Rigardt@Scott

Just pulled the trigger on a frameset. This will be a bit of a spare parts build as I have most of what I need. The big question mark for me is the groupset and brakes... What is the cheapest 1x gravel groupset available, as well as cheapest hydro brakes? I'm not really bothered by weight and brakes just have to work...

I replaced my 520 with a 130 purely for the size. The 520 is just too big for me. To be honest I had not even noticed that you have to press more buttons to start an activity. Battery level you cannot see, besides for the battery with 4 or 5 little bars on the main screen. Even that is not always accurate, without fail it shows low battery when I switch it on, and then when I go into and out of an activity it shows fully charged. My only complaint with the 130 is battery life, I feel like it is waaay less than advertised - and I only use GPS (no HR, bluetooth off, no Glonas or any other fancy sattelites). The 520 was brilliant with battery...

Yes... I agreed with you on that front (as I have said). Where we differ is that you are willing to live with the 20mm drop in suspension for the different wheel sizes, I am not. Like I mentioned, we are saying the same thing but coming to different conclusions. For you, mullet wheels and slightly less travel is better (in this scenario anyway), for me, same size wheels and 20mm more fork travel is better. Very subjective... But I do understand what you are saying about geo not changing, and I am not arguing that at all.

Well besides for the bb doing the opposite thing in a 29er frame vs 650b frame, the rest of the geo is affected in the same way - so I don't really see how it's irrelevant. Either way, no use going round in circles about something that's makes very subjective increase/decreases in performance to the ride.

Lol, are we still talking about socks?

It's not about the fruit salad on the sock, it is all about the length despite what she might say...

Hmmm, I agree and disagree with you - sure a 140/160mm travel bike will still have ample travel if it becomes a 140/140mm mullet bike... BUT, I bought my 140/160mm travel 29" bike because that's exactly what I wanted, a monster truck. Now, taking off 20mm of front wheel travel will not make it not a monster truck - but perosnally I feel like I'll be sacrificing more than I'm getting from the mullet configiration (but that's me). Not to mention the now lower BB on a bike with a BB that was low to start with (converse is true for a 27.5 frame). I think we are saying the same thing, but getting to different conclusions - the mullet experiment is a bit more involved than just slapping on 2 different sized wheels. You are happy to make the sacrifices/changes that come along with that, I am not. That said, I do think there is merit to it if the frame is designed around it and I have the travel, bb height, and STA and HTA I want... I'd be very keen to swing a leg over a bike designed around it. Either way, I'm just not so keen to mess with either my Enduro bike or my hardtail (right now anyway).

It was a decision made 30mins before a Sunday afternoon ride... so no. But yes, that would fix the angles. The reason I didn't try that on another day (even though I have a 110mm air spring) though is because 110mm of travel with the right angles in mullet configuration still seems like I am worse off than 130mm with the right angles and same size wheels. That's why I say geo should be designed around it - I just think that you either sacrifice travel or geo - and neither of those sacrifices are going to put me in a better position than I was when I had the same size wheels.

I tried it with my Cotic Solaris Max. 27.5x2.8" rear, 29x2.5" up front. The bike became super slack, climbed like shyte and had no benefits whatsoever on the descents. I do think there is merit to the concept, but the frame geo must be designed around it.

He is a brilliant actor. Very good in Banshee as well (another brilliant, but violent and graphic series).

Was up there this afternoon - trails look beautiful, thanks for the graft! That road gap is still closed (guessing for everything to settle and compact), but looks prime for shuttle day next weekend! That thing has needed tlc for a while now...

It does look boring in a catalogue, but at the end of the day it's what most of us want... You can always offer different colour decals - brands like Evil do that, still adds some differentiation and personality without it sticking out like a traffic cone. There is actually a specific bike I want right now, but it's only available in bright red, and that alone will make me not buy it. There is nothing wrong with colour, but I feel like there should always be a toned down version before a colourful one. But I understand as a small brand that must be an incredinly hard balancing act.

Or even worse, a tattoo. Actually saw a guy once with a tattoo on his arm that just said "Vegan". Boggles my mind as to why you feel the need to tattoo that on you.

I know a guy that is vegan, mainly so for the environmental issues surrounding it - but does go hunting 2/3 times a year, and fishing occassionaly - he eats that meat, and only that meat. I guess some vegans would not call him a vegan, but in his eyes he is because his definition of veganism focuses on sustainability (and health), and hunting 2 or 3 animals per year does not violate that definition.

What you are saying is very true, but... one way to get around all of the trends and seasonal colourways - just offer a stealth black version and a raw version - never goes out of style and looks better (I guess in my opinion) than colours ever could.

My pads lasted very long on the Curas - much longer that Shimano XTs (hard to put km to it), and this is on an Enduro bike used for lots of descending and I am heavy...

I have only ever bled my Curas when I have rebuilt my bike - they have been on 3 frames since 2016 when I got them. Really a minimum maintenance brake-set! I also store my bike against a wall (front wheel up), and no air gets in the system - a completely different story the Shimanos... For interest sake - how do the 4 pot version compare with the 2 pot version?

Tomatoes and cucumbers don't get you high. #stayoffthedrugskids

Cura all they way! XT M8000 on the one bike, Cura on the other. Cura's are better in every single aspect - more stopping power, better modulation, better lever feel, no brake fade, ALOT less bleeding required, they are consistent, etc etc etc. Best value per Rand brakes you will find. I initially bought the Curas on a whim - I wanted another set of XT M8000's, but Trailtech was out of stock - they suggested I try the Curas - flipen happy they did! I am planning on selling the XT M8000's on my hardtail at some point, moving the Curas over to my hardtail and then buying a set of 4 pot Curas for the Enduro bike (where the 2 pot Curas are at the moment). Not that I need 4 pot, just seems silly not to buy 4 pots when I am buying new brakes anyway...

You're in for a new CSU... I'm not into incremental changes to things, but fork offset makes a big difference! Rode my Tranny with a 51mm offset, and then changed to a 41mm offset - changed the bike completely (in a very good way). I was lucky that my CSU needed to be replaced under warranty when I got the new bike. If it had not been for that I would rather just have sold the fork and bought a new one with the correct offset - way more cost efficient if you can sell your current fork.

For sure, I got waaay more pics this time around. Ewald's just have a certain artistic magic to them that no-one else's does. PS.... not bashing Chris at all here - the photos are very good!

There is no need for 90% of the things humans do. He probably just did it because he wanted to.

Some really good photos, but it just lacks that Ewald Sadie magic

Super fun day out, lekker trails - but a pedal fest. I will bring the hardtail next year haha! I was seriously off the pace, about 50 positions slower than Conties - but I expected it with the lack if riding I have been doing lately.

I can never understand why they only bring in the typically front tyres (DHF, Assegai) in DD, but not the rear tyres (Aggressor 2.5")?? I want DD on the back, not the front! And there is no way in hell I am using a Minion or Ass-guy on the back. EDIT: Sorry, wrong thread for my negativity.