One of my bikes was having a tiny bit of brake rub on the rear. Especially when it got dusty. No amount of adjusting would make it go away. At first I wondered about the facing of the mounts on the frame. However, No22 said that the mounts were faced and they documentation to prove it. Plus, you could see the facing just by looking. So, I suspected the stock SRAM spacer might not be perfectly flat and bought a Freedom Coast set to try out. I installed the rear +20 mm spacer and there was no rub and it was super easy to get the alignment perfect. So, it appears that the SRAM spacer wasn't perfectly parallel. Thanks for the mention of this product, James. I never would have expected a spacer problem otherwise.
One other note- the RockShox Rudy fork has brake mounting hole spacing that is the same as a rear brake. So, if you buy a spacer get a rear spacer to use on the Rudy fork.
Love the bike. Pretty much 100% of my riding on it is either on rocky desert singletrack or dirt roads that are more like Jeep trails. These are only about 1/4 mile from my front door. Between the Rudy Fork and the Ergon seatpost the bumps are tamed quite a bit. I would recommend the combo for people who like riding on rough trails and don't mind the little extra weight from a suspension fork. The Rudy is super easy to adjust with only air pressure and high speed rebound adjustment.
I have the rebound set almost fully open and the ride is great. On smooth roads I can swap to my matching carbon fork and save some weight. With the hydraulic quick connect it only takes about 15 minutes.
I grew up in Pasadena and lived in Altadena for 15 years. Mountain bikers have faced challenges with wildfires in that area (notably the ~150,000 acre 2009 Station fire and more recently 2020 Bobcat fire), but the sheer scale of homes lost is beyond words. So many friends, colleagues, fellow cyclists and former neighbors are now homeless. The mountains will come back in their own time, but the people need our support.
My snowshoe straps recently broke and found MSR wants $60 for replacements…enter Voile straps! I didn’t want to go without the ones I keep in my cargo bike bag, so I started asking around about good places to buy them. I found Voile sells their factory seconds on eBay for even better pricing. Time to stock up!
I have almost ordered the Orox. You are testing the 1x12 not the Rohloff, correct? I would have trouble buying the Rohloff because I'd want to swap 29+ rims onto it for summer. I'm curious about the pulley they added to lift the chain over the chain stay, among other things. I'm here for the fat bike content.
Not that it matters much but what is the weight of the Tern? Do you have an e-lift workstand now? I’m not sure my old shoulders could wrestle it into a workstand
Bummer about Light & Motion. My first two commuter lights were by them, and I liked their daylight pulse pattern. But I later moved to Trek in order to get a light with a cutoff that keeps the glare out of the eyes of other cyclists and drivers.
Same. They were early innovators with the sharp upper cutoff on their Seca lamphead, and the early-generation Taz all-in-one lights were really good, too. At some point they apparently decided the bike market wasn't worth investing in more so they expanded into other things (like camera and dive lighting) so the line had seemed pretty stagnant in recent years.
That is a bummer. I was working in a shop years ago and we loved L&M. They had a contest for shop employees and I won a Seca 1800 - which still runs great for my uses.
So bummed about Light & Motion. Hoping my Seca 2500 can last a while. Still looking for a better on-bike light than the Seca for MTB, haven’t found it yet.
I'd maybe take a look at Exposure and Outbound Lighting. The Niterider Pro Enduro 4200 packs a hell of a punch, too, but it uses a separate battery pack (the other two are all-in-ones).
When I lived in Virginia I rode every day year round and there were weeks where the high temperature for the day was below 10 degrees F. Then it was the clothing that made it tolerable. The lifesavers were 30Seven heated insoles and gloves. They keep the toes and fingers warm better than any others I tried. Layering for the rest of the body. I rode a Ridley cross bike with Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tires. Never had a problem with ice.
Yep, that's definitely a concern, but I'll know for sure once it arrives. I suspect they'll be ok for commuting (depending on the amount of slush), but they'll definitely have to come off for backcountry duty in deeper snow.
I raced the HiLite Cross BITD. Worked well, except on wet pavement. Hard to believe that 27-28mm tires were the norm. I was still out descending the guys on MTBs in races.
Was very sad when Michelin dropped the HiLite line. I used them all. Especially loved the HiLite Hot MTB tire
One of my bikes was having a tiny bit of brake rub on the rear. Especially when it got dusty. No amount of adjusting would make it go away. At first I wondered about the facing of the mounts on the frame. However, No22 said that the mounts were faced and they documentation to prove it. Plus, you could see the facing just by looking. So, I suspected the stock SRAM spacer might not be perfectly flat and bought a Freedom Coast set to try out. I installed the rear +20 mm spacer and there was no rub and it was super easy to get the alignment perfect. So, it appears that the SRAM spacer wasn't perfectly parallel. Thanks for the mention of this product, James. I never would have expected a spacer problem otherwise.
