Rad-ish hardtails

I ended up selling mine to a friend in Santa Rosa a while ago... it beat me up too much. I'd have a pretty bad headache the next day after riding it. Bummer as it was a REALLY nice bike. I'm just too delicate...

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2023 Trek Roscoe with 2025 140mm Marzocchi Bomber Z1, SRAM Eagle, and Shimano Schwag (entry level) 4-pot brakes.

The price kept going down and I finally pulled the trigger after a year and had some funds left over to upgrade. This wasn’t the color I envisioned getting, but it resembles the SquiggleBug, so it has grown on me. I still need to replace the cockpit and swap those ridiculous gorilla grips, but my first experience with 29 x 2.6 tires is positive. Mega traction! I thought when I bought the bike, I would reduce the weight by swapping the rear to a 2.4 and the front to a 2.5, but after riding Wrightwood, I don’t think I want to do that. At the beginning of the day, Dante Dante thought I should have bought a down country bike instead, but by the end of our ride, I think he changed his mind. Still couldn’t keep him in my sight, but nobody could anyway.

This is my second Trek Roscoe. The first one was a 140 mm f/r 26” from 2010. Steve from Hardtail Party (https://www.hardtailparty.com/) was manual-ing this thing throughout his ride report, but I suck and don’t have that skill set.
 
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DangerDirtyD said:
I haven’t measured them because they are Bontrager and don’t lie to the consumer like Maxxis does.
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So about your disdain for Maxxis tire size claims... Did you know that Maxxis are the most successful mt bike tires in the world by a factor of like, oh I don't know, 5x? It really doesn't matter what they measure or claim to measure if they work better. You don't see too many blacked out Bontragers under racers, but blacked out Maxxis are very common. No, they shouldn't claim a 2.5 if they measure 2.35, but if they work better, I can forgive this anomaly.

That said, your obsession with tire width is quite entertaining. Carry on!
 
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herzalot said:
So about your disdain for Maxxis tire size claims... Did you know that Maxxis are the most successful mt bike tires in the world by a factor of like, oh I don't know, 5x? It really doesn't matter what they measure or claim to measure if they work better. You don't see too many blacked out Bontragers under racers, but blacked out Maxxis are very common. No, they shouldn't claim a 2.5 if they measure 2.35, but if they work better, I can forgive this anomaly.

That said, your obsession with tire width is quite entertaining. Carry on!
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They indeed work better, but they lie. I imagine lotsa Trek racers racing other tire brands, but I like Bonty tires and Maxxis too.
 
DangerDirtyD said:
View attachment 93334 2023 Trek Roscoe with 2025 140mm Marzocchi Bomber Z1, SRAM Eagle, and Shimano Schwag (entry level) 4-pot brakes.

The price kept going down and I finally pulled the trigger after a year and had some funds left over to upgrade. This wasn’t the color I envisioned getting, but it resembles the SquiggleBug, so it has grown on me. I still need to replace the cockpit and swap those ridiculous gorilla grips, but my first experience with 29 x 2.6 tires is positive. Mega traction! I thought when I bought the bike, I would reduce the weight by swapping the rear to a 2.4 and the front to a 2.5, but after riding Wrightwood, I don’t think I want to do that. At the beginning of the day, Dante Dante thought I should have bought a down country bike instead, but by the end of our ride, I think he changed his mind. Still couldn’t keep him in my sight, but nobody could anyway.

This is my second Trek Roscoe. The first one was a 140 mm f/r 26” from 2010. Steve from Hardtail Party (https://www.hardtailparty.com/) was manual-ing this thing throughout his ride report, but I suck and don’t have that skill set.
Click to expand...
I've been tinkering with the cockpit, brakes, and seat post, but I haven't ridden it with the new bits yet to draw conclusions other than it is rad-er than before. For example, I swapped the 31.8 mm stem/handlebar combo with 35mm stem and carbon bars and instantly dropped half a pound while adding some purple flair to the red front end. I also swapped the Bontrager Line 150mm dropper post with a PNW 170mm dropper post I had in my parts bin to aid in DH maneuverability. Finally, I swapped the Shimano MT 420 4-piston brakes for Shimano XT 4-piston brakes.

