How Simple Should Your Bike Be? | GMBN Tech Show 347

Thomson made the Covert in a sort of silver finish, reverse components and ritchey do make silver wheels with the Black One and the Zeta respectively

I ride fixed on the road, but when it comes to off road, I have a fully rigid fatbike with a one-by. I will not compromise on brakes though. 180 mm front with four-potters.

Love riding my single speed with front suspension no dropper. Lately ive been favoring hardtails over my full suspension

Non-native english speaker here - knowing the meaning of "the boonies" - learned it from Jessie in Breaking Bad, IIRC.
I actually labeled one of my go-to weekend rides "Through the boonies"

Full suspension, 27.5, single speed and a straight seat post.

My tec is simple, motor, battery, gears, dropper, hydraulic brakes, full suspension. Simple fun, wouldn't want any less.

Moutain biking has been ruined over the years it's way to complicated nowadays, this wheel size that wheel size it's just one massive headache the bikes have become heavier and heavier, the industry has now put me off mountain biking and I've moved to a simple 1x gravel bike with a flat bar

My gravel bike is essential the minimal I will go with as it fits 29x2.2 max. No suspension either just a dropper.

I use to race a ridged single speed MTB and cross bikes with no problems whatsoever. I am over 50 and still bike with a ridged gravel bike.

I think it really depends on how big your garage is. If I only had room for one bike, it would have to be a hardtail with a dropper post and ~120mm of travel up front. As it stands I have room for 2 bikes, I have my fully rigid flat bar gravel bike that I use for commuting, fitness, light MTB duties (85% of my riding), and then I have a trail bike with 150/140 travel that I pretty much exclusively use for visiting MTB parks. A decent hardtail with a 1x drivetrain, dropper post and lock out could handle MOST of what my 2 bikes do.

I ride a On one pompino.

I’m on a Trek Marlin (3rd gen) and I do wish I’d had the budget for a higher spec bike. Love a hardtail, love my Marlin, but I’ve had to change some things to make it work better, and I still have some more to go.

Boonies (short for boondocks) - of course and use it all the time. Or sometimes BFE (I’ll let you search for that one)

One of my bikes is a steel, rigid, 26", singlespeed, no dropper, but it does have hydraulic disks (10yr old SLX). I love it.

It's a different experience than my 29er hardtail with gears or my full sus. It's fun BECAUSE of its limitations, making local trails/paths that are boring on the other bikes fun/challenging again.

I also just like nimble singlespeeds in general, they're very rewarding from a technique/fitness perspective.

🤢🤮 Scott.... xc race bike. Used by how many of the public average riders? 0.001% MAYBE.... Gtfooh scott...

Was Bontrager something to do with the first mass production 29er tyre? My main reason is because Trek bought the Gary Fisher brand and he was an early supporter of that size wheel.

Also Onza and WTB could be in there?

I feel there is a market for a 3, 5 and 7 gear bikes that would be very fun with a short travel fork.

Great video, good chemistry and very nice information 😊 👍

Quiz answer: WTB Nanoraptor 2.25 I believe

I have a FS 165, 170 mm, two FS 120 mm with 130 and 140 front and Highball hardtail with dropper and 120 mm SID front giving 65.5 degree HTA hardtail. I ride all trails i can can do with the other bikes and ride it 99% of the time. Simple and light is so fun.

Full Suspension, belt drive, all of it!

I have a Carbon Single Speed with XT Brakes, Dropper and nice Fox Forks, Used to be rigid with no Dropper + A Ti Geared 1 x 12 HT with XTR Brakes and dropper. Both are great and I use them both loads. The SS is amazing for fitness and I think it's half way between running and riding, nothing more fun than a blast with a group of SS riders, and amazing XC Winter Mud bikes...And makes you a lot quicker when you get back on gears. Just have the correct ratio for your area. I'm 32-18 I'm 53 and trying to stay as fit as possible..

Been on a 1x10 steel rigid hardtail for 20,000 miles over last 6 years. With 2.8" tyres it is very comfy. But this is for mud touring, flowing trails & broken roads. I tried the tubolito [tpu] but found them unrepairable - went back to tubeless.

