Pinkbike Product Picks
Chrome Cardiel Shank Hip Pack
Chrome's product lineup is aimed mainly at the urban side of the cycling world, featuring items like messenger bags, backpacks, sneakers and outerwear intended for the rigors of all-season city riding. The company's emphasis on durability makes many of their products appropriate for mountain biking as well, including the Cardiel Shank hip pack, which was designed with input from skateboarder and cyclist John Cardiel. This water resistant hip pack has a 4L carrying capacity that gives it enough room for the essentials like a tube, pump, multi-tool and maybe a light windbreaker. The pack is constructed from a Cordura outer shell combined with a truck tarpaulin inner liner, and uses a waterproof urethane YKK zipper to keep everything contained. Dimensions: 11 x 5.5 x 2". Made in the USA. MSRP: $60 USD. www.chromeindustries.com
![photo]()
Pinkbike's Take:
Sombrio Silhouette Riding Shirt
The Silhouette Riding Shirt is Sombrio's long sleeve, snap closure women's riding shirt. Made of Dura-Tek (Sombrio's custom stretchable polyester fabric) in their Freeride fit, the shirt features mesh underarm panels, a front-snap pocket and wide, snap-closure cuffs. The Purple Haze is available in sizes XS, S, M, L, XL. MSRP: $99 USD. bike.sombriocartel.com.
![photo]()
Pinkbike's Take:
Spring Time Kronos Ti Spring
Despite the increasing number of downhill race worthy rear air shocks, coil sprung rear shocks continue to dominate on the circuit. Take a look at the spring being used on a World Cup race bike and more than likely it's made of titanium. What the reasoning behind this? Well, the most obvious is weight reduction. Swapping a steel spring out for titanium can result in a weight savings of up to 40%, a quick way to shed some grams. Spring Time offers their Kronos titanium spring in a wide range of dimensions and spring weights to fit nearly every rear shock on the market, and they recently began offering springs to exactly match the spring rates of Fox shocks, with 2.5, 2.8 and 3.25” strokes now available. Kronos titanium springs use the company's Halcon Hard Coat, a clear coating that is intended to protect the spring from the elements and UV rays. Before the coating is applied the springs are shot peened to improve fatigue live and create a uniform surface appearance. The 450x2.8” spring we tested weighted in at 366 grams. MSRP: $247.69 USD. www.springtime.vg
![photo]()
Pinkbike's Take:
Chrome's product lineup is aimed mainly at the urban side of the cycling world, featuring items like messenger bags, backpacks, sneakers and outerwear intended for the rigors of all-season city riding. The company's emphasis on durability makes many of their products appropriate for mountain biking as well, including the Cardiel Shank hip pack, which was designed with input from skateboarder and cyclist John Cardiel. This water resistant hip pack has a 4L carrying capacity that gives it enough room for the essentials like a tube, pump, multi-tool and maybe a light windbreaker. The pack is constructed from a Cordura outer shell combined with a truck tarpaulin inner liner, and uses a waterproof urethane YKK zipper to keep everything contained. Dimensions: 11 x 5.5 x 2". Made in the USA. MSRP: $60 USD. www.chromeindustries.com
A simple yet effective hip pack, the Cardiel Shank has a enough room for the essentials in its two interior pockets.
Pinkbike's Take:
 | Before anyone gets hung up on semantics, we're fully aware that this is a fanny pack, plain and simple. However, we prefer calling it a hip pack, since that sounds a little less like what a crazy old man dressed in a matching sweatsuit would wear. The hip pack has been experiencing a bit of a surprise comeback in the mountain bike world lately, due to a number of enduro racers sporting them at events around the globe. What's the appeal? Well, for one thing, a hip pack takes a load off your shoulders, literally, and after spending the last decade lugging around some type of hydration pack, it's a nice change to shed the burden on those shorter rides. The Cardiel Shank is about as bare bones as you can get, with a simple one inch strap to keep it secure around the waist and only a mesh divider to help with organization on the inside of the pack. The capacity proved to be just right for shorter rides, providing enough room for the essentials without getting too bulky once loaded. Of course, for long, all day adventures a hip pack is probably not the right choice, since at a certain point a hydration pack makes more sense for carrying water than relying on multiple bike mounted water bottles (and many modern bikes can't even carry more than one water bottle). There's no spot to hold a water bottle on the outside of the Cardiel; in a pinch you could fit a smaller bottle lengthwise in the pack, but this comes at the cost of a eating up a good chunk of the carrying capacity. On the trail, the pack stayed in place much better than we expected, without any awkward shifting or bouncing even when packed to the brim with tools and a windbreaker. The water resistance is excellent as well - we took it out in a few steady rainstorms and all of the contents stayed completely dry. What's not to like? Well, at $60 this isn't as wallet friendly as you'd expect a fanny pack to be, and we wouldn't mind having a way to hold a water bottle on the outside, but don't forget that it is made in the USA from high quality materials, and comes with a lifetime guarantee. Otherwise, the Cardiel Shank is a durable, no frills accessory that works exactly as it should. - Mike Kazimer |
Sombrio Silhouette Riding Shirt
The Silhouette Riding Shirt is Sombrio's long sleeve, snap closure women's riding shirt. Made of Dura-Tek (Sombrio's custom stretchable polyester fabric) in their Freeride fit, the shirt features mesh underarm panels, a front-snap pocket and wide, snap-closure cuffs. The Purple Haze is available in sizes XS, S, M, L, XL. MSRP: $99 USD. bike.sombriocartel.com.
