[cjm]

I do mine yearly. My DH goes for a full rebuild in the fall. Around the first of winter my AM stuff goes. Even going cheap, you should change your oil yearly. Still, the best plan is to follow the recommendations from Marz. Again I would drop them an e-mail.

[cjm]

Which Zoke do you have. Some have of the DJ forks have topout bumpers to prevent this. Also, Zoke’s recommended fluid levels have sucked for quite a while. Drop an e-mail to Marz to make sure you have the right volumes and fluid weight.

[cjm]

Maestro is closest to VPP or DW Link. Banshee and Canefield use a design that is visually similar. They all have different axle paths. They all articulate the rear axle path closer to the seat tube instead of the by the rear wheel. Horst and ITC have a pivot near the rear wheel on the chainstay.

[cjm]

enoeht;

The big power gain from clipless is mostly in the shoes. Riding flats you need squishy shoe that forms to the pedal. When you ride clipless that sole of the shoe is hard. The power isn’t effective immediate, it’s cumulative. If you are not pointing your toes and "smearing" your foot on the back stroke then clipless will also allow you to generate far more power on the back stroke.

Immediate power loss on a full squish sounds wrong. You should feel it only when you start your pedal stroke. Once you tension the chain, power differences should be nearly unnoticeable. Indeed, the more consistent contact created by the rear suspension should improve power in many sections. Are you spinning the cranks, or are you simply pushing down on them?

[cjm]

"WGK" wrote

Has anyone used this set up?

In the progressive community nearly everyone has run this setup. I think that’s why Pepper was so shocked about the problems you were reporting. Navagel 2.3 and 2.5 are likely the most common tire anywhere lifts turn during the summer. Most people run the between 25 and 40 psi depending on conditions. I am taking Navagel 2.5 to Costa Rica with me this weekend.

If riding KY is anything like WV then a 2.1 is probably to small for the trails. There are plenty of opportunities to pinch flat, and a large volume goes a long way at stopping such flats. Rather you run WTBs or Kendas; I would suggest going to the 2.35.

[cjm]

"Previous posts would speak specificly to one brand being better than another"

Which posts in this thread? A few posters have purchased bikes and said they enjoyed them. I couldn’t find a single poster presuming their entry level bike was specifically better than another. There was a blip where Vtolds injected that Specialized weren’t that special. Most of us, many who don’t ride Specialized, disagreed. Indeed, Specialized has a track record at all sales levels indicating they are special. More so than Trek, Giant, or Iron Horse? Probably not and nobody made that claim.

Is Specialized better than Sette? Probably, but the basis of that is in history. Even if Sette and Specialized are built in the same factory, the bikes bear different design specifications. Sette doesn’t have the time on trail or the track record of supporting their customers to compete with Specialized, right now. Especially, regarding entry level dollars. Ten years from now, Sette could prove to be a real champ. Until then I would push people, purchasing an entry level bike, to a reputable brand, with support from the local bike shop.

What about Specialized and other lesser-known brands? I don’t ride any major player’s bikes. I ride Transitions. I purchased my first Tranny (Vagrant Hardtail) in 2005. I was rewarded handsomely for my purchase. I am giddy every time I ride my Preston, Vagrant, or Blindside (Okay, the Blindside still frightens me in corners). Tranny hasn’t missed. I also purchased an Astrix Stryke. The frame burned me every possible way. The frames resale value was zero, maintenance was an epic struggle, and customer support was nonexistent. Granted, neither of those companies makes entry level frames. However, it points to the gambling nature of supporting new or exotic brands. You might pay a few more dollars for a Trek, Specialized, or Cannondale, but there’s little risk.

EDIT: Uhgg Typos

[cjm]

I agree mountain biking is no more or less a environmental hazard than hiking or equestrian. The hiking community couldn’t just say, "Mountain bikers scare the hell out of us. So, we don’t want share trails." I don’t think they would admit that problem to themselves. That would seem selfish and cowardice. (Fearing for your safety isn’t cowardice or selfish, it’s both instinctive and intelligent.) Instead they convince themselves, and others, we are an ecological terror killing plants and attack mother earth. All groups of people exhibit similar behaviors. If I pay close enough attention, I catch myself doing the same thing, especially in large groups. e.g. Rationalizing fears with irrelevant, questionable facts.

