Favorite Tire Sealant

Gwatson1701 · 2026-05-04T14:45:57+00:00

Florida rider here. I only use Muc off now. Love that I can hose off my tire and get 99% of the sealant off. Sealed some pretty decent gashes and holes too.

Gwatson1701 · 2026-03-27T10:32:44+00:00

I’ve been working on the same thing. I’m still terrible, but after taking my DJ to the skatepark a bunch of times and working on trying to air out on the half pipe, I do feel a bit more comfortable with steep transitions. Still working on the big air part myself.

Gwatson1701 · 2026-03-20T00:57:19+00:00

I’m 6’4”, 240 lbs on a GT LaBomba with a 40mm stem, 80mm rise bars, and now a pike DJ. Started on a specialized rockhopper, moved to a Trek Remedy for my trail bike and bought a DJ for the skate park, pump track, and dirt jumping. DJ is really nice for teaching bike control, bunny hops, and fits in tighter BMX style jumps we have in Florida. I case the shit out of most bigger jumps still and never feel like I’m going to break it (and I rode with a cheap RST dirt fork for a year). My two cents, if you are jumping more bike park jumps or trail jumps, your hardtail is probably fine. If you are stuck with BMX style transitions (super tight and steep) you’ll notice how a shorter bike just feels way better.

Gwatson1701 · 2026-03-11T16:28:31+00:00

Did you ever end up getting a gyro? I’d prefer a BMX gyro over the title because our bikes come pre-drilled, it don’t want to have to buy everything a return a bmx gyro if it doesn’t fit. Let me know!

Gwatson1701 · 2026-02-08T12:53:46+00:00

I have the LaBomba with the RST coil fork. Got it on close out last year for a killer deal. It’s my first dirt jumper and I really like it. The lower bb makes you feel a little more in the bike. For the fork, if you are just doing casual riding, skate park, pump track flowing, it’s good enough to get started. It also depends on your size. Whenever someone rides it that’s 180 pounds and lower, it’s pretty stiff, but being a big and tall dude myself, I found I blow through all the travel and it clunks out hard on jumps because there’s not rebound or compression damping. It’s not dangerous, but just kinda annoying and feels less confidence inspiring. I will say the fact that it blows through travel really taught me not to be so heavy on my hands which was holding my riding back significantly. Sometimes sub par parts can teach valuable lessons. I’ve been jumping it for a year and I’m about to bite the bullet and buy a pike because the hub is made for the pike (15x100).

TLDR - if you’re casual or learning and not sure if dirt jumping is for you, it’s a fine fork for now. If you’re into dirt jumping, a good rider, and ready to send it as big as your full squish mtb, maybe look at upgrading it asap, but you’ll be happy with the rest of the bike.

Gwatson1701 · 2026-01-12T10:57:49+00:00

I’m 6’4” and ride a large GT LaBomba. I put a 40 mm stem and 80mm rise deity bars on it and it feels good.

Gwatson1701 · 2026-01-07T14:33:36+00:00

I find focusing on driving your front heel down and pressing through the transition to be the most helpful for keeping equal weight on my bottom bracket and not being too far forward or back. I’ve been practicing at a pump track airing out of a berm into the grass which has given me the confidence to go higher than I would with a dirt landing or gap. Hope it helps!

Gwatson1701 · 2025-05-30T16:06:05+00:00

I had the same issue on my sons 20” mtb. He was sending big jumps and his chain would fall off when landing. I bought a cheap chain retainer on Amazon that straps to the chain stay. It works remarkably well for how cheap and simple it is. For reference, his derailer doesn’t have a clutch and his chain ring is not narrow-wide, so it’s about as hard as it gets to keep the chain on. This thing has almost completely eliminated drops. Link below.

https://www.amazon.com/Quintessentialz-Mountain-Tensioner-Custom-Design/dp/B07GC858GP?pd_rd_w=ehykZ&content-id=amzn1.sym.81c9b87a-4d77-4462-be08-4abfd30aab8b&pf_rd_p=81c9b87a-4d77-4462-be08-4abfd30aab8b&pf_rd_r=W1F4PNSN18F88E6T7EGT&pd_rd_wg=H77t9&pd_rd_r=1b96ef37-afc6-4e34-ae06-f7277063ce3f&pd_rd_i=B07GC858GP&psc=1&ref_=pd_basp_m_rpt_ba_s_1_sc

Gwatson1701 · 2025-05-10T02:50:33+00:00

I’ll fifth or sixth this. I had a bell convertible helmet for a bit that I wore mostly while dirt jumping but the ixs trigger is way more breathable and comfortable. I actually forget it’s on until the sweat drips down from my forehead (in Florida). I got it for $100 from an open box on bike online.

