rockshins

I am also on Team Dakine, will see how this goes. Fanny pack army!

Super curious about the Assegai as a front tire for around here, how does it do on the rocks? I like slow tires so no worries on that front. Have always had good luck with a DHF, but I am curious to run an Assegai up front.

Not sure the exact model, was 6 years ago but they were high end pedals. I had always heard good things about Time pedals so I figured they would be great. One of the pedals broke the very first ride at Reimers. Now I am not sure if the pedals were defective or if my buddies did something weird to them, but scared me off for sure.

I didn't know that, that is counterintuitive, but I guess it goes along with their hubs with the pros running their 240's and me on my 350's. Seem to be solid wheels, have hit several rocks and they are just fine.

These wheels: https://www.dtswiss.com/en/products/wheels-mtb/enduro/e-1700-spline/e-1700-spline-30/ OEM on my complete bike, Nukeproof Mega

Like the the feel of Time pedals but have seen 2 buddies blow up their Time's on the middle of a ride. They were higher end pedals but my friends had poor technique and hit rocks. Pedals ripped off spindles but did stay clipped to the shoes, lol. I have Shimano DX m647 pedals and hit rocks all the time. They are old and have been rebuilt twice but run perfectly. Might upgrade when XT 8120 is available.

DT Swiss E1700's with 350 hubs. Not the fanciest but get the job done and not too heavy. If I was building a wheel I would go with ATXJ's suggestion and get XM481's and 350 hubs are bombproof!

That looks to be 51mm, sweet fork, I would see no reason to get a new one, no need to sweat the offset.

I assume your Pike is 51mm offset? That should be fine on the bikes you are looking at, I would keep that fork, it is awesome and can spend elsewhere. Santa Cruz is putting 44mm offset forks on their bikes, have a buddy who is running either a 47 or 51mm? offset fork on his brand new SC and it works just fine. The other bikes on your list, the Ripley and Stumpy will do just fine with a 51mm offset.

Does your current hub have an XD driver? If so I think it would need some kind of adapter.

Had this for a custom wheel build but ended up going for a 36 hole hub instead. This one is 32 holes, brand new. Hope quality built to last! $90

I agree with AntonioGG, just my opinion, but easiest thing to do would be to let out some air and go to about 30-35% sag. See how that feels. Leave the compression damping open, unless you grab a handful of brake and you suck up half your travel. Can dial in the rebound to how you like it, but do think slightly more damping around here works best. If that still doesn't feel just right and not getting closer to full travel on big hits, then I would move on to removing a spacer.

What's your sag at? How much compression damping are you running (Fit4)? How much rebound damping are you running? Do you like a super progressive fork (4 volume spacers is pretty progressive)?

I photocopied my friends Central Texas mag, still have it. Little bit outdated but fun to look at! Makes me miss a certain warbler nesting area

Nice having the extra valve cores instead of the hassle of cleaning out the stan's plugged ones.

Had a rider in front of me one time on a sketchy downhill, didn't have his helmet on properly, smashed his head into a rock, was unconscious and bloody. The helmet had moved out the way on the rock and his head took the brunt of it. Only reason I knew he was breathing and alive was because he started snoring. Was in a foreign country on top of a mountain, got help and we had to carry him down to jeep road for an ambulance. I came away pissed he was not wearing his helmet properly. I always call people out for no helmets, at least it will make them think about, can't fix stupid.

What I should have said was to put the money into a XTR shifter and get a SLX rear mech (or SRAM equivalent?), because you will feel the difference in performance in the shifter more than in the rear mech. The shop didn't give you bad advice per se as there is not a huge difference between XT and SLX, but there is a slight difference and an even bigger one moving up to XTR. Had 2 bikes with XTR derailers and SLX shifters stock, upgraded the shifters to XTR and it was a big difference, shifting was so much crisper. Then snapped off one of the XTR rear mechs on a rock and replaced it with SLX, could not tell the difference. IMHO invest in the high end shifter, you can feel it and it is less likely to get destroyed.

Super solid advice, XT/XTR shifter with a SLX derailer for instance, saves money and you'll feel the difference much more at the shifter than at the rear mech.

Awesome trail, this is great news! I am there as well for dig days!

Used to live out there and had some nice loops, would start out at the Balcones park and bomb down that trail and shoot over to Topridge trail and come down on Scotland Wells and hit the side trails of Spicewood Springs up to St. Eds, do that long climb and hit the opposite side drops that link back up to the main trail. Super fun descents. Haven't been out that way in a while, makes me sad to think someone has make the trails mellower. Need to get back out there!

Thought this was pretty cool! https://www.pinkbike.com/news/7-bikes-of-the-tour-divide.html

I don't compromise on the frame or suspension, after that brakes are important and I agree with everyone else on Shimano brakes, they just work better and are easier to bleed. Too many issues with Sram brakes over the years. You can for sure save money building from the frame up, just takes time and detective work.

My friends that kept coming loose on the trail was a Maxle, I have bolt on thru axles, torque them to spec and have had zero issues.

I have seen this happen as well, think it was a result of my friends thru axle not torqued down tight enough, good thing it didn't result in a crash.

ha thought it was one of the better april fools