Why does Mrs C dislike her Ripley, and a search for low rolling resistance

Mrs C is not liking her new bike, finding it hard to pedal uphill. It's a Ripley AF. Old bike was an original Ripley, which was about 3# lighter. Old bike was on 2.3 Maxxis HR2 front, 2.25 Maxxis Ardent rear.

New bike was on 2.6 Kenda Hellkat front, 2.6 Specialized Purgatory (current tread version) rear. That tire really looked like a fast rolling tread to me, but YMMV I guess.

New bike has 35mm IW rims. I installed an old 2.25 Ardent on the rear today, to see if it's rolling resistance that Mrs C is having trouble with. Since that tire has no grip whatsoever IMHO, this will at least tell me if it's a rear tire rolling resistance issue. She is not helpful in providing specific feedback on why she finds it hard to pedal up. Gearing is 30x 10-51 Shimano SLX 12-speed.

Suggestions for the fastest rolling 29x2.4ish tires? Rekon? Not stuck on Maxxis, any brand is fine. Given the 35mm internal width, that seems like about the narrowest reasonable tire for that rim.

My new trail bike (esker rowl) came with some terrene chunk tires that to me seem slow as shit.. so I just swooped a couple of these tires up for use as a faster rear tire.

https://www.theproscloset.com/produc...ire-single-ply

Haven't used them yet but have liked the minion ss in the past and a fan of ss tires in the right conditions (dry, pedally) excited to get some time on it once the lifts stop and I put my dh bike away.

That e13 tire looks like a good choice, and great price - but I should get her a lighter tire. I think that one has some heavier duty reinforcing that she wouldn't benefit from anyway. She is not an aggressive rider.

Could also be a seat tube angle thing. I've found that I'm feeling it in my quads a lot more on a modern bike than before or on my gravel bike with a slacker sta. Maybe it's just not an optimal power transfer position?

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Originally Posted by geomorph

Could also be a seat tube angle thing. I've found that I'm feeling it in my quads a lot more on a modern bike than before or on my gravel bike with a slacker sta. Maybe it's just not an optimal power transfer position?

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For me, I find the newer geometry makes for better climbing. I could try sliding her saddle more rearward and see if that helps any. Thanks.

3 lbs is a pretty legit weight difference. Maybe swap some narrower rim/wheels with faster rolling tires.

Might be good test on new bike?


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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

For me, I find the newer geometry makes for better climbing. I could try sliding her saddle more rearward and see if that helps any. Thanks.

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what size to what size?

The new ripley is quite a bit longer than the old one and probably should use a short stem. She could be feeling to hunched over and having her lungs less open. Also 3lb is noticeable, could be the tire, but purgatorys roll pretty fast even in that size.

Old Ripley was a large, new is a medium. Comparing numbers on the specs, they are very very close.

Old had a 70mm stem, 710 bars. New 45mm stem, 780 bars - I expect she'll end up with a narrower bar than 780, probably trimmed to around 750-760.

I'd swap wheels with another bike to test a narrower rim, but I don't have any other 29er boost wheelset with microspline. I have a boost one with 12-speed GX cassette (which should work with Shimano 12S), and that is a 30mm IW (only 5mm narrower), but it has burly tires and an insert in the rear tire, so that won't help diagnose much.

It's the 3 pounds.

Nobby Nic or Wicked Will.

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Originally Posted by yeahman

It's the 3 pounds.

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From 28# to 31#?

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

From 28# to 31#?

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All I can say is I went from 31 to 28 and you couldn't pay me to go back.

But main thing to remember is she's just not as strong as you are, so what may seem insignificant to you could make a big difference to her.

Purely speculative of course. I definitely know how frustrating it is to buy your SO new gear they don't like and trying to figure out why.

Someone said "seat tube angle" it took me about 2-3 months to adjust. Play with fit and give it some time.

There is also a big difference in rolling resistance in various hubs too.

FWIW my wife just moved from a Canfield trail bike to a more XC oriented bike for the same reason and has gone from not enjoying MTB’ing to riding daily by herself. Seems like the Canfield was too slack and she struggled climbing.

Sorry to hear Mrs. C is not digging the new ride, and I hope you can dial that in soon.

When I was a back of the pack endurance rider, I was a big fan of 29” x 2.4” Continental Race Kings in the Protection compound for a fast rolling/long wearing tire. Easy to set up tubeless (rim permitting), the 2.4” has massive volume but a pretty rounded profile, so even at low pressures, you never had much more than the centerline knobs for contact until you needed it.

