And the parts pile has begun...

[aprosise]

Step 4: Add efficiency sapping 2.5 Minion DHF to front and 2.5 anything that wont blow to rear.

I swear I will get a full suspension geared bike one day. I swear I will. I also think i'd be a hell of a lot of fun.

Problem is my single speed bike is really fun as it is and it's simple.

I really really love it.

I know its not easy to ride, slow on the flats, and folks on "big" bikes are faster on the descents when it gets super rowdy.. but damn it's fun.


I always make sure to have beer on a ride.



That smily would only be better if he was on a single speed.

Single speed for life!

You're not kidding about those DHF 2.5's. They are 1150grams!!!!! But amazing!!!!!

Honestly, im getting to the point where I want to go faster in sections, without hitting 200rpm. Hence building a geared hardtail ripper. I ride Betasso quiet a bit because I can fit in a 10 mile ride in a hour, car to car. Peak season I ride Betasso 32x16 which is a pretty steep gear for other trails. 11 speed with a 34 or 36 up front should be fun. Beers are on every ride.

It's insane how fast trails are these days with all the work Boulder has been doing. Yes, they may be tamed down in sections, but if you know where to look, you'll realize they built up jumps into every turn on Heil and picture rock....While Jeffco is severly dumbing down trails without any fun hidden stuff.

For race days, I just picked up a Intense Carbine 29C to replace the Transition. As much as I would love to race enduro on a hardtail, it's not happening. I borrowed a brand new demo from the intense rep last week and rode Heil-Picture Rock- Hall. Wow. The Carbine is the best long travel 29 I have ever ridden (Remedy, Hightower ((Junk)), Transition Covert, Scott, Slash ((small wheels)), Specialized enduro) None even compared.
Manuals like a dream, climbs like a hardtails, and plows with the 160mm fork. Also, it's the most quiet... and im not talking drivetrain noise. Drop into bitterbrush at full speed and push through everything and the frame doesnt make a sound. It was weird. Sounded like a single speed.

I ordered a frame. It comes Wednesday. Im excited. Time to start another parts pile.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I ordered a frame. It comes Wednesday. Im excited. Time to start another parts pile.

I want your job. Damn.

 

[wesintl]

Sweet! That carbine vid got me fired up!

 

[DaveInDenver]

Sweet! That carbine vid got me fired up!

The Carbine is supposed to be sweet. Kirsten rides a Spider 29comp and she loves it, although it's definitely set up a lot more XC than you or Adam would build. It's also sullied with Fox front and rear.

 

[aprosise]

I want your job. Damn.

It's a bike year

The Carbines we demo'd were spec'd all Rock Shox. The "Pro" build as they call it. Im going to try to get my hands on a Fox rear shock to compare. I loved the Monarch plus, but im open to options. The Front will be a 160 Pike for sure.

I was sold on the intense on the road climb up Heil. It's that good.

Ive been demoing bikes a lot lately after I sold my Transition. When the Hightower came out, I thought that was it... Finally a bike that checked every box. Then I rode it. We were on a Mag 7, Blue Dot, Portal ride with Kyle Mears and Chris Boice (Evil Bikes). Kyle was on the Evil Following and Chris was on the Wreckoning. We went full speed into every alternate "Mears" line on Blue Dot and the Hightower suffered. It sat deep in the travel, had zero stiffness in the rear end, and the pivots grew louder and louder as the day went on. Enough that we pulled the swingarm apart thinking I had seized bearings. (It was two days old) It essentially felt like a lightweight XC bike with DH geometry. You could physically see the bike wag. It was playful, and I had a good time on it, but it also felt like a wet noodle.

Demo bikes before you buy them!

 

[rover67]

29 no 650b?

32 16 was my short track ratio, i am in no shape to pedal that anywhere else.

yeah racing a hardtail in an enduro race would probably suck, seems like it'd be real hard to be competitive.

that carbine bike looks like it'd bikepack alright too.

 

[DaveInDenver]

LOL, a bike a year. I get a bike every 4 years when I'm lucky!

But I know what I like and other than one excursion to the Blur I've always ridden hard tails and all but one of them was a steel hard tail. I even still have half the bikes I've ever owned.

