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1) Dirt Rag
2) Bike
3) DeclineI usually do the following:
After every ride:
Wipe down fork sliders/shock slider
If a muddy ride, hose the bike off without a nozzle on the hose, wipe dryOnce a week or so:
Check air pressure on tires, fork, rear shock
Lube drivetrain
Inspect brakes, shifters, chaingude, etc.Every month or so:
Remove chain, check for wear, degrease, reinstall, lube
Add Stan’s sealant to tires if necessaryOnce a year:
Tear down bike completely
Clean/inspect/lube BB bearings/seals
Clean/inspect/lube wheel bearings
Clean/inspect/lube headset bearings
Clean/inspect fork and internals, lubricate bushings, oil wipers, stanchions
Change fork oil
Clean/inspect rear shock seals
Clean/inspect/lube all frame bearings/bushings
Bleed brakes
Replace drivetrain components as necessary (cables, chainrings, cassette).
Clean/inspect pedal bearings/bushings/cleats.Following this schedule I’ve had 4 consecutive seasons with basically zero downtime due to issues. I generally ride 1-3 times a week in all sorts of conditions. Maybe it’s overkill, but I have a repair stand and a majority of the tools I need. Gives me something to do on some long, cold Vermont evenings. Plus, it really keeps the bike tight and riding like new, year in and year out.
Another option that I’ve been very impressed with is the Maxxis Ardent. I ran the 2.4 for a season and liked it a lot. Great grip in the slop, rolls pretty well, and not super heavy. The only downside is that it takes a little getting used to the handling on hardpack…there is a noticeable transition from the center knobs to the side knobs when leaning it over, but once you get over the learning curve, they rip.
I also felt underwhelmed by the Nevegal. I ran a Stick-E 2.5 up front and a Stick-E 2.35 in the rear. Mega-slow, with good grip on rocks and roots, until it got wet, then the grip disappeared. Very heavy too. Kendas do seem to wear quickly.
I’m a big fan of the 2.4" WTB MutanoRaptors. Roll fast, pretty grippy in most conditions, consistent, and light.
I’ve hiked a lot of the AT throughout VA, MD, PA, and parts in New England. I would think most of it would not be that fun to ride. A lot of miles would be pretty unrideable. There could definitely be some fun ridge rides and downhill stretches, though.
Acadia National Park would top my list. As mostly shuttled or hiked downhill, of course.
Troy Lee Designs Shock Doctor Core Protector. Should help mitigate some pain from crashes a bit. Super light (all cellular pad protection), lots of removable panels for customization, and seems very breathable. I might even use it on Super-D/Enduro events in a minimal form.
Nice Kona! ^
I’m a Kona fan myself…have a 2008 Scandium Dawg and a ’05 Shred DJ bike. Enjoy the Tanuki, looks like a great design.
Long Trail is expanding all the time…I know they are as far south as MD/VA now. Otter Creek was bought by Long Trail last year, so it might follow. #9 is decent, but is one of my least favorite VT beers.
A mid-ride beer break is fine by me, I do it occasionally. I usually have one or two Long Trails or Harpoons post ride (Chocolate milk if I’m at work).
Full of carbs and water, calms the nerves, cool and relaxing. Win-win-win in my book.
You can achieve the proper sag two ways. Increase the negative air pressure and leave the positive air pressure static, or decrease the positive air pressure slightly and leave the negative pressure static.
I prefer the second method. But, I recommend trial and error.
EDIT:
I’m not as familiar with Fox forks, but it looks like they don’t have independently adjustable air chambers, like Rock Shox. Therefore disregard my information on adjusting preload pressures and follow the Fox guidelines for increasing air pressure on a reduced travel fork.Yes, if you reduce the travel 20mm, then the A2C will drop 20mm correspondingly.