Fall is flannel season, and the Sillouette is a comfortable, well though out option for cooler temperatures.
Pinkbike's Take:
| Simply put, Sombrio hit it out of the park with the creation of their Women's Silhouette Riding Shirt. With their modern freeride take on classic western styling, they've built a shirt that's perfect for fall riding in cooler temperatures. The plaid 'flannel' look of their extremely durable stretch fabric fits in wherever its owner chooses to place herself, be it ripping down the mountain or stopping post-ride for a cold beer. More than worth its price, the Silhouette was made with form, function and styling in mind; generously wide snap cuffs make easy work of rolling your sleeves up and underarm vents clear excess body heat without freezing the wearer out on those chilly fall rides. Overall, this shirt is the perfect answer to a growing demand, a highly recommended piece that can be worn every day of the week. - Amanda Batty |
Spring Time Kronos Ti Spring
Despite the increasing number of downhill race worthy rear air shocks, coil sprung rear shocks continue to dominate on the circuit. Take a look at the spring being used on a World Cup race bike and more than likely it's made of titanium. What the reasoning behind this? Well, the most obvious is weight reduction. Swapping a steel spring out for titanium can result in a weight savings of up to 40%, a quick way to shed some grams. Spring Time offers their Kronos titanium spring in a wide range of dimensions and spring weights to fit nearly every rear shock on the market, and they recently began offering springs to exactly match the spring rates of Fox shocks, with 2.5, 2.8 and 3.25” strokes now available. Kronos titanium springs use the company's Halcon Hard Coat, a clear coating that is intended to protect the spring from the elements and UV rays. Before the coating is applied the springs are shot peened to improve fatigue live and create a uniform surface appearance. The 450x2.8” spring we tested weighted in at 366 grams. MSRP: $247.69 USD. www.springtime.vg
Kronos' springs use a special clear coat to provide additional protection from the elements and UV rays.
Pinkbike's Take:
| The difference between the weight of the stock steel coil spring on our Fox Van RC and the Kronos titanium spring was about 60 grams, which was a little disappointing considering the claims that get tossed around about the incredible weight savings from a ti spring. While it is true that a titanium spring will save weight, the stroke length and the spring rate play large a role in how many grams are actually saved, and with a lighter, shorter stroke spring that number will not be as high. Once the spring was installed, we headed out to the trail, skeptical that there would be any performance difference between the steel and the titanium spring. Our skepticism proved to be unfounded, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the new spring felt noticeably more supple, especially in the beginning part of its stroke. The end of the stroke still felt the same, and we didn't find ourselves bottoming the shock out any more than usual, but the Kronos spring seemed to filter out the small bump chatter with a smoothness that hadn't been present with the steel spring. So, is a titanium spring worth the cost? It depends. For a top-level racer, there's no doubt about it - the better ride feel and weight savings make it worthy upgrade. But, if splurging on a ti spring means that you'll need to work more hours to recoup the costs, cutting into your valuable riding time, then we'd recommend against it. It's an upgrade that makes a difference, but not one that's earth-shattering enough to feel left out if a titanium spring isn't in your budget. - Mike Kazimer |
Author Info:
Member since Feb 1, 2009
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
But this one isn't even "enduro specific"!
www.vice.com/en_ca/epicly-later-d/john-cardiel-1-of-4
@PLC07 You fail to see a lot of things. With a bottle in the frame and a fanny pack and a saddle back - more than enough water and supplies for a whole day of riding - without being sweaty and hunched over from the backpack. If backback does not get in the way - you are not riding XC hard enough.
I laugh in the general direction of image conscious idiots.
