pjs32000

You piqued my curiosity so I had to look it up. It seems they say not to do this because you don't want any time to elapse while you wait for the tick to detach. In my experience, albeit from 30+ year ago, ticks would detach in seconds after nail polish remover was applied. I could understand not waiting to find some polish remover if you don't have any of it readily available, but unless there's some other risk I'm not sure why the CDC would advise against it.

It's been ages since I've done it, but as a kid my family always used nail polish remover. It would cause the ticks to back out on their own and then they could be easily removed.

I'll add that Smith has a solid reputation in skiing helmets and to my untrained eye cycling and skiing helmets seem fairly similar.

Thanks for additional info. I was eyeing the Smith Mainline lightweight full face. I've tried on a few in this category and just haven't found the right fit yet. The Mainline features aren't my perfect unicorn, but if it fits well that's probably the one I'll get. The TLD Stage also seemed nice but has annoying pads that cover half of the ear and that pressure on a long ride would quickly turn to pain for me.

As someone considering a Smith lid that's encouraging. What was the reason for them making an exception and giving you a larger credit? Because they didn't respond timely?

Amen. Motorcycling history usually has me in an ATGATT mindset. There's no reason that mountain bikers wearing lots of protective gear should be judged. Better safe than sorry and risk tolerance is a personal choice. I'd rather see someone excessively geared up than not wearing anything.

Is that the stuff about halfway up the side of the hill/cliff?

It was on my initial list, but I've seen several reports online of the chin bar on the ProFrame breaking off which caused me to rule it out. I realize that this may be rare and that negative reports generally outweigh the positive when it comes to online reviews, but when it comes to my brain I tend to not take chances. Thanks for your offer though. A large likely wouldn't fit me regardless, I'm usually in a medium.

Has anyone seen any Smith Mainline lids around town? I'm in the market for a lightweight full face and this is the next one on my list to try. I've already tried the Troy Lee Stage and didn't like how the liner covered and put pressure on the lower half of my ears. I also tried the Leatt DBX 4.0 and while it seemed to fit comfortably, I was able to slide the helmet around too much on my head (not enough friction in the liner?), it just didn't stay put for me to be comfortable it wouldn't move in a crash. Perhaps as a motorcyclist my expectations are too high for a full face, I'm used to a helmet not being able to move around much at all and if it does that means it's not the right fit.

Probably a coyote, there are a lot of them in the WC area and surrounding neighborhoods.

My likelihood of breaking or losing them is directly proportional to the purchase price.

I also have a pair of Tifosi glasses. Not what I'd call cheap, but not too expensive either, I think they were about $50-ish and came with 3 lenses and a hard case. I like them a lot. With the flexible rubber nose and ear pieces they stay put when I'm sweating and changing the lenses is very easy.

This is a timely post as I'm in the market for a lightweight full face as I start to progress my riding into more challenging features but am not near a level where I'd need a full on downhill lid. These helmets are also so light I might just wear them daily, despite the dumb looks I'm sure to get. More protection is almost always a good thing. I've narrowed my options to the TLD Stage, 100% Trajecta, IXS Trigger and Leatt DBX 4.0. All of these are in the lightweight and breathable category but many are still downhill certified. The Leatt is a bit heavier than the others but looks like has a bit more of a downhill flavor, hence the weight tradeoff. I'm leaning Leatt since I think an extra half pound or so is a small price to pay for more protection. The Stage is very popular, I just got back from Bentonville and it was obviously the full face of choice there. But it has a weird pad design where it contacts the lower half of the ears and I found that quite uncomfortable and in my opinion when it comes to helmets fit is everything. The Fox Proframe seems to be the 2nd most popular but there are some pretty mixed reviews on it out there, with some saying the that helmet breaks too easily on impact. I partially attribute this to the fact that negative reviews are usually more prevalent online, and that these helmets are likely designed to break on impact and then be replaced, but there was still enough chatter about it for me to look elsewhere. The Proframe shell also appears to have a break right where the chinbar meets the rest of the helmet which makes me question if that's a possible structural weak point, but I'll admit the shell design may not match the structural design underneath on any helmet so it's hard to tell. Now I'm trying to find stores with generous return shipping options to try on the 3 I haven't found in stores yet. I also immediately ruled out any lid with a removeable chin bar. This is purely a personal decision but is based on my thought that anything removeable can't possibly be as strong as a permanently affixed chinbar, and the fact that I witnessed a motorcycle accident by someone wearing one of those flip up chinbar helmets and the chinbar completely separated from the rest of the helmet immediately upon impact.

I've only been to Snail once and got very confused on the best paths for practicing beginner / intermediate friendly features. Care to elaborate? Is there a "safe-ish" way down the feature lines that allows for bypassing the gnarly stuff, that still allows for hitting moderate features and keeps one off the big lines and out of the way of anyone that might be going full send?

REI runs sales on Darn Tough 1-2x per year. I think they do the same on Smartwool socks, but usually staggered with the Darn Tough sales. I have some Smartwool skiing socks that have lasted me forever and basically still look brand new. I only recently got some Darn Toughs for hiking and biking. So far I really like them, but one has developed a hole near the top so I plan to test their warranty. If all goes well I'll likely start buying more of them in slow phases to spread out the high cost a bit.