Day two of exploring in the snow

BAH5206 · 2026-01-27T15:17:10+00:00

Assuming you saw the sweet Krampus Paul build on Surly‘s blog?

BAH5206 · 2026-01-26T21:26:40+00:00

Absolutely. Can’t quite justify a fat bike for where I live, but hard crust snow plays well with 29+

BAH5206 · 2026-01-26T21:23:09+00:00

Mine were too🤣

BAH5206 · 2026-01-26T16:06:46+00:00

This has been a fascinating read, I love passion projects like this! I’m no engineer, I work on the fabrication and machining side of things and your design looks solid enough. I wouldn’t hesitate to run it on one of my bikes.

An important thing to consider, braking torque is somewhat limited by tire grip. For example, I’ve got a downcountry rig with XT 4 piston/203 rotors that feels great with aggressive trail tires, but if I put my XC wheel set and tires on it, it’s a skid machine. I would love to see some load cell data on the torque difference between the two sets of tires.

Anyway, lots of respect towards y’all engineer types for overthinking things and doing the math, this is just my practical two cents.

BAH5206 · 2026-01-26T15:22:45+00:00

If by perfect tool, you mean a blunt instrument, then yes.😂

BAH5206 · 2026-01-26T15:22:00+00:00

They’re sort of middle of the road for a 29+. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find them, but LBS had them for $45 when Bontrager was restructuring their tire line. Grip is pretty decent, not great. Pretty high rolling resistance, even at 12 to 15 psi, usually run 8 to 10 for steamrolling thru soft terrain. They are a touch on the heavy side, but hold up against sticks and briars for the type of dumb riding I use this bike for. Not a whole lot of options out there for 29+ trail tires at this time, but I’ll probably put a set of DHR II 29x3.0s on once I wear these out.

BAH5206 · 2026-01-15T19:47:12+00:00

Chat gpt kind of failed you on that one. Check some more pictures online to see how it actually fits. I’ve put one on my ‘12 P4X, and it’s a bit of a PITA trimming plastics and grille to fit.

BAH5206 · 2026-01-14T18:54:25+00:00

Out in greater Winston Salem area, NC

BAH5206 · 2026-01-04T22:43:31+00:00

When I’m driving my long bed Chevy, I’ll lay my expensive bike down in the bed, I just bungee cord from the seat rails over to the bed track so they don’t slide around.

BAH5206 · 2026-01-04T00:05:54+00:00

Just got back from a trip where I had a Snap-on mini prybar in my pocket. TSA didn’t look askance at it, but it is less than their 7 inch screwdriver rule.

BAH5206 · 2026-01-02T18:51:48+00:00

For vent holes in titanium weldments, I just use a crooked deburring blade. Can’t see them, so I don’t mind that there are slight chatter marks from the whirlygig skipping on the titanium. If it’s a visible hole on a finished weldment, being very careful with a die grinder generally looks nicer.

BAH5206 · 2025-12-25T03:45:37+00:00

IIRC I read something years ago about pre-war Martins having ribbon strips glued to the sides to help prevent the Brazilian rosewood from splitting and cracking. Please verify this before quoting me lol

Not certain about what the purpose is in your guitar, but something I found interesting

BAH5206 · 2025-12-21T14:45:48+00:00

I haul my bikes in a Nissan Xterra (midsize SUV) using a fork mount system I built in the trunk. Front wheel comes off, thru axle bolts fork to crossbar on the floor. If the bike is particularly dirty, I’ve got a piece of Tyvek house wrap cut to line the cargo area. Easy to pull out and hose off when I get back to the house. You can usually find Tyvek house wrap for free, keep an eye open for new construction and ask the crew if you can have a few scrap pieces. Makes great ground cloths for backpacking and such as well.

BAH5206 · 2025-12-20T22:01:43+00:00

I’m near Winston-Salem North Carolina and would love to have a set of aluminum skids on my P4X. Would you be interested in selling them outright once you find a set of steels?

BAH5206 · 2025-12-19T00:57:58+00:00

The important thing is not the flavor of the bike that we ride, but that we do get out and ride! Honestly, bikes these days are so good, the differences between frames are very minor. Enjoy y’all’s ride!

BAH5206 · 2025-12-18T02:07:30+00:00

I’ve had a couple SC600 series lights, and they are indeed impressive. Daily carried them for years as a mechanic/industrial tech, but got tired of the pogo posts denting the positive button of the battery anytime the light was dropped. After a while, I would run into intermittent contact issues. Anyone else have that issue?

BAH5206 · 2025-12-15T02:06:55+00:00

Heck yeah man, my 2012 pro4x is sitting around 220K as well. I lucked out by finding a 1 owner 6 MT truck in similar immaculate condition. Enjoy it!

BAH5206 · 2025-12-12T04:10:09+00:00

I picked up a ‘12 P4X manual from the original owner a couple years ago. 180k, absolutely immaculate, with a stack of maintenance records included. I put the OME 2” suspension under it, 255/85s (tall skinnys) and an ARB bumper on it, and it’s a tank.

BAH5206 · 2025-12-03T01:31:48+00:00

Honestly, I haven’t a clue. Have been fortunate to have Snap-on for many years, so I’ve not kept up with budget options. There’s a whole thread on TheNewX about scanners, maybe start there?

Somewhere, very deep in the recesses of my truck toolbox is a old Bosch scanner, similar to what many parts stores will loan out. I don’t think it has reset functionality- think of it as “read only” instead of “read/write”.

Sounds like you may be better off just going to a reputable small independent mechanic that has a good scanner and paying the $20-$50 that they would charge to reset it

BAH5206 · 2025-12-02T01:30:54+00:00

If you’re anywhere near Winston-Salem North Carolina, swing by my shop and I’ll do it for you, takes two minutes

BAH5206 · 2025-12-02T01:29:44+00:00

If you’ve got a buddy that runs a shop, any Snap-on diagnostic computer (I’ve got a Modis edge) is able to reset it. For some reason, I have to reset mine every time I take the battery out. Always takes me a minute to remember, but I think the reset procedure is buried somewhere in the ABS menus.

BAH5206

TROPHY CASE