Ask the experts

[nick_B10]

Why does rear shock wallow feel like.. wallow? I get that it’s moving more further in the stroke, but that low psi tire rolling off rim sensation I don’t understand.

My shock (an old fox rp23) felt like that the nitrogen chamber lost all pressure. Felt like i couldn't keep the bike tracking correctly. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what was wrong with my rear hub/axle before i tried a different shock. Should be fixable with a full rebuild, although buying a nearly new takeoff may be more economical.

[rideit]

Have you tried increasing your rebound? Sounds like it is stacking up deep in the stroke, and getting stuck there.

I HATE it when I get stacked up deep in the stroke.
Heh.
Heh.

[XXX-er]

having just gone ahead and ignored all of this advice and dumped upgrade money into a POS bike, I have regrets, and you should not fall into the same trap. you pay so much more for the incremental upgrades compared to just shelling out $1800 for a cheap but decent modern bike...

so was it us who told you all this ?

I thot about keeping my 2005 prophet but why when I would rather ride my modern enduro bike ?

And there were all kinds of thing that worked ok BUT wouldn't take very much use to break, then you are looking at fucking with old shit from the last generation

List was 3200 ,I paid 2200, it took me 2 years to sell for 500 $ and the LBS running the swap sez I did better than OK

[meter-man]

I HATE it when I get stacked up deep in the stroke.
Heh.
Heh.

Don't worry mang, if that happens, just RIDEIT!!

[mall walker]

so was it us who told you all this ?

I thot about keeping my 2005 prophet but why when I would rather ride my modern enduro bike ?

And there were all kinds of thing that worked ok BUT wouldn't take very much use to break, then you are looking at fucking with old shit from the last generation

List was 3200 ,I paid 2200, it took me 2 years to sell for 500 $ and the LBS running the swap sez I did better than OK

well I bought the pos cheap (new but not modern build compliant) bike before asking the forum, (though I asked at least one or two mags who told me better), but then I came and said, "I bought this, what upgrades should I do" and people here rightly said: "just get a better bike," and instead... I have sunk nearly the difference for the nicer bike into upgrades that are at least half non-transferrable when I DO get a new frame... my list of remaining oem parts is getting slim... and I still have a shitty bike that I would be lucky to sell for the MSRP and eat all the upgrade costs. anyway it's gotten pretty fun to ride, but the next upgrade for me involves basically eating 2/3 of what I put into it and buying a whole new everything, cuz I have 100/135 qr dropouts, 1 1/8" straight fork, etc etc instead of having something I can incrementally improve over time. lesson learned and it's still made my summer better than if I was running this whole time, and I learned a tiny little bit of the vast yawning chasm of bike gear nerdery, which has been fun also. but if I could rewind 2 months, I'd just buy the $2k bike...

[rideit]

Add to that many bikes have simply been 100% unavailable. At ALL. So, maybe a little bit of ‘bird in the hand’ applies here?

[jackstraw]

Knuckledragger, so it will go beside my Cummins flowertop, but point taken...

So what specific bikes and years am I looking for under $2k (cdn), I guess more of an enduro, mostly riding Vancouver north shore, definitely more dh focussed but don’t want to hate life climbing and doing occasional xc?

My son picked up a 1yr old bike for 2k (specialized enduro) on Pinkbike from a kid that worked in a shop. Deals are out there. New Enduro style bikes climb and descend incredibly well...from an old phuck like me who first mtn bike was '87, it truly blows my mind.

yeah I mean, I'm still riding it, and since I'm incredibly stupid I'll probably find a way to bleed a little more money into it. but it was/continues to be absolutely the wrong decision, and a new bike looms on the horizon...

Don't beat yourself up. You're still mtn biking and mtn biking is fun!

[mall walker]

Don't beat yourself up. You're still mtn biking and mtn biking is fun!

oh I'm not at all - I still am better off than if I never got a bike, it's super fun. and a 2500' fun as hell trail loop I can ride out the driveway without getting in the car is making me wonder wtf I was doing all these years we've lived here that I WASN'T biking...

[Boissal]

oh I'm not at all - I still am better off than if I never got a bike, it's super fun. and a 2500' fun as hell trail loop I can ride out the driveway without getting in the car is making me wonder wtf I was doing all these years we've lived here that I WASN'T biking...

I've told you this offline but I worry about what will happen to you if you put the bike in the car and go ride good trails. Don't get me wrong, Shoreline is great for early and late season riding but it's a pretty shitty bike trail in the grand scheme of things. I worry you'll blow a gasket if you go ride in PC when the dirt is good. And you'd for sure die instantly if you went to the PNW (so would I).

