The Pinkbike Podcast: Episode 117 - Mountain Biking's Worst (or Best) Cliché Crimes

 wow that is some mind blowing perspective with the mexican househould income. Couple sources have it between ~$3,500 to ~$6,000 USD. Insane how jaded we can get, thinking $1,500 for carbon wheels or $750 for a fork is "budget", etc. Not tryna get all preachy, just genuinely made me realize how lucky we are here.

 @TannerValhouli: Remember the cost of living changes too depending on where you live. EX If you make 80k a year in NYC, you're just some guy. If you make that in WV, you are TannerValhouli, Earl of Snowshoe, First of His Name.

You are right though.

 Honest Trailers version of bike reviews? I feel like that'd be a funny op-ed.

 Ooof, I feel attacked haha. This is why I end up using dumber words like "nimbility" haha

 @mikelevy: nimbility, it's a perfectly cromulent word

 I have a friend who says “pick a wheel size and be a dick about it” and it makes me want to kms

 Think of it as a service. Helps weed out the party posters so you don’t have to have lame friends. Course you might have no friends at all, but that’s a risk we all have to take to avoid these egregious evolutions of language.

 I am 100% guilty of this one. I use "party post" way too much.

 "Whip," "steed," and "sled" all make me want to scream

 @mikebeeee: “Let ‘er eat!”

 @mikebeeee: "steed" needs to die.

 @plustiresaintdead: pick a dick size and be a wheel about it

 @mikebeeee: Don't forget "gnar"

 @mior: go shralp yourself.

 I think the issue is that they want to test on both mellow (midwest style) trails and super gnarly ones. Squamish or other destinations have both but the Midwest has only one of the two. No big conspiracy here.

 @plustiresaintdead: I'll tell you what's becoming cliche... the fairly constant references on the podcast to SQ/PNW trails being sooooooo much steeper and gnarlier than anything else anywhere, "We need more bike here because it's sooooo gnar" c'mon.

 @plustiresaintdead: If you think all Midwest trails are mellow, see my first sentence above.

We may not have the extended vertical that mountain locations have, but it doesn't mean we don't have gnarly. Its a different style to be sure, with a lot more short-n-punchy climbs/descents over a given trail with far less winch-n-drop riding. That being said, for field tests, this would be a plus, not not a minus. How long are Pinkbike's test laps? 1-3 miles? That is about the average for a single trail in the Midwest. But we have a lot of systems of trails, where the mileage of the trail system is dozens of miles of trail made up of multiple trails all in a denser pack than out west. This means its easier to take a bike on a whole array of different trails while not having to drive everywhere.

 @plustiresaintdead: Good point. I grew up in the midwest and spent most of my adult life there. You trail ride in the midwest and mountain bike in the mountains. Even if both things are done on a mountain bike.

 @CycleKrieg: What you are saying is totally true about Midwest trails, I just don't see doing a DH or Enduro field test in Duluth or Southeast Missouri is worth it when you have SQ/PNW, Cali, Utah, Colo that have trails that these bikes were developed and made for. If your talking XC, Downcountry, or hardtails it totally makes sense.

 @CycleKrieg: My point 100% still stands. Squamish (for example) still has 100% of what the midwest has and more. Sorry.

 @Whataboutism: Yeah, Midwest trails aren't a place to test DH/Enduro. But that is a small portion of the MTB scene. Value bikes, hardtails, XC/DC, trail bikes, etc. could all be happily tested in the Midwest.

As to the "worth it" question, if @mikelevy PMed me today and said, "OK, we are tired of your mentioning this, show us what you got," I can guarantee you my local Chamber of Commerce would setup an all expense paid trip to my local trails for the Pinkbike crew, with food, lodging, etc. included. It wouldn't just be nice, it would be luxury nice. And I bet there are a lot of places that would do the same just for the exposure.

 @CycleKrieg: Wow well I can't wait to see the field test where mike gets a comfy bed and rides bike paths.

 I’m with you, I own Yetis(Plural) and I make far more than dentists do and hate that I get bunched in with such lower tier money makers.

 afaik. and im an idiot. as long as your not riding at 30,000 feet your brakes should function the same when you get back down to the ground.

 @laceloop: the cabin and cargo hold are both pressurised to 2400m (8000 feet)

 @IMeasureStuff: Cool, didn't know that

 Could be. Currently have blue fluid in front brake, pink fluid in rear brake, chased out the previous green fluid. All identical performance no issues over last couple of years of running the rainbow.

 totally, yes, correct, piss off Henry!

 I do with the clutch was stronger

 Wish

 I'm gonna try to save the rest of us the trouble of figuring it out and declare that you probably meant "Product Detail Pages".

