You are reading a single comment by @Sam_Doman and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@Sam_Doman
Yeah. I'm going to swap the rear shock out for an RP23, which is pretty bombproof, and has pro-pedal. In all the time I've worked as a bike mechanic, and all the riding I've done, I've never seen one die (I have one on my Ibis already). It's currently setup with a brain, so you lose virtually no pedalling energy into the shock. It is fully locked-out, until you hit a bump, and an inertia-valve opens, allowing the shock to activate. However, I see these coming back for warranty on a weekly basis (I'm a mechanic at a Specialized concept store), so woudn't be happy relying on one in the middle of nowhere.
The reason I'm using a Pike up-front, is for reliability too. A coil fork is much less likely to implode than dual air, so it's worth the weight penalty, for a trip like this. The way it feels suits the bike too, and it winds down from 140mm to 95mm, which makes technical climbing much nicer.
For the places I'm going, and the type of riding I'm going to be doing (I am going to be on the road as little as possible, and shredding all the gnar I can find), a hardtail wouldn't cut it. This bike comes in at under 13kg (with pedals), and it pedals uphill better than any other 140mm travel trail bike I've ridden!