Official mountain biking thread

14613520:GayWolf420 said:
Why do people hate on Specialized?
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The guys at my local bike shop will promote brands that they dont carry if they dont have something that will work for you ,but they always ask that you stay away from specialized if possible. Apparently the way it is ran is very shitty for bike shops.
 
14613520:GayWolf420 said:
Why do people hate on Specialized?
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Because they started to cut their b-grade frames before tossing them in the dumpster so dumpster divers could no longer get free frames.
 
Anyone have a recommended resource for explaining fork/shock setup? My bike isn't feeling the best after hibernation this past winter.
 
Finally got a full suspension after not having a mtn bike for almost 4 years. Felt so good to get out on the first ride last week, but definitely gonna take awhile to get my confidence back going downhill again.
 
14613790:snowmosexual said:
Anyone have a recommended resource for explaining fork/shock setup? My bike isn't feeling the best after hibernation this past winter.
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Run 300 psi front and rear and you should be good ?
 
14613790:snowmosexual said:
Anyone have a recommended resource for explaining fork/shock setup? My bike isn't feeling the best after hibernation this past winter.
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Bike companies usually have published recommended settings for your weight so start there. If not, they should be able to help you out with an email.

If you want to go in depth with compression and rebound, there's tons of resources out there. The vorsprung youtube goes really deep into the nerdy side of things to help understand what's actually going on in there.
 
14613525:TOAST. said:
The guys at my local bike shop will promote brands that they dont carry if they dont have something that will work for you ,but they always ask that you stay away from specialized if possible. Apparently the way it is ran is very shitty for bike shops.
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Fair. That's a point to consider. I'm lucky to have a shop in town that's cool at least.
 
Update: Bike absolutely fucks. Added a coil shock, and for legal reasons, I definitely did NOT add a cascade link. In 29er mode, this bike wants to go fucking fast and plow through god damn everything. In mullet mode it's absurdly playful, and makes me want to lap steep loamers all day just to scandy flick into every catch berm. Leaving it 29er for park season, as my local is mostly tech/race trails. Proportional chainstays are downright incredible. 464mm+ rear end is magic. I'm never going back to short chainstays. Being able to weight the piss out the bike through my feet in corners is an absolute game changer. Forbidden knocked this one out of the park. My Commencal Clash now feels like a bmx bike in comparison.

Took me a while to warm up to the riding characteristics, honestly. On slow, flat trails, it's borderline punishing to ride, but once it's up to bikepark speeds... completely different animal. Smashes everything and wants more. Way more bike than I am rider.

If they ever make an alloy frame version i'd probably change to that. At the speeds this bike feels best at, I kinda want the extra weight to keep the bike more composed. I'll take the climbing penalty. Plus the carbon is already getting scuffed up, which is annoying. Not getting rid of it, but my theoretical perfect bike would be an alloy version of this bike, or at least very similar.

14589063:jimbobs said:
Forbidden’s black friday deal and lifetime warranty was just too good to pass up. Swapped on a 240mm dropper, 50mm rise bars, and a high rise stem for a better fit with my long legs. Still getting used to it, this is arguably the polar opposite bike to my Clash. Very long chainstays, so hops/jibs/manuals will need some recalibration, but damn it’s pretty nice to feel perfectly centered through corners. Found the limits of the 150ish travel once or twice on it so far, so I’ll be looking into a cascade link and possibly a marzocchi bomber coil shock if I can confirm fitment. Love it on my other rig so hopefully I’ll like it here. Thing gobbles rocks with ease so hopefully it’ll be a perfect match for Shoe laps.

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14614868:jimbobs said:
Update: Bike absolutely fucks. Added a coil shock, and for legal reasons, I definitely did NOT add a cascade link. In 29er mode, this bike wants to go fucking fast and plow through god damn everything. In mullet mode it's absurdly playful, and makes me want to lap steep loamers all day just to scandy flick into every catch berm. Leaving it 29er for park season, as my local is mostly tech/race trails. Proportional chainstays are downright incredible. 464mm+ rear end is magic. I'm never going back to short chainstays. Being able to weight the piss out the bike through my feet in corners is an absolute game changer. Forbidden knocked this one out of the park. My Commencal Clash now feels like a bmx bike in comparison.

Took me a while to warm up to the riding characteristics, honestly. On slow, flat trails, it's borderline punishing to ride, but once it's up to bikepark speeds... completely different animal. Smashes everything and wants more. Way more bike than I am rider.

If they ever make an alloy frame version i'd probably change to that. At the speeds this bike feels best at, I kinda want the extra weight to keep the bike more composed. I'll take the climbing penalty. Plus the carbon is already getting scuffed up, which is annoying. Not getting rid of it, but my theoretical perfect bike would be an alloy version of this bike, or at least very similar.
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scandy flick? LOL tell me you don't know shit about rally or MTBing without telling me.
 
