What have you bought/upgraded today.

[Jvhowube]

Sooooo I may have just bought a new bike

Attachment 386229

XT build - gonna switch out the headset (for a CC Hellbender 70) and bars (for Next R crabon). And when I destroy the rear rim I'll build up a new wheelset around some Hydras.

First 29er, first RM, never had a bike with this much suspension - pretty hype! Now I just gotta sell the old whip...

[Touring_Sedan]

Have considered a big BMX 26/29 or DJ for similar purposes but that last sentence rings true for me too, which is perfectly fine on my relatively LLS HT I already own for pump track and small jumps I do.


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Who the fuck talks themselves out of a bike?!!!

[evasive_MT]

Those stems are so damn sexy. I'm still sad that I flipped mine to run it as a riser. I like how the bike rides with it up, but I can't use my K-Edge mount anymore.

First I've seen of the Outbound lights. They look nice.

The lady and I each have a pair of the original Trail light and the self-contained helmet light. They’re great, but I wouldn’t mind a little more punch from the bar light. They designed the original one from their base in the Midwest, and didn’t have the long open sightlines we have in Montana scrub and P-pine landscapes. Since most of our night riding is on snow it’s not a major issue for us. We might upgrade the Trail light in another product cycle or two.

[VTskibum]

Who the fuck talks themselves out of a bike?!!!

Those of us who already bought 4 (2 for me, 2 for kids) in the past 18 months, plus a new surfboard, skis etc.... but piss poor excuse regardless.

I did buy a Lyrik and rear shock to convert my Stumpy ST to LT which was probably more than the cost of a low end DJ and think I'll get more use out of it w/o my wife giving me the stink-eye.

On theme's thread also pulled trigger on Tubolight insert and a new Maxxis Agressor....

[teledad]

The nice thing about upgrades is they generally go under the radar. Though my wife just got a new bike (and bought 2 in the last 18 months) so I think I have some credit to spend.

[Boissal]

Picked these up today:



Yes, both are rear wheels. The one on the left is a replacement for the wheel I fucked up in July (slid into a large rock, ripped spoke + nipple out of the rim). The company (Chinese carbon experts BTLOS) warrantied the rim and I asked them to make me a 2nd one with a beefier construction since the cost of shipping is 1/2 the cost of a rim, might as well make it count. Took forever and them some for the package to make it to the US but I finally got my hands on it last Sat. Took both rims to Salt Cycle in Sandy and they built them up in 48 hours. I got compliments for supplying the correct length spokes and not being an idiot who can't measure ERD, I'm rather proud of myself on that one!
Both are 30 mm ID shallow rims, left is a 28H with a DT350 straighpull hub, trail construction, and right is a 32H with Hydra hub, endurbro construction (more carbon more better). Spokes are DT comp race.
I need to throw them on the scale, the old wheel was 825 g with the DT hub, the beefier one should be around 875 g or so. Dudes at the shop were impressed with the quality and said if any brand name sticker had been slapped on there they wouldn't have noticed a difference.

Not I need to convince myself I want to ride those cause I've been loving the feeling of my DT aluminum rim in the back...

[aragon]

Starting to gather the parts for an upcoming 20" kids build. These are fun to build as there is a large selection of super lightweight rims available from BMX racing, and you can fit a full-size (short-cage) derailleur on the back with full-range gearing. In the picture:

1. 2 x Alienation Deviant 20" BMX Rim (305g, disc only)
2. Bag of double-butted spokes
3. Shimano Zee Shadow+ 10-speed FR derailleur
4. Shimano Zee 10-speed shifter
5. Shimano XT 10-speed 11-36 cassette
6. Shimano XT 10-speed chain

Now I just need to wait for the hubs (going with lightweight knock-off Hugi's from China which should be interesting!!) and the actual bike (Kona Honza 20) to arrive...

[XtrPickels]

Sooooo I may have just bought a new bike

Attachment 386229

XT build - gonna switch out the headset (for a CC Hellbender 70) and bars (for Next R crabon). And when I destroy the rear rim I'll build up a new wheelset around some Hydras.

First 29er, first RM, never had a bike with this much suspension - pretty hype! Now I just gotta sell the old whip...

Looks awesome. Have fun with it.

[rideit]

As to Rocky’s:
I am still blown away by my 21 Altitude, and it has gotten ‘bigger’ over time. Started as a very, very lightweight long travel (under 29 pounds), and turned into an enduro bruiser (coilover, ZEB, dh tires, etc).
Love it to pieces!
However, my daily driver on the less chunky trails around here is a 140/160 ‘20 Instinct, which I actually get more Downhill PR’s on (when there is pedaling involved).
That said, I would run the 19-20 platform again in a heartbeat if I couldn’t get the ‘21.
The Pinkbike price on the ‘20 Altitude is a hair high, but the condition looks good, and in this environment, everything is a bit elevated, price wise. The design just flat out works.

