bear

late the the party as usual ... but have a going-on 6 yr old pair of Light Bicycle 29er rims -- 30mm ID 35mm OD with their "all mountain" layup of the time. Laced to King hubs, they were under 400 delivered. They outlived the Yeti frameset, and the subsequent SIR9 frameset, and are now on my Nimble9 backup. I've had to wholly replace the spokes twice on the rear wheel and once on the front. Considering I had been replacing a rear alloy rim basically annually and the front every 3-4 years I take this as a win. Those rims got a TON of hard rocky miles in the northeast US and in particular central & NE pennsylvania ... I'll put PA rockiness up as equal- or more abusive to anything in CenTex. I like the idea of the on-shore carbon builders but frankly they're not worth the cost to me ... the LB though are a decent ROI. Their current model is available with asym drilling and updated layup ... got a bonus this year which funded putting some on my current FS. Even with the "all mountain" layout they're 120-150 grams lighter than a Stans Flow Mk4 that would have been my alloy choice. Shoot, they're lighter than the 27.5 Stan's Flow Mk4. We'll see how long they hold up, they've been to NC mountains once but have a steady diet coming up in their CY22 schedule. :^)

Being a working-stiff with a desk job doesn't help either ... especially the last two years where the work situation and job changes have put me onr 6-9 hours of zoom calls a day. WTF do I get to take a walk? Backlash is starting to build. Life is setting me up to play the "note from my dr." card though ... to manage some health factors may "require" full hour+ mid day break ... time for some reasonable fresh air activity. addendum: mixing in some road bike riding at moderate effort seems to help my hip/IT flex - something about the more full range of motion compared to MTB ?

agreed. recognize it's hard to permanently change habits that put you where you are, and keep it going. I'd bounced around a bit in 90's and '00s but seem to have finally stabilized in a better state since 2016 too and it's certainly made life better. I'll still never be the first to the top of the climb ... well maybe not ... but bike life is easier on me and on my bike to be sure. AB ... 5 years ... sounds like you and us started a big change around the same time in 2016. ?

not just your back but your entire core - could be imbalance or weakness elsewhere. It's not a short road but working to improve your core can help a LOT and it'll pay out not just in preventing lower back issues but numerous others, can also help your legs apply more power to the pedals too by giving them a better "root" to push against. Consider a PT for a limited period of time for assessment and guidance on getting good behavior going, if possible. i really need to motivate myself to get back to the gym for that stuff ... been such a slacker this past year and so. ;^(

+1 on RS suspension ... i've a 2012 Pike 150 still ticking over on my hardtail and a heartily abused 2016 Lyrik on my FS. The damper in the Lyrik (charger 1.0) blew it's bladder this year so replaced it with a Charger 2.1 assembly without drama ... works fabulously well. +1 on RS service too ... sent in a 2016 MonarchPlus for full rebuild (I do air can/seals but send it in for the rest) and they found the damper was dead because the shaft had worn so the assembly won't hold oil - could have been bike frame issues or could have been build - no way to tell - but for the cost of service rebuild they sent me a full new replacement instead. Considering the mileage on that shock i'm appreciative.

Size 32 for me, foot is size 9 fwiw, I usually have the cleat almost slammed to back as far as it can go. Road bike? Well, sometimes you just gotta roll the paved trail. You know how it is.

serendipitously, over the last year I switched to 165's on my MTBs after being on 175s for basically ever. It started with some curiosity and gas money not being used so diverted on a closeout crankarm set. I've had them "all over" including Western NC riding, used them with 29er and 27.5 wheels, 30t and 32t ring (with same cassette). Upshot is that I don't see any down sides, for me and my physiology, and stupidity level, anyway. There's enough punchy stuff in some of my NC trails that I'd stack against BCGB punch to think that there wouldn't necessarily be a problem there. If someone is concerned about raw power loss you'll be withing small % difference by simply changing the chainring 2t smaller, when I initially switched I put a 30t on but have since gone back to 32t. Do I think everyone should just down-size? Probably not. Do I think people are mostly over-cranked? Probably yes. The only tangible reason I can think someone should down size is if there's some kinestic reason (e.g. hugely better bike fit / pedalling dynamic - if that exists) or of they really REALLY need to cut down on pedal strikes. And yes, I did have to raise my saddle 10mm to compensate for the change, I ended up having a knee issue before I did that. Now I just need to find a cheap Campy 2x crankset to change out my road bike ... ha ha ha .. like that's going to happen.

My take is that it's related to upper & lower leg & foot length. For me, 5' 9" with 32" inseam and 42.5 foot, 165 is great. My guess is SS or not doesn't really factor, you'd adjust me hanical leverage with gearing. But my knees don't like SS mashing with lots of hills so I haven't done that since '14 so don't take my opinion.

