rockshins

Ordered Shimano Deore 6120 caliper for my rear brake. $50 savings over XT 8020 caliper! Will report back on the performance once installed. 

I am running 203mm F&R with metallic brake pads. I think 4 piston front and 2 piston rear would work really well for riders who weigh less than me.

Yeah I guess I did. Going with 6120 will save me about $55 as the brake lines are about $10 cheaper on these models. It will drive me a little nuts to have mismatched calipers but as long as the performance is similar I will get over it. Still holding out on a finding a deal on the XT's.

Received a damaged fork on my direct to consumer bike, online store refused to replace the fork. Fox had me mail it to them and they sent me a brand new fork. Just cost me shipping to get the damaged fork to Fox. 

So my daily driver is a 160/150mm all mountain bike. Came specced with Shimano XT 8000 2 piston brakes. The 8000’s are not bad brakes but lack the power and modulation (for shimano brakes) of their 4 piston offerings.  Having ridden Shimano Zee’s there is a noticeable difference.

To save some money I initially upgraded just the front brake with a Shimano XT 8020 4 piston brake. Big improvement. Braking has been decent but on the steeper stuff and Spider Mountain the rear is lacking. 230lbs fully loaded so I tend to like powerful brakes and only looking at 4 piston options.

I have been trying to source the XT 8020 calipers but having a tough time and they are not as cheap as they were previously. I want to be able to use the same brake pads front and rear, so I have found the Shimano Zee caliper and a new cheaper option a Shimano Deore 6120 4 piston brake. Looks like the only downside is the Deore only takes a non finned brake pad. I could care less about the finned pads. 

Does anyone have experience with the 6120’s? Should I shell out a little more money for the 8020 (to match my front brake) or Zee calipers? Or should i just save some money and go with the 6120 calipers? Can’t imagine there is a huge advantage to the more expensive options. Thanks for your advice.

Back in the early 2000's huck to flat days, rode with a group that really liked the Specialized Big Hit mullet that had a 24" rear wheel. Made sense for them, really strong rear wheel for those rear wheel heavy landings. Thought the Trek 69er was a cool idea with the dual crown Maverick? fork but the geo was fooked back then. Would love to try a mullet bike, although not sure it would do much for my riding ability, sure sounds like fun.

On 9/16/2020 at 1:40 PM, CBaron said:

Erik Eokerholm(?)

He ended up being a customer at the HH shop early on.  We had him a custom built Ventana 29er (for a 6' 6" tall dude) and it completely changed his riding life!  The big 29er wheels suited his size so much better and Ventana was able to make one to truly fit him.  We custom spec'd a few tubes for strength and rigidity while running quad bearings everywhere.  It actually ended up being a nice success story.

Later,
CJB

Those old small bikes were pretty tough for us bigger folk. Proper XL and XXL frames, 29" tires and wider bars have made riding so much better and safer. I wonder what riding with Lee McCormack's proper bar width would feel like (height in mm times .440), although I would be crashing into trees constantly.

Looks Like a trail off Old Lampasas, just north of St Eds park? 

Only metallic for me, less modulation, but more power. Organics feel great but hard to beat the bite of metallic especially if your rotor gets wet.  Had good luck with drywall sandpaper on contaminated pads.

Sorry to hear about the injury. I broke my elbow and cannot straighten my arm fully. I worked really hard in physical therapy and it's pretty close. I can touch the top of my shoulder so that is a win (known other people that could not after the break). Not a fun road to recovery but modern physical therapy will get you back in no time! Sending you healing vibes!

22 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

In Western Michigan it used to be that 91°F was a hot day.  I think they got 3 days in the 90's all summer.  Most of the time it was in the 75-80°F range.  Also, in the spring, once temps climbed into the 50's out came the flip-flops and shorts.

Doesn't Western Michigan University have underground tunnels because of all the snow they receive?

