we cleared so much crap off the path
and i still managed to hit a tree going down
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Did a ride over the weekend to link the three peaks off the Highway 410 corridor in Washington. Usually the temps are roasting and the trails are blown out dry this time of year, but we got a decent amount of rain Thu-Sat which made for cooler temps and perfect dirt on Sun.
I don’t usually like to fiddle with my bike set up, but I did make some optimizations for this ride given the amount of climbing and terrain (12.5k ft over 60 miles). I downsized the usual Ohlins RXF38 170mm to a RockShox Lyrik 160mm, and swapped my go-to EXO+ Assegai/DHR II combo for EXO Forekaster V2s. All in that saved me 1.5 lbs, which isn’t much, but I am really impressed with the tires… IMO a perfect tire for this kind of non-gnar backcountry riding.
Anyways, some pics:
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To be fair, you hit that tree on the groomed and maintained trail 
Yo yummy!!!
I’m also thinking about trying exo with insert. Figure if I start slashing tires then the worst that’ll happen is that it’ll be a failed experiment.
What’s up with that chain tensioner?
It’s a MRP ISCG tensioner with a generic alloy jumbo pulley
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Beautiful
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It felt like a bit of a gamble but worked out for that terrain, which is mostly nice dirt ribbons with roots. I don’t think I’d like that casing for the more techy/chunky stuff I normally ride. I had to go up from my normal 20/24 psi F/R to 24/27 psi (!) to get the support I needed. Some of that was due to the smaller tire volume, but probably some due to the flimsier casing as well.
Went mountain biking. Honestly didn’t have that great a time lol but the woods were nice. Something about the fit of this bike isn’t quite working for me.
Saw this kuwahara in a free pile on the way home and ghost rode it home. Pretty crappy overall but some nice upgrades like that badass mcs stem.
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You could sell that Kuwahara to a 50-something “we drank from the hose in the 80s!” dork on bmxmuseum for a lot of money I bet.
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Sup Alex. Been a year since I pumped into you at the park. Hope your all good!
Sadly it’s their lowest end model so not much value. Just gonna harvest the nice bits for current/future klunker builds.
That was a fun encounter. MLF runs much easier now that it’s not just pure loam. Hope all is good on you’re end!
Seems like a loss to me.
All good here. Busy with the kiddos this summer, but doing a lot outside.
Please HMU if you want to partner for some stuff.
We might have a shot at Angel staircase in September this year.
25 miles in 2.5 hrs through the hills in the Cleveland National Forest outside Julian. Immediately started into a 6.5 mi gravel climb, then another 4 mi climb up and over to Lake Cuyamaca.
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Overcast so the pictures are kinda gray, but the temperature was perfect. I was cleaning some rocky, technical bits that I haven’t had the guts to do since I had long Covid, so my strength, balance, and endurance are hugely improved.
Feeling like if I keep on this path, I’ll be in good enough shape to swap parts back to the Banshee and start mountain biking again for real.
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