cooperquinn profile

"I was going to wrap this up with a barely coherent attempt at tying the room together"

Have you tried using a rug?

Excluding the odd (and totally normal/healthy) catastrophic meltdown, we're really well at that last part!

And its a 140mm rotor!

Shouldn't the tubolito go in the pack, and dynaplug somewhere more quickly accessible?

Multitool. Plugs. Sometimes a pump. Rarely a tube. 

That's for local rides, though. If I'm headed far from civilization, I bring everything but the kitchen sink. 

Also Andrew, stop overthinking it and just get an MSR Trailshot. Although the bottle-topper Bikepacking.com reviewed the other day is quite interesting.

I love how much stoke there is in this comment!

Absolutely. I'm looking forward to - and also dreading - this day.

I won't reveal which photos were taken with which, but but some of my personal faves in this piece were cell phone pics. The trick is to try and find settings to turn down the sharpening/clarity that generally gets (over) applied. 

I do also recommend looking at the newer ultracompacts like the RX100, or I had a Canon G5XII for a while I really liked. They're a really nice bridge; WAY better than cell phones, real zooms, and very small/light.

Totally - the progression is insane! 

I think gear for staying warm/dry and snacks is more important that bike specifics - you're already on it with weight and recycling Parent's Bike's Old Nice Parts. Fun will be had.

Honestly I'd probably keep your powder dry, and save the extra money for a better pedal bike in a year or two? Like sure, there's steeper situations where maybe he wouldn't ride them w/o a brake but.... eh... not worth a WHOLE BIKE upgrade I don't think, unless you just have cash burning a hole in your pocket. You can also go to a pedal bike earlier (assuming he can get the standover) and just pull the pedals and/or drivetrain off to start.  

The tire upgrade is worthwhile, though. A quickly outstripped the capabilities of the Vee Speedsters on his previous run bike.

Its not about thinking your personal life, habits, and emissions don't matter. 

Its about understanding focusing on the aspects of your life that have the biggest impact first instead of red herrings like plastic straws, metallic brake pads, or tiny bottles of chain lube. 

Scale matters, and no one in on this website is at a point in their lives where the next biggest change they can make to reduce their personal footprint is switching to a more environmentally friendly lubricant.

Fer f*ck. You're right - 765. 

I've done that twice now - sometimes my brain still does bars in inches, and 26.5" wasn't a crazy width back in like 2002. 

Anyway I've been mostly on 780mm for the past 4 or 5 years, so its been interesting to go "backwards" a bit to see how it feels.

A 60ml bottle of chain lube lasts years. In the scope of personal environmental impact, its utterly, utterly irrelevant.

That's pretty much what it feels like... which is wild, considering how recently I was running 740mm bars. 

I also forgot I added a fender to the LY, an Ass Savers Win Wing - its remarkably effective at keeping the rider dry. Sorry to anyone behind me, though. 

Which also reminds me I've added a coupler for the Tout Terrain trailer we have on loan, its a wild piece of kit.

A few updates - things are never really static around here... 

Element:

Bars have been chopped to 265 - the ends were a big ragged, so I figured I'd clean things up and try going back towards narrower. Jury is still out after a few rides if this is something I'm going to keep or not... it certainly feels odd, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it on a bigger bike. But maybe. I'm going to keep at it for a few more weeks to see if I end up adapting and enjoying it, or go back to wider. 

Its also got a GX AXS T-Type derailleur, cassette, and chain now. Notably, there seems to be zero issues using a flattop chain and X-Sync ring. 

Landyachtz:

Currently going back and forth on wheelsets/tires for some upcoming gravel tire content, building on the pizza piece. 

Arrival:

I've swapped to an air shock... via full Flight Attendant (170 Zeb, SuperDeluxe Ultimate), and XXSL Powermeter. This has been really interesting to play with, and possibly changed how I think about FA. With no experience, I saw no real purpose for it on long travel bikes... but maybe that's where its best?

@taprider beat me to it. the ProX stuff is absolutely inferior (as far as being a chain lube) to the Classic. You want this stuff (or the Lite version). 

Sadly, we can't get the real dumond tech up here in canada. :(

Posted by: kavurider

(save my old Karpiel)

Go on...

There's no requirement for HG+ to be widerange, afaik? 

I make the distinction from Zee to Saint as Shimano has positioned HG+ as "race", and "higher end". I'd be shocked if it came to fruition this way, but I also have zero insight.

"Shift speed and shift quality* lie at opposite ends of the engineering spectrum. LinkGlide and T-Type prioritize quality over speed"

"HG+ is fast and precise in both directions. I’d say it covers both ends of the spectrum."

[Here's a graphic showing speed and smoothness at opposite ends]

So, sure, HG+ can blend speed and smoothness, and you can argue (probably successfully) that HG+ finds a great balance of the two. But you can't completely have both. That's just not how shift ramps work.

To reiterate using the graphic above, what I find most interesting is that Shimano places "race oriented" on the right, whereas SRAM would (in the mtb world) clearly place that on the left. Which ties into your Saint comment, agreed that "shifting NOW at all costs" takes priority in DH racing, who cares about shift quality. I doubt they move enough units to do it, but the logical progression for LG and HG+ into DH would be Zee LG, and Saint HG+?