@mack_turtle.. IMO slight loss of flexibility from aging or other body changes play in. Long time ago when u was fitted closely for a road bike islander with 170 cranks, got the bug to test last year for the 165 on mtb and it just worked for me. @ATXZJ.. agreed, don't need crazy range, dropping 9 & 10 cogs makes total sense for me too.

Be most diligent, after moving to 2 different states and 3 cities it's still nowhere the scene I left in TX. I do wish my job could have been worked from Charlotte to be closer to WNC, alas that was just not an option this round. Some years from now? Who knows.

zombie thread check in ... ran 30t ring with 46t large cassette 11 spd a few months ago in NC mountains (Pisgah!), with 165mm cranks, 29er wheels ... all good. long grinds are still long grinds but no problems. Going to try 32t ring next time I go (march or earlier) but take both 29 and smaller wheelset out a paranoia. i switched to 165mm cranks this past year on both my mtb and I gotta say it's a good thing, don't miss 175 at all. yet.

"Emma" is a dominatrix, you don't pay attention she will mostly likely spank you hard when you play. Of course, some [of us] enjoyed that quite regularly, upon a time. I also find some of the particular stuff that you find at CP represent pretty perishable skills ... not necessarily used in lots of places ... but always good to have in your pocket. Also, next time you go I advocate dual two laps ... easygoing by intent on the first lap then relax and do what you feel like on the 2nd ... it's a true life mystery that more 2nd laps are better (smoother, faster, more fun) than first laps; on any given day. Yes, next time I'm in Austin I will be riding there (I did last time I was in town) ... it may not be everyone's hit list but I have so many damned fond memories (bruises, cuts, broken bikes, broken bones) that I can't stay away when i'm close enough.

I agree, it prepared me well for my first trips to some of the western chunk (UT) for sure. If you want relentlessly chunky stuff though, try some of the NE area ... much of CenTex has the chunk mixed in with what amounts to buff track ... there's some crud in NE PA for example that just barely has any buff singletrack. Did a "reset" on my bump-om-eter ... although i'd admit to my old Titus making it fun my current FS 29er made it a LOT more fun and less abusive. Or I got older and lazier, one.

I can only imagine how Suck the traffic has become in A-town since we left ... I really wouldn't mind finding some scenic road paths around Raleigh, for my Issac, but for now at least there's a lot of paved greenway that can be linked up. Not as good as singletrack but a great alternative if the trails are closed, even "those" trails.

Likewise. With some luck we'll be able to close that gap a little in '21, let's see what happens. At some point i'll need another "get the f**k out of dodge" weekend like I pulled in November, if nothing else.

"ah, those were the days" Brutal with all the wet, but taught me how much you only really needed to watch out for the black clay. well, that and so many dang morning rides with Daisy out at CP. I think one year I went insane and did over 200 morning laps. someone should dig up an old finisher list from one of the CP-TT events ... I remember there being a few - just a few - 30 minute laps recorded. Nuts.

FWIW, I've 46t largest cog on both my mtb, one is a 10spd using a Sunrace HG type cassette and 32t ring with 165mm cranks (hardtail) and the other is my main mtb that has 11spd e13 xD type cassette and 30t ring with 165mm cranks (RIP9); NC (east of the mountains) doesn't have the long climbs either and next spring i'll see how well it works for me in Pisgah but for the short steeps I do have it's fine. I also changed Maria's old Switchblade from 3x9 to 1x10 using the same SunRace+SRAM GX/X01 setup and it works fab for her. I just can't see the value in spending the $ for 12 speed of any type at this point, I find the SRAM GX rear-d with X01 or X11 shifter work just peachy for me, i'm sure there's nicer in some ways but this stuff is durable and cost effective. To me drivetrain tech has advanced a fair amount, of course the vendors are shipping it more on the newer styles, but using reasonable quality level components to build and not letting it get all crapped-out in muck is a better way to have a well running drivetrain than spending a kilobuck. Not that it matters here, but my 10spd Campy Veloce drivetrain from 2006 that is on my road bike still runs perfect. At the rate I use that bike though it'll probably only get replaced when the whole bike is replaced. Still, good quality + maintenance does pay off.

Same here. Had a converted SRAM X9 front-d lever doing the duty for years on my KS LEV DX but then ended up needing a better than stock solution for my 2nd bike and went with the WolfTooth and liked it so much I just had to replace the X9 lever even though there was nothing wrong. Indulgent, but a superior product I feel.

i like simple goals ... Mrs_Bear and I agreed long ago that i needed to ride a mile for every $ spent on the bike, original purchase only. Replacement parts and upgrades after the fact not included (although there's been years that still would have been ok). But I'm only authorized one bike setup as "as Bear requires" ... the rest have just need be "good enough" to not insult the primary bike.