One other note- the RockShox Rudy fork has brake mounting hole spacing that is the same as a rear brake. So, if you buy a spacer get a rear spacer to use on the Rudy fork.
Glad to hear you sorted out that rub, and that it turned out to be such a minor thing. Hope you're enjoying the heck out of the bike!
Love the bike. Pretty much 100% of my riding on it is either on rocky desert singletrack or dirt roads that are more like Jeep trails. These are only about 1/4 mile from my front door. Between the Rudy Fork and the Ergon seatpost the bumps are tamed quite a bit. I would recommend the combo for people who like riding on rough trails and don't mind the little extra weight from a suspension fork. The Rudy is super easy to adjust with only air pressure and high speed rebound adjustment.
I have the rebound set almost fully open and the ride is great. On smooth roads I can swap to my matching carbon fork and save some weight. With the hydraulic quick connect it only takes about 15 minutes.
I grew up in Pasadena and lived in Altadena for 15 years. Mountain bikers have faced challenges with wildfires in that area (notably the ~150,000 acre 2009 Station fire and more recently 2020 Bobcat fire), but the sheer scale of homes lost is beyond words. So many friends, colleagues, fellow cyclists and former neighbors are now homeless. The mountains will come back in their own time, but the people need our support.
Happy 10th news letter anniversary James. My review of this product? Enthusiastic thumbs up!
Aw, thanks!
My snowshoe straps recently broke and found MSR wants $60 for replacements…enter Voile straps! I didn’t want to go without the ones I keep in my cargo bike bag, so I started asking around about good places to buy them. I found Voile sells their factory seconds on eBay for even better pricing. Time to stock up!
https://www.ebay.com/usr/voilemfg
Ooh, hot tip!!!
I have almost ordered the Orox. You are testing the 1x12 not the Rohloff, correct? I would have trouble buying the Rohloff because I'd want to swap 29+ rims onto it for summer. I'm curious about the pulley they added to lift the chain over the chain stay, among other things. I'm here for the fat bike content.
Yep, it’ll be the 1x12 model.
Not that it matters much but what is the weight of the Tern? Do you have an e-lift workstand now? I’m not sure my old shoulders could wrestle it into a workstand
It's a beast for sure. Tern lists the Orox S12 model at 37.1 kg (81.8 lb) for a medium.
And nope, no e-lift workstand :(
Bummer about Light & Motion. My first two commuter lights were by them, and I liked their daylight pulse pattern. But I later moved to Trek in order to get a light with a cutoff that keeps the glare out of the eyes of other cyclists and drivers.
Same. They were early innovators with the sharp upper cutoff on their Seca lamphead, and the early-generation Taz all-in-one lights were really good, too. At some point they apparently decided the bike market wasn't worth investing in more so they expanded into other things (like camera and dive lighting) so the line had seemed pretty stagnant in recent years.
That is a bummer. I was working in a shop years ago and we loved L&M. They had a contest for shop employees and I won a Seca 1800 - which still runs great for my uses.
So bummed about Light & Motion. Hoping my Seca 2500 can last a while. Still looking for a better on-bike light than the Seca for MTB, haven’t found it yet.
I'd maybe take a look at Exposure and Outbound Lighting. The Niterider Pro Enduro 4200 packs a hell of a punch, too, but it uses a separate battery pack (the other two are all-in-ones).
When I lived in Virginia I rode every day year round and there were weeks where the high temperature for the day was below 10 degrees F. Then it was the clothing that made it tolerable. The lifesavers were 30Seven heated insoles and gloves. They keep the toes and fingers warm better than any others I tried. Layering for the rest of the body. I rode a Ridley cross bike with Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tires. Never had a problem with ice.
Looking back, I was so woefully unprepared for the conditions I was riding in. But I was also young and tolerated way better than I do now.
I see those fenders on the Tern packing up in any sort of snow. Hope the clearance of the rear section of the frame is better than it appears, too.
Yep, that's definitely a concern, but I'll know for sure once it arrives. I suspect they'll be ok for commuting (depending on the amount of slush), but they'll definitely have to come off for backcountry duty in deeper snow.
I raced the HiLite Cross BITD. Worked well, except on wet pavement. Hard to believe that 27-28mm tires were the norm. I was still out descending the guys on MTBs in races.
Was very sad when Michelin dropped the HiLite line. I used them all. Especially loved the HiLite Hot MTB tire