Regarding skiers and snowshoers. Trails are rivalrous by nature. When rivalry is light, we are more accommodating to others. We may even feel a greater kinship. As competition for trail space is increased, or the rivalry intensifies, we tend to become more aggressive. I am more of an economics guy than a psychologist, but I am pretty sure it’s a matter of group dynamics. Indeed, when biking trails, such as Dakota Ridge near Denver, relations between bikers and pedestrians are warm in the winter. You might see one other trail user in the winter and it’s nice to see another human. In the summer it’s a jerk-competition. You can’t go 10 seconds without having to change what you’re doing because of another trail user. That’s why I only rode such trails in the winter. If winter trail usage were more common, they might be going after skiers, too. The integration of snowboarding and skiing was brutal.

I am fully convinced all of the problems faced by bikers are psychology and not ecology. I’d rather be wrong. Reducing ecological problems is viable. Changing psychology is a nightmare.

[cjm]

Vtolds;

I am not sure where you are disagreeing. The point was, the irrelevance of which factory produced the frame. If your point is that better components can reduce the impact of frame quality, I think that means we agree.

Also, I used the word tend, for a very real reason. Many people wouldn’t consider Transition a brand name bike. If you order a complete Transition, the build uses after market parts vs. the OEM parts the come with bikes from the big boys. Anyone who has been wrenching bikes for a while knows many after market parts are superior to their OEM siblings.

My point here, has nothing to do with method of purchase. Indeed, I make most of my purchases online. I speak to that later in the post.

Perhaps it’s the term "bike shop brand." I meant that as the inverse of bikes sold at Sears, Wal-Mart, and Target.

[cjm]

The problem has never been trail erosion. It’s always been a tangible excuse. The main problem we as mountain bikers face is speed differential. This speed differential won’t get better, it will get worse. Roughly 20 years ago Mountain Bikes were fully rigid. In many trail sections a rigid bike can be slower than a hiker. A fully rigid bike can’t carry threatening speed near hikers and equestrians.

Quickly we moved to front suspension and even Full Squish DH bikes. The DH bikes we 50lbs+ and pedaled like a beer can in a jet boat wake. Then there is the price of such bikes. Generally when complete the cracked the $3,000 range, when that was a lot of money for a bike. This is where shuttling gets it’s negative image. Non downhillers simple didn’t have the equipment to piss off other trail users.

Around 2004 Trek and Specialized introduced 5 inch travel All-Mountain bikes. You could pedal to the top and carry near DH speed. Then Santa Cruz broke everything open with the Nomad. 6+ inches of downhill sweet suspension, lighter than 35lbs. Chris Kavaric won a DH race on Nomads sister bike, the intense 6.6. The bike pedaled like a champ too.

Anybody with $3500 could pedal to the top and carry DH speed to the bottom. Since few trails can overwhelm a six inch travel bike, bikers don’t learn the proper respect for multipurpose trails, prior to flying down them at warp six. Worse the price of 6+ travel AM bikes is coming down. The Giant Reign X2 comes in $2200. Don’t even look at used market. I sold a six+ travel frame and fork for less than $300 on ebay.

Until the community addresses the speed differential issue, legitimately frightened hikers and equestrians will continue to blame mountain bikers for everything they can. Blaming the most different guy is just we do as humans.

[cjm]

Inertia,

I disagree with much of your post.

You said > For the most part they are all made at the same factory.
This is irrelevant as each frame company delivers different design specifications to the manufacturer. This is true even at the entry level. Further, Bike shop brands tend to have more reputable components. There’s also that quality assurance thing.

You said > Over the last decade the bike industry has become homogenized,
I couldn’t disagree more. Each bike company has determined its own master geometry and frame angles. These small changes greatly affect the durability, comfort, and performance of the frames. DH bikes have dropped nearly 10lbs in weight over the last five years. The method is partly: smarter application of physics and metallurgy in frames. These changes make it down to entry level bikes.

You said > with Trek buying up most brands.
There are more bike brands available today than 10 years ago. Agreed, few of these brands are in the entry level market. Trek did purchase Fisher. However, the to companies still make rather different bikes, even at entry level.

You said > we all love to upgrade our rigs.
Probably not so at the entry level. Most posters on forums, such as singletracks, are likely bike geeks. They are passed, or will soon pass, entry level. That doesn’t count the hundreds of people who read these forums and never post. These are the people reading this thread seeking advise on an MTB purchase, and not an entertaining argument. Likely, they will never upgrade their rigs.

