andy-eunson profile

I think people discount just how cold metal levers are in winter. People assume they need thicker bulkier shittier gloves. I tell you, going up the lift on Sunday it was -15 ° C and one hand was cold holding my aluminum ski poles in one hand. And that’s with pretty thick gloves.

When I see the videos of riders roosting and sliding it looks to me like they are trying to make an easy trail look hard. Or it’s just some style thing. Coming from skiing skidding is what you do to slow down because that is your brake. Bikes have brakes. Riding clean sharp lines is much harder. More impressive to me. Racing is different though as riders are at the limit of control. 

But mountain bike riding has become too much about style. Hence the baggy outfits and visors for downhill for looks. I note that DH outfits are slowly becoming tighter and more aero. 

A lot of this sloppy riding is people emulating riders in videos. Maybe we should just call out the sloppy riders more in videos? And at the same time praise the clean riders that arc a clean fast turn.

I picture dwarves dancing around a miniature Stonehenge. https://youtu.be/qAXzzHM8zLw

A lot of good thinking with this bike. Longer stays for larger bikes only makes sense. I’m too short to fit this at 5’5” but it is interesting for sure.

If the fabric wets out on the outside, it won’t breath. All waterproof breathable fabrics require a water repellent coating to work. The Endura jacket I used to have did that from the get go. It had great fit and good features but did not breath at all.  

A cycling garment should fit well on the bike. The short front you mildly complain about may mean the jacket is too short in the body for you but I’ll bet on the bike it fits well. That’s what you want. All the Enduro bottoms I have or have tried fit well standing bolt upright in front of a mirror. Shitty on a bike.

If you check out some of the videos of the system being shifted you will see that there is only one shift button. It’s a rocker switch. Pushing the top of the rocker causes a shift one way I think higher gear and pushing the bottom lower gear. You can see that there is an extension on the underside that you can push with your knuckle to shift to a lower gear. Unless I have that backwards.

Can someone explain why the Magura Veyron actuated so slowly? What was Magura thinking? There has to be a real advantage to electronically controlled stuff not a disadvantage.

One of the advantages to electronic shifting wired or wireless is that it solves the crappy shifting some bikes have due to a tortured mechanical cable routing. My neighbours Trance and my Bronson work poorly with Shimano mechanical and need the fancy polymer coated Shimano cable to work well. Even my XX1 works a lot better on the Bronson with those slick cables. That’s a lot of coin though. I had DI2 on my cross bike and it was really good. But not that much better than mechanical other than you never need to change shift cables when they get dirty and cause slow shifting.

“Thanks for listing the Santa Cruz specific pros. The way they mold in the internal cable guides is really cool. It's the only internal routing I think is as good as just running cables external”

Does that mean the rear brake hose can only be run through the left side port? I run my brakes left rear and I hate having the hose on the left side. Aesthetic I know but ...

Never had issues with a Maxle or Fox through axle QR. But I have had my DT Swiss rear through axle wind on axle come loose more than once. Don’t know if the lever hits something and comes loose or what. I also doubt that a bolt on would be any different but if I ever needed a new one that’s what I would get.

Posted by: craw

Well it's official. They're mine. 38mm.

Now we’re talking. I have this theory of small diameter grips. Our first cool mountain bike grips were Oakley BMX grips. O wings had this little wing on the outside and I forget what the other was called but it had an inner and outer made from different unobtanium. But BMX is or was a kids sport. So small grips. But as riders got older they retained the small grips because they were used to that size. So I think maybe we all have been hoodwinked into using kids grips. 

I don’t have large hands but I have come to much prefer fat grips. The small ones I found pounded into my palms. It’s not a matter of padding but diameter I think.

I tried to find out what motocross bikes use but I can’t find outer diameter. Just inner because there are two bar sizes. Are moto grips bigger around?

Posted by: shoreboy

Just remember that the more sweep you have, the shorter the cockpit is going to feel.  You might have to increase stem length again to compensate.

Very true. I think Ritchey has a bar that sweeps forward then back to give the angle but the same reach.

No brand recommendation but when you try on shorts, see if you can sit on a bike with them on or at least bend over as much as you do on the bike to test fit. Lots of stuff fits great standing bolt upright but bunch up in the crotch or reveal your ass crack when your riding. Just like trying a helmet with your glasses or goggles. Or gloves without grabbing a bar and squeezing the levers.

Get the XT ring. It’s steel with a carbon reinforcement. Longer lasting.

Do you run flat pedals? I’m thinking wider flat pedals are a longer lever and perhaps are more prone to ripping out of pedals threads or ripping the insert out. I have cracked an XX1 crank but it was a tiny crack. The creaking was unbearable though and it was warranted.

I hope the next time I need a new vehicle that Rivian pick up will be available at a reasonable price and have no bugs. The future is coming.

Damn fingers!  Mine is still stiff from that crash two months ago but it’s not really noticeable in regular use. My foot on the other hand is still sore. I may have suffered a mild form of a Lisfranc injury. It’s only sore if I flex the foot up. Like when putting on pants in the morning. But again, I can hike and ride and there are no issues. And it is slowly improving.

Good point about the noise. The old range by the scout camp way up Lillooet road was shut down I think for that reason. I know some folks that lived in Lynn Valley that had complained about noise.

My aluminum Chameleon is not a harsh ride at all. 2.4 tires at low psi take a lot of the harshness from any bike.

You have to look at the stack on a long travel 29er. I’m 5’5” and I think I’d need a flat bar and maybe negative rise stem to get the bars low enough for me. But she’s taller and I think fit would not be an issue. Wheel size would be fine though.