26 improvements

Just a few days after my Point One Racing Podium pedal-fail, a small box arrived from the Americas.

Its the 2014 Twenty6 Predator Pedal.

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Upon first inspection I had some trouble seeing where the improvements where, compared to the previous Predator pedal that I snapped, so I wrote to Twenty6 Components. Tyler, the man behind Twenty6 Components, told me that "On the supporting arms that come off from the center, I removed a few through holes and replaced them with counter bored holes." So there you go.

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2014 model, Ti-axle, alu-body and alu pins. The 2013 model was pretty much identical, coming in at 343g.

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Destroying pedals, is what I do best..

Seriously?

My second-generation Point One Racing Podium Pedal failed. Whyyyy!? 

But wait...

...Its as if I've been there before?

Lets take a stroll down the memory lane;

It started with the Superstar Components Mag Lite-Ti. The titanium-axle broke during a ascend.

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Invested a bit more money, and got the first-generation Point One Racing Podium Pedal. After a year of use, the body fell of the chromoly-axle one day.

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Invested even more cash, and got myself a pair of Twenty6 Predator Pedal Ti. The CNC shaped alu-body snapped during a jump-session - without drama if I may add.

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Why do these things happen to me? ....Im not FAT!

Review: FiveTen Diddie Schneider

FiveTen hasn't made a shower proof shoe yet, well that's until recently. Meet the Diddie Schneider FiveTen shoe.

Providing loads of protection, albeit a bit bulky, the 5.10 Diddie Schneider shoes are surprisingly comfortable. Initially developed due to a demand of a trail-builder-shoe, the Diddie Schneider shoe is constructed from the ground up to provide the best protection and traction while building. This comes at a price however, the grip on platform pedals is not as good as, say, the FiveTen Freerider VXi -and that's something to consider. The grip on the ground however (soil, loam etc) is noticeable better than most FiveTen shoes - that's the good news. The shoe itself is beefy; thick, heavy duty, with a stone-hard toe cap; this shoe means business.

I have been using this shoe in heavy rain, snow, mud, and everything in-between, and the only way this shoe got slightly wet was from the opening crack at the top where the foot goes in. Otherwise this shoe stays comfortably dry. Lastly, its worth noting that these boots oozes quality, they have a solid feel, and I have no doubt that they can take a beating, and wont fall apart anytime soon. 

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At 1150g these are definitely among the most heavy FiveTen shoes. In comparison, the FiveTen Freerider VXi are 855g

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Good luck getting wet feet.

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Having these shoes in your hands for a few minutes, and you are left with a feeling that these shoes are of a higher quality. Good job FiveTen.

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If you are making a first entry into a platform pedal specific shoe, then i wouldn't recommend the Five Ten Diddie Schneider. If you are like me however, riding in rain and snow, and want a more specific shoe for those days, or if you are into trailbuilding and want a FiveTen shoe with a bit more grip on the ground, and some added protection, then you should definitely consider the Diddie Schneider model.

The Good:
-Can take a good shower
-Good for snow as well
-Very protective
-Grip is good on ground (Considering this is a FiveTen shoe)
-Comfortable
-Quality all the way

The Bad:
-A bit bulky
-Not the best grip on pedals among FiveTen shoes

4/6

Solving a luxury problem

A little DH oriented post this time around.

The luxury problem:

My BOS Stoy RaRe is tracking the ground too good. Its probably a downhillers wet dream, but for me its an annoyance. I want my rear end to be playfull and easy to pop, and that's just not possible with the BOS Stoy RaRe, no matter how I tweaked it.

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The Stoy RaRe had to go:

267x90mm with mounting hardware, coil size bs_250_100_190, for those of you who are into weight numbers:

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The solution:

Cane Creek Double Barrel Air CS. Problem solved.

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267x90mm with mounting hardware.

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But why Cane Creek, and why the CS version?

Well I would have preferred a RockShox VIVID Air to be honest, but they are not produced in the obscene size of 267mmx90mm. CCDBACS is. The CS version is appealing to me because the dials are reworked; no more need for that stupid special-tool in case you want to add a single click of rebound. I obviously don't expect to use the CS feature on a downhill bike, but switched off, the shocks functions as a normal CCDBA. (CS stands for Climb-Switch, and adds compression and rebound with a flip of the switch) 

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A little snow, a little post.

Tiny update this time around. While its definitely been the warmest winter in several years, some snow did fall. Luckily its already melting away. I miss my usual trails, so its fine by me ; )

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For those of you who still have a whole lot of snow be sure to check out my review of the Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro HERE.

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