u/yertipy

So I am a big fan of 27.5 * 2.8 tires on my trail / bike packing / adventure steel hardtail. But I feel that size is dying out. So I was thinking of buying a few Maxxis Rekon 2.8 and stockpiling them down in my cellar. Until the day I need them. How long does a new tire that's never been ridden stay good under these conditions? I live in Central Europe and my cellar is pretty dry and has mild temperatures all year round. Are there tricks to keep them good for longer and i guess prevent dry rot?

Just a disclaimer, I'm not here to discuss whether 26in is better or worse than other wheel sizes. You ride what you like, that's good enough for me!

Context: I'm looking into buying a hardtail frame that is intended as a 27.5 in front and back. Stanton Switchback Gen 5 if you're wondering. It's a brand new frame with all the modern standards including udh, boost spacing, long dropper insertion, the whole lot. Well, apart from the wheel size, haha. I would be upgrading from a pretty beat up previous gen frame of the same bike, which i absolutely love.

Hence my question. 27.5in is kind of dying if I'm to believe YouTube/PinkBike/TheInternet. So I'm wondering if it's a smart thing to invest into a 27.5in frame. The two main concerns are the long-term availability of tires and forks. I'm not worried about wheels because you can always buy a hub and a rim and have them laced by a shop.

But tires, especially in the 2.6 or 2.8 sizes that I tend to favor on my bike don't seem to be very popular options. That's why I'm asking the 26ers out there, can you still source the tires you like in that size? Or are your options limited to older models or just fewer SKUs in general?

And on forks, same question. How hard is it to find a modern 26in fork? Or are you still running the same old gear you used to back then and just keeping it going by maintaining it well?

TL;DR: Will I be able to source a decent 140 mm 27.5in trail fork 5 years from now? Will I be able to buy a 27.5*2.8 tire 5 years from now?

Any Austrian bikepackers here? I'm planning a 3-day trip spanning Styria, Lower Austria and Burgenland. But I'm confused as to where I am allowed to ride. As far as I understand in Lower Austria it is completely forbidden to ride on forest roads. In Styria it seems to be a mix and in Burgenland it might be more relaxed. So what's the deal? Where am I allowed to ride?

Ich breche am Freitagmorgen zu einer Bikepacking-Tour auf und möchte mir vorher noch einen neuen Sattel kaufen. Ich habe mich sofort in den SQLab 611 Sattel verliebt, nachdem ich ihn auf dem Fahrrad eines Freundes ausprobiert hatte. Schmerzen im Gesäßbereich müssen beim Radfahren also doch nicht zwangsläufig dazugehören! Dies ist keine Werbung, ich habe nichts mit SQLab zu tun.

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Ich möchte mir also eins vor Ort kaufen. Kennt jemand ein Geschäft in Wien mit einer guten Auswahl an Modellen und Größen? Ich bin mir ziemlich sicher, dass ich die 14-cm-Version brauche, aber es wäre schön, sie vor Ort anprobieren zu können.

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Danke!

if I get a five-star rated helmet on Virginia tech, does it make a difference whether it's a typical looking mountain biking helmet or if it leans towards the gravel side of things? Will I get the same level of protection, as long as I pick a highly rated helmet?

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I'm in the market for a new half shell helmet. I went to the Virginia tech website and looked at the top rated helmets. Then I picked one I liked. It's not a classical mountain biking helmet in the sense that it doesn't have a peak and it looks maybe a bit more compact. But it is within the top 20 helmets rated there.

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Will it give me the same level of protection as one of the more typical trail helmets? That is, is the rating more important than the shape of the helmet? Or does a more bulky helmet actually make a difference on the trail?

I've been shooting a traditional horse bow for the last 6 months. Looking up videos to understand the technique. I've come across the two sorts of Khatra: side and forward. As I understand, the goal in both cases is to work around the archer's paradox by moving the arrow pass out of the way when losing the arrow. But is there an actual difference between side and forward Khatra in terms of accuracy or ease of mastering the technique?

My son is riding an Early Rider 16-in mountain bike. We got it second hand. I doubt the brake pads were ever replaced. He's struggling to stop when we go on steep trails. I've already installed new brake cables, inners and outers, and that definitely helps. Now I would like to get some better brake pads. I've looked online and it looks like SwissStop is a commonly recommended brand. But I don't know how they actually fare and what color compound I should get. Does anybody have any recommendations? For context, the rims are anodized aluminum. The anodizing is fading in places.

