mynameiskoko

I have Rapod Rise on my Nomad, and Dual Controls on my touring bike - and I love it.

@jollyXroger: Cedric is doing fine based on his investments, not solely on his MTB income.

Pro Men: 1st Danny Hart 2nd Aaron Gwin 3rd Loic Bruni Pro Women: 1st Rachel Atherton 2nd Tahnee Seagrave 3rd Manon Capenter

For the limited number of years I've been biking, I've only known 1 alu frame breaking. However at that same time especially the last 4 years I've known more than 10 frames breaking around me either from the stress of normal riding or other means - e.g. crack from transporting over the tailgate or crashes. Santa Cruz, Scott, Yeti, you name it, I've seen it. Enough to stick to Alu for now.

You mean like this? http://www.fallbrooktech.com/nuvinci-technology CVT sounds good, eliminates the need to find the sweet spot.

One thing the shoe makers haven't figure out yet - shoe glue that will work in South East Asia humidity. At least for these enduro types shoes. XC type has lasted me for years without fail. I've had brand new Specialized, Northwave, and Mavic shoes sole coming apart from the upper after a few times of use. Granted, it seems the shoes has been on the bike shop's storage for at least a year - but to fail in the first few times of use is bad. Warranty is nearly non-existent here, so off to the cobbler for a quick stitching that will make the thing last its lifetime. The other thing to go is the quickly and can't be fixed is the shoe rubber to cleat cover connection. Pack enough mud in there and it will detach easily. Looks like I'm going back to XC type shoes.

Something I was taught, and makes it easier for beginners. To unclip, just push your feet down to the side instead of twisting first - it becomes one motion instead of two. To elaborate - Standard beginners will twist to unclip, then put the foot down. Putting your foot down is natural, unclip is not - and this is where they fumble the most. Doing everything in one action instead of two changes things. The motion of pushing your feet down to the side while the cleat is still engaged will result in your heel coming down first pivoting the whole foot on the pedal. This action will unclip the pedal, and your foot is already on its way down. This action gives a lot more force to the unclippling process, something that beginners find difficult to do. For advanced clipless riders, you will notice that this is actually the action that you do instead of twist to unclip and then putting the foot down, at least on Time and Shimano pedals,

@boxxerace: One thing you should notice by now is that most photographs of pro riders on this site is without backpacks. The photos are always staged, where they stop and take off all the gear, get the photographer into position and shred. Lack of a huge backpack makes it looks nicer, and easier for them to shred. However behind the scenes photos would show otherwise, especially the photographer's backpack which is normally crammed with huge amount of gear.

Brandon Semenuk

@SithBike: Satellite phone serve a different purpose. You still need a GPS to know where you are when calling for help with a sat phone. Plus sat phones costs a lot more to operate.