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

Appreciate the insight guys! Sounds like my head was in the right place travel wise, just need to decide what to pull the trigger on. Sounds like both the Hightower and Ripmo are good options, I've got a quicksand Tacoma so it's hard to not want the tan HT.

Bannerman, thanks for the thoughts on the rack. I am leaning towards doing the tray racks over the bed. Looks like 1Up is also competitively priced, looking locally at used Thule options priced the about the same.

 

Well I was sorely let down by Stans sealant a couple weeks ago and finally decided to try out Orange Seal Endurance in hopes that I could salvage a nearly brand new Rene Hearse tire with a sidewall puncture. Sure enough sealed right up on the first try. We shall see after it has some time to "cure" in that hole and then put some weight and riding on it but the immediate sealing action is a good sign. I think Im finally done with Stans for good.

The little chunk of goo underneath the k in kPa is where the sidewall is sealed. There is also a hole in the tread immediately above where you can see some sealant.

 

Whoever posted the Light and Motion coupon a while back, thanks! Taz2000 came in today and I am prepped for night time sendage!

 

If you are really going to explore CA, at least try out a FS bike before deciding. Some of the trails have washboardy descents. I’m running my once-expensive mid-2000s 26” bikes, and there are some trails I will not take my hard tail down because it’s that unpleasant at speed.

Edit: that pic was for Randy. You missed out on employee discounts on the new BD #21 cam!

 

I found a guy selling a 2013 Trek superfly 100 al pro in a size large. Hard to tell from the pics but it looks like its well cared for. He was asking 800 but just lowered to $750, the negative is he lives about 2 hours away. Any of you have any thoughts or experience with that bike?

This site seems to think its a decent value.
https://www.bicyclebluebook.com/value-guide/product/3044794/

Bike looks like this:

 

depending on your age, your knees can be your rear shocks on a hard tail. They can’t be rebuilt though, and once they go they are pretty much never gonna get right

 

ah man I forgot about that!!

 

cant see a number but... it looks like it’s about 100mm of travel. That is a cross country bike, not really designed to run trails, especially some of the trails in SoCal. That’s like a ride fast on a dirt road kind of bike.

 

Switched to Orange endurance a year ago. It rocks. Seals crazy good, lasts a long time, no giant sealant boogers.

 

I used to ride that hard tail as a single speed too, and up and down steep single track at that. Then my back said No Thank You.

 

FNF50EX is still good for a little bit but keep it on the down low.

 

Itll also eat maxxis tires over time. After half a season it starts to weep out of my sidewalls. Orange doesnt do that.

 

it sold before I could see it, so the search continues.

 

Is this what is happening? I put a brand new Maxxis Ardent Race on the front of my Talon 2 last September with Stan's and it still hasn't stopped weeping out of the sidewalls to this day. It's finally starting to weep out of the sidewalls on the Maxxis Ikon on the rear but that tire is over a year old now.

I used Orange Seal Endurance in my Santa Cruz when I swapped it over to tubeless back in October with no problem.

 

I think Stans is a little less viscous as well so it will leak out faster. I believe Stans announced they fixed the issue a while back but Ive always had more leakage with Stans than Orange Seal.

 

It looks less viscous. I just cannot believe it's still weeping after this many months. I've refilled both tires and I always make sure to give the bottle a good shake before putting more in.

Once the bottle is empty I'm swapping over to Orange Seal on the Talon. Haven't had any flats yet using Stan's, just the weeping. My LBS recommends Orange Seal which is why I decided to go with it on the SC.

 

We The People Crysis

 

Interesting comments about Stan’s. I’ve used it for 5 years now on both my bike, which always has Maxxis tires, except for one set of Spesh, and on my wife’s bike, and she uses Schwalbe’s. I’ve had zero problems of oozing (a tiny bit, but barely noticeable) or leaks, while her tires are always covered with spots, though no significant pressure drop either. And I haven’t noticed any difference over the years. I guess YMMV.

 

I get a ton of sidewall oozing late in the season when my tires are a little tired, but no pressure. But if I wash my bike and scrub the ooze spots off...flat in an hour.

 

I have never had any luck with stans. I really like the orange stuff, but I have been using trucker co cream and it has done really well and isn't expensive