TLDR: should I put back my old IFP damper cartridge instead of the rct3 cartridge I currently have in?

I have a RockShox Pike Select+ 140mm from 2020. It came stock with an IFP damper cartridge. After about a year of riding that setup, I started looking online and decided to buy a charger 2.1 rct3 upgrade kit. I'd read online that it might make the fork feel more active.

To be honest, I wasn't blown away by the difference. I posted about it on Reddit back then, and some people wrote that I might have unintentionally downgraded my fork. Because the stock ifp was already pretty good. I'm not that well versed in the differences between all those cartridges.

I heard that expanding bladder dampers like the RCT3 are prone to wear and tear more than IFPs. Is there some truth to that?

Will the ifp perform better than the rct3? The fork is on a hardtail that I use for general trail riding. Nothing too crazy. I would like to prioritize long-term viability as the fork is getting old but I'd like to keep it running smooth.

I just cracked my Google Pixel 8a's screen and I'm looking for a repair shop that could handle it quickly. The crack is small so it's not super urgent but I'd like to find a place that can do it on the same day i bring it in. Online reviews aren't the most reliable so i thought I'd ask the good people of Reddit. I live in the 17th, for reference. Does anyone know of a reputable repair shop that will do that? Thanks!

So I've got a Stanton Slackline gen3 frame in 4130 steel and i absolutely love that thing. I've got it set up as a play bike for local trail riding. And I'm looking at the titanium version because I've always wanted a titanium frame.

But there comes my question. It's a 27.5" frame and it can't fit a UDH. Is that a deal breaker for you guys? Will 27.5" really die out? Will sourcing rear wheels/tires become impossible? What about the UDH? I could just buy a few derailleur hangers from Stanton to be on the safe side. Plus in my 15 years of riding I've never broken a hanger. Would you guys go for it?

Other than that the frame is solid: boost spacing, threaded bottom bracket, 44mm head tube, 31.6mm seat tube. And about 1-1.5kg lighter than my steel frame. Yeah yeah i know, it's not going to change my world. But, ya know.. 🤩

The context is a discussion around the backlash against AI. The guest on the podcast, Sebastian Mallaby, who wrote a biography of Demis Hassabis, of Google fame, uses *The Culture* as an example of what humans could evolve into if AI removes the need to work to sustain oneself. I did a double take listening to it while preparing dinner for my family. Sci-fi and geopolitics is a fairly rare crossover 😅

[The Rachman Review] The backlash against AI

https://podcastaddict.com/the-rachman-review/episode/224796792

This morning I was at the archery range in Scheiblingstein near Vienna. It's in the middle of the woods, but there's quite a lot of foot traffic there. The foot path goes next to the range and it's common to see people walking there, sometimes with dogs.

At some point comes a couple with two dogs, we greet each other. The dogs are a bit older, so they're lagging behind. One of them starts doing his business on the side of the path. Not quite on the path, but where you might step into it if you're not careful. The owners don't seem to notice. I let them know and ask them if they're going to pick it up. The man tells me that no, he doesn't have to pick it up because it's a Wiese, so it's fine to leave it there. I tell him there's lots of people walking around here because of the archery range, including kids. Maybe he could just pick it up as a mark of respect to others. He goes on to yell at me that he's been walking this dog here for 20 years, whereas the range has only been there for a couple of years. We're in nature, so it's fine to leave dog shit on the floor.

I'm not clear on the legal situation here. Maybe he's right, maybe he's not required to pick it up. But just because you can, does it mean you should? If it's in the middle of the forest, far away from the path, I still don't think it's cool, but fine. If it's right next to the path, seriously?

Am I the asshole here for thinking that?

My RockShox Pike Select+ 2020 fork still has a sag indicator printed on the stanchion. For both 130mm and 140mm. I find it's such a useful thing to have when adjusting air pressure.

I've got a second bike with a Pike Ultimate 2024, and that one doesn't have a sag indicator. I have to get out my ruler and calculator anytime I want to adjust air pressure. On that same bike, the Deluxe Ultimate 2024 rear shock does have a sag indicator printed on the shaft.

Does anybody know why they removed it on newer forks? I understand that fox doesn't have that because of patents. But why would RockShox remove that?