kavurider's posts

Posted by: Ned

+1 on that old Cove bike.  Had a couple Hummers from that period of time.  

Mic is onto the scent of blood in the water aka spring time. I dialed it down for a couple weeks after slamming pretty on the ice. Can sleep finally and got back on the old Colnago roadie and dirty drop bar bike for some high qual sunshine time over the past few days. I'll top it off with skipping school (work) a trail ride later this afternoon in the local trails... so lucky to have such a spread of ride options around here...

Few things better than skipping work to go ride!

Silk, can we get another photo of that bike?  Sweet Cove!

Posted by: JBV

the above indicates what i was saying which shoulda been summarized thusly:  most people have a hard time thinking beyond their immediate self interest. either we've lost it as a society or it was never really there much to begin with. not sure which it is.

But that's the thing, those people don't see that behavior as "wrong".  They think that is just how it is.  That is why when people keep saying "we need to educate more people on trail etiquette", it is not going to work.  The people who act like this feel their actions are justified, so you they will not listen.  

In regards to the "shredits", I hate them.  They are definitely influencing new riders and I am seeing a lot more skid marks, blow out corners and braids popping up.  Riders going way too fast and trying to look cool for their GoPro or the 'gram.  I love aggressive riding, but at 3pm on a Wednesday, when the trailhead overflow lot is full of hikers is not the time to go blasting down the trail.  

I feel like I have had to do some extra fence mending with the hikers/equestrians around here.

Posted by: Skeen

A few honest questions (not trying to bash) how much more torque can an average ebike put out? How much more likely are unskilled ebikers going to spin out and wash out steep tough climbs because they can just dump in bonus power instead of ride up with finesse? I am not worried about trail wear from more laps, just unchecked torque ripping up steep climbs. Any insights out there?

I don't have numbers, but mine had a Bosch CX motor and 4 power levels:  Eco, Trail, eBike and Turbo.  I usually kept it in Eco for 90% of my riding.  I sometimes would bump it to Trail for really steep stuff.  I rarely ever used eBike or Turbo modes because it put so much torque to the rear wheel I would just spin out constantly.  Aside from not being good for the trails, it also sucked for getting up ledges or going through switchbacks.  Too much power and it was either on or off.  With a pedal bike you can use steady, even torque to get through a tricky section.  

I also found it threw off my timing for doing pedal kicks up rocks and ledges.  There was always a slight delay when the motor would kick in.  

It was more of a handful on technical climbs (see National Trail on South Mountain, AZ on youtube for what I am referring to) than my pedal bikes.  

It was fun to ride, but in a very different way than my pedal bikes.

Posted by: Hepcat

"The impossible climb" (the downhill trail) is the very first thing e-bikers flock to around here. We've been swatting them off of that thing for months.

It sucks seeing the damage torquing up a steep trail that was designed to be ridden in the opposite direction can do. Especially when you know that you're the one who has to fix it.

Uphill passing at top speed is just irresistible I suppose? I've never been E passed any other way, anyhow. Like driving a new muscle car past a hooptie.

Not sure about what the speeding by young kids thing is about, but it's common apparently. Last weekend my wife ripped a class-2 rider a new one for doing high speed laps around the public park while our 9 year old daughter was riding her BMX around.

It seems the E-bike manufacturers would advertise for more responsible riding practices to avoid bad PR?

Had a couple guys drop in on eBikes behind me, fell way behind on the techy bits but they were right on me when it flattened out or went uphill even a bit.  And then blasted past me on a narrow uphill, full boost mode (upright, not working very hard).  

In the parking lot, totally chill and had no idea that was a dick move.  I think there are just a lot of people who think behavior like that is fine (driving, riding, whatever) and eBikes are just letting a lot of them get out on the trails.  Most of them aren't into pedal bikes.  

The guy I bought my Yeti from says he absolutely hates pedaling uphill and avoids it at all costs.  He isn't the first rider I have heard say that lately.  Weird.

Posted by: GreyHead

Posted by: kavurider

Is that a Cane Creek Inline Coil?  If so, how do you like it so far?

