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I gotta check either of those out, they seem fun. Maybe on one of my trips to the Front Range this summer...
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Jul 18, 2021 01:26
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Check out the rad af freeride section they put in at Northgate that I didn't ride any of because I know I'm bad and would have just hurt myself. Instead I spent the day chasing bears up trees.  If any of you are ever exiled to Manitoba but get to pick where you end up definitely choose Ridit Mountain, it's really awesome riding for the flatlands.  I gotta find more places with wood features and wall rides. The only one in this park is massive and vertical and even though logically I know I just need to commit and let momentum do its thing but when it's time to do or die my brain just goes NOOOOOOPE and I chicken out. They also installed a pretty long pump track right near the picnic area and I'm pretty sure it's the equivalent of the play place at McDonalds. "Ok lil mini ripper, go do laps while we chill out cook dinner and crack a beer. Yes dear we're watching. Yes we saw you gap those rollers you're right it was totally sweet."
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Jul 20, 2021 02:02
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Trip report from renting the Norco sight:. Norco says I'm an extra large, so okay, that's what I went with. I'm not entirely convinced but the guys at norco were pretty drat sure. The wheelbase is 130mm more than my current bike and man I felt it. Plus the 29ers with a much slacker head tube angle, it was so different I don't even know what to think of it or if I liked it or not. After the first lap I shifted into a lower gear to start pedalling back up but the chain broke, wrapped around the lower jockey wheel, bent the wheel and split the lower arm in half, right up the middle, then ripped the entire lower assembly off on my pedal stroke. Never seen that before. Good thing I got the rental insurance, but hopefully the value covers all of the new derailleur and chain. The rental shop didn't have another aluminum sight so I got the carbon. I did not notice one iota of difference. I'm pretty sure it was the same weight, give or take. Bike shop guys said it mostly affects rigidity of the frame, not weight, because they have to be so overbuilt to take the impacts they do. Anyway, I'm going to try renting or demoing other bikes - specifically Ibis Ripmo, Rocky Mountain Altitude, or Commencal Meta, something along those lines.
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Jul 20, 2021 02:12
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Anyone have any recommendations for a compact presta pump? I want to pick one up to keep in my hydration bag.
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Jul 20, 2021 04:04
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I have a shimano 11 speed hyperglide drivetrain (thanks pinarello), hard to find an 11 speed shimano chain these days which is crazy. Is a KMC 11 speed chain going to be just as good? What about SRAM?
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Jul 20, 2021 04:47
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rockcity posted:Anyone have any recommendations for a compact presta pump? I want to pick one up to keep in my hydration bag. I grabbed a Crankbrothers Gem for like $45 CAD. It comes with a mount designed to go under your bottle cage, works great and doesn’t take up any space in my bag. No gauge though if that matters to you.
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Jul 20, 2021 05:30
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rockcity posted:Anyone have any recommendations for a compact presta pump? I want to pick one up to keep in my hydration bag.
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Jul 20, 2021 12:04
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VelociBacon posted:I have a shimano 11 speed hyperglide drivetrain (thanks pinarello), hard to find an 11 speed shimano chain these days which is crazy. Is a KMC 11 speed chain going to be just as good? What about SRAM? I"ve run KMC chains on Shimano 11 speed before without any issue. This was on a gravel bike though.
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Jul 20, 2021 14:10
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rockcity posted:Anyone have any recommendations for a compact presta pump? I want to pick one up to keep in my hydration bag. I like the Lezyne Tech, fits in my pack and works great.
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Jul 20, 2021 17:05
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Seconding Lezyne - have a grip drive HV . It's 19 cm in length and contains a hose that you pull out and screw into both the pump and the presta valve Its also very light and isnt fixed directly to the wheel , so its easier to pump without wobbling the bike about and the connection is very secure - only real downside ive heard from an IRL friends saying they managed to unscrew the presta core when taking it off once(ive not experienced this).
