And my other custom frame, 1981 MERZ touring frame. Jim Merz, the builder, was a renowned frame builder in Portland in the late 70's, early 80's. He went on to be the chief design engineer at Specialized. I've also heard that he recently has been back @ Specialized. I was excited to see he has a Facebook page!
I've finally ditched the old Flite saddle (in the pic it was somewhat poorly adjusted) that hurt my ass for years. Thank God some for newer saddle designs.
Picture shows a somewhat older buildup, with Campy downtube friction shifters and Clemente silk touring tubulars. I ride this bike to this day, and once did a self-supported tour from Lubbock, Texas (Texas Tech) to Jasper Canada, Vancouver, and finally my home town of Spokane, WA. One flat, one loose spoke. One change of tires half way through.
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On my road bike, I've been over 50 mph on some mountain descents. On the ride yesterday, with my old steel frame and the gravel tires, I chose to leave all my tech at home -- so no Garmin or heart rate monitor. I just wanted to ride without thought of 'training.' I'm guessing, on the gentle converted rail bed, we didn't get over 28 mph on the descent.what kind of speed do you attain going down the mountain Bob
DaveC, with all the float in those almost 'fatty' size tires, do you really need all that suspension? For me, the draw of getting a Fat Bike was no suspension 'stuff' to monkey with... let the tires do it. (That said, fatty tires weigh a ton, and its all rotational weight.)
I have read of a sub 20lb fat bike build up, which interests me greatly. I want to put drop bars on mine. I've seen one built that way and the guy cyclocrosses with it.
Those are actually 2.4/2.3 tires on 38mm Light Bicycle carbon fiber rims... The wheelset is only ~1625 grams. It's an Enduro race bike, weighs under 29 lbs total. The suspension is definitely needed, Enduro courses often go down the most difficult downhill runs on the mountain. It's also my trail bike but I've entered several Enduro races, which are a lot of fun.
Those are actually 2.4/2.3 tires on 38mm Light Bicycle carbon fiber rims... The wheelset is only ~1625 grams. It's an Enduro race bike, weighs under 29 lbs total. The suspension is definitely needed, Enduro courses often go down the most difficult downhill runs on the mountain. It's also my trail bike but I've entered several Enduro races, which are a lot of fun.
And my other bike, the best ant-aging money I've spent. Guaranteed to have you grinning ear-ear like a 10 year old!
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Well, if you're riding Enduro, I understand the bike. And you're likely a bit younger than myself. I don't want to hurt myself—at 57 recovery could put me out for the season.
Your Slash is a serious machine. Nice choice.
I'm also using the Light Bicycle carbon rims (35mm 650B x DT240s hubs) on my Norco Carbon Sight 7.2 full suspension bike. I also upgraded the fork to the Rockshox Pike 150mm, and SRAM XX1 1x11 drivetrain. It's a really fun ride.
2015 Intense T275 Full Carbon - Enduro / All Mountain Bike
2015 Intense M16FRO (For Race Only) - Downhill Bike
Wow, nice Intenses! Some of my friends picked up Trek Session 9.9 dh bikes this year but I have other stuff I need to do with the money, like finance the design of a new speaker. I might buy one of the 9.9s at the end of the season, the new 27.5" dh bikes are amazing. Interestingly, my Slash has exactly the same geometry (except for seat position) vs my old 2009 Trek Session 88 DH bike, which I sold last year while it was still somewhat modern. I feel like I can ride anything on my Slash, just not at the same speeds as a new dh bike.
Have any of you guys with non 29ers given one a serious ride - YOU SHOULD - I was pleasantly surprised at first - I did notice it took a bit to get use to riding on trails that I'm use too with lots of aggressive corning but in no time once my confidence was gained I now have no issues.
The 29" wheels are a good option for taller riders and rolling, XC terrain. Where I ride (Vancouver and Whistler, BC), the 27.5" wheels are more popular because the terrain is steeper and more technical. Wider rims (35mm+) and tires (2.3" +) are also popular for greater traction.
The other new trends that I'm happy about are the dropper seatposts and the single chainring drivetrain. My Rockshox Reverb dropper post makes it easy to find the right seat height in rolling terrain. I'm a big fan of the SRAM XX1 drivetrain (28T x 42T) because I can ditch the front derailleur and still make it up the steepest climbs. Goodbye to dropped chains, mis-shifts, and chain slap!
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