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Official MTB / Mountain Biking Chit Chat

Nate, I actually prefer my bars a bit wider than my shoulders. Reason being I have long arms and fairly wide shoulders and it lets my arms fall into a natural position that leaves a bit of bend in my elbows rather than drawing them in. I'm a moto guy so elbows up in attack position is permanently ingrained into my gray matter. :mrgreen: Granted I'm levering a much heavier front end on the moto, but wide bars just feel normal to me. Much like saddles being a personal thing, bars are as well, and I just feel odd pulling my hands in to get shoulder width. The bars on my 29'er are at just over 28" and feel great, and I'll cut the new ones to match.

I'll probably run the Kendas for a bit, as I've spent the toy budget just buying the bike more or less. Also, they got pretty good review for rocky and rooty which we have a lot of out here, and they're free so I'm gonna give them a shot at least. If they don't work, I'll see what the local guys like on our terrain and try those. I'm running the stock Bontrager XR1's on my 29'er and they've been pretty good so far.

I ordered DMR chain tugs, as another person that reviewed the bike on Nashbar said they fit perfectly.

Also, how hard it is to convert the front hub to a QR? I use a fork mount in the truck bed, and I'd like to continue doing so. I would guess the front hub uses a standard 9mm axle, but not sure. I'm going to try my QR skewer off my 29'er and see if it works, that will let me know if a 9mm QR works or not.

EDIT: Damn, bike shows Monday now. BOO! LOL
 
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OK on bars, run what you like. :)

Rocky rooty, Specialized Purgatory Control 650Bx2.3 is great front tire, sizes more like a real 2.2 than 2.3, light for it's size, folding bead, great knob and rubber for wet, dry all conditions and rolls much faster than you'd think! My favorite all around MTB front tire.
Specialized Bicycle Components

and Specy Fast Track Control 650Bx2.2 rear (coming soon lol) this is a great all around tire that rolls fast, light weight, great traction...more traction than you'd think even in the wet. Good front or rear, but use in the rear for your terrain. I also like the Captain as a rear tire but it's not currently available in 650B. The GEAX Saguaro would make great rear tire for your terrain too...just little less wet root/rock traction than the awesome Specialized rubber...but very predictable.
Specialized Bicycle Components

EDIT: Those DMR chain tugs look ok, just little more fiddly than the Redlines, plus the local bmx LBS had them in stock and my bike was already here. Redlines are on Amazon for half the price of the DMR http://www.amazon.com/Redline-Alloy-Chain-Tensioners-Black/dp/B000AYEWUK

You'll have to either buy new QR wheels or swap hub (not worth it unless you can do this yourself), I'll do anything but truing wheels. QR will fit right in the drop outs, they are bolt in axles stock. The stock wheelset is low end but they work fine, I bought HF 15mm box/open wrench, cut the open end off, ground and polished the end and it fits right in my little saddle bag, don't waste your money on QR. Or buy/build nice wheelset with Hope hub and WTB or Stan's rim, and some double butted spokes.

You will love the SS, single speed 29er is my favorite bike! Congrats on your new bike and I know waiting until Monday sucks. Mine took about a week to get to Norcal, had it shipped to my office so I wouldnt' miss the signature. It arrived while I was at lunch, front desk signed for it and I was in love lol.
 
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Sweet, I've never seen those. FYI the open type QR like that does not provide the clamping pressure that the closed Shiman do, fine for front wheel but I wouldn't use them on rear of SS where you have lots of torque. Have you used that axle before?
 
True, but it will work with no muss no fuss. I run my QR levers up and behind the fork, so I'm not worried about bumping them anyway. I'll ask the bike shop owner what my options are when the bike gets here Monday.
 
