Mountain Bikes!

Haven't had a chance to put any of the new parts on the MTB.. Been working a lot and then working on the ZX10R. I watched some footage of the DH races at the Lourdes World Cup though. Holy shit!

Like I've said before, I'm pretty new to MTB stuff. I feel like I would break every bone in my body trying to ride down that course lol. It also makes me wan to try clipless pedals. I've had some issues with my feet bouncing off the flats. I'm chalking that up to not having my heels down, and maybe because its a hardtail?

 

Finally got my little Frankenbike project done. Not quite little since it’s an XL frame apparently. 2005 Santa Cruz Blur Classic. Still need to shorten the rear brake hose and chop the top of that steerer tube down a bit neater.

 

Just picked this up… 2021 canyon strive cf8. Looking forward to bashing around on it! Will be quite a change from the FSi lol

 

Cool bikes. Their EWS rider is freaking hilarious with his social media.

 

Great bike. Just did an air sleeve and tune Saturday on this custom I built for my son on the CFR factory frame. He's won many Enduro events with it.

 

Sweet! Any tips on setup and making it any lighter? lol ... I was dying yesterday on my first ride. Still put in 10.5 miles, but jeeze my 22lb FSi spoiled me

I think there's a lot of weight in the OEM tires.

 

It's heavy, but it does a great job on rowdy trails. This one is sitting right at 32 lbs, which is ten pound more than his XC race bike was (sold it, he's done with NICA and XC overall). So yeah, he had "fun" getting used to it.
The Assegai is a heavy tire and isn't very fast rolling on smooth trails, but it grips like no other. The Dissector is faster rolling and lighter, but they still aren't light XC or trail tires.
The grip/weight/rolling resistance tradeoff is really a bigger deal with more trail and XC riding. For gravity riding, it's not so much of a concern. So that's where you have to decide. You could swap that Assegai for a DHF or DHR (personally like the DHR over the DHF, so you could move your DHR from the rear to the front) and still have good grip and slightly better weight and rolling resistance. Just remember the Minion gap - you need to lean the tires in a turn, or you get that dead zone with no traction. So no half-assed corner lean. Swap a Dissector to the rear, but don't go with the 3c, only the dual compound. The Dissector wears faster on the rear, and the 3c wears SUPER fast. So unless you have a factory tire deal or want to change rear tires every other month, get the dual. And that tire rolls much faster than either Minion and is lighter.
Tires are really where you will "feel" the most weight savings on smooth trails and climbs. Both with lighter weight tires and rolling resistance.
After that, the heaviest bits will be crank and wheels. But you're spending a lot with them. Again, up to you, but swapping to a carbon setup on an enduro/all mountain bike you're gonna be bashing isn't something I would do. The XC or light trail bike, sure. Also with wheels. You can get a carbon wheelset and save some grams, but at the expense of making your wallet much lighter as well. The carbon wheels will hold up fine, especially with inserts. But they are a big cost.
Then on to the cockpit. You can save a handful of grams with carbon bars and saddle, and they aren't all that expensive. Carbon bars can also help with vibration damping, so that's a bonus there.

Basically, all the stuff you know. You can make it slightly lighter, but not a ton. You have an extra shock in there with the shapeshifter, it simply makes for a heavier frame and thus base starting point for the build.

So either open the wallet, or suck it up. LOL.

 

Good info, thanks! I'll stick with the XT cranks (just ordered some boots for them) ... I may look at going with a different rear cassette (SLX on there now).

I'm going to see if this Ergon saddle is any good, and if I don't like it I'll put a Silverado Ti on like on my other bike. I'm definitely going to look at carbon bars... I'm not a bomber like some guys lol.

 

Put a deposit down on a new trek supercal. Looking forward to it next year. 14 month wait

 

I run these ESI's on all of my mt bikes. Best I've found so far (I own a bicycle shop), I have similar injury issues. A lady with carpal tunnel actually got me on these, I ordered a few pair since they looked interesting. She walked into the shop after trying everything to ease her pain/symptoms and I suggested we give em a shot. She came back a month later and said she was pain free, she was about to give up riding before these. They went on my bikes straight away.

 

So I just need to give a shout out to OneUp Components ... best customer service I've received in quite a while.

I was in Asheville last weekend and stopped at a shop on the way home. Grabbed a OneUp Switch carrier for the XT cranks and a shimano chainring. The idea is to get it matched with the OneUp on my FSi so I can swap chainrings around as needed. I drove back to ATL and began working on it the following day... turns out, the chainring I got does not work with the Shimano 12sp chains at all.. I can get 3 or 4 links to seat but then it just starts riding up the teeth - strangest thing I've ever seen!

I emailed OneUp thinking I have to have something wrong (how can you mess up a 1x?? lol) and it turns out I actually got an old chainring that won't work with Shimano 1x12. It works with everything else though.

Well, the guy at OneUp is sending me the correct chainring, AND a return shipping label for the one I have! I'm pretty shocked since its the shops fault, but since I'm 300 miles away its basically impossible to exchange it with them.

So anyway, big kudos to OneUp components for excellent support and service!

https://www.oneupcomponents.com/

 

OneUp makes some nice kit. I've got their EDC and pump, and it transfers to whatever bike/pack I'm riding at the time. Not the lightest, but I like having one object that meets all of my trailside needs.

As for tires, when dry, I like to run a Rekon front, Reckon Race rear. They weigh 705g/725g on my scale. When it wet, DHRII in front, Rekon rear. DHRII is 1062g on my scale.

That's a 357g/12.5 ounce difference in rotating weight. More more weight savings to be had than upgrading to carbon hoops over alloy.

 

29er tire pressure? Whats a starting pressure? Ive got 29x2.35 tires and full suspension

 

tubes? try 30. lower than that you'll be fighting pinch flats

tubeless works best ~26 or lower

 

Tubeless I run 22F/25R...

 

for anyone wondering, i got Hayes Dominion A4's before my Whistler trip last week and they worked dope as shit. def stronger than my Hope V4s which is a weird thing to say. would recommend. also the weather in BC this year is bonkers. still fun though.

also if anyone wants Dominions or Magura MT7's PM me and I'll tell you the secret place to get them almost for half price currently. also, I did a helmet paint...

 

Very nice, did you paint that yourself?

 

i did. and messed up a bunch of the process steps, and still kinda salvaged it haha, but i enjoy learning and starting to do this. first one. (well 2nd one outside the class i took).

 

Was it a hassle bringing your own bike for ground transport?

 

Depends a lot on terrain and your weight. I sit around 165-170 and am usually around 22 psi front/rear on tubeless tires. Lot of kitty litter and rocks out here. I like the less sluggish feel of higher pressures but the grip really suffers downhill.