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Jul 20, 2021 18:07
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Thanks, that Lezyne one looks like a good option. I like the small hose idea as I borrowed one without one on the trail the other day and ended up tweaking the presta core a bit using it. I feel like there’s less risk of that with a small hose.
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Jul 21, 2021 04:03
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stratdax posted:Trip report from renting the Norco sight:. Norco says I'm an extra large, so okay, that's what I went with. I'm not entirely convinced but the guys at norco were pretty drat sure. The wheelbase is 130mm more than my current bike and man I felt it. Plus the 29ers with a much slacker head tube angle, it was so different I don't even know what to think of it or if I liked it or not. I demoed a carbon sight and ended up getting the A1 as I felt like the better components was more valuable that the carbon I think there is a small weight penalty, the biggest thing I noticed with the carbon was it was noisier, not that it is a particularly quiet bike as I notice the internal cables rattle around.
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Jul 21, 2021 04:42
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 Getting an itch for a mid travel, FS bike. Shop around the corner has an SB130 in my size, on the floor. The build is a bit bougie for me, but it's gorgeous. Anyone have one of those?
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Jul 23, 2021 03:46
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same bike, same spot  130 looks like a great bike. A friend has one and seems to love it. If you’re looking at WRC or Elevation, they’re both excellent shops. Buy bike, ride fast, have fun.
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Jul 23, 2021 03:57
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Ha! Yeah. Not that you can use more than a Chameleon at Centennial. But stuff like White Ranch and Apex isn't super fun to me. Haven't really branched out and done much else in the area. A little sad that I've only ridden half a dozen places since I moved here. And it would be Elevation. Downtown shop is around the corner from my office and they've hooked me up a bunch in the past. I'm a big fan.
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Jul 23, 2021 04:22
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Just buy it
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Jul 23, 2021 05:15
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dema posted:
My mum has had one for a few years and likes it and has been trouble free I think.
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Jul 23, 2021 06:51
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Eejit posted:Just buy it
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Jul 23, 2021 11:21
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dema posted:Ha! Yeah. Not that you can use more than a Chameleon at Centennial. But stuff like White Ranch and Apex isn't super fun to me. Haven't really branched out and done much else in the area. A little sad that I've only ridden half a dozen places since I moved here. You’re me about 4 years ago. Pedaling a hard tail around the front range and soaking in the views, thinking maybe a full squish would be neat but golly I don’t wanna get too crazy or anything... Buy more travel than you think you need, get a shock pump, go to valmont and practice that progression of drops. There’s so much for you to see!
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Jul 23, 2021 18:41
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I was the same way. I waited way too long to get a bike that was as rowdy as I was getting.
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Jul 23, 2021 19:51
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I think 130-150mm rear travel is the sweet spot for Colorado riding. Maybe a bit more than you need for lots of Front Range stuff but enough for really anything you’ll find in the state (at least from what I’ve seen).
