Dammit! I demoed a Yeti SB5.5c today Anyone else see unicorns?

[Erik Timmerman]

Well, my personal experience with wide rims and tires has a sample size of one. Call me a skeptic though. All downhill races are on traditional rims and tires. The newly redesigned Mavic Deemax has an ID of 26mm. Now it's not like these guys are beholden to tradition. Santa Cruz just spent $$$$$ designing a 29er DH bike. Their partners, Fox, Enve and Maxis all created new components for them the rims and tires are not WT. I can't remember where exactly I saw this (possibly WynTV), but when racers were surveyed about tire pressure at a recent World Cup, it was all in the 30s. This is a sport where racers are separated by 100ths, and none of them have gone +size. If there was any benefit at all it would be easy to see it.

 

[Ron]

So I may be mistaken, I didn't think you were dh'ing.

 

[AmyPJ]

Oh, unless you want to go the route of a bike quiver, be careful

Each will offer something different so just be aware of that and then setup your bike to what works best for you. I would suggest that you set your sag closer to to 30% of usable stanction travel . Just ride with a shock pump in case that's too soft but my guess you will like it. You may want to adjust the damping a couple of clicks and see how that works for ya' as well. Make sure that rebound isn't too high. It sounds like you are comfortable tweaking your bike so play around with it some.

Thanks, @Ron! My bike can accommodate 27.5 so I might demo one just to see. I did back off on the rebound already and it's better. Might let just a wee bit more air out of the shocks, too. Did that about a week ago and liked it, but maybe another 5 lbs. isn't a bad idea. I overall really love the 29er, but I still find it can be somewhat cumbersome on curvy descents and some switchbacks (well, switchbacks that turn right, my very, VERY bad direction.)

Sorry to hijack your thread!

 

[AmyPJ]

Careful, careful! It's much more expensive to cycle through bikes than skis ...

Honestly, I'll "suck it up" because I still have a blast out there riding. Taking a clinic at Snowbird next weekend. I absolutely know that some of my issues are my skills in general. Definitely can't afford a bike quiver, no way!

 

[Monique]

Honestly, I'll "suck it up" because I still have a blast out there riding. Taking a clinic at Snowbird next weekend. I absolutely know that some of my issues are my skills in general. Definitely can't afford a bike quiver, no way!

I really do want a bike quiver so that I can have something for lift serviced that's not as over built as my DH bike. But money ... and Eric is not exactly on board. Eventually that's what I want, though. Just the two. Is that so much to ask? ;-)

 

[Ron]

Thanks, @Ron! My bike can accommodate 27.5 so I might demo one just to see. I did back off on the rebound already and it's better. Might let just a wee bit more air out of the shocks, too. Did that about a week ago and liked it, but maybe another 5 lbs. isn't a bad idea. I overall really love the 29er, but I still find it can be somewhat cumbersome on curvy descents and some switchbacks (well, switchbacks that turn right, my very, VERY bad direction.)

Sorry to hijack your thread!

Hijacks are welcomed on all of my threads. These are really a stream of consciousness I like that. It allows a mix of topics that are related and lets posters/viewers look at various observations from different perspectives and then cross reference.

I forgot which bike you were on. Yeah, that's why I stuck with the 27.5 Simply hit more of my "wants" and with the balance of the frame and the switch infinity, it was so easy.

Back it off until it feels too soft, then add

 

[Tony S]

I always get confused when people say "more rebound." Do they actually mean more damping (i.e. slower/less rebound)? On most suspension components "more" - clockwise or "+" on the the adjuster knob - actually means more damping, not more rebound, but I think increasing this is what many people mean when they say "more rebound."

 

[Tom K.]

I weigh 200 pounds. A shock tuned for a lighter rider, whatever they mean by that, does not sound like a good idea to me long term.

It just means they reduce the compression damping in the "open" position (and maybe the reduce the rebound a bit, too). At 200 pounds, this might be the last thing you want.

Here's a general idea from what I could glean from MTBR posts.

2.25- 2.40 tubeless and under 30ID= 22-26 rear, 20-24 front---- 30 and over ID, drop 2-4psi each

2.40-2.6 and 30-35 ID, = 14-16 rear, 13-15 front

2.8- 3.0= try reducing 2-4 psi.

all subject to rider preference

Good to give people a starting guide, and this one is pretty good, though I'd say the part I underlined is a bit on the low side.

It matters SO much how heavy you are, how fast you ride, what trail character you experience, how hard you rail berms, how stiff your tire casing is, etc. that tire pressure tuning just isn't well suited to simple formulas.

When in doubt, I say go a LITTLE firm on the tire pressure, because, well, pinch flats suck rocks.

 

[Ron]

@Tom K. I agree. Revised thanks.

The more I geek out on the whole tire and rim factors the more I am intrigued and it seems almost like those two factors alone are seemingly as important as the geo and suspension.

 

[Tricia]

Already adjusted this, but probably closer to 25%.
Tires are the Bonti XR3 Team Issue 2.4, and wheels are the stock Bonti that came with the bike. I want to say they are 29mm wide. Old tires were 2.3s on the old bike.
I'm kind of jonesing to try a 27.5. Am wondering if that long wheel base isn't hurting me on the 29er.

