New bike shopping - rant alert

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SummitFever

Eats Squid
I've been looking around at potential new bikes and there's a few things giving me the screaming shits:

Boost spacing - what a total load of toss. Yeah its 10% stiffer in theory but then why spec bikes with 28 spoke factory wheels. If you keep the old non-boost spacing and add 4 extra spokes (eg 32h) you get a guaranteed 14.3% stiffer wheel and its less likely to go out of true if you break a spoke, your rims last longer before the spoke holes crack etc etc etc. All things being equal, a non-boost 32h wheel will be stiffer than a 28h boost wheel.

Also, the wider axle spacing will be flexier unless you use more material. Spread two stools holding a plank further apart and you get the idea.

If you're going to render all the old shit obsolete, why not do something smart like dish-less wheels, asymmetrical rear ends etc.?

Trunion shocks - the best possible shock action is achieved when the flexing forces on the frame, pivots and all the other mounting hardware don't get transferred to the shock. Shocks aren't designed to handle any side loading (eg. there are no "bushings" inside a shock like a fork). A spherical mount on either end is the best way to go, but instead of heading down that path, we get the "genius" of a trunion mount, where any flex in the frame gets transferred through the big beefy rocker into the shock. Look forward to the trunion mounted shock having a much shorter life span than a non-trunion shock and a shittier suspension action thanks to the binding.

End of rant (and apologies to the rant averse).
 
H

Halo1

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Yeah all that and Frame size for me - what use to be XL is now a large in one brand and an XXL in another!
 
Mr Crudley

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
How about the ongoing urge at add more unsprung weight to rear with bigger cassettes now that the front der has gone the way of the dinosaur. I know, I know, we can fix some of it with a crank mounted freewheel instead.

Why could they just make a 'standard' gearbox mount and be done with all of it.
 
S

Sethius

Crashed out somewhere
Vyro + servo/stepper motor or dropper post button,have confirmed there's enough throw. One vert, one horizontal..short cage derailleur, narrower cassette. E13 9-28 with x1 DH derailleur..

Trying to work out how to jack the Magura ant+ protocol from the spare dropper post buttons to actuate a motor on vyro and one for a remote lockout to motors on fork/shock. Yay for contacts studying mechatronics. She's already got it roughly Modelled.

Or wireless rear shift plus dropper all from one control. Clean..just got to jail break the Magura buttons.
 
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stirk

stirk

Burner
SummitFever said:
They do that so you are less inclined to get some disease from all the horse shit covering the bottle down there.
Click to expand...
The sand and poo with every mouth full of water gives you the shits literally. Meanwhile you forget you have the shits with the new standard. That's a deflection technique.
 
O

oliosky

Likes Bikes and Dirt
The world is insane. I reckon theres only 5 things you gotta look at with a bike these days:

- thru axle rear 142/148 (its fucking 5mm difference. She isn't going to notice. Girth maybe.)
- threaded bb
- head angle has to be reasonable, like <68' reasonable (i.e dont buy a 2013 71' HA dually and think its going to work as an all mountain slayer), especially if you're keen on messing with fork travel. The rest you can fine tune with offset bushings and anglesets (oh, and make sure youre frame is angleset compatible)
- it really has to fit you reach wise, with a sub 60mm stem. Because anything greater than that, even in xc, don't make no sense no more.
- a bike needs to hold a normal person size drink bottle FFS. A sneaky, unplanned one hour spin is quite possibly the greatest thing about riding a mountain bike, ever. You need to be able to fill a bottle and go, and not ass about with a backpack.
 
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pink poodle

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
148mm vs 150mm rear axle...ffs weight weenies! If it needs to be bigger than 142mm is the extra micrograms of 150mm really going to hurt?
 
Flow-Rider

Flow-Rider

Burner
You want a stiff, light & strong wheel, stick to 26". A lot of people I've ridden with think that these new, low, long, slack, boost, 1m long bars and what ever else you want to add is going to make them ride like a pro at a downhill round. So many people get tricked into buying these sorts of bikes where instead they should have spent the money and time on developing better skills first.
 
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