Used Pures for 4 years. Was in constant “fear” it would be the only saddle I could use.

Then my last one was destroyed and I decided to try a Fabric Scoop Radius.

Most comfortable saddle ever, Books included

So for one time in my life I decided not to be a cheapskate and ordered both the Daikines and the POC Airs to see which ones I preferred. Both size M, as per their respective charts.

Got them today and, honestly, I feel is a no contest. The POC look and feel much better built, the size suits me better and the knee pad is much bigger, much better side coverage

Happened to me a lot when I moved to the Aeris AM9. 150mm travel + 170mm dropper + deep BB drop, makes sense then. Was a nice reminder that with these very long and slack bikes you don’t need to hang back nearly as much as before

How was the Rocket for bikepacking?

I used to bikepack a bit with a Surly Ogre. Currently have an enduro bike (Bird AM9) which I’m yet to bikepack but use quite often to commute with a load. I found it really curious that the enduro fs actually handles the load better. Likely related to the very stable geometry and general burliness.

Makes me really curious to take it for a proper multi day route

So today instead of hitting the trails I went to session some jumps and drops close to home for an hour or so.

Quite productive, I think I got it now. Tried to stop thinking about my feet and did my best to relax. Everything went smooth, feet stayed put, was able to use less suspension travel.

I think, more than technique, the thing here is I’m thinking too much about my feet and the pedals. Still need to figure high speed rocky stuff….

Do you feel the cleats sliding in the floor, or are they recessed enough not to do so?

Thanks again for all the answers.

Just as a foot note, I can bunny hop with the flats, actually even more comfortably than with clips. I guess I’m a basket case…

Have an enduro race in a couple of months, really don’t want to be wasting precious training time with something I won’t stick with

About walking on the Shimanos AM7 / AM9, any experiences?

Kind of glad to know I’m not the only one going through this.

What are people doing to keep the feet planted on jumps and drops?

Thanks for all the answers

Yep, I’m placing the pedal much more rearwards vs the SPD, and that helps a little. I also find that position the easiest to find when you want to return your foot to the pedal in a hurry.

I do believe I could progress a good deal if I insist on flats for some months, but then you think “why bother?”. I’ve been in a phase of steady progress for 4 months or so prior to the flats, bigger jumps and drops every month, bigger everything.

On the walkability of Shimanos’ AM7, any experiences?

Thanks

Thanks for all the replies.

Right now the decision is between:

– POC Airs

– Dakine Slayer

– Maybe, maybe the POC 2.0 but I keep getting contradictory reports on using these for all day climbing

Dakine look cheaper (from pics only) and not sure how they’ll age without straps

My main grip with the POCs is shin protection. Even today I had 2 close contacts with my upper shins, one with a pedal, the other against the frame

How do you find them for pedaling?

I failed to mention I need the pads to be ok for long days in the saddle, lots of climbing as well

Mmannerr, do you mean the Dainese?

Regarding POC’s shortness, I worry more about the lack of upper shin protection than the shorts gap

Not a GX Eagle user and completely anecdotal experience, but the only guy that keeps having trouble with his rear derailleur in my group happens to be the only one with GX.

It hangs low and seems to be made of a very ductile alloy. Lots of natural trails and bushwhacking here, but then the rest of the crew on Shimanos and older Srams go through the same and don’t have issues.

Is it fragile enough to make it cr@p? I don’t think so, but seems not to be at Shimanos’ level of robustness anyway

Just for context, I’m kind of limited to the offerings of a specific online shop due to having a juicy coupon from a warranty job there.

Trail Skins –  they only have the 2018 version in stock. Anyway, whats up with these pads? I keep seeing them recommended on forums but many reviews mention that the velcro straps cause some discomfort.

Dakine Slayer – seem to be a nice set of pads, nothing flashy, but don’t see them mentioned very often

POC VPD System – I have every reason to believe they should be top notch, but €120?

May add the POC VPD 2.0 to the list, but say some comments on them not being that good to pedal on

Every time this topic comes up I only have one thing to say:

Pipedream Moxie

Also curious about this topic.

Have a L Aeris AM9, 1265mm wheelbase.

Which bags does it fit?

I accept that the long, slack, AM-ish 120/130mm market might not be crowded, but isn’t the 140mm?

Is 20mm difference of travel that dramatic?

Wasn’t Cotic supposed to announce the Longshot Rocket Max somewhere in August?

Kind of remember reading that somewhere

Yep, I’m sure price will be reasonable, but considering that factor alone don’t we already have YT, Vitus, Nukeproof, Whyte and most likely soon a Canyon?

And yes, the first prototype looked like a production model, not the other way around

Curious to see what they bring as a distinguishing selling point for it. The 120-140mm travel 29er market is getting quite crowded lately. It needs some feature pack, unless is just another drop in the ocean, in this case from a not too well known brand.

