Being me

First and foremost, The Pie and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary Monday (all weekend, actually and also Monday). 

Black and white because we old, like trees and whales and democracy.

We did the most Gen X thing we could think of Saturday night and went to see a '90s cover band.  Harvey Danger and The Foo Fighters had us on our feet, banging heads and pumping fists.  Nirvana cajoled us out to the dancefloor in the most nonsensical footwear for moshing about.  I've been incredibly lucky to have The Pie in my life for 33 years (we've known each other for 35, but it took awhile for her to take a shine to me).  We've been through loads of ups and downs, and she truly is my better half, more like better two thirds but the math is fuzzy.  Without her, I'd probably be working some job I hate in Ohio*, subsisting my human form with fried everything, riding a mountain bike in the mud once a week, and voting against my best interests.

That was for yinz who used to complain that all I write about is bike stuff but probably ain't reading anymore but whatever.  I think my readers are down to a few dozen or so frands, four anti-vaxxers, two death-wishers, and someone who's tryna save me.**

So... it may not sound like it made much sense to "upgrade" my 120mm '25 Step Cast 34 to the 130mm '26 34 SL. 

Dunno.  Does it make the Pisgah single speed with 140mm of travel as close to redundant as possible?

Hmmmm...

I rode Pisgah SS in the place where it was meant to be ridden... although locals telling you that a trail is "open" doesn't always jive with what the reality is.  Woops and big sorrys.  The other real "descent" of the day also fell into the same category, and although it was "rideable," it was obviously not so much ridden or primo or "open."

The Radimus Meatplow V.9 felt sluggish on the climbs, but then again, I've only ridden it a handful of times since getting the Optimus Meatplow V.10.  Since I've blurred the lines between the two bikes even further, I decided to figure out what makes the bikes different (enough to justify their existences).

There's a near one pound difference in tires/wheels/rotors (rotating weight), and the Pisgah SS is almost 2.5 pounds heavier overall, including the computer mount, cages, CO2, spare tube, plugger and tool installed on both.  The Optimus sits at 24.58 pounds... which seems heavy for a ti XC single, no?  Wait, I forgot that's with all the shit strapped and bolted on to it.  Reach is the same, the saddle to bar drop is -1" more on the Radimus (and the drooper has more droop), and the front center is 15mm longer on it as well.

I'm going to tell myself that they are different enough to be justified (for me).  I want more tire on Pisgah play dates, but I'm not going to be swapping tires or entire wheelsets for a day trip.  I also like the idea of keeping some mileage off my main bike and mebbe avoiding the Pisgah fairy dust mud on my nice moving parts. 

Before the installation, I actually read the manual for the Topeak Torq Stick Digital Pro.  I thought I knew how to use it entirely correctly based on using my previous digital torque wrench.  I was partially wrong. 

Red light, green light, vibrate, peak mode, track mode... not just a simple wrench after all, but easier to use like a smart person now that I am less dumb.

I'm fortunate that I have decent testing grounds nearby for when I gotta "tune" a new fork.  Obviously, I'm no suspension doctor, so I start at factory recommendos and go from there.  Head over to the rib cage high (2.5 apples) huck-to-flat behind the grocery store to check for bottom out.  Ride some slow tech at the BYT and make sure the rebound isn't too fast.  Hit the straight-fastiest, root-rockiest short descent on the same trail and ensure that the fork isn't packing up from a too slow rebound setting.

I ended up two clicks slower than recommended, which means mebbe I'm chubbier than I think, or I had heavy thoughts weighing my mind down.

The 130mm 34SL is the fork that didn't exist but I wanted when I dreamt this bike up last June and built it in September.  I wanted something a little more aggressive than the 120mm fork, but didn't want the extra weight of the regular 34... which I have on the Radimus... which would make the two bikes way too similar.  The Grip SL has been way better than the Fit 4, which I ironically installed in the Radimus's 34 when I thought I'd be "racing" on it more... doh.  I already sold the Grip damper, so I'm just gonna deal with that remorse. 

Gonna keep racking up the majority of my miles on the XC SS for sure, although Bootlegger won't be on this bike, but definitely PMBAR, but not Mountain Cat 100, but most definitely Breck Epic.  Still, the major majority... loving this bike.

* That says less about Ohio and more about what side of the fence I woulda fell on had The Pie not convinced me to leave my comfort zone.

** The unpublished hate comments give me all the strength I need to keep going.