FlipSide profile

I can see the "old me" in this article. I used to carry so much stuff, including 2x or 3x the amount of water I really need for the whole day.

A rather severe back injury changed that almost 15 years ago. During my recovery, my back was very fragile and I was getting recurring lumbar sprain episodes. My life changed a lot when I removed the bladder from the pack and only used a wager bottler on my bike...which led me to ditch the pack for a minimalist fanny pack (Lab Austere) soon after. Basically, I went from over-prepared to super-minimalistic for medical reasons (which sucks), but I really prefer my new setup.

The only things I carry now in my bum bag: Multitool, bacon strips, car keys...and a little towel (for sweat management). I have a pump on my bike too.

I now only ride with a pack when I'm on big mountains in the Alps or when I ride in cold weather.

Happy New Year to you too Andrew! Thank you for all the great articles you wrote for us this year. My best days generally start when there's a new article from you on NSMB! ;)

All of this is quite exciting! Looking forward reading about all these shiny things.

I love the Talon cranks. I think it's their only product I don't have. They are expensive, yes, but I feel boutique cranks totaly have their place. They can be viewed as the centerpiece of a nice custom build...just like a nice stem can stand out and "make" the build. I still have a pair of raw Middleburn RS7 cranks on my (now) commuter and they are as beautiful and sexy as the first day.

Yep! I clicked to see more pics of that ESD, but left having only read a nice review. :)

Interesting product. Very cool to see heat-molding carbon technology being used for saddles.

After years of using various Selle Italia Flite saddles, I recently settled on the Chromag Trailmaster LTD as my favorite saddle. If I didn't have a brand new one waiting to be used for my new build, I'd be really tempted to try this Reform saddle.

I used to be pretty much only interested in super fast and gnarly stuff, or super steep and tech trails. Then, for the 2022 season, I built my dream hardtail and switched to flat pedals. The hardtail became my go-to bike for about 2 rides out of 3 and, on this new bike, my riding naturally became focused toward finding smooth and clean lines. I also started enjoying technical climbs, as well as mellower pedally trails. It turned out that these last two seasons were among my most memorable and I had a total blast riding this new hardtail on green, blue and black trails.

However, double blacks with big drops or compressions are no fun on a hardtail (especially when you're 47 years old), so I rode significantly less of those in the past 2 years and it is starting to show. Even on my big enduro bike, I ride these trails with significantly less confidence than I used to. 

I feel this switch to the hardtail made me a better rider overall and really increased the fun I have riding, but this is at the expense of loosing some key skills for the super tech steep stuff, I assume by lack of practice. It sucks a bit, but I have absolutely no regrets. I have more fun riding overall and I feel this should be considered another way of "Getting better at bikes".

True, and I am on totally board with downsizing (to be honest and clear, I am talking about supersizing the fleet with a new downsized bike).

Being overbiked is absolutely real and I really don't like riding mellower trails on a big 180/165 enduro bike. It lacks the trail connection you get riding a hardtail or a short travel bike. Since I got my modern hardtail, I rode at least 2/3 of the time on the hardtail and I had a blast.  They are simply more fun...until they are not anymore when they get overwhelmed by trails that are too fast/gnarly. I am now in the process of building a short travel trailbike. Should be a lot of fun. 

To stay on topic: I find running a rear insert is a must for a hardtail. I ride with a CushCore Pro and I suspect a rear CushCore will be great on the short travel trailbike as well. On my big enduro bike, I run dual CC Pro for lift-assisted days, but no inserts for general trail riding. Looking at the shape of my rear rim, I should probably ride with a rear CC all the time.

Cool! Thanks!

Everything sounds good on this bike, except the lower pivot bushing. I tends to keep my bike for a long time (like typically about 7 years) and I'd hate have a bike with a sloppy swingarm in a few years, and no way to source replacement bushings.

At what interval should the bushings be replaced and are they proprietary to Ibis?

Various versions of the Selle Italia Flite has been my go-to saddle for about 2 decades, but my Trailmaster LTD has been a revelation for me on my hardtail. I just bought another one for my next build (short travel trailbike).

Posted by: tashi

Posted by: martin

With the current industry situation, and you just buying another bike from them, I’d ask if they could sell it for the same price as you saw yesterday. I bet they’d be glad to do it so that you could only ride Knollys!

Not a bad idea but it’ll be a stretch to pull off before I sell the WILDCAT. I’m happy to wait, there are lots of hardtail deals to be had. 

(What I really want is a Honzo ESD because they’re so cool lookin’)

I can confirm the Honzo ESD rides as good as it looks. I built mine from the frame up in 2022 and I rode it ~2 rides out of 3 since then. I only have good things to say about it, really. Go for it if you can find one used.

Posted by: martin

I second Flipside’s opinion, even if I have never ridden a Knolly : ) Having a hardtail to complement the FS is awesome and gives you a backup bike in case something happens with the FS, if you feel like riding with more challenge sometimes, or if you want to invite a friend.

With the sale they’re having, it might be a good idea to act quick because they don’t have many sizes/colors left though.

Absolutely! 

While I can totally understand people who prefer having only one mtb at a time, I personally like having a few very different bikes and I find having a modern hardtail in the fleet is really nice.

If you can a get a FS trailbike + a hardtail for a similar price and part specs as the others, I think you should go for that option.

I like it too! I rode the exact same frame from 2007 to 2014. Started with the stock Totem coil and switched to a Boxxer Team in 2008 iirc. 

Fun and good looking bike. Torsional stiffness was not the swingarm's strongest point though! ;)

I found an old Blackspire bashring  in my old parts bin yesterday evening. I probably got it about 20 years ago. 

It had a rather loud MADE IN CANADA marking on it. Pretty cool!

It was all dirty and sad, so I cleaned it up very well and put it back in there. :)

Rode their chainguides about 20 years ago on my Balfa 2Step and I used several of their chainrings on various bikes. I still have one of their N/W 30t 104BCD chainring on one of my current bikes.

Sad to see a great Canadian company go... :(

Posted by: fartymarty

Ah but I really love the pink Longneck Supersofts....

Then keep them on for sure!  :)  I always prefer black grips and have color accents elsewhere, but that's just me! Also, I am boring and my "color accents" are usually clear anodized aluminum, although I am trying Pewter with NSB parts on my next build. 

I used to not care at all about the aesthetics of my bikes or strategically adding color accents on the bike, but it's becoming an aspects I don't neglect anymore on my custom builds. Maybe my wife finally succeeded to infuse some fashion into me...or I simply became shallower with age. Who knows? ;)

Nice bike!

Personally, I'd go for black spacers and black grips (once your pink grips are worn out).

Posted by: heathen

$350 for a SRAM 1295 I'd wild!!!

https://www.thebikezone.com/product/sram-xg-1295-eagle-12-speed-cassette-286131-1.htm?variations=289556,289558

Maybe that was a mistake and they corrected it rapidly. It's back to 603$ now.

The golden age of CRC was when the Canadian dollar was strong (1 $CDN = 1 $US) and CRC could still ship SRAM and Shimano stuff to Canada. Maybe in 2014?

I bought a spare 11sp XX1 groupset at that time. If I remember well, the cassette cost me ~250$. It turned out I never needed the spare derailleur and cassette and got Eagle stuff on my next bike...These XX1 spare parts stayed NIB until last year, when I built my hardtail.

I know... #coolstorybro ;)