RAHrider profile

Totally off topic, but what air gun is that on your compressor. I've looked at some of those on Amazon but am worried it will be crap. I need something that I can use without the valve core sometimes. Looks like that would fit the bill.

Interestingly, they are not my go to for road anymore....

Yup. Flannel, exactly.

who would have thought pearl izumi would be making flannel button down collared shirts? They made Lance Armstrong's US Postal Service race wear!

I wonder how many panels the flannel shirt is constructed from?

That was a really long article about two little dodads that clamp in a trainer - but i read it....Don't know if that says more about me or your writing.

In any case, you need rollers my friend. Way more enjoyable to ride than a trainer. Basic ones don't cost any more than what you got either. I picked up smart rollers and my fitness and pedalling efficiency have never had a better off season. just my 2 cents.

I can understand why a roadie may lust after the cockpit below, even though changing the stem height can involve having to cut housing, new cables and a brake bleed!

I do not think the mtb equivalent is nearly so elegant looking. I do think electronic shifting/dropper almost earns its keep for the cleaner cockpit, but at the end of the day batteries have no place on my bikes, so 4 cables it is for me. 

What do you all think of Internal routing on a steel hardtail? They used to just drill some holes in the frame and the mechanic would have to find some way to thread everything through. Nowadays there is a stainless steel tube inside the frame that only adds to the weight. Not sure it is a problem I want solved.

I don't think any of my bikes would qualify for min max, but they are 4-5 years old now and considered "out of date."  Instead of looking at new bikes I have taken to swapping parts around to create new "riding experiences." Mulleting one. Over forking another. Trying out different stem lengths. Trying different tires.

At this point I'm happy to ride them all until they break. I never liked the idea of leasing a car and I feel like a lot of people consider the bicycle purchases to be like a lease - they expect to turn it over before it loses it's perceived value or needs any significant labour. This is a philosophy I cannot get behind but many find it makes sense for them. I much prefer the thought you've put into bringing back a riding experience you liked so much and with a bike you have formed a real fondness.

Gravel is definitely worth it! Not as a replacement for mtb but as a different, equally enjoyable experience. They are surprisingly efficient and it's cool to be able to hop onto anything but technical single-track without giving it a thought. Mtb can be pretty adventurous but often it is actually a fairly prescribed experience as you follow along preset trails within a confined area. Gravel is the opposite. You go any and everywhere without limits. If there are two trail systems separated by 10km of rural highway, it would be painful to connect those two trail systems on mtb but that sounds like an ideal Gravel ride!

Great article. Just the right amount of quixotic grumpiness.

Don't forget the advent of the gravel bike by copying 1990-2000's mountain bikes!

I think all of my bikes would be called "shore country"? Whether a hardtail or full suspension, they all need to be capable enough to ride a north shore black but make me want to pedal it like an XC bike. I tried a process 134 and it felt sketchy on challenging chunky trails. Pedaled great, cornered great but when things got steep and gnarly, the bike turned out to be a noodle. You'd think I would keep it and take it on less technical rides but it turns out I can't get my head around riding a bike that I can't take in everything. So shore country bikes it is.

Great article. Not sure how long it took to come up with all those different classifications, but every one felt spot on describing a niche of the mtb market.

Posted by: Kenny

What do you use for spoke thread prep?

I use prolock nipples. They never loosen off!

I think I will try a little wax lube on the rim eyelets and see how that goes.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Quick question to any wheel builders out there. I've never had troubles with aluminum rims but when I build up carbon hoops I find it gets difficult to get the nipples up to tension due to friction between the nipple and the rim. 

Any suggestions? I thought about using some sort of lubricant between the nipple-rim interface but I don't want to use something that may degrade the carbon. 

Thanks for helping me with my nipples.

It's interesting that so many here are not going out because of the cost yet restaurants are still busy. 

My wide and I continue to try amd figure out what is the right balance for us. With the smaller portion sizes we end up ordering 5-6 dishes where we used to be able to go with 4-5. So out 80$ bull is now 120. Our tip goes from 15% of 80 to 20% of 120. 92$  vs %144. I can tell you my income has not gone up by 50%.

I think we are going to be baking and cooking a lot more this year.

As for people riding expensive bikes complaining about high food prices, I can tell you I've been riding expensive bikes since I started working in a bike shop at age 18 - not because I was loaded (I was actually broke) but because I love bikes. Still do.

Wondering what people's thoughts are on eating out. 

Just went to a Cafe and spent $6 on a small scene and 9$ for a tea and cappuccino. 15.50 total. Does everyone in the world think this is the "right" price. Nothing was that good, it was better then meh, but I wouldn't say it was really good. Oh, and they prompt for a 18-22% tip.

