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Ask at a local shop or trail management group imo, different trails can be ridden in different conditions. Generally for softer dirt if you're leaving a noticable tire track/shallow rut it's too soft as it'll dry hard and lumpy, but you might be able to ride it if it's frozen hard but not wet. Some stuff has a hard substrate and drains well and can be ridden in full wet sloppy conditions, really depends on what kind of surface it is and the local etiquette.
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Feb 10, 2024 15:41
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I’ll just take a peek at the trails today and see if folks are keeping two tires to the path.
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Feb 10, 2024 15:41
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Edit: beat, never mind
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Feb 10, 2024 16:16
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I put ten toes to the path and it’s basically unridable atm. There is still a thick snow. Sad!
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Feb 10, 2024 18:39
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Well I went to a different smaller somehow park and the snow was somehow not as pad and the ground was pretty packed frozen. Went back home and started to get the ripmo ready to ride. Basically just needed air in the tires. Checked the shock and was right as rain. But what an ordeal the process of getting out to ride was. Get the helmet, put on the pads, put on the POC MTB pants, put on gloves, put keys in backpack, lose the keys get to the car, take off the gloves to have the dexterity to operate the bike rack, move the bike there, get to the spot, take off the bike, put on gloves, put on helmet, remove gloves to have dexterity for the stupid D ring. Mama Mia. Start of season stutters much? But once on the trail the ripmo rode right as rain. Prob had a ridge too much pressure (30 psi a bit much) but it ate up the trails and is absolutely huge. Had been riding my commuter and forgot what an absolute monster this little number could be.
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Feb 10, 2024 21:52
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Scrapez posted:Doing a bit of an experiment with my Mega 290 enduro bike. I mainly ride gravity jump lines but there are some really cool XCish singletrack trails that I'd also like to ride. I really don't want to buy a dedicated XC bike for that so I found a set of Stans wheels on marketplace that are 26mm internal width, added an SLX cassette and rotors and threw on some Continental Race King 29x2.2 XC tires.  My goodness the bike is scary fast with the XC tires. Having to use brakes in places I never have to keep from overjumping jumps. Crushed PR by over 6 seconds without even trying on a dual slalom trail I've ridden hundreds of times. Uphill sections are so much easier as well. Really liking these tires for hardpack jump lines and dry conditions.
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Feb 11, 2024 05:26
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devmd01 posted:Appreciate all the discussion around what would be suitable for adventure racing, my daughter and I are planning to do a sprint length event spring of ‘25. I don’t have anything suitable for trails and she has a wal-mart special so picking up two bikes is on the list for this year. The 4 or 6 hour races with D.I.N.O. are a good way to get started with adventure racing. I did the Mission 4hr and I think a CIA 4 hr as well before I did a longer one. Your bike doesn't need to be anything too fancy for those, but it would be good to have something from a reputable bike company so you don't end up hating the experience. Maybe I should start a thread for Orienteering (I do a lot of that) and Adventure Racing? I thought about it before but wasn't sure if anyone would be interested. devmd01 posted:Definitely going to have to check out Griffin park, it’s an hour and a half away. Same with brown county state park, I’ve done plenty of hiking/camping/trail running there but never mountain biked. It was pretty cool and had quite a bit to explore for all skill levels. I'm in Louisville and I've seen people talk about O'Bannon Woods State Park a lot and really want to give it a try sometime. I have been to Brown County but haven't ridden any trials there, but I'd like to get over there again. BossTweed fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Feb 11, 2024 |
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Feb 11, 2024 07:04
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Brown county is pretty good. Definitely recommend checking it out.
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Feb 11, 2024 15:56
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Scrapez posted:
i feel like this is kinda the logical result of ever bigger and fatter wheels and tires. eventually everything is so chonk that riding non-XBOX tires feels like effortless flying
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Feb 23, 2024 11:03
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Cactus Ghost posted:i feel like this is kinda the logical result of ever bigger and fatter wheels and tires. eventually everything is so chonk that riding non-XBOX tires feels like effortless flying The original tyres are probably 2.5F/2.4R, which is a totally normal width. Original casing (DD), compound (MaxxGrip/MaxTerra?), and tread (Assegai/DHR2) are all super slow rolling though.
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Feb 23, 2024 17:00
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For a gripper combo without going that far I’ve really been enjoying DHF/New Forekaster.
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Feb 26, 2024 04:11
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My bike was feeling sluggish with a dhr2 in the back and I recently swapped it for a v1 Forekaster. It's definitely faster up and down but keeps things exciting and slips a bit. I spend most of the time climbing so it's worth it.
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Feb 26, 2024 05:37
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Costco just dropped the price on the Intense 951 XC to $1800.
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Feb 27, 2024 02:13
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in a well actually posted:Costco just dropped the price on the Intense 951 XC to $1800. The trail carbon (with fox suspension) is $1999 as well!
