andy-eunson profile

No propriety tools. That’s important to us home mechanics. One reason I stopped overhauling dampers at home is that many forks require those tools. A one time purchase is acceptable but when the tool changes from model to model it pisses me off.

I have had forks that needed an air relief because of I think negative pressure in the open bath. Hard hits see an increase in psi in that chamber and hard hits cause maybe some flex and air escapes through the wiper. The results are a fork that is partly sucked down by over a cm on a 150 and 160 Fox 36. A careful insertion of a very small plastic zip tie cures that. It’s not hard to do but care is needed to not damage a stanchion or wiper. A PRV is just easier. Do motorcycles have this issue?

It appears that they have fixed their sizing. I have. Pair of the shorts in medium but they re a bit too small for my 30 inch waist. They are from a few years back though. Part of our guiding kit so they were free. Nice shorts though but for the fit.

I’m thinking if the bb was moved forward a bit while keeping the wheelbase the same and increasing the rear centre as the frame size increased would create a more balanced bike. The riders weight would be more centred descending and a slacker seat tube angle is more efficient for climbing.

It does ebb and flow. I lived through the 70s gas crisis. Suddenly Detroit we’re making smaller cars to compete with Japan. But that was temporary. We came back to bigger is better. Hence the Tacoma is similar in size to what full size trucks were a while back and now I can’t see over the side of some big pick ups into the bed. Sure I’m very short but who needs a 5.5 foot box? The sense I get now is that some people are downsizing or buying fewer but better things for environmental reasons on top of various financial reasons and ethical reasons. Patagonia advertise their stuff as being ethical and well made to last and they will repair stuff. Levi’s are doing something similar. I see good reason to sell my bikes for something new. Nothing wrong with my current sleds. Buy a new NSB stem and call it a new bike.

There seems to be a small movement toward locally made (or at least North American made) more durable long lasting products. Smaller homes and with gas prices I’ll bet smaller vehicles too. I like buying good and often expensive but long lasting good fitting hard wearing stuff. Function over form. 

But we are all slaves to fashion. You have to wear the right stuff to fit in and not stand out. It’s why riders like to wear flat pedal shoes and clothes that look like they may have doing something other than riding when they go to a coffee shop after a ride. Wouldn’t want to be identified as a cyclist in cycling clothes. Oh the shame. 

Packs are a funny thing. No pack is more comfortable than no pack at all. So we see this unending search for the perfect pack. Might be why people buy packs often. They are searching for a comfortable pack when none exists. There have been advancements recently though. The running vest has caused many packs to suddenly fit better and have good pockets on the straps. Why that didn’t happen years ago is beyond me. Years ago as in 40 years when I was a geologist we all wore cruiser vests or mapping vests. We needed pockets for notebooks, compass, bug juice, magnets, dilute HCl (for testing for CaCO3. It fizzes) if the article you want is handy, you are far more likely to use it. Like a small saw to clear a bit of slide alder. Or bear spray or bug dope, sun screen etc. buried in a pack somewhere means taking off the pack and searching for the item. And these days of Trailforks you won’t that phone handy to check trails. 

The real advantage to frame or bike stored tools is that one can use any of their packs or no pack and repair stuff is ready. No need to own multiple tools and tubes and such for each bag or to transfer items to each pack one might own.

I’m 64 and I’ve broken or bruised ribs 6 or 7 times, broken a couple fingers, lots of scuffs and a few stitches. One broken finger resulted in tearing off the fingernail too from the top not the tip. And 12 stitches to the knee. That’ll teach me to be cheap and not replace that chainring. Or wear fingerless gloves ever again. I’ve never been the careless type. I creep up on skills. Go slowly bigger and bigger at a comfort level for me.

Someone I know who might be famous around these parts once said that he had more respect for the rider that chose to walk something that he didn’t feel comfortable riding, in front of friends than the rider that flung himself off something he knew he had not the skills for and tumbled down in a heap. I’ve always been the guy who walked stuff. I’m not too proud and I’ve suffered mostly minor injuries. 

I know of some though who just giver without regard for their well being. They get hurt. Once fatally.

