Topic: 2017 Biking Thread

[Longlivetheride]

Well new year and here we go again

Started the year off right hanging out with the fine folks at Intense and riding with a couple of their world cup riders Dean and Jack ( for all of 5 minutes till they tore off down the trail ) 12 mile enduro ride in Cali Sanjuan






Now its back to the fat bike

[darthekai]

replying for sub but also

If you know any good deals on DH duty fox air shocks in 7.875x2.25 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know.

Also any recommendations on shops for a)tuning up my 1x10 drive train to stop me breaking chains (and build me a chain that wont break) and b)rebuilding my girlfriend's fox float rear shock.

As a related side note, if anyone wants to buy a cheap 7.875x2.25 Cane creek double barrel air shock that needs a factory service, let me know.

This year my goal is to have two bikes that are actually ready to ride when the season starts.

[Polaris]

Posting to sub as well.

I'm mostly looking for a cheap beginner road/hybrid bike to commute to work when spring/summer comes. Roughly 30 minutes each way, with quite a steep hill on one section. Will I find anything good for around $300? Only thing I'm worried about is last time I had a road bike I probably crashed every day for the first week from hitting a rock too big, trying to jump off a curb, etc. etc....oops..

[Longlivetheride]

replying for sub but also

If you know any good deals on DH duty fox air shocks in 7.875x2.25 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know.

Also any recommendations on shops for a)tuning up my 1x10 drive train to stop me breaking chains (and build me a chain that wont break) and b)rebuilding my girlfriend's fox float rear shock.

As a related side note, if anyone wants to buy a cheap 7.875x2.25 Cane creek double barrel air shock that needs a factory service, let me know.

This year my goal is to have two bikes that are actually ready to ride when the season starts.

What sifter setup are you using to what derailleur are you using a 1 up system ?  Theres some inherent issues if are but PM me and we can chat about it offline

You should rebuild your GF float there super easy and parts are maybe $35

Posting to sub as well.

I'm mostly looking for a cheap beginner road/hybrid bike to commute to work when spring/summer comes. Roughly 30 minutes each way, with quite a steep hill on one section. Will I find anything good for around $300? Only thing I'm worried about is last time I had a road bike I probably crashed every day for the first week from hitting a rock too big, trying to jump off a curb, etc. etc....oops..

Yea a hybrid flat bar bike would be awesome for that. The controls on a reg handle bar bike vs the road style are quite a bit cheaper. In terms off abuse / crashing bikes like the Giant seek, MEC shawdowlands, or similar are great. I personally would get a rigid fork bike with double rims for best reliability with a descent 9 speed or 10spd drive train

Cheers 

[darthekai]

Shifter is a shimano 8L-m640 (zee) derailleur is matching. Yeah have one up cage and 42t. Front is 32t nw race face. Shifts better than any set up I've ever had, only problem is I've now broken two chains. I suspect it's to do with my link assembly skills, but im worried it has to do with chain line issues from the gears. Unfortunately I don't remember what position it's broken in.

Also, I was mistaken about gfs shock, its a dhx air 5.0. Still easy to rebuild at home? 

[coop3422]

I'm pumped for this biking season. I plan on going with the gf often.

As for my plans, I'm looking for a new (to me) 160mm fork, maybe some new brakes and then take it for a tuneup, or maybe do it myself. I'm really digging the bike I got late summer last year.

Other plan is to get the gf a real bike. She has some Supercycle garbage that weighs more than my old Stinky did. She doesn't really see the value in spending a decent amount on a bike, but I think once I get her on the trails and she rides hers, then mine back to back, she'll be willing to spend $5-600 on kijiji.

If anyone knows of a 160mm fork with a straight 1 1/8 steerer and 20mm axle, let me know. It's not the most common combo so tough to find. Forks that fit are the 0711 year range of Fox 36, Lyric, Marz 55, etc.

