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

Anyway, the comment about the Ignore function not hiding replies to the ignored person is a great point. @Velocio could that be implemented?!

My first experience of hydro brakes was a set of Deores, circa 2015. They were sooooo much better than v-brakes or Avid BBs, that I've never felt the need to try anything else (bar that one weekend at the Golfie where I wondered about 4-pots).
I did try a demo bike with Magura MT5s once. The lever action felt really light until they started to bite; I found that a bit odd. Something I could be tempted to try is Magura calipers with Shimano levers.

Half of everyone I ride with is now on them (mostly V4, I'm on E4)
One guy tried mine and actually giggled like a child when he first squeezed the levers. Bought V4s that afternoon.

From what I've read, Shiguras are very powerful, but have absolutely zero modulation. It's on or off, nothing in between.

Sounds much like my typical braking finesse.

The commentary on this is brilliant..

https://youtu.be/EqYgAX6D43Q?feature=shared

They're seriously powerful and modulate well. You can also rebuilt them entirely so they will last, unlike the Shimano which I have a few pairs that broke and can't be rebuilt.

I do have an old hope on our tandem and it's not great, so I see your issue.

Ha, I really was just being silly. I've also just realised that I run rx4 calipers on another bike... To their credit, Hope as a company have always been pleasant to deal with.

Just looked at the v4 prices, £184 per end on wiggle.
I admit that spending £250-£300 on chinese brakes vs £368 on hope v4's might be pretty fucking stupid.

In modern MTB suspension news; I pulled my Smashpot out today to re-order the shim stack. I read a few things online from people saying the stock stack is a bit much for sub 200lbs riders. Actually super easy (if incredibly messy) job, so I moved all but one shim over. Hoping this means the HBO gives me a more usable adjustment range now, as even one or two clicks stopped me getting full travel. With a higher spring rate for steep stuff, and HBO off, I couldn't use the last 2cm of travel as hard as I tried

Ah was it fairly simple to do? I've never bothered messing with the HBO shim stack. I'm in the 220lbs riders club but still feel like only two or three click has it ramp up too much.

Yeah, the actual re-ordering the stack takes all of a minute and two spanners. It's just the associated mess of getting the whole assembly out that put me off initially. Think the whole process took me about 30mins.

Might be worth moving one or two shims over then. There's 5 total, so two should put that ramp up somewhere towards the middle of adjustment settings (I guess)

I picked up some Guides cheap from crc, took a while to get a nice bleed on the front one -so much so that I kind of gave up on them and tried to sell them but then tried again and got them feeling nice. The threaded barbs seem like a real good idea.

Cannondale factory racing custom bikes for snowshoe World Cup are fire 🔥

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First proper ride on the 456 done - turns out they do ‘blue’ trails different here and I’ve got a shit load to learn. Also accidentally ended up half falling down a red trail but thankfully none of the hardcore 15 year olds that hang out round here were around to laugh at me.

The bike is sick, as predicted - gears are fucked and nowhere near spinny enough for this part of the world but that’s an easy fix with sub-£100 Deore. Frame, fork, and tiny tiny wheels are all rock solid so it’s a good base to work from. 10/10 would recommend if an SS comes up cheap.

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Fair enough, I was just intrigued to if I were missing something.

Is that Barry Sidings? That place is bonkers, in the wet it's comically hard to ride. I somehow managed to stay upright the whole time I was there, yet crashed on the tarmac path outside the cafe, much to everyone's amusement

I have NO IDEA why you think that was a clever comment.

Because you talk to everyone like they're a prick so everyone talks to you like you're a prick, one of those groups is probably right.

The handiwork of ex-forumite @hoops

I did wonder after the Palace Cannondale bikes

You do realise he will read that as everyone else is wrong, don’t you?

Yeh thought that was him. Very nice

I read it as I'm probably a prick, which tbf I'm ok with

A prick with a bike that handles properly.

I've only ever really ridden off-road in road kit (helmet, lyrca bibs) but I've been trying to get into MTB specific gear so I feel more confident on more technical trails.

The MTB helmets I've tried on (Giro, POC, Smith) all feel a bit cumbersome, but also none work comfortably with my sunglasses. Do I suck it up, stick with my road helmet or is there a forum helmet recommendation which 'feels' more like a road lid.

Edit: A quick google and these seem to rate well for compatibility with glasses. https://www.stifmtb.com/products/sweet-protection-trailblazer-mips-2022-bolt-grey-rose-gold?variant=40910492237935

All the lids I've tried so far sit really low on my forehead, good for protection but awkward for eye protection

stick with my road helmet

I'd do this

Trail helmets tend to cover more of your skull, especially the sides and back of your head. That's partly why they feel bulkier compared to a road helmet. Also it's surprising how useful the sun peaks on them can be. If you're mostly doing XC pootling, nothing wrong with a road lid. But anything faster and rougher, the extra protection - even if you never need it - is welcome.

Once you put a full face helmet on, you feel almost invincible (but hot)