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Jul 23, 2021 20:50
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I'm dumb and did the Crusher again. Had the option for a point-to-point with the big group (~200 people) but did the loop version with just a single buddy instead. Prep was pretty similar to last year training wise but I was so busy I hardly thought about the event itself and felt underprepared going in, just slapping gear together the day before... because I spent the whole week prior on a boat doing fuckall and "tapering." Rough life.  Started around 7:30am, finished around 5pm the next day. The ride was objectively awesome with few mishaps, body felt as good as can be expected, was able to keep eating throughout, and only slept for 20 minutes this time. The subjective in-the-moment experience after hour 16 or so was fairly godawful pretty much all the way to the end. Sleep deprivation is seriously a bitch, especially after >100 miles on the bike, and it's unbelievable how much lovely sandy dirt road there is out there in the UP. 100% mental game at that point, but it helps that at most points your only option to bail is going to take about as long as it would to just finish the drat ride. I guess the course was 'harder' this year, about 30miles less pavement but apparently a similar amount of climbing. Many fewer opportunities to get potable water, but eventually ran into another group who had a sag wagon and were gifted some water and pickles. We had food and water and a change of kit stashed at mile 135, which we reached around 1am. My buddy had a fire going and it was torture to not fall asleep in front of it and get back on the bike instead. Only the best UP gravel.  Mandatory water crossing on the lake superior shoreline, along with a couple of ladies who happened to be on course at the same time as us. Always nice to meet some people out there, especially when they brought support.  Pretty sure i'm still winning the awards for 'jankiest homebrew bag setup' and 'most paracord.' Commercial bags are expensive as poo poo though.  Bike held up great until about 8 miles from the finish, when my fork damper straight up exploded internally. I rode out the last bit, including 2 miles of rocky advanced/expert singletrack, with about 2 inches of travel before hard-bottoming-out my busted damper. Not a chance I was going to take a DNF for a mechanical at that point though. RIP.  10/10 already forgot how much it sucked, will probably do it again
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Jul 23, 2021 20:58
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True maniac poo poo. Goddamn. Nice work.
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Jul 23, 2021 22:11
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Bud Manstrong posted:True maniac poo poo.
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Jul 23, 2021 22:35
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Sprime: you are loving insane! Great job!
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Jul 24, 2021 01:21
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Spime Wrangler posted:Bike held up great until about 8 miles from the finish, when my fork damper straight up exploded internally. I rode out the last bit, including 2 miles of rocky advanced/expert singletrack, with about 2 inches of travel before hard-bottoming-out my busted damper. Not a chance I was going to take a DNF for a mechanical at that point though. RIP. A lockout would no longer work with the damper's seals that destroyed, right? Is there a safe (on your frame, etc) field solution for locking out or limiting that damper? Not asking necessarily in a race setting, just if you wanted to get home and had an hour to burn using an inner tube to lash sticks around the damper or something.
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Jul 24, 2021 03:01
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Brake question incoming. Guides vs Levels I had level T brakes, got a free pair of guide Ts. Mounted them up with new metallic pads and new 200/180 rotors. The guides feel different though, like theres quite a bit more free stroke before they grab. They do have sufficient power, levers feel okay. The guides are pretty new, like half a season, and i bled the rear after install and didnt bleed the front. They feel about the same (front vs back). So the levels grab almost right away and are much easier to lock up. Is this just how guides feel? like the xc brake is twitchier and the trail brakes let you modulate more? Or does my bleed suck? Or are the higher price Guide levers worth it and the base model guide T's just arnt that good?
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Jul 25, 2021 18:17
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I really disliked the guide R brakes that came on my hei hei. Two bleeds and fresh pads and they were still weak. Initial bite was garbage and I had to pull them really hard to get slowed down from higher speeds. Swapped the levers to the RSC version and they're way better. Less free stroke, better initial bite, more power overall. Just from having that little "swing link" deal in there and contact adjust.
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Jul 25, 2021 18:56
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jamal posted:I really disliked the guide R brakes that came on my hei hei. Two bleeds and fresh pads and they were still weak. Initial bite was garbage and I had to pull them really hard to get slowed down from higher speeds. Swapped the levers to the RSC version and they're way better. Less free stroke, better initial bite, more power overall. Just from having that little "swing link" deal in there and contact adjust. The Guide Rs on my bike feel like garbage as well, hard to lock the rear wheel even if I want to. I’ll try that as well, good tip.
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Jul 25, 2021 19:28
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Even the guide RSCs felt really weak to me, went to saints and haven't looked back.
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Jul 25, 2021 19:37
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Yeah does depend on you and your bike and tires and riding as well. I'm pretty light and on an xc bike with xc tires so the guides are plenty and I wouldn't actually want a more powerful brake. For a trail/enduro type bike, doing shuttles and bike parks, heavier guy, etc, the codes or saints or something are better.