I couldn’t quickly find 2.4”, but here’s the 2.2”:

https://www.bike-discount.de/de/cont...2-2-faltreifen

(This site is good for Conti & Schwalbe, BTW)

If you just want to get her moving fast (incl. on pavement) so you can dial the bike in, get two of those. If you’re looking to troubleshoot the pedaling AND get to the long term solution (buy once!) Race King is not the best front tire on loose conditions, so I pair it with the XKing Protection up front. Also does well on durability, etc, but not quite as good a roller as the Race King.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

Suggestions for the fastest rolling 29x2.4ish tires? Rekon? Not stuck on Maxxis, any brand is fine. Given the 35mm internal width, that seems like about the narrowest reasonable tire for that rim.

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With a 35mm rim you want a "WT" carcass. From "best" rolling resistance to "most" grip in the XC/Trail category are:
Rekon Race: Semi Slick XC Race
Aspen: XC Race
Rekon: Light duty trail
Forekaster (new): Trail grip with XC speed
All of there available in 29 x 2.4WT

Cut thos bars down and start shedding weight.

35 mm rims = more rim, more rubber, and a bigger contact patch. There's a bunch of extra rotating weight there, both in the tire and the rim. 2.6 tires always feel slow too - good for traction, bad for rolling resistance.

Try some skinnier, lighter wheels with correspondingly skinnier tires.

Mrs Dee's new bike was a major upgrade in regards to a modern geometry change.
I matched bar width, roll, and reach exactly to the old bike. Swapped over the saddle, and made sure the height was the same. I also measured the lever angles and pull distances and shifter positions. This way there were a bunch of familiar feelings.
Its a Rocky Element with Ride 4 chip. So I started her bike in the steepest setting to mimic her older bike, and I have slowly gone from Ride 1 position to Ride 2, and I'm about to switch her to ride 3.
I knew if we started in Ride 3 right off the bat it would have been too slack and too "different" for her.

FWIW, my old bike had an XT level 11 speed 11-46 cassette. The new bike has a 1295 Eagle 10-50. I still struggle to find my happy place in the new cassette when I'm climbing. Maybe she was just used to her old gearing?

Thanks for all the input everyone. Some more back story:

The sum total of Mrs C's feedback on the Ripley AF has been that it's hard to pedal uphill, she doesn't have the leg strength, she likes how the bike climbs up over stuff, likes how it descends, feels like there's a bit too much pressure on her hands. That's it.

She rode it twice with her seatpost having slipped down too low in the frame, without noticing her knee extension was all wrong. I had loosened the clamp slightly because she said the dropper was sticking. She thought it was sticking because she was trying to drop without giving the saddle a little unweighting before pushing down.

She has made zero adjustments to any bike suspension she has ever owned, though I've walked her through what to look for multiple times, and what the adjustments do. Best I can do is set up sag and adjustments per manufacturer spec, bounce on the bike a little myself, and hope it's good.

So, we're going to try her on the Ardent rear tire, and I'll ride with to watch and make bike adjustments if I can extract any input from her.

I expected the Ripley AF to climb better than the old one for her, based on steeper STA. Gearing is a hair lower on the AF. The main thing I'd suspect to cause "it's hard to pedal" is rear tire rolling resistance, so we'll see how it goes with the Ardent. If that makes a substantial difference, then I'll look for a narrower and lighter wheelset. I don't know why Ibis went to i35 - seems excessive for most trail bike use.

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Originally Posted by Touring_Sedan

FWIW, my old bike had an XT level 11 speed 11-46 cassette. The new bike has a 1295 Eagle 10-50. I still struggle to find my happy place in the new cassette when I'm climbing. Maybe she was just used to her old gearing?

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I don't think that's likely it - her old bike was 11-46 Sunrace, new is 10-51 Shimano. She hasn't said anything about gearing steps. She will go to the lowest gear available on any sort of climb. So her feedback is essentially that it's too hard to pedal uphill, even in a 30 x 51.

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Originally Posted by Billow

Someone said "seat tube angle" it took me about 2-3 months to adjust. Play with fit and give it some time.

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Did you notice the steeper STA negatively affecting your ability to climb? Or was it more of a comfort thing?

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

I don't know why Ibis went to i35 - seems excessive for most trail bike use.

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Ibis has been into the wide rim thing for a while now. The rest of the industry seems to have arrived at the (correct) conclusion that 35 mm rims are bad on every bike, regardless of intentions.

Fix the rim, fix the problem.