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

I was lucky enough to recently be featured in Outdoorx4 magazine with my Fat Bike.

 

On the Sentinel have you ever felt the need to switch the rear shock to a climb setting on any unpaved surfaces? Sometimes on my Trance 2 I'll switch it to the climb setting on the fire road or non techy single-track. I already know a bike like sentinel would be perfect for my abilities going downhill since I'm about average of a rider for Phoenix area.

 

Here is my Ghost and Santa Cruz

 

I swap my shocks to climb mode out of habit most times, but I totally could run it in the mid setting no issues. Sentinel climbs amazingly well for the size of it. Most of the trails I ride are pretty buff on the way up, and maybe only one techy spot, so it doesn't make sense to lose the efficiency.

 

Yooooo I passed you guys on Ridgeline when you went left when you shoulda went right.

Glad you enjoyed your time in the area - plenty of good stuff a little further out too.

 

If I was on the current carbon Scout I'd be less likely to be looking. I'm on the AL SBG...sick bike but a bit heavy and I'd like to try 29er. Otherwise it balances my needs quite nicely if I'm honest. Just getting the itch to try something else.

Yeah the more I think about it, I should probably just get a Spur (once available) then worry about a bigger bike if I find I need one. I have a feeling the Spur will keep me happy on 90% of my local riding.

I'm on the original SBG Scout. I never use the full climb unless on pavement. In fact, I only recently started messing with the middle "trail" setting and rode with it fully open on everything. Great technical climber that way. I do find the extra efficiency and responsiveness nice on the trail setting for more pedally punchy forest trails if they are fairly smooth. I have heard the V2 Sentinel pedals a bit more lively than the OG.

 

You can do this to the RS revelation too and doing that to either the pike or the revelation makes it similar to the Pike ultimate right? Did you guys do anything similar to the rear shock? Mine came with a monarch which seems to be on a lot of the basic or FS bikes in the mid 2,000 range.

 

When I serviced the rear shock I added two more volume spacers and generously lubed the chamber. They're awfully cheap with the grease at the factory.
Honestly when i bought this bike I was coming over as a Fox die-hard I figured to eventually upgrade to Fox suspension but this stuff works as well, easy to work on and is lighter too. Not a Single complaint with RS suspension stuff from me

 

Interesting... So assuming I am looking at around 2 years or so until I could upgrade entirely, do you think just servicing both is more ideal? I have a buddy I know who works at MRP who has been keeping his eye out on a demo fork or a used pike so I am glad to hear the good reviews from the pike. I was leaning just replacing that route but he was very serious about the benefits of servicing servicing servicing. Mine doesn't have a lot of hours and I just wasn't impressed with it but he is the professional.

 

Planning a road trip with the gf's brand new outback, in the upcoming months. Hoping to get some opinions on bike racks.

Well be driving several hundred miles over the course of a week, hitting some spots to ride our bikes. I'd like to get a tray style bike rack versus ones you strap to the top tube, for piece of mind for stability and less wear on the top tube.

Since I have a truck and a tailgate pad, i would hate to buy a super expensive tray style bike rack, but I also know you get what you pay for and last thing I want is bike parts all over the highway. Haha. But if we're going anywhere with bikes we normally just take the truck.

Not sure on budget yet, not sure I want to go full out on a $800 rack. But still would like to hear your guys opinions. Thanks!

 

I would look into 1Up and just bite the bullet.. I have a lot of Thule products and really like them but I always gawk at the 1Ups.. Expensive.. so I couldn't justify it, then I heard they have incredible customer service and that you can replace broken parts forever haha. My thules are holding up because I keep them in the garage, but it is showing a lot of wear and the plastic will eventually give out.. just do it.. Plus if you sell them you'll probably get full price. I look frequently and I Rarely ever see them for sale and they go quick at near full price... Just like our trucks.. ha

 

My understanding is the debonair spring is what makes RS forks in to an ultimate, yes. My Pike is the "select" model though and I'm very impressed with it. In fact, I think it's better than the Fox36 I'm running on my Rallon.

I have the Pike on a HT, and I have a Fox DPS2 on my Rallon, so can't comment on RS stuff in the rear.

Servicing is definitely really important, but there are a lot of improvements going from a Reba to a Pike. For me, stanchion diameter was a huge factor since the Reba felt like a wet noodle to me and thus didn't track nicely over rough terrain. No amount of servicing could fix that. I also think the spring in the Pike is just much better than the Reba.

I'd say if you ride a lot, and ride hard, you will notice the improvement upgrading to a Pike. You can pretty much ride all the same stuff on either fork, but the pike is just much more confidence inspiring.

 

Great answer. I forgot about the stanchion diameter differences. Probably worth it in itself.

 

1up stuff is super nice! I wish I could justify spending the money on it. That rack is more expensive than the gf's marlin 6. Haha.

But from what I've seen most quality similra tray style racks is all within the same price range give our take 100 ish buck's. Might have to just bite the bullet

 

Buy a more expensive bike then it wont be! -Unwanted Financial Advisor

 

Then I can't afford the expensive rack. I'll end up tying the bikes on the roof with rope.

 

You're gonna get the "1up" answer here no matter what. lol. Yakima holdup or Kuat are other options. If you want, you could also go with the yakima hangover (vertical rack).
that said, I'm kinda meh on Yakima given previous experience. But they work.

 

You can also find non 1 up stuff used fairly easily haha new.. Go 1up 100% I just didn't because you can get Thule racks for like 100 each or less for a good roof tray or 200 isn for a hitch rack.

 

Tacomaworld continues to be a money pit even if its non tacoma advice. Haha. I need to go back to having a bigger bank account and no hobbies. Haha.

With that being said, I might have a 1up rack for sale in a couple months...... Whos interested?

 

@slowlane I got a Yakima Holdup 2 ages ago and really have had no complaints. For the price at the time (~$250) it's hard to beat. Nothing has broken or needed replacing over that time other than the beer opener is worn out. Probably the biggest downside now (nearly a decade later) is bikes are much longer and the design was clearly for shorter bikes. Still holds bikes securely on anything but off-roading type double tracks. I've driven thousands of miles with bikes hanging off the back of our vehicles with that rack.