Huge fan of my Druid, got me scheming about building a Dread for park days next year, I’m 25 mins from Copper and they’re putting a ton of work into their bike trails this summer. Should be worth getting a bike pass next season.

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Very nice, I'd say definitely do it (even though I am a bit biased). Shit, maybe even go Supernought if you want the 2 bike quiver. I can only imagine how ridiculous this platform is with 205mm of rear travel and a 200mm dual crown up front.

14614874:vermontana said:
Huge fan of my Druid, got me scheming about building a Dread for park days next year, I’m 25 mins from Copper and they’re putting a ton of work into their bike trails this summer. Should be worth getting a bike pass next season.

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14614879:jimbobs said:
Very nice, I'd say definitely do it (even though I am a bit biased). Shit, maybe even go Supernought if you want the 2 bike quiver. I can only imagine how ridiculous this platform is with 205mm of rear travel and a 200mm dual crown up front.
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Supernought would be a monster truck. I'd probably go Dread with 180 fork just for the pedal-ability if I want to race enduros on it too. Cascade is supposedly working on a link for the Druid v2 too, hoping for a bump to 145ish. Although I hit some decent sized slopestyle jumps on it and was impressed with how well it hides bottom out.
 
14614874:vermontana said:
Huge fan of my Druid, got me scheming about building a Dread for park days next year, I’m 25 mins from Copper and they’re putting a ton of work into their bike trails this summer. Should be worth getting a bike pass next season.

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i forgot the number but i think copper was having gravity logic put in like 15 trails over 5 years or something rad like that. but that means you probably arent too far from keystone or trestle so a bike park set up would probably be a good investment!
 
14614881:partyandBS said:
i forgot the number but i think copper was having gravity logic put in like 15 trails over 5 years or something rad like that. but that means you probably arent too far from keystone or trestle so a bike park set up would probably be a good investment!
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Yup! They're dumping a ton of money into it, my buddy works there and he's been updating me on the progress. I'm in Leadville so a bit far from Trestle, but I usually make it one day a year there, and not bad driving to Keystone and Snowmass as well.
 
14615750:BigPurpleSkiSuit said:
what's the best brand of chamois to get, my sit bones hurt from hard seat
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Annoyingly, it depends on your body. I have fairly narrow sit bones so a lot of brands have padding that's too wide. You just have to experiment to see what feels best.

Don't overlook different seats too, I finally found a comfortable seat and only wear a chammy ~50% of the time now.
 
Starting to get the suspension dialed on the new rig. Fluid FS4 that I'd picked it up for a stupid price, but came with a dogshit xfusion shock that was blown out of the box, so I overstroked it with a bomber coil. This made it ride super weird cause I still had the stock rockshox recon on the front, so obviously I had to find a better fork. Went from 130/140 to 143/150. Tektro brakes are as useless as ever, but the 11spd deore drivetrain is holding up surprisingly well. Probably gonna throw a carbon wheelset on this winter, as well as some XT brakes and 155mm cranks, but pretty happy with how its going so far. Just need some more homies to ride with, any of yall in Ontario?

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**This post was edited on Jun 24th 2024 at 11:18:19pm
 
Love riding through multi use singletrack with unavoidable horse shit on most of the trail. Been riding so much lately though, feeling good on the new full suspension. But learning to trust the bike a bit more still
 
Bike parks are so much more fun with a squad. I feel like I ride scared when I’m lapping solo

14617950:SendyMcSendyface said:
Got out to a bike park today, first time in a while. Riding bikes is fun no matter what, but I have fucking missed park laps with the boys.
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14617953:nCrow said:
Bike parks are so much more fun with a squad. I feel like I ride scared when I’m lapping solo
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Me an one of the guys I was riding with were just talking about that. I did a solo lap at one point, and it felt slower and sketchier than riding with a crew. Even on laps when I was leading I still felt better. Must be the thought of injury in the back of your mind.
 
Try different saddles first. Abduct a friend's bike. I have a tiny ass and my faves are the specialized phenom and wtb Silverado.