Thanks, @Ron! My bike can accommodate 27.5 so I might demo one just to see. I did back off on the rebound already and it's better. Might let just a wee bit more air out of the shocks, too. Did that about a week ago and liked it, but maybe another 5 lbs. isn't a bad idea. I overall really love the 29er, but I still find it can be somewhat cumbersome on curvy descents and some switchbacks (well, switchbacks that turn right, my very, VERY bad direction.)

Sorry to hijack your thread!

Like everything, there are things you may give up on one end to get something on the other.
I'm betting that 29'er climbs like a billy goat.

 

[scott43]

29ers roll nice. Fast.

 

[Ron]

But don't handle tight switchbacks as well as 27.5. But a 27.5 mounted with maxxis 2.8's are 2.6" wide but 28.3" tall.

 

[Monique]

@Ron - I rode the SB5 today in unexpectedly cool, shady conditions, fairly technical ride. I liked it a lot better than I did yesterday. The climbing really, really shone, and I would say I rode roughly the same percentage of obstacles up and down that I rode on the Mojo3. Far fewer pedal strikes than with the Mojo3, which is to be expected.

Shop owner put me at 24 PSI back, 22 front. I do wonder if lowering that a smidge would give more of the grippiness of a fat tire.

Were you able to demo with wide rims?

 

[Erik Timmerman]

So I may be mistaken, I didn't think you were dh'ing.

I do both. Hey, you asked the question, that's where I am at. Right now. I don't see the Nino Schurter's of the world moving that direction either though. It just seems that if it was empirically better, these guys would be racing on it. Since it's about fun, if it gives you more grins, use it. BTW, I saw a pair of 2.6" Michelins today that looked pretty sweet. I think they were called Force AM.

 

[Monique]

@epic Does this mean that the 26er downhill bike I'm trying to sell isn't quite as obsolete as I'd feared?

 

[Ron]

@Ron - I rode the SB5 today in unexpectedly cool, shady conditions, fairly technical ride. I liked it a lot better than I did yesterday. The climbing really, really shone, and I would say I rode roughly the same percentage of obstacles up and down that I rode on the Mojo3. Far fewer pedal strikes than with the Mojo3, which is to be expected.

Shop owner put me at 24 PSI back, 22 front. I do wonder if lowering that a smidge would give more of the grippiness of a fat tire.

Were you able to demo with wide rims?

I demoed rhe 5.5 with dhf 2.5 on the front with i30's. The sb5 had narrower rims with a 2.4. Since the 5.5 has identical geo to the sb5v2 i drew most of my opinions on the combo of the 2. Imho I would go with the bike that feels the best and you enjoy the most. Im riding for fun so it came down to fit and feel.

 

[Monique]

Imho I would go with the bike that feels the best and you enjoy the most.

What a controversial suggestion! ;-)

My dilemma is perhaps different than yours. I want to sell my downhill rig, which is overkill for everything I ride, even lift-serviced. I want a bike that will ride well up and down in the front range. HOWEVER I also want to ride the lift-serviced stuff, including some gnarly (for me) rock gardens and whatnot. I'd like to get a ~170mm bike for that eventually, but I really can't do both this year unless something quite lovely and unexpected shakes out in this job search.

So one of the questions I've been trying to grapple with, and which totally changes my equation, is - do I look for a bike that is purely trail-oriented, climbs well, and maybe not ride anything but blues and greens when doing lift-serviced for a few years? Or do I look for a bike that is more of an all-rounder, as I'd initially been thinking, and accept mediocre climbing?

The more I demo, the more I think I should give climbing its due and accept that *I* won't be able to climb with a bike that does well on rowdy lift-serviced terrain. I just don't have the lungs for it. Even in my best riding shape and 10 years younger, I didn't.

This gets me to thinking, maybe I should keep the Dare a few more years and sell the Truth instead ... Except that really, I can barely persuade anyone to join me and buy a lift ticket anyway, and those who do want to ride greens and blues. It's rare that I get to ride the rowdy stuff (not a big fan of riding it alone!).

I could pay for a rental on the rare occasion I do get to go out and ride aggressive downhill, but I think they mostly are full downhill rigs similar to my Dare ...

So complicated =/

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Keep the Dare and just got a good trail bike. Or better still, put it on Craigslist too and if you manage to sell it for a good price, then get something like the Julianna Strega.

 

[Monique]

Keep the Dare and just got a good trail bike. Or better still, put it on Craigslist too and if you manage to sell it for a good price, then get something like the Julianna Strega.

What do you suppose the odds are that the ultra-discounted ex-demo bikes at Trestle are worth buying?

No way a 2009/10 bike is going to get decent money =/

 

[Monique]

Keep the Dare and just got a good trail bike. Or better still, put it on Craigslist too and if you manage to sell it for a good price, then get something like the Julianna Strega.

Ah! Looks like the analog to the Nomad, which I was already eyeing ...