Further, you don’t address how a Local Bike Shop or a brand, such as Trek or Specialized, support their product. I warn people away even from many high dollar boutique brands, such as Astrix, because the don’t support their product. Big players like Trek, Giant, and Specialized might not provide the best customer service on the market, but they don’t embarrass themselves either. Support is probably equally important to the product itself, especially in the entry level market. When the Mongoose purchased at Wal-Mart breaks, most people are left with scrap metal. If an entry level GT brakes, a visit to Performance Bikes will generally have it repaired for free.

[cjm]

Some downhillers will were a cup. You get whacked in the coconuts enough times by the saddle, you’ll give it a good long thought. A friend of mine slipped a pedal at winter park and, quite rudely introduced, his testicles to the top tube. The cup discussion came up again. A cup isn’t a needed a feature for me. I ride very low on the bike. About once a year I’ll take shot in the gonads. Usually there is more shock and terror than pain. I have taken the saddle hard enough, to lower abdomen, for bruising. I don’t want to imagine how bad a bruised testicle hurts. I guarantee after you bruise one, you’d were a cup.

If you ride over the rear axle, versus the saddle, you definitely need something to hold all of your manhood up. I buzz my ass with the rear wheel about a half dozen times a season. It’s shocking enough on my bum. I can imagine how terrified I would be if I buzzed my nuts instead. I would probably crash because of the panic. Depending on the boys age, a jock strap and rugged shorts makes more monetary sense than some over priced MTB gear. Personally, I ride utility trousers with UnderArmor compression shorts.

Hey, remember when we used to ridicule people for wearing helmets while skateboarding and biking. Those pansies. Real men don’t wear helmets. Right?

[cjm]

Gotta chime in for specialized on this one. Definitely something special. The question to ask is, "How many new Specialized do you see?" Most of them you see on the trail have been ridden hard an put up wet for years. I love me some style, but I’ll take longevity over style any day. Spesh still has a sense of style, too.

[cjm]

FBTrek321;

You need to contact Trek about upgrading the fork on that bike. Indeed, the frame manufacture should be contacted prior to any fork upgrade.

What are you doing on a 3900 that requires 130mm of travel? The 3900 isn’t a rugged mountain bike. It’s designed for horse trails, paths, around parks (not Snowshoe or Whistler). Increasing crown to axle of your fork doesn’t just change the ride. It changes how pressure is placed on the headset, headtube welds, and both top and down tubes. Upgrading to a 130 will allow access to anything not dedicated DH/FR. I would be surprised if your wheelset or drivetrain is up to that. At 195 you’re putting extra stress on components.

Putting $250 of fork on $500 of bike seems always seems insane. If you want better performance that $250 would be better spent on a 6000 series Trek or something comparable. If you want access to more technical trails look into the specialized P.1 All mountain.

[cjm]

That case doesn’t list a weight. It looks like a create works, which were rather heavy. Weights are very tight. The difference between 50 and 50.5 lbs could be $100+ round trip. Further a 9 inch width will be tough to pack an MTB and wheels. Packing a bike with rear-wheel installed in 9 inch box is close. With both wheels removed the case would bulge. You wouldn’t be getting the extra protection you purchased. At that point an oversized bike box is better. It also lacks wheels. Lugging bike box through the airport is a bitch. Especially when you are have a tight connection and a customs stop. If purchasing that for an MTB, I’d also get a separate wheel case.

[cjm]

dgaddis;

Your idea of travel might be different than mine. A weekender with buddies is just mountain biking. Travel involves air fair, hotel reservations, and often visas. Let’s mention getting days off from work. Often times you getting people together from different parts of the country or even the world. Apples and oranges it’s not. Last I checked $400+ in upfront, non-refundable, costs is financial risk. Is that the fee for a race entry?

[cjm]

Goto suntour’s site then under the service tab find you fork’s manual.
http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com
I randomly checked one fork and they don’t provide an oil type or volume. At 50 and 100 hours of use they recommend factory service.

Most people change the oil annually and replace seals at the first sign of leakage. I don’t do my own fork maintenance anymore, I just send it to someone for a full dose of loving every year.

[cjm]

I want to reiterate some of dgaddis’ points and give the view of someone who doesn’t race.

