The Ranger has nearly identical geo as my Process, which Kona pitched as short travel enduro. Revel put a Sid up front where Kona went with a Pike, so it must be aimed at XC. But if this is where XC is going, we’ll all be XC in a year or two.
Maybe I am confused. I thought a 5" travel bike was short travel. 130mm like my Mojo3 is 5.1". The ranger is 115mm which is 4.5". That's not a lot of difference in the big picture. My only reservation with the Ranger is the SID suspension. Short travel is not nearly as demanding to ride as a hard tail, at all. When was the last time you rode a hardtail? It seems like you are projecting your personal riding experience on everyone else. Most people are not riding Laguna or anything like it on a daily basis. Most riders here are not riding more demanding trails on more demanding equipment. Most riders spend most of their time riding the xc trails that predominate here in Socal. So why would an xc bike like the Ranger or SB 100 or Intense Sniper not be ideal for those xc trails? For years now we have been fed bullshit by the bike industry that we need lower/longer/slacker and more aggressive bikes to ride the same trails we have always ridden. I don't think that is the case at all.
I don't disagree, but I am not sure why this is such a sore spot for you. Or maybe I just suck at trying to communicate what I am thinking/noticing. Underbiking seems to be a new anti-trend trend. While most of the industry is pushing longer, slacker, bigger travel bikes that people are gobbling up like the terrain they hope to ride, an offshoot of riders are going the other direction looking to less travel, no travel or gravel. A trend of anti-trend. Look at this site as an example. A year ago, it was all about club Hightower and club Smash. Now it's all about Club DV9, Les and such.
Yes. I believe Tom the Bomb was on my wheel coming down Joplin (a trail and style of DH I am not familiar with) so I pulled over to let him pass. I also let everyone else go by, since I didn't want to hold anybody up, and I had heard stories of @rossage's prowess on the hardtail. I was then on the wheel of a certain hardtail the rest of the way, once I found my rhythm.
Most of the industry wants to keep N+1 as the holy grail.Most of the industry wants us to keep speed as the holy grail of MTB riding. Kind of a racing thing, no doubt. Though my bike says I like goin' fast (not untrue), I like other aspects of cycling just as much. Each to her own, but I put speed lower on the importance scale than most riders. If it was my bike holy grail I probably wouldn't own a hardtail.
Have fun. Literally!
Touché!Most of the industry wants to keep N+1 as the holy grail.
Over and Underbiking as a discussion topic can be seen as a push back at this. If you’re only riding one bike, you’re guaranteed to be over or underbiked all the time, and it’s still fun...discuss.
Most of the industry wants to keep N+1 as the holy grail.
Over and Underbiking as a discussion topic can be seen as a push back at this. If you’re only riding one bike, you’re guaranteed to be over or underbiked all the time, and it’s still fun...discuss.
Ditch the SS and the gravel bike...
Yes you were, but you really tantalized my fancy on the Plunge last fall.
There's lots of stuff in your area that will accommodate the extra bike-age you have. You can dig a hole with a spoon, but why?
Cheater bikes* are real! So is being under-ridered. How do I know?... Cheater bikes helped me to up my skill and enjoy all the riding I do. Including hardtail riding.
Don’t you have a Trail Pistol too?
My Smash started life as a Pistola (140/130 version of a Pistol), but I sold the Pistol stays and shock once I converted to the Smash.
1) Lighter tires as you are thinking. 2) A light, stiff wheelset. 3) Optional, an inline air shock if you have a coil. 4) Super comfy cockpit setup. Voila – SmashCountry.
(No swapping wheels MO, but a spare set is good sense.)
For sure. In fact, I had the non-cheater tires on until recently, but I felt like the bike really came alive in the ways you would expect with the Aggressor/DHF, to the point that I don't want to give that up as a primary tire combo. From recollection it also pedals a good bit better than with the same front, but DHRII 2.4 on the rear. I'm already rocking a DPX2 as well. So it's either keep the HT and pony up for an additional wheel/tire set for the Smash, or add a lighter/longer duty trail bike at the expense of hard tail ownership. Or do nothing, and just keep pedaling the Smash as far as I can. I'm probably splitting hairs at this point anyway.1) Lighter tires as you are thinking. 2) A light, stiff wheelset. 3) Optional, an inline air shock if you have a coil. 4) Super comfy cockpit setup. Voila – SmashCountry.
I think you could be surprised how good the bike rides with slightly less than cheater tires. Even just a light tire in back will make a huge difference, as I found. Not giving up a lot once you know your bike and what to expect of it. If a reasonable technical-difficulty margin, the lighter tires make longer rides more fun IMO. Not nudging you this way solely because that's what I'm doing, but that's what I'm doing.
Dicing up the quiver can be fun, but I like the do-nothing-plus idea. DHF can be good to have when you're tired and make a dumb mistake. Ride the heavy tires all the time and when a big event comes you'll rocket on the light ones.
Ha, that’s it. What did mountain bikers even do before the internet?Dicing up the quiver can be fun, but I like the do-nothing-plus idea. DHF can be good to have when you're tired and make a dumb mistake. Ride the heavy tires all the time and when a big event comes you'll rocket on the light ones.
Good times with first-world gnashing, eh???