 @barp: Argh, more industry cliches. But yes. Thank you.

 @cgreaseman: Haha, cheers!

 Classic and true.

 The question is not “why would SRAM include DOT4” but “why would my friend insist it’s not?”

It’s possible there are performance or longevity tradeoffs with different fluids. But it’s not possible that SRAM went to the trouble of intentionally molding, stamping or etching a specification that’s totally out of bounds directly on the product.

 definitely use the specific dot fluid that is etched into the lever or cylinder. The manufacturer designed and tested the brake with that particular fluid; using something with a different viscosity or boiling point may make the brake behave wrong-ish.

That said: If you only have one or the other on hand, you can mix them or use them interchangeably without damaging the brake.

 @sharpGT: It may also damage seals or parts. It's not just temperature range that's the difference between the DOTs.

 They're compatible with each other. The only difference is the boiling point but both should be more than sufficiently high for bicycle applications. Sram knows what they're doing.

 @jeremy3220: Yeah, to elaborate: DOT 3, 4, and 5.1 are all similar with just increasing boiling points and won't melt your seals if you mix them up. DOT 5.0, however, is a completely different formulation.

 Dot 5.1 and DOT 4.0 and DOT 3.0 are glycol based, so can be used interchangeably, Dot 5.0 is silicone based so shouldn't be used in glycol based systems. The difference between 3.0, 4.0 and 5.1 are the boiling points (5.1 having the highest).

 @blackhat @sharpGT @Explodo @Jeremy3220 @barp @solephaedrus - great info, much obliged. I prob shoulda looked up an article here / online 1st but was just rambling w/ the DOT comment on the cast. Good to know... as you may know DOT 4 is totally affordable while DOT 5 is a complete & total ripoff, even at car parts stores so Eff 5.1 if 4 works. I'm about to bleed (doing that every 6 mos or so) and didn't wanna wreck the lines.

A more fun story: accidentally mixed 0w30 into my lines thinking it was DOT 5.1 (same small bottle size) so that took about 3 flushes to get rid of completely - I didn't realize the mistake for weeks when I went to get my 0w30 and found the 5.1 instead, realized the mistake. Oddly - no wrecks, couldn't really tell the difference. Stopping power seemed to be the same. Maybe I'm just not sensitive but...yeah, glad there wasn't a major wreck over it.

 DOT is nasty - lots of experience with it from car brakes - but it's never as messy and gross when you're working on DOT mountain bike brakes. Sure, it's going to do bad things if you leave the stuff on your carbon frame, but just wipe it off with alcohol or brake clean. I've seen a bunch of people say they prefer mineral oil systems over DOT because it won't wreck your paint, but just don't leave it on your paint...?

I think that I'd just want whatever system works best, regardless of if the fluid it uses isn't very nice for things

 @mikelevy: True, but what about unknown leaks? How about if you have a slow leak at the caliper and don't notice until your paint/frame is already ruined?

 @Explodo: if you didn’t notice until your paint is ruined (DOT doesn’t corrode aluminum, like what calipers are made of) then you probably weren’t braking hard enough

 Thank god I only need to talk about it for an hour in the podcast!

 Dammit, we're going to have to do a second podcast if I keep reading these comments

 Wait, so... relatively poorly?

 We joke, but it's a killer setup that makes all the sense in the world.

 @mikelevy: correction: only with kdss. The rest drive like ass.

 @mikelevy: the joke is on you, Squamish ( or southern BC) isn't the Pacific North West.

 Once he’s not an intern, yes

 I hate folks that use cheers as their signoff at work. Comes off as fake 100% of the time

 @mtmc99: Depends if they are drunk at the time.

 Those are too new to be cliche, but give it a year or two haha

 What i was thinking when I heard this:

Most hotels cost between $100-$160 a night, probably on the higher end or more in touristy mountain towns during peak season. $100,000/$130=760 nights in a hotel.

But having a sprinter as a daily driver, the cost of diesel, the insanely expensive maintenance on those things, and the fact that it's likely more expensive than 100 grand. It doesn't make sense unless you live in it full time.

It's funny when I lived in a 2003 e-150, and spent all my free time riding (which i had loads of, because i was unemployed or working long chunks of time building trails with ample time off in between), I'd often get laughed at by sprinter owners or others not aquatinted with the dirt bag life, at the trailhead when I pulled in with two bikes more expensive than the van. I couldn't help but think, all i do is ride and then go drink beer in the desert and eat damn good food and have no debt or worries, while this guy probably has to go have a zoom meeting and stare at a computer for hours tomorrow. Who should be laughing?

Wow, really let that rant go.