andy-eunson profile

That’s gotta hurt when you peel the tape off. Do you do it fast to get it done or slow so as not to pull out all the hairs?

I rarely wear elbow pads because getting a good fit has been hard. Every pair I have slip down while riding. Until I tried some G Form (Force?) they don’t move at all. I don’t know how they stack up in terms of protection against other pads though. But when I remember I do wear these. I should get into the habit more.

I have a pair of highly water resistant and wind proof XC ski pants made by Dhalie. In Nordic skiing even if it’s wet out, either 1 degree snow or light rain, proper waterproof is just too hot. Riding would be the same.  What you want when it’s wet out is a hybrid of sorts. Waterproof butt for rear wheel spray and water resistant elsewhere. For my build I have rarely found pants that aren’t too long. I check out all the riding pants and all have leg lengths for giraffes.

I think they are all top pull bottom swing.

True but who the fuck needs a Maillard Helicomatic tool. Or an Atom freewheel remover, or Suntour, Dura Ace, Regina those weird Shimano ones that required that you pull the axle out first. Not me. I even gave away my Campagnolo square tapered crank tool. Thing of beauty but useless to me.

I have old things that just need to go really. A small bin of front derailleurs. Some are direct mount two speed XTR that I really will never need again. A bunch of nice rigid seat posts including a carbon PRO. Don’t want to lose those yet. Rear derailleurs missing parts and and hunks that aren’t removable except by a rock. Retired handlebars. A box of grips that suck. Seats that are painful. Retired stems almost as long as my spare seat posts. A few pairs of barely used cantis from when I was racing cross and was looking for brakes that kind of worked. Mini v’s and Avid sd something v brakes. 

I really should have a yard sale and sell bits for a dollar or two. I’d probably make enough for a small pizza and glass of water. Beer is pricy in Whistler. 

I gave away six or seven freewheel removers last year to a fellow on a vintage bike site. I hadn’t used them since I was a mechanic at Bike Cellar in the 80s. He was ecstatic. 

There really aren’t many parts that I move from bike to bike. I run stuff until it fails or I retire them due to age. I have a hard time disposing of parts that are good but obsolete. Or that one bb cup that’s still good.

Sometimes I think the solution is to embrace the ride around and build it well. There are lots of trails that are labeled black for one single feature while the rest of the trail is blue. As a former insurance adjuster of sports claims, I think some features should have a well marked easier route. It’s a perfect defence to a claim where some person got hurt on the hard part. If the builder truly wants to stop the braiding you have to make it really hard to do. Boulders and large logs. Other trails are so obviously black from the get go that they shouldn’t get ride arounds. There’s a new trail near my house that’s not on any maps that has no ride arounds. It’s insane. Very large rock features maybe 50 60 metres high. The ride arounds would be double black. That trail though is an example of something so obviously pro line that no one with limited skill would ride very far before turning back. Except me because I didn’t know how insane it was.

I think sometimes people don’t understand that trails evolve over time. I rode Severed Dick in 87 when it was pretty much a so called loamer. Things changed. Many of the older trails on the Shore people only knew as janky rough eroded messes. When those trails were maintained a put back closer to what they had been people complained. I get that. It seemed like things were dumbed down but you have to remember that our bikes got a lot better during that time too. So the “dumbing down” seemed unnecessary. I’ve torn out stuff myself on a trail I had established. Builders had constructed an entrance that directed water to flow down the trail. But they wanted a jump rather than a slight uphill turn. 

Stealing or hiding signs is just criminal though. We had a spate of that several years ago too if I remember right. Visitors wanting souvenirs? Locals wanting things to be secret? Lately here in Whistler I’ve been blocking braids. A certain trail not on any maps yet gets cut into at the halfway point because the pussies don’t want to climb the hard way. That’s massively disrespectful to the builder in my opinion considering how much work he put into the climbing part of the trail. And this trail is so well built it can be ridden when wet as there are virtually no puddles let alone mud holes. 

I many instances I think riders are simply ignorant of the issues involved in building and maintaining trails. They don’t remove obstacles to make things easier out of any malice. Or they braid trails thinking  It’s a better line. There’s no shame in walking something over your head. There is shame in creating a braid.

Oh yes. Tuck and roll geometry. Better than xc bikes of the day though.

Yeah same knob pattern. I just replaced an Assegai with a 2.6 SE5. Very noticeably faster rolling tire. I think in 27.5 the Gravity (G) is only a 2.35 and 2.5.

I was informed by my LBS that Maxxis make the high end Bontrager tires.

It’s about seated balance. It can be subtle but it’s there. Stand in front of a table a few feet back and lean on the edge with your hands out butt over your feet. You are leaning with weight on your hands.  You’ll fall forward if you try and take your hands off the table unless you move your butt back.

