bikebudha1

Long live my Speedplay Frogs. I an running a pair that has outlasted my last 3 mountain bikes. (15+years of use). Tragic that they don't make these anymore. Also, my knees feel great.

Give me a Panaracer Fire XC Pro any day of the week! - I miss the days where there were dozens of tire brands out there. These days, it's the same 4-ish brands, with the same old tread patterns. - I also miss the days where tire companies were striving for grip AND lightweight. You used to be able to find pretty good grippy tires in the 550-650gm range. Nowdays, 'all-mountain' mentality says that 900-1100gm tires are 'light'... ugh, some of us still enjoy pedalling up as much as sailing down...

This was years ago, but I went into a bike shop and the salesman tried to sell me on "woman specfice TIRES" (for my wife's mtb bike. HA HA HA.. OMG, like the tires could tell the sex of the rider. PUHlease... Same goes for "women's specfic" bikes. There is no need for such a thing. Now bikes for 'shorter', or 'lighter' riders? Yes, massive market. My wife's 120lbs soaking wet, and we've always had trouble getting her suspension set up 'light enough' to actually work correctly. Otherwise, 'small' mtbs' can easily be 'fitted' with stem length, crank length, etc. - to fit any shape or sized person.

At the time I was 6'-4", 190lbs. I rode an AMP Fork for SEVEN years. And rode it hard. The last couple of years I had to go through a local bearings guys + my local bike shop to get the bearings serviced/replaced - as my AMP fork outlasted the AMP company. But it was a small price to pay, once a year, for such a killer fork. It really is a wonderful design for cross country use.

ridley, check out Cube bikes. Mine is a 23" frame. I'm 6'-4" with a 38" inseam. It fits great.

The thing that really SUCKS about 'race' bike like this is the single chainring up front. No of "us" are pro racers. And bikes like this will be ridden many a mile over many a hill. So it would be really nice to at leat have a "double" ring up front for us mere mortals as we tackle those longer epic rides. (I have a Brek Epic belt buckle, and I can't imagine having such limited gears for a ride like that. I did the Epic with a triple. It saved me.).

No dropper, Fail. No front deraileur, Fail. Beige/grey, Fail....

First off, I still love my bar ends. They are far more ergonomic for climbing, especially steep sectoins. And they offer a second hand position for longer climbs. Second, I run a triple - on my 2018 Niner RKT. That's right, brand new bike, brand new triple (bless you shimano). Why? I'm no pro, so I don't have the lungs to ride a 1x up the MOUNTAINS I ride. And I ride mountains, granny gear ups to big ring decents. I use all the gears. Don't believe the lazy bike manufacturers. If a brand says 1x is better it's because A) they are too lazy to properly design a suspension around it. B) They are cutting costs to make more money. I can't count the number of people I've passed on the flats/fireroad downs as they spin out their cute little 1x. Nor can I count the number of much fitter people I've passed while they walk up that steep section because their precious 1x doesn't have an easy enough gear. Long live 3x. Third, Mr. Levy is right. Just like with 3x/1x - manufacturers use lock outs to make up for lacking suspension designs BECAUSE IT'S CHEAPER. I had the first gen Ellesworth 29er evolve. They had suspension nailed. Spinning a middle ring climb = no bob. Standing and sprinting = bob for the first couple of pedal strokes, then no bob. Yet good suspension at all times. (Unfortunately, the frame and shock weight seven lbs+, and was just to much of a pig to push up the hills, even with the bobless climb). My Niner is very good, but even it still uses a 3-way lockout. (Which I essentially just leave in the middle for everything but really long climbs or really long decents).