1992 Giant ATX 770 (this was that funky, cool pink flame/black fade frame with a matching box crown fork)
1994 GT Zaskar
1998 Rhygin Juke SS
2005 Blur (later 2005/2008 kludge Blur LT due to frame warranty)
2012 Gunnar Rockhound
2016 REEB

Particularly the ATX-Juke-Gunnar-REEB progression has been dialing in the geometry. The Zaskar was a fast bike but had a weird geometry for me. The Giant and Rhygin were/are a touch small for me. The Juke is long enough but has the 1990s NORBA position, totally horizontal back and is a poor candidate for a long travel fork. Plus it pre-dated disk brakes and that is a serious limitation. I may one day make it a 69 or at least a 6650b if I win the lottery.

I absolutely love my Gunnar, fits me perfectly. But it's kind of prima donna and isn't quite right for the way I use it (endurance racing and bikepacking). Kind of a poor match for technical trails and the paint keeps getting destroyed by my frame bags. So in comes the REEB, which is a pound heavier owing to it being intended to get beat on and I had Chris finish it in a boring, rugged matte gray powdercoat. Paragon drop outs mean I also don't need to hack in single speed for the first time! I run tensioners on the other bikes.

 

[DaveInDenver]

 

[aprosise]

29 no 650b?

32 16 was my short track ratio, i am in no shape to pedal that anywhere else.

yeah racing a hardtail in an enduro race would probably suck, seems like it'd be real hard to be competitive.

that carbine bike looks like it'd bikepack alright too.

Ive been racing the "Pro" enduro category. It's hard to be competitive period! We live in the land of fast people.

Im 6'4". I was running 650b when it first came out in 2009. The size difference made no sense to me. I was running a 650bx2.35 Nevegal (The only tire available) and I still had tons of clearance in a 26" Pike fork. I went 29er and never looked back.

I demo'd a 650b slash in Fruita a couple weeks ago and it's one of the only recent times I havent cleaned the entrance into Horsethief. The entire ride I felt slow and inefficient.

Dave, I dont get a bike a year... It's been 3.5 years since my Transition and 4.5 since my Standard Hardtail. Ive been working my butt off at the day gig, as well as my own machine shop to afford stuff. My girlfriend races too, and we have a lot of trips planned this year, including racing a enduro in Mexico. So time to splurge a bit and have fun.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Ive been racing the "Pro" enduro category. It's hard to be competitive period! We live in the land of fast people.

Im 6'4". I was running 650b when it first came out in 2009. The size difference made no sense to me. I was running a 650bx2.35 Nevegal (The only tire available) and I still had tons of clearance in a 26" Pike fork. I went 29er and never looked back.

I demo'd a 650b slash in Fruita a couple weeks ago and it's one of the only recent times I havent cleaned the entrance into Horsethief. The entire ride I felt slow and inefficient.

Dave, I dont get a bike a year... It's been 3.5 years since my Transition and 4.5 since my Standard Hardtail. Ive been working my butt off at the day gig, as well as my own machine shop to afford stuff. My girlfriend races too, and we have a lot of trips planned this year, including racing a enduro in Mexico. So time to splurge a bit and have fun.

I misread that. "It's a bike year." became "It's a bike a year." in my head.

Racing in Mexico, now that's cool. I'll be racing in beautiful Laramie. So there's that.

I agree completely about 29'ers, it was like a light bulb being switched on when I got one, a true "well, duh" moment.

 

[aprosise]

Ive been wanting to get out of the country... the mexico race is a good excuse.

 

[DaveInDenver]

 

[rover67]

dude thats friggin hillarious.

 

[aprosise]

Well, Emily's parts pile just grew too! Another Yeti bites the dust, but as the dust settles, a new one appears! 27.5 wheels so she gets new wheels and fork too.

 

[aprosise]

Pile no more!

 

[DaveInDenver]

Sexy

 

[rover67]

that looks real nice, nice work. i like the max terra 3c compound for the tires which did you choose?

 

[wesintl]

Sweet! love hardtails

 

[aprosise]

that looks real nice, nice work. i like the max terra 3c compound for the tires which did you choose?

These are the cheapies. Ive gone through 4 tires this year already. Nice compound tires come out for race days or big trips.

 

[aprosise]

And we finished up Emily's new Yeti last night