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

Man I’d take the switchblade! Lots of moments on TWE where you will not be sorry for extra squish.

 

Where did you list it? Size?

 

Nice 2 day ride on the bike as a 38mi bikepacking loop over on the Oly Peninsula. Hot, dry, sunny, forest fire filled smokey air from Canada. But really good gravel riding.

Made some bikepacker friends along the way and ended up sharing a campsite.

Got some ice cream that was amazing, but super sketch down a gravel backroad in the middle of nowhere to celebrate the ride. Wrapped it up with a WA ferry ride to finish the trip.











Little weary and saddle sore on day 2



Ride Complete!

 

I'd highly recommend the switchblade but you can definitely ride Moab on the Evo.

 

i would bring the bigger bike. Unless, you have some heavier duty 29'r wheels and tires you can slap on the Epic. While the frame can probably handle most of the smaller drops, it's the square edge slabs of rock at speed plus only 120mm of travel that can destroy xc wheels and tires. Just as a warning if you are trying to sell the SB, I almost never leave Moab/Fruita without a few new scratches on the bike.

 

All the recent rains are restoring Bear Creek (Ellijay, GA) back to it's original chunky goodness.

 

Agree with the others. Have done TWE many times, only once on the smaller bike (140/120) and it beat me up. It was super fun, definitely upped the spiciness of the upper section and lower porcupine. But honestly it's more fun and less beatdown on the bigger bike.
You can always bring the Epic for everything else and rent for TWE. So many options in town for great bikes and no wear and tear on your own. TWE can eat bikes if you don't know the lines.

 

The first time I did Amasa Back, Slickrock, Moab Rim and LPS, I was on my Klein Attitude with a 75mm SID and 2.0 tires. Fun times.

 

Back when men were men.

 

Ended up getting a pair of Fox Unions this weekend. Two good rides in on them and so far they seem decent, good balance of grip and stiff soles. My pinky toe is a little sore today, but idk if its related.

Also manned up and hit a medium sized step down; always feels good to conquer some of those little demons.

 

Quick question for those running a Fox Float X Elite (specifically on a SJ Evo Expert in this application.) Do most of you run with the lever moved to the "firm" position? I seem to get better action in that mode unless it's strictly a downhill section. Even downhill switchbacks, I leave it in that firm mode. I have the air pressure around suggested for my weight. Just curious because the manual makes it almost seem like I should be in the standard mode more often. But in that mode, it's hard to lift the front, manual or even do smaller jumps because the shock sort of eats up any action by going down into the travel.

I've just been trying different things in my set up and figured I'd ask.

 

I ride Moab with a crew every year that's been going for like 17 years now. It's crazy to see how the amount of time it takes to ride TWE has changed. It was an all day adventure and now we can get it done in under four hours easily. I think there were even zero mechanicals in a crew of 15 dudes last year. Bikes are amazing these days!

I had my like new bike day yesterday after re-building my Offering. Evil got a new triangle out to me within four days of submitting my claim. I had the entire bike stripped down (every single bolt), cleaned it all, re-ride wrapped, re-greased/lubed everything, and put it all back together. The bike felt so so good!

Trails in park city are in amazing shape with the recent rains; just a few puddles to bunny hop. We have a new black trail (change reaction) high-up in PCMR and it's amazing! Also rode Red Bull and it was by far the best I've ever seen it.

 

You are so not kidding bro. It's like a night and day difference between that first experience and the last time when I did it on my Insurgent with full coil setup and Maxxis DHR and DHF a few years ago. You can hit things so much harder and faster.

That's pretty cool that Evil turned that around for you pretty fast. It was obviously a frame defect. I've heard good things about Evil CS. I've never had to warranty a frame but I have reached out to them a few times via email and they've always been super fast to respond.

 

I had read bad things about they're customer service online, everyone I talk to has had good experiences though. The only negative I'm hearing is that their frames do seem to break a lot but at least they take care of you when it happens.

 

When I still had the Fox shock, I ran it in firm mode for most riding situations unless I was strictly pointed downhill, as you mentioned. I ended up swapping to a DVO Topaz, very happy with the upgrade. It seems to pedal better in the open position and there’s a middle position that I use for extended up, the firm position on the DVO is damn near locked out, I don’t use that position at all. I can climb with the DVO fully open just fine. I’m not an expert by any means, but I do like the way the DVO performs better than the Fox did. Seems to pedal better but still soaks up shit really well.

 

PSA- if you're using 1Up racks, check all the bolts, including the expander ball bolt, once in a great while I've had a few loosen up on me. This one happened today. Luckily, the bolt was found on my garage floor (must've fallen off the last time I took the bike off the rack).

 

yeah, i've gotten into that habit of checking all of my bolts on the rack. :/ real suck

 

maybe adding some lock washers or locktite should be a thing on the loose bolts? Up until last week my 1up had been on my truck since the winter so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some loose bolts.

 

I’ve tightened mine before as well. Luckily it caught my eye while loading one day.

 

Great, thanks for the input. I just was making sure that my experience wasn't too far outside the norm.