Poodle's slow train to nowhere - Transition Scout

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
It might be time for a ride report?

True to the ongoing journey this bike has had, it barely gets ridden. Since returning from Perth life has been an endless cycle of work work work work and rain. Fuck me it's been boring! But I figure there wasn't a lot of work last year with the pandemic decimating hospitality and living in Perth (yawn). But since the theft of my polygon this has been my daily driver!

I threw some Schwalbe table tops on and have been chugging up the kilometres riding to and from works or the shops. The bike makes for a comfortable commuter! The pedalling is fairly efficient and it is light enough to easily carry up stairs. It isnt the easier to bunny hop up stairs though.

The skate park I normally ride has been demolished and a replacement is under construction. So I haven't had a chance to ride that.

I've had this on dirt twice this week with the table tops on. It rises plenty good! These might be one of the most versatile tyres I've owned.

I have adapted to what I found to be an awkward riding position, where the seat was always sniffing out my butt hole while jumping. If I was riding more regularly I think I'd be able to throw it around nicely.

As a light freeride bike this currently feels like it has been a good choice. It is responsive, light, maneuverable. It pedals well enough for my needs and the ride position is comfortable,not cramped nor stretched. It hasn't made it to the ultimate test yet - the quarry of death. There is a high chance of heading there on good Friday. No sure it it will be this or the nomad that goes.
 

moorey

call me Mia
the rear tyre branding in not quite lined up with the rim deacls...just a heads up, so you can rectify before Moorsy has a crack!
sweet looking rig though, I look forward to hearing stories in the FW thread as things break and fall off it from an overly confident owner and his weekly follies :D
Edit: unusual choice of tire!..good for commuting I guess
I’m not one for tyre lining up...except on Felix’s bikes.
The cable lengths, though.

Even with 165’s, not too low in the BB, @pink poodle? I’d like one of these older non boost models as a daily rider as a match up for the Suppressor.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
I’m not one for tyre lining up...except on Felix’s bikes.
The cable lengths, though.

Even with 165’s, not too low in the BB, @pink poodle? I’d like one of these older non boost models as a daily rider as a match up for the Suppressor.

The cable length for being fully epic and old school on the dirt lumps...I have such a small bag of tricks. The retro x-up gets pulled out quite often. I do notice the slightly longer rear when attempting to perform whips. Though this issue is more attributed to the terrible condition of the lumps. They are very eroded and rounded over! It results in being airborne about 30-40cm before the lip. There is a lot of traffic on these, mostly noobs and grumpy old men rolling their xc bikes over the lumps. Dickheads.

Anyway...your actual question? I've had no issues with the bike being low, not now or before with the 170mm crank. But my primary ride turf is not very rocky. It is mostly smooth hard pack. So there isn't much to book my feet on. By contrast the nomad rides REALLY low and I have brushed things with my toes at other rockier locations. Fortunately I haven't had a haakon yet!

You probably won't regret the upgrade.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
New pedals are on! No pic because it really doesn't matter, they are black just like the last ones. Though I did also buy a red pair...and I think maybe I meant to put the red ones on this and the black ones on something else. Or the red ones are for an impeding rebuild of my parts collection. I can't remember.


Anyway this bike now has new blackspire nylotrax pedals in black and my feet feel right a home.
 

Hellyeah

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I had/have a scout
Such a great little bike, wish I could still ride mine
Keep the dream alive poodle
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
So here has been some upgrades...

- new grips: who doesn love grabbing onto dick pink grips? They're delightfully fleshy.

- new rubber: Maxxis high roller 26x2.35 on the front. Maxxis high roller 2 26x2.3 on the rear. These things are overkill for the usual ride and move like slugs and once I work up the patience to pull the back one off I'll be reverting to my usual DJ/hard pack tyres. Partly because this is my back up commuter at the moment. But I knew I'd need this level of tyre for yesterday's ride.

- new rotors: 203mm Shimano xt up front and 160mm Shimano cheapo out back. They do the job just fine. Doubled in with the world's shittest bleed and I was expecting a bi of trouble yesterday. Happy to report no issues pulling up or moderating speed.

- rear shock service: I sent the rear shock off to cyclonic for a bit of an overhaul. Aside from the usual service they added 3 bands for me. I already feel like I should have gone for 5. While I didn't blow the back end out noticeably I really wasnt pushing it that hard. Well only a few times while attempting the second big jump at the top of the dh track. Anyway shock feels awesome. Their service was super easy to use...very happy.

- new forks: well sort of...the last of the greatness! Rockshock Lyric RC2 DH 170mm installed. These forks were issued on the Kona process 167 in 2016, which I believe was one of the last 26 inch adult bikes that isn't a dirt jumper. I purchased them NOS from Yarra valley cycles and ran them on my NS Snabb E. When that bike came to an end I put these away on the garage and forgot about them. They have now been rebuilt, dropped to 150mm, and squeezed onto the bike. Anyway these feel so different to the Mazocchi I was running. The chassis is much stiffer and there is a plushness to them that the marzocchi didn't have. I know that sounds wierd given the reputation for butter that Marzocchi have. But they are about 10mm shorter axle to crown than the marzocchi and I had to take 10mm out of my stem stack height, so the front end feels a lot lower. I got used to it though and had plenty of fun.

390825
390826


And yes...I know the back tyre isn't aligned between valve and logo. Once it was on there the fit was so tight I couldn't be fucked.

I am considering switching out the stem for a slightly longer stem, maybe 45mm.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Well this is back together again. I'm pleased with the swift turnaround from cyclinc on the fork repair. I'm looking forward to the rain stopping, ground drying, not working, and getting out for a test ride one day. In the meantime this will be on daily duty for a bit while I get the rear wheel on the rook fixed.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Well well well...I did change the stem to 40mm just recently. I also made a lot of other changes, so hold onto your hats and get some popcorn!

- shock service
- new stem: samox 40mm
- new bar: samox 750mm, small rise...maybe an inch
- new grips: dmr death grips, black
- new pedals: dmr vault, magnesium
- new chain: Shimano xt
- new cassette: Shimano tiagra 11-32t
- new jockey wheels in my derailleur
- new forks: x-fusion vengeance 110x20
- new wheel: nukeproof nutron 27.5
- new tyre: Kenda Nevegal 2 pro 27.5 x 2.4 (folding).

That's right! The bike is now a fucking mullet! I got out on the dirt for a bit this afternoon and it will take some getting used to. Plus my test turf hardly yearns for this set up. I threw it around the dirt lumps and some trails... generally very happy with the feel and am eager to get on some different trails next week and see how it feels.

Here's a blurry arse picture I drew on the way to the trails.


IMG20230707134326~2.jpg


I was thinking about the mullet today, and I think in the glorious days of 26 inches I had maybe 4 bikes built up as 24:26 mullets. I used to love the zippy little back wheels.
 
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