[blaklabl]

I also have a 26er rigid that for a few years was my main ride, and still I'm on it a lot. My SS is a 650b though, for no particular reason than that's how the parts fell together. Your Titanium bike, wow, it looks really nice. I like the little touches of red that you have going on. Or is that purple, that I see centered around the crank-arm bolt? Your bike looks nice, that's for sure.

Purple on the crank. It has a bunch of ano colors, purple, orange, lime green...pretty much anything goes with ti

 

[Fuelish]

If you were a true Luddite, you'd drive a three on the tree!

:thumbsup: True, but....fwiw, I have driven a couple....and I guess I would be riding a SS and playing acoustic guits (I do have a couple)….was just a swipe at Gibson's Henry J's quote about folks wanting "traditional" Gibsons as Luddites....I don't need no steenking robot tuners....LOL

 

[BCsaltchucker]

Rims were usually wider back in the 80s when 26s were the size to have - maybe part of the problems people have had with 26s in modern times has something to do with the ever narrowing of rims down to a typical 17/19mm.

hmm maybe in the mid 80s we had something close to 30mm wide rims IIRC (eg on my 85 Rocky Sherpa). and again late 90s the 27mm Sun Rhyno rims were std issue for north shore riding when I lived in Vancouver. By the early 90s the rims got narrower with the obsession with XC racing of the day, they were narrow as you say like road racing rims ish. Today all I see mainly is 32-45mm rims around here. My narrowest is 38mm, my widest is 45mm

 

[chelboed]

Well, I did try to get the frame warrantied by Jamis...they said they actually still had a few of those 2005 Komodo FX frames in a size large in stock in grey...but the warranty on a Komodo and Kromo were only 5-years b/c of the rowdy nature of the bike.

They did say that if I could find my 12-year-old receipt that they could give me a discount on a new frame.

Either way...I should have been running an inch-or-so longer seatpost. Then it'd still be alive.

They also said that the lifetime warranty on their other hardtails are only good for the lifetime of the frame material.

"Lifetime warranty refers to the materials lifetime. Each material has a fatigue life, the failures you are seeing are the result of fatigue, not from any manufacturing defect. If you need more clarification on this, check out the support section of our website..." etc...

So really...a lifetime warranty never means the lifetime of the components - duh
May or may not mean the life time of the original owner...
Could possibly not cover frame material failure...um...wha?

I get it that they definitely cover defects in construction...but not covering failure of a material they choose to use in the construction of the product seems like a CYA loophole to me. If you don't trust the material to last a lifetime...don't give it a lifetime warranty.



We offer a lifetime warranty!! (Unless you break it.)

No big deal. I'm set either way. I really should consider trying to dig up my 12y.o. receipt and getting a good deal on a Dragonslayer 26+.

 

[291748]

They are titanium, made by Defiance Frameworks in Homer, Alaska

Thanks; I like.

 

[Bluegill]

No big deal. I'm set either way. I really should consider trying to dig up my 12y.o. receipt and getting a good deal on a Dragonslayer 26+.

If that's the way they want to play it (*****ing out on a lifetime warranty) then just make up your own receipt from a now-defunct bike shop.

 

[mik_git]

Thats the way all manufactures run a lifetime warranty...people read "Lifetime" and think it's their life, when in fact it what the manufacture thinks is a good lifespan for the frame and it's intended use... usually about 5 years.
SOmetime a great company will honour a warranty outside their specified timeframe, others will be sucktastic on "lifetime".

 

[bridgestone14]

I have created receipts for small things in the past. If all they want is a receipt pretty sure you or someone you know can make that happen.

 

[chelboed]

Nah. I'm not gonna lie about it. I bought it from Jenson in 2006. I've got a replacement that will fit me even better coming in 2 days.

I'm good.

 

[Neuner]

Found this interesting. DH'r Neko Mulally, who likes to fiddle around with different designs, tried out 27.5 vs 29 several times on a test course and had this to say at the end;

One thing that was reiterated as we debated the potential benefits of one wheel size versus the other was that it was really difficult to tell the difference between the two. Neko said, "I changed rear wheels almost every run and at times would forget which wheel I had on while I was riding. I would rail a turn and think, man this 27.5 wheel turns fast and then realize I had the 29er on." Using the stopwatch confirmed that it doesn't make much of a difference in the conditions he was testing in.

