peterk profile

Interesting article. It took Shimano longer to get to 10, 11, and 12, but was the general consensus that it was easier to sell a bike with plastic NX or SX components that go to N speeds, than a better Shimano SLX setup at a similar cost but with N-1 speeds to a clueless consumer?

I can see people failing to understand this where their home trails are one way (uphill climb trail followed by downhill). The problem is on 2 way, multi-use singletrack trails with limited sight lines. It's already possible to ride too fast for the trail and other users with leg power (hammering out of corners), but an advanced rider (top 20% of riders) is only able to do it 3 days a week, for maybe 20 minutes per ride before their legs get tired. With an e-bike, any rider can do it 7 days a week for 1hr per ride. If ebikes gain significant traction (pun intended), 2 way trails will be un-rideable.

As far as erosion on 2 way trails, braking power will always cause significantly more erosion than pedal or motor power.

But it's across the board, even on XC bikes which aren't getting ridden hard. Maybe not with the crowd here I'm sure there is a subset out there who are lightweight and don't need the extra stiffness but would appreciate the modern touches: trail geometry, 130-140mm travel, tire sizes, etc... but with a frame weight that they were able to achieve even with the technology of 10 years ago.

Probably similar to the jump in price from an NX build to a GX, or GX to X0 which seems totally out of line with the actual price differences. It's like they don't know we can go online and check out the price difference between the different levels and it's just a couple hundred bucks at most. I think SRAM gives away NX to bike companies for free.

I just sold a 26" Stans Arch, Hadley rear hub wheelset that served me well. It was 12x135 (yup), my main bike is boost, and the 142mm end caps seem hard to find, so time will tell if I come to regret that one.

so true. "i gO On 60kM rIDeS nOW!" "i gOT 12 lAPs iN". And it seems people are forgetting that there are some trails that you shouldn't be adding another 250W up to 30km/hr on: 2 way, multi use, blind corners, poor sightlines. I'm going to stop riding those completely once eBikes start to become more common. Don't want a head-on collision.

I can guess by googling "bike 2019 maxxis ardent 130mm 27.5". I found another brand doing the Ardent on low end bikes and dhf on high end, but in 29".

Anyways, if anything I would prefer my bikes come with more aggressive tires. Adds some versatility for road trips.

I figure you would find something similar when looking at the jump in price between bike builds with straight gauge vs butted spokes, basic rims vs Stans/DT, NX vs GX, resin-pad only rotors vs standard rotors, etc... where the low cost option is pretty much being given away.

The shim plates are almost necessary for CB's because otherwise the 'beater rails wear grooves into the shoes and the connection becomes sloppy with lots of vertical play even after cleat replacement. Nice to hear about the multiple shoe lifespan. This kind of wear isn't as much of an issue with SPD from my experience.

I'm interested in what kind of maintenance regime and lifespan Andrew gets out of his pedals. Every time they come out with a new version they are like "trust us, these ones are better than the last ones, we swear!" Do you have to buy more than the base model? When I was running CB's, I had to bin the set ($50) every year whereas I've had SPD's 520's (also $50) that I've used with 0 maintenance for 7 years now.

Products like this (and Shimano dual action shifting) are unfairly targeteted in "ReMEmbER tHEse 10 wOrST bIKe pArTS?" articles when there are real shit bike parts that still plague stock bikes to this day: stock tires that use hockey puck rubber, organic brake pads, non-tubeless rims, shit cable routing, disposable rear hubs, remote lockouts etc...

hypothetical question: I'm sure rebates for e-bikes are not too far away. Sure, they should be intended for commuting to take cars off the roads, but I bet that can be stretched to that 160mm eMTB. Say you get $1000 back for buying an e-bike, bringing them closer in line with a similar spec mtb, but with a motor! Would you? Will tempt a lot of even the hard line riders.

Surprised that after 8 (?) years of strava, people haven't realized that you aren't going to PR/KOM when the trails are busy and there are additional hazards: people! 

If you are such a DH tough guy who doesn't want to yield to climbers, maybe ride a trail that is steep and technical so that nobody can climb up it.

Is the "but they have been accepted in Europe" argument even valid? You can't really compare riding doubletrack and alpine bike park through farmer's fields that are already serviced by paved roads and chairlifts where the wildlife have been scared away to what we have going on here. Look how sparse Austria is on Trailforks! They probably aren't even allowed to ride singletrack outside of a bike park there! Why did Rocky Mountain have to spec flat bars and semi slick Continentals in order to sell bikes in Germany? Because mountain biking is different over there.

what about flat-ish multiuse. Does anyone want 500W of pedal assisted braaap coming at them out of a blind corner? When did biking become all about mass consumption of trails rather than just enjoying the time outside? Why can't people wait for their slower partners? What if we get 20km/hr speed limits on multi-use pathways because old people (who drove to the trails) panic when they get passed?

People also need to realize that if you are chasing meaningful PR's or KOM's, you need perfect conditions. Trail conditions have to be just right, and more importantly, they can't be busy. You have to find a time of day when you won't encounter oncoming riders or hikers that will force you to slow down, move off line, or stop. You shouldn't be chasing a downhill strava PR when there are other people on the trail. And if you are shuttling, please pause your GPS so you don't steal KOM's on the road climb.

The forward thinking approach would be to just determine that there are trails where they are suitable (official trails shuttle trails, downhill specific trails, motocycle trails, multi-use trails that have been taken over by bikes), and unsuitable (climb trails, 2-way trails with poor sight lines, busy multi-use where user conflicts are already occurring, anything unsanctioned/illegal), and develop a policy and let the e-bikers form their own association and beg to the hikers, horse riders and mountain bikers for expanded access. Maybe the riders will get bored of the few options then buy a real bike?

The problem is these things are being marketed as a "playing field leveler" so you can keep up with those friends and family that are such jerks that they won't even spin a couple of chill laps around the local adaptive loop with you or wait for you on the climb.

Does anyone here ride 2-way trails? It is terrifying that inexperienced riders can be just a couple of pedal strokes from 30km/hr on sections with poor visiblity. Sure a strava hunter could do the same, but there are only a handful of them, and they only last for 30mins.