kperras profile

Nice to see a new category added to the Slopestyle event. There are so many girls riding now; it's good to create opportunities at higher levels and create heroines for younger girls to look up to.

Great review Graham, might be your best one yet. Same goes for Deniz's accompanying photo set.

Fasten with Torque wrench, final check with hand.

I drive a short bed, mid-size 4 door pickup and it couldn't be more useful. I can street park it in the city into unreasonably small spaces, fit a front load washer and dryer combo in the bed without hassle, accommodate a car seat in the back, fit 6 bikes over the tailgate, 11 with a rack mounted up, a sled with a medium sized track, the list goes on. The pros vastly outweigh the cons so far.

It's been a few years (2018 was when we launched the first gen APP with EX1) but if I recall EX1 was expensive for the spec. Some finishing details didn't quite match the price, and the replacement part cost, especially for ebikes that quickly wear through drivetrain parts, was very high. In the long run, the most compelling feature was Sram's excellent chain life which also shows up on X0 and XX1 groups. 

Fast forward to today and you're better off with say a GX drivetrain paired with an X0 chain. You can even buy GX shifters with the single click feature if you don't want to row through mutitple cogs under power.

Great article Sanesh. You've got my adventure bug going now....thanks.

Regarding the lever feel issue, yes initially it was a thing. A simple spread of the pad spring fixed that and lever feel is back to normal, which in Hayes' case is extremely light.

Odd that no Dominion A4, T4 review mentions that the pads rattle in the calipers. The rattle is synonymous with the Shimano pad rattle  and without question affects every single caliper. Unlike Shimano brakes equipped with IceTec pads, there's no way to apply anti-rattle measures such as velcro padding to the caliper. Fortunately someone shared with me that a pair of 2mm ID o-rings, often found in suspension service kits, installed on the caliper pin between the pads and spring will take care of that pesky problem. I certainly gained a few gray hairs trying to problem solve that issue before the solution was presented to me.

The T4s have been the most impressive brakes I've used to date. The modulation, power, and consistency have been faultless. However they do come with a list of challenges: cost, availability, pad rattle, leak-prone bleeding procedure, and bottom-load pad install only are the ones I can think off.  Some of these can be easily overcome in my experience, but the compromises remain. Overall I have and continue to recommend these brakes to anyone that asks.

The going joke in some circles is that the idler adds 7lbs (in reference to the Norco Range). 

Unfortunately when you add complexity, such as extra pivots, idlers, longer chains, storage, fancy tube shapes, etc, the weight goes up. 

No shade being thrown here; the Range gets good reviews and this new Trek looks polished.

I typically don't comment on competitor articles, but inaccurate weights are a pet peeve of mine. Ibis lists a size large frame with a Float X2 weighing in at 3.5kg. A 230x57.5-65 Float X2 weight approximately 685g without hardware, which means that the frame weighs 2.815kg, and not the ~2.5kg listed in the article. 

Weight comment aside, it's a beautiful looking frame. The green colourway is quite at home in the dark woods of Seymour.

1 key with a fob on a keyring. Hyundai branded. Found it on Severed D before getting to the Dear John entrance. PM me if you know who it belongs to.

The Fox Frame looks really good and seems to have the latest of every technology. If it fits right, that would be my first choice. Plus it comes in the best colour that never goes out of style or looks like shit after one muddy ride.

Not a chance.

Sweet. Just re-uploaded my profile pic.

No more rep :(

Years of hard work gone ;)

Easiest is park at Old Buck Parking lot, or Parkgate Mall. Ride up Old Buck and turn left at the Powerlines. Climb till you get to Pingu. Ride Pingu then any of these trails: Pangor, Boogieman, Dear John/John Deer, Severed D, then return via Bridle Path to wherever you parked.

Climbing trail only good till the last few switchbacks. Lower Oil Can is good except there's a tree down about 3/4 of the way down. Tiny one, only requires a hand saw.

I thought I'd share with you fellow board readers.

You can match Shimano SLX lever (or XT/XTR/Saint) and MT5/MT7 caliper. Such combination is even better than original Magura set :)

After one of winter crashes I completely broke my MT5 brake lever into pieces. Looks like the plastic it's made of is utter crap and will break easily. There are several reports here in Europe about MT5/MT7 prone to breaking. The same happened to fellow biker I know with his MT7.

You just need proper Shimano lever (newest ones) like M7000, M8000 M9000 etc.

My current set is SLX M7000 lever + MT5 caliper (with original Magura hose) bled with Shimano mineral oil.

There are several pros of this combination
- Shimano parts are lots cheaper than Magura stuff and they are available everywhere
- Shimano levers are tough made, not from platstic-fantastic like Magura
- brakes work better: Shimano levers are less spongy than original Magura and you get lots of extra power just from changing lever
- you can choose SLX, XT, XTR or Saint levers an pair them with either MT7 or MT5

What about the modulation? I find the gradual increase in power to be a substantial benefit to the Magura brakes.

It's a move to improve margins not lower retail prices.

Incorrect. It's a move to maintain competitive pricing. As soon as one manufacturer re-engineers the pricing structure others must follow or close their doors because they aren't selling bikes for two reasons:

1)They are priced appropriately when produced domestically but everyone complains about the high prices because company XYZ is cheaper for the same spec or

2)They are priced appropriately when compared to the competition but now the margins are so low or non-existent that the company is longer able to keep its doors open.

The norm now is to have goods produced overseas; don't kid yourself. Everyone is on a level playing field so to speak.

I think weight is pretty important for kids. If you have a fixed price in mind, I'd consider getting the lightest (but also highest quality) bike possible, which might not include duallies. If you want to add comfort and confidence to your kids bike, getting some high volume, good quality tires are a good place to do it.

I typically prefer Maxxis tires, but the selection of 24" tires are limited to DH options which don't apply here. Schwalbe has 24" options in a few casing options. Much better than getting low end, plastic feeling, XC tread patterned tires.