14615750:BigPurpleSkiSuit said:
what's the best brand of chamois to get, my sit bones hurt from hard seat
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14617958:BallClapper said:
Try different saddles first. Abduct a friend's bike. I have a tiny ass and my faves are the specialized phenom and wtb Silverado.
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Facts. Measure your sit bones, do a bunch of reading and go sit on a bunch of saddles at local shops if you can. I thought chami was mandatory till I bought a saddle that fit (WTB Rocket), and now I only wear a chami if I'm doing 2hr+ pedally rides
 
14615750:BigPurpleSkiSuit said:
what's the best brand of chamois to get, my sit bones hurt from hard seat
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just replace your seat with a pivot heel piece and you’ll be set ?

i went to a shop and they had some sort of measure that the guy had me sit on and then he told me my size and now I have a proper seat for my bone structure. pretty sure most seats have different size options too. really though, i seem

to hate the first week pr so of riding but then i get used to it quick so i think the best thing you can do is keep riding lol
 
I have officially ruined my enduro bike lmao. Dreadnought feels incredible at the bike park with DH casing maxgrip, cushcore, EX3 wheels, a coil shock, and cascade like, but now I need a daily for my daily to pedal well and make shitty local blue trails more interesting.

Really keen on the Banshee short travel models. Chainstay adjustment and 29/27 compatibility are big selling points. Liking the geometry of the Prime better, but the Phantom has the travel numbers I'm looking for. Could go Prime and short-shock it and add a headset spacer to underfork it.

Any other recommendations in the short travel trail bike category? Ironically the Druid ticks most of my boxes, but that's still overkill. Long chainstays in XL and mullet compatibility are big plusses. The simple answer is hardtail, but that would be too easy ofc.

TLDR: 120ish travel, good climbing, long chainstays, 500ish reach, mullet fun/party bike for making blue trails interesting. Does this exist? And has anyone ridden a Banshee Phantom and/or Prime? Am I stupid for ignoring the hardtail option?
 
14618121:jimbobs said:
I have officially ruined my enduro bike lmao. Dreadnought feels incredible at the bike park with DH casing maxgrip, cushcore, EX3 wheels, a coil shock, and cascade like, but now I need a daily for my daily to pedal well and make shitty local blue trails more interesting.

Really keen on the Banshee short travel models. Chainstay adjustment and 29/27 compatibility are big selling points. Liking the geometry of the Prime better, but the Phantom has the travel numbers I'm looking for. Could go Prime and short-shock it and add a headset spacer to underfork it.

Any other recommendations in the short travel trail bike category? Ironically the Druid ticks most of my boxes, but that's still overkill. Long chainstays in XL and mullet compatibility are big plusses. The simple answer is hardtail, but that would be too easy ofc.

TLDR: 120ish travel, good climbing, long chainstays, 500ish reach, mullet fun/party bike for making blue trails interesting. Does this exist? And has anyone ridden a Banshee Phantom and/or Prime? Am I stupid for ignoring the hardtail option?
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hardtail for some blues isnt a bad idea lol. my buddy let me ride his commecal meta hardtail and it was super fun to get around town and hit some trails. 29er ht would be sick with the beefy enduro.
 
14618121:jimbobs said:
I have officially ruined my enduro bike lmao. Dreadnought feels incredible at the bike park with DH casing maxgrip, cushcore, EX3 wheels, a coil shock, and cascade like, but now I need a daily for my daily to pedal well and make shitty local blue trails more interesting.

Really keen on the Banshee short travel models. Chainstay adjustment and 29/27 compatibility are big selling points. Liking the geometry of the Prime better, but the Phantom has the travel numbers I'm looking for. Could go Prime and short-shock it and add a headset spacer to underfork it.

Any other recommendations in the short travel trail bike category? Ironically the Druid ticks most of my boxes, but that's still overkill. Long chainstays in XL and mullet compatibility are big plusses. The simple answer is hardtail, but that would be too easy ofc.

TLDR: 120ish travel, good climbing, long chainstays, 500ish reach, mullet fun/party bike for making blue trails interesting. Does this exist? And has anyone ridden a Banshee Phantom and/or Prime? Am I stupid for ignoring the hardtail option?
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I love my Chromag rootdown in M/L as a playful hardtail alternative to my larger bike, chainstays are pretty short but it manuals and gets off the ground so easily compared to my Druid v2 (beefy build) Spur is a good option too if you want something even sportier and can be found for good deals currently, no mullet though. I think the Druid would be a bit too similar to your Dread for this type of bike, unless you made it real light which kinda defeats the purpose of the HP suspension imo.
 
14618129:partyandBS said:
hardtail for some blues isnt a bad idea lol. my buddy let me ride his commecal meta hardtail and it was super fun to get around town and hit some trails. 29er ht would be sick with the beefy enduro.
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I love my meta HT, I thought the long travel fork on a hard tail would be outrageous. But I love it
 
14618121:jimbobs said:
I have officially ruined my enduro bike lmao. Dreadnought feels incredible at the bike park with DH casing maxgrip, cushcore, EX3 wheels, a coil shock, and cascade like, but now I need a daily for my daily to pedal well and make shitty local blue trails more interesting.