[buttahflake]

Just ordered a couple of Dura-Ace/XTR 11 speed chains from Bike Tires Direct, $50 each, free shipping, that’s pretty good all things considered.

[rideit]

That’s a very fair price.

[Dee Hubbs]

Just ordered a couple of Dura-Ace/XTR 11 speed chains from Bike Tires Direct, $50 each, free shipping, that’s pretty good all things considered.

Have a real good look at them when they arrive to make sure they are not counterfeits. 11 speed chains are the one of worst supply items in the global bike parts shortage.
I have a product manager friend that had bikes that were 99% complete waiting for 11 speed chains to arrive so they could ship new bikes. They were desperate and started buying chains at full retail from online shops to complete bikes, and more than 1/2 of their online purchases turned out to be counterfeits chains.
Their brand stoped online purchases and waited for chains to arrive directly from Shimano/SRAM/KMC.

[Andeh]

A couple weeks ago, I noticed my Hellbender bottom bracket was clicking after only 6 months of use. I pulled the races off and found that most of the grease was gone. Repacked them and the drive side was still crunchy but quiet. I decided to throw in the towel after constant issues with this on both Cane Creek and Wheels bottom brackets, and went all in on a Chris King. I don't wash my bike super often, but I do have to every few weeks because the local dirt has a ton of sand in it, so any time we get a heavy fog, all the pivots get filled with sticky sandy muck that sounds awful unless it's washed off. I'm hoping that the clip ring over top of the race on the King helps hold the water out a bit better, and worst case, it's got a lifetime warranty in case it gets crunchy.

Then I noticed on a Beta Mtb Dream Build video on a GG Shred Dogg where they used a King Dropset instead of the crappy FSA that's included with GG. I doubled down on the dentist bearings and ordered one of those too, since I kill headset lower bearings nearly as fast as BBs. There's a little bit of fiddling with this setup though, as the GG headset cup holds the upper bearing 2-3mm lower than a true Inset style cup, so I've still got to work out exactly how many shims I need to run between the tapered bearing wedge and the upper cap.

[buttahflake]

Have a real good look at them when they arrive to make sure they are not counterfeits. 11 speed chains are the one of worst supply items in the global bike parts shortage.
I have a product manager friend that had bikes that were 99% complete waiting for 11 speed chains to arrive so they could ship new bikes. They were desperate and started buying chains at full retail from online shops to complete bikes, and more than 1/2 of their online purchases turned out to be counterfeits chains.
Their brand stoped online purchases and waited for chains to arrive directly from Shimano/SRAM/KMC.

Oh boy, what should I look for?

[rideit]

The packaging is usually a giveaway, things supposedly just seem a little ‘off’ with the fonts, graphics, colors, etc. if you have access to what you know is 100% genuine packaging, that should help ‘spot the differences’.

[buttahflake]

Right on, thanks

[nick_B10]

Oh boy, what should I look for?

Check the chain has hollow pins, an XTR should. There are a lot of reports on roadie forums of fake Dura Ace chains with solid pins. Not 100% guaranteed that a hollowpin chain is genuine, but if it has solid pins it is definitely fake.

[buttahflake]

Will do

[climberevan]

Check the chain has hollow pins, an XTR should. There are a lot of reports on roadie forums of fake Dura Ace chains with solid pins. Not 100% guaranteed that a hollowpin chain is genuine, but if it has solid pins it is definitely fake.

I bought one of those and the packaging looked perfect but the pins were indeed solid. The ebay store took it right back without question.

XX1 chains are supposedly more durable and were available as of a couple of months ago. I've not heard of counterfeit SRAM stuff.

[Dee Hubbs]

You will feel and see the difference. Packaging(^), Pins (^), chamfers on the edges of the links, color is a lot darker (more iron, less alloys) and a almost porous look to the metal.

[Touring_Sedan]

I decided to rattle can the bars instead of dropping some coin on a black pair. Any guesses as to how long it'll hold up? Grabbed some grips and a pair of pedals while I was at it.

[Thaleia]

Sooooo I may have just bought a new bike

Attachment 386229

XT build - gonna switch out the headset (for a CC Hellbender 70) and bars (for Next R crabon). And when I destroy the rear rim I'll build up a new wheelset around some Hydras.

First 29er, first RM, never had a bike with this much suspension - pretty hype! Now I just gotta sell the old whip...

Taking glamour shots before you even get pedals on it?! I kid, what a beauty.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Just got delivery of a fake Dura Ace chain. Oh well.

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[buttahflake]

Just got delivery of a fake Dura Ace chain. Oh well.

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Is it possible to take a picture of both the packaging and the chain?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Is it possible to take a picture of both the packaging and the chain?

Looks like a real, reused box. Pins aren't hollow.

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