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Jul 25, 2021 20:13
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Did the first brakes come with organic pads - that might account for the lack of the initial bite. Thats typically metallic pads dont have that inital strong bite, but fair better in wet conditions and when they get hot(they also howl). If the brakes feel equal in bite front and rear then you probably have a good bleed. One thing ive seen mentioned is that you shouldnt mix pads - eg use organic then switch to metallic - not sure how important that is and i have no direct experience in how good or bad this is. I assume cleaning the disks + pads with brake cleaner and then bedding in again would remove this out of the equation. I would maybe check the pistons are moving equally - remove the pads and push the pistons fully back in - then move them out very carfully(dont over extend them). If you notice one moves more than than the other - You might try getting some dot fluid and working the pistons in and out cleaning and dabbing the pistons with the fluid as you work them out and push them back in(if one is sticking more than the other - then hold one side in and work the stuck side). Once both sides move equally give the piston a good clean before putting the pads back in.
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Jul 25, 2021 20:38
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I suppose it’s worth mentioning I’ve only noticed this in a bike park so far. The bike is a kona process 134, I took it DHing for the first time this weekend and probably it was just too much down for the brakes. Would Saints be too much brake for just trail riding? It sounds like Codes may be a better all around brake if I’m upgrading. I’ll try a bleed first at least but even on the first run of the day today I was able to pull the rear all the way to the bars without it locking up which is pretty bad. Front felt like I wasn’t lacking too badly. Edit: stock pads, not sure what they’d be honestly. I’m pretty new at this. WHERE MY HAT IS AT fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 25, 2021 23:58
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Friends don't let friends ride SRAM brakes
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Jul 26, 2021 00:03
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WHERE MY HAT IS AT posted:I suppose it’s worth mentioning I’ve only noticed this in a bike park so far. The bike is a kona process 134, I took it DHing for the first time this weekend and probably it was just too much down for the brakes. Would Saints be too much brake for just trail riding? It sounds like Codes may be a better all around brake if I’m upgrading. The stronger the brake the less force required on the lever and generally this translates into better ability to finely control your hands on the bars for steering inputs. Also, less sore hands. The zee brakes are basically the same as saints but I'd try out a bike with them on and see what you think.
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Jul 26, 2021 00:09
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Nohearum posted:Friends don't let friends ride SRAM brakes I like my XTs OK on the MTB, I have TRP Slate T4's on the cargo bike and I like the reliability but the power isn't great TBH. Wife's cargo bike has Magura mt5's and I like the power a LOT but goddamn were they a pain to align *juuuuust* right (this isn't so much magura's doing TBH) and they eat through pads. I'd like to try quadiems and saints. VelociBacon posted:The stronger the brake the less force required on the lever and generally this translates into better ability to finely control your hands on the bars for steering inputs. Also, less sore hands. The zee brakes are basically the same as saints but I'd try out a bike with them on and see what you think.
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Jul 26, 2021 00:20
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I don't think you can really have too much brake on a trail bike. Running Hayes Dominion A4s on mine.WHERE MY HAT IS AT posted:...I was able to pull the rear all the way to the bars without it locking up... I don't think Guides are amazing but this really sounds like you didn't get it bled properly.
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Jul 26, 2021 00:34
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I've got magura mt5s on my bike and I love them. Tons of power and easy to modulate. They sell a version with one finger levers now vs having to add those after the fact which is very much worth getting vs the standard two finger levers.
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Jul 26, 2021 00:46
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I don't remember what xt were like but I have Zee's and they are fine boat anchors. I'll always take the weight penalty to use DH brakes. The power and fade resistance are too good. As Pinarello said I don't think you can really ever have too much brake. My next build I plan on trying the Dominion A4s.
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Jul 26, 2021 01:12
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| # ? May 28, 2024 03:44 |
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My code rsc brakes are good. Ive also really liked the pair of trp quadiums I have too. Most bikes ship with organic pads IME because they are quieter.
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Jul 26, 2021 01:14
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