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

POC just dropped SPIN and went to MIPS with their new helmets. I actually just bought a Poc Tectal SPIN myself because it was a lot cheaper than this year's MIPS version.

 

I've had the ability to really ride my new Fezzari which has a 77.5 STA and holy cow, it is a huge difference compared to my 74.7 Stumpjumper. I didn't think it would be as big of a difference, but the typical climbs that I would slog up before, I could be a in a lower gear and cruise right up. I can't sit and go downhill - almost a requirement now to drop the seat post (have stuffed the front tire already as I wasn't used to it), but there is nothing wrong with having to stand to enjoy a decent.

To your statement, I had no idea what I was missing and was a pretty strong climber before (was by no means a requirement to go with a steeper angle), but the steep STA completely changed the ride.

 

My thoughts exactly haha. We grew up riding bmx together, but he started riding MTB less than a year ago. I was happy to stand on the sidelines taking pics and vids

 

Ordered, thanks for sharing the link.

 

Nope, just two variations of the same concept.

 

I got Base Salt. Basically Himalayan pink salt in a tube. Nice and handy you just take a lick every now and then and good to go. Salt is an amazing substance haha. Similar to the salt caps.

 

Seconded. Went from a V2 Bronson (74* before being overforked 10mm) to my Sentinel (76.x*) and it was revolutionary for climbing. Then took one last rip on the Bronson before I sold it for nostalgia and it was awful by comparison.

 

It was also a game changer for me. Jumping on the 429 I noticed the slackness within a couple mins of pedaling, mostly in my core, and it felt like my hams were doing more work. The reach value is the same as my current ride otherwise.

 

I'm glad it wasn't just me then in regards to the STA! I was waiting and expecting the typical quad burn and lactic acid buildup on the climbs, but my legs didn't fill up like before. I even shifted up a couple gears and in spite of pushing harder, it wasn't any more labor intensive, just went faster. Granted these climbs weren't monster elevation gains, but the technical punch needed to get up them would erode away the stamina as the ride went on.

It honestly was eye opening how different it was to climb - I felt like I was sitting on top of a pedestal for a lot of the ride, but the novelty of that went away pretty quickly. Looking back at my riding group, it was almost like cheating.

 

You guy’s from PNW, are places like Bellingham year round riding bc weather is never too cold and the summers are never too hot. It’s more of how wet are the wet trails I’m assuming.

Is it too hot to ride? No, but that pressure is off. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Second this - Wife and I usually pound a gatorade post ride and it helps bring things back to normal. No stranger to heat, being on deployment in the Persian Gulf on a 120+ degree flight deck is no party...you definitely learn a thing or two about staying hydrated.

 

Can confirm... now you`re on a lighter bike that climbs like a goat... gonna have fun chasing you up hills with my slack ass STA now...

 

Dont even got the wheel yet, comes Friday . But im to excited to wait

 

And in introduce possibly the first Niner WFO E9 with a twin crown fork.

dont mind the front wheel held in by a stick rn lol. The new one is coming.
Now what to do with the zeb and that old front wheel.

 

I've had a similar experience with my new pivot switchblade. Which seems to be basically a scaled up version of the 429 from what I can tell.
It's been an awesome bike so far and I'm excited to put some more miles on it. It's a great contrast to my long travel 29er trek slash. Definitely a more do it all rig than my big bike.
The DW Link works awesome and it has quite a bit more pop off of jumps and lips than the trek.
Agree that you have to be more selective in line choice with it though than a long travel Enduro sled like a megatower/Enduro/etc...

For the switchblade being advertised as more of a trail bike than full-blown enduro, it's a bit surprising that the trail 429 has a slacker seat tube angle. It's 75.5 on the switchblade and 75.6 on my slash interestingly (both size large in low setting).

The DW link does help a lot in pedaling, but I still do get some of that stretched out, big bike feeling on some climbs which I believe is largely due to that seat tube angle.
I would imagine something in the 76 to 77° range would be more noticeably supportive.
But I guess everything has trade offs so who's to say what characteristics that would change if you were to make that change.

And ya, why do pivots have to be so damn expensive :/

 

You gotta love being able to ride from the house and be on singletrack in 5 minutes.

 

My Hightower has a 77* STA in the high setting... and it climbs like a goat for a 33lb beast with 65.5* HTA. Schmancy wheels and 52T Eagle don't hurt either...

 

ordered that POC helmet from REI and got some chester pedals too. needed some pedals and have heard good things about them.

also, i fell on my road bike and the handle bars has a decent scratch on the left drop on the outside. doesn't seem deep, but anyone have an idea on bar integrity? pretty sure they're alloy, definitely not carbon, dont think theyre steel. i think they would be fine to ride but maybe im just getting in my head thinking they would snap while im riding.

 

Not a bike expert, only getting into this. However I have done a little bit of studying metals. Integrity is going do depend on the size of the scratch and thickness of the bars, but I guess it's probably fine.

Aluminum does tend to gouge and grab onto whatever is abrading it, rather than steel which scratches and slides.

Generally there are two really common failures with metals: static and fatigue. An example of static failure would be that your bars fail when you lean on them hard. I'd say that a static failure of the bars is highly unlikely if there's only a minor abrasion.

A fatigue failure would be like if the bars slowly started to crack near the scratch after routinely riding on a bumpy road. Certain factors, such as the surface finish, shape, loading type (axial vs bending) can had an impact on fatigue life. Again I think for a small scratch, then you're probably fine. If you were to see a failure, it would probably be a fatigue failure and you'd notice cracks presenting themselves around the damaged area. Aluminum is less resistant to the effects of localized plastic strains (think little tiny stretching and unstretching of a part) when compared to steel, so it's more susceptible to fatigue.

I think it's probably fine, unless it's a massive gouge. But if it gives you piece of mind, bars are cheap ish (again not a bike expert, and you might have fancy bars).

 

I also bought this helmet. Great deal. Can we nominate you King Deal Finder?