Mountain Bikes!

here's some cnc'd sexiness

neu P-Train DE – ACTOFIVE Cycles

2 halves machined out of a billet block then "glued together"

one in non-anodized for me please

 

Whats the panhard bar do?

 

Drool worthy.

 

Anyone ever ride a Privateer bike? The spec on their enduro rig is pretty amazing. It’s too much for my typical ride I think, but pretty good build overall.

https://us.privateerbikes.com/products/privateer-161-enduro-complete-bike-sram-gx

 

I was riding DH at Big Bear last weekend. I want to say about 20 percent of the people were riding e-bikes

 

The few times I've ridden there I wished I was not on my eBike. Don't need a battery & motor when all you're doing is going DH.

 

Yeah, my assumption is just that is the only bike they own. But that's a lot of extra weight to carry for no damn reason and for the most part, it's flow city where hustling that weight side to side actually shows up. Unless you are running laps on 10-ply all day. It's interesting to me, because I don't see E-bikes at the other parks I've been to to that extent. Though, could simply be the proximity to LA and a much larger population base. I do have a friend that only rides his E-Bike at Sunrise, but that's just straight janky ass chunk the entire time and the extra weight lessens the impacts.

 

I've been trying out a couple different pedal systems. I wanted to love SPDs but I had a couple inadvertent releases that really turned me off. The float range was just a little too narrow for me.

HT's retention was just way too strong. I picked up a set of Time Speciale 8's not really expecting much. I was very pleasantly surprised by these. Wider float range but still easy to release out of. No inadvertent releases while jumping or hucking. The float isnt SPD-smooth but there's plenty there. I ended up marching two downhill PRs today.

They're definitely worth a look if you're not happy with SPD.

 

If you had inadvertent releases with SPDs, just turn the tension up a few clicks.... been riding SPDs for 20+ years and never had an issue. Had LOOK on my road bikes and that was fine too but didn't like walking like a duck LOL

 

There's a ramping feel to the Times that I really like. Shimanos have a crisp release but I find it sudden and hard to predict. Ive played with the retention quite a bit but just can't get it to a point where I trust it and can also get out of if I'm off balance easily.

 

Fezzari announced a new e-fat bike. This has me intrigued. I was considering a fat bike for winter this year, but this could serve double-duty for when my dad is in town.

E-Bike – Fezzari Bicycles

 

If you are considering a fat bike, I would suggest riding one a few times first. I have a Salsa MukLuk for the WV fat bike race series, but it gets very very very little use otherwise.

What I've found is that the conditions have to be so absolutely miserable for the fat bike to be the bike of choice, it just doesn't get used very often.

Fat bike is absolutely better in snow, but for all else, I usually ride a "regular" MTB with tires like the Maxxis DHR.

Oh, and if you ride SPD pedals, they suck in the snow. When riding in snow, I switch over to a flat pedal with big gaps to clear the snow and ice. The SPDs get iced up and you can't clip in.

 

The Mukluk geometry isn’t very trail oriented. There are some fat bikes (ie Kona Wozo and Woo) that are very fun even in the summer.

 

Speaking of MTBs - I'm going to demo an SB140 tomorrow. If it goes well then, I'll likely be selling my Kenevo and getting an SB150.

 

Getting out of the e-bike game?

I'm not a big Yeti fan, but I do like Richie Rude. I've never ridden one, but the whole dentist bike deal is a big turn-off.

 

Agreed. I think an e-bike variant would keep the fun level high and scratch the moto itch in the winter, but we can have both very dry and very wet winters out here. Last winter was very, very wet and the fat bike would have seen a lot of use.

 

I think so. In the SF Bay area a lot of the better trails are illegal to eBikes of any kind and I'm getting burned out riding the ones I can ride. Plus, I'm just tired of feeling like a passenger on the downhills - my Kenevo is just a tank.

They Yeti dentist thing is a turn off, but I think their geo is closest to what I'm looking for. I'm also considering a Transition Sentinel, but for a used carbon framed bike they aren't too much cheaper than the SB150 and I like the geo of the Yeti better.

 

People actually care if you ride an ebike on the 'illegal' trails? They are finally pretty much legal on everything here in KC but nobody has cared for years if you rode one on any of the trails before that. I think pretty much everyone has ridden one by now and has seen there's zero reason to ban class 1 bikes on any trails.

I'm a big fan of yeti and I even toured their factory back in like 1994 in Durango. I know they aren't quite the same brand as they used to be but when I first got into mountain bikes in the early 90's all the best racers were on Yeti's and they just seemed the brand pushing the envelope the most. Still have never owned one but I'm not dead yet!

 

Well, there's 'illegal' trails and there are trails that are legal for analog MTBs, but not eBikes. I have no issues riding the few 'illegal' trails, but the problem is that there are some really good legal trails (e.g. Demo) that are not legal for eBikes and are also heavily policed by Cal Fire/Park Rangers and with it being CA, you know ppl are just looking for a reason to be upset and make a stink about things.

 

Be sure to keep up on the switch infinity linkage, keep it clean, etc.