Popularity: 4% [?]
Archive for July, 2009
Soul Cycles Dillinger-and “what’s your favorite mountain biking website?”
On July - 31 - 2009
Kona’s Dr. Dew Files…super cool videos
On July - 30 - 2009
santiago oaks – downhill fun
On July - 30 - 2009
Yesterday afternoon I headed to Santiago Oaks in Orange, CA for a mid-week ride where I met up with Val and Ner. Val is in the process of dialing his new Yeti ASX DH bike. Weather at this time of the year is fairly hot in So Cal. It was well in the 90s mid-day but cooled off to the mid 80s by the time we started.
The ride into the park and up the 3Bs was uneventful. With the sun beating down on us, it was that much harder grinding up the Bs. Especially Val as he was climbing with his DH bike with no lockout on the fork. But then again, we don’t go to Santiago Oaks for the climbs J.
Reaching the top, Val strapped on his armor and we were off for some DH fun. What made this ride interesting for me is I dont have any rear brakes :0 It’s been fading for quite sometime and I haven’t had a chance to have it checked out.
Below is a short video of our ride. The camera was mounted to my seatpost (facing the rear ) for a rear view perspective. I actually like this angle/view as you can see the descent of the trail. Often times having the camera on the traditional front view, it does not justify the grade of the trail. Enjoy!
Popularity: 4% [?]
Video from the Wellington Ranch DH Trail
On July - 28 - 2009
Nothing fancy, but it was really fun. Video was provided by Vholdr. This was the first time I used the Sette Venom.
Popularity: 4% [?]
1.5″ and Tapered Headtubes, Necessary?
On July - 27 - 2009
So I was perusing through the STR* forums and found a thread titled Tapered Head Tubes – Debate.
[*STR = So Cal Trail Riders, my handle, dwsand3r]
I went ahead and threw my two cents in and decided to share my response here, but I added a sketch for extra dork points!
“Most of the force from your fork (a really long lever arm*) is dispersed into the lower headset cup. That is why the lower is 1.5″.
Note: for all the engineering types, I did not show all forces, nor did I balance these forces. This is not an accurate free body diagram, just a quick conceptual sketch.
Remember many years ago, just before the switch to the 1.125″ standard, how common it was for a frame and/or lower headset cups to fail. The remedy was to move onto thread-less oversize (1.125″) headsets & steerer tubes. This also was during the time frame when 100mm of fork travel was huge and a 2 foot drop was gnarly! Also the fork was a pretty weak, noodle like member.
Most bikes offering the 1.5″ or tapered head tubes are designed for 140mm+ travel forks (even longer lever arm, that is why you’ll void many warranties by running a fork longer than the manufacturer specifies*), the forks are incredibly stiff (35+mm stanchions), and a 6 foot drop won’t even get you a photo in your friend’s blog.
The 1.125″ standard is fine for XC and 90% of trail riders out there.
The 1.5″ and/or tapered is a great thing for the rest of us. That is why 1.5″ stems are only available in shorter lengths. It is assumed if you’re running 1.5″ you’re a free rider or D/H and you’re running a short stem.
*lever arm : imagine if you were to put a pipe in your bike’s head tube and then pulled on the pipe in an attempt to break the head tube off the frame. It be a lot easier to do with a longer pipe than a short one.
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” – Archimedes”
Comment with what you think, should the whole industry go to 1.5″? Should 1.5″ be abolished? Is taper the ultimate middle ground?
Popularity: 5% [?]
