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

You will need a bike frame with the UDH mech hanger.

I have a Stanton Sherpa Mk3. If it needs proprietary bits I doubt that's gonna work.

Looks like roughly half the price to fit Di2. Not too keen on expensive RDs at all though given where I drag my bike through.

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/shimano-xt-di2-real-world-weights-and-updated-pricing/

No guarantees it'll do anything for my thumb anyway.

Oh and that's 11S so won't work with my 12S bits I presume.

Have you got your shifter in-between the brake and grip? That can't possibly be comfortable. Move it inboard of the brake.

I have mine set up so the shift lever falls just at the inner edge of the grip.

Nope. I have Ergon grips and the brake lever is maybe 2-3cm in to the grip and the thumb shift lever is maybe 1cm into the grip.

It's a bit hard to see, but...

(on another note, I think the Ergons need to be rotated up more but I don't think that's an issue for my thumb)

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That guy did more than just removing the lowers.

You can drop the lowers with the fork at riding pressure perfectly safely.

The circle that holds the air chamber together must have been so difficult to remove under pressure, that definitely counts as trying pretty damn hard.

"Also, don't know how much adjustment I've actually got without also moving the brake lever too far away."

Ok, I was confused by this bit. Well I'd try shifting it so it clears the grip entirely, anyway. And if your brake levers are pitched too far down, I'd rotate them up a bit so the shift lever can move forward also.

If my 11sp XT is anything to go by, the lever action is pretty light. The high end mechanical SRAM shifters have an adjustable lever angle, so might be worth considering, the shift feel is quite different. More of a wind up to a click, rather than having that sort of threshold force required

oh right, it is as I thought. Just swap them over

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No. Just need the SRAM axs gx 'upgrade kit'

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/sram-gx-eagle-axs-upgrade-kit

Other option is a xtr shifter as the actuation is less force that deore xt. But just get the SRAM. If I use my mechanical bike now I get thumb fatigue.
Try use the index finger for opposite shifts to halve the thumb use.

I've not seen it on any other MTB trousers, but I've not been looking. 🤷

I think the half length fly zip reduces bunching. Does mean you need to pull the waistband down a bit if you want to pee.
Two sets of poppers on the main body of the trousers, plus one set on the flap that covers the fly. This allows for a bit of adjustment.
The fabric is stretchy too. I wouldn't say they have masses of adjustment, but they're not fixed when it comes to waist tension.

@hippy you could try out archer components. Saw it on Seth's bike hacks and he gave it the thumbs up. Slight weight penalty tho.

https://archercomponents.com/

Try use the index finger for opposite shifts to halve the thumb use.

Yeah, I'd learned that trick already. I still forget sometimes.

I also sometimes will rotate my wrist down and change with the base of my hand instead of thumb to save a thumb shift. Less so now that I've move the shifter further away.

Slight weight penalty tho.

#hippyisfat

I think they have a Black Friday offer running at the moment also

Ok, so it's a wireless paddle that tells a box on your chainstay to pull the cable of the stock RD? Is that what I'm seeing here? So you can use cheaper mechanical RDs but get electronic/lighter action shift buttons? Curioser...

That's how I've got mine too.

I had some pain at the base of my thumbs too, years ago, when I had a bar with only a few degrees of sweep. I changed that to one with 11° and the pain disappeared so I assume that was it.

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Correct.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC-CsalVUCY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcVxyGsLKuQ

Fyi I've had the same Axs gx shifter and derailleur for three years. Given how many things I brake i validate then as robust.

Can also confirm, have mostly mistreated my AXS stuff and it's been solid

My hanger needs straightening and the RD was playing up yesterday until I cleaned it but the XT? I have is still working. I do like the idea of keeping the RD a cheap part and just replacing the lever with electronic gubbins but then why not go the whole hog if my RDs aren't being ripped to shreds every 15mins...

The Archer is about the same price as the SRAM but would let me use Shimano RDs.

I think you hit things harder but I'm angrier so tend to end up dragging my bike through the scrub like an upset child dragging a doll through the dirt. That, or falling on top of the bike (why is it always RD down?!) So we have different failure modes for our kit. :)

And the new generation are even more robust. So many videos of people standing on the mech with no adverse effect

If you’re still looking trousers, I’ve now gotten a (short) ride in my Humvees.

The cut is a bit funny, wider from the knee down than I expected, narrower from the knee up than I expected.

I had some pretty bulky joggy type shorts under them as I was on my way into town to get tattooed so needed something to strip off. I expect they’ll be better without this but they are almost on the verge of being restrictive around the hips.

Although the bottom of the legs are baggies than expected there was no chain catching issues or anything. The cuff seems to be a bit tighter so they stay out of the way and there’s Velcro at the cuff and up the leg a bit that could be used to tighten them up a smidge.

Material feels really light which will be good for packing and drying I imagine, wonder how warm they’ll be, I can always wear tights under.

The long pockets on the back of the thigh are missing which seems like a shame, I like them for stuffing gloves and that in on the shorts and 3/4.

Waist is nice and high at the rear so no Eye of Sauron.

Ah, I didn't use those long pockets at the back for years thinking they're were a bit silly, then I needed to stick my phone in them and I was like "oh wow these are actually quite useful, none of that thigh squashing on every upstroke". Oh well, thanks for the detailed review. I reckon I'll get a pair (although it's too late to save my sexy shins)

Pedals arrived, needs a bolt check and then it’s ready for shenanigans

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Flat pedals on a DH bike? Brave!