I would like to see what your views are regarding Decathlon bikes. I'm living in Canada and people here haven't heard much things about them and think that the bikes are cheaply made and will break as soon as you hit a single track. What does GMBN think about the Rockrider brand?

In Utah we call the boonies BFE. I would define the acronym but it is more fun if you guys figure it out. Great show Anna& Owen ! I love the simplistic approach to riding. PS. I recently suffered a Pulmonary aneurysm and I am stuck just watching when I wish I was riding. Cheers! - M

Suspension forks for me please rigid forks sent to much vibration through my dodgy wrists and elbows

Hm… I do also have a gravel bike so, for my MTBs, I associate the feel of that kind of riding with at least suspension forks. All else is optional, at least for me. My fat bike has a rigid frame but no more suspension than those huge tires is really needed.

@gmbntech
Question: Last time on trail, I broke tooth on my chainring. Not sure when exactly happens but noticed when chain drop, just after changing gears going uphill (never happens before on this setup).
When I look into damaged part - 2 nearest teeth to broken one are very worn as well... Other are looks normal...
Chainring is alloy SRAM Eagle Oval 34T, my setup is 1x10 with Microshift deraileur and KMC chain, just wondering: If i using non SRAM branded chain affects durability of this component. Or just pure bad luck ;) Do You have any history of "broken" cogs this way?
I can send picture of damaged part if this helps somehow...

The anti-tech mountain bike is a gravel bike. I want a gravel bike for the non techy rides where I know the terrain.

Everybody should just get a Kona Unit.

My one MTB is an steel hardtail. Hydraulic disc brakes are non negotiable these days. Gears and a dropper are really nice, but most of my local spots I can deal with a QR clamp, and could push through single speed if needed (you're ALWAYS in the wrong gear.) I have legitimately thought about going full rigid because I seriously don't do maintenance regularly enough. My frame is designed for a 150 sus fork though, and there's isn't really anything on there market that's suspension corrected for that size in metal. Even in carbon, the Whisky 9 LT is still a bit short.

I ride a hard tail with a two by, hydraulic brakes and 100mm folk I am happy can't afford much else. Not everyone can afford £3000 bikes

Don't need a dropper or suspension

I’m still on a 2011 SC chameleon and I love it. Only thing I’m missing is dropper post. Love my bike

Niner Air 9 RDO😊,
No dropper,
Sram 1x12 , mechanical
Hydraulic discbrakes
suspension: no
Carbon: yes please😅

Single speed fat bike on rigid frame...
How about that for Mad Max apocalypse?

I RIDE A 29ER SINGLE SPEED RIGID THATS ALL I NEED

After riding a flat bar roadbike in mtb trails don't need anything more than that... if it not where that 23-25 tires side walls crack of fatigue in 1 week

Hardtail gang rise up for anti tech

The dropper seat posts are one of mtbs greatest inventions. Second to front suspension and modern geometry. Bikes today are dope.

Ultimate mullet bike was created many years ago………the penny farthing

With regard to "anti-tech", I can ride that kind of bike if I needed to...but I want ALL the suspension travel!!! Lol.

Gary Fisher Velociraptor I think is one and Nishiki had one too

back in 93', i used to ride a modified lady bike (20"-24" rims, can't remember- changed the tyres to bmx tyres, ditched the basket in front but still had the carrier at the back, single gear and rim brakes in front, and hub brake behind) through a sand dune to another nearby town at 2 o'clock in the evening under a scorching sun (around 28-30 degrees celsius). it was roughly 5-8 km ride. Halfway through, i was so so tired and began to question my life decision. Fortunately i reached the town and made it back home as well.

why? because my friends told me that there is an off road track that led to the nearby town and I thought i should check it out. Not a wise thing to do (i was around 14-15 years old), but that was an adventure!

Oh, i did it alone.

None of my friends believed me. Wish there were smartphones back then.

No tech on the bike whatsoever, in fact, the bolts and nuts holding the bike was not the most reliable, and i didn't carry anything but a backpack with spare clothes and a water bottle

Please don't tell my dad

2016 trek superfly rigid ss. TAKE OFF RIGID AND RODE With a rockshox SID


I Have one for sale if anybody is interested. Located in USA

How simple do you think your bike could be to have fun?