Randoms - Sedona MTB Festival 2024
The Sedona MTB Festival is back again for 2024, and luckily Mother Nature decided to play nice this time around. Instead of snow and unrideable trails, attendees are being treated to perfect dirt and sunny skies. It feels almost like a mini Sea Otter, with the added bonus of fun, technical riding in nearly every direction. Personally, I'd take pointy desert plants over poison oak any day.
Brands of all sizes have set up booths to show off their latest goodies, and in a short stroll it's possible to find everything from handmade bikepacking bags to a belt-driven, gearbox equipped enduro bike. There may not be as many interesting bits compared to what Dario has been unearthing at the Taipei Cycle Show, but there are still some gems to be found here in Arizona.
That silver bracket drops allows for the use of a shorter shock on the Reeb Steezl, dropping the travel down to 140mm from 155mm for riders who want to build up more of an aggressive trail bike.
The mount will be available as an aftermarket item in the future - Jeff Lenosky recently installed it on his pink Steezl, and had just finished his first test ride when I showed up.
Pink bike.
Reeb also had a prototype steel hardtail on display.
The details aren't finalized (it really is a prototype), but the goal is to create a versatile trail hardtail.
Gussets.
I really like the look of Oddity's Colorado-made titanium handlebars.
Another Oddity bar.
Rogue Panda is a small company based in Flagstaff, Arizona. They have a new handlebar bag mount in the works that will be machined in Flagstaff, and uses 3D-printed shims to adapt it to different handlebar dimensions.
All mounted up and ready to go places.
As far as brand names go, this is a good one.
It's Revel's fifth anniversary, and this golden Rascal had center stage in their booth.
Ergon's new GDH Team grip was developed with input from the likes of Vali Holl, Troy Brosnan, and Luca Shaw. It also feels very similar to ODI's Elite Pro grips, so if you like those you'll probably like these.
Need a gigantic custom ramp built for your backyard air bag? Rocket Ramps can do that. They also have 3, 5, and 7-foot ramp options. They're definitely not cheap (the 3-foot version is $2,275), so the ideal candidate will be quite serious about getting sweet air on their Sledgehammer.
RIGd's Ramble Rack is a burly, US-made hitch rack that's designed to survive actual off-road use. It's rated to hold bikes up to 150 pounds (each) for on-road use, up to 100 pounds on fire roads, moderate off-road use up to 75 lb, and up to 50-pounds for extreme off-road use, where the vehicle's wheels leave the ground.
That silver lever releases the racheting mechanism, and allows it to slide up or down to release or secure the front wheel.
The rear wheel is strapped into place .
Oh, and that hardtail on the rack is from Neuhaus Metal Works in Novato, Californa.
The opposite of low key.
Obligatory photo of a gearbox bike with a belt-drive, this one a Cavalarie Anakin with a Effigear 9-speed gear box that provides a 440% gear range.
Hangover is a classic Sedona trail, so it seemed fitting that Outbound Lighting had their 1000 lumen, helmet-mounted Hangover light on display.
The Trail Evo is Outbound's flaghship offering, with 2200 lumens and a wide beam pattern designed to complement a helmet mounted light.
The Talon is a newer addition to HT's catalog, with 105 x 105 x 17mm dimensions, and a $100 price tag.
All the colors.
HT Talon side profile.
Hunt had their 'Classified ready' wheelset on display.
The wheels are build with the Classified hub shell, and just need the wireless, electronic two-speed internals installed. The system works with Classified's 12-speed, 11-40 tooth cassette and has a 530% gear range.
Crankbrothers had the new Mallet Trail lace shoes. There's also a flat pedal version, the Stamp Trail Lace.
Dharco's party shirt collection continues to grow.
Yikes.
You can never have two many bells.
Fingerless gloves at the ready, for something...
Did I mention how good the Sedona dirt is the day after it rains?
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The guys from Rocket Ramps are pretty awesome guys and are taking chances that most are not willing to do!
Price playground equipment
I can confidently say that there is not 20k usd in the budget for ramps.
These however do look impressive
I short, I blame the American insurance industry and medical system for the red tape.
rocketramps.com/3-ft-ramp-1
I owned a manufacturing facility for 20 years.
