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

So…. how does she like her new bike?

 

I like it...um I mean she loves it.

 

Nice choice, although I may be biased. It does a great job climbing for what it is. Interesting that it’s a GX/SRAM build with an X2.

 

there was a report a few days back that i read that basiacllys aid yeah, California money is a factor but it's not the main factor. it's just immigration into the state as a whole from all over. Coupled with high birth rate 20 years ago. (surprise surprise). But the cali money isn't helping, that's for sure.

 

If I move from Virginia then the mountain states are the highest on my list. They are just better haha. Helping prove your report there haha

 

Really though, there is plenty of space in the mountain west. Utah as a whole is constantly building, always new developments popping up everywhere. I moved here in 1998, then out to CO for a few years, then back. Both states are seeing the same issue, and both have more than enough undeveloped space for people to live and play.
I don't really get the "Don't move here" vibe. If building is done responsibly, trails built and expanded, access improved as money comes in, then everyone benefits. Even expanded outdoor recreation can be done responsibly, respecting nature and the animals who live there. If you're like me and don't want to recreate around others, find other places to go. It's good for the soul anyway to explore and not ride the same shit all the time.
I will say, that UT (more than CO) is definitely not overly concerned with doing things "right" unfortunately. Money talks, "environmentalists" walk. Some of the shady shit that goes down in this state, from air quality to building practices and land access, is mind blowing. We are blessed with arguably the world's most beautiful and varied geography, and it's heartbreaking to see it uncared for.

 

That looks freakin rad!

 

Sorry, we're full. @abacall took the last spot

 

Influx of transplants is def a thing, but none of these Utah born and bred locals realize that continuously having 5 kids to a family explodes population growth as well, and in a much more dramatic way.

 

Interesting... I was between Spank and I9 for my wheels. I eventually settled in on the I9 Enduro S and waiting for them to be built (I guess wheel builds are a few months out at this point). I9 has been awesome, I called them with what are likely really dumb questions in my decision making process and I got someone on the phone every time and they were great to deal with, even though I'm essentially ordering the low end of their product line. I didn't need or really want carbon, I was more after the better engagement for the hub. Can't wait to get them, they're going on a Polygon that's turning into an obsession and something I'm dumping way too much money into...

 

I watched an interesting video about population growth, as humans become more intelligent and wealthy/industrialized the whole human breeding thing slows to where it's rare to see over 2 kids per family.
Anyways, this gave me room to bring up one of my favorite youtube channels.

 

You really cant go wrong with I9.

 

Oh yeah, its a well established observation that education level is the inverse of family size usually. The caveat is when you have a sizeable majority of a state being members of a church that essentially preaches large families, its a little different.

 

It was the local bike shop owners rig that he only rode 4 times. It has a mix of parts: Gx casette/e13 derailleur/trp trail evo brakes/new x2/Zeb ultimate. He took off some Ewing cranks and a set of project 321 hubs laced to some dt swiss rims. He also removed some dvo coil shock. He wanted an extra thousand for the cranks and wheels but I couldn’t afford it. The best part is that it comes with the lifetime warranty.

 

Not sure if you can cancel or got a deal or whatever, but Competitive Cyclist has the I9 Enduro S wheels in stock and a 10% off coupon works on them (sign up for the mailing list). I just got a set of the Hydra hub Enduro S wheels from them about a month ago for like $875

 

Sweet deal, perfectly fine buying discounted bike store bikes. Sounds like he built a bike with the most expensive in stock parts.

 

Wow, not bad at all! I'm at $775 for the standard Enduro S. I did look around to see what's in stock and the in stock options didn't have the brake setup I needed. Bike currently has centerlock, I know, I can switch to 6 bolt but just bought new CL rotors... Might be short sighted, who knows... I also tend to like the way the 1/1 works over the Hydra. I know the Hydra is new and fancy, but I can't get my head around how that whole setup works long term. It has to flex to engage which I don't really like (I know it's me being paranoid) but I'm good with the performance the 1/1 will give me over the stock Polygon hubs.

 

So, they didn't have the weights of some SB+ hubs, but we can assume weight difference is the same. I'm a fan of CL hubs as well. If you're SB+ look at Pivot groups on FB, I believe most of their bikes come with CL hubs.

If you can find some Hydra CL Hubs you can save your ass a whopping 1g of weight. If you go 6B you put on a porky 15g.
Interesting article Noble did https://noblwheels.com/blog/actual-hub-weights/?v=7516fd43adaa

 

Oh, if I start becoming a weight snob, I have about 30 lbs that I have no excuse to be carrying around... I'm not competitive, I will save weight where I can, but I'm ultimately after better function. I was surprised that the Lyrik 35 mm was half a pound lighter than the Recon 32 mm fork it replaced. I didn't expect that to be a weight saving upgrade since it is a much beefier component.

 

I'm really not in the market right now. I have two new-to-me bikes I've barely ridden and need to get 2 of the 3 I'm currently holding sold before I'd be looking. And I have a feeling I'm going to keep the Following, but I don't want to put money in to wheels until I'm sure.

People do love to blame CA and that's some of it for sure, but yeah, folks are migrating to the mountain west from all over the country. And the recent trend of full time telework with high paying tech jobs isn't going to help. I know I'd consider a (perhaps minor) relocation if I wasn't tied to a location by my job.