The Velodrome

11:55 AM

gomsag youtube.com/watch?v=bS5P_LAqiVg

Nothing to do with cycling at all, sorry.

what is it though?

12:49 PM

terrible crowd-funded short movie with way too much bad CGI

Its a bit gorey too

OK more on topic

i.imgur.com/wLsN6en.mp4

3 hours later…

4:05 PM

Hi guys, how is everyone doing? :) New to the chat, is there any additional rules over bicycles site I should be aware of? I

4:46 PM

I was pointed here because of a question I had which is not covered in the bicycles site about upgrading my rear shock because there can't be mentions to personal preference or brands in the answers on the site. I currently have a sort of short, generic rear coil shock (150mm eye to eye, 30mm travel) KS Exa Form 290, and was wondering about upgrading it to a Rockshox Monarch RL, 152 x 31mm.

Considering it's around a $250 upgrade, do you guys think it's worth it?

5:34 PM

I think that you're a room full of roadies :-) Anyway I myself am familiar only with hardtails.

haha well, that can be an inconvenient :p on a side note I have raised interest for road bikes recently, GCN being the main guilty, but my finances are not allowing me to buy one yet :( still undecided if I rather pick a pure road or a gravel bike, but it's not like I have money for it yet though. Maybe after I finish working on my mountain bike and the wedding costs are covered somewhere around in 2019

@gschenk has gravel or CX bike from Merida

Sep 4 '17 at 11:40, by gschenk

can you comfortably ride with a gravel through those roads? That's what is a temptation for me :) I've heard good things about Merida, how much should I save to buy a decent bike, but not necessarily for racing? I'm only a casual biker but I have a bunch of friends and we use to go out every week.

I have a new Scott Silence Speed 10 city bike (622-42 tires) and it feels so fragile compared to the hardtail.

By the way, does the current shock has a remote lockout on the handlebar?

6:02 PM

@CristianCiupitu I'm not familiar with that bike, but I will check it out as soon as a download in progress finishes, I have a slow connection and mega tends to take all of the bandwidth :(

And no, my current shock is a very basic one, it doesn't have a remote lockout or even a lockout haha, it doesn't bob so much but still, I'd love something to make climbs a bit better. As far as I know, the monarch has a lockout but you have to change it directly on the shock.

6:32 PM

That would be a good reason to upgrade it. Then you would have a better chance of being almost as fast as a gravel bike.

6:45 PM

that's a solid point, it's just I don't know much aboout air shocks and I don't know what to look in one. For example Rockshox offers from Monarch R, RL and XX. All of them look similar to me, but the price change greatly ($250 ish for a Monarch RL and over $400 for a Monarch XX) but I hardly notice any difference other than the lockout process.

Is the monarch RL a good choice? That's something that has been scratching my head recently

The current one is using air too?

Never mind, I was thinking of suggesting a coil based shock which might be cheaper, but then you'll lack the flexibility of tuning it to your needs.

You could try reading reviews from popular online shops.

my current one is a coil shock, with no lockout whatsoever. I like the feeling of the traction and small bump absorbtion but I don't like the bobbing while pedaling on stiff climbs.

Both monarch are air based, same eye to eye and travel that my coil shock but both have lockout. Is there a good coil shock around $250? Honestly my problem is the size, most of them are 165mm nowadays, whereas my current frame came with a shock of 150mm, I'm not sure if a 165mm shock would fit properly without messing everything else

Manitou McLeod Shock is €195 and has 152mm

7:04 PM

that's sweet, I'm gonna add it amon this one: https://www.sram.com/rockshox/products/monarch-rl
what I meant is I didn't find anyone making coil shocks for 150mm on the known brands (rockshox, fox, manitou and so on) on 150mm, most of them are 165mm and over.

Maybe I'm not good at searching though :p

among*

specially for the price range, I found for example the super deluxe to be around $400+

3 hours later…

9:50 PM

I know nothinh about shocks and suspension.... my legs are my suspension :-P

That said - I have an air shock on the new bike which is still being assembled.

10:22 PM

@Criggie yeah, the good hardtail life :D I was a hardtail user until last bike I bought, so I'm also on the John Snow boat of the rear shocks as well :p I just don't know what features I should be looking when buying a new one x_x

I tried to look for a coil shock instead, which would be sort of easier in terms of components and what to look when buying a new one, but no shock so far fits my eye to eye. I guess I'll go with either the rockshox or the manitou @CristianCiupitu suggested me and ditch the idea of a coil shock :(

10:58 PM

Sorry - its an area in which I am weak.