You can use whatever you like, I don't care. Most of your arguments for the fanny pack are preferences and the jabs at backpacks are really non-issues though. Reaching for a hose strapped to your shoulder is much less of a pain in the ass than reaching down for a bottle. Hell if you set it up properly you can even drink without having to take a hand off your handlebar. I'd like to see you doing that with a bottle. I ride road sometimes, with a saddle pack and 2 bottle cages and honestly, every time I have to reach down I wish I had a straw on my shoulder.
Supercow you are on fire, if I had a fanny I would queef myself laughing to the point of loosing conscioussness.
And yes it will happen when they post it up another 2000times
Crony- "I've got it Sir! We can convince them that the old 650b wheel size is necessary!"
Industry- "Perfect! The little sheep are certain to buy in...but what if they resist?"
Crony- "We bring back the bum bag..."
Industry- "You mean the fanny pack?" fin.
cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users16/scarletraven/default/fanny-pack--large-msg-123664247226.jpg
But Ti springs just look cool
That said, I think the nicer "feel" of a Ti spring can be either put down to,in similar ways that Ti frames feel great to ride, superior high frequency vibration suppression..... or the placebo effect. Likely the latter.
I'm not a physicist so I can be wrong, also sorry if the explanation isn't very good, it sounds good to me but I might be "special", all those concussions might have taken a toll on my brain
But if ( as they should be ) both the Ti 400 and steel 400 is rated correctly then there will be no difference in suppleness , and if you find your new Ti spring is more supple then as wakaba says , the spring is being sold with a false spring rate , to make it feel like more of an upgrade than just lower weight.
Or perhaps is just a crap spring ? I mean if I order a 400lbs spring and it's as supple as a 350lbs one then surely they have sold me the wrong spring ?
It's gonna throw out your sag and every thing surely?
As for the bottoming out, it may just be that the shock is setup fine, ramping up at the end of the stroke, and that a small change in the sprin gwouldn't make any difference.
As for the spring being a 400, 425, 375, there's always the error from manufacturing. And unless you have the tools to measure the real force of each spring, you'll always have a spring with a 5-8% of variation.
like for like swap with no adjustments, an the Ti spring feels more supple................
Yes Ti is a softer , more forgiving material but it's been rated to 400lbs/in so that means it takes 400lbs of force to move it once inch , material is irrelevant , its been manufactured to be the SAME stiffness as a steel one of the same given spring rate
The only reason a Ti spring would be more ' supple ' than a steel one is because is been wrongly rated or the spring makers are just lying with the ratings.
Now as others have said when a mass moves there is an inertial force involved because of the moving mass of the spring. This is separate to the mass of the suspension ect. Think of it as the same as a lighter wheel but with the same stiffness as another wheel, you can tell the difference. The inertial force is going to act oposite to the force on the spring (i think), By reducing this wieght the suspension will feel more supple because there is less inertia required for it to move,
This will be more noticeable in the beginning stroke, due to the total force. Stiction isnt much of a problem when you G-out.
If it takes 400lbs to move the spring one inch then that is its rating
If it takes less than that then it's rated incorrectly.
You don't buy a Ti spring to achieve a lighter feeling spring rate ( more supple ) but to save actual weight ,so surely you will have to add more compression to achieve the same suspension action or buy a heavier rate spring ? ( assuming you were happy with the action of the steel coil to begin with )
I've also read that Ti coils are made a lot more precise to steel, so that could be reason for the suppleness?
The point being that a spring is linear whereas the inertail effect is not. Maybe the frequency is so high with a low movement that LCS is less/not effective as it has to fight the inertia of the spring. Thus you can feel the difference.
If you need to do that or not is another question that depends on who is on the bike.
Unfortunately, that seemed to all have ended up on the cutting room floor to make space for a wordy review on the finer points of the ass pack.
I have no problem with fanny/hip/ bum pack, but would never buy one, I like my Camelbak too much. Plus , my current ride doesn't really have any water bottle mounts.
that's like $110 dollar for you muricans
they are entering other markets but the f1 has the money and are willing to except the new technology, GP bikes are on them but require a slighly moded swing arm to fit the wider spring profile
im sure that mining and refining titanium is great for the enviroment ? use the google or just wait for them to show up and be happy u heard about it here first. protos are being tested currently , i will let the company that makes them break the news when they are ready too.
carbon generally is not used in 4X4 suspension over here except for the body if your rich$$$
carbon leafs belong on stuff like a corvette
that and the added accuracy of their springs really helps (other major brands tend to be up to 10% out of marked weight, ti-springs.com are 1.6%)
Have you ever tried to keep a raw, blasted metal surface clean? Oil, dust and dirt just sticks to it like glue.
:p
Hip pack? this is a joke right?