As to your second question. Typically, an air fork achieves travel decrease/increase with the addition/removal of spacers on the air spring assembly, respectively. This effectively will reduce the air chamber size (travel decrease, spacer added) or increase the air chamber size (travel increase, spacer removed). This has several effects. The most pronounced effect is the increase in preload for a given spring pressure. This is also an easy fix. You can reduce the pressure in the chamber to get the preload you desire. The change in the air chamber size also effects the spring rate somewhat. A reduced air chamber tends to have a more progressive rate, versus a more linear rate for a larger chamber. This, unfortunately, can’t be tuned out easily (although fine tuning of the low and high speed compression circuits can help…a company like PUSH can assist with this for a fee), but some people really like a progressive spring rate, so it’s a matter of personal taste.
My vote: Install a spacer, drop the fork to 80mm. Drop the air pressure slightly to account for preload, possibly play with oil weights if you want to alter the behavior of the fork. If you are unhappy with the feel, you can probably tune it out with PUSH. But, hey, you might like the way it feels just fine.
Good luck!
The Camber is getting close, but I see that as more of a trail rocket still. Get that into fast burly descents and I bet it would start to show limitations with only 110mm of travel. I’ve been wanting to throw my leg over one of those, though. Very sexy bike.
Also, I do think bikes like that Waltworks frame and the new Kona Honzo look fantastic and are exactly what I’d want in a 29" bike. Same with the Canfield.
Fun geometry, simple designs, but those are HT’s and while I might have one as an aside, it would never be my main bike.
Those specs are more for a playful AM bike, Not a WC DH bike. Notice where I said DH bikes are long and low for stability, not outright manueverability.
And I’ve seen that bike before, but it’s a HT, and I’m sure it’s fun (Wacky STA to get that short of a wheelbase, though). But, I can buy any number of 5"-6" travel sub 30-lb 26" wheel bikes that match that description (which happens to make for a very fun bike to ride…pedals well up the chaff, descends like a bat outta hell, and can really rip the flow, and I can ride it for 6+hours without feeling stuffed.) 29" works for some people, but the people I ride with like playful bikes, and I don’t know that 29" bikes will ever get there.
Have any of you guys hucked a 29" bike? I’m not talking little stuff, but serious air? I jumped a Rumblefish over an 8′ table. It felt awful. All that gyro action in the wheels is just not good for manueverability. Period.
Some WC DH bike have adjustable chainstay lengths to suit different courses/styles. Those are pretty long chainstay lengths in my mind…less manuevrable and more about stability.
A more important measure of the bikes overall manueaverability is wheelbase and weight distribution (seat tube angle and head tube angle).
Show me a 29" bike with less than a 44" WB, 16.5"-17" CS length, with a decent ST angle and HT Angle (Say 72deg and 68deg respectively) and then we might be talking about a manueverable bike.
I’ve ridden a whole bunch of 29" bikes, and never cared for any of them (SS, geared HT, Gary Fisher HiFi Deluxe, LenzSport Behemoth). I like a bike I can toss around and is playful, and none of them were playful. Manualing? Way too hard. Twitchy and nervous in the air. Sure, they could climb, but on tight tech descents I felt like I was on a runaway train. Sure, you could steamroll through some stuff that was tougher on my 26" bike, but I like a little bit of roughing around on the bike. I won’t sacrifice handling and braking capability for smoothness, ever.
Bottom line, I will probably never use a 29" bike as my main ride, and many of my riding buddies feel the same. It doesn’t suit the terrain and riding style I prefer. The geometry of the 29" frame has too many limitations in my mind to be built in the kind of bike I like to ride. But if other people like ’em, the more the merrier I say. At least they are out there riding.
Yep, all the major brands make most of the standards, so if your LBS can’t figure the standard out and get you a new one, then I wouldn’t let them touch my bike.
If it’s a ZST headset, I’m guessing that it was a zero-stack (aka semi-integrated), so no, you can’t just go and replace it with any old 1 and 1/8" headset. You need to be sure of the type and dimensions.
The easiest thing to do is to take calipers and measure the cup surface diameter and go from there. Cane Creek has a useful guide on their website for determining headset compatibility.
http://www.canecreek.com/manuals/Headse … nGuide.pdf
There are lots of head set standards out there (1", 1 1/8", 1.5", 41mm ZS, 44mm ZS, Integrated, Tapered, yadda yadda yadda).
There also is a hip pack Camelbak (if you can handle the fanny pack look).