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Feb 27, 2024 03:11
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I think I've fallen into a snob fallacy, but I can't find myself getting hyped up about a $2k carbon MTB with NX. Felt myself going down a rabbit hole of groupset upgrade costs and had to rein myself in.
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Feb 27, 2024 05:13
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kimbo305 posted:I think I've fallen into a snob fallacy, but I can't find myself getting hyped up about a $2k carbon MTB with NX. Felt myself going down a rabbit hole of groupset upgrade costs and had to rein myself in. I'm with you, though. I feel like that bike should be GX across the board even if it increases the price a couple hundred. I ended up finding a Nukeproof Scout 290 Elite on marketplace and picking it up. Basically brand new as the owner is a YouTuber and only used it in a hardtail comparison video. SLX spec bike. I really like it. I got a set of Stans wheels used that are 25mm internal width and put 2.25" Continental Race Kings on them. Added an SLX cassette and 203mm rotor and put them on the Scout. It's not light at 29 pounds but does surprisingly good on XC style trails. My plan is to use it for XC/gravel/training and have the ability to swap back on the DT Swiss wheelset with Knobby Nic/Magic Mary for gnarlier trail riding. Also added an Absolute Black 32t oval chainring to get more top end on the Scout for gravel type riding. Meanwhile, I've put the DT Swiss wheelset on my Mega as the Assagai/DHR II combo was so slow. I have the ability to switch the Nukeproof wheels back onto that for actual enduro riding. TL;DR: Bought a Nukeproof Scout for XCish/gravel riding and another wheelset to allow swaps on bikes for different riding.  
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Feb 28, 2024 07:08
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kimbo305 posted:I think I've fallen into a snob fallacy, but I can't find myself getting hyped up about a $2k carbon MTB with NX. Felt myself going down a rabbit hole of groupset upgrade costs and had to rein myself in. i mean nx is pretty blah, but on the other hand drivetrain is by far the least important system of a mountain bike. As long as its good enough, upgrade dollars make a wayyy bigger difference spent any other way. Suspension, brakes, wheels, especially tires, literally every part of a mtb is more important than the drivetrain, as long as the drivetrain is like deore level. And not to mention that drivetrain is essentially a consumable to some extent.
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Feb 28, 2024 18:59
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I'm happy with NX mostly because replacements for stuff I break are extremely cheap vs a nicer groupset I'd worry more about banging up. Needed a new casette and it was a whole $90
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Feb 28, 2024 19:14
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Some bits are worth upgrading, like cassettes for weight savings or chains for longevity. Not looking it up because  but a higher end cassette can have substantial weight savings, and iirc a X01 chain lasts much longer than a GX/NX chain.NX shifters work well enough and are the lightest of the bunch. Cranks? Who cares HAIL eSATA-n fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Feb 28, 2024 |
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Feb 28, 2024 19:38
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I have used alloy and carbon wheels and think drivetrain is more important than which wheel material you're using.
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Feb 28, 2024 20:44
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Mid tier drive train components are much closer to top end than mid wheels are to top wheels (of either material). If I had to pick, I'd get better wheels with a lower tier drive train than vice versa. On the low end it's the opposite though. If I had to go bottom tier of one it'd be wheels with slightly better drive train.
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Feb 28, 2024 20:54
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costco probably sells bikes mostly targeted at "clueless rich person present-shopping for grandkid" and "clueless rich person making impulse buy" more than "current value-minded mtb enthusiast". the cheapest thing that doesn't suck is probably all they care about
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Feb 28, 2024 23:26
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Bottom Liner posted:Mid tier drive train components are much closer to top end than mid wheels are to top wheels (of either material). If I had to pick, I'd get better wheels with a lower tier drive train than vice versa. Out of curiosity, when you compare wheel quality are you looking more at the hubs specced or the rim itself? I do really appreciate quality hubs that are easy to maintain with decent to good engagement for MTB. 350s have been the sweet spot for me and I have had 4 sets of Reserve rims that have all been pretty great too. Comfortable and have been durable. I do think if you go carbon wheels, make sure you’re ok with the warranty if you’re worried about them breaking. In drivetrains, I think GX and SLX are the sweet spots respectively. Good balance between cost, weight, and most of the higher end feel. Best groupset I’ve probably ever used, albeit briefly, was mechanical XTR. It felt so good sad It’s so expensive.
