44 Bikes

[dgaddis]

Nice write up Kris. It's fun reading reviews/thoughts on tires, because location matters so much as far as preferences and what works and what doesn't. For my local trails that tire is waaaaay overkill, and at 900g I would consider it crazy heavy (despite 'Lite' being in the name). High volume +low weight + low profile tread is what works best here, I'm running 2.2" Ikon on the rear and the 2.35" Ikon up front. But, horses for courses and all that. In general I love WTB's tires, I've had a few in the past and always had good experiences. They're not very light, but they are durable, and the tread designs just plain work.

[fortyfour]

<SNIP>

It's fun reading reviews/thoughts on tires, because location matters so much as far as preferences and what works and what doesn't. ...But, horses for courses and all that.

It is interesting. I know a lot of people swear by the Maxxis Ikon's. It's a good tire. (For the record I have not tried the Ikon - I'd actually like to try a Ardent 2.4 up front and an Ikon 2.3 out back)

What I need most days (well that's everyday really) in a tire is tubeless compatibility, larger profile (2.3-2.4) is an aggressive tread pattern that can bite into softer soil, not get clogged up, be highly puncture resistant, needs to be durable, sidewalls have to be able to put up with a lot of rocks, the tire needs to handle a variety of conditions in both dry and wet, and the sucker needs to roll relatively quickly. (notice I left out weight) That's my bucket wish list. Now you just can't get all of that into one tire. I think you can get close but then you start to lose a few must haves over others. Durability is really important, and more times than not that means weight goes right through the window. Anything on the light side and I'm repairing the tires too often.

I think I've really found something close to what I need in the Trail Boss from WTB. The tread could shrink a touch, but it's aggressive enough where I'm holding my line when it's wet/damp on rocks and roots. The soil I ride most days is really, really loamy. Even when it's considered "hard pack" it's still on the soft side I'd say.

I will say I love wrenching my bikes but I get used to a set up and run with it till it's dead or needs replacing. I play with the drivetrain a lot and the cockpit set up when I am fine tuning things - but I do know tires play a huge part in how the bike rides/performs. But swapping tires constantly does not happen - I'd love to try all sorts of combinations, but I can't justify ordering all that rubber. I'd rather spend the extra cash on dialing in the frame geo more which I still do and will be doing with another mountain bike shortly.

But like you say, it is fun to try different things and compare the observations.

[dgaddis]

Yep, our trails are nothing like yours. Ours are typically (especially in the summer) super firm hardpack, the kind where you don't leave any tire tracks at all. Big knobs squirm when pushed hard, they don't have anything to dig into...except in the fall/winter when things get really leafy and do soften up some from rain. But in the summer, well supported lower profile knobs with lots of biting edges work best. We have lots of roots, so you need volume for comfort/traction, but we don't need mega sidewall protection because we don't have a lot of rock.

The Ikon/Ardent combo is a really popular and works great, that's my go-to fall/winter set up, some folks use it year round. I'd use a 2.35" Ikon out back, but it wont fit in my frame and have any mud clearance, the 2.2" is a big 2.2" and barely fits with some mud clearance.

[fortyfour]

[mmoore]

Kris,

I notice in your finished frame pictures that the frames joints (such as that dropout) look totally smooth. is that something that the camera doesn't pick up, or is the pulse of the TIG so tight that you don't see the "dimes"?

Quite literally everything about your bikes inspires me to want to build another frame.

[fortyfour]

Kris,

I notice in your finished frame pictures that the frames joints (such as that dropout) look totally smooth. is that something that the camera doesn't pick up, or is the pulse of the TIG so tight that you don't see the "dimes"?

Quite literally everything about your bikes inspires me to want to build another frame.

Good to hear this provides some motivation and inspiration.

I believe what you see is the smooth transitions from the face of the weld to the toe? There is a smooth transition between tube, weld and tube. A fillet if you will. Depending on the powder, this can smooth out even more, a little less or give a touch of highlight to the beads. But it's all pretty smooth (or at least I try and make those transitions as smooth as I can). If you look really closely, say at the head tube, or bottom bracket clusters, you can make out the beads under the powder, but they are subtle. The camera lens only can pick up so much detail but as I said before, I also try and make all this as smooth of a transition as possible. Here's that frame's head tube post weld:



For the record, I'm using the pulse feature and using a "lay wire" technique. I'm not dabbing. Rather laying the filler, timing myself to the pulse and advancing between each pulse after it reaches it's peak. Constant pressure on the filler. Kind of a pushing in and down with the filler allowing the pulse to "nibble" at the filler as I feed it with each pulse. You get beads or that dime look, but they are not as pronounced in a way.

If I were to criticize myself I'd say some times I move too slow but it depends on my mood I suppose of how fast I am moving.

[fortyfour]

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[fortyfour]

In the past, I've posted every Friday in the "Friday Night Lights" subforum consistently for over 3 years. After much thought and inner dialog, I've decided to pull that weekly content to the 44 Bikes Blog: FAB 5 Fridays lives on but where it belongs at 44HQ.

Here's this weeks edition.

I'll occasionally post in FNL in the future when I have something extra-ordinary that I feel is worthy, but for the most part, if you want to see my work, you'll have to come to the 44HQ blog or right here in my Smoked Out for exclusive content. Of course, you can always follow me on Instagram (instagram.com/44bikes), and you can see what I'm up to via Flickr for big man sized pics (Flickr.com/photos/44bikes).

Like I said above, I will continue to update my Smoked Out on a regular basis.

Enjoy and Swear to Shred.

[fortyfour]

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[progetto]

Kris, your stuff always looks incredibly refined, love it.
Bill

[fortyfour]

Kris, your stuff always looks incredibly refined, love it.
Bill

Thanks for the kind words Bill. That's what it's all about!

[fortyfour]

[CarbonNeutral]

Good god man, those curves are NSFW. Nice!

[Amaro Bikes]

Black&Gold = Chocolate&Banana

It doesn't get much better than that

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