Hi kavurider, 

Thanks it's an amazing bike, hopefully a forever bike, it meets all my requirements for a dual suspension bike. climbs well, descends well. OKay its heavy.  No idea what it weighs - I don't want to know...  Yes, it has a cane creek inline coil.  A lot of discussion with Cotic before I decided (and they were cool about it, gave a great deal as a "lightly used" shock and from all appearances it was brand new) maybe because all my buddies seem to be going coil, but you know what, its surprised me.  I like it very much.  It just keeps that back wheel on the ground.  Example of where I find it quite amazing Climbing:  - Entrance to penny lane that rock armoured section that you ride up, m ex Process with a cane creek air shock used to bounce me around, this just stays glued to the ground - Entrance to Cardiac Bypass from the east, before it was cleaned up, the rooty climb, used to be a mission, with the coil, it was still a challenge but I'd get it a lot more than on the process.  Downhill, well, lets say I've not opened up and let this bike show me what it can do enough, but suddenly I'm looking a rock rolls and thinking, I can do that... Severed/Dales/Forever after/Neds are some of my favourite trails on Seymour, I've never ridden them quite as fast.  But slower, at least for me, technical trails on fromme, like Boundary and Lower Crippler are a lot of fun on this.   

My buddies say its going to need a lot less servicing than an air shock, we shall see.  So far I've no reasons to regret the decision.

I am definitely digging being back on a coil shock for sure.  Love that planted trophy truck feeling.  I also love climbing technical with it, so much traction.

Enjoy the Cotic!  And thanks for responding!

GreyHead and RideEverything, beautiful bikes!

Greyhead, is that a Cane Creek Inline Coil?  If so, how do you like it so far?

Posted by: xy9ine

you *can* put down a similar level of climbing exertion on an ebike, it just gets borderline irresponsible (albeit fun). borrowed one to do a seymour shuttle retrieval, bouncing off the speed limiter up old buck; first time i've ridden UP corkscrew, too. good times. seems most people i see climbing these things are barely breathing; probably a good thing, i guess. i think i'd be a dick if i had one.

Yup, this exactly.

I bought an eBike about 2 years ago.  It was a ridiculously good deal for a second bike, so I thought why not?  180mm F/R pretty aggressive "enduro-style" bike.  My thought was I could do some self-shuttling with it and ride it on recovery days after bigger pedal rides.  

I won't lie...it is SUPER fun to ride.  But...I rode it on my local trails and felt kind of weird about it.  I cleaned a few climbs that I hadn't before, but honestly, it felt kind of hollow.  I didn't really accomplish anything, the motor did it.  I also only ever used the lowest setting on the trail.  Anything higher and it had WAY too much torque.  There is a delay with the Bosch motor and it would take a second to kick in, so trying to do pedal kicks to get up ledges was awkward.  I did finally nail the timing, but it took some adapting.  And then, the weight.  Mine weighs close to 58 lbs.  While I could manhandle it and make it work, it was still a lot of bike (reminded me of my old Banshee Scream).  

I did start using it to ride to the trail, as I felt driving an eBike there was a bit weird. Kind of missing the point.  I didn't feel I lost any fitness riding it, it was still a workout (since I only used the low setting).  The more I rode it thought, it just felt...wrong.  To me anyways.  I didn't get that feeling of "yeah, I did that!" that I get from my non-motorized bikes.

Then, some of the trail networks and preserves around here started to ban them entirely.  I do not know what the actual enforcement is, but "No eBike" signs have started to pop up at the trailheads. These are legitimate ones, not the fake stickers some locals started putting up before.  Really, there is only one park where it is actually allowed, and I limited my riding to only that one place.  I didn't want to be "that guy".   Other riders would glare at you, same with hikers.  Anyone who says that hikers can't tell the difference is incorrect.  Many of them can and while they are annoyed by mountain bikers, they HATE eBikes.  

I was also starting to meet the eBike evangelicals.  The people who think they are the second coming, much like the whole 29er trend from a few years back.  They only ride eBikes, sing their praises constantly, and, from what I can tell, do not adhere to local rules regarding eBike usage.  They ride them everywhere, including areas I know are restricted.  It got weird.  