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Feb 29, 2024 03:22
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3/4 bikes in the house are running on GX derailleurs and as soon as the spouse kills the NX on her fancy new e-bike (and she will, trust me) that one's getting a GX upgrade as well. I did my level best to kill the one on my Spark over five years and only just replaced it this year because I got tired of constantly fiddling with the fine adjustments to keep it in tune. It had multiple scars on it from rock strikes and outlasted two derailleur hangars. I probably should have asked for the carcass to mount on my wall, but alas, did not think of that in time before it went into the scrapper's bin. My primary bike was down for the weekend so I rode my backup (2020 Scott Scale 970) on Saturday and Sunday and came back with the following notes: - I mis-set the seat post height when I installed a dropper post (since fixed) - I really need to adjust the fork pressure and rebound (also fixed) - I really miss the DT Swiss 350 54t hub on my primary bike - resin pads and wet conditions are bad combination We ran into some pretty awful trail conditions on Sunday afternoon that had my bike trying to skid sideways while the front tire washed out and the wet brakes were just kinda along for the ride so that was fun. I wasn't the only one experiencing what we'll call 'limited control', but no one crashed and we all made it back to the trailhead in one piece so no harm no foul, just a few more gray hairs amongst us. And now I'm in discussions with the local bike shop regarding either upgrading the existing wheel with a 350 or 370 hub or getting an entire wheel + hub combo from a supplier, whichever makes more sense. I'm telling myself that this is all in the name of providing quality education to the team riders that you can have a very fast, fun and capable hardtail. Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Arishtat fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Feb 29, 2024 |
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Feb 29, 2024 04:45
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12sp NX is the only shifter I've legitimately broken JRA, rather than through crashing.
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Feb 29, 2024 04:48
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I should be losing derailleurs/hangers from carelessness around branches, both riding through them and hoisting the bike over deadfall. Haven’t yet, though. knock on wood Yesterday I had a twig get caught in the derrailleur cage and rub against the spokes. Happened while coasting at low speed though.
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Feb 29, 2024 05:02
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I have seen that you can swap in the xx1 b-bolt kit on the nx and it improves quite a bit. That said, at my skill level and intensity, nx is fine.
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Feb 29, 2024 05:14
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in a well actually posted:I have seen that you can swap in the xx1 b-bolt kit on the nx and it improves quite a bit. That said, at my skill level and intensity, nx is fine. I did this swap and it tightens things up a lot. Really nice mod. I wanted the gold bolt but they were never in stock when I was wanting to do the thing 
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Feb 29, 2024 05:27
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Went out last night in absolutely soaking and muddy conditions and it was hilarious fun. Wearing a waterproof onesie and waterproof socks makes the wet 1000% more manageable!
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Feb 29, 2024 09:51
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Folks say the Costco intended are like 2010 geometry. Any truth to this?
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Feb 29, 2024 12:53
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Maudib Arakkis posted:Folks say the Costco intended are like 2010 geometry. Any truth to this? 66 degree HTA is pretty modern for XC/trail. A 73 degree seat tube is kinda slack though.
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Feb 29, 2024 15:46
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Maudib Arakkis posted:Folks say the Costco intended are like 2010 geometry. Any truth to this? Not at all.
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Mar 1, 2024 05:54
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 I put a 32t oval chainring on my hardtail to get a bit more top speed to hopefully help with gravel riding. I rode some singletrack today and I did feel like climbing was improved with the oval. Perhaps just placebo effect but seemed to be easier to get quick bursts for uphill tech features.
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Mar 1, 2024 07:13
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Scrapez posted:Not at all. Yeah; the XC'a dimensions are not too far off from a friend's Santa Cruz Tallboy, afaik.
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Mar 1, 2024 21:36
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Probably a really dumb question (sorry) but how do you pedal with the seat post slammed down like that? Asking because I’m just getting confident enough to go on trails that have steepish drops so I can’t get away with riding with the seat parallel to my handlebars anymore. Having the seat post down makes the drops feel much more secure/less stressful but my legs feel super cramped trying to pedal with the seat in that position.
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Mar 2, 2024 06:25
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Bouillon Rube posted:Probably a really dumb question (sorry) but how do you pedal with the seat post slammed down like that? https://www.pnwcomponents.com/blogs/news/what-is-a-dropper-post
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Mar 2, 2024 06:37
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Potentially a dumb answer, but you don’t pedal like that. You use a dropper seatpost. Hit a lever on the handlebars and the saddle sinks for descents or dismounts. Stand on the pedals and hit the lever and it rises back to prime pedalling height.
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Mar 2, 2024 06:40
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You don't have to have a dropper, either, it just makes it much more convenient. Back in the old days, we would use quick-release seat clamps and take a quick break at the top of the hill and drop the seat before big descents. And then stop and put it back up at the bottom.
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Mar 2, 2024 07:10
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They're so good that they're essentially ubiquitous at this point. I would not own any kind of mtb without one
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Mar 2, 2024 18:50
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Eejit posted:They're so good that they're essentially ubiquitous at this point. I would not own any kind of mtb without one DH bike?
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Mar 2, 2024 20:19
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