AustinBike

There are too many companies, most likely. In any market you can have large companies that service the broader, more generic market (Trek, Specialized, Giant, etc.) and you can have smaller companies that service particular niches in the market (think of companies like Chumba that sell a much more specialized offering that people are willing to pay money for...) When you get crossways is with smaller companies trying to sell a less differentiated bike to the broader market. "300% stronger" is a great selling point, but it is a selling point, not a market. Steel singlespeeds or cross-country bike packing are markets and these are things smaller companies can sell into. But if you are trying to compete with Trek and Specialized which key more off of price, the 300% stronger is a nice to have differentiator but it is not something that the segment is willing to spend more to get. So that means either you take lower margins to try to compete with them, or you constantly get outpriced because you cannot compete with their volume. YT is another one. Their claim to fame is that they are direct, but this has just as many downsides to it and "direct" is a purchase channel, not a bike. Canyon seems to be holding its own in this area and may have enough critical mass, but time will tell.

I have not ridden Spider yet, will eventually get there, but it is not my thing. What really grinds me about that place is the attitude that it is the best riding in TX and the number of people that seem to only ride there. They complain about all the other trail options that we have and whenever someone is coming to town they tell them that is the first place they need to ride. It's like the people who go to a steakhouse and order the single shrimp dish on the menu. I get it, maybe you are a pescatarian but don't go dumping on the wide selection of steaks on the menu because you want the fish. We live in an area with a wide number of trails, but our trails are part of the topology of central TX. Instead of bemoaning the fact that there is only one Spider Mt. and we need more lift-serviced locations. We are what we are and the earth decided that long before any of us are here. I've biked all around the world, not just around the US and I can tell you that the best trail in the world, is, in fact, the one you are riding at the moment. Last night it was the burn-out husk of Suburban Ninja which ended up being a a ride through the rain at the end. But it didn't matter. I had a great time. Because it was the trail I was riding at the moment.

It is literally light sprinkle this evening, stopping soon, and I am planning to go out and ride. There was so much moon dust last night at the R&I that I think what little rain we are getting won't even matter.

I do it on solo rides, less likely to do it for a group ride because a.) there are people depending on a start time and I don't want to be "that guy" because I took too long and b.) if we go somewhere after I don't want to get back on my bike after being off of it for 60-90 minutes. The the first part, yes, I could be really anal retentive and make sure I was there on time but that takes the joy out of the ride there and makes it feel like work.

I'll take them, bring them to the R&I. I don't need em for quite a while, but can stash them in a closet I preparation.

Went to see Oppenheimer then went to a brewery in Los Alamos to drink Hoppenheimer. Folks, you cannot get a better beer name.

yeah, I should keep my wheels on the ground

I feel your pain. Low 60's to start, low 80's for the high. Mountains are the only way to get through August.

View from the top of Dale Ball yesterday morning. Yeah, it was a beautiful ride. 20 miles, 2000 feet of climbing, then a sushi lunch. Who wouldn't love that?

Ah, I use trailforks, it integrates right onto my Garmin.

Yeah, after the ride up from town, the extra 1000 feet is worthless. There is a great view up there but it is a shitty double track to get there. Definitely don't recommend at that point.

I rode up Bishop's Lodge road and cut in at the bottom of Lower Winsor (first arrow). Then I did the climb up Burn which was aptly named (second arrow). At the top of the Ridgeline, I could have taken Saddleback north but opted for Juan south (third arrow). That dumped me out on 475, where I rode up and down to Dale Ball (squiggly line off 475) where I did a little 2-3 mile lap then headed back down into town to the house. 20 miles, 2100 feet of climbing.

There is an extra 1000 feet, not 100. I did not do a good job of locating the trail I was looking for. In retrospect I was on it, so I may go back. Did Winsor over to Dale Ball. Took Juan across.

Shuttled up to 10,000 feet, then rode my 36T hardtail up to the highest point at 11,000 feet. The down was way more fun.

One of the locals hipped me to an off the map trail, did 1600’ of climbing to get here, great views.

While on vacation I realized that my rear brake pads were almost completely worn out. I have Shimano XT brakes on the bike. Bought a pair of Shimano G03A pads at REI and was barely able to get them into the slot. I did not have any piston spreader tools with me (or a bleed kit) and I know that you are not supposed to use metal tools in trying to spread the pistons so I used a Park Pedal Wrench with a rubber coating to try to spread the pistons. Ultimately I could only get them spread enough to get the pads in but it was still too tight to get a rotor between them. Ultimately I gave up. Ended up at the shop later and for $30 I have fresh pads installed for the rest of my trip. Is the proper technique here to open the brake reservoir and then try to spread the pistons? My guess is that I have done some lever bleeds while the pads were worn down and most likely the system has too much fluid in it so I could not get the pistons spread wide enough. (I watched them do the install but they did not seem to touch the levers at all. As for tools, I see that Park sells a piston spreader and a pad spreader. Are both essential, is one more important than the other?

Yeah, he had an older blue Hammerhead 100X, I borrowed it when I cracked the frame on mine. He's out in CA now. I plan to ride with him in the future.

My wife is loving hers. We’ve sone some lighter gravel rides on this trip and she can keep up with me and sometimes even pass me. She calls it mountain biking. It is better for me to not argue the point. Just wish I had brought the singlespeed, but when I ride the mountains I am happy for my meager gears.

When in Rome:

After a pretty healthy trail climb…. Also, I had to wear a heavy jersey, it was in the low 60’s when I departed.

Just point your sausage at the sun.

I see some real serviceability issues, primarily based in the idea that this thing is not going to be widely supported, at least initially, so who will work on it if there is an issue? One of the real challenges with electric bikes today is the servicing. At least with "conventional" e-bikes, the derailleur mechanism on the rear wheel is a "known quantity" for the servicing so that leaves only the simpler e-power drivetrain as an outlier when service issues arise. But this thing integrates the power drive train and transmission into a single unit. While that uncomplicates the rear end of the bike, it massively complicates the drive train. What good is a bike when it hits the shop for repair and the repair takes significantly longer or costs significantly more? In light of recent supply chain issues, you'd be hard-pressed to find a good scenario for integrating a very technical niche product into a bike. That is a recipe for more time sitting waiting on repair versus enjoying on the trails.

Just keeping it Tesuque.

That is a standard 720mm carbon (amazon) bars with Ergon grips.

Temperature in the 70's right now. Morning coffee at 58F. The travel bike is now a Vassago and the Pike loves to eat up the trails, not so much on the gravel here, but the trails love it.