First – you MUST follow the land manager’s rules.
====This is both short-run and long-run thinking. In the short-run, if land management says no, then stay off. Long-run, if land management says yes, it might be important to explain to them the potential costs involved in all-weather riding. Land managers not from the MTB scene may not understand the, uh, re-sculpting about to occur.

Next, it depends on who is hosting the race, and for what purpose.
====This goes to the dirt jump philosophy. If you case a DJ and ruin the landing, you fix that landing. People who damage the trails should hold themselves accountable to repair those trails. A handsome donation to land management or actually providing physical labor.

The kind of race is important too. Are people riding the trail one time, or over and over again?
====This points to why races can worse be on wet trails than recreational riders. If the no wet weather riding is a utilitarian ethic, then how are we judging those consequences. The stability of the trials, or the image of mountain bikers.

But if it’s a company trying to make money for personal profit, who’s going to leave a destroyed trail for others to fix – no, that’s not cool.
====If the company is counting trail repairs and upgrades as input cost isn’t that exactly what we want?

Planning for a rain date is a hassle.
====What about recreational riders who have traveled to a destination to ride. Should they be held to a different standard than racers?

[cjm]

I don’t see an english button either. Here’s an e-bay store for mosso bikes. The designs look really out dated to me. I wouldn’t trust the damper on any of the squishy frames either. Shipping as low-cost gifts seems a bit shady, too.
http://stores.ebay.com/HONG-KONG-BIKE-D … m14?_pgn=1

Brodie always has quality deals on antiquated frames from a much more reputable company.
http://www.brodiebikes.com/2010/online_ … arance.php

Jeepinjay, do you have all the components all ready?

[cjm]

It all depends on who is responsible for the trails. Some places you either ride them muddy or don’t ride. Those, who frequent Snowshoe, know it’s a grease pit most of the summer. If Snowshoe closed every time muck or mud was present, they would be open fewer than 20 days a year. The hillside swamp, known as Diablo Freeride park, would experience problems staying open, too. The PacNW can be mucky. Whistler opens for biking in late April or May. They literally shovel snow off the trails. You think the trails are dry? In the early days of summer, on River Run trail towards the base, there is a ladder bridge that is supposed to armor the trail. The snowmelt can make a mud pit that covers the ladder. I have actually seen them remove the ladder (I’m guessing safety reasons). We were bombing the trails at Winter Park during a downpour this summer, covered head to toe in mud. The trail builders were cheering as we blasted by. Granted those are all maintained by private funds.

Here’s some public access notes. There’s a trial in Colorado high country with a posting that states, "if your tire sinks 1/2 inch in the mud do not ride." That is an incredibly, mucky trail. Two sections of trail in Golden Gate Canyon have been overrun by adjacent creeks. The only time those sections aren’t mud stew is when they are frozen. Conversely, you’re terrified of trail closures if you leave tracks due to some hikers spilt cup of coffee in Fairfax County, Va or Jefferson County, Co and you should be. Fairfax county is a swamp. Bikers riding wet conditions deepen puddles or widen the trails. These puddles stay for a longer time ruining the experience for hikers. Jefferson County has lots of clay. The arid nature of the high plains causes the clay to dry quickly and nearly as hard as cement. Tire tracks and hoof prints cause nasty ankle twists for trail runners. Trail over-use compounds problems in those counties.

Every region and many trails in each region has their own rules for wet riding. Generally, pay-to-play riding areas have more liberal wet riding standards. If Subaru took that picture on private property in Georgia, that waits for the first rain of hurricane season to hold the "Mud Bog 12," who are we to criticize them?

Wet weather riding does turn some "blue" rated trails into triple black diamonds. Individuals drawn to mountain biking to test their skills and not their stamina, will always have a short love affair with wet rather riding. Espousing the deontological ethic regarding the naughtiness of riding soupy trails bears similarity asking Senators for term-limitations or a balanced budget. Thus, this really is the best part, "And with help from our dedicated partners, you can be sure there will be plenty of muddy trails and a means to enjoy them for a long time to come." Trails targeted at riding wet and muddy should be supported by private funds. If more private funds were pushed to building trails for wet sloppy riding, you would see far less riding on trails poorly funded by over-stretched tax dollars.

If you’re curious I hate riding in muck. That’s part of the reason I moved away from Virginia. The heretic monkey will stop flinging feces.

[cjm]

I moved away from the snow!

Yoga has been very good to me when not riding. Yoga works balance, flexibility, and breathing. Hot sweaty chicks, too!!

[Author]

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