As seat angles get steeper I think it is to obtain a longer reach but keep the top tube lengths about the same. But as you noticed doing that can cause you to have more pressure on the bars. To alleviate that you can raise the bar height but that results in a more upright position which isn’t as efficient for pedalling. Or you can move your cleats as far back as you can or feet back on flats. Or move the seat back. You see some unusual saddle angles on steep bikes like Pole. I think that may be because the rider is leaning so hard on the bars that they are sliding back on the saddle so an extreme nose down helps. I’d have numb hands and sore shoulders i I did that. The so called efficiency of a steep seat angle on full suspension is partly to take into account more rear sag and even more rear sag when pointed uphill but at least part of the solution for taller riders is longer chainstays. Steep seat tube angles on a hardtail is just fucking stupid.

When I say washer dryer, I mean it’s some somewhat fleshy woman from Upper Slobovia who’s dunks me in Lynn Creek , lathers me up with some caustic “soap” then grabs me by the ankles and beats the stink and dirt out of me on a large boulder in said creek then lays me out to dry in the sun. Which in October means I’m there until May.

Posted by: T-mack

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: T-mack

Put in the sink with hot water and some borax with laundry sauce. Let it sit for an hour.

Yup. I don't take the liner out of the helmet to clean it either.

I actually wear my helmet with the liner installed in the sink, so beat that

Right! I put mine in the laundry and dryer. Makes a hell of a racket in the dryer and I get a little scuffed up in the spin cycle , but me and my helmet are minty fresh after.

https://www.traxfactory.com/shop

These work pretty well. They’ll absorb better than anything else I’ve tried and are machine washable and dried. Carry a spare in your pack or pocket for the descents.

Never considered warranty. Can’t hurt to ask.

I posted this in the old fashioned tire thread but I’ve not had any comments. 

So I was about to put the Assegais back on my hardtail last night and in preparation I was wiping the dried sealant off the beads with a rag. I discovered that the Kevlar strands in the bead were not adhered to the inside of the bead. I could sort of bunch up the tire as I wiped the bead. That can’t be right can it? Maybe that’s why the tires were wobbly?

Posted by: Brocklanders

Posted by: TonyJ

Posted by: Brocklanders

"The shop should eat the cost, IMO. The supplier won't warranty it and that's understandable."

I 100% disagree with this. The shop is at no fault and if they did the replacement of the parts without charging labor, they have done enough.

It's like blowing a relatively new car tire, then running your car into a wall. Do you go after the car manufacturer, NO, do you go after the dealer, NO. Neither were at fault for the manufacturing defect in the tire, so how are they responsible for anything.

Grambo, I'm interested to see the damage, post up the pictures of that.

The shop sold the bike, who's fault it is should be between the supplier and the shop. They sold the faulty equipment and now are brushing it off. I know how it all works but now they have a pissed off customer who who could very easily just say the name of the shop and that will damage their reputation. Not good business practice really. 

I had a binding pull out of a new pair of skis some years ago. The ski shop gave me a brand new pair right away. Who's fault was it? The ski manufacturer or the tech who mounted them?  Didn't matter, they replaced the skis no questions asked. Where do I buy my skis from, where am I getting new boots this season? That shop. They take care of their  customers, it's good business practice. In the end they win even if they lose a little here and there.

Now Grambo probably will never set foot in there again....Their loss. They could have replaced the frame at cost, repaired it, sold it as a cosmetic repair/demo. Lost very little, and kept a customer.

Exactly.

Posted by: nouseforaname

Posted by: andy-eunson

It’s not analogous to a car tire. Way back when Bridgestone tires were falling apart on Fords, it was Ford that dealt with the replacement. You follow the supply chain. If a person bought a bike from a shop, the shop has to deal with it. The shop can go after the manufacturer and the manufacturer goes after their supplier of parts. Sale of Goods act. Look at it this way, if the chainring failure cause a serious injury, any lawsuit would include the shop, the bicycle manufacturer and the parts manufacturer as they would all have some culpability.

I think Tony's point is that the tire failing causing you to go into a wall doesn't mean that the damage from the wall is warranty damage. Warranty policies are written specifically to exclude this kind of liability.

Like I said, it'll suck for the shop, but they should be doing better. In store credit, labour credit, discount off next new bike, leverage relation ship with brand for a solution. There are creative ways that are less destructive to margin to find a solution that keeps the customer happy.

These days, the destruction to a brand image that can be done with honest instagram accounts of issues is immense. Even without hyperbole.

Anyone old enough to remember the "Caps wouldn't lend me a chainbreaker" thread"? I knew customers who would bring it up 5 years after the fact.

Ah. That makes sense. But the bike was bought from a shop and that shop should do more. Way more.

So I was about to put the Assegais back on my hardtail last night and in preparation I was wiping the dried sealant off the beads with a rag. I discovered that the Kevlar strands in the bead were not adhered to the inside of the bead. I could sort of bunch up the tire as I wiped the bead. That can’t be right can it? Maybe that’s why the tires were wobbly?