39 inch wheel MTB.
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MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
who is responsible for that monstrosity?
Sometimes too much is just too much
Sometimes too much is just too much
fisher is my guess
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This monstrosity has been around for at least five years. I complained about the stupidity at one of the LBS back then and they said they are a lot of fun. They didn’t care for my dismissal of them. I think they are stupid. I can’t imagine the final drive, you must cover twice the distance with one crank revolution as on a 26 inch wheel with the same gears. It’s got a single chainring, which might also be stupid but it might be highly geared and impossible to fit good all round ratios on it. Perhaps it’s a gravel bike? Another stupid thing is trying to sell us road and gravel bikes with a single chainring. You loose the narrow ratio gearing and high/low range that most people need for efficient distance. I might see the single chainring on a gravel bike, but most gravel riders are not strong enough to get good benefit from this. Why make the majority suffer to cater to the more elite riders. Of course, everyone buys what the elites have because they don’t know any better. I have a triple chainring on my gravel/touring bike and I am pretty constantly shifting through the narrow ratios to gain max efficiency, sandy hills to stretches of pavement as well as fast gravel, a triple lets you do all this with a light or heavy load. The bike manufactures have always had a lot of stupid ideas that they tell us we can’t do without. Slingshot wire frame, hooks on the end of handlebars, low center of gravity,etc, etc.
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Hey, I like bar ends on my old MTB, use em lots for climbing! Feels like they help me put power down. Probably all in my mind, but I'll keep them!
Why not make a penny farthing at that point. I can think of some fun bikes to build with the wheel sets if they were cheap enough (which they wouldn't be). Not practical or maybe even useful bikes, but fun bikes.
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Yes I agree they work, until you hook a tree.
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The chain drive steering is the same idea that was used on sone 1890s bicycles that I saw at a rally on mackinaw island.
I'm 6'5" - Put a set of 10" BMX bars on that and it would be just dandy.
Nobody sold me on this, except for myself. Even so, I get your rants, especially the part about the "industry" selling hard on what the pros ride. The pros ride free bikes and free bikes that are not made to last longer than a race season. Idiotic would best explain the joneses who try to keep up and spend willy-nilly.
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Don't forget to mention that they do it all while ridiculing those who don't.
See also threads on dropper posts.
The only benefit from them is when they throw away (or sell on the cheap) the broken bikes or failed designs that parts can be harvested from.
I mean it isn't for me but trying new things push things forward and maybe people don't think they need to be. But having ridden my 91 Schwinn mtb on trails, a 2011 Niner RFO and now my Ragley. The modern bike is about a million times better to ride.
I love 1x drivetrains and droppers.
I love 1x drivetrains and droppers.
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Oh yeah, I forgot dropper posts. I threw both mine away. I seldom needed to use them. They work best as an aid for getting on and off the bike. On my personal secret illegal trails I have built out here in the woods there is only one hill where a low post is required. I get off and lower the seat before going down the “elevator shaft”. I lock up the rear brake and slide down. I got my second post for my one and only Marji Gesic ultra endurance race but that is such a brutal race that I got leg cramps and had to ride half the race with the seat up to minimize cramps. So that post was a waste of money. Some people love them but I don’t need them. And the hydraulics fail after awhile and are complex and expensive to fix. I admit I don’t ride hard, too old, stuff I did easily two years ago now terrifies me.
I'm pushing 60 and ride hard. The old adage, "It's not the bike, it's the rider." is largely based on a true story to me. Granted, if you put a skilled rider on a proper bike, it's going to allow them to perform up to the bike's potential. Even so, anything beyond Compact Geometry on a well-tuned tubeset diamond frame with proper linear cantilever brakes (v-brakes) is fluff, IMO. My version of the dropper post is to do whole rides with the saddle down, standing to pedal on a pure 1x drivetrain, AKA 1x1. It's cheap, easy and has high potential to build both strength and skill.
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
I'd agree with your geo statement, @Karate Chicken Industries , but maybe not rim brakes. I'd like to try a set of mechanical disks, see how they perform in the slop vs rim brakes. My vees are still not happy about my last trip into the really messy stuff
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That’s exactly what I did in my 60s. I wish I was that age again. In your 70s it gets much harder each year. I can’t do bike stuff I could do last year. I haven’t ridden my single speed mountain bikes for 2 years now. I last rode single speed in the 30 mile version of the Ore to Shore Mountain bike race in 2019. I climbed the Benson Grade this year and really struggled in granny gear. The boulders almost stopped me. I don’t think I’ll be able to do it next summer. A college guy pushed his bike up right behind me, went as fast walking as I did riding. I loved single speed riding, but that’s in the past now.