[mall walker]

hahaha I’m gonna hold out as long as I can... I got a kid being born in < 2 months I can’t develop another 4-hours-a-day addiction now. shoreline/bobsled/all that is just fine... door to door in 2 hrs or much less

[rideit]

The ‘4 hours a day’ will be all the driving time once you dIscover Moab...

[snowaddict91]

I've told you this offline but I worry about what will happen to you if you put the bike in the car and go ride good trails. Don't get me wrong, Shoreline is great for early and late season riding but it's a pretty shitty bike trail in the grand scheme of things. I worry you'll blow a gasket if you go ride in PC when the dirt is good. And you'd for sure die instantly if you went to the PNW (so would I).

For real. Maybe we should go abduct him and take him to PC before he is a dad?

[jackstraw]

I've told you this offline but I worry about what will happen to you if you put the bike in the car and go ride good trails. Don't get me wrong, Shoreline is great for early and late season riding but it's a pretty shitty bike trail in the grand scheme of things. I worry you'll blow a gasket if you go ride in PC when the dirt is good. And you'd for sure die instantly if you went to the PNW (so would I).

Hey man, don't kill his buzz [emoji3]

https://youtu.be/fZipzL_eh7w

[BCtransplant]

oh I'm not at all - I still am better off than if I never got a bike, it's super fun. and a 2500' fun as hell trail loop I can ride out the driveway without getting in the car is making me wonder wtf I was doing all these years we've lived here that I WASN'T biking...

Yeah, how in the fuck have I been living in North Van this long and NOT gotten into this previously???

Also being an old fuck, I do note that crashes hurt a little more than snow. Going over the bars the first time was an unpleasant revelation. Also the 10 year olds impatiently waiting to send the line I’m picking my way down.

[jono]

Pads are good for old fucks. Really good.

[grinch]

Hellya. The protection/padding industry is as large as it is because of the north shore.

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[Sandbox]

Been looking for a cheap/fun/throw away bike just for running into town when I don’t feel like driving the truck and just generally messing around and won’t care (much) if it’s stolen....

found a Kona unit that is setup single speed but it has a fairly massive dent on the top tube. If I drop a curb will it crumple, snap and stab my leg/junk? Is there anyway to fix a big dent in aluminum?

[El Chupacabra]

Been looking for a cheap/fun/throw away bike just for running into town when I don’t feel like driving the truck and just generally messing around and won’t care (much) if it’s stolen....

found a Kona unit that is setup single speed but it has a fairly massive dent on the top tube. If I drop a curb will it crumple, snap and stab my leg/junk? Is there anyway to fix a big dent in aluminum?

No realistic way to fix that dent, but -

I thought all Kona Units were steel? Have a pic you can share?

[XXX-er]

probably no and no

I still have a steel Kona setup for touring that I liberated from junior before he could fuck it up freeriding and that would be pretty close to 20 yars old

[Sandbox]

No realistic way to fix that dent, but -

I thought all Kona Units were steel? Have a pic you can share?

Why yes you are correct.... just checked the website and for sure it’s steel...

[toast2266]

Why yes you are correct.... just checked the website and for sure it’s steel...

Assuming the bike is suitably cheap, I'd for sure ride that. If it does fail, I highly doubt the failure would be catastrophic. And if you're really worried about it, you could probably weld on a sleeve as a reinforcement.

[Sandbox]

Assuming the bike is suitably cheap, I'd for sure ride that. If it does fail, I highly doubt the failure would be catastrophic. And if you're really worried about it, you could probably weld on a sleeve as a reinforcement.

Makes sense. The issue is the “ suitable cheap” part as he is holding onto a pretty high price at this point. It has somewhat bling parts ( Chris king hubs) which are worth more then the frame. We will see what I can do


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[XXX-er]

Its part of the character of the bike, steel is less likely to catastrophically fail than alu , use it as a reason to lower the price

IMO those old kona's were awesome especialy the racelight HT, they were a lightweight tig welded steel frame with a very sloping top-tube which i thot looked cool, I should keep an eye out for one of those actualy

[Sandbox]

The guy is basically selling it as a throw away... wasn’t even going to sell the frame, just wants to part it out but I asked if he still had the frame and he said he does and would throw it in... he obviously thinks it’s toast.

[toast2266]

Makes sense. The issue is the “ suitable cheap” part as he is holding onto a pretty high price at this point. It has somewhat bling parts ( Chris king hubs) which are worth more then the frame. We will see what I can do


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While the frame is perfectly rideable, it's not worth much. So the bike should be priced appropriately for the value of the parts that are on it.