Cycling Thread

[Northendzone]

today I received my no name dropper post for my fat bike - looking forward to installing it and a new WTB saddle on my Farley.

funny how I ordered the dropper from Israel and some other stuff from jenson usa on the same day and the dropper gets to me faster than the jenson stuff coming from California........

[tete]

Well, I now really like my bike commute now that I'm not dragging 50 lbs worth of kid and bike trailer to the daycare, which was half my commute. Yay for kindergarten! I think I may bike later in the season as long as it stays dry, I just need to go get lights for the bike this week.

[macker]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

today I received my no name dropper post for my fat bike - looking forward to installing it and a new WTB saddle on my Farley.

funny how I ordered the dropper from Israel and some other stuff from jenson usa on the same day and the dropper gets to me faster than the jenson stuff coming from California........

Name and link to the noname dropper and assurances it will work in -20!

[Northendzone]

I looked at a few options but went with this one as my buddy ran it last year:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Tmars-Remote-...ut8AFLj0S7fVLA

I looked at a few options such as a ks eten from jenson; however, this unit has a plastic lever that broke for some buyers. I considered adding on a replacement lever; however, the combined price would have been over $200 cdn and I could get a giant contact dropper for a little more from my lbs

Race face is rolling out a unit that is supposed to work in the cold, but it is likely in the $450 range which was way more than I wanted to spend.

[Timbo]

Bontrager is supposed to be releasing an affordable dropper post. So I might wait for that to put on my Farley

[Ironhorse]

From the uneducated "roadie" types: I've looked at the link above, but WTF is a dropper seat and why is it a big deal?

[Timbo]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

From the uneducated "roadie" types: I've looked at the link above, but WTF is a dropper seat and why is it a big deal?

Generally it is a seat post that can drop and rise back to its original position with the activation of a lever on the handle bars. It's purpose is to allow the rider to lower their seat height to better meet conditions met on the trail. Technical downhill sections can be made easier by lowering your seat height.
Wheeling also benefits from lower seat height.

[habernac]

or you could just hang your ass over the back of the seat while descending and save a few hundred dollars.

[chedder]

Maybe dumb question but why would you need the seat to drop in -20 weather. Doing technical downhills when it's that cold?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by habernac

or you could just hang your ass over the back of the seat while descending and save a few hundred dollars.

Except then you are unweighting your front wheel which decreases traction and stability. You also have your arms nearly straight now which will pull the front of your bike up and down as your torso moves, causing the whole bike to buck.

For a very technical section a low seat gives you a much higher chance of staying on your bike, and for less technical sections it allows you to lower your centre of gravity on descents and corner much faster.


A dropper post is the best money I ever spent on my bike.

[habernac]

Meh, I've never had much issue descending in the technical stuff. Too bad they don't make the old Hite Rite anymore. That thing was $15.

[Fuzz]

A friend I used to ride with was very old school, never moved to full suspension. He didn't consider it cleaning a line if you took your butt off the saddle. Watching physics take over on really steep stuff was always fun. He is a tall guy, too, so that didn't help him much. But he was stubborn on the principle of it.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by habernac

Meh, I've never had much issue descending in the technical stuff. Too bad they don't make the old Hite Rite anymore. That thing was $15.

Why not let your 10' drops become 15' drops?

Actually drops is a great example. A decent drop on relatively flat terrain is no place to have your butt behind the seat. Having the ability to use more leg extension to cushion your landing gives you that much more effective suspension.

[cracher]

IMO, droppers shine more in the climb than the down. WIth how steep seat post angles have become, raising the seat gets your weight forward enough such that you don't have to fight the front wheel lifting. You don't have to get forward really at all so you don't ever unweight your back wheel on loose/steep stuff. Sit in 1 spot and crank.

Really, the dropper is the key to the modern geometry bike. It allows a good pedalling, light weight bike to be decent going down.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by chedder

Maybe dumb question but why would you need the seat to drop in -20 weather. Doing technical downhills when it's that cold?

it is nice to have in spots where the trail drops or descends, and to me biking in the winter always means that there is the possibility of dealing with ice and having your feet a little closer to the ground is not a bad thing.

the other reason is that I suppose having a dropper on my summer bike has spoiled me.

[KTrain]

For those of you on Strava, there's a fun app you can connect your account to and they'll make and email you a video of your ride. If you take photos along your ride and upload them to Strava it will include them as well.

There some rules to keep the load on their server down:

• Your activity should be uploaded as a cycling activity
• It has to be public (not private)
• The activity needs to be longer than 20 minutes and 20 kilometers (and shorter than 12 hours)
• The activity is not tagged as a "commute" in Strava

It took about 45 minutes from uploading to Strava to receive my video.

https://www.relive.cc/view/712596461

[Northendzone]

rode to work this morning for the first time in about a month and had to deal with 4 different construction detours - two of which I knew about.

I hate dealing with the unknown stuff first thing in the morning when it is dark.

[cral12]

Any recommendations on best bang-for-your-buck fat bikes?
I'm on the fence about getting one...but could be swayed...

[habernac]

Took my 7 year old daughter on her first extended bike ride yesterday. We were having a great time, just turning around to go home and she slams her cheek and chin into the ground.



Daddy sucks for not taking her on a little easier ride.

[Fuzz]

As my dad used to say, character building. I got a lot of character growing up.