Words and sayings sure have a lifespan. Just like fashion clothes. Guys in suits that make them look like Pee Wee Herman. What’s next? Ties that double as a bib and Tiajuana flares? Words certainly become overused and we need new words to make us sound unique and cool. I going to resurrect words and sayings from my youth. No guff eh. Like a bear. Far out man.

Some words need to stop being used though. Custom is one that bothers me. I see people selling so called custom bikes. An off the rack frame hung with off the shelf parts is hardly custom. A frame built to my dimensions with different tube lengths and angles is custom. 

Or upgrade. I replaced the black plastic pedals with plastic pins to purple plastic pedals with plastic pins. 

Referring to a bike as being playful needs to stop too. It’s a toy. Of course it’s playful. 

Some of this descriptive words are a bit like the Marzocchi girls in adds. Over the top and kind of ridiculous. Kind of like the movie Idiocracy. Short stays are playful. It’s what we crave. Why not move the bb forwards a bit and maintain the same wheelbase but have weight more centred? BMX out back, DH out front. It’s what we crave. Thus goes the circular logic.

Can confirm. MTX red in my XT4 piston makes a big difference. Nearly silent when dry, softer bite but all the power at the end. I’d love to see a review of aftermarket pads. Many of us simply buy metal pads of the same manufacturer as our brakes but there are other options now that seem to be better.

Andrew is our marketing sieve. Marketing bullshit goes in and the truth comes out. Manufacturers seem to all follow each other around sniffing each others butt’s to see what they are doing. They are doing X? Well do x and a bit and be better. Oh yeah well do x and a bit more and be more better. 

Like when bar ends first hit the waves."Gives you more power!" Really? My legs look to be the same size. After years of bar ends and finding my hands always hard against them, I ditched them for a tiny bit more width. Then bars starting getting wider. I was ahead of the curve I suppose (ask Kim Steed he’ll back me up) but soon it became if wide is good, wider is gooder. Only recently have good riders determined that really wide isn’t necessarily better for all things. 

Don’t get me going on bike geometry. I’m no expert but I see parallels there with reach, seat tube angles and rear centre length.

Posted by: heathen

In the crew of people I ride with there are at least 5 of us that have hardtails and two of them are hardtail only riders. We have found that 2.6 tires with CushCore and 30 or 35mm rims are perfect for aggressive riding. I know a few folks who run 2.8 and they said they are fun but the tires don't like high speeds. As you have to run quite low pressure to get the advantage of 2.8.

I like the DHF 2.6 MaxxTerra EXO for summer.

WTB Vigilante 2.6 Light High Grip for winter.

Really cool photo.

I have a SRAM dub pf92 bottom bracket going into its fourth season. I pulled off the cranks to check the bearings and they are smooth like buttah and they do not creak. Surely that’s indicative of something wrong? Aren’t press fit bottom brackets and DUB in particular absolute shite? Could it be that those that have legitimate problems with any part or standard are just really vocal like the radical right?

Posted by: TonyJ

Andy,

Just to clarify, you ran 275 on your Chameleon, then swapped it to 29, or did you try Plus at some point. 

I am looking a Rootdown with 275+ on it (huge 40mm rims designed for 2.8 and bigger), I can swap the wheels and tires to 29 (but that is a fairly big expense).

I started with 2.8 Minion but the rims were only 30mm id. I’m only 143 pounds or so. With a tire that wide I could get away with really low psi without dinging the rim on roots but that low and the tire was squirming and that’s not good. I found if I upped the pressure it was fine but that was the pressure I ran with a 2.4 ish tire so plus was pointless. I can run 2.6 successfully though but I think I prefer the 29er wheels.  Rolls better. I’m on 2.3 Minnions at the moment because I hadn’t used something that narrow for a while and this is my ‘gravel’ bike.

Posted by: craw

Posted by: andy-eunson

Posted by: Sethimus

Posted by: demo7_rider

I've found the 7iDP Sam Hill pads to be the best at staying put. The Sastec insert is removable for washing and the surrounding padding gives more shin and side-of-knee protection than most.

As far as pants go, the Nukeproof Blackline are really great value if you're already placing a Wiggle/CRC order. Close fitting but super thin and stretchy, keeps pads even more secure.

i also have the sam hill pads, they stay on all day, feel just like some cycling knee warmers

Can confirm. I have two pair now so one pair is always dry. I really don’t notice them being too hot even on 30°C days.

