After I had to abandon my Giant because of frame issues, I got this sweet 1999 Bergamont Virus with a steel frame and a Rockshox Jett fork. Put some parts on it to match the frame colors as well as Schwalbe Billy Bonkers. It's currently being used as my commuter/city bike and it's zipping through the streets quicker than my modern 29er XC. Love this thing.

I spend some time editing a video for the volunteer MTB club in Bermuda, Fattire Massive. This video highlights footage from 3 races and posts the season results.

So, it's about time to replace this derailleur, it's served me well but honestly the problems never really stopped with GX eagle.

I just don't know which route to take, since I run a helix cassette I could possibly jump to Shimano deoreXT for about $130 while keeping the SRAM chain. It should be compatible, but concrete information is sparce when mixing so many brands.

Even less information is available about the other option, LTWOO TX. Apparently for $50 shipped I can get a 12 speed shifter and derailleur. Every bike shop guy will tell you to steer clear of LTWOO but the stuff I've seen in person felt good quality. I can't find any food reviews on the TX group and even aliexpress shows maybe a dozen orders between multiple vendors. Really my biggest gripe with them is that spare parts seem to be impossible to find, everything seems to be disposable instead of rebuildable.

As far as I can tell there's no ultra reliable mechanical 12speed. Shimano is probably the best I can afford, but the mismatched parts are likely to lead to issues. LTWOO would save me enough to upgrade my brakes but I have no idea if it's just going to be a pain in the ass or actually usable. Honestly I really don't want to buy another eagle derailleur. From day 1 I've had nonstop issues, yet it's the option that makes the most sense to me.

If anyone has real experience with 12 speed outside of the usual setups your knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the ramble.

TLDR:

1. Just replace the derailleur ($100)
2. Upgrade to Shimano ($130)
3. (Maybe) downgrade To LTWOO ($50)

Went for a test ride today on a Specialized Stumpjumper I recently rebuilt. I increased the tire size from 27.5 to 29. Bike rides really nice.

Following on from my post a little while back over the winter I stripped down my Bird bike to paint it up a fresh. These are the results!

Things I've changed-

New XT BB

Nukeproof Headset

DMR Defy stem

DMR wingbars

DMR Death Grips

Raceface Chester Pedals

No brand bash guard / chain device

Vittoria Mazza rear tyre

Everything else I've just cleaned up and refurbed as best I can. I also decided to colour code the brake levers whilst I was at it and they came out pretty well considering i had to "mask" the mechanism where it wouldn't disassemble any further with blue tack xD

I hope everyone had a great riding weekend. This was my riding spot today. It’s got a bunch of nice technical bits and jumps and wallrides.

And the best part is it’s above Medellin so you get this view of the city the whole ride down.

My suspension has Pedal Lock Out and Low SPD. When would I want to have pedal lock out and what's the advantage of the Low Spd settings?

I just upgraded from an entry level hardtail to a used carbon fiber XC bike I picked up for a steal. All the components are much nicer than what I had before. My goal now is to get fast on flowy trails. I'm not a gear head and mostly just want to have fun while exercising.

This is a topic that has been very personal to me last years so felt like it's a good idea to post this here

I thought it was an access hole to get to the cables inside the seat tube, but when I unscrewed the square black plastic plate, it's just a flat bare metal surface, with a vertical slot cut in offset from the centre.

Is this for a chain guide?? Seems too high for that. I can't find anything in the user manuals on Giant Trance (this is a 2018 Trance 2).

Jerboa and/or my instance didn't like the photo so here's a link

I'm wanting to build a bike to my own specs, I thought I would be able to get a bit of a discount by buying the frame as second hand, but it's proving oddly difficult to find any.

I tried Ebay thinking that would be the one, but it's just loaded with Chinese brand frames.

Do I have to buy a new frame from the manufacturer?

September 15 2023. #mtb #rockhopper #mtblife

Since wiping the dirt off of frame joints/bolts seems to push dirt around, how often do you unscrew the frame bolts and regrease the exterior of the bearing and deep clean? I'm not talking about opening the bearings themselves.

Late summer means the local singletrack is hopelessly overgrown. I had to stick to access roads and old doubletrack. It was still a beautiful day to be out, though!

September 4 2023 #mtb #rochkopper

What were you guys riding back in the day? This was the final form of my bike back when I was a teenager.

One One Gimp frame

FSA pig three piece cranks

Single speed conversion

24inch Atomlab rear wheel with DMR moto

26inch Atomlab front with DMR moto digger

Manitou forks

DMR wing bars and zip grips

DMR V8 pedals

I was chasing that slack head angle before it was cool apparently, not that I knew that was even a thing back then :D

My brakes were always my feet and I only recently got a saddle in these pictures as I rode without a saddle for around 4 years prior to this.

I wish I still had this bike but sadly it moved on a long time ago now.

Getting in as many rides as I can before it gets really shitty over the winter. Once it gets too wet it is gonna get a full strip down, service or replace everything and give it a fresh look via paint!

August 27 2023 at Alum Creek State Park in Ohio #mtb #mtblife #rockhopper