 

[gabe999]

I still have my 26er" dirt jump specific bike. My 4 other bikes are 27.5. I had converted my Mosso Scandium hardtail from 26 to 27.5 and I will never ever change it back. It's like night and day. Enjoy it significantly more now. So much so I converted my 2005 Santa Cruz Heckler to 27.5 and it is not going back to 26 as long as I own it. I sold all the 26" wheels. I know there's a lot of die hards but I feel the difference and I ride longer and more enjoyably than before. That's just my 2 cents and I've been riding a very long time. I won't go to 29 though. I've tried it but not for me.

 

[Mr Pig]

I won't go to 29 though. I've tried it but not for me.

What didn't you like about it?

 

[Pedalon2018]

I switched from a 1998 Trek 8900 to a Ti Hardtail last spring. That was a 26 to a 29 jump. Weird after riding 20 years in a 26-2.1. However in the course of my first two long rides, not only did the clown wheel feel go away, I discovered the biggie wheels go over roots and the like much better. Really surprised me. I have come to really enjoy the 29ers. Only draw back is the extra weight in both the wheels and rims. They are almost like sitting on top of the cycling world.

 

[skankingbiker]

I switched from a 1998 Trek 8900 to a Ti Hardtail last spring. That was a 26 to a 29 jump. Weird after riding 20 years in a 26-2.1. However in the course of my first two long rides, not only did the clown wheel feel go away, I discovered the biggie wheels go over roots and the like much better. Really surprised me. I have come to really enjoy the 29ers. Only draw back is the extra weight in both the wheels and rims. They are almost like sitting on top of the cycling world.

Try a 29+

 

[gabe999]

I've tried, recently as well, all the high end, big name brands 29ers from Santa Cruz, Trek, Giant, Rocky Mountain, Specialized, etc.. I'm 5'7". I wouldn't say dislike them. The best of the lot was from Rocky Mountain which felt most like a 27.5". If I had to replace my hardtail 27.5 it would be with a RM 29er....if I could afford it. That said, I ride mostly trail/Enduro and like to jump and something about the take off and the landing on a 29er just was not inspiring, somewhat scary (maybe the feeling being up high and thought of keeping the large wheels straight) and the extra effort for me to make that launch feel impactful. I hope that makes sense. During xmas I vacationed in Phoenix and Sedona. Did the National Trail on a rented 29er. It was great since I didn't know what I was up against. I'd do it again on 27.5 for that more connected, bottoming out of my suspension feel...like I own that bike, man.

 

[Pedalon2018]

Try a 29+

I will do that. Waiting for my LBS to get me the new eTap AXS 46/33 w/10-28, and then change up the rubber. Thanks for the tip. I have a Fatty but never tried 29+.

 

[411898]

The last 26er I ever owned tried to kill me and because of that, it was the last 26er I ever owned.

 

[skankingbiker]

I will do that. Waiting for my LBS to get me the new eTap AXS 46/33 w/10-28, and then change up the rubber. Thanks for the tip. I have a Fatty but never tried 29+.

I have a pugsley converted to 29+ ...a "Krampug." It rolls over everything. Feels like riding a monster truck. Its fun, but a big difference from carving with a 26 HT

 

[Jack Burns]

I remember when I first really trail rode my 26" fatbike it was super amazing to ride anywhere at all and get away with all kinds of shenanigans that would be painful on a skinnier 2.0- 2.4 tire.

That fatbike is not what I think of as a 26er.

Plus tires are a bit like that too.

It all depends on skill and where you ride, as well as the bike, of course.

I think that current variety of tire widths are wonderful thing. Something for everyone.

Narrower tires have to be placed better on the trail, and with more precision, with less suspension and smaller diameter.

Old school 26" rigid bikes are more difficult to ride. But they can ride.

Kind of like old school skiis.

Once you learn them, you can turn them.

Nothing wrong with the latest stuff. It's better.

But like vintage for vintage sake, that's okay. Just get out of the way old man!

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

 

[skankingbiker]

Old school 26" rigid bikes are more difficult to ride. But they can ride.

Kind of like old school skiis.

Once you learn them, you can turn them

Funny. On ride with buds last fall on my oldie but goodie 26er. They say: "Wow, you are really carving on that thing; how are you able to keep up without a dropper or rear suspension"