If the pants are light enough to be that comfortable in hot weather are they durable enough to provide any real protection? Have you crashed in them and how did they do?

I’ve fallen off a few times but not particularly hard but no marks yet. I wouldn’t think they’d be super durable for say bike park use but for my purposes they should be fine. I hike in them too.

I prefer the big wheels. It’s a somewhat subtle difference though. The way some folks talk it’s like it’s a huge difference. I find the big wheels definitely roll faster. Handling is pretty similar.  The wheels went on my Chameleon which had 27.5 when I bought it but with a 29er fork so I could run plus tires. So it was a straight swap. The geometry mostly stayed the same but a bigger wheel means a touch more trail.

Posted by: velocipedestrian

Posted by: AndrewMajor

It’s actually a 28t (updated) I forgot that we had switched from a 26t round to a 28t Oval (Wolf Tooth only does the 64BCD 28t in an oval).

With it being an oval there’s a high and low point.

The BlackSpire Grannie God just covers the high point of the oval.

I have a round NSB 28t/64 and a round WolfTooth 26t/64 as well. Even with direct mount ring cranks I always have the urge to take the weight hit for a spider + bashguard and I think this is a great way to do it.

Would also like to see WolfTooth do a version of the CAMO Bash with a smaller bash.

Ace! Thanks.

Geez man. Are you using Crisco as a chain lubricant?

Go to the LBS and they have the rebuild kit for my seat post in stock for less than the online price less the $18 shipping the online shop wanted. I sense parts are slowly becoming more available. I got a cassette last week, although they had no chins but I sourced a chain at another semi local shop.

Posted by: AndrewMajor

Posted by: snowsnake

I just replaced one of those two weeks ago and it’s already gone. Sigh.

First, you have to:

)

And then you have to:

)

And I'm not saying what's-what but this is a very common, well-known, issue so in the location that I was previously wrenching out of we were doing this to every new bike on the floor. The fact SRAM doesn't Loctite from the factory (which I believe they originally did) isn't great, but I think the fact that shops aren't fixing the problem as part of their bike builds is worse.

I have one or two of those which I found on the trail. Also have a small collection of various damper knobs and levers, a Speedplay road cleat aero cover thingy, pedal body. And once a single brake pad. Every now and then someone will post something about trying to find some bit they lost that the shops don’t have and I do. Feels nice to give to someone in need. But not that brake pad.

Posted by: AndrewMajor

Posted by: Endurimil

Since you brought up the SRAM Dub standard.....

What it took to crack the crank bolt last December. Sram cranks where not reinstalled.

Sram Dub go fuck yourself.

I’ve removed tons of SRAM DUB cranksets to change rings or bottom brackets and never needed more that a big 8mm (or smaller 8mm and small cheater) and years of experience.

Certainly, I accept that yours could be a strange outlier. But a bar like that shouldn’t even be needed to remove a DT Swiss drive ring. It’s like anything else with bikes, sometimes the best practice is to throw in the towel and go see your local service professional.

Sometimes they have access to tools or information you don’t, but often - as with DUB cranks - it’s just reps.

I’ve read somewhere that it’s the aluminum bolt. Replace with a steel bolt and the problem is gone. Has nothing to do with the crank being a DUB standard. I have a bike with press fit DUB. Longest lasting bb I’ve ever owned. No creaks, no roughness. But that crank bolt is tighter than a nuns who haa. Front wheel against the bench, old handlebar as a cheater, Velcro strap to hold the crank arm to the chainstay . A few cuss words and it pops off.

https://cyclingtips.com/2021/02/sram-aluminum-crank-bolts-seize-stuck-fix/

Posted by: Sethimus

Posted by: demo7_rider

I've found the 7iDP Sam Hill pads to be the best at staying put. The Sastec insert is removable for washing and the surrounding padding gives more shin and side-of-knee protection than most.

As far as pants go, the Nukeproof Blackline are really great value if you're already placing a Wiggle/CRC order. Close fitting but super thin and stretchy, keeps pads even more secure.

i also have the sam hill pads, they stay on all day, feel just like some cycling knee warmers

Can confirm. I have two pair now so one pair is always dry. I really don’t notice them being too hot even on 30°C days.