Can't decide whether or not to get a new bike. I want one because I'd like to be able to make it up more hills than I can right now and I also need to get in shape for the air force and a better pedaling bike would help with that. But, bikes are expensive and I don't know what bike I'd want. I have a 160mm travel bike right now and I like it, but a 120-150mm bike would pedal better. Plus, I want to maybe try racing Enduro too. So far the Norco Range alloy 7.2 has been my main focus. The only thing is that the spec is really bottom level. The 7.1 has a slightly better build kit and is about $1000 more. So many hard decisions.:evil:

Range Alloy « All Mountain/Enduro « Mountain « Bikes « Norco Bicycles
 
Are you pretty hard set on the Norco? If I were in the market for an AM bike, I'd look hard at the Santa Cruz Bronson, it gets rave reviews and the VPP seems to really work from what I've read. Also, the Trek Remedy line gets good reviews as well, climbs well from my reading, and have models all the way down to $2500 or so.
 
hpiguy said:
Are you pretty hard set on the Norco? If I were in the market for an AM bike, I'd look hard at the Santa Cruz Bronson, it gets rave reviews and the VPP seems to really work from what I've read. Also, the Trek Remedy line gets good reviews as well, climbs well from my reading, and have models all the way down to $2500 or so.
Click to expand...

Not really. I just like it because it's in my price range and I've heard good things about them. I'd really like a bike with right around 150-160mm of travel. But, if I can race it in an enduro race I'll consider it.
 
Just curious, but if you already have a 160mm bike, why not something in the 120-140 range? The shorter travel bike would pedal better, be lighter, and probably more nimble due to geometry geared more towards trail / enduro rather than AM. Just playing devils advocate is all.
 
Selling the crappy pedaling 160mm to hopefully add to what I can spend on a new bike. So, I'll basically be replacing one bike with a newer and hopefully better pedaling bike. I'm liking the Santa Cruz Heckler. I'll know more in about 2 months when I actually have the money to spend. Hopefully I'll be able to work a dropper post into the deal.:mrgreen:
 
hpiguy said:
Are you pretty hard set on the Norco? If I were in the market for an AM bike, I'd look hard at the Santa Cruz Bronson, it gets rave reviews and the VPP seems to really work from what I've read. Also, the Trek Remedy line gets good reviews as well, climbs well from my reading, and have models all the way down to $2500 or so.
Click to expand...

I was looking at the same bikes as above including the Devinci Troy, Kona 153, Giant Trance SX, and the new Specialized Enduro Comp, all with 650b tires. I finally rode every one except the Kona (to hard to find/get) with the plans of a do it all bike that can do climbs, bike parks, and enduro racing. Today I bought the Specialized Enduro Comp and absolutely love it! This is a bike that replaced my downhill bikes that I've done for years and I'm excited to get back to a bike that I can pedal anywhere. My best advise I can give is to ride as many of those on your list that you can before you decide as everyone is different on what they will like. I wasn't looking at getting the Enduro but once I rode it I fell in love and that was the last bike on my long list that I rode.

 
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The Enduro Comps are awesome bikes. My coworker just bought the 2015 in 650b in the bright blue colorway and he loves it. Even though the Enduro comes in 160mm travel it does pedal pretty well. I would recommend giving the Stumpjumper Evo from Specialized a look. 150mm travel and is more uphill friendly than the Enduro. Plus the geometry makes it really nice on the downhills too. The downside for some people is that the Stumpy isn't as beefed up for a lot of bike park use, but if that's your goal just buy a beefier bike. I have a 26" Stumpy Comp that I just put a 150mm Pike on the front of and it does very well at everything I ride. Definitely a quiver killer.
 
I'd love to have an enduro scoot myself, maybe next year. Rode some new trails today at WCU, it kicked my ass, big time. I ate it once too, got it on video that I'll try and upload later, after my nap. :lmao:

WCU-Trails_zps075648f3.jpg
 
Picked up a Specialized Crave on Saturday, my first 29er :mrgreen: Put about 30 trail miles on it last night, so far it's awesome! The 2 to 10 gearing is a little different than what i'm used to but I like it.
 
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