They could easily use their bikepacking curriculum, not too many FS trail/am frames being marketed as bikepacking friendly

I was looking for a while at the Cotics, but was put off by:

– the Rocket Max was (is) yet to receive the Longshot geo. Saw the light after my Pipedream Moxie, not willing to go back on geo. The Flare was a bit too tame for what I wanted

– not convinced by the shocks. Would prefer RS or Fox, and they tend to spec not so common sizes

– their seat tube angles are very slack. It’s their thing, nothing against that, but I personally prefer a more vertical seat angle on a bike with long geometry. Keeps the front wheel weighted and allows you to put more power down, not to mention keeping the ETT in check. My AM9 has a 76° STA and I still run the saddle all the way forward

Might be worth mention that the AM9 is quite a bit longer than the Escarpe – 500 vs 465mm for an L.

Actually, AFAIK, you can only go longer than the AM9 with the Pole and Nicolai offerings (FS, size for size)

Isn’t Cotic preparing to release a new Rocket Max in Longshot guise?

I’ll second the AM9 recommendation

Thanks for all the answers.

Adapter has the arrow facing rearwards and pointing up, as per Shimano’s assembly diagram.

I think I’ll grab a Shimano rotor then…

The rotor is a BBB Powerstop 203 that I had lying around

Have the Alpinestars Paragon, got them quite cheap at CRC.

The protection itself is very nice. My issue with them is the upper end of the sleeve slips quite easily.

Once they start slipping, it wrinkles behind the knee and causes some minor chaffing on hotter days after 2 or 3h

Don’t know about the 27.5 models, but been riding an AM9 for 3 months now.

Generally do a ride with a XC group from work every week. normally 40/50km long, 1000 or 1200m of climbing.

Never have a problem to keep up with them. Focusing on climbing, I’m generally faster or slower in different places. The steeper and more technical it is the faster I am. I’m a lot slower in gentler grades and smoother paths/roads.

Yep, I think mine were at quarter to five afternoon Friday.

Will do a local DH track on Sunday, can’t wait to feel them

I understand not having a full 10ml coming out due to some of it sticking on the inside, but there was barely any oil on the right leg…

Now it feels way smoother than my old 34, dramatic difference.

To all new RS fork owners, service your lowers from new!

So today I went ahead and serviced the lowers.

Surprise:

– oil in left (spring) leg was likely to be under the specified 10ml

– very little oil in right (damper) leg

– foam rings were dryish

– not a generous amount of grease under the dust wipers

Quite disappointed with RockShox, it’s clear they don’t have their assembly process under control. This could be a case for a warranty claim.

Anyway, gave it the proper treatment and the difference is like night and day.

Thanks for all the help guys

I think RS recommends 0W30 oil for the lowers.

Any more opinions on using the Fox oil?

Any comments on using the Fox Gold 20WT for the lowers?

I only mentioned the charts in the sense that they happened to coincide with the pressure I got for 20% sag.

Ok, service the lowers first then. Once I changed the air spring on my 34, should be even easier on the Yari. Any oil recommendation? Still have a lot of Fox Gold 20WT, can I use that?

Regarding fork setup, and answering to some of the posts:

– still using the 2 stock Tokens

– I’m 90kg with all the gear

– I’m not using full travel, not touching the last 15 or 20mm of travel. This happens because:

A) I tend to be quite smooth on the fork

B) If I reduce pressure it tends to be more divey and less supported on mid travel on step sections, which I don’t like.

Any advice for a better setup is welcome. In any case, it seems to me the main issue is related to the stiction itself

By servicing the lowers, do you mean change the lowers oil and lube the foam rings?

85PSI is both what the charts say and what gives me 20% sag. Suspension movement and support actually feels ok through travel, is only the stiction that bothers me

Pipedream Moxie, you can’t really go around it when it comes to cutting edge hard tails.

Just be warned, after you fall in love with it’s geometry, you’ll start wondering how amazing a FS with the same geo would be… It took me 3 or 4 months to be in the market for a really long slack FS

5-10 Access used to be all the rage for bikepacking a few years ago

Makes sense.

Mine is a ’18 model year one, maybe a little better than before.

Had a cable dropper before, Pro Koryak, not missing it one bit

I have a hard time understanding why all the bad mouth around Reverbs.

Got a 170mm one 3 months ago. Relatively cheap (£200), premium finish, hydro remote is, IMO easier to shorten and sort out than most of the cable ones around. Bleeding the thing is just ridiculously easy and quick.

OP says the Pipedream Moxie has too much travel.

One detail, with 29 wheels the recommended fork is 140mm. Still too much?