schoolie

I've been running two niteriders for a while now. One on the helmet (950, narrow beam) and one on the bars (1200, wider beam). The weight on the helmet is borderline, but as long as the cinch dial is snug, it doesn't bother me too much. I also 3D printed a sexy mount for it, so it's lighter and not sticking up so high. I really like the convenience of the all in one Luminas. I used to have lights with separate batteries, and there's just so much less to keep track of now 🙂 Although Tip has me thinking... might try to rig a side mount like that up someday. Looks pretty trick.

Bummer. Tried my luck and just got MX6s. You win 🙂

Sooo.... wanna share a link?

Another happy Time user here. I've got a couple pairs of the older Aliums, which have been bulletproof, and a newer version with the square rails (also no problems). I love the float, engagement, etc. I'm thinking about getting a pair of the platform pedals they released recently as well. The only issue is it's harder to swap bikes with your buddy since no one else runs Time's, but that may not actually be an issue... lol.

Ah, my bad. It's not a wrench, it's three dots, and only in the web version, not mobile:

There's an option to crop your ride. Click on the wrench, then crop.

Was it with an owner? If not I bet someone would really like to know you saw it! Cool bird!

Well said!

Just confirming, can this rack break down to carry just a single bike? Based on the ad I'm guessing not, but just wanted to make sure...

+1. I've got a wheel that I've done this to at least 3 times. It takes a little longer for the sealant to stop seeping from a new tire install, but other than that no issues.

That's cause it is :)

This thread definitely need more bikes carrying things:

Yep! Rode DD W-E on Tuesday. It works pretty well as an up. Probably a little easier (at least more consistent) than the original line with the erosion as it is now. My first impression was that it flows better too. Haven't gone E-W to try it as a down yet.

+1 I had a creak "somewhere up front" a couple years ago. Every time I'd ride the bike I'd think "better check that out when I get home, my stem's probably loose or something." Of course, I'd forget about it until the next ride. Then this happened: I'm more diligent about chasing down creaks now!

I'll definitely admit to riding it both ways, and it's fun in either direction. Definitely more dangerous as an entrance though, I always ease up and watch a bit before hitting it so I know there's no one coming from under the bridge, but there's not a great way to tell if anyone's coming from the left on the lower Picnic X line towards the bridge. Same 🙂

I know exactly what you're talking about. I'd say fork deflection under braking is even more noticeable on the rigid fork on my Karate Monkey, since there's no telescoping motion to confuse your eyes about what's really happening. It's pretty crazy how much things move around under load on a bike. I'd say it's mostly B. Bushing fit/alignment to the stanchions is important, and any clearance or misalignment due to bending causes the bushings to "stick" to the stanchions more than when things are perfectly lined up. There's definitely a bit of A too, since seal design in the air spring (and damper to a lesser extent) has an impact on initial breakaway force of the fork. Higher end forks often have tighter tolerances on the bushings, so there's less room for things to move around. Rebuild services like Push Industries also offer to replace your bushings with ones selected to fit your stanchions exactly, instead of the random distribution that come from the factory (at least used to, haven't paid attention in a while). This gets the "undeflected" alignment as good as it can be. Once things get loaded up and start bending, the bushings are forced against the stanchions, making it harder for the fork to slide. Imagine compressing the fork with a load directly inline with the fork's travel - there's theoretically no load on the bushings, so you're only overcoming the friction of the seals. Now twist the front wheel real hard and do it again - the bushings are loaded up by the flex of the fork, so the fork feels stiffer. This is a very valid answer, depending on how/where you like to ride. I run a 2.6 rekon on i35 rims on my KM, and it's a pretty good option if you're not trying to be the fastest guy through the rough stuff.

Yes, it changes the geometry. but that's not necessarily bad, it's just different than the manufacturer's design. Generally speaking when you increase travel (axle-crown distance is what really matters, but they're closely related), you slacken the head angle and raise the BB. Reach goes down a bit, and stack goes up a bit, but that can easily be compensated by swapping stem/spacers, etc. Slacker head angle is generally more stable at speed, but can be "floppy" at low speed. Eventually, if you add enough travel you'll void the frame warranty. I'm pretty sure that's because the increased HTA applies a bigger bending moment to the head tube, potentially overloading it.

