Biking '10 part 2

[Ziltoid]

Continuation from here.

[bassteban]

Good- I was about to start this chapter but didn't really have anything to add(until now).
My 11-yr-old(the one that now knows how babies are made )now fits on a full-sized(26" wheel)MTB; we test-hopped a 13" Hard Rock Sport earlier today. he can get on & off & get the front wheel up pretty easily, so as soon as we get back from Dizzyland next week we're off to the LBS for a new hoss.

[anyonefortennis]

I think LA was the last one to comment on forks and axles.

I heard/read somewhere that fox is going 15QR or bigger starting next year. The end of the 9mm dropout is near...

[L-A]

Originally Posted by anyonefortennis

I think LA was the last one to comment on forks and axles.

I heard/read somewhere that fox is going 15QR or bigger starting next year. The end of the 9mm dropout is near...

Enter the maintenance nightmare for LBS people getting Wal*Mart bikes.

[Ziltoid]

Just got back from another ride, posting a few stats so I can compare at the end of the summer (my avs on my few last was like 18, I pushed harder this time):

odo: 32km
Mxs: 59.3
Avs: 24
tm: 1:15

It's once again the same 32km ride, it's the one I do when I work all day, the days I'm not working I try to do the 68.1 ride.

[Mark Reccord]

The 15mm thru-axle is a new solution to a problem that has already been solved (by the 20mm one ).

The 15mm axle isn't a lot stiffer than the 9mm QR to my mind. When I bought my trail bike this spring I had the option of upgrading the 9mm fork to a 15mm one in essentially the same fork (Fox Vanilla 32). The 15mm version didn't feel appreciably stiffer on the trail so I didn't spend extra money on it. I think that the Vanilla 32 that came on the bike is admirably laterally stiff and tracks nicely for a 9mm QR fork. It feels amazing on the trail. The stock setup with the heavy spring sagged perfectly for my weight out of the box and it felt just right after adding a few clicks of rebound. That being said, since I have a bad case of upgraditis, I'll probably stick a 20mm Rockshox Revelation dual air on it later this year.

[anyonefortennis]

I think the only disadvantage of the 20mm T/A fork is the added weight so the 15QR came about for XC riders and WWs.

I don't see the 9mm going anywhere anytime soon on road bikes.

[My name is Mudd]

The axle size (and by extension, the hub size) has little real-world impact on a fork...or better to say that it has the last impact. The primary stiffening bits on a fork are the legs themselves coupled with the bridge connecting the two fork legs. I've seen 20mm thru-axles snapped in half after being stuck in some light-weight 'race' forks that accepted 20mm axles as a weigh-savings attempt (...gone wrong...).

My personal trail bike (Gunnar Rockhound...853, baby!) has an almost 10-year-old Marzocchi Z-2 BAM and a Chris King susp front hub that has been for-real proven to be stiffer than a don't-remember-exactly-which-Fox-it-was-but-the-equivalent-of-a-Z2 and a 20mm thru Hope hub. No lie.

[MakiSupaStar]

Ok guys here's a pic of my suspension that's cracked.



what am I looking for?

[anyonefortennis]

By what I can tell, you need a 80mm (maybe 100?) travel, Rim Brake Compatible, 9mm drop out fork. I don't see a lot of offset so most new forks may change the geometry a bit but that is less noticeable than most people make it out to be.

I know a rox shox dart 3 will fit the bill. It's cheap ($120 or so) Personally, I'd rather go rigid than use a Dart3 again. Marzocchi 22 RLO would work but I have no experience with it so I can't comment on it.

[spade2you]

Wow, very hot and humid yesterday. About had heatstroke riding at tempo.

[username n/a]

I was going to go for a nice 20 mile ride today, but there's a thunder storm outside. I'm sad.

[My name is Mudd]

Originally Posted by anyonefortennis

(maybe 100?)

Guesttimating that the frame's designed for an 80, but you could put a 100mm in and suffer a small amount of wheel-flop on steeper climbs as a trade for the extra 20mm of travel.

Brand-wise, I like Marzocchi and Fox, in that order.

[bassteban]

Bout to head out for a couple of hot laps on the SS- all hungover. Got LOTS of water.

[username n/a]

Yep, I'm a badass.

[bassteban]

Have you ever gone off any sweet jumps w/it?

[Ziltoid]

What's your opinion about upgrading wheels from the stock ones, should it be done once the stock one fails or is it the kind of thing I'd "want" to upgrade right away? Same question for tires.

[username n/a]

Originally Posted by bassteban

Have you ever gone off any sweet jumps w/it?

Are.... are you making fun of me?

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by username n/a

Are.... are you making fun of me?

What- on the internet? That would be SO wrong.
ON topic, the hangover ride was painful- the second lap up the big(by my washed-up girlie-man standards )was done w/no strength whatsoever in my scrawny scarecrow legs. I've been semi-comatose ever since.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by username n/a

I was going to go for a nice 20 mile ride today, but there's a thunder storm outside. I'm sad.

So you got one of those pink bikes made out of marshmellows that melt in the rain?