[Claw]

Anyone got a line on new old stock or vintage parts?  Looking for some Deore XT or XTR stuff to rejuvinate an older ride.

[THE EDJ]

I might have some used stuff, but I've gotten rid of most of my "vintage" stuff. Unless you are in the market for a 24" Intense Mag 30 wheel.

I miss riding bikes, doesn't help that I have been able to get out and play in the snow yet this season, but hopefully it's a short winter down in the valley like last year, we were riding in dirt in February!

[Polaris]

Yea a hybrid flat bar bike would be awesome for that. The controls on a reg handle bar bike vs the road style are quite a bit cheaper. In terms off abuse / crashing bikes like the Giant seek, MEC shawdowlands, or similar are great. I personally would get a rigid fork bike with double rims for best reliability with a descent 9 speed or 10spd drive train

Cheers

Thanks for the suggestions! I've been checking PinkBike quite frequently and most of the bikes on there within my price range (around $400 max maybe) are either fixies or older dropped handlebars, but I did find this guy: http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2040594/. I might have to keep an eye out on Kijiji for my price range. There's a Giant Seek on there that looks pretty good (http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cruiser-commuter-hybrid/calgary/2009-giant-seek-1-white/1227711034?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true)

Thanks!

[KennyB]

I need to find myself a new brake lever before I go riding and I just moved to Langley so that's probably going to be in the next few weeks. By the looks of it I'm going to better off just buying the whole brake, nobody sells the lever assembly individually.  Good thing they are only $130 on crc. 
After last seasons lessons I need to do a few things with my bike before anything too serous such as put on bigger rotors to try and deal with my brakes over-heating on long descents.  The XTs with 180mm would start to get some serious fluid expansion towards the end of runs at whistler and kicking horse so if bigger rotors dont help and haven't decided to build a DH bike by then I'll put some Saint or maybe hope brakes on (no I'm not putting those ugly assay guide brakes on). 
Need to convert to tubeless and/or get heavier casing tires, the amount of flats I got at kicking horse mostly while pinch flattng in berms was stupid.  Also didn't have much luck with flats in Penticton as EDJ can attest (still owe Josh a tube).

[Mason]

If you are having troubles with pinch flats look into getting spank hoops. They are antipinch flat and should solve your issues unless you are actually puncturing your tire.

Have you looked into zee brakes? Almost the same thing as saint but half the price

[KennyB]

I've heard nothing but good things about Spank wheels and do need another wheel set so I can have two complete bikes again so will probably look into getting some.  Zee brakes will probably do the trick,  I have a zee derailleur and it's taken a beating and still works great.  This is my "all mountain" bike though and doing what I can to keep it from being too much of a pig so I have been leaning towards lighter alternatives when it do come to parts that I want to keep on the burly side. 

[coop3422]

Brake question for you guys: My 09 Pitch has Juicy 3's, which I believe to be original. They have good braking power, but once I use them a couple pulls the top half of the stroke becomes loose, as in you can freely move it without resistance. About halfway through the stroke you get resistance, and brake power as normal. Leaving it for a short period of time brings resistance back to the full stroke, until it does this again.

I was wondering if this would be fixed with a bleed? Seems odd because if that were the case, I would think I'd lose some stopping power, no? The brakes seem to have enough stopping power, so while I'm not opposed to buying new brakes, I'm not sure if it's necessary.

If anyone is looking into dropper posts, I did last year and think I posted a thread on it. But the KS Eten has been awesome and was cheap ($175 shipped, CAD). I never thought a seat post would be worth that kind of money, but I love it. Actually, that brings me to a second question: What kind of seat are you guys using? I'd like to find something that is comfortable for all day rides. Mine is ok, but makes my assay numb after a couple hours.

[THE EDJ]

Actually, that brings me to a second question: What kind of seat are you guys using? I'd like to find something that is comfortable for all day rides. Mine is ok, but makes my assay numb after a couple hours.

I love my Chromag Trailmaster. Also padded cycling shorts.

