Cayon or other direct to consumer bikes??

[CBaron]

23 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

 The riding in CTX is a completely different kettle of fish compared to where most R&D takes place,  and bikes with slightly more conservative geo still do surprisingly well here.

 

 

Tons of insight and wisdom in this statement.  There's so much influence from Youtube videos and flashy marketing from far-a-way regions that it strongly influences peoples opinions for bike that will get ridden HERE.

Later,
CJB

[AustinBike]

Yeah, BC is not Austin, not even by a long shot.

Might just be urban legend, but allegedly, back in the late 90's/early 2000's, some of the manufacturers supposedly came to Austin to see what was breaking so many bikes and causing all of the warranty repairs. My guess is that the smooth single track and soft loam of California, Colorado and BC won't hammer frames the way Austin's square-edge limestone and granite ledges will.

[TheX]

39 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

My guess is that the smooth single track and soft loam of California, Colorado and BC won't hammer frames the way Austin's square-edge limestone and granite ledges will.

100% true. And the trails in Cali can be ridden wet as well. Completely different.

[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.  

[Barry]

1 minute ago, xl_cheese said:

Long, Low, and Slack isn't necessarily the best for our terrain.  

What many folks find "best" and what others (mainly myself) find "fun" aren't  always the same. 

[AntonioGG]

15 hours ago, crazyt said:

i bought a ripmo and Im used to it now and it is fine. But when I ride my "old school" turner czar it is amazingly comfortable. So "old school" geo still feels great

Can you elaborate on this?  You and I have owned the same 2 bikes IIRC (early SC Tallboy and Turner Czar) so I'm really curious about  your perception.  I rode a friend's 2020 Tallboy and it felt like a completely different bike to me compared to my old Tallboy but even more so my 2014 Czar.  If I could put it into a car analogy, the Tallboy felt like what I imagine a Baja desert truck feels like, vs my Czar which feels more like a WRC car.

[crazyt]

my tallboy was an LTC, even though the HTA is steep by today's standards it definitely had that monster truck feel. I was bombing down sketchy stuff in the BCGB and four corners that my friends with years more experience were a lot more cautious on. What I didnt like about the tallboy LTc was the VPP suspension, it was super cush on the downhill but too bouncy on the climbs. The VPP was more composed on the sketch than the ripmo where the suspension is a little too firm.

My next bike was the turner czar which I love. It definitely isnt as plush on the down hills, but is amazing for climbs. I feel like I maneuver, get over ledges, etc really nicely, but I found myself being scared on stuff that I had easily ridden on the tallboy, so I got the ripmo. It definitely gives me confidence for sketchy downhill and climbs nicely, but overall I just dont feel like it fits like a glove like the czar.

On climbs on the czar (and the tallboy) I had to sit on the nose of the seat (e.g. jester/yaupon/courtyard). On the ripmo I can sit further back, but on the flats I have to be careful not to put too much pressure on my hands. I have the ripmo adjusted reasonably well now but I had to push my seat all the way back, which I think defeats the purpose of the steep STA.

I think I prefer the czar geometry over the ripmo and if the czar had more travel - eg. 130 or 140mm that would be my ideal bike. Everyone kept waiting for an updated turner sultan, but it never arrived.

[ATXZJ]

8 hours ago, crazyt said:

 What I didnt like about the tallboy LTc was the VPP suspension, it was super cush on the downhill but too bouncy on the climbs. The VPP was more composed on the sketch than the ripmo where the suspension is a little too firm.

Had one of these too, and was my last SC bike. The RP23 shock it came with was trash and didn't help the mid stroke wallow that iteration of VPP was plagued with. Bought a process 111 and it was over. Game changer. I'd still rock one of the new tallboy V4s though.

Have a 100mm XC-ish rig that seems to be about perfect for CTX, and a 180mm high pivot for everything else. No need to buy anything different at this point.

Edited October 15, 2020 by ATXZJ

[June Bug]

Just came across a new boutique direct-to-consumer brand out of Sausalito, CA called Hudski Bikes.  Apparently, Cali bros go all "Hey, Doggler!" when they see each other if they've been separated for awhile.  I'm not current on the appropriate sequence of hand gripping + back patting that goes with this, but moving right along...

...The Doggler, a hardtail aluminum frame with rigid carbon fork,  comes in City, Gravel or Mountain iterations, each for $2,000, and weighs in at 24-ish pounds. It can take 27.5  x 2.6" or 29 x 2.1" tires, depending. 

Bikepacking.com did a review in September: The New Hudski Doggler

 

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by June Bug

[RedRider3141]

On 10/12/2020 at 4:49 PM, Austin Smithey said:

Didnt think about that, kind of feels like the WWII story about where to put more armor on a plane.

Another Thread Hijack. The story I heard was that there was an argument over this. Some engineers wanted to armor the areas marked by the red because that is where all of the planes returning from battle were shot. However, the other side said, no armor the areas WITHOUT damage because the planes that were hit there never returned.  

[Shinerider]

On 10/13/2020 at 12:27 PM, xl_cheese said:

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.  

Don't do it!  I ended up with a Devinci Troy after a "demo" ride😉😁

Seriously - Give Velo a ring - they will hook you up.

[TheX]

9 minutes ago, Shinerider said:

Don't do it!  I ended up with a Devinci Troy after a "demo" ride😉😁

Seriously - Give Velo a ring - they will hook you up.

Never any regrets dealing with Wes.

[AustinBike]

17 hours ago, Shinerider said:

Don't do it!  I ended up with a Devinci Troy after a "demo" ride😉😁

Seriously - Give Velo a ring - they will hook you up.

He's like a drug dealer "the first hit is free." That is how I got hooked. Demo'd one bike, dropped that off and grabbed a second one. An hour into that ride I texted him to start doing the paperwork. It was a touchless transaction long before covid.