Speaking of blocking/unblocking, the cheater lines at this spot were cleared back out again, on both sides this time. I've reblocked this one twice now, but left it today because I wasn't sure I remembered all the places @First-Blood said he modified today. I'm guessing this wasn't one of them, but thought I'd be safe. Just say the word and I'll move all the stuff back next time I'm out there. If anyone's got any suggestions for a more permanent solution or a different approach, I'm all ears.

Just throwing in my 2 cents here, since we seem to have similar preferences/experiences. I've ridden hardtails exclusively other than rentals and borrowing bikes here and there. I've got thousands of miles on an older Karate Monkey (the 72deg HTA version), set up rigid, and with an 80mm and 100mm Reba with a QR axle. More recently, I've been riding a Trek Stache, with a 120mm and now a 150mm fork. Also, while I love understanding the minutiae of bike geo, suspension kinematics, etc. (I'm a hard core mechanical engineer), I'm laughably bad at noticing differences when it comes to actually riding the bike, so take my thoughts for what they're worth (maybe not much, lol). I'll pretty much ride whatever you put me on and have a good time as long as it's not breaking or requiring too much maintenance. Weight / riding style: 185 lbs. I ride hard, but would like to say I've got some finesse from all the miles riding rigid. I love tech and the big trialsy power moves you have to do to get through trails like Double Down at Brushy, but going fast downhill is pretty fun too :). My thoughts on the KM: I started out rigid, then was installed the Reba in 80mm config. After a rebuild I lengthened it to 100mm. My main driver for putting the fork on was the Dragonslayer. I did one lap out there rigid and didn't think I'd survive 3, and I was probably right :). I ended up switching back to rigid after I got the Stache, and won't be going back. For me, the flexiness of the Reba was noticeable enough to make it not even worth having on my normal 1-2 hour rides. I've since converted the Monkey to SS and LOVE it. That bike gets better and better the more I take away. However, I'm not tough enough to have that be my only ride, it would not be fun on something like the Dragonslayer or any other all day event, at least that's what I'd say right now. Thoughts on the Stache: I can't say enough good things about this bike, at least for a guy like me. The last few weeks have been especially positive. I switched from the stock chupacabra's (lots of small knobs) to some heavier tires with more aggressive knobs, and have loved the additional traction. I also switched from the stock 120mm Manitou Magnum to a 150mm Revelation. I was worried the bike would feel weird adding that much travel, but I haven't noticed anything negative yet. I installed the stem one spacer lower to keep the handlebars closer to the same height. So far, the higher quality fork has definitely outweighed any negative geometry changes. For reference, in the last two weeks on the Stache I've done 80+ miles in the greenbelt, kept up with my brother from CO on his long low slack mountain shredder at Spider Mtn, and had a blast the whole time :). I guess long story short, I've found there's a bit of a dead zone on fork effectiveness, at least for me. The flexy, shorter travel Reba wasn't worth having, and the lower quality 120mm Magnum was meh. Rigid on the Monkey, and longer better fork on the Stache were both positive changes IMO.

I think it's called the HOL dam? Between mulch hill and HOL. I rode through about six inches of flowing water in the first half, and rock hopped the rest of the way.

We ended up getting a great ride in at the greenbelt today. Only took a few wrong turns, and hit pretty much everything we were aiming for. 30 miles of fun, started at HOL, went all the way to Zilker and along town lake for a bit, then back to Travis country to hit sidewinder/jedi/mulch. Crossed the creek (kept our feet dry!) and climbed HOL backside back to the car. @CBaron thanks for the sidewinder suggestion, that was a fun tough little bit of trail. I know we rode it during the Death March, but I didn't remember where it was or what it was called. Glad I could show him that.

Looks like Sunday's firming up, gonna be at Spider/RPR. Thanks again for the offer!!

Sweet, thanks Cody! I'm riffing off this ride a bit, thanks for the ideas :).

Aah, my bad. I don't think I've ever gone over that rock. I'll have to try that next time I'm out there! If you get there before me, move the branches a bit. I probably won't be back out there until Monday.

Sure was, lol. I was the guy in the blue helmet :) We rolled a decent sized rock up the hill to help, but it could definitely stand to be beefed up a bit.