It is still a bicycle thenā¦ ā¦right?
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recently been getting out on my MTB a bit more, now itās a 2009 Giant Anthem x3, I āupgradedā the drive train to x1 over the winter, but I had a go on a mates 29er the other day and blimey it did roll so much better!
From googling seems to be lots of articles saying āmodernā geometry is leaps ahead of 2009 and the tech/larger wheels would make a big difference. Iām doing nothing āradicalā, doing 1-3 hours on local UK Yorkshire single track, small drops and very occasional trips to Dalby Forest.
Sticking with the Anthem the 29er still seems to get good reviews, obviously a new bike is always a good solution to any question, but do folk more experienced than I agree that things have moved on hugely since 2009 in performance, geometry??
Shortlist is prob Specialized Epic 8 (or maybe the Evo) or Giant Anthem? Neither appear to be on sale in the UK, indeed it looks like Giant are on the 25 release already as it has ānewā on their websire and the āolderā Pro version available at the same price.
Epic 8ā¦ or for that matter the Epic Evo ā7ā are amazing bikes. Definitely worth the upgrade if you can afford it. You wonāt be disappointed!
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Many of my friends have 2 mtn bikes - an XC race bike, and a burlier trail bike.
Iāve stuck with one bike for simplicity reasons - itās easier to maintain just one bike. I do sometimes feel like Iām riding a suboptimal bike for the task at hand - but thatās usually only during races with a lot of climbing where something a few lbs lighter would be nice. But - Iām not getting on any podiums, so if Iām 1% slower, itās not that big of a deal.
95%+ of the time my one bike is fine, and I donāt think itās worth the extra cost and hassle for the remaining 5%.
Adding: I do also have a fat bike, a gravel bike and a road bike, so itās not like I havenāt already fallen for n+1
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Seems like a lot of you love your lockouts but is there anybody else here who just rides with everything wide open? I admit the bike feels faster locked out but I havenāt been able to prove itās any faster anywhere (despite effort!) so I just opt for āopenā
Joe
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If a bike only has a 2-way system with locked and open settings, Iāll ride it open almost all the time. But to be fair, my only experience on bikes with 2-way lockouts are more on the trail bike side of things.
If a bike is set up with a 3-way system, Iām in the middle āpedalā position the vast majority of the time. I basically think of the middle setting as open, but just a little more supportive. Fully open is only used for descending and maybe a few other unique situations. In my opinion, the biggest advantage of a 3 way lockout is that you can tune the suspension to be super soft and progressive when fully open since itās not a position frequently used while pedaling. With a 2-way system, you are forced to tune the open position to be a reasonable pedaling platform (a bit firmer early in travel).
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I pretty much never lock my suspension out except for paved roads. I personally think itās only faster on extremely smooth surfaces. Even climbing, the traction benefits of suspension are huge and out weigh any efficiencies. It makes tons of sense on race courses with sections of smooth climbing.
Alan Hatherly won worlds without a lockout with a non electronic suspension!
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Who are these people loosing traction on climbs 
? The only time Iāve lost traction, and itās extremely rare, it had nothing to do with suspension or even tires for that matter. Rather itās weight distribution or the surface is so loose that loosing traction is unavoidable.
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People who race XC in something other than perfect summer weather and / or on terrain that isnāt basically a cyclocross race.
I pretty much only lock on short tarmac / gravel / grass sections. Even then, this was the point I was making above about the āpedal platformā mode. Some madman earlier in this thread was saying they rode 90% of an XCO course in platform (I can only assume the courses they raced were basically a gravel race). Either way, lockouts are basically placebo - they have the same effect as pumping your tyres up to 40psi. Feels fast, actually isnāt.
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I have the Epic Evo Pro model with the Fox float 3-way lockout switch. I race it in quite a few XC races and leaving it in the middle/pedal mode on the shock and fork has been great. over the course of a 1 hour race Iām not sure it is any slower than having a lockout switch. Maybe flight attendant would save me a handful of seconds here and there. I do manually lock it out in a few races that have one section that has a smooth 5 minute climb and then just flip it right back into pedal mode.
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Iāve had lockouts on my xc bikes for years but didnāt go that route when building my epic evo. Mostly because the fox fork with the 3 pos adj remote wasnāt in stock and I havenāt upgraded the shock yet. I donāt really miss it. Itās been pretty easy to flip my fork from pedal to open mode on descents and I only lock out the rear shock when on a gravel/fire road. Most of my xc riding/racing is on singletrack so leaving the fork in the middle and shock open has been ok.
I have a '23 Epic Evo Pro with the Fox Factory Float fork and shock. Are they compatible with a lockout switch or would that require replacing the fork?
Yes and no. You would need to do a conversion to both (fork: remote specific damper (not just top-cap). The shock requires several internal parts) which at that point I would just sell the shock and fork and buy the 3-pos adj ones needed and get a lever for it.
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Okay. Thanks for the detailed explanation!
Iām looking to do this upgrade now. Thought about just getting a full new fork because the blue is awesome, but this is more cost efficient. These parts should work with the Epic 8 Expert right? Itās a SID Select+. How involved is the fork swap part? Any unique tools needed or hard parts mechanically? Iām fairly handy and do all my own wrenching normally. On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is it? That was another reason I considered the full fork.
I just finished this upgrade to my cervelo. Iāve only played with it in the neighborhood os far, but Iām very impressed so far. I had an Epic with the Brain. FA seems to just work. Changed modes often, and very quickly. Itās also seems to bias towards open, or fully locked. It doesnāt seem to spend time in pedal much. This was 90% on pavement so that could change. I also think the lockout is somehow firmer than the cable actuated version. I know it shouldnāt be, but it is.
I travel with my bike regularly and getting rid of the remote cables is going to make reassembly much easier.
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Itās not hard. Youāll need some fork oil, 10mm&24mm sockets to remove the damper, and a cassette tool that can fit on a torque wrench. It took me about an hour, although I could now do it faster. Note that the SIDluxe shock is frame specific, so get the Epic one.
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So am I getting this rightā¦ you all upgraded a Sid Select+ Fork to Flight Attendant?
Sorry no. I upgraded a SID Ultimate D1. But itās the same process. You remove the stock damper and slide in the FA one. Then install the controller, pair it, and calibrate it.
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Here is my ābudget buildā. Built up with parts Iāve bought over the last couple years. Some new, but mostly used.
Hereās a breakdown of what I have in it. 24 pounds as it sits
Frame - Intense Sniper $1000
Wheelset - Roval Control SL $800
Fork - RockShox Sid Select $300
Brakes - XT 2 pot $230
Rotors - Ashima x2 - $40
Front Tire - Fast Trak $40
Rear Tire - Thunder Burt $40
Bars - S Works Mini Rise 740 $150
Grips - Trail 1 Hells Gates $25
Dropper - PNW Loam $200
Dropper lever - PNW Loam $50
Stem - Kalloy Uno $20
Seatpost Collar - Wolftooth $25
Shifter - SLX 11 spd $30
Derailleur - XT $70
Cassette - SRAM XG 1175 $100
Chain - GX $40
Crank set - SRAM GX 165 $125
PM - xcadey $300
Pedals XTR - $100
Saddle - Chinese Carbon rail $30
B Rad bottle shift - $25
Bottle cages - Chinese Carbon x 2 $25
$3765
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