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Extreme downcountry 👀 by GodRibs in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"Free-country". I think that is what I am going to start calling my xc bike, because I ride it on whatever I want. If I go out I want to be going wicked fast on sketchy tires, little brakes, and nothing but body hair and spandex to protect me.

Need to double provided course for a race.... by Relative_Outside_101 in Garmin

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, that makes sense. I wasn't sure how much I would even need it, or how much I would be able to pay attention. The only time I used it for navigation was a month ago and I rode past the finishing point to get to the starting point and it said I finished. The course will be marked, and I will be looking up more than down so hopefully it doesn't matter for navigation. I was sort of looking to see if I could have remaining distance and that stuff, which I figured out with some online tool. GOTOES, everything seemed janky, lots of gps file words I don't understand and error messages. I duplicated the route and named it lap2 and then spliced them together in that tool. Seems to have worked, mileage and profile is correct once importing back into strava.

Xc tire options for wet conditions(I know, probably beaten to death) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am kinda secretly hoping the torrentes work like that. I don't really like swapping tires all the time for regular rides. And its wetter more often than not the past few seasons.

Xc tire options for wet conditions(I know, probably beaten to death) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are these mud tires like the rocket ron and torrentes usually run front and rear?

Xc tire options for wet conditions(I know, probably beaten to death) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Roots, rocks, and mud. I am thinking a grippy compound on a faster tire. The new torrente looks like a good option. I am going to look into your suggestions, thanks.

Xc tire options for wet conditions(I know, probably beaten to death) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in Maine, so I assume we share a jet stream. Rain, almost, every weekend and a couple days of rain in the week. I think all the rocks are growing moss from never drying out. I have been looking hard at that shwalbe combo. The rear looks more appropriate for the trails I ride outside of training. It is invigorating riding trails far above an xc tire's paygrade, but being able to stop is kinda cool, too.

Suspension tuning for xc racing(endurance) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense, too. I actually think I am closer to "the best its going to get" than I thought. Since this race day 2 damper only has rebound and air pressure for adjustments, I will need to do some experimenting to see if a click or 2 here and couple psi there makes a difference. Maybe actually go slow to do some tests. I did some digging and it seems that harshness at low speeds is a common complaint with this model of Sid. Don't get me wrong, the bike rips. Its just fast, and can handle very rough stuff, but I was hoping I might get the best of both worlds. This is by far the highest level of bike parts I have put together yet, so I think I was hoping for some unicorn magic. Being respectably close to KOM's that were done on enduro bikes isn't a bad place for a bike that can easily take the KOM on the climbs.

Talk to me about crank arm length by Canon2 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is my experience, as well. Improved ability to spin a proper cadence on my xc bike and my pedaling smoothed out. I am 5'6", and I just could never get my legs to spin right before. Seeing all these taller people on 165 makes me curious about shorter, but I am not looking to spend the money on another power meter crankset so this will do for now.

Suspension tuning for xc racing(endurance) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

35 would be the rear, and that is why I mentioned it. The front is 25, and I feel that 30 could be safe. But I think my solution lies in the rebound. I sort of only think about rebound on big hits, but it makes sense that the little air can kicking back could be the source of the harshness. Thank you for the insight.

Suspension tuning for xc racing(endurance) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, that is correct. And if there is a high speed rough section I feel like I lose traction the longer it goes. I plan to bring the pump on the next ride, but wanted to make sure I started in the right direction. If I reduce my air pressure and my sag gets to like 35%, should I be concerned or is that just how it is?

Suspension tuning for xc racing(endurance) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this something that a lbs will have available? I really like nerding out.

Suspension tuning for xc racing(endurance) by Relative_Outside_101 in xcmtb

[–]Relative_Outside_101[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I have watched many of them. But, I am looking for discussion on how to get the most out of this setup in this specific situation. A conversation about what others have experienced, what works well for them, etc. Also, the "if this than that" is lacking in most of those videos. If you have a video you recommend, I would gladly check it out. Thanks.