Any Mtn Bikers on RME?

[Kevin B.]

Now I use nothing and my bikes just get beat up.

See, that's always been me too. I thought I'd try and see how the other half lives.

Did you get a new bike @Kevin B. ?

Still window shopping right now, waiting to see what the insurance company wants to do.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Did your old bike get stolen or wrecked?

 

[Kevin B.]

Did your old bike get stolen or wrecked?

Stolen . Both of them, the 29er Fuji that used to be @Samersen's and the Diamondback fatty. They actually got Ian's bike, but I got lucky and got that one back.

They're theoretically covered under my homeowners insurance so I've got a claim in. I itemized every dime of upgrades into both the bikes so it's taking them a while to price everything out and figure out what to offer me.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Dangit. Sorry to hear that man. Glad they were covered. Are you planning on 2 lore bikes, or one really nice one? What's on your radar.

 

[Kevin B.]

I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm not done with fatties, I know that. I'm leaning really strongly towards a Growler Big Stuff in the 29+ flavor, because it's a lot of bike for the money and I've still got the 26x4.5 wheelset from the Diamondback that I can throw on it, and with those two wheelsets do pretty much everything I want to do right now. But I also like the Jamis Roughneck, and the new Salsa Timberjack with 29x2.6 is tempting. And if the check is big enough, a Trek Full Stache or Salsa Deadwood are absolutely on the radar. Aaaaaaaaaaand @Rock Taco has been making noises about selling his Santa Cruz, I might just hit him up and see where he's at with that. Except he'd better buy something new, because I like riding with him.

The last time I was shopping for a bike, I paralyzed myself for a month. I should have a little better budget this time, I don't know if that's going to make things better or worse.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm excited for ya man. All of those sound awesome.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I've been getting in some fun riding in Tucson lately. They've got everything from 6 hour downhill shuttles (whole enchilada style) to flat, smooth xc loops.

 

[Kevin B.]

You've gotten crazy good, Steve. That looked really smooth.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks man, I love this kind of riding. The camera stabilization makes it look smooth. My riding isn't so smooth in person. Of course everything looks flat on the GoPro, but this is an awesome trail. That step I hit my bash guiard on was taller than my wheel. fun stuff.

 

[Rock Taco]

Aaaaaaaaaaand @Rock Taco has been making noises about selling his Santa Cruz, I might just hit him up and see where he's at with that. Except he'd better buy something new, because I like riding with him.

Oh I'm planning on replacing it. I just need a smaller bike. You are welcome to take it on a ride and try it out to see if you like it.

 

[jsudar]

Well... it's finished, except for paint, but I wanted to make sure I had enough tire/chainring clearance and all the parts fit right. I also wanted to be sure it wasn't going to disintegrate underneath me before I committed to $150 in powdercoating. So far it's held up to a several hours of aggressive circling of the cul de sac. It wheelies, bunny hops and manuals pretty well. I didn't hear a chorus of angels singing the first time I threw a leg over it and took off down the driveway, but I think it's going to be a good bike. Head angle is set at 66° currently. With the Angleset headset it can be adjusted from 67° to 64° in half degree increments. Also the chainstays ended up at 418mm instead of 420mm because I screwed up one of the miters. This was okay since I still ended up with enough tire/chainring clearance and I prefer the shorter stays anyway.

Here is a rundown of the build if you're into that sort of thing:
160mm Rockshox Yari-- cheap fork, but still the Lyrik chassis. The plan is an Avalanche damper cartridge and maybe convert to 150mm travel coil spring. Still not sure I can do the coil conversion on the cheap, but I have a few tricks to try and things to measure. I have no desire to spend $400+ on a Push ACS coil
Stan's Flow rims, Onyx rear hub, XT front hub. Note: it sucks to put a non Torque Cap hub into a fork designed for Torque Caps
Maxxis Minion DFH 27.5 x 2.5 tires F and R
Bike Yoke Revive 185mm dropper
Deity Black Label Bars 787mm x 25mm rise
Thomson stem 50mm
Sram GX shifter and rear derailleur
Shimano SLX brakes with 203F and 180R rotors-- these levers have the new narrow clamp and feel really flexy compared to my old XT brakes with the wide bar clamp. Not super happy with them.
SLX crank, 30t narrow wide chainring
XT cassette 11 speed 11-42
Kona Wah Wah pedals
WTB High Tail saddle-- still need some more time on this. It's small and it's easy to move around, but may be too narrow

 

[sixstringsteve]

Kevin, a word of warning about helicopter tape. It's extremely sticky and leaves a tin if glue residue when removed. I just pulled the helicopter tape off my chameleon and it's a mess. It's going to take me hours to wipe it all off with acetone. I've also heaed of it lifting the bikes paint when removed.

 

[Kevin B.]

I haven't played footdown in a long time, but I don't remember any of our games being full contact. This looks like fun.

 

[benjy]

Awesome

He built a footdown specific bike although, the dual handbrake should have been on the left hand if being used for bike polo

 

[smartass_kid]

Not sure if you know but, performance bicycle in SLC off 21 s is closing and has some good deals FYI

 

[Corban_White]

@jsudar and I are taking the boys down to STG Feb 1-2 for some mountain biking and custom frame testing (hopefully it gets powder coated in time) and are probably going to be taking my trailer. It's pretty small with quite a bit of ground clearance, what are some (fairly close) primitive (read free) camping areas? Elsewhere on the internet I see the Curly Hollow area (SW of the Bearclaw Poppi trail) recommended, is this a legal and decent area? Is there somewhere better? Thanks. Also, if anyone will be around that weekend and doesn't mind riding with a fat guy and 2 kids (@jsudar is a good rider - he's patient with the rest of us ) we'd love to meet up.

 

[rholbrook]

Harrison and I may be down there but he is itching to get some seat time on the KTM.

 

[benjy]

@jsudar and I are taking the boys down to STG Feb 1-2 for some mountain biking and custom frame testing (hopefully it gets powder coated in time) and are probably going to be taking my trailer. It's pretty small with quite a bit of ground clearance, what are some (fairly close) primitive (read free) camping areas? Elsewhere on the internet I see the Curly Hollow area (SW of the Bearclaw Poppi trail) recommended, is this a legal and decent area? Is there somewhere better? Thanks. Also, if anyone will be around that weekend and doesn't mind riding with a fat guy and 2 kids (@jsudar is a good rider - he's patient with the rest of us ) we'd love to meet up.

You're welcome to my back yard! It's better than primitive, it's got full hookups!

My wife and kids will actually be gone that weekend, so you guys are even welcome to crash in the house. Count me in for riding on Saturday for sure

 

[sixstringsteve]

Anyone going to the sedona MTB fest?

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm selling my santa cruz chameleon frame (size small) and fork (Fox Rhythm 34) if anyone's in the market. $850 for both.