Restaurants are worse.....

Does anyone know how much they actually pay baristas and waiters? Because when I was a teacher my starting salary was just under 40k and that was with 5 years post secondary and getting a contract was hard. If you count all the hours I put in, I wouldn't be stretching the truth to say I was lucky to make $20 per hour.  How much do they pay a starting teacher these days?

When I go out and my restaurant bill is $100 and they want a 20% tip, I have a hard time justifying $20 worth of work. If a waiter has 5 tables and turns them over every 2 hours and if everyone did 20%, they would be making 50$/hr in tips alone. And many of our waiters f%%king suck. I agree with a living wage but I feel like everyone is making 40k working 20hrs per week. 

In short, I am learning to cook and bake.....

Interesting thoughts all around. 

As you all know, modern day geo puts a lot of weight forwards on the bars. I always thought this was possible due to longer and better suspension. When I built up this bike I was afraid to drop the stack given zero suspension. I am shocked at how much I enjoy the lower bar despite the rigid fork.

The pedalling I expected to be better. I found I was always bending lower at the elbows to get in a better position to pedal. I am a firm believer in getting your torso down to generate power, but I've been riding in that position for decades.

The manuals and bunny hops go with being more centered on the bike I think.

In any case, I definitely will be pushing my fit to a lower stack from now on. It's always easy to pop the spacers back. I do have a few more spacers below the stem so I may try going further to see where the limit is - good idea, thanks for that one.

Had an interesting experience today. I've been riding a new fully rigid bike for the past season. It is custom geo. I ride a large (between L and XL usually) and always find the bars quite low once I get the seat to the right height (especially on L). When I got this bike made I added a little stack. When I cut the steerer and set the handlebar height I also left a few extra spacers. End result was that this is the first bike I have owned where the bars were at the same height as the saddle.

I've been pretty happy on the bike all season except I found it didn't pedal as well as I would like. I just couldn't activate my gluts as much as usual. I wondered if it was the steeper STA 75deg rather than my usual 73). I was nervous to put the bars too low given the lack of front suspension. I thought having too much weight on the bars could be harsh on descents.

I decided to drop out 10mm of spacers under the stem and see if a lower bar position would help with the pedalling issue. Interestingly, everything is better. It climbs better, pedals better, corners better, descends better, manuals better, bunny hops better and I feel less harshness when I hit the rough stuff with speed.

I'm sure someone on here can explain all this but I'm happy to just take the win. I put a longer lower stem on my wifes bike and she is finding similar happiness. I think I am going to drop her fork back down then 10mm I raised it as well. Same with my overforked chromag. I remember noel from Knolly talking about how important his low stack height was to the handling of his bikes, I guess he knows something....

Posted by: Flatted-again

Okay, I have a possibly-overthinking-this-too-much question. What’s an ideal wheel setup for a hardcore hardtail? Are there different considerations compared to a full sus with the same intention? I.e. does the no-suspension bit of a hardtail put more stress on hubs/rims/spokes, and if so, is there a different trade off between durability and weight that needs to be made?

Again, maybe I’m overthinking this, but I saw a snapped hydra axle and it got me thinking.

I think good quality hubsets are worth it, on any bike but especially a hardtail. Suspension lessons the spikes in forces but most riders go bigger and faster on full suspension, so I think it's hard to say if the hub on a hardtail actually takes more abuse.

In any case, I've had excellent results with both king and hope hubs. I use butted spokes as they have a bit more flex and as a result are actually stronger than straight gage. I have one hardtail with carbon rims and two others with aluminum. I don't really prefer one to the other as I run very low tire pressures and don't really notice any difference in ride.

I think tires and inserts are where the money is at for hardtail wheels. I don't really believe in large volume tires (bigger than 2.5) as I think you just need more air pressure to prevent squirm. I usually run 2.5 minion in a 3c up front with a cush core pro insert. 2.4 or 2.5 rear again with a cush core.

I usually run around 17-18 psi in my tires. 

That's my formula.

I have nothing but good things to say about flow mk3 and mk4. 

Flipside, what was wrong with your mk3? Just curious.

The lube you can see on your chain isn't the lube the chain needs. It's all about getting the lube in to the rollers, pins and inside surfaces of the plates. Simply spraying and degreasing your outside surface of your chain leaves the oil lube on all the important surfaces. 

What you probably have is a hybrid where the outside of your chain is wax coated and the inside friction surfaces are all coated in oil based lube. If you just keep riding and applying squirt, eventually all the oil will wear away and wax will probably take its place?

Ended up picking up a specialized ground control in their tacky rubber. She likes it. The 2.3 is like a 2.4 maxxis. It is grippier than max terra and lighter by about 100g.