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

Bigfoot

 

I did with a similar Yakima setup and two pieces of angle iron I welded together. This was first and only time I’ve ever attempted to weld, so basically ended up with bunch of buggers. It worked for the light-ish weight loads I put on it before getting my topper.

 

Nice work! I only use my bars for bikes so that would have worked for me too.

 

I would think XC+ and "downcountry" are about the same thing, and I don't think the SB130 is either one. I have heard they are very efficient but it's a bigger slacker burlier bike than the others. If you want XC+ feeling trail bike I'd be thinking Trail 429, Ripley, Spur, SB115. I think those are in order of most to least capable. I'm not sure the others will have the same efficient pedaling as these if that's your priority.

 

SB100/SB115 frames are some of the most aesthetically pleasing frames imo.

 

They really are... and my demos on them just solidified that I am fully smitten with them. To @abacall 's point; I've reached out to a couple of local-ish Ibis dealers to see if they have anything at all I could demo. The Pivot Mach was nice... but didn't blow my skirt up like the Yeti SB. My emails back and forth with a local-ish Revel dealer puts me into August for a Ranger frame.

 

OK shit got serious.

Ordered summer gloves and padded under shorts with extra ballroom.

 

I've got a Revel Rascal reserved for my AZ trip, looking forward to seeing what the gossip is about.

I'm sure you are paying attention to suspension setup on the rentals/demos; but it makes a big difference in ride. I rented a Mojo HD on a trip to Colorado and it wasnt until day 3 of thinking the bike sucked that I checked over the compression/rebound settings and they were all out of wack. Fixing the suspension settings brought the bike back to what I was expecting.

 

Which Pivot did you actually ride? The Mach 4 is a legit XC race bike right? Doesn't really fit with the others you are looking at.

 

It was the Mach 4 and I was comparing it back-to-back with the SB100 I'd recently demoed prior to the Mach, then filtering both of those with the SB130 demo right after the SB100. The SB115 would probably be a near-perfect marriage but, as expected; I can't find one to ride.

 

Dudeeee that looks epic.

I'll be up in Nampa, ID again July 16-18... Gunna try to throw my bike in so I can go out for a rip... I'll let you know when I sort out my life.

 

@ridge if you really want to make it hard Ibis just dropped a new XC race bike, not in your category but it looks like an interesting bike! Made in the US so kind of expensive but it could be good

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/first...ie-cross-country-bike-is-made-in-the-usa.html

 

Any of you guys have DJs?

Been trying to get out early once a week to the dirt jumps and pump track...what a workout... a few laps around and I'm clapped haha.

 

What I'd like to see from them is a Rip-a-little-mo. Give me something between the Ripley and Ripmo please!

 

I wouldn't be surprised if that was in their plan. I imagine they need decent production numbers to make their new factory worth it. If they aren't bring all production over here then they must be filling the gap some how, maybe with a 130-140ish trail bike

 

That or a bigger enduro bike. Ripmo kind of rides that line between long leg trail bike and enduro bike. 120/140/160 plus or minus a few is kind of an obvious breakdown for a 3 bike lineup, but I really like the 130r range. I think companies with 27.5" bikes incorrectly assume that people will cross shop the two sizes and that their 27.5 bike travel between the two 29ers fills that hole. Ibis and Transition both seem to do this. There's a big gap between the Spur and Sentinel for instance. Or Ripley and Ripmo though they are a bit closer probably.

 

Finally...the Covid bike build is complete. Very happy with how it turned out during these rough supply chain and stock times. (Yes, the front and rear rims are different because my i9 front ended up getting backordered, so I needed to find a temporary one for a couple months).

 

Yeah I've got a P3 I take out on occasion. It wears you out fast, same with mountain bikes and jump lines. Wish I was closer to a dedicated pumptrack/bike park.

 

Dirt jumpers are a great way to stay fit and build skills for the big bike especially that elusive reaction speed

 

Yep, I just use a cable lock. I use a Master lock with the long u-shaped part to block the bolt that tightens the mount so they can't take the rack with the bike.