All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Yeah, thats what I'm thinking. Plus a 50T ring for a few hella stiff ups. That Sentinel pedals remarkably well too. Should be way better than my overforked pig of a V2 Bronson.

 

Stache because I'm on a hardtail fix recently

 

I think I have decided I want a 27.5+ hardtail for my next bike

 

Trust me, it's a hard think. But I just recalled the last time I rode it with Steve of "Hardtail Party" fame, even he mentioned that it wasn't exactly enjoyable after a while and he's a fanatic about hardtails.

 

Ordered a new rear axle cause mine was pretty banged up and wanted to have an extra one in case. Emailed YT to see which axle I needed. They told me 12x148. Ordered it and when I came home I saw that it’s too long. I guess 12x148 is for the newer bikes. I have them specific year but guess they may have overlooked that. However, when taking the axle off to compare I saw that my current axle has a groove cut into it. Any idea on what could cause this? cassette not aligned correctly? Picture below.

 

Haha I have not, the new HEI HEI was released since that conversation and I’m liking that bike, a little on the XC side but I think it would be good for most of my riding. I have told myself to wait until I can test ride a bike though. I can’t even really ride though so gravel thoughts are in my mind now haha.

 

driver bearing/issue?

 

Do it! First ride after the dropper post and new bars happens tonight. Stoked

 

You spelled 29+ wrong, because you desire a Stache and just dont know it yet.

 

I've taken my hardtail down to ride Gooseberry, Little Creek, and Wholly Guacamole before and it's efficient but exhausting on the tushy. You don't realize how bumpy the slick-rock is until you spend a day on a hardtail down there. I always bring my Rallon now even though it's a lot of bike for those trails. Maybe some day I'll get a short travel as well....

 

You can link your strava account to your trailforks account. Use Strava to ride track, trailforks to navigate, and then all of your strava data carries over to trailforks for trail reports, trails ridden, etc.

 

Yeah, I could def enjoy a 100mm XC squisher to straddle the hardtail / enduro bike quiver I have at the moment. Just when I sold 2 bikes, the siren call of N+1 strikes again! An SC Blur or SB100 has been calling my name for a while.

 

SB100 would be killer on those trails. I'd definitely consider the Evil Following as well if I were getting something shorter travel. My wife rides a Pivot Mach 4 and it's amazingly versatile.

Perhaps the hardtail with some 27.5+ wheels would do the trick....?!?!

 

Stache is 29+ for extra bulldozing ability. Still pretty sure I'm taking the sentinel though. Getting the 29+s right for taking out the chatter adds to the rolling resistance, and on a hot 89* day and a long ride, that's not welcome.

 

I love my Chameleon. I bet you wish you could get it in 26”...
But I’m a fan of aluminum. Mine was built in the USA too. Which is kinda cool for some folks. (Most carbon is produced is Asia and the carbon fiber fabrication isn’t as environmentally friendly, if that matters to you.)

 

Having worked at a smelting operation and a plant that made carbon fiber stuff for the defense industry, it's a pick your poison exercise more than anything.

Carbon utilizes noxious chemicals, and the leftovers can't be recycled. Some debate over disposal practices, but it isn't pretty either way.

Aluminum is recyclable yes, but requires a MASSIVE amount of energy to produce fresh ingot. Especially if you look at the efforts required to dig the ore out of the ground, generate the power required to smelt it, etc. It can be recycled, but again, the recycle rate is very small, requires a ton of energy to melt down again, etc.

Pretty much the same debate as the hybrid car model. Yeah, you aren't using petroleum (good), but lithium mining practices are just as bad or worse, plus the power plant being potentially coal fired. Its just farther upstream so you don't see the effects as much.

If one was to buy a bike solely on eco merit, some of those bamboo frames are kinda interesting. Not disagreeing with your point, its just all on a relative scale for a purely discretionary hobby like MTB.

 

I thought 80% of the aluminum used in the US was recycled? I know we dont make that much stuff any more but I was under the impression that it was very easy (and cheaper) to recycle Aluminum vs mining.

 

good points.

Revel started a new carbon fiber process for their wheels, hoping their frames get the same treatment in the future, would be cool so see a company set a new standard for that kind of thing.

I don’t consider myself a hippy or anything, but I do appreciate nature and want to conserve the areas that I like to play in. Went diving a while back and when we got to the dive destination, it was littered with trash. Super disappointing. (We picked it all up though)

 

Per Wikipedia: Aluminium is an infinitely recyclable material, and it takes up to 95 percent less energy to recycle it than to produce primary aluminum, which also limits emissions, including greenhouse gases. Today, about 75 percent of all aluminum produced in history, nearly a billion tons, is still in use.

My wife has her Masters in Environmental Management from Duke, I knew she spat some numbers like this at me one time, had to look it up though. @Gunshot-6A

 

Versus new stock, of course. Mining takes a ton of resources to keep going. Recycling just means you melt and reform it again. But a smelter uses 10-15kW per kilo of aluminum. That's not exactly "eco". Plus most of the recycled stock you use to prime the crucibles is industrial cutoffs, not bike frames.