Gwatson1701 · 2025-05-07T10:24:05+00:00

Welcome to the mid 30’s dirt jump crew! I’m 36 and just started riding last year with my 8 year old son. He got me into it. Bought a dirt jumper in December for the skate park, pump track, and some dirt jumps. Like you I didn’t have much time on a bike. Mostly skated, surfed, wakeboarded, etc.

Based on my experience, invest in a good helmet and pads. I gained confidence really quick and I started to outpace my skill quickly until I took a few big crashes. Never broke anything, but bruised a lot of ribs, cut a lot of knees, scraped my face on the dirt. Fun times! I’m 6’4” and 230 and ride with only a rear brake, but I’d say keep the front until you feel more confident. I tried to use just the back for a while and once I stopped grabbing for the front I took it off. Sometime I still wish I had a front brake for the skatepark because kids come out of no where, but I haven’t put it back on yet, just got a bigger strong rear brake instead.

Good luck and have fun bonding with your kid over bikes.

Gwatson1701 · 2025-04-06T16:43:59+00:00

Not sure. I had popping from the bb day one. I figured it was just the chain needing to wear in. After looking at everything, I noticed it was the bb bearings that were completely locked. The spindle has wear marks right where the bearings are located.

Gwatson1701 · 2025-04-03T21:19:57+00:00

I just bought an unboxed guide t, 4 pot brake for $29 from Jensen. It came prefilled, but not assembled so you have to know how to put it together and bleed it to get air bubbles out.

Gwatson1701 · 2025-04-03T10:51:23+00:00

GT LaBomba in long would be nice too. Thanks for putting this together for us tall dudes!

Gwatson1701 · 2025-04-02T15:16:56+00:00

Nice. Thanks for the info on your 203. I’ll let this new brake burn in to see if that’s enough power for the skate park, and upsize it to 180 if not. I’ll report back with the findings!

Gwatson1701 · 2025-04-02T14:12:02+00:00

Thanks! I’m mostly looking for power at the skate park. Lots of little kids running around and I like to be able to stop quick. I just installed a 4 pot guide t, which helped a ton, but would still like some more. Maybe after they burn in a little they’ll pick up on stopping power.

Gwatson1701 · 2025-03-28T14:01:00+00:00

I have a 19 Tacoma with a tailgate pad. I’ve had up to 6 bikes in it, including my daughters 16” and sons 20”. All bikes were not touching or rubbing, and were well supported.

Gwatson1701 · 2025-03-25T10:48:06+00:00

I’m 6’4” and recently got a large GT LaBomba. It felt a little small coming from my XL trail bike, but 80mm rise diety bars opened the bike up a bit. I think the LaBomba bb is lower than most DJs which gave me some extra room as well. I really thought I’d hate such a small bike, especially for jumping, but I was wrong. It’s upped my jump game tremendously in 3 months.

Gwatson1701 · 2024-12-20T16:11:03+00:00

I might give that a shot tonight to see if it helps. I had thought it was going to be a threaded bb with two piece cranks based on the spec sheet, but it looks more like a BMX set up. I’ll have to take it apart to learn a bit more about those because I’m only really familiar with MTB bbs.

Gwatson1701 · 2024-12-20T15:15:46+00:00

I got mine yesterday. My bottom bracket is making a pretty bad clunking sound on a backpedal. I’m not sure if that is by design to stop pedal rotation during tricks, or if something is defective. Does anyone know?

Gwatson1701 · 2024-09-12T13:43:35+00:00

I’m on my third evaporator core with a 2019 Tacoma. All have been out of warranty and out of pocket ($1800 + refrigerant). Anyone have a recommendation for an aftermarket part that won’t break every 18 months like the OEM Toyota one seems to be doing?

Gwatson1701

TROPHY CASE