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I had the opportunity to spin the cranks on a new Demo 11 that was in stock at my LBS (shoutout to InCycle in Pasadena), and there was a CRAZY amount of stiction or drag in the cranks/chains/freehub/somewhere when I did a backspin on the cranks. My questions are: Does that drag get better over time, as seals and/or chains break in? And has Specialized quantified how much drag the HighGear system produces, in terms of watts lost to drag at various inout power or RPM levels?

https://www.vitalmtb.com/community/pappas717/vh-dh-bike-its-5150-time

can't just drop that you have a VH frame but not have a bike check of it...

power AND heat. dual use

Strength and stretching are both really important for bike handling and long-term durability as a rider. Duh. But sometimes trying to just be more tough isn't the best answer. I think a great test for whether it's a strength problem or an ergonomic problem has been "does it hurt all over, or does it hurt in one very specific place?" If it hurts all over, it probably means I'm too weak, and the pain I'm feeling is just part of the process of getting tougher, i.e. callouses, grip strength, sinew and soft tissue getting more resilient, etc. Lord knows I...

Lots of really good advice in here. I just want to chime in with some notes on mentality with this sort of issue. I don’t and have never earnt money with my hands, which over time makes you weak and flabby. When you take that weak and flabby body and subject it to a new very physical hobby, especially one that you want to do loads cause it’s awesome like mtb that’s going to require adaptation and it’s just not realistic to expect that to be without issue. You can do things to help that process along like work in...

plastics usually get thermically recycled around here. speak for yourselves

new rocky altitude powerplay 3 - https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/rocky-mountain-launches-new…

Here's a new one from this past weekend - catching up on maintenance doing a brake bleed. Need to clean the pads off so I go to my shelf of flammable /aerosol cans in my garage. Brain is on autopilot, I thought I grabbed the brake cleaner and sprayed a set of pads was confused by the smell. Turns out I grabbed penetrating oil.

The clip is probably an effective reminder to tighten the bolt on its own... In my experience they don't fall off Shimano calipers, but maybe that means I don't ride hard enough. On the lower grade Shimano brakes that use split pins to retain the pads, I did once have a bike shop mechanic insert the pin and then forget to bend it. I didn't notice until I lifted the bike off my car at the bike park.

I just swapped in a pair of stupid-cheap new Code RSC's for an extraordinary well-used pair (to the point where I was having a hard time reviving one of the lever bearings, and replacing those things is a PITA - at least with the bearing tools I have). TIps from you and Jono seemed to make a difference on install. Eventual removal will tell the full tale. To the extent I was under-tightening the barb and barrel nut, I'm going to look at the positive. Been doing almost all of my own wrenching for a couple of decades, and I...

Dammit. One on me today. Why is my 12sp XT shifting like garbage on the dirt? Totally helps when you put the 2nd position cog in the right orientation. Lesson: if you need glasses/readers, wear em when aligning your cogs. It really helps to connect the goddamn (alignment) dots on the cogs....