Thread: Chainless is the new black

Backround: I blew up my Saint r.der on my first day of lift riding this summer. My new job has been consuming my soul and my time, so racing has been a non-issue. With my wife studying for the Bar, money has toight, and my motivation track down and buy new dropouts, r. axle and derailler has been more or less non-existent. Particularly after the riding I did one day in a fit of pure desperation after 2 straight, brutal weeks at work.
I had the gravity jones baaaad. I just wanted to be in the mountains, charging trails and hitting good, big jumps, so I shaved some non-essential drivetrain crap of the rig and decided to see what coasting down Keystone w/out a chain was like.
It was good. Really good.
So good that I've resigned myself to chainless for what looks to be the rest of the summer...and I'm totally ok with it. I'm actually totally fucking stoked on it. My relationship with my tires and brakes has evolved....I depend on my tires that much more, while not really braking all that much. I've been watching a whole lotta Sam Hill footie, because he doesn't seem to touch his brakes that much and does some other shit with his bike to control momentum and speed.
I'm staying clipped in, drifting for life, pumping the shit out of everything I can. I've figured out how to hit pretty much every jump on the mtn, full frontal commitment seems to be the key.
I know its a bit weird, I feel kinda like 'that guy', but I feel like I progressed in some realms that I had overlooked or had been eluding me. I've got 3 days under my belt, and heading up for a 4th tomorrow.
Try it some day, I guarantee you'll learn some shit that'll make you faster.

Makes for a nice, quiet, smooth ride down.

If you're really core you still run a big ring, just for the danger.

flowtron, you just identified out the part of SS riding that I liked most when I first did it -- with a gear small enough to climb in these parts, you can't pedal on the descents. so you work to preserve speed/momentum, and try to lay off the brakes as much as you can.

of course I don't hit jumps like you and SickWoo so I can't appreciate that part the same way.

**SS = singlespeed, not slopestyle.

i have enjoyed annoying other riders lately, by coasting on thier tails, just pumping all the features on the way down, letting my hope hub buzz loud enough and uninterupted to let them know they aren't all that, as they pedal furiously to put space between us. just like the memories of that drunk uncle and his "wandering hands" but i digress.

ghosty, that is definitely a bold commitment there, i can't imagine how hard you are killing it now. epsecially when you were slaying when you did have a chain. If you want to do a daytime ride this week, give me a hollar, i got some free time.

I rocked this steeze at SolVista way back in June. It was too flat, so I just rocked the pump track the rest of the day.

i had to finish a kenosha ride sans chain once. it was cool for awhile then kinda sucked.

rad. Rode with this kid the other day who was straight killing it no chain. Keystone seems well suited for it.


on another note, you riding DH tommorow? I wanna ride..

I concur J...fun. I've been doing alot of the same ever since the day we last rode.

just got back from whistler. my buddy blew up his derailer and rode chain less almost the whole time. wasn't an issue. i think this thread should probably be titled, chainless is the new white though these days.

Someone should start building a BB insert that allows you to mount pegs, motocross style. If you want to go chainless, there's no reason to have cranks.

Originally Posted by bio-smear

Someone should start building a BB insert that allows you to mount pegs, motocross style. If you want to go chainless, there's no reason to have cranks.

Having cranks really helps you move your leverage around for cornering and bueno traction. But I will be taking my chainring off if this continues. I ziptied my cassette to my spokes so there was no buzz yesterday, that was cool...just a whole lot of tire thumpin.

Yesterday was my best day of riding this summer. Drizzle, mist, no lightening closure....dirt was somewhere between tacky and hero...empty trails since all the racerz were in Snowmass...then blue skys opened up for the last run and the dirt went to superhero. I lost track of runs. I kept packing them in because I thought a t-storm would roll in, but it never happened. Today feels like yesterday was a 12 run day, similar to getting t-boned by a semi.

Originally Posted by bio-smear

Someone should start building a BB insert that allows you to mount pegs, motocross style. If you want to go chainless, there's no reason to have cranks.

those would for the snowbike x-over market too....

Yeah! That's rad. I've started goofing around with trying to do runs at N* with no pedaling. It's awesome since it makes you pay attention to exactly when you're braking (since I'm the one who brakes to much and then tries to pedal my way out of it). It's also awesome for getting yourself back "on" when you're having an "off" day. With the pumping and the corning and everything, it reminds me that I'm riding the bike...not just sitting there and letting it roll over crap. Though I'm still riding with a chain, it's a pretty sweet feeling.

Wait, some people pedal when downhilling?!

So last year.

Almost forgot.


Your next bike?

i'd ride it DH

i hope you're talking about the bike, cause that would be some akpm shit right there

She's crazy like a fool Shirk, what about Daddy Cool?

I feel like that Kranked 7 segment may have predated Kranked 2.