craw profile

Unrelated to bikes. I'm really hard to fit in jeans. I'm a large/34" waist but I have the legs of a 36" or a 38" so basically jeans never fit. I go up a size to fit my legs but then the waist is comically too big. And that's besides my 35"+ inseam. Until I found these on a kickstarter.  They're pricey but go on sale aggressively 2-3 times a year and every so often I buy another pair to add to the collection. The only jeans I've ever owned that I can wear without a belt.

Thanks for suggestion. I find the bike brand pants incredibly overpriced especially since they don't offer more inseams lengths. Given how often I actually need/want to wear pants to ride (a handful of times per year) the $100USD price (including shipping to Canada) seems very reasonable.

It's all of that. Plus being smart about it. Knowing when to take extra rest. Knowing limits. Pushing hard when the stars align. Do a ton of cross training and mobility work to round out your game - which pays huge dividends in every area of your life. 

The saying really should be 'focus on the keeping the machine working well so you can charge as hard as before but only some of the time' but that doesn't roll off the tongue the same way. Gotta be diligent if you want to maintain access to that level of performance.

Gotta avoid that boomer approach to fitness where they take pills when things hurt (in particular back, knees, hips, neck). No. Go to a physiotherapist (or appropriate professional) and figure out why that thing hurts and work on that area. If my neck hurts it's because of a shoulder mobility issue. If my back hurts it's almost always a hip mobility issue. If something hurts it means there's a systemic problem to fix the system and get back on the bike sooner. The whole ignore-it-for-years with Advil approach will just make that issue harder to resolve later.

That's my big fear as I get older and question some of my rituals. Could losing this one be the trigger that undoes the whole thing? I still say: you don't get slow because you get old, you get old because you get slow. When you decide to stop charging hard is when actual aging sets in. Even with sometimes waning enthusiasm I try to charge as hard as I ever did but now I diligently make room for more rest and more outside-of-riding lifting, mobility and cross training. Oh god so much stretching and mobility work.

Might want to consider getting ears and nostrils waxed. Those trimmer machines don't work very well.

I have big hands and only use the biggest possible grips and in my mind that's how they're divided: big enough and everything else. I used to use the big RF grips and OURYs but once I tried the Sensus Meaty Paws which eventually were replaced by the large SQLab 711 T&T grips which are so good they make me wonder if other grip manufacturers were ever really trying.

It's remarkable that Trevor found such a remarkable difference between the 31mm diameter of the new Chester versus the 30mm he was more used to. I think we've all surprised ourselves by the narrow distinctions we are able to recognize between products.

I bought some on Amazon but since they're so cheap I bought a pack of 10. I can give you a few. I have one in each pack.

That's the pack of someone suffering from 1990s MTB PTSD.

For all that not a lot of first aid kit. I have a SAM splint in my pack because it weighs nothing and adds a little extra protection for my back. I always have a triangle bandage which can solve a multitude of issues, all of which I've actually experienced a few times on a ride on a ride: a big cut that needed stitches or a sling. It's definitely the first aid inclusion that offers the best bang for the buck weight-wise.

For some reason you can't buy triangle bandages at Shoppers Drug Mart. I used to get them from MEC when it was still a co-op but now that they're unabashed capitalists they not longer carry them so riddle me that.

Posted by: rnayel

Sold my Banshee Prime frame last year and swapped the parts over to a S-works level Stumpjumper Evo frame, then added a cascade components link to boost the travel up to 158 and swapped in a 170mm Mezzer + CC Kitsuma Coil. This thing is wicked. It's been the perfect big trail bike.

Anything short of warp speed and shuttling, it's been my go-to. My shuttle bike remains a mullet - sometimes dual 29" Knolly Chilcotin.

For more pedally rides, I have a v1 Forbidden Druid w/ 150mm fork.

Is that a Flite saddle? Let's talk about that.

Congratulations on making a choice. Hope it's awesome.

