mhaager2 profile

This totally reminds me of my first ride ever on the North Shore. I was doing an elective at St. Paul’s in December of all months. I was super excited to ride, so first free day I had I headed over to Fromme. It had snowed and mountain highway was covered. I rode / walked up and started down upper oil can. I was the only idiot on the mountain that day. Just finding the trail was challenging. At one point I ended up on top of a cliff with a landing at the bottom that seemed so clearly beyond the rest of the trail that I had to be off route (might have been part of flying circus?). I walked more than I rode that day, and by the time I got back to my truck I was shivering and hypothermic. However, it was an adventure, and there was something magical about being all alone in the quiet woods exploring these mythical trails that I remember this day so vividly 18 years later.

Is there a way to address chassis alignment? Can you add a floating axle to say a Lyrik?

THAT is scary AF. I can handle broken bones, but the C-spine is a different animal.

You do have to wonder about how much those pressures contributed to the problems.  500 psi is insane, but even 260 PSI in the main chamber seems high. I have zero engineering background, but intuitively you‘d think that high pressures like that would be hard on seals etc. Any idea why they require such high pressures?  Would re-engineering the shock to work with lower pressures result in significant performance compromises?

I really really wish they could figure out a good way to make glasses like these available in prescription lenses. I love the functionality of these pseudo goggle style glasses. I think some of them you can get with Rx lenses in front of the actual glasses but that kind of defeats the purpose and is clunky. Obviously you could go contact lenses, but I can’t stand contacts.

That drivetrain looks a bit dirtier than I’d expect from you Mr.Major ;-)

Will that tool work with a 30mm Chris King BSA BB?

Haha, thats fair, and one of the things I love about NSMB. It’s one of the few sites where I actually read the comments section. You are right, Druid owners do seem to love our Druids. I just can‘t think of a more versatile bike that I have owned. I have ridden this thing on my home trails here in Edmonton, to Froome, and Seymour, and at Panorama and Silver Star bike parks, and have never felt grossly under or overbiked, at least for my level of riding. I suspect some of it is the HP+I, but probably a ton of it is just that the fit and geometry just work for me, plus that it feels burly enough to put up with what I personally can throw at it. I suspect that you are correct about how good most bikes are these days, and if I had the same basic Geo and fit on a different suspension design I might be just as happy. Given the large variety of terrain I ride, I am looking forward to your review of the A130, A150, A170. One bike that can relatively easily be adapted to different terrains is certainly intriguing. Plus carbon made in Canada, is definitely worth a premium in my opinion.

Getting a bit OT, but curious to hear your thoughts on V1 vs V2 druid. I‘m currently on the V1 and love it, and felt a bit underwhelmed by the updates, or maybe in better put, no compelling desire tu upgrade.

How does the rear suspension feel compare to a straight up high pivot, like a Forbidden Dreadnought?  Is it a subtle difference, or immediately obvious? Looking at the pictures it seems like the high pivot is actually pretty low compared to some other bikes out there, suggesting a less rearward axle path. Is that the case or just the way the picture turned out? Lastly tire clearance out back looks potentially tight in that picture, but its hard to tell due to the oblique angle.

Haha thanks! No,not e-assisted. I love e-bikes, and it was cool to see a bunching the shore, but I don‘t own one yet. At 50 I still prefer to ride analog, but I can see getting one down the line.  I did cheat on the second day. I had to pack up at the hotel and got a later start so I took a cab from downtown Van to the CBC trail head. Had planned to ride up Seymour a couple of times that day until I made my forced offering of a broken brake to the NS gods.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help and input. Had a great 2 days. Day one rode up to Fromme from Lonsdale quay, up the climb trail which was fun, and did 7th secret, leperd, Krinkum, then rode up to pipeline and did that, then along Baden Powell (which might just be the jankiest of all the trails haha) to the road, back up. Rode down upper Oil can (bypassing the big moves) for nostalgias sake as it was the first trail I ever rode on the shore 20 yrs ago), and down Expresso, and then the flow trails back down to Braemar. 2nd day I hit Seymour and did CBC, cabin trail, Dales, Forever after, up the climb trail, down corkscrew, Pingu, and then Pangor. Unfortunately I had a minor crash which damaged my brake master cylinder (I love my Maguras but a plastic body is dumb), halfway down Pangor so I had a slightly terrifying descent on the front brake only the rest of the way. Coasted home super easy on Empress Bypass but ended my day prematurely. Had hoped to go back up one more time to hit Boogeyman. Still a great 2 days so cant complain. Thanks everyone. You live in a wonderful and beautiful place and I am awed every time I come. I am a NSMBA member despite living in Edmonton, because I just think its so phenomenal what’s been done out there.

Thanks guys!  That's awesome.  Bringing my own bike and just riding to the trailheads.

Hey guys,

So I’ve got 2 full days to spend on the shore coming up. Planning to ride all day both days, or until the legs give out. Last time I was there was when I spent a month (December of all months) in Van way back in 2005. I have solid fitness, and technical I’m a decent intermediate-advanced rider. Prefer tech to big jumps, and though I like skinnies I suck at them. I have fond memories of 7th Secret and expresso. Rode Ladies only back in the day too, but did not have the skills for all the TTFs. Think I will spend my time mostly on Fromme, unless there are some can’t miss trails elsewhere. I see there are new up routes on Fromme and Seymour. Worth doing?  Also good lunch spot recommendations close to the trail heads would be appreciated.  Thanks so much for the input.

I posted this as a separate topic, but no responses so far,  so I thought I'd try it here. 

It's time for the 125 hr service on my DPX2 on my Druid. Given that it's a good bit of change I have been thinking about options. I like the shock ok, but feel like I want a bit more plushness out of the back. I don't want to go coil because most of my riding is continous short steep ups and downs and weight does matter here. Options I've thought about from cheapest to costliest. 

1. Smack stack mod by shock howse

2. DVO Topaz with custom tune

3. Rock shox super deluxe ultimate MY23 

Anyone have experience with any of these on a Druid? Thoughts?

Thanks for the input

Hi

It's time for the 125 hr service on my DPX2 on my Druid. Given that it's a good bit of change I have been thinking about options. I like the shock ok, but feel like I want a bit more plushness out of the back. I don't want to go coil because most of my riding is continous short steep  ups and downs and weight does matter here.  Options I've thought about from cheapest to costliest. 

1. Smack stack mod by shock howse

2. DVO Topaz with custom tune

3. Rock shox super deluxe ultimate MY23 

Anyone have experience with any of these? Thoughts?

Thanks for the input

I have a question.  How does heavy braking affect the feel of the rear suspension on the Druid? Is it a night and day difference between brakes on and off?  It's my one hesitation on this bike.