1 hour ago, AntonioGG said:

If you drink enough beer, the cold no longer bothers you.  You just didn't drink enough beer (and that's saying something for a UW student!

Hah, I think I did pretty well in that department. Parents came to surprise visit me at the dorm one day, however I had been kicked out for having too much fun. But I had a friends couch, a sweatshirt and enough beer money.

Went to college in Madison, WI after going to high school in Singapore, what an awful transition. We had record breaking snowfall my freshman year. My parents gave me money to buy supplies and clothes, obviously I spent it all on beers and party favors. All I had was a sweatshirt. It started snowing in October. I barely left my dorm that winter and got made fun of a lot. 

Was an early adopter on dropper posts, they have a lot of issues but I love the performance. Got the first gen Reverb, it failed a bunch, got it serviced under warranty 2 times and finally gave up on it. Got a KS Lev and liked it better, but had a lot of side to side play and failed as well, got it serviced and sold that bike. Ran a Crankbrothers High Line and loved it, ran it for over a year with no issues at all.  New bike came with a newer gen Reverb stealth. It has worked so far and will probably get it serviced under warranty when the time comes before I give up on it. Thing is the reverb has a great feel to it, the return is so nice and adjustable...when it still works.  Best post I have tried is the Bike Yoke, but out of my price range. Would get a Brand X if I could find a 200mm drop. Looking at PNW and Oneup for my next dropper.

How long has anyone ran a Oneup? Any issues?

Love having a fender as well and if you have a newer fox fork you can grab a bolt on fender for a clean setup.

https://www.syncros.com/us/en/product/syncros-trail-fender

This one is from the MTB community, not as well put together as Acho's but some valid points:

https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/The-Hub,2/Eliot-Jackson-Santa-Cruz-Bikes-and-racism-in-our-community,10912

Homemade pizza has been such a treat.

Looks like a great aggressive tire for our conditions. Have a soft spot for Kenda from the early 2000's Nevegal days. Kenda seems to be putting out some solid tires again (and now Gwin is in the fold!) . What you guys think about this tire in CTX? 

https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Tires,48/Kenda/Pinner,30145

5 hours ago, Browndog said:

The Smash is a long bike. Mine drags on the ground sometimes when I put it on the lift at Spider Mtn.


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My tire drags at spider mountain on the lift as well, at first I thought I was doing something wrong. Think I will be walking this section, looks super fun though.

I have ordered a bike and components from the UK and never had any custom fees, but I have also heard people complaining about the fees.  Also my last order was in 2019, things have changed a bit since then.

I run Shimano XT brakes with a 4 piston front caliper and a 2 piston rear caliper and really like it. I am a bigger guy and they offer plenty of braking power, 203mm rotors for the win. 

+1 on the Shimano Zee's, huge power at a good price, some people think they are too powerful, but not for larger riders. My last bike had them, would easily go back to them.

Having ridden Maguras, they are great brakes with plenty of power, bleed process looks a lot tougher than Shimanos though, if that is something you are concerned about.

12 minutes ago, Cafeend said:

I have the Aggressor up front on my 27.5 , Running RR out back. Great hook ups

Have run the Minion SS on the back which is similar to the RR and love them. Super fast and fun to slide around. Semi slicks also grip on climbs better than you'd think. Aggressor is interesting, only hear really good reviews of them.

59 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:

FWIW, unless you live in desert west with gravity trails, I wouldn't run an assegai. The DHF rolls much faster and the speed & terrain you need for the assegai to shine is few and far between here.  We were just in NWA and watched that tire get pretty packed with just a little moisture compared to the DHF.

 

Good to know, getting a new front tire and was on the fence on the 2.5WT Assegai over the tried and true DHF.  Everyone seems to say the Assegai corners better. The DHF's side knobs dig in perfectly. I am sure the Assegai corners a little better with the transition knobs, but the speed to grip ratio of the DHF is hard to beat. Confirmation bias seals the deal.