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

I don’t qualify for expert voice unfortunately. My moms employee discount at scheels is useless cus they don’t stock mainline helmets

If I can’t find something at northstar village and use my friends employee 40% off imma just order this and hope it fits lol. Free returns tho

 

I.... I dont wanna wilderness no more.

 

If anybody needs a fork, CRC has a 130mm Bomber Z2 for $191.

The listing shows both offsets, so kind of a roll of the dice there, but either way, you could get used to it... lol

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com...-boost-fork?_$ja=tsid:54495|cgn:awin|kw:78888

 

I joined Expert Voice last year when I was building my Stumpy Evo, knowing I needed to buy some expensive bits. I ended up saving 20% on Nobl wheels through Expert Voice. I joined IMBA and got the Expert Voice discount that way. Might not be worth it for a helmet purchase, but I joined IMBA for like $30 and saved over $200 on a set of wheels.

 

Agreed. Been using that site for years, through all the name changes. Started with NOLS and other Outdoor Professional credentials. As my employment has changed I’ve switched soley to the IMBA membership. Don’t have access to quite as many brands, but still plenty for my needs. The annual membership fee pays for itself yearly with the savings.

 

I had a great OTB experience over the weekend (over the bars). Tried riding a sliced log skinny over a creek, log had a knot in it, pushed the front tire and I stuffed into the creek bed. Bikes OK, but I bent up the rear brake lever pretty good (like 90 degrees from where it should have been). I bent it back on the trail, really surprised it didn't snap. I was really surprised when I searched for a replacement. Lots of places are still out of stock. I ended up scooping up a lever at Backcountry, but they were the only ones who actually had one. I thought we were past the bike part shortage!

Also, pulled the trigger on the Redshift stem. I've been putting more miles on the gravel bike lately and I'm perfectly comfortable until I get into the rough stuff. I went Redshift over Cane Creek as the CC can only be installed as a 6 degree drop and my current stem is 7 degree rise. We'll see if it makes a difference, but I'm hoping it will take the edge off the bumpy stuff with the gravel bike.

 

I've had such a difficult time getting sram brake parts. I think I've had to order from Australia and somewhere in Asia for a lever and a lever assembly.

 

I have the previous model year of that. the half shell fit is a little odd on my head but the fullface feels pretty good. Feels a bit on the tight side. In order to take teh full face off, I have to unhook the chinbar slightly to avoid pinching my ears.

 

I saw that in videos. Looks like the half sticks out from your head farther than a half shell would. I wonder if since I already have a half shell and don’t NEED the convertible if I’d be better just getting a proper DH helmet vs enduro. They say the convertible is still dh certified tho

 

yeah, i think a proper DH helmet would suit you better in this scenario. I have mine for my enduro races that I do when there's a large pedal. they say it is "dh certified" but i think I'd prefer to trust a proper DH fullface. haha.

 

well, ran into @SenatorBlutarsky at the big mountain enduro! and both of us were just in awe of the racetrack. I ended up not racing a few of the stages out of sheer fear. Kudos to the folks who did finish it. What an intense race.

 

Leatts fit small , size up if you're in-between. Otherwise they make nice helmets.

 

Gave the legs a break this wknd. Beat up everything else instead.

 

Good to see you @ginseng27 !

It was seriously nuts! The world cup dh trail at purgatory is the first trail I've been unable to ride, like the whole bottom half. Links is also quite a trail too, but I was able to clean most of that.

 

oh man im so glad i decided to not do that race then lol

 

190 for Troy Lee gambits and a d3 fiber lite using my friends employee discount. Absolutely. Also meant I got to use cash instead of paying online.
The struggles of working a tip based job lol. Thank god the LBS accepts cash

 

yeah, I think I can clean links. Just didn't do it during practice. I also didn't practice all of pirate so a surprise drop really bucked me off my bike. lol. Luckily minimal injuries.

Yeah, it was loose moondust powder on top of ruts the size of wheels on top of brake bumps the size of wheels on top of steeps so steep you can't stop. Yeah...It got super sketch. Glad I have a decent sense of self preservation. It was a lot of fun to spectate the pro's on some of the sections.

 

Oof, glad you're ok. There were two drops on pirate that kinda sneak up on you.

We heard a guy in the amateur division wrecked bad on the rock waterfall on links. Apparently he was unconscious for a while and had to be carried out on a stretcher. That was really not an appropriate course for amateurs.

 

yeah, one of the amateur men. I showed up to it maybe a minute or two after. I saw bike patrol medic blow past me to get to it. Surprised that there wasn't an EMS already posted up there.

but yeah, it was off the drop right after the waterfall. carried out on a stretcher. Saw a few other amateurs who were still on course when it happened and we had to stop them and they were right on top of the waterfall..and they wer elike, "yeah...no. i'm done." a buddy of mine was right there and he's a nurse so he was first on scene to help. scary shit man.

the course would've been fine if there was traction...and there weren't massive brake bumps/ruts/powder. :/ but when you have hundreds of riders practicing for 2 days...things go from bad to worse.

 

People who ride with a smart watch - looking for a little input. Garmin has a bonkers sale on their Fenix 6X solar at the moment and contemplating jumping on it. Currently use an Apple series 6 watch, but starting to despise how integrated it is with my phone and day to day life (have an iphone). My cell phone is the work business line and I can't ever get away (daily wear the watch for time keeping) - not to mention it needs a daily charge to keep running.

The garmin seems appealing because it has great battery life (two weeks without a charge is awesome in the dumb mode), and I can break away from the phone for a little bit. Every review I see between the two watches never seems to give a definitive answer or the preferences are split. Not a huge fan of the size of the 6X (51mm), but I could either live with it, or pay a little more for the smaller size.