andy-eunson profile

Yes we do. The more competitive the market the better off we are.

Don’t chuck that visor in the recycling bin though. With a few well chosen holes made with a small hot screwdriver you can repurpose is as an equally questionable mini fender for your fork. 

I remember when TLD came out with velcroed on visors around 1990. Total fashion thing. I find that they do keep rain off my glasses and deflect spider webs a bit when I’m first out. I suppose they provide some sun protection for my fish belly whiteness. Yeah, I have them on my helmets because I don’t need to give the kids one more thing to laugh at me about.

It’s the rapidity of the changes that gets me. And changes with no perceptible benefit. Like boost spacing. 35mm bars. 30mm BSA bb with dinky bearings that don’t last. On the other hand, one by drivetrains, disc brakes, indexed shifting, suspension, larger headsets. These are all changes I’ve lived through and benefitted from.

That was always my way when lived in North Van even with the dog. It wasn’t too hard to find a quiet lane to get where I was heading but at a certain point it became easier and simpler to drive with the dogs. I like to avoid driving if I can now .  Where I live now I tend to ride the trails close to home to avoid parking issues and other people too. But avoiding other folks is another article.

I feel a little sorry for you tall riders. I think more manufacturers need to make larger bikes with longer rear centres. Steeper seat angles isn’t necessarily the answer in my mind. But mountain bike fit is not like a road bike. We need fit for pedaling ergonomics and fit for handling. And complicating things further is the the different fit for descending and climbing. Trying to design a bike for all these things is an exercise in compromise. But I do think making all sizes of bikes with the identical rear end is done to keep costs down. Not only is it cheaper to make one size it’s easier for the suspension designer too as the kinematic remain the same. Cannondale has taken a good step with their latest creation but I don’t think they went far enough. Norco is one of the few that do make longer rear ends for larger bikes. Have you tested any of those Cam?

I’m running the Wild Enduro 2.4 650 Gum-X on my hardtail. Fantastic tires. Wear has been very good too. Still plenty of life after an entire summer. A few knobs have torn a bit on the rear one. They measure just under 2.4 at the casing on a 30mm internal width rim.

I checked the sizing recently. Not even close. I need a 31 waist and 29 inseam.

I found that sweat helps the pads stay put. Now that it’s colder out I have to ride 10 to 15 minutes with loose pads sliding around until my sweat makes it stick.

Maybe you take your vehicle next time and don’t allow the others to pay for gas. Say I’m going anyway and you guys are companions. Set the example. If they offer to buy the scotch that’s cool though unless they buy rot get cheap ass scotch. That is unforgivable.

The last night ride I remember was up the Microwave climb at Whistler and down Tunnel Vision when they were completing the fire smart thinning. Trees were cut out and burned in numerous piles. It was surreal to ride in light sporadic smoke and glowing heaps of bonfires all around. Solo. I don’t even think I had the dogs with me. Getting antsy to night ride again.

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.

Posted by: Endur-Bro

Posted by: Xorrox

@Endur-Bro: All joking aside, Greg Minnaar's Assegai tire probably would have awesome traction but given the size, weight and super soft rubber, I think I'd need to get an ebike to ride uphill with these ;)  Aaron Gwin's Onza Aquila is another similar option that would be interesting to try if it wasn't so heavy.

I'm currently sucking the Michelin tittie. But if I was searching for Maxxis tyres, especially a front for aggro applications it would be at the top of my list.  I have a 2.4 Wild Enduro Magic-X 29 to pick up soon and swap the Rock'R2 out back (pealing the 2.3 DHRII 3C TR blah blah blah blah off) and a Wild Enduro rear to play with this winter.  Picked up Power All Season 25ccs for the road bike as well. 

Hard to deny the price of MM from zee Chermans though.

Yep em er good them Michelins. I have the 650 version and they are better I think than the DHF/DHR2 that I run on my other bike.

I had a similar response. I had estimated a time of arrival based on their website and after a week too long I sent an email. A second email and then this response. I’m probably going to order a second fender for my second soon. The big ones are really better than those small ones.

I have heard of carbon crank failure and had an XX1 fail. It was a small hairline crack near the end. It creaked. The crack was under a boot so not likely impact damage but it was warranted by SRAM but there were no cranks so I applied the credit toward a Next SL. No complaints with my experience other than the 30mm bsa BB were not very durable. I could not get a season out of one. I last went with a ROTOR bb and it was better but still not great.

I’m sure being a lightweight like myself means stiffness is really a non-issue for me.  35 mm was designed by Deda for road. I think Andre Greipel was the man they sponsored quite a while back with their 35 mm stuff. Greipel “the gorilla” was a good marketing animal being one of the top sprinters. I never notice differences in handlebar stiffness. Forks for me are all stiff enough. But I think it is interesting that some frame builders are now suggesting some compliance in a fame handles better. Is it Stanton or another British steel frame builder? NSMB did a test or interview recently.

None that I can tell. Is it because I weigh 142 pounds? I dunno. Maybe it’s like that new stem that is claimed to be 40% stiffer than the other guys stem. So 40% stigpffer than something with no flex to speak of equals who cares. I happened to need yet another 30 mm BSA BB and a chainring at the same time and rather than go the same route again with another $50 or so aluminum ring and another $50 or so BB I decided to simply retire the five year old cranks and purchase a new XT crank with its steel ring and $25 BB for just over $200. The XT is about 200 grams heavier on my scale than the Raceface but that isn’t that important to me. 

It just got me thinking about this whole stiffness metric that is a big selling point in bikes. Or boost. Yeah boost is stronger due to a better bracing angle but I have zero problems with non boost and can’t really tell that my new bike is boost. Faaa. Marketing.

Don’t you need rated work boots with steel toes? I hade a thinsulate lined work boot at one time that laced up high that weren’t sloppy at all, but I didn’t wear them in any real cold for any length of time. Something along these lines: https://www.marks.com/en/kodiak-mens-kodiak-blue-plus-8-aluminum-toe-composite-plate-waterproof-boots-101468.html#101468%5Bcolor%5D=DRKBRN&101468%5Bwidth%5D=REG

I think what bothers some people is the hard sell that is being delivered by some. Ya gadda try it. It’s the future of mountain biking. Yeah yeah. It’s not the bikes or the riders per se but the hard sell I dislike. But in places with access issues for regular bikes, ebikes are not going to help at all.

I just got a pair of the short lightweight Bridgedale waterproof socks. They are pretty thick so they are too much for my summer shoes but perfect in my flat pedal shoes that are a bit loose in thin cycling socks. They are excellent. I wore them the last two days and was pretty wet both days and my feet were dry. I will get a second pair I think.