You would think that, but when the NFE was still new (or being made at all, it seems), there were shitloads of derpy ones being turned out all the time. Most of the Elephant builds I’ve encountered off of Tarck are typical fop-chariots with Retroshift bullshit or Thomson 0-setback posts, and the handful of NFEs with modern drivetrains and a non-silver components have been here.
Those drops look uncomfortable to ride in. Most non-mtb’s look awkward with a 0 setback post.
I will say that once I spent some time on here and got my grando build fine tuned that rando/dirt road/all purpose bike has exceeded my expectations and become an ideal every day/all purpose bikes.
When did Elephant make blue frames? One off or is it not a NFE?
[quote=Wintage Townie]
Most of the Elephant builds I’ve encountered off of Tarck are typical fop-chariots with Retroshift bullshit or Thomson 0-setback posts, and the handful of NFEs with modern drivetrains and a non-silver components have been here.[/quote]
The fussily overdone Rivendell-mode bikes aren’t a surprise, it’s a functional and aesthetic deadend a lot of half-informed bike nerds fall into. It’s the ones that seem like they were put together by someone who went to a lot of trouble to choose less than optimal parts that confuse me, and I wonder what the path into those is. Is there a shop that really pushes them? Did a bunch of bike novices buy out a run of NFEs and then only consult with each other when building?
[quote=iwillbe][quote=Wintage Townie]
Most of the Elephant builds I’ve encountered off of Tarck are typical fop-chariots with Retroshift bullshit or Thomson 0-setback posts, and the handful of NFEs with modern drivetrains and a non-silver components have been here.[/quote]
The fussily overdone Rivendell-mode bikes aren’t a surprise, it’s a functional and aesthetic deadend a lot of half-informed bike nerds fall into. It’s the ones that seem like they were put together by someone who went to a lot of trouble to choose less than optimal parts that confuse me, and I wonder what the path into those is. Is there a shop that really pushes them? Did a bunch of bike novices buy out a run of NFEs and then only consult with each other when building?[/quote]
So, there’s this website called reddit, where white-supremacist misogynists gather to discuss bike builds, with predictable results.
[quote=iwillbe][quote=Wintage Townie]
Most of the Elephant builds I’ve encountered off of Tarck are typical fop-chariots with Retroshift bullshit or Thomson 0-setback posts, and the handful of NFEs with modern drivetrains and a non-silver components have been here.[/quote]
The fussily overdone Rivendell-mode bikes aren’t a surprise, it’s a functional and aesthetic deadend a lot of half-informed bike nerds fall into. It’s the ones that seem like they were put together by someone who went to a lot of trouble to choose less than optimal parts that confuse me, and I wonder what the path into those is. Is there a shop that really pushes them? Did a bunch of bike novices buy out a run of NFEs and then only consult with each other when building?[/quote]
This reminds me of the guy who “tuned” a pair of Tektro (I think) drop-bar levers by removing the hoods, sanding down the bodies, etc. Wish I could remember the details, because it was pretty funny how much effort he put into it.
[quote=eric_ssucks][quote=iwillbe][quote=Wintage Townie]
Most of the Elephant builds I’ve encountered off of Tarck are typical fop-chariots with Retroshift bullshit or Thomson 0-setback posts, and the handful of NFEs with modern drivetrains and a non-silver components have been here.[/quote]
The fussily overdone Rivendell-mode bikes aren’t a surprise, it’s a functional and aesthetic deadend a lot of half-informed bike nerds fall into. It’s the ones that seem like they were put together by someone who went to a lot of trouble to choose less than optimal parts that confuse me, and I wonder what the path into those is. Is there a shop that really pushes them? Did a bunch of bike novices buy out a run of NFEs and then only consult with each other when building?[/quote]
So, there’s this website called reddit, where white-supremacist misogynists gather to discuss bike builds, with predictable results.[/quote]
I actually edited out a reference to r/bicycling in my original post because i thought it was too on-the-nose. And I dunno, canonical reddit bikes are either bone stock bikes that are photographed fifty feet out from the NDS, or they’re ultraweird disaster chariots that a sophomore engineering student “improved”.
I have no idea what reddit bikes look like because I don’t reddit.
There’s not enough time in the world for that.
[quote=yonderboy]It’s so beautiful.
https://boise.craigslist.org/bik/d/1991-trek-8000/6289722341.html[/quote]
God damn it. I had one of those that I picked up for $75 when my main MTB was in storage elsewhere and there was something awesome about it. Got stolen six months later. I miss it.
[quote=eric_ssucks]I have no idea what reddit bikes look like because I don’t reddit.
There’s not enough time in the world for that.[/quote]
I feel like you’re undermining your credentials here.
I’ve only seen one hilarious trainwreck in progess, the guy who complained that his Gatorskins only lasted a hundred miles and got really hairy. He’d installed them inside out, and if memory serves, was adamant that the company should make more clear which side is supposed to touch the road.
Since it has a box crown fork I’d assume it’s a custom Glen made before they started building stock ones
[quote=iwillbe]
And if the owner of the bike somehow winds up reading this: you have a nice bike, maybe consider leveling your handlebars, adjusting your saddle, re-cutting your cables and housing, looking into a different drivetrain for dirt, and (probably) running your tires at a pressure lower than the recommended range printed on the tire.[/quote]
Surprised you didn’t mention the complete lack of front rack on a low trail bike. If you’re gunna build an unburdened adventure bike like that why not save yourself some money and just get a Salsa or similar. It would likely handle better than an NFE
[quote=iwillbe][quote=Wintage Townie]
Most of the Elephant builds I’ve encountered off of Tarck are typical fop-chariots with Retroshift bullshit or Thomson 0-setback posts, and the handful of NFEs with modern drivetrains and a non-silver components have been here.[/quote]
The fussily overdone Rivendell-mode bikes aren’t a surprise, it’s a functional and aesthetic deadend a lot of half-informed bike nerds fall into. It’s the ones that seem like they were put together by someone who went to a lot of trouble to choose less than optimal parts that confuse me, and I wonder what the path into those is. Is there a shop that really pushes them? Did a bunch of bike novices buy out a run of NFEs and then only consult with each other when building?[/quote]
Dang, this is spot-on. I see a ton of these siiiicckkkk Retroshift X Paul Comp X UltraRomance dorkjalopies on Instagram with 2.2s and loaded with so many Porcelain Rocket bags that they’re dragging on the ground, but the gestalt is never any more interesting than a completely stock
VC had a few NFEs go through there before acclimating to rawland
It’s called The Radavist
I’ve been trying to set a rule at my shop that builds are allowed a maximum of one Wolftooth Component
Excluding the combo of tanpan + spacer stem cap, both of which are problem solvers without being Problem Solvers
the other group I describe seem like they’re getting their cues from the Radavist or whatever IG accounts are popular for that stuff. If I only knew about corny social media biking, i’d totally have a gumwall tire million bag danglingmug heavily beWolftoothed dirt adventure bike with a bunch of MUSA components that don’t work as well as whatever Shimano is currently selling.
An NFE with a 105 group on it and, as Squirrel points out, no rack? That seems like a weird outcome, and it looked too curated to be a fuckit I ordered the frame, now I’m broke, so partsbin build it is.
I always hope to see something really bad and funny on Reddit but it’s basically just this all the time:
That bikes makes me sick to my stomach.