spring rate toward the end of the compression stroke (to credit Justin's point above).

My initial comment was just to point out that the Cascade link helped calm down my spring rate and resulting rebound damping, by providing my needed progressivity through the suspension curve instead of the air spring.

I agree humans have a habit of pointing towards our tools as opposed to skills. I've been jumping hard tails, trail/enduro bikes and DH bikes for over 20 years now. I'm by no means a pro-level rider, but I can usually suss out what's going on with my bike if it starts behaving strangely in certain scenarios.

Posted by: Zowsch

Lynx OGT just released a new light specifically designed for activities like night riding.

https://www.lynxogt.com/product-page/ixea-headlamp

"It uses 4 high end Cree LEDs and a large lens to create a combination of a wide 130 degree flood beam and far-reaching spot beam simultaniously"

I saw that a couple days after receiving my second Raven Double. Although it's got 4 LEDs and a wider spread, I find it's interesting that it claims a lower lumen rating than the Raven Double, and the same run time. Just speculation, this leads me to believe that the advantage of the Otus is a wider spread, while having slightly less light intensity.

After a few night rides on the Raven Double, I know for sure that I don't need a wider spread, it's more than adequate. The raven double has a bit of a brighter spot in the middle, but fades nicely to a consistent peripheral spread. Perhaps the advantage of the Otus is that it has a really big spread with even intensity throughout. If so, that could make a superior bar light, while the spot on the Raven Double could be better for the head lamp (depending on preference).

For the record, I'm still really happy with the performance of these lights. They're not nuclear-blast bright like some of the mega units, but it's ample light with 2 lamps, and so convenient.

Posted by: ceebee

Well that's a solid endorsement, thanks for posting the review.     Any downsides you see using this on a commuter bike as well, bar mounted and pointed down to avoid blinding the world?

It has a pretty broad beam, so that could be a factor. But I see the adjustable low-beam intensity being a good feature for choosing exactly how much light you want/need for commuting.

Finally tried out the Lynx Double on the trail last night.

Although not quite as bright as the China quad LED I use for the bar, the quality of light is superior, with a nice warm color. My China lights are very cold, one of my main issues with them. I find a beam that's too cold produces glare and emphasizes shadows, which screws with my perception during the ride. Lynx has a nice warm tone that's very effective, no issues picking up terrain features at speed. My bar light was having sime issues, so ended up running it at low, and the Lynx at high was more than adequate.

The fully adjustable low beam was super handy. I set it at very low for gravel path grind, then a bit higher for climb trail single track. Then having the choice to go slightly higher yet for rooty tech climbs (but not full power) is nice.

I used the standard mount for my helmet, just attached some soft velcro to the base, and the mating velcro to my helmet. Worked well. You can remove and replace the head strap very easily to switch between biking and head lamp mode.

Didn't really test run time much. It was a 1.5hr ride, 1/3 at low-ish level, 1/3 a bit higher, and 1/3 at full. No issues.

So I'll be buying a second one for the bar, and ditching my China lights. It'll be great to stop relying on heavy yet crap quality brick packs. I've traditionally carried a spare with me, which ends up being 3 packs on hand at a time. Carrying a couple little spares for the Lynx is basically nothing in comparison. Not dealing with any wires is a huge plus too. A pair of Lynx will also mean the Mrs will have a nice head lamp for skate skiing this year as well.

Posted by: earleb

Finished a new frame project... Yes I like my bars rolled forward... 

Awesome project! I also like my bars rolled farther forward than most. Looks especially weird with the 50mm riser bar on my hard tail, but since I discovered the preference about 4 years ago, there's no turning back. Much more comfortable for me.

Posted by: Hepcat

The doofus, SpinMaster3000. 

If I ever met Tippe I'd probably just ogle and ask for an autograph lol. Actually, in a bizarre coincidence he recently texted me about a mutual friend.

Tippie's awesome, I've had the pleasure to chat and hang out dozens of times, and it's always the same. Good time laughing my ass off. 

I wasn't sure if maybe you happened to know who the SpinMaster guy was... I assumed his comment was at least somewhat in jest.

Posted by: Hepcat

🤦‍♂️Oh Tippie.

-----------

Checks comments. 3rd one down, SpinMaster3000: 

"Perfect for the Seymour self-shuttle!" ♥️♥️

If doofus actually follows through and shows up on the fragile bicycle trails with an ultra-high torque motorcycle, I'll have some in person comments with exclamation points for him.

Comments for Tippie, or for "SpinMaster3000" random guy who thinks that would be a good plan?

Posted by: chupacabra

My Jack Russell thinks now that the weather is wet and cold he should be allowed to piss in my house.  He also wants to run off into the Squamish estuary and attack the bears.  I have thoughts of letting him try.

Dude, the squamish estuary is the home of the most repulsive smells on the planet, and dogs are uniquely enabled to find them/roll in them. Our dog had the best time if her life, and smelled worse than anything I've ever experienced, for approximately 6 months (3 baths over that time).

Posted by: mammal

Posted by: thaaad

Suck it ebikes, the future has arrived.

Saw this one pop up the other day. 

Earthed 3 (2005): "I'm Rob Warner, and this is blow-air mountain biking", queue the Tarantula D&B rap, and Rob ripping around the urban UK streets.

Posted by: johnny_deformed

snagged a "new" 2014? era small g-spot frame from Cove for my kid, and put a dog's breakfast of his previous bike (really old Kona stuff 2-4 with good parts) and my old g-spot into this.  mullet 26/24, good chance to keep all my old 26" parts still going strong.  30.4 lbs as pictured.  will look awesome when i put the rasta decals on to match the green grips.

Awesome! Those bikes are legendary. +1 for a re-attempt on including pics of this grom-steed.

Posted by: tashi

So, I get why people don’t like speakers on the principal of the thing, used to bug me too. 

But when I’ve come across people riding with speakers I can only hear it when they’re very close, it’s basically as loud as a conversation, and since they’re riding, I’m only exposed to the music for 15-20 seconds.  Which means the irritation wasn’t actually significant, I was just letting it bother me because it was different with MY idea of how to have fun in the woods.

So I got over it. Now I sometimes ride with a speaker. I’ve talked to people about it and almost universally their response is “oh I barely heard it until you were right next to us”.

🤷🏼‍♂️

Totally. I don't ride with a speaker, but a buddy of mine sometimes brings one out on "party rides" when we're hooning around in a big  group. Speaker quality is so good these days that a good deep sound only exists within a 20m radius.