colebmx

I've had mine for 2.5 years, riding 3 - 5 times a week and never had creaking. Lots of other parts on my bike creak with much higher costs. Just buy one and enjoy your rides more. It's worth it.

My original is hands down the best addition I have done to my bike. Every ride is more enjoyable when the climb is more comfortable.

@wake-n-rake: kind of like the new entrance to entrails. Making it easier for people to get to the whale tale. That thing is lit up like a christmas tree on the SSAR heat map! Why build something that encourages more traffic to a high injury feature and spend 3 months on it?

@andrewdaly: I actually agree with everything you are saying and I commend you on for your non emotional and clear communication. It is rare. Maybe it's my childhood trauma or amount of concussions, but I found the video to be a little guilt trippy rather than invitational. I know that everyone will recieve the video differently and yes, the trails will always benefit from more money. I'll stop complaining noe about the things I can't change.

@MrDuck: I have a 20$ with your name on it. You build some of the sickest lines in the world and I have no problem helping you out if you ever need. It's you and people like you that I am advocating for. The best built trails in the world should be compensated with the best trail building wages in the world, and that's currently not the case. If the "disgruntled old man" is delusional, Sorca has the information to prove that is the case. But they are yet to release said information. I don't think the tax dollars should go towards ridiculous contracts from Sorca. We have bigger issues in Squamish than an 87% finished berm.

@andrewdaly: It is common etiquette when you have a guest, to treat them well and share what you have with them. When a guest is at my house, I don't put out a donations jar or show them a well produced video exclaiming how poor I am and that I need their help. Just think of all the damage your suitcases do to my stairs! It comes off as cheap. I treat my trails the same way. Come have fun on my creations. That is what makes the investment into them worth it, seeing others get stoked and having a good time. I wonder how much time or funding went into the video pleading for donations from guests that could have been put "directly" into trail work. Seeing visitors as a problem says a lot about Sorca's perspective. These are people that have put time and money into coming to your town to get stoked on trails that you get to ride daily with much less effort. We should be stoked to share what we have with them. Instead, Sorca wants to guilt trip them with a video asking for money. I find it disgusting.

If there was some kind of guarantee that the tail crew members would finally be paid a liveable wage (Squamish is expensive) from the donations I would be all in. Unfortunately when you hear what they are currently paid for the labour, its insulting. Sorca regularly hires contractors with hourly rates astronomically higher than their trail crew. I'd rather give a $20 to the guy I see digging when I'm out than donate to an organisation that is going to spend a large part of that donation on a contractor or office workers/time. To top it off, I don't get a tax receipt when I donate and the matched donation is coming from Tourism Squamish which is funded by tax dollars. What a joke! It's time that Sorca is fully transparent with its funding and its objectives.

From the graph it looks like the Maven Base is the clear winner.

@tacklingdummy: Yes, by definition all mechanical drivetrains need a load to shift. Without a load there would be no movement. The 12spd Shimano xt on my e-bike shifts amazingly well under huge loads. I wouldn't consider a different mounting system or availability of spare parts innovative.

I've been using shimano brakes for over 10 years. Every time I have seen an inconsistent bite point it was solved with a good bleed. Every time! To me, all the bike media has acknowledged is their inability to understand and work on simple systems. It's hard to get an honest review when the tester is a writer first and foremost and not educated in mechanics or working on basic systems.