[coop3422]

I love my Chromag Trailmaster. Also padded cycling shorts.

I was actually thinking of looking into a few pairs of these.

[darthekai]

Do a bleed for sure, make sure to get enough fluid through that you completely replace it. Sounds like water.

[coop3422]

Do a bleed for sure, make sure to get enough fluid through that you completely replace it. Sounds like water.

Thanks, was thinking a bleed but didn't want to buy the stuff to do a bleed if it wouldn't fix the issue.

[KennyB]

Does sound like a contamination issue with your fluid.
I use this saddle
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/ca/en/nukeproof-vector-am-comp-cro-mo-saddle/rp-prod139274?gs=1&gclid=Cj0KEQiAh4fEBRCZhriIjLfArrQBEiQArzzDATamOyLDUWYzVODEfJn54oSfLkkUo8oECJ3Kl_9qI7saAkY58P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
It doesn't look very comfortable but is probably one of the better all round saddles I have used.

[BLM]

After moving from Edmonton to Victoria a few years ago, I really got back into mountain biking. The mountain bike parks on the island are sick sick sick! I've spent the balance of the last 2 summers road tripping just to ride so this past summer I went from my older Rocky Mountain ESTX XT set up to a Rocky Mountain Instinct 990 MSL 29er SRAM X01 setup. What a world of difference. I track myself using Strava a lot and just kill my old times and it's not like my skills got better. It's all about the new bike technology. Light carbon frame, tubeless 29" wheels just roll over everything like a monster truck. I also upgraded to an 800mm cromag carbon handlebar for better climbing but I had to replace the SRAM X01 rear cassette with an Shimano XT (shredded the SRAM...). Just received it in the mail from JensonUSA yesterday. Hoping to install tomorrow and ride all weekend!

PS Love the Instense bikes! Met a guy in town last summer who bought a factory build Carbine and seriously just uses it as a commuter bike for his bike delivery service. Anyone who spend 13 grand on a mountain bike to commute the streets of Victoria has too much money on his hands....

Here's a shot of my bike at Lake Cowichan last summer after my first ride:

[thedude]

That's an awesome shot! Man this makes me miss Lake Cowichan summers. Also, jealous:

Just received it in the ail from jensonUSA yesterday. Hoping to install tomorrow and ride all weekend!

[coop3422]

I was on kijiji last night and was so sad to see the rare bike I wanted posted for a decent price. The Kona Abra-Cadabra is a sweet machine, really want one but can't justify it being my Pitch is solid. I was contemplating  buying it and giving mine to the gf for her bday, but damn that's an expensive gift lol.

[Longlivetheride]

I was on kijiji last night and was so sad to see the rare bike I wanted posted for a decent price. The Kona Abra-Cadabra is a sweet machine, really want one but can't justify it being my Pitch is solid. I was contemplating  buying it and giving mine to the gf for her bday, but damn that's an expensive gift lol.

This is why i have a proflex/ ti lightspeed and a super monster in my basement just wall hangers

[Unholysavage]

LMAO, someone in Calgary has their super monsters for sale on pinkbike right now. I remember the days of 50lb+ freeride bikes, my SC Bullit was a relatively svelt 48lber way back then haha.

I have many plans for biking this summer, as wedding+childrens are in my future and this will likely be my last summer as a free man.
first plan is to drink a lot more beer.
second plan is to get my trail bike out a lot more. not because I think it's more fun than DH, because it's not even in the same universe. more because it will be easier to get out for an hour when kids hit than a full day to get to the big hills. so I might as well try to learn to like it. somehow.
third plan is to get another season pass to Kicking Horse/Fernie for DH.
fourth plan is to get to Whistler/Silverstar/Sun Peaks this fall.
fifth plan is to ditch my Fox 40s for something that doesn't beat the ever-lovin shite out of my multi-injured wrist. would love to have an Emerald, but expensive bling. one of the mechanics at Calgary Cycle has broken himself many times as well, and went from a 40 to a new Boxxer WC last summer. he said it was a game-changer for wrist pain.

