peterk profile

The absurd part of the question is thinking that spending $3000 (assuming $CAD?) is enough for a manufacturer to consider different chainstay lengths given current prices. Try $4000+

"Jono was able to retrieve a spring and washer from his freehub". Theif be like "I read an article on NSMB.com where Andrew Major and Jeff Bryson overhauled a hub".

Warranty is an interesting topic and certainly worthy of a full deep dive with many aspects:

-The 3 year product cycle for bikes or shop bros selling their bikes every year, is lifetime warranty even that valuable? 

-products with anecdotally a 100% failure rate

-People who are pretty much "sponsored" by the warranty departments of certain companies because they break so much stuff. 

-Impact of # of previous warranty claims on increasing frame/component weights for future product generations

-do companies bank on having a certain number of "light users" who buy product but don't beat it up enough to push it to failure. Do we all have to pay more because of "heavy users"?

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.

Not local but I feel like people are lacking moderation. Sure more people are getting out, but people also have more free time and are trying to make every ride location a "greatest hits", whether their mental health needs it or not.

I have friends who are "digital migrants" "working" from home and it's as if they are in some sort of panic to tag as many areas before that gravy train runs out. 1hr drives too and from to go skiing every morning. Sure, try and get out every day, but maybe save the big trips for when you want to put in a proper day. Go play around in the immediate backyard on the other days, work on skills, etc... Ride time should be more than drive time.

Risk is cumulative. Going to the grocery store is a high risk, but everything else adds up. I saw a motorcyclist hit a deer on the way to the trails. Shit happens.

Posted by: Mulletron

I rode my regular bike today, brought my dogs with me because it is much easier for the older one to keep up. Short ride, just under 6kms, ~260m elevation gain. In and out in 45 minutes, had a meeting cancel and I had a window. I cooked 550 calories. 

When I ride my ebike, I can generally get in 30-40% more trail in the same period of time, and I'll burn about 20% more calories over the same period of time - it's a different kind of workout. Instead of the painful slower cadence, it feels more like riding a road bike or a spin bike. You need to run a cadence north of 70rpm to get into the fun zone on the ebike. My (older) dog doesn't like it as much. 

It is what you make it. I think it is most important to have fun on your bike(s) and spend less time taking the piss out of eachother, unless of course it is earned by being a jerk on the trails, but unfortunately those folks exist on every type of bike out there.

Interesting, I think it might come down to you being more motivated to pedal harder when you see the scenery flying by. I know it seems easier for me to push harder with a tailwind than a headwind. What device are you using to track calories? What were the average heart rates for both of the rides? I only ask because I feel like while my Lezyne bike computer says it uses heart rate to track calories, I can have two rides with similar average HR, but it gives me more "calories" for a road ride vs a mtb ride because I am covering more distance.

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.