Ddean profile

Go buy good gaming computer and Oculus RiftS VR goggles. Download DCS World. Download your choice of aircraft. Kiss the next 1000 hours of your life goodbye

YOUTUBE it.

It has a 32mm stem. Works super well with the long front center and 64deg unsagged HA on the terrain I ride which tends to be techy janky stuff. 

There’s something about being able to run plus tires at 13psi that brings a smile to every ride. Rough stuff too. These monster hard tails take no prisoners. 

Find a builder you relate to and order up a hardtail in modern geo. Amazing.

Beautiful bike!

I feel that 29r, especially in plus, is a game changer for hardtails. There is no perfect bike for any one ride as, especially on the Shore, segments of the ride vary so much between eachother. But my forward geo Naked 29+ can get as rowdy and is as capable in sketchy stuff as my Slayer, and Id suggest even more so in steep stuff. I do not miss the rear suspension most of the time with 29+ and cushcore in the rear. Having the big tires with inserts opens up a lot of new possibilities.

Bikes are tools and no one tool is perfect for all situations. But hardtails are also art!

Love this vid Rick!

Loved it! Great riding. Great self filming. Cool effect.

Will the photos you're discussing be visible anywhere? Love looking at the history and getting the backstory.

Yes, Trail Slayer be slayin'

Great article. I think it hints at just what a knife edge some trails might actually be on. Authorizations and signs and history means a lot, until you wake up one AM and they didnt. People need to speak up at every occasion when the Districts take any action that reduces your ability to ride the Shore.

And zero sum game, I hope that doesnt mean that something has to go before we get that route up to the Bobsled switchback from BP. Come to think of it, last time I rode by that area, it looked like that route was already in use! FREERIDE ASCENT YO!

Those guys rode it well. I bet that Dougie was taking all the sneaky Strava lines all the way down too. 

I hope Dougie gets what he needs before hibernation and that his show'biz days are done. He looks like a good guy - probably didnt mean anything threatening - he turned around as soon as those guys stopped. He was probably just bored and wanted a game of chase for a bit. Who could blame him?

So I picked up a Champion 3550/4500 watt generator on sale a crappy tire. It works- powers the freezer and I think the fridge too. 

But it’s louder than I expected. It’ll see limited to maybe even no use. But it might be a lifesaver in a pinch!

Yeah but is your ebike as fun as Tesla autopilot?

Honzo 👍

Excellent point that battery charging can happen from existing home power.

I actually have two panels. One panel works off of the main. I wonder if hardwiring into the downstream panel removes the need for a switch as perhaps the upstream panel is blocking?

Still more complicated than I’m looking for when a simple gas gen will do, but I though the discussion might be interesting.

Thanks for the advice!

Yeah, Im not into spending big bucks on this as I dont think its necessary.  A smaller gas gen would certainly do the trick and it could be used for a few hours here and there as needed to keep things cold as constant on probably would not be necessary. 

Anyone have a basic solar set up? Speed of charge wouldnt be that important as long as the storage is good enough. Half a dozen car batteries attached to an inverter would probably power a freezer (when used intermittently) for a week maybe more?

Gas generator probably still cheaper tho and theoretically usable for longer periods of time. Thats probably the move and not a bad idea to have at hand regardless. 

I wonder if there's a way to power the freezer from our eGolf  (we have gas cars too)? Ill check if its got a 110volt plug in and what the max draw. That would be my solar power bank right there!

Not a lot to do these days other days than grow more paranoid and ride, so here’s today’s thinking out loud edition of lockdown boredom

We have a chest freezer that’s full of food. It’s a day to day source of food storage but, to some extent, it’s also a stockpile. I think that, so far, we have all been lucky that our grocery stores remained open and staffed by persons committed to keeping all the wheels turning. Who knows what the future holds. 

Now I’m concerned that a sustained power outage will take out my freezer!! We have had 30ish hour outages before. Not sure that that is long enough for things to thaw if the freezer is kept shut. 

A source of backup power would be a good idea for a lot of reasons. Probably not necessary but it’s a weak link today. 

What would you do?

Just buy an inexpensive’ish generator capable of powering a few things direct? I cannot imagine hardwiring anything into my panel so I’d probably just consider something basic. 

Solar with battery bank? Not sure I’d have the sun exposure I’d need but the freezer appears pretty energy efficient and perhaps a bunch of batteries could store sufficient power to keep it cold for a few days? I’d have to do the math I guess

Anyone have a very basic backup power set up at home?  Mostly thinking freezer backup as our stove is gas, gas furnace, fireplaces and garage door has its own battery backup.

For those trails I would think that your fork is fine. 

I donno - I think that you wait until it’s clear to you. A FS will be nice but much more so on rougher trails than those, AND hardtails these days can go almost anywhere. 

I think that when you should make a change, you’ll know it. Maybe the move is do nothing now and wait until you find yourself on the rougher trails a lot, and then get a used FS. 

Welcome to riding in the woods!

There’s no perfect bike for any one ride. If the 134 is working for you 90% of the time and really only isn’t on steep descents, I bet it’s working better than the other bike a good chunk of the time. 

The difference is which part of the ride matters more to you?

I hate packs so much that I’ll do everything I can to avoid. 

I’ll drink from a stream IF it’s running nicely and IF it’s in a good spot relative to houses and highways and IF I have enough left of the ride that I don’t practically have a choice. 

Having to carry water for my dog too has put me dry sometimes in summer. I hate hate hate packs. If it’s obvious I need to bring one I will but sometimes I choose wrong

How many rides do you have on the ST 29r? Have you been swapping back and forth or have you been exclusively riding the new bike?

I ask because sometimes different bikes need to be ridden very differently and perhaps you’re stuck in no mans land with the habits you have from the past lingering on the new bike? I’d ride the new bike exclusively - listen to it telling you how it likes to be ridden. Change up your riding style to fit it. It might be 20 rides before you’ve figured it out - and then try the other bike.

It’s a good time to do a complete tear down, deep clean and suspension service on the other bike while you’re focused on the newer one.

I’m in the process of adapting to a new bike that requires a much more aggressive riding style than my other bike. I’m 14 rides exclusively on the new bike and being exclusive in it has made a world of difference. I can’t wait to hop back on the other bike when the time comes next week. I suspect that I’ll ride it more aggressively too - or at least I hope it transfers like that.

I’d focus on the new bike and figure it out. Or maybe it’s just not the bike for you. You’ll know after you focus on it for a bunch of rides.