Ebullition/Doubt 34: Maybe I’m Wrong

You don’t need a weatherman to tell you where the cat box is or whatever Robert Zimmerman once said. Yet I believe erryone has moments when they could be a Seer. I’m the furthest from any woo-woo vibes, but sometimes you just know what’s coming and what is going to be a thing. I want to dive into this and utilize this episode to return to my opening statements: “A journey into a dark forest filled with whats, hows and whys regarding bikes.” As such, we’ll dive into some more technical stuff rather than the recent esoterica. However, first enjoy some Hessian goodness. 

Music Selection: Hot Load: Fate Unknown Art is chockful of conceptual efforts. From Guernica to OK Computer, humans have a lot to say (sixty years apart; maybe that says something #basicaddition). Protest music is great and I’m certainly a fan, but I sometimes just want to dance, rock out, and not give af. Hot Load from Los Angeles fill those latter requests in spades (music pun-intended). This is some straight up ass -kicking rock that blends Motörhead’s power, the horned-hand raising of Judas Priest, and once again my perennial favorite in later Poison Idea into a sound that might drive you to strap on some leather spike bracelets non-ironically. RVA’s Bat, who I saw live last August, mine a similar vein. These bands simply rock and you know what? That’s plenty. 

My wife says I’m persnickety and TCI’s editor said I was detail-oriented in a way you’d want a dentist to be. Whatever, man. Shit’s gotta be right. I am at once weirdly turned-on by efficiency but also enamored with chaos. My pursuits are informed by things that work and are sound. As for the nebulous category of things that work, I am also going to amend that and say I want them to not only work but provide me a better experience. I read up, test and check out all sorts of bits and gear for the endeavor. On manifold occasions with these searches, I have come across things that I liked that I knew others would too. This was beyond just what I’d tell my pals about, but rather things that I knew would become pervasive in cycling. These also included things that did not work like one-piece bar/stem combos. I still think these are dumb and mostly they’ve faded away, but you can still find them on modern XC bikes. 

On the contrary are things that cross mountain biking genres and can be found at all price points. My first opportunity regarding second sight arrived in 1999 when not one, but two new technologies crossed my path. These were thru-axles and disc brakes. I experienced them both at the same time demoing a Kona Stinky. I was immediately floored by a bike that no one else at the demo was even looking at. I would soon get used to the oft repeated comments with such bikes (it’s too heavy, is that a DH bike? I don’t need _____ where I ride, etc.). I built my bike up as soon as could with these and have never looked back. However, I knew immediately that both technologies would be on all mountain bikes eventually. I did not deeply contemplate these thoughts and shared them mostly just amongst friends and some early online forums. My friends all jumped in quickly, but I received derision a plenty (see above comments and think of more coarse ones while you’re at it). More than twenty-five years on my sentiments have proven accurate. 

Another technology I knew would be omnipresent in mountain biking were dropper posts. Plug in all the same excuses and comments above and more from everyone when I first stuck a Gravity Dropper Descender (pretty sure they’ve not updated the website since the 00s) on my bike in 2005. Again, I knew it was great and told anyone that would listen that dropper posts would be on every mountain eventually. Now outside of the most basic budget bikes and DH bikes dropper posts are standard issue now. 

It was also at that time that I made the leap from Shimano to SRAM for my drivetrains, suspension (RockShox), and soon thereafter brakes (Avid/SRAM). As for the drivetrains, I’d come to view Shimano offerings as feeling vague in contrast to their byline of being “smooth”. SRAM stuff had a notable clunk when you shifted and there was no mistaking whether I was in gear or not. This “clunk” is still present on most of their drivetrains with varying degrees of tactility. Many again were not initially fans, but I was sold and I have stuck with them ever since. I made no proclamations like those above, but SRAM drivetrains became the de facto choice if you wanted to go the 1x route about fifteen years ago. Their Eagle systems drove the final nail in the coffin for front derailleurs which I had basically abandoned prior employing chain guides and bash guards for my rigs. Now with SRAM’s original 1x there was almost all the range without the need for a chain guide or front derailleur. I remember thinking why would anyone not want this. My prognostications aside, the adoption of 1x drivetrains happened much faster.  

One thing I did not predict was the backlash against Avid and ongoing with SRAM brakes. My first experience with these were with Avid Juicys. I had run Hayes brakes up until that time and had read a lot of good press regarding the Avids. I scored a set of the Juicy 5s and was psyched with their performance. However not long after I moved onto the Code 5. Codes were Avid’s first DH specific brakes and they had all the modulation of the Juicys, but with notably more power. I adored Code brakes having all the different editions and ran them on every bike I had for nearly twenty years. I never had any issues with them; they were easy to maintain, and they never failed on me. 

My love was far from shared on the subsequent offerings from Avid/SRAM. Elixirs, the replacements for the Juicys were a disaster: So much so that SRAM killed the Avid name. The Guides that followed were better and generally worked okay, but the damage was done. Basically, every brake system that SRAM presented following the Elixir debacle was looked upon with scorn no matter how well they performed. To make matters worse for SRAM, around the same time Shimano brakes were developing a good reputation. Shimano’s earliest disc brakes were horrible, but around the late 00s/early 10s they became known for their reliability and instant power. Their modulation stunk and the wandering bite point was no fun, but riders loved them and many dumped SRAM brakes in their favor. 

Now, I never had any issues with the Elixirs or the Guides for the simple reason that I only ran Codes. I never understood why no one ran those outside of DH and freeride. I guess many thought they’d be plagued by the same crap from the Elixirs, but this was never the case as the Codes had their own design. Maybe their slightly heavier weight scared others off too, but I don’t know. I still have a set of Codes on my hardtail. They work brilliantly and continue to do so. 

I finally moved away from Codes as my frontline choice with SRAM’s release of the Maven line. These brakes maintained all the modulation that SRAM brakes are known for but turned the power up beyond anything else. Once again, the haters and critics were out in force. There were some early bugs to work out with the bleeding process and riders getting used to the massive power. These issues are still being echoed by YouTubers and assorted sites. I have now run a set of Maven Ultimate’s on my Santa Cruz for about a year. I’ve bled them twice in that time, which is well within the norm for any hydraulic brake system. The bleed process is dumb simple and is less sketchy since they now use mineral oil vs the Codes DOT. I have had none of the issues (wandering bite point, difficult lever pull, too much power) that people still seem to bitch about nor have my friends. I do not believe we are unaware dolts nor that we ride like woosies either. I firmly believe these are setting the standard for what brakes can be. Then again, maybe I’m wrong, but we’ll see. 

PS: I’ve other predictions, but not enough space so we’ll delve into those at some point forthcoming.