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

New bike day is here! Had a blast this morning ripping around on the new DV9.

A few things I noticed right off the bat:
- Needs a longer stem. The reach feels miniscule. I have a 70mm on my Enduro and this has 50mm so I'm thinking a swap may be in order
- The 29" by 2.25" tires are... different... than the 27.5x2.6" that I've been on mostly. They roll over the tech better, yet don't seem to hold momentum as well. Which also means they get going quickly in comparison which is nice.
- Speaking of going quickly, when you pedal, this thing MOVES. it is such a fun feeling
- Forces me to really really pay attention to my riding
- Bike yoke dropper post is orgasmic
- It is very light and very quick and very playful feeling
- Lastly, it's gonna take a bit of work to get everything set up how I want it. On top of the stem I mentioned, it's got a -2* angleset in the headtube that may or may not stick around, I think wider bars might be nice, and I think clipless pedals are in the future. Just need more time in the saddle to figure it out!

Overall impression is that over everything else this thing is FUN. Had an absolute blast today and am so stoked to get out more

 

I think I got my bike to the point where Back pain after climbing won't be an issue at least for normal length rides. I got in about 7 miles of steep techy climbing, and my legs were tired before I felt anything in lower back. On the way down I did feel it in my lower back some but that's just from getting way back on the bike for the steeps. Riding is going to get a lot more enjoyable now.

 

So, what worked?

 

Congrats on the new bike!

Do you have super long arms and short legs?

 

Bars forward slightly more so the grip portion was slightly higher up, combined with seat all the way forward and finally figured out how to adjust the ANGLE of the seat. The angle is the main kicker I believe. the back of it was angled down by abt 9 degrees. Now front sits down abt 5. I'm sure I'll make more small adjustments but until now I had never really thought about changing stuff on the bike. I always thought it was another example of my body hating me for over use in years of simultaneous travel baseball and soccer. My Elbows and knees I don't believe can be saved by bike adjustments but at least I've got my G form knee pads. They absolutely suck to pedal in though...

 

Oof! If the back of the seat was that low, no wonder your back was hurting.

Also, stretching shouldn't be ignored. Because of the bicycle dynamic, we are prone to tight hamstrings. Keep those hammy's loose and it relieves pressure on the lower back.

 

Yea I still have to do numerous stretches for long term knee treatment from some operations I had done. I'm probably more flexible now than ever. I feel like stretching should be a normal thing for everyone no matter what activities they participate in. But hey I'm not a doctor.

 

That's gotta be it!
You know what they say though: long arms, long ...

Right? right? No, just me?

 

the semi drunk me wants to say "argh! that's not a taco nor a bike! argh!" but i understand. it's a pretty truck! In GREAT condition. Well done good sir.

 

Oops, wrong thread, I deleted. Lol

 

lolol. Oh well.

 

Reason being I have my TW icon set for this thread when I open the site. I as well had one margarita too much tonight.

 

I'm on a glass of wine. I understand.

 

Yeah I broke an Evil frame a few years ago. They were pretty chill about the whole thing and crash-replaced the frame that I did not buy new. It was cool

 

Well, had a friend buy a Trek EX 9.8

Seems like a really nice bike from the LBS.

 

Is that the orange/grey one? If so that color is really neat in person.

 

I haven't saw it yet, I'm really hoping it's orange/grey and the XT version.
Pretty sweet the rims are carbon.

 

Awesome! There are plenty of good knee pads that don't suck to pedal in though, no need to suffer with those.

 

Figured I’d share this. Guy I rode with at Windrock does same day turn around on suspension and droppers.

GearWork

 

So sizing...

At 5'10" I'm usually right between M and L sizes for most companies. With similar geometry, it seems about 50-50 whether a company recommends M or L. Traditionally I have always downsized to M after a couple too-big size L bikes way back in the day. Is anyone else in the same boat and have some more recent experience going one way or the other? Ideally I'd be able to test ride both....but it's not easy to do here in a normal year let alone during the covid shortage.

I know it comes down to preference with general ride characteristics being more stable if you size up and more nimble if you size down. In practice I don't really know which way to skew. Looking at used bikes and really considering pulling the trigger on something without being able to ride it. Itching for a bike change. Gets even trickier when you consider bike style. Say it's a short travel 29er....do you size down to emphasize the playful quick attributes of the short travel bike, or do you go up to squeeze out a bit more stability?

Currently on a 2018 Transition Scout size M. 450 reach, 603 effective TT. Fit generally seems good but it's what I'm used to. This bike seemed huge after coming off my way-too-small size M Pivot Mach 5.7 but I can imagine going up now. I think I have longer legs and shorter torso/arms. Makes me wonder if a size M makes sense so I don't get too stretched out.