No clever title here

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Work is good, the insurance industry is pretty interesting. But enuff about that.

Ok, Windows 10 is a vast improvement but the incessant random updates are killing me. I hardly use my laptop because. Which compounds the problem, because every time I use the laptop it then needs to be updated. Gragggh.

Ima not going to go into the whole lineup but my original Trance 26 popped up for sale again and got me thinking. I've gone from 26, to 29, to 27.5 and now the industry is swinging back to 29. Probably my favorite bike so far was the Epic. Although it certainly had it limits it was just so damn good at what it did. I really enjoyed that focus. Yeah, it ran out of travel at times and certainly didn't encourage bad behavior but man it could boogie.
The Heckler, for example is a bundle of compromise. It's got enough travel to get silly downhill but it's heavy and only gets really fun when you are moving. With the Epic, it was fun to ride the rims off it. Think Miata vs. Corvette on a back road. Both are fun, but one will get you arrested. Maybe that's not the greatest analogy. I did beat my best times on a couple short twisty DH sections with the Heckler though. Didn't think it had the handling to do that but apparently travel trumps handling sometimes.

Speaking of segments, I ran into Big Sean a while back at the Tourne. He hollered at me "damn locals, you know every rock in this place, don't you!?" He does have a point, ride the same trails enough and yeah you'll start to wire the mojo. Makes me think of Seth's Bike Hacks channel where he rode Jungle. His description: "typical NJ uphill rock gardens that only the locals can clear."

With the Epic exiting the scene, so goes my racing. Apparently. I could still do an event at a whim but I worked fairly hard to maintain a lower top ten cat2 level of fitness. It was nice to have that in reserve on a fun ride and I enjoyed it, but the time required to stay that fit ( for me, anyway) is hard to justify. If SSAP was still running, I'd have a goal (and Pat wouldn't be riding my SS). Aside from short track I dunno what might tempt me back to number plates.

My wrists and hands have been pretty sore after rides lately. I'm sure it's due to years of working with my hands and various sports. Doesn't make it suck any less. Was especially bad after Wildcat on the fatbike.

Battery is about to puke. Moar later.

Oh, 92.3 is now a solid alternative station and you can listen online. Major happy dance!
Might be arthritis setting in. Have the same issues, have you tried an otc anti inflammatory?
 

extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
You think the industry is swinging back to 29? Seems 27.5 rules the roost right now. 27.5 + is there, so 29/27.5+, maybe that will save 29?

What Walt said, the enduro and trail market seems to be swinging that way. The Hightower is super popular, giant vowed 27.5 was THE WAY and now offers a 29er race bike, the new Blur and Yeti 100...

Like you said, with most 27.5+ able to run both that and 29 you get a lot of versatility in one bike. After how many years the 29 wheel has been out it seems the handling is finally dialed. Or maybe the industry evolved enough innovations (short stays, longer Front centers, single ring drivetrain) that the platforms work with the bigger wheels.

@qclabrat just Advil and such? I agree that sadly, what you think is probably the diagnosis. Kids, take care of your hands growing up!
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
What Walt said, the enduro and trail market seems to be swinging that way. The Hightower is super popular, giant vowed 27.5 was THE WAY and now offers a 29er race bike, the new Blur and Yeti 100...

Like you said, with most 27.5+ able to run both that and 29 you get a lot of versatility in one bike. After how many years the 29 wheel has been out it seems the handling is finally dialed. Or maybe the industry evolved enough innovations (short stays, longer Front centers, single ring drivetrain) that the platforms work with the bigger wheels.

@qclabrat just Advil and such? I agree that sadly, what you think is probably the diagnosis. Kids, take care of your hands growing up!
Alleve is what I use, the OTC version is half of the prescription strength. Take two when the hands are having a bad day. It will take a week or two before you see results, as it's inflammation not a headache. good luck
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
What Walt said, the enduro and trail market seems to be swinging that way. The Hightower is super popular, giant vowed 27.5 was THE WAY and now offers a 29er race bike, the new Blur and Yeti 100...

Like you said, with most 27.5+ able to run both that and 29 you get a lot of versatility in one bike. After how many years the 29 wheel has been out it seems the handling is finally dialed. Or maybe the industry evolved enough innovations (short stays, longer Front centers, single ring drivetrain) that the platforms work with the bigger wheels.

