Explodo

There's no reason to patent that other than to be a douche, which is on brand for SRAM.

My wife got me a set of those gold 50th hubs. I'm excited to build them up and start using them.

@akoukov: I dislike SRAM. That's my choice. My opinion of SRAM is that they're the company the engineers to 90% and lets customers figure out the problems in the product vs a company that engineers to 99% and then releases a product that they think isn't going to have problems. I don't like that.

Damnit...now I have to choose between a bike I'd actually like and trails that I'll never ride(sierra buttes trail raffle) and trails that are local, but a bike I don't want(due to SRAM) for my raffle dollars.

Not sure how many rides I've been on, but I know I needed a doctor five times in thirty-five years. Stitches from barbed wire(19 yo), broken hook of hamate(23yo), major soft-tissue damage in the back(24yo), broken ribs(49yo), blown up lower leg(ongoing). At this point, there seems to be no healing from this latest one. It's been 2 years and while most of it has healed, parts of the ankle just don't want to stop hurting. I had to stop running stairs or generally being fleet of foot. It's not going to stop me from riding, I just mitigate the best I can. As long as I wear a brace, riding doesn't hurt it. The real problem is that I can't work my calves much without it getting bad, so long downhills are an exercise in pain for a bit. All that said, I never learned to jump and there's no way in hell I'm going to learn it now in my 50s. I think jumping is the biggest predictor of how badly you're going to get hurt.

I had climber bars in the olden days, but I never used them for climbing. I just used them like these new little ends. I think they'll stick around just fine.

If your bike is a little too small in reach, wider bars can help pull your weight forward so that you're not having the front lift off on all the climbs. If your bike is too long, a narrower bar can bring your weight back a little bit. You just have to get your weight balance right so that the required length stem/bar width works with your body.

#22...someone needs to smack those kids for cutting switchbacks.

That always looks so fun. I'd love to ride that track.

I'd like to hear how the longer-travel version of this rides. For front-range chunk, I feel like 150 is just right.