Start with stamping, cutting, drilling, and machining the frame parts. 5hrs at $30/hr for a skilled laborer ($50/hr with benefits). 5X$50= $250
A good welder cost $40/hr minimum. ($70/hr with benefits). There is easily 4 hrs of welding per ramp.4X$70=$280
Now it gets painted, Add an hour at $50
Woodwork. 4 hrs to cut, varnish, and assemble. 4X$50=$200
That's approx $800 in labor cost alone. Now add material and the cost to keep the lights on, liability insurance, etc.
Oh, and those saws, grinders, drill presses, paint guns, and welders aren't free, either.
Some of the problems with your post:
#1, there's no sheet metal involved in that ramp. It's all structural steel, ala fabrication (machine) shop work (way more $ than sheet metal work), and that outside fab shop will do it for free, right? And fab shops don't use (and charge for) skilled labor?
Outsourcing this to an outside (US based) fab shop will bring the price up, not down.
#2, I've seen their ramps up close and I've quoted this kind of work for over 20 years. Yes, I'd quote it at that 4hr rate. And yes, $70/hr is what a good welder cost you when you include the cost of benefits (Hell you Cali people are paying McDonalds workers $20/hr + benefits). Yes, you'll build fixtures, which are another hidden cost.
#3, you're correct about the powdercoating but again, that brings the cost up, not down.
#4, you're correct about the material cost, you're forgetting about equipment, tooling, and consumables costs.
#5, you've also forgotten that you need a place to do this in, but shop and warehouse space is also free, right?
Unfortunately, Effigear is not as reliable as Pinion, and hard to get, has a significantly smaller gearing range.
Still, it’s a nice bike if you can get one.
Any issues with maintaining belt/chain tension once settled in?
@briain : yes, they do use a sram shifter !
Cavalerie and they gearbox company "effigear" have 2 gearboxes, the one in this bike (the anakin v2) that has 9 speeds and each gear can be customized to your need and has a high pivot, and another one, the mimic that is not high pivot but has 12 gear and is compatible with a pinion frame. Also... The bikes ans gearboxes are made in France (I visited the workshop, it was wicked).
I personally would also prefer a tension pulley for the lower part of the belt/chain with a fixed rear axle rather than work with a sliding rear axle. I'm also not too sure about using a belt in dirt though, seems like a chain and narrow teeth make it easier for dirt to evacuate. But that's a relatively easy modification.
BTW love that Ti H/T XXL -drooled over that awhile back
We'll have to do a couple laps next time!
For what feels like the thousandth time... There is absolutely no good reason for fitting shorter stroke shocks to a bike that can handle longer stroke shocks. It doesn't make the bike any poppier, livlier or more aggressive. The only thing it achieves is it makes the bike hit the bottom out stops unnecessarily soon. When will the mtb industry do away with all the dumb ass designers who come up with this shit?
You may as well start selling collars you clamp 3/4 of the way up your fork stanchion and tell people it makes the front end of your bike livlier. Do better. And for gods sake start calling people out on this pinkbike, it's literally your job...
@mikekazimer
It’s like fitting a fork with less travel, as in one with a reduced length to match, not keeping a 150 fork length but limiting stroke.
Silly bum.
Silly Bum
Making such drastic changes to the swingarm geometry at the top out position (rather than the bottom out position, as achieved by shock stroke limiters) would also wildly change the suspension kinematics, quite likely making them entirely unusable. There really is absolutely no good reason to fit this extender piece to the bike. Whoever created it is either ignorant of suspension design or knowingly ripping off customers.
Again @mikekazimer and the other PB writers should be calling them out on this.
I do think it’s a bit silly, but also not as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be imho.
On a coil, if you are using a system designed to control bottom outs in order to give improved midstroke, then there is something fundamentally wrong with your setup in the first place. Shortening the travel available in order to bring the bottom out control in sooner is again a backwards soution.
It really doesn't make any sense. It's just a gimmick loads of companies seem to be cynically (or simply ignorantly) buying into at the moment. And it is a big deal if arguably the largest bike review source going is buying into it. I probably am being too loud about it, but frankly I'm tired of the sport being held back by people selling and supporting nonsense, that simply wouldn't be gotten away with in any other big money sport with proper designers and engineers. MTB is living this weird dual life at the moment, where the equipment is far more expensive than in comparative sports, and far less well designed. It's basically got to the point where sub par products (be that creaking csu's, cracking frames, failing e-motors, etc etc) are not just common, they are the standard, and we still pay through the nose for them.