twonsarelli

@bigtuna00: i remember a GCN video from maybe 2017 or 2018 that was discussing maximum human output on a bike. the highest verified figure they could find was from a former bmx racer who put out a bit over 3000w, albeit for just a few seconds. seems like a blessed combo of perfect genetics and shit tons of training for that one very specific, short, explosive effort. interestingly, according to google anyway, usain bolt's maximum output during a 100m was only just over 2600w, which is obviously absurd but surprisingly lower than i would have guessed given the world record(s) he set

is the mech cable extra long so he can reach down to shift gears manually?!

@Austink: ok, so I tried this out while riding today and honestly never found a situation where manipulating the seat with the inside of my leg made sense. Mostly, the bike was tipped far too much to be able to even make contact with the saddle at all, at least not without putting my body in a very contorted and useless position. I’m a bit under 5’6” so maybe this is just a body geometry issue that isn’t a problem for taller or very long limbed riders. Either way- Different strokes for different folks, I guess!

@Austink: in my experience, if my legs or knees get anywhere near the saddle while riding downhill, i will get loads of bruises from the frame or saddle rapidly smashing them on jarring hits. i just use my hands and feet to control the lean of the bike but i am going to try this when riding later and will see if manipulating the saddle with my legs is something that is either possible or useful. sounds like this is a more common approach that i would have thought

@mikekazimer: thanks for taking the time to make the comparison of your DH bike vs the enduro bike. confirmed my suspicion that the saddle might appear higher but is actually lower, even with a monster post all the way down.

@Tormy: interesting. i sort of always had the impression that people who said they used the saddle between their legs for additional control were just coming up with a reason not to embrace a dropper post (obviously you are a counter to that hypothesis). what exactly can you do by pinching the saddle between your thighs that you can't accomplish by manipulating your hands and your feet on bars and pedals? i am also not convinced that '200mm of travel' is the answer here. kaz says that if he can, he likes to put at least a 200mm dropper on his bikes, which in itself i just as much as the travel of a DH bike. if you add the 100-180mm of rear wheel travel on a non-DH bike as well, those two figures obviously sum to much more than 200mm and it is not like we aren't bashing the rear wheels of our trail bikes with super long droppers into the saddle either. i am genuinely interested but no one seems to offer a coherent answer. then again, perhaps the images are misleading and in person the difference is more noticeable and the saddle is in fact very low

@mikekazimer: as in, the saddle is higher to make room for the rear wheel at full travel? what about the saddle smacking your backside the rest of the time?

always seems to me that saddle heights on DH bikes seem really high. the saddle is almost as high as the handlebars, which is pretty close to my trail bike when the dropper is fully extended. what am i missing?

how about some zipp oil slick rims? as long as they're disc only and not rim brake

March was so warm, I think we all got fooled into thinking it would be an exceptionally early season at higher elevations. It is certainly ahead of schedule compared to a ‘normal’ year but there is actually still a lot of snow on N aspects, even as low as 8500’ I was riding that day on the east shore rim and had to cross dozens of large patches of snow with lots of trees down too. Carrying a child over that and possibly an ebike as well would definitely have been tiring. Gotta make smart choices, obviously.