With all of that happening...my eBike has been gathering dust.  I haven't ridden it for a few weeks now.  Only pedal bikes and I have been working on doing bigger rides.  I bought my Yeti a few weeks ago as well and recently cleaned a climb on it that I had been working on for a long time.  That feeling of accomplishment was back!  I also knocked out a century on my roadie as well.  

This is a whole lot of rambling, but I will just say this:  I have nothing against the eBike itself.  They are really fun and I could see applicable uses for them.  However, much like the whole RAZR/UTV thing, too many irresponsible people are going to use and abuse them and probably ruin it for everyone else.  Is that fair? No, it's not. And to the people who are using them responsibly, hopefully, you don't get screwed. 

I'm going to sell mine, as I doubt I will use it anymore.  It just isn't for me.

Posted by: LoamtoHome

how long are parts going to be available...  I'd be in a short position on Trust.

That is why I bought two!  

(boy wsb really is everywhere now)

Posted by: Poz

That Trust. It’s divisive looking but I like it. You thinking of switching it out?

Haha, I hear that a lot out on the trails.  Freaks people out.  I like the Shout a lot, once I adapted to how it handled.  Tracks like nobody's business and it actually encourages you to monster truck through stuff.  I was lucky, I snagged 2 of them for half the price of a new one (one brand new, the other only used a handful of times) right when the company's fate was up in the air.  Of course now I have no idea if there will be any support.  I think a shop in UT still works on them, but I haven't checked.

Is it better than a normal fork?  I wouldn't say that, just different.  Rebound range is a bit limited, damper has a pretty aggressive tune stock.  I need to throw some tokens in and play with air pressure a bit more,  but its a little more involved than most forks.  

The biggest downside is if you do land rear wheel first off a drop/jump, the fork is trying to move back, but it can't, so it feels super harsh.  But the solution is don't land rear wheel first.

Posted by: stringaling

I have the 1up with a 4 bike tray, and it completely obscures the license plate on the two vehicles I use it on, much more then a NS Rack. I cant believe it wouldn't obscure the license plate on any other vehicle either.

Have also received a ticket for it in Vancouver. Was able to challenge the ticket after I started using the 1up license plate holder. 

Having owned and use both a 1up w/ 4 trays and an 4 bike NsRack - I much prefer the north shore rack.

The NSRack is:

* much more convenient if your frequently using it, it's just there. I don't have to fold it up and down, move the license plate.

* secures the bikes better

* has held up better over time. (The one up started to develop significant play causing bikes to wobble a lot)

* it's lighter

* believe it puts less strain on the receiver when fully loaded.

That being said - my NS Rack has developed that shitty rusty look, and not being able to properly carry road bikes is a pain in the ass.

I think a lot of my issues with the 1up is going to the 4 bike trays, I think it would have held up better if it were kept to two. The aluminum bolts that hold the extra trays, have also totally seized, and I've been unable to reduce it's size.

That makes sense, the 4 bike setup looks a bit unwieldy to me.  I have the HD version and I have only added one more tray. 

I could see the NS or the Recon rack being a better option if you are regularly carrying more than 2 bikes at a time.  I have never needed more than that and I often only carry one, so the 1Up is perfect for me.

I already posted mine previously, but what the heck. 

2020 Yeti SB165. Push ElevenSix. Trust Shout (not sure how long that will be on there).  It is laid up right now, swapping the brakes and dropper.  Do not like the Codes or the Fox Transfer post.  Going with Shimano and a PNW Rainier.  Just waiting for them to arrive. 

Been riding a Cannondale Claymore while I wait that I recently resurrected from the Buy/Sell, feels odd to ride 26" wheels again.  

Posted by: tungsten

They block the license plate. Why haven't you all been ticketed? I got a cheapo like

and was threatened w/a ticket and it wasn't even folded up?

Mine doesn't block my license plate folded up.  I guess it could with a bike on it, but it hasn't been an issue.  I do know a couple people who have been pulled over with Thule T2 racks for that reason.