Mtmw

@shorttravelmagazine: Can you provide more detail on this? I have Xfinity and they claim this is only for people who pay for Gigabit

@Sycip69er: The suitcase of courage is empty

@archibaldbarisol: The Loam Wolf got a factory build of the Ripley V4 and it weighed 25 pounds out of the box with the factory Ibis build kit: https://theloamwolf.com/2019/10/30/review-ibis-ripley-v4/ By the time we got to the V4S it had gained a few pounds, and the new ones are probably from 31 to 35.

@archibaldbarisol: If they beefed it up and called it the Extrie I might buy it. A 25 pound Exie, like the old 25 pound Ripleys you could buy direct from Ibis.

@seanfeezy: This happens when industries form consortiums to agree on standards. One example would be ethernet and routers - we've generally standardized on a single plug for wired ethernet, and all routers speak TCP/IP of some sort. You can buy an ethernet cable and a router from a bunch of brands without the insane compatibility nightmare of trying to put cranks on a bicycle. This happens when industries understand that interop will help them sell product. The UDH looks like a potential step towards this sort of interop in the bike industry- but then, somehow we have some big players with a tradition of doing things their own way: https://bikerumor.com/shimano-derailleur-hanger-patent-opens-up-many-possibilities-with-another-new-standard/

@JaumeV18: I'm taking a V4 to BCBR next year. Only question is whether I'll take my existing V4S or manage to upgrade to a used V4 frame.

I'm so glad I got my V4S when I did. Gained 600g of frame weight +100 for the big seatpost and +200 for the Transmission RD, now solidly a 33 pound trail bike you can't take to the XC races. It looks like a great bike, but not for the 27 pound crowd. Porkchop frame bag has 3X the interior volume of that frame compartment so less water on board. It looks cool though.

@vinay: One reason for DM rings is the inability to drop below 30t or larger for oval rings. Beyond "get stronger bro" is the reality that 29" wheels and short cranks both affect the gear ratio of a bike. By the time you're driving a 29" wheel with 155mm cranks, a 34t bike needs to run a 26t just to keep the gear ratio the same as a 27.5 bike with 175mm cranks. Add to that our sustained 21 degree fire road climbing out here in the PNW and little rings make sense.

@E30: This was the solution my mechanic came up with and it's working for me as well. It's a hack but it works. XTR clutch really helps prevent chainsuck, as does drivetrain maintenance. @DaKingofdaNORF: Wolftooth has a good solution. My problem is the Cane Creek direct mount interface, which is a rotated SRAM, so you need a specific ring. The only company that does it is OneUp with their mix and match system, and it does work, even for oval rings. I just think the whole ecosystem is polluted by warring standards and is extremely confusing for consumers who build bikes from parts instead of buying pre-builts with compromised build kits. Example of how challenging it is: can anyone find a web page with a complete list of direct mount chainring interfaces and compatibility? I've looked for years, and had to write my own just to build a bike. We recently had an article here on pinkbike about Garbaruk cranks where "The chainrings use Garbaruk's own direct mount design", followed by a comment section claiming they copied their ring interface from Cannondale, followed by comments claiming Cannondale copied it from FSA. No resolution. I dare your average consumer to figure out how to put cranks on a bike in 2024. I dare anyone to figure out if those Garbaruk cranks are "55mm compatible" according to Ibis (the manufacturer says "52 or 55 chainline compatible", which I think means "no" to Ibis, but who knows!) This isn't me complaining about any particular company. My position is that collectively this parts ecosystem is a confusing disaster, and that the collective action of the bike industry here feels anti-consumer. Reference: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/first-look-garbaruk-enduro-crankset.html

Ivan Forsyth. That was terrible.