mutton profile

Yeagh Cam!! A value v functionality shootout. $300 dedicated bike gear vs ~$100 workwear from a couple alternatives.

One friend likes them but concedes not as durable since the material is lighter. The T2's don't feel heavy and seem to breath OK. 

One area of interest will be to see how stitching holds up in the butt with extended use.

Thanks for another rad detailed review. I was a convert to long pants only one year ago and now a huge fan. I wear RF conspiracy and Ruxton and am happy with both. 

I recently however got a pair of Truewerk T2 pants for trail building and then started wearing them to ride. They are a DWR coated softshell pant. I was reluctant to wear them for their intended purpose because they were so comfortable around the house but they are now broken in. Added a pair of OR suspenders so my builder pack / saw doesn't push them down. 

Absolutely love these pants. Great to ride in (will add something to the lower right ankle if it ever causes a problem). They are flexible, light and were fine in the cold / light snow. When damp they didn't stick to my legs. I have noticed Northbound gear as another potential work /ride pant and a Canadian brand. 

Admittedly these don't compete with a waterproof pair of pants such as the ones reviewed but at a cost of $80 for the T2's I am a huge fan for all but the worst days. 

The material and quality appears legit which for me goes a long way to enforce how over priced bike "dedicated" gear is. I am interested to hear what other gear people have adopted for riding and whether any of these brands have ever acknowledged or even adopted biking as a market

lol. I found a video of him on YouTube. 

It’s a Klim NacPac which I use for moto, light building and big bike rides. Those spikes went on a few adventures. Hidden under an emergency shell that lives in a plastic bag at the bottom. Dammit!

I recently discovered I had carried 4 8” spikes around for a month or two. 

My new essential is an Emergency blanket - weighs about 50g (?). I was recently blown away by this video 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8BD7_Zeaek

Welcome Matt. I enjoyed your article and writing style. I’m another fan of the MW701’s - as someone’s who suffers fro Raynauds they have made a huge difference to my winter riding. I really do need to pony up for a set of eskers

Cool review thanks! For me this validates my recent decision to go with a smaller watch (garmin 265) as I had experienced similar wrist pain borrowing my wife's larger suunto. The downside is clearly battery life (3 days). Sleep data is a waste of time for me too...if the watch is so smart why do I need to "turn off" sleep mode when I'm making breakfast (?). Gps / distance / elevation etc on the bike and hiking are good enough for me. 

I mostly miss the suunto app (which I used with a heart rate strap linked to my phone). I found the whole training load / stress scores to be a fun motivation / self check tool that often vindicated how my body felt and either got me to chill out or get out!! The garmin app doesn't work as well for me.

I have a pair of Answer lobster paw gloves with prima loft. So good and I feel warmer when wet. I am nursing them tenderly and only pull them out when I am close to losing digits (carry them as backup). I wish they were still available. 

Pogies! I feel i am the only person who "stoops" to that level down here an hr south of the border. Glad to know that despite all the teasing I am not alone in this world.

I enjoyed this review. Also been riding the same bike for 3 months and stoked. I was on a Rootdown for close to a year while waiting for this frame and can't really tell them apart. I found that sometime mid summer the Rootdown became too much to handle (or less fun) as trails around here were fast / bony and dry. The last couple of weeks the weather has turned and i am firmly in love with this bike. I love having two bikes that are such different beasts

2.4dhr with cushcore @24

2.5dhf @20

180 and ride heavy!

Hi all 

Has anyone ever had any luck convincing trailforks (I have communicated  with Trevor and Mark from support) that trails they say are hidden are in fact NOT HIDDEN. 

I find it freeking amazing that they add unsactioned trails into the database and then broadcast them to the world and have the arrogance to insist they are hidden. 

The trails in question are known to the land managers and are permitted to remain as we have committed to not build anymore trails. The status quo is in place. What we don't need is visibility and additional attention and more ammunition for the local anti trail groups. 

How.dpes one communicate these suntelties? I even have our local non profit trail organization (pnw bike advocacy group) involved and they have also hit a brick wall. 

Thank you for any insight / advice

Posted by: fartymarty

High Rise Bars / Stems - 

Andrew - following Pinkbikes (in my opinion terrible*) review of the BMB Raised Reverse Stem are there any plans for it to be tested long term by anyone at NSMB?  I think there is something in the concept but it needs time and thought.

*PB didn't give the stem enough time or tweaking of bike setup to give it a fair review.  From my own messing around  with bars and stems it takes time for your body to adapt to different setups and the bike setup needs to be adjusted as well.

Looking forward to Andrew's "first ride impressions" down his favorite shore trail 😅

Tyaughton twosome 

Awesome video - thanks for sharing. Watch it! Way to go Dave - truly inspirational.

Great story Omar. I hope all goes well for you and your family. I hail from Africa..so stories like yours with anecdotes and pictures make me homesick. I look fwd to updates.

Will be totally stoked to come up for this. Sounds like a blast.

Hi Cam,

I notice you werent running a chain tensioner / bash. Did you drop your chain at all during the test? Seems like a chain tensioner would be mandatory on the terrain you were riding?

Thx

Two years - http://www.leelau.net/chai/

Wait a minute ….you cant go all the way around if you dont go to Africa!:lol:

Thanks Brad for another cool review, the bike does look pretty rad. I dig the subtle bend in the tubes.

I am interested to hear how the covert would stack up against some of the other 6 in bikes out there at the moment - SXT, Reign X, ? its a pretty competitive category

The Transition dudes are putting out so many new bikes with so many innovations, its pretty amazing.

I hooked up with Chris Winter and did his 9 day "Cloudraker" tour. It has something like 55K feet of descending over the 9 days and was totally awesome. Chris and his guide were total legends and absolutely professional - looking after our every need.

I have a couple issues with tours like this however:
1. The speed of the group is determined by the slowest person (an unknown factor)
2. the tour operator / guide might feel the need to keep everyone on a short rope (to prevent people getting lost / injured) when youre far from anywhere.

I found that by the end of the tour - I was totally mellow and chill and had a great time…but it took a while to slow down to the speed of life in the alps and realize that I wasnt going to be able to 'pin it' on every section of single track. I imagine this may be different if youre riding in a resort (Morzine) as opposed to riding somewhere out in the boonies (where an injury to one person in the group has big consequences for the tour in general)

I think I would prefer to spend the same amount of moola and explore the interior of BC!