Really keen on the Banshee short travel models. Chainstay adjustment and 29/27 compatibility are big selling points. Liking the geometry of the Prime better, but the Phantom has the travel numbers I'm looking for. Could go Prime and short-shock it and add a headset spacer to underfork it.

Any other recommendations in the short travel trail bike category? Ironically the Druid ticks most of my boxes, but that's still overkill. Long chainstays in XL and mullet compatibility are big plusses. The simple answer is hardtail, but that would be too easy ofc.

TLDR: 120ish travel, good climbing, long chainstays, 500ish reach, mullet fun/party bike for making blue trails interesting. Does this exist? And has anyone ridden a Banshee Phantom and/or Prime? Am I stupid for ignoring the hardtail option?
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Check out the new Norco Optic. Another good option is the Norco Fluid, if you're on a budget. They're clearing out a bunch of overstock bikes so there's some stupid deals on them right now.
 
14618221:Rock_Inhabitant said:
I know nothing about bikes but I want to do some bike park stuff. I also do not want to spend 5k on a bike. What shall be my course of action
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I haven’t looked at used bike prices, but expect a 2k minimum for new full suspensions. Maybe 1,500 for a decent used one.

https://www.commencal.com/us/en/bike/bikes/enduro/clash/



I’ve been eyeing one of these, lots of options and on a heavy discount.

But if you just getting into bikes, go pick up a dirt jumper. Some local spots are basically mini bike parks, and dirt jumpers are the best at those.
 
14618221:Rock_Inhabitant said:
I know nothing about bikes but I want to do some bike park stuff. I also do not want to spend 5k on a bike. What shall be my course of action
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demo some bikes and depending on how long ago you took the training wheels off, maybe take a lesson too. no point in buying a decent used bike for $2.5k if you’re new to the sport. get some days under your belt and then see if you actually are gonna commit to it.
 
14618121:jimbobs said:
TLDR: 120ish travel, good climbing, long chainstays, 500ish reach, mullet fun/party bike for making blue trails interesting. Does this exist? And has anyone ridden a Banshee Phantom and/or Prime? Am I stupid for ignoring the hardtail option?
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Knolly Fugitive 125?

Revel Ranger?

I haven't looked at chainstay length for either of these but they're the first two that came to mind. Canfield Tilt is a bit more travel but it's a little party bike
 
14618683:SendyMcSendyface said:
Hell yeah, I'm in Guelph, mostly do GORBA and Hydrocut, been trying to get up to Horseshoe for some park days too.
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All of those sound good to me! I'll message you on FB once the local forecast improves
 
Think I busted a nut. Cleaned er up and put some fresh rubber on. Yes, I know they are shit. Blew up my Maxxis setup and my boss gave me these as temps.

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14618221:Rock_Inhabitant said:
I know nothing about bikes but I want to do some bike park stuff. I also do not want to spend 5k on a bike. What shall be my course of action
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My personal recommendation is the Commencal Meta SX V4. Around 2k - 2.5k all day on the used market. It's an absolute bike park weapon. It is heavy, so climbing will be more slow sit-and-spin than standing and sprinting up hills, but if you're mainly going to ride lift-service and shuttle laps, it's hard to beat the price-to-performance. A heavier bike smashing thru downhill chunk feels really good. I've ridden one at a bike park and it's a total shred sled. There's a newer V5 model out now, but reviews are less than positive.
 
14619045:jimbobs said:
My personal recommendation is the Commencal Meta SX V4. Around 2k - 2.5k all day on the used market. It's an absolute bike park weapon. It is heavy, so climbing will be more slow sit-and-spin than standing and sprinting up hills, but if you're mainly going to ride lift-service and shuttle laps, it's hard to beat the price-to-performance. A heavier bike smashing thru downhill chunk feels really good. I've ridden one at a bike park and it's a total shred sled. There's a newer V5 model out now, but reviews are less than positive.
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Clash is about the same price, would most likely do better downhill too. Definitely want to try them both. Pretty sure commencal lets you put the cost of a demo towards a bike if you purchase

Seems like SX if you plan on riding a good mix of trails and lift service stuff vs Clash if you mainly will do lift service with some trail riding.
 
14619045:jimbobs said:
There's a newer V5 model out now, but reviews are less than positive.
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It's a noodle. Bearings are shit and develop play and creak ~2 rides in. Rode one. Very comfortable on roots, provides pretty good rear end traction due to all the flex but gets pretty gnarly on high speed bikepark corners. Op should consider a banshee legend or titan. Aluminum. indestructible. Look sick. works fantastic. Though they hold their value pretty well so finding a good deal used is tricky. On the topic of alloy bruisers the knolly chilcotin is also very good. Looks might be polarizing to say the least but they can fuckin MOVE. Do research.
 
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