xl_cheese

I've been saying this for a while with all the talk of 'modern' geometry. Long, Low, and Slack isn't necessarily the best for our terrain.

Velorangutan 3924 Woodbury Dr Ste A Austin, TX 78704. Demos are all free. I just require a credit card preAuthorization of 3k to take it for a few days so you can get a couple rides on it.

I know someone who just replaced a Czar with a new Oiz. 😉

Feel free to come Demo an Orbea Oiz! That model seems to be in the same arena as the Cannondale you were looking at. 120mm front and rear. I have some on order which are scheduled to be delivered in Dec/Jan timeframe. https://www.orbea.com/us-en/bicycles/mountain/oiz/cat/oiz-m10-tr

Looks like a great trail to take the boss. She likes smooth trails... Thanks for the review!

I ordered a pallet of these white tires from Europe. They are mostly sold within a month!

Yeah, Ibis is killing me with them not being able to tell me when bikes can ship and constant push back on dates. They have given up trying to deliver ETAs. I've had so many Ibis cancellations over the last few months it's not even funny. Glad you were able to get yourself a RIpmo!

I now look for coverage of the helmet. Most MTB style helmets are wrapping around the head more. Generally, more expensive helmets give more coverage. A great helmet to consider is the Bell Super Air R helmet. It has a removable chin bar. When riding with the chin bar you can barely tell it's there. LARGE sun visors seem to be another fad that is becoming popular. My current helmet, Smith Forefront, has a nice normal size visor with 3 positions. I don't like anything extra in my field of view so I normally have it tilted up a notch or two. If I find myself riding into the sun I can tilt the visor down. For night riding, visors tend to get into the way of the light beam. Smith helmets claim their design is more safe than the typical styrofoam. It looks like a bunch of straw pieces stuck together. I can't say that I have seen real data to back up their claim. It doesn't breathe as well in the summer. And you can't scratch that itch on your head through a vent hole. I deal with those because my Smith rep gave me a free helmet.. Before the Smith helmet I had a Troy Lee A2 helmet. It was also a freebie from a rep. But I ditched it after using it twice because it somehow channeled ALL of my sweat directly into my eyes. I never anticipated a helmet could increase the amount sweat in your eyes, but this one did. Otherwise it was a really comfortable helmet. I currently have another Smith Forefront helmet on order for January delivery simply because I want to channel my inner Marco Cippollini...

Great thread! Here's my oldest at 5 last fall. Shortly after this ride she decided her helmet didn't feel right so she's barely ridden her bike since.

I have one Medium Ripmo AF (Aluminum Frame) Demo available to try. Demos are free, I just require a credit card preauthorization to take it for a few days. The next unspoken for Ripmo V2 in Medium I have booked with Ibis is scheduled for September.

We are not the same Wes.

Thanks for the plugs guys! I have a fleet of demo bikes you're welcome to take out. The Ripmos are hard to come by. I think I have like 30 on order so depending on your size I can see when the next batch is scheduled. Other great bikes to look at are the Orbea Occam. I knew this would be a hit when the new model was introduced last year. It is finally getting a lot of attention by the reviewers. https://jeffkendallweed.com/oldest-bike-brand-of-all-time-the-story-of-orbea/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8av86gBVBtE I just picked up Revel bikes and have the Medium Demo up and running. I should have the large by the end of the month Nukeproof and Scott are other brands I have available to demo. However, both companies are completely sold out and bikes won't be available for a couple more months at least. I'm selling the Nukeproof demos and will replace this fall.

The best bang for the buck posts are from PNW or One UP. They perform well and hvae nice remotes. The absolute best post I have experience with is the Bike Yoke. A bit more expensive, but is super smooth and doesn't break.

On a serious note, it was a new experience on a bike. If you can call it that. I get one ride a week to get my exercise in and after the ride Tuesday I felt like I wasted my ride. I wasn't the slightest bit winded. Pedaling the bike was less about pedaling and more of just giving it throttle. The bike has the typical bosch system which has 4 power levels. I used the 2nd lowest setting most of the night which was probably too much in most places. I kicked it up to Turbo only on the zero tech stuff. There were a couple times, like Bambi, I had to pedal hard to keep the pace because the system has a 20mph governor. Any speed above that and you're on your own. I also somehow accidentally hit the power off button on E-spank and had to slog that heavy thing for a while on my own. I didn't want to stop the group just so I could turn the power back on. It was a chore to get through the twisty stuff. Maybe part was getting used to a different handling bike, wide bars, different tires, etc... I was slower in the twisty stuff on this bike compared to my normal bike. Going up technical rock climbs was a breeze. During the ride I felt that the extra momentum you carry with this bike necessitates more robust riding gear. If your toe/foot his a rock or stump while pedaling it's going to be an ouchy. I've heard the argument that someone would want to put their slower significant other on an Ebike so they could keep up easier. Perhaps on the road, but I wouldn't want my wife to ride this bike on a trail. It certainly seems to have a higher potential for injury. It was a fun experience. For me, I'd rather ride my normal bike. I still have this at the shop until the ORbea rep comes to get it so if anyone wants to ride it tomorrow swing by in the morning and grab it!

I killed it at Crank and Drank the other night. No one could hang on the Drip Drop ascent. Then we hit the Davis climb and those Nica kids exploded in my wake!

These guys will make you scratch your head a little more. Lol. I use the 2 degree EC44/ZS56 to make my bike steeper. https://www.workscomponents.co.uk/20-degree-headsets-15-c.asp

Had a good ride on the Southies today.

Love my Magura brakes!

I barely have anyone asking for 27.5 bikes anymore. I quit stocking them and having demos in that size. My brands have scaled back the the 27.5 offerings for 2020. 29ers were pushed to popularity being driven by the consumers. Later the 27.5 size came around being manufacturer driven.

Is that lone man mountain? There was an effort to build train on that years ago.

Tools! https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/tools/products/pack-pliers Socks! https://www.sockguy.com/bike-1

You need to spend a lot of time on that plot of land hiking around to get a feel for it, looking for cool features, etc... Would you be able to share the coordinates to the land? I'd be interested in peeking at the google earth view.

I've found a few factors can contribute to hand discomfort which are not related to grips. First, is the angle of your handlebar. What I have found that works best for me is to angle the sweep of the bar to just above my shoulders. Second, the tilt of your saddle can increase hand pressure. It's a fine balance point to get it right, but if the nose of your saddle points down it will cause your hips to roll forward increasing hand pressure. If the nose it up too much the boys will not be happy. Also, related to saddle position is that all of these new bikes have super steep seat angles. It's great for climbing, but does cause extra weight on the hands. Third, I've found that any gloves that have gel or extra padding in the palm cause hand issues for me. The extra bulk in the palm causes the forearm muscles to work harder to grip. I LOVE these lizard skin gloves. https://lizardskins.com/mtb/gloves/aramus My favorite grips are the ESI silicone grips in Regular chunky. https://esigrips.com/mtb-grips/chunky-grips

Wow, under 1200 for an Industry Nine carbon wheelset is a great deal! https://www.dirtcomponents.com/product-page/29-xc-gravel-29-1mm-dirt-industry-nine