After my second ride, I'm thinking the 2.6 Bontrager XR4 front tire may be a little too floaty and may mount a 2.5 Maxxis Minion DHF to the front. However, I was warned that if I run a wider tire in the rear that results in more grip than the front, I'd end up washing out the front before the rear. That makes sense if I were thinking Rekon for the front, but I expect a Minion to hold its own up front and will report back if/when I try that set-up.
 
DangerDirtyD said:
View attachment 93334 2023 Trek Roscoe with 2025 140mm Marzocchi Bomber Z1, SRAM Eagle, and Shimano Schwag (entry level) 4-pot brakes.

The price kept going down and I finally pulled the trigger after a year and had some funds left over to upgrade. This wasn’t the color I envisioned getting, but it resembles the SquiggleBug, so it has grown on me. I still need to replace the cockpit and swap those ridiculous gorilla grips, but my first experience with 29 x 2.6 tires is positive. Mega traction! I thought when I bought the bike, I would reduce the weight by swapping the rear to a 2.4 and the front to a 2.5, but after riding Wrightwood, I don’t think I want to do that. At the beginning of the day, Dante Dante thought I should have bought a down country bike instead, but by the end of our ride, I think he changed his mind. Still couldn’t keep him in my sight, but nobody could anyway.

This is my second Trek Roscoe. The first one was a 140 mm f/r 26” from 2010. Steve from Hardtail Party (https://www.hardtailparty.com/) was manual-ing this thing throughout his ride report, but I suck and don’t have that skill set.
Click to expand...

Dude, rad! I really like that color combo!
 
DangerDirtyD said:
After my second ride, I'm thinking the 2.6 Bontrager XR4 front tire may be a little too floaty and may mount a 2.5 Maxxis Minion DHF to the front. However, I was warned that if I run a wider tire in the rear that results in more grip than the front, I'd end up washing out the front before the rear. That makes sense if I were thinking Rekon for the front, but I expect a Minion to hold its own up front and will report back if/when I try that set-up.
Click to expand...

Give it a try with the DHF, and just be aware that yeah, you're dialing in some understeer. But maybe not enough that would be noticeable? You could also over-inflate the rear a little to reduce traction, but then what's the point of such a large tire?
 
DangerDirtyD said:
View attachment 93334 2023 Trek Roscoe with 2025 140mm Marzocchi Bomber Z1, SRAM Eagle, and Shimano Schwag (entry level) 4-pot brakes.

The price kept going down and I finally pulled the trigger after a year and had some funds left over to upgrade. This wasn’t the color I envisioned getting, but it resembles the SquiggleBug, so it has grown on me. I still need to replace the cockpit and swap those ridiculous gorilla grips, but my first experience with 29 x 2.6 tires is positive. Mega traction! I thought when I bought the bike, I would reduce the weight by swapping the rear to a 2.4 and the front to a 2.5, but after riding Wrightwood, I don’t think I want to do that. At the beginning of the day, Dante Dante thought I should have bought a down country bike instead, but by the end of our ride, I think he changed his mind. Still couldn’t keep him in my sight, but nobody could anyway.

This is my second Trek Roscoe. The first one was a 140 mm f/r 26” from 2010. Steve from Hardtail Party (https://www.hardtailparty.com/) was manual-ing this thing throughout his ride report, but I suck and don’t have that skill set.
Click to expand...

Nice ride, I am still waiting to pull the trigger on a Roscoe frame.
 
Cyclotourist said:
Give it a try with the DHF, and just be aware that yeah, you're dialing in some understeer. But maybe not enough that would be noticeable? You could also over-inflate the rear a little to reduce traction, but then what's the point of such a large tire?
Click to expand...
I keep the rear at 30 to pound rocks. Front at 25, but I should try 20ish for the front. It just seems to float on the trail matrix rather than dig in.
 
DangerDirtyD said:
Hey Bug! How are you getting along with the Nimble 9? What have you swapped to make it Rad-er? Let's get together for a ride soon; I bet it would look great with a light mounted on the handlebar!
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I actually haven't ridden it again since last week. Took big squishy out this week. No more swaps yet, but thinking of ditching the cassette sooner than later to get that experiment going in earnest.
 
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