Really good write up. Wheel building and truing are well worth learning. My wheels are cheap and last a long time because of a little investment of time to learn this stuff. Stan's ZTR Flows with Hope Pro 2 hubs -- sturdy and worthy. Best text of all time on pinkbike....LOVE IT. "only one ride away from destruction"

The bars are great. Best I've run. Feel natural right away. They give you all the connection to the trail you want and none of the high frequency buzz/chatter you don't. Much less upper body fatigue than the AL Answer Protaper 780mm -- which is (imo) the best AL bar.

reinforces my 29inch wheel concern. air. looks like they would be having more fun on 26

Bikes rule! We need to make up more creative things like this. So cool.

-Slack head angle (69.5°) Slack?!?? Your senses called from Vegas, yeah, they're staying there... Hello...? Bike industry? Can you hear us? Yeah this is the riders of the world calling....Yeah, 62 is slack, 69.5 is really, really, really steep. (uncomfortable like bad, cheap, new shoes -- and hard to ride fast). The NEW STANDARD ought to be 65 degree head angle for trail bikes (64?).

"Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous - to poetry." Thanks for this, guys. Really great to see in the morning.

He's an exceptionally good-natured and generous guy. About five years ago I ran into him on a slow day at Ray's in Cleveland. I had no idea who he was, but was really watching his riding because he was so skilled. We started talking and he ended up giving me a personal tutorial on a bunch of the different obstacles just because he's nice and wanted to help me out. Giant is lucky to have such quality person with them.

MBA has frequently carried _terrible technical riding advice_ for the years that I've seen it. The equipment reviews and discussions, while often insipid, are usually not just wrong like their riding advice frequently is--but they are not very good. MBA feels like they are campaigning for 29-inch-wheels in a way that (maybe it's just me...) is irritating. I find this news disheartening because of these associations. MBA seems like a lame, corporate Dirtrag. Both publications from which PB is a _welcome escape_. Sorry RC, this does not seem like a good fit to me.

I switched from DeeMax and 827? (AM/freeride rim...which number?) mavics to Stan's ZTR Flows with Hope Pro 2 hubs and have been VERY HAPPY. The set up took off a great deal of rotational weight and the Flows have been flawless. They are so light that I thought they would require a good deal of attention...they have not. After building them up, I ridden them hard for a season and a half and not trued them once. They have a wider tire profile as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Given that Danny MacAskill has top talent, it is unfortunate that this tutorial series is so underdeveloped. There is nothing in the text or in what is said in the audio that is not quite obvious from one or two views of the video. The only mtb instruction that I've seen yet that is adequate is the Lopes/McCormack book _Mastering mtb Skills_. The new mtb The Manual book is a dissapointment. Why is mtb instruction so underdeveloped? There is so much going on in what MacAskill is doing and VERY LITTLE of it is explained here.

I use 32t chain ring and 12-36 cassette. To get more power got 175mm cranks. E-13 guide. Front derailers are the weakest link of the mtb drivetrain. I've never spun out 32-12. My local trails suit this set up well. Chain line concerns are OVERRATED.