@qclabrat just Advil and such? I agree that sadly, what you think is probably the diagnosis. Kids, take care of your hands growing up!
Remove yourself from what the industry is pushing. 29er has been the race way, without question with the 27.5 sneaking in for people that don't ewant a full on race bike but also dont want a full on trail sled. I'm not sure 27.5 is as ded as you claim though.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Remove yourself from what the industry is pushing. 29er has been the race way, without question with the 27.5 sneaking in for people that don't ewant a full on race bike but also dont want a full on trail sled. I'm not sure 27.5 is as ded as you claim though.

that black stumpjumper over in JimVs thread is 27.5 - it is sitting in the madison store.....
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
When u claim you are NYs Alt station, you are indeed the opposite of NYs Alt station. Do not be fooled. ;)
wmbd_rev_vrt_rgb.png
 

extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Alleve is what I use, the OTC version is half of the prescription strength. Take two when the hands are having a bad day. It will take a week or two before you see results, as it's inflammation not a headache. good luck
Will try. Thank you!
 

extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Remove yourself from what the industry is pushing. 29er has been the race way, without question with the 27.5 sneaking in for people that don't ewant a full on race bike but also dont want a full on trail sled. I'm not sure 27.5 is as ded as you claim though.
Fair enough. Industry aside, I prefer the 29er overall for everyday riding. If there's a 29er platform that has all the positive attributes with no real negatives I don't see that as the industry pushing. More that they finally made the right bike.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
Fair enough. Industry aside, I prefer the 29er overall for everyday riding. If there's a 29er platform that has all the positive attributes with no real negatives I don't see that as the industry pushing. More that they finally made the right bike.
Haha, just a tad subjective. I rode the Hightower and 5010, back to back, immediately knew the 5010 was something special and had one a few weeks later. The industry pushing is the back and forth.
 

extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
My opinion is a subjective thing, as is yours.
Hopefully the Santa Cruz truck comes around and I can ride a few back to back.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Pretty sure that's a 29er.
I saw it today (Sunday)

But yeah, all the new Stumpys come in 27.5 or 29.

....def 27.5 cause i had to look because i couldn't get my head around it with the high bb, and crazy stays.

prob different bike?
 

extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Hey, look a blog I started. Ok, I suck.

So I turned 50, which I do not recommend. Avoid it at all costs. Existentially it’s been pretty tough to look back, then look forward and realize how much is behind me. I’m finding it hard to shake especially considering my usual “what me worry?” attitude. Plus with H2H changing classes there’s no 50 plus to stomp!

Speaking of racing I did Stewart since I missed SSAP. MTBNJ did a darn good job making an event out of it and I’ll be back. I rode fat bike open due the the Beargrease being my raciest whip. Out of 7 entries I was firmly behind the fast guys and solidly ahead of the rest.
My time would have been mid-lower cat2 so i could still jump into a race and not fail completely. The Epic was so good as a race bike I’m kinda spoiled. I’m not terribly into racing the Heckler and the BG is fun but limited. Brian Galetta won Cat2, he and I were frequently swapping spots a few years back so that was cool.

I demo’d a new Trance 29 which cycle craft built out of stock just for the demo day. Kudos for that. It was awfully capable and might be the solution to the gnar + XC bike. I’m not ready to drop that much cash right now although Brendan offered me a deal since it was now “used”. That was humorous. I liked it a lot but it needed some dialing in.
Before the demo Giant had a spring sale running and i almost pulled the trigger. Glad I didn’t as I would have ordered a medium and the large demo was perfect. I’m not gonna rant much, but the fact you can walk into a car dealership and drive around a $40,000 car but trying out a bicycle is an ordeal...it’s just nuts.

We started fostering again, which has been fun but hard on sleep sometimes. Our two dogs have a routine but add in another pup...one dog gets up, the other wakes up everybody, then we all gotta go pee. It’s better than cleaning up puddles but sleep is nice too, as this all happens rather early...


Ok fun stuff. For Father’s Day my wife got me Ifly, the new indoor skydiving place in Paramus, and Bury the Hatchet. I did a tandem jump years back and always wanted to solo but it’s $$$ and time consuming. Ifly was fun and challenging, I honestly did pretty well right off the bat as far as control.
Since they have a monopoly on the facility I fear progressing will also be costly. The instructors do a little demo after the group session and the moves they make are amazing. Very cool stuff. There’s not much on the web site regarding advanced levels and I couldn’t find any forums discussing it so far.

Hatchet throwing! All of our inner ten year olds want us to be badass super spy commandos with “a very specific set of skills”. There is something awfully satisfying about sinking a heavy axe into wood. It didn’t hurt that I got lucky on the timing right away and was scoring hits immediately. They sorted our group into teams and we played various scoring games which made it fun. It’s a cool party idea (the lane next to us was a big bachelor party) or just something to do. I’m thinking rig up a target in the back yard! Some wood and an axe...ain’t that hard.

Bikes. A steady diet of Wildcat is good for the skill set. My bike handling confidence is better than ever (grading on a curve of course). We rode Mahlon today and some of the stuff that used to be intimidating is now just challenging. If you have a riding buddy who’s really good, follow that shredder. I rode with Jairo today and the moves he busts out are awe inspiring. Ryan P and John Nicholson are also good examples. Bill is usallly too far ahead to see what the heck he’s doing, plus you shouldn’t follow him anyway.

Fin.
 
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Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Welcome to the 50 club !

Not quite into the AARP discount range yet, so you've got that to hold onto :D
55+ is the new 50, but fat is where it's at.

Catch you at WIldcat.
 
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