What happened to the Grassroots Pedalsports thread?

I finally got my hardtail built up and on dirt.  Still needs some tweaking, but the initial ride is positive.

2019 Santa Cruz Chameleon; Cane Creek Helm 1 fork (130mm travel); Industry 9 Back Country 450 27.5" "plus" wheels with Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.8 tires; Shimano Deore cranks 170mm w/ 34t 12 spd chainring; Shimano XT 10-51 rear cassette; SRAM GX AXS wireless derailleur; Shimano XT 4-piston brakes w/ 180mm rotors; Manitou dropper post; Answer ProTaper stem and carbon bars. 

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

that is sweet. is the helm coil or air?

Dieselboss15 said:

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

that is sweet. is the helm coil or air?

Air.  I bought the Helm 1 because the current Helm 2 lost the D-lock QR front axle, which I want for how I store my bikes (hanging from hooks by the front axle) and how I intend to transport them on trips in the camper van (whenever that project happens) garage.   It's a bit portly for a hardtail at 31 lbs (only 4 lbs or so less than my enduro bike).

I'm getting back into mountain biking with my old hardtail while I wait for full suspension prices to drop, so in the meantime I'm changing parts to try to get the hardtail to fit me better, being 6'6" and riding an xl diamondback that is supposedly good up to 6'4"

First change is to shorten the stem and raise/widen the bars to hopefully get slightly more comfortable posture

From 85mm stem and 715mm x 15mm rise bars to 50mm stem and 810mm x 35mm rise. Should hopefully help my back out a bit being more upright

Taking it out later this week to see what needs to be tweaked and how much the bars need trimming

In reply to TheTallOne17 :

damn those are wide bars. max i'd go is 780 but i'm also a lot shorter than you (5'9")

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

not so portly when you compare it to mine at 32/33. interesting about the qr axle. i have a regular thru axle and hang mine by the front wheel so as to get oil to the fork bushings but i can see what you mean about transporting it in a van. 

Really want to get one of these (152mm model) but I've tried ordering it off Amazon, the only way I can get one shipped directly to me, 3 times and it was turned around as undeliverable each time, shipping to an address I've used many times before and since:

https://cyclingdealusa.com/products/dnm-ao-38rl-mountain-bike-air-rear-shock-with-remote-lockout

Looking for someone in the US to be a middleman to help me get that, I can Paypal you the money. PM me.

Gameboy you have pm.

Oh hey, this thread!

It dawned on me when I was riding last week that I've now had my Polygon Heist X5 for a year now. 



I've been really happy with this bike so far. It rides as good now as it did the day I put it together. It's fast and fun, and handles the terrible roads around here with ease. I've only had one small issue with it: the lockout lever on the Suntour fork decided to pop out of position during a ride early on. Apparently, that's a known issue, and I was able to fix it easily by popping the lever cover off and fiddling with the internals (there are write-ups on this on the interwebs). It's been a rock solid bike. In the past year, I've added a phone bag and an under-the-seat bag, a light set, a different saddle and wide Rockbros pedals. I've been thinking of swapping the 700mm handlebars with a 740mm set I have kicking around, but I may try changing the grips first (I get hand cramping on longer rides). I've even thought about bar ends to have something else to grip for comfort. But other than that, I love this thing. It's a bit more bike than I need, but it's great! 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I'd try the SQ Labs inner bar ends if you decide to that. I have heard good things about them.

Personally one of the things that has helped my hands the most is going to a bit more swept back bar (like 12-14 deg).

So I'm a NICA coach now. All 5 kids ride. I have a suburban full of biking gear and a giant velocirax.

I sold my miata upgraded bikes and have never been happier.  No fun car now. 
 

come at me. 

Also wtb tires.  Trash amirite

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Also wtb tires.  Trash amirite

Not sure if serious?

The Riddlers on my bike have been good so far. I have heard that they wear quickly, but they seem to be holding up ok. I love the gumwalls. Only gripe is that since they are 700c wheels, there aren't many choices to replace them with a similar tire once they do wear out.

dxman92 said:

Gameboy you have pm.

Sent you one back, be sure to check your spam since the first message in each direction usually goes there.

I've been happy with my WTB Nanos. Wear like iron and I ride them on every surface.

I have a Wtb ranger on my timberjack and  it's terrible. I've had flats  I've had to throw  ungodly amounts of sealant in it to get it to seal tubeless    It seeps sealant out the sidewall on a regular for no reason ans makes a giant mess   

speaking to the rental mechanic at a local mountain bike rental place. They've had so much trouble with those tires they rip them off immediately on new rentals and replace with maxis.  Never had less flats.  

Just snagged this approximately 2000 Raleigh M600 for free on marketplace. Front derailleur doesn't want to move much but tires currently hold air and rides around the yard well enough!

I sold the free red bike because it was too big for my 30" in seam. And because it needed more work than I felt like. But I've been cruising the classifieds, as one does, and saw this rad thing that I dragged home tonight. 
 

and check out these yellow wall tires

It needs cleaned, and it needs pedals, but it's pretty rad. And just my right size. Dude was showing me all the cool (if mismatched) old hardware. I don't know much about that stuff though. What I do know is the frame is 7020 aluminum and the forks are carbon and the wheels are a nice deep V. By far the lightest bike I've ever owned. And at $150 I could do a lot worse. One month of commuting will save that much in fuel anyway. The photos are just from the ad. I'll shoot my own tomorrow if I get a chance. 
 

Double cup holders!

What do folks like for inexpensive pedals for commuting?

In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :

If you are looking for just flat pedals I would look for something plastic with molded in plastic pins/grippers. There are lots of options for flats but a lot of them have very aggressive metal pins that work well with the right shoes but will likely tear up anything else. I just fit the giant "test ride" pedals that came with my fat bike to my partners new commuter bike and they seem like a decent option.

Edit - something along the lines of the Raceface Ride Pedal

If you are thinking clipless then an entry level Shimano SPD pedal is the answer in the style that suits best (I wouldn't recommend the version that is a platform on one side and SPD the other as they always seem to be the wrong way up for whatever you are trying to do). Shimano's pedals just seem to last.

In reply to adam525i :

Good luck finding a Shimano pedal right now...

I like MKS pedals for commuting style riding particularly the Gamma or Lambda because the bearing seem to be better sealed then a lot of the really cheap pedals but they aren't the cheapest. Really I'd look for something either plastic molded or metal with very small pins (like those MKS ones) that have two bearings (preferably sealed rather then cup and cone).

I've been riding atleast once a day since being medically cleared. Some changes to 2 of the 3 bikes but still riding single speed coaster brake stuff 8-14 miles a day. 

Detail shots and components:

My only real concern is most of the pedals I see online are 9/16 thread and I get a feeling that these cranks are 100% metric. I suppose I'll just take it up to one of the local shops and make sure I get the right thing. 
It's dirty, and definitely shows signs of wear, but everything seems to work well and I'm confident it was a good buy. 
Any input or info is welcome. 

They'll have a standard thread for the pedals, sort of like spark plugs and seat belt bolts in your otherwise metric car (at least that's the case in my E28).

That's a real hodge-podge of Shimano but it should all work fine for you with a tune up and new cables, now the girl saddle might cause problems /s. The bike should clean up really nice, cool frame and even cooler (in my opinion) fork. Congrats!

In reply to adam525i :

Girl seat? Shows what I know. I'll have to drag the thing up to the bike place and have someone sprain it all and get some pedals and maybe a saddle. Blue pedals I think.