Shins be like: "You are doing it wrong!"

The momentum of a nonconformist

Random Shots Part 2/2

More randomssss:

Seconds before a huge OTB crash that resulted in two black eyes and a cracked helmet. While I won't mention names here, It rimes with "Jan".

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Now and then a trailbuiler needs a beer. Over time that accumulates a bit. (its all been correctly disposed off, so sit down you zealous tree-hugger and drink a kool-aid)

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Thomas_2 climbing all the way to the top (no really, he was climbing on his knees, crying like a little boy, lost in the cellar of a catholic church) ; )

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Tom

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Bikepark chill. Note the Carbon Cannondale Jeckyll on the left, It was specced with the Schwalbe ProCore system, and it was a piece of garbage according to the owner, nothing but trouble and leaks.

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Thats it!

Random Shots Part 1/2

Lots of riding (yay!), and lots of random shots, take a look:

Doing a small drop-scrub

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Thomas_2 pulling as much air as possible out of this jump in Sct Andreasberg on his trailbike.

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True story here: We actually saw this girl blowing her boyfriend while they where going down in the gondola, while Thomas_2 and I where going up! What has this world come to I ask? Next kids will be blowing each-other while riding as passengers in the car with their parents. I for one, will have none of that thank you! (ish)

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Speaking of park, I just had to test my Capra in a bikepark, my gawd the Pike got murdered. Compared to my BOS Idylle RaRe, the Pike is a piece of useless shit. 

Travel? what Travel?

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ENVE rim DEAD! (Bikepark related)

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Tom on his Capra, improving every time I see him climbing on-board this bike.

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Stay tuned for more.

Preview: Adidas Terrex Trail Cross 2016

Is this the FiveTen killer?     *shock!*

This shoe probably slipped under your radar didn't it? Well its the Adidas Terrex Trail Cross shoe, the Adidas attempt at a shoe for platform pedals. Im nearing my first month on these shoes, and here are my quick notes;

Surprisingly stylish. Stiff bottom, a hard toe, and ankle section.

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Note the bottom pattern, finally a shoe that's easy to climb with as well for those session days, even on rainy days.

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813grams does not place it among the lightest shoes, nor the most heavy.

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 Adidas owns FiveTen, so they have the right to the Stealth rubber. And the the durable stealth rubber, not the self destructive MI6-rubber found in the new line of FiveTen.

YAASSS!!! Finally a bungee for laces! Mah gawd we can send freaking astronauts to the moon but can't control laces (FiveTen wakeup!)

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First impressions are very positive, I will however add that they take a bit to bed in.

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So how do these shoes fare, and how do they compare to the platform pedal shoe maker giant FiveTen, well stick around as I write my final review.

The problem with Fox...

...Is that they continue to have a too hard compression rate.

Whilst not a empiric study at all, We have tried to show of the difference between the two forks:

Raw data:

2016 FOX 36 FLOAT FACTOR vs 2015 Rockshox Pike RCT3

-Both forks are 160mm

-Both are set at about 20% sag

-Fox has its high and low compression setting set to absolute zero(open)

-Pike is set to "Open"

-We rode the same line in the video, at same speed.

-We tried to switch bikes to compare feel (not shown in vid)

-Rebound was very close to same speed on the forks.
-Both bikes are YT Capras

And the conclusion was clear; the Pike felt more smooth to ride, the fork used more travel to absorb the terrain. We both agreed that the Pike was more fun to ride, and a tad faster. Don't get me wrong, the Fox 36 is not a bad fork, its great, but the Pike felt better.

Nonempirical test. Shot at 240fps, last part is reduced to 480fps.

Dear Fox, look at what Rockshox and BOS does.

Canyon Fail update

Jan cracked his Canyon Strive AL frame a month ago or so. Canyon handled his warranty claim and got him a new frame. Its the "upgraded" version that has a carbon seatstay.

My initial though is, that its only time before this frame cracks again, as the area where the crack came is identical. My pessimistic crystal-ball is not something I pull out of my ass; I broke my carbon Specialized Enduro frame the same place....twice! All it takes is poor engineering, and the same amount of stress to the same area.

Don't do crack:

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Old bike:

"New" Bike:

..And you failed Canyon, get your CAD-shit right.

Yaaaaaaaay E13

I few weeks back I wrote about my former E13 LG1 failing, not just that, but also how my warranty claim was denied, although the problem I had with the pedals, was well known.

A week went by.

And then something happened. I got contacted by Charlie Schneider, the head of tech support for E13 USA. He told me that he got my back, and that he was sorry for my inconvenience.

A week ago I got my pedals back, serviced.

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...A few days later, I actually also got a brand new pair from E13, free of charge. Yay!

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I'm glad E13 helped me out, I didn't count on it. Beware the power of this blog!!11!!

Some things change, some things stay the same.

Recent Riding Part 3/3

..more..

Jan hitting a brand new stepdown, on my bike. 

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Speaking of new stuff, Thomas is the first guy to hit this platform drop. Props man, pictures don't do it justice..

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Tom on his new 2016 YT Capra, quickly picking up technique.

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Thomas

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That stepdown

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god im drunk

Recent Riding Part 2/3 (rant included)

Second part, this time gear-related, check it out:

Tom with his brand new Capra CF Pro Race, the top model in the Capra line.

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FOX 36 Float in the front.... ill get back to that fork in a future post. Note the carbon hoops.

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FOX Float X2 in the rear, what a great performing shock btw.

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And something that also cought my attention where the Gamut Podium Pedals, created by the former Point One Racing team. 

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Big and flat, with long pins, the grip is on par with my Predator Pedals, but not as good as my E13 LG1's

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And now the rants...

FiveTen really?? After what, 4 months of use?? Fuck this new FiveTen Contact line, this blows!

Contact?? I don't see any contact between the shoe and the sole...ughhh 124 euros down the drain. I am sick and tired of things failing.

The sole is loose, and you can literally pull it of the shoe, the foot rotates weirdly on my pedals. Review score to be adjusted....

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In other amazing news...

My Pike got stuck at 20% sag, like, the fork settled at 20% even without any weight on the bike. What the fuck?? This is a (1075 euro) new fork! : (

 So I googled a little and found out that its actually a common problem with Pikes. Rockshox has even given an unofficial guide how to get rid of it, and it actually worked! So here it is:

1)Release all air.

2)Pull the fork by hand about ten times.

3)Fill it up with air again to max psi.

4)Release air untill you get to desired pressure.

Fahk this actually worked! (but this should not have happened in the first place...so fuck...somebody!)

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im tired, and its late.. 'kay

Recent Riding Part 1/3

So got lots of riding done these last two weeks, and even shot some pics. In this 3 piece photo collection I will cover some new jumps, drops, and even a new bike..

Got air? ..Thomas hitting the tree-gap.

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I am getting more and more fond of this lady.

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Tom on my bike.

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What travel?

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Jan hitting a new jump.

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