Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

Omnipotency has its drawbacks

I believe you can get little blue pills to help with that

Not again

I can’t be bothered to find the post but I’m fairly certain I predicted you building a dh bike soon after the madonna.

I think I can sort of agree with the sentiment that owning a dh bike can seem a bit pointless when you have a long travel enduro bike. But I say that as someone with both.
I haven’t used my dh bike for donkeys but I can’t bring myself to sell it because when I do take it to the the uplift, nothing can really compare to it.

I run the 7 speed sram dh groupset. I ran both my nomad and dh bike single speed for a while as gears are sort of redundant at the uplift, but I switched back to gears as I noticed losing speed on flatter bits where I’d normally be able to spin the pedals to get through.
The sram 7 speed groupset works fine but I hesitate to recommend sram too much… Box One have a 7 speed dh drivetrain that’s probably worth considering.

I can't wait for the evolution of Tuesday night (down)hills

Went from 50mm stem to 100mm and lowered it 10mm.
Dropped saddle a few mm and saddle nose lowered as I'm rotated forward more now.
Rotated bars so they're as intended, swept back rather than up.

On the lookout for one of those I-Spec clamps now and waiting for little Ritchey aerobars and Ergon GP2 grips which, if they arrive, should help take some of the load off my hands. #csb #creamysaucebro

Try sq labs bars, they have much more backswrep than conventional bars. I find them really comfortable.

Is this for the chunky hardtail with 2.6 tyres?

It's the Stanton Sherpa. It's got 2.35 Ardent Race on it now.

Yeah, @skinny mentioned them. I have a set in my list but I'm going to just run what I have now and see what happens during AMR. The shifter position is the main issue, less so the bars.

Bike's in the shop now for first SID service. MTBs are like the triathletes of the bike world. Constant upgrades, constant attention needed...

Wired bead wtb ranger 2.4 - avoid? Found some on ebay for £30 a pair and it seems cheap enough that they must be crap?
Usecase: Mostly bimbling, weeping then crawling down anything steep

That's a waste of money imho.
I've been to quite some bike parks and the Madonna is more than capable to ride everything.
Downhill bike is only beneficial if you really want to do downhill races or 5 meter drops

Anything more than an XC bike is more than enough for 90% of most people's riding but that doesn't stop everyone getting an enduro bike for shrembling round Peaslake

Yes but I mean if you really want a bike specifically for bike parks the Madonna with 160/170mm travel is a perfect bike.

You've missed the important part: I quite want one.

Also, having felt the difference in stiffness between 35mm stanchions and 38mm when going through choppy stuff I'm sure there is a difference between 38mm single crown and 38mm double crown, plus having 40mm more travel at the rear and 30mm at the front is not nothing.

I rode Morgins on my trail bike with 135/150, then I rode it on my Enduro bike with 160/170 - the second bike was more fun.

Of course, I could put dual crown forks on the Madonna, but don’t want to.

That's a waste of money imho

Incorrect! No one should stand in the way of Neil having a bike for every discipline.
I’m surprised there hasn’t been more encouragement…

No one should stand in the way of Neil having a bike for every discipline

1 Attachment

maybe @hippy 's solution https://bikerumor.com/sqlab-bends-3-curvy-backswept-ergo-bars-for-mtb-cruiser-trekking-city-bike-comfort/?

I'm definitely not against it. Imagine the transferable bike handling skills! No one at Peaslake would ever see it coming.

I didn't realise hippy was in his 80's but then I suppose he has done a lot of damage to his body

No one at Peaslake would ever see it coming

Because they're all down at the village shop, eating cheese twists and talking about how awesome they are

cheese twists

The village shop may have moved on in the last 20 years since I went there

Funny thing, the longer travel Enduro bike is in some ways easier (for me) to load up because I can feel it when I've compressed the suspension - so for example when you're running into a table, I squat down, feel the bike compress, push into the face and then jump. It all seems to happen in neat sections.

With the shorter travel bike I can't really feel it compress, which objectively it must do - but I just have to assume it's done it. I can still clear the jump, but it's not as straightforward as with the bigger bike - which of course is backwards in terms of the received wisdom.