Some Honzo ridin'