Mountain Bikes!

Yeah, that looks to be key to keeping them running well.

 

I was debating between a Yeti and an Evil. I ended up buying an Evil Wreckoning and thus far it’s been a lot of fun to ride! Coming from a bmx background, I appreciate the shorter chain stays.

 

I think that OG yeti feel is probably the vibe Revel gives off now. I just wish Revel had ISCG tabs for their trail bike. So weird for a CO brand to not offer that.

 

Finally took a rental Revel Ranger out on the local trails. Pretty fun bike. It's a bit twitchy/unstable feeling, but it carried a ton of speed through chunk and felt pretty fast both up and down.

Not sure I'd want it as my only bike, but neat regardless. Big fan of the paint on this one.

 

I’m looking to upgrade my brakes as the Guides seem a little lacking.

How are the Hope V4s? Is there a better alternative that doesn’t cost a fortune?

 

I love the Hayes Dominions I put on... not sure your riding but the A2 is for CC and the A4 is for more gnarly stuff.

https://theloamwolf.com/2020/04/15/review-hayes-dominion-brakeset/

 

Semi cross-post, as my close friend's son (Talus Turk) rode finished 5th in the Red Bull Rampage on Friday.
Hat's off, young man!

His Transition TR11 comp bike is sexy AF:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/bike-check-rampage-rookie-talus-turks-custom-tr11.html

Grandma Michi survived the atomic bomb blast in Nagasaki.
A wonderful woman full of grace, and still with us.
I absolutely love the graphic scheme Talus adopted in her honor.

.

 

I really like the Magura MT7’s on mine. Lots of power but great modulation too.

 

Badass.

 

I'm a Magura fan, I have 4, 5 and 7s on different bikes.
That said, Hopes are very good as well. And yes, Guides are garbage.

Also, larger discs will make a lot of difference as will different pad material. So your choice on going all out with new brake levers/calipers, or try larger discs first. But yeah, Guides...they lack the modulation and feel.

 

Those of you with both regular and eMTB, what's your time split between the two?

In the fall and spring when days are shorter, there are definitely times where I may only have an hour or so to ride. Thinking for those times plus when my dad is in town it may make sense to get an eMTB.

 

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/replay-red-bull-rampage-2023.html

58th Minute for first run... pretty insane!

 

Hero dirt

 

For me and pretty much everyone I know that has gotten an e-bike you basically never ride the regular bike anymore. You can get just as good of a workout, you just cover way more trail.

 

Extra bonus is being able to hit something at at a higher speed, when the eventual 'error' occurs. Ground, tree, etc...

 

I've heard some guys are using the MT7 calipers with Shimano XT/SLX levers and claiming its the hot setup. Any thoughts ?? I am thinking about trying myself since the calipers aren't super expensive, and I have SLX 4pots now and not super stoked on them.

 

No complaints about just straight XT brakes, best Ive ever had.

 

Due to the fact that I kept breaking Magura levers, I swapped on XT levers with Mt7 calipers and holy hell. They pull you down as hard as my Trickstuff's do. Maybe even harder. I love this combo. I may actually drop down from 223mm rotors to 203 rotors for trail riding they work so well. The initial bite is very aggressive though. After that, it's easy to dole out the power. But if you tend to just grab the levers, you are going over the bars. It's about 50/50 among the people I ride with as to whether they like the feel or not. The ones who like them, rave about them. The ones that don't bitch about modulation. But what they are really trying to express is the initial bite. Coming from motorcycles, I prefer immediacy myself and they feel natural to me.

You can plug in the various master cylinder/caliper combos on this website and get calculations as to what the total power of the combos ends up being like if you want to mess around with it.

https://brakes.ddzyne.nl/

 

The SLX brakes are great. The difference to XT is a texture on the lever blade and the inclusion of a free stroke adjustment on XT that nobody ever touches. If you're having issues with 4 pot SLX brakes, you should look at the discs and pads.
I have seen people say they like the "Shigura" setup, but I can't see why it would be any different. I've never ridden a setup like that, but the calipers aren't different enough to make a big difference. Yes you get away from the ceramic pistons and possible leaking with Shimano, but power-wise, it should be the same.

Just go to a straight MT5 or MT7 setup, buy them from https://www.bike-components.de/en

 

Now this is a difference I can see people noticing. If you like the way Shimano brakes modulate and feel, it would make more sense. Lever blade shape, the travel, feel, etc.
But the calipers? Don't see it being any difference in braking power and feel.