[Longlivetheride]

LMAO, someone in Calgary has their super monsters for sale on pinkbike right now. I remember the days of 50lb+ freeride bikes, my SC Bullit was a relatively svelt 48lber way back then haha.

I have many plans for biking this summer, as wedding+childrens are in my future and this will likely be my last summer as a free man.
first plan is to drink a lot more beer.
second plan is to get my trail bike out a lot more. not because I think it's more fun than DH, because it's not even in the same universe. more because it will be easier to get out for an hour when kids hit than a full day to get to the big hills. so I might as well try to learn to like it. somehow.
third plan is to get another season pass to Kicking Horse/Fernie for DH.
fourth plan is to get to Whistler/Silverstar/Sun Peaks this fall.
fifth plan is to ditch my Fox 40s for something that doesn't beat the ever-lovin shite out of my multi-injured wrist. would love to have an Emerald, but expensive bling. one of the mechanics at Calgary Cycle has broken himself many times as well, and went from a 40 to a new Boxxer WC last summer. he said it was a game-changer for wrist pain.

Still a fan of the 40 . let me be specific a well maintained 40 lots of fluid changes and vacuum bleeding . The boxxer stubbornly come a long way with the dampener im still finding customers coming in with ill setup suspension coming in for rebuilds and all i do is  set it up to proper rebound and compression while there standing in front of me at the service area and they get the mind blown look on there face when they feel the same fork 2min later. 

That being said most forks are not ever well maintained fluid change once every 2 years is not appropriate when every weekend is spent at Mt7.  Anywho i could rant away about bad practices. I have ridden the emeralds and was ampped and like take my money but then checking the price i went Manitou dorado for less than half the price. open bath dampener with an air spring buttery smooth and easy rebuilds no witch craft required

Ps im down for the more beer drinking 

[Unholysavage]

lack of maintenance and/or suspension setup aren't the issues behind me wanting a change from the 40.
my 40 gets an oil change/cleaning every 5 riding days. and I'm a suspension tweaker who's owned 6 different CCDBs (coil and air) and who carries a log book to keep track of what did what. I don't have much patience for ittshay suspension performance haha.

my dislike of the 40 has everything to do with lateral stiffness and past injuries. it deflects off of every rock, root and baby head unless it's dialed in ultra-soft/divey/awful. my last left wrist break was the triquetral, which I thought was only a sprain for the first 2 months. when I went in for an x-ray, they found that it had snapped in half, rotated into the joint, and then healed. when I ride DH, the angle of the joint is very close to being bone on bone so any side jolt causes discomfort from the wrist to my elbow. for a guy who loves rock gnar (season passes to Kickinghorse since the dawn of time), the deflections really take a toll. I even switched brakes to help out with forearm pain, going from Formula the Ones to Saint m820s.

I have a Dorado Pro sitting in my basement. rode it for 2 seasons and kept it as a spare for when the 40 was sent away for rebuilds. I'm considering keeping it, but it's not without its negatives when it comes to maintenance.
mine suffered from losing travel. some of the blame is my own, as I tore it apart as much as the 40 for cleaning and oil changes. but in the last season I rode it it was into the western Canada shop twice for lost travel (Trident? whichever one stopped dealing with Manitou so that we're only left with S4 out in Quebec), and within 5 riding days both times it started losing travel. the threads at the top of the stanchion on the air side are so sharp on my fork that I've literally cut my finger rubbing lube over the damned things before reassembly. 
S4 rebuilt it last spring, and told Calgary Cycle that the threads are so sharp that they could cut the orings no matter how careful one was when pulling it apart/putting it together. I was told that they emery'd the threads before putting it back together, but I haven't ran it since. now that they have the MRP and IRT kits out for it, I may not sell it. but past issues give me hesitation...