Posted by: tashi

The reviews I can find refer to it being an efficient climber and a supportive platform so, kinda?

Have you ridden one?

I owned two V-tachs, a Delirium and a Delirium-T back in the day when we didn't care what anti-squat was; amazing bikes at the time. The new ones seem to have come a long way from that but they're still very low AS.
Suspension analysis: https://linkagedesign.blogspot.com/2018/03/knolly-fugitive-29-2019.html

Sounds like you should definitely go ride one and see if its particular mix of traits will suit your style.

Do people ever refer to a Knolly as lively?

Posted by: Ride.DMC

Posted by: craw

Back in the day (I think it was 2001) I broke an Azonic bar just riding along. Which is to say that a crack inside the bar decided to find its way to the surface and fail completely when I dropped off a curb one afternoon. I managed to stop with the right half of the bar in my hand the left hand and both feet still on the bike. I've been a bit leery ever since then but the rate at which I swap bikes or experiment with rise and backsweep means I rarely keep a bar for more than a couple of years. If a bar gets a major scar I tend to get rid of it pretty soon because you can never really know how bad the damage is.

I think that minus a major impact or visible damage I think a modern bar should be good for 3+ years. But I tend to buy a new bike every 2-3 years and that almost certainly involves replacing the bar to improve fit so I naturally end up on a shorter timeline, which I have no problem with.

I had the exact same thing happen with an Azonic bar of that vintage - mine broke on the up stroke of a drop off a curb. I fell/dismounted off to the side but was otherwise unhurt.

Mine was that model with the double aluminum layer over the stem clamp area and the bend, which in hindsight is a terrible idea and a perfect stress riser since my break happened right at the end of that collar. The PDW Chubby bar was its name.

I'm on dual 33mm WAO Convergence Fuse wheels with Octamousse inserts (oct45 strong/black back, oct45 regular/pink front) and it's great. I'm 230lbs and the inserts are absolutely mandatory for me to get good tire performance while not burping all the time. Even if I were lighter I'd still run at least a rear insert. If you're on a hardtail I'd say inserts for sure.

Back in the day (I think it was 2001) I broke an Azonic bar just riding along. Which is to say that a crack inside the bar decided to find its way to the surface and fail completely when I dropped off a curb one afternoon. I managed to stop with the right half of the bar in my hand the left hand and both feet still on the bike. I've been a bit leery ever since then but the rate at which I swap bikes or experiment with rise and backsweep means I rarely keep a bar for more than a couple of years. If a bar gets a major scar I tend to get rid of it pretty soon because you can never really know how bad the damage is. 

I think that minus a major impact or visible damage I think a modern bar should be good for 3+ years. But I tend to buy a new bike every 2-3 years and that almost certainly involves replacing the bar to improve fit so I naturally end up on a shorter timeline, which I have no problem with.

I hope this proves to be the happy balance of extra protection I'm looking for. The previous version didn't offer much extra protection, had no clicker fit adjustment, no MIPS and the visor wasn't adjustable. That's all fixed on this new one.

Posted by: tashi

Yo!  What bar is that?

I bet that's SQ Lab. I have the 30x carbon 12' in high rise but it's actually a little too high on my new bike (which is a novel issue for me). The SQ Labs pricing has gone absolutely insane ($440USD) so I went another route and got the Salsa Rustler in carbon: only $150USD with 11' backsweep, 15mm rise, 800mm width (SQ Lab are only 780) and still 31.8. It looks like a good compromise.

I bought the high rise version of the 30x (ostensibly 45mm rise but it seems like less) for the XL Dreadnought with its tiny 120mm head tube. When I switched to the XXL  Megatower with its very manly 150mm head tube I find myself with the stem buried (finally!) but with no adjustment options but to buy another bar. When the Salsa arrives I think this will be the first bike I've ever had where I can get the correct ride height with zero spacers.

40% off most cane creek products is on now - Helms, Kitsuma air and coil and eewings, but not the new coil-air shock.  https://canecreek.com/