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

That's a fair point!

I will admit that I pull out my Rallon whenever I'm on a group ride and we're doing a trail similar to what you describe. It's not fun to get gassed and dropped by your buddies when you know you can keep up. For what I love to ride most, I need to have a big boy bike. Since the Rallon is a really efficient pedaler too, it fills that gap for me. For most of our group rides here, I can keep up just fine on the HT though and so I ride that as much as possible to make things spicier.

Truth be told, I'd love to have one of these new fangled "upduro" bikes for the in-between rides.

Was the aggressive HT you rode a 26" wheel? That would make a huge difference!

 

The wifey just said if I spent 5-6k on a bike she’d be ticked lol. But she’d be ok with me owning two 3k bikes....

 

You always have the option of not telling her! Lol way to build trust in that first year of marriage.

 

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2996594/

 

Haha right? I told her that I’d buy it and she’d never know.

but if possible I could buy a bike in a lower build quality and build it up. But the ranger is ruled out sadly.

 

Some trails with the Nomad in the back

 

It shouldn't. A well made Carbon frame will survive where metal simply cant. I've seen double-butted CroMo frames spiral apart like a wrapping paper tube. I've AL welds crack (a lot) and I've seen a cheap CF frame break at the headset. There is no unbreakable material. But this video should reassure you. The final test, where they are swinging the frame against a concrete block. Metal can't do that.
https://youtu.be/w5eMMf11uhM

Not saying CF is better in every way. The environmental impact of CF really sucks. But also, the life expectancy of a CF frame is significantly longer than most metals. Anecdotally, I rammed my BB into a planted rock hard enough that my teeth hurt. I thought for sure I destroyed the bike. It didn't even chip the paint. CF is strong as balls.

Personally, once I started riding CF. I can't imaging going back to metal. The best way I can describe it, is it feels like CF is working with you where metal is just being metal. AL is springy. Steel is compliant. Ti is pretty... (I raced a Ti Zaskar back in the day). But CF, by design, flexes in very programmed ways.

 

Buying from a great brand like Santa Cruz will also guarantee you a great warranty.

 

$401?!

lol... fuck all that.

Those clowns be clownin'.

 

Santa Cruz are pricier for similar specs than these direct to consumers, but you’re paying for one of the highly rated warranties in the MTB world.

 

Its not here in the states yet, that price is in New Zealand currency.

 

Speaking of warranties: Anyone have experience working with Evil or Transition for warranty stuff?

 

Seriously. I grenade'd a CF Reserve wheel. I call Santa Cruz expecting a bit of a fight. The first question was "are you okay/uninjured" the second question was "whats your address to mail you a new wheel" So refreshing from so many other companies that try to sneak out of warranty claims.

 

Any company that cares first about customer is golden in my books!
That makes Santa Cruz look great, I've read others reviews that states that's the first thing they ask.

 

Can definitely confirm the "pricier" bit

 

Prototype MKII for the wheel holder thing. Official name forthcoming...

I think this weekend I'll be able to do some alpha testing






Regular 100x15, Boost 110x15, Fat Bike 150x15

Special thanks to @TMCmakes for all the machining.

 

Dumb question but how do you angle the saddle on a bike forward and raise the rear of the saddle. Playing around with adjustments today to see if I can pinpoint cause of back pain. It seems to me that I allow my hips to roll back so I can take the pressure point off my tailbone, but to compensate I lean forward by habit, causing a pretty large curve in lower back, and over long duration I'm betting that's the killer.
I did move the seat forward all the way which did help a tiny bit, and I tried lowering my seat post so that full extension on dropper is not as high, which did also help a small amount but I noticed that change when I was climbing for sure. My quads burn a little extra today.
I may also look into getting the padded shorts/sliders that some people wear so that I can avoid the habit of rolling my hips back which leads to the correction by arching my back.
Edit: Just watched first 9 minutes of this video. Seems spot on with what I was thinking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oMRXyqdXeg

 

I didn't watch the video, I have my seat also moved as far forward as seat recommends and angled slightly downward. I'm not sure how people have seats flat or angled up.

 

IN!

 

There are some really decent road bike fit videos on Youtube, but also you may want to get a professional bike fit. MTB riders have different needs than road bike riders because saddle time is typically focused on climbing.

So as MTB we tend to compromise,.for lack of a better word, seat position for climbing. That tends to mean nose slightly down and seat forward to ensure weight is on our sit bones, pressure off our perinneial vein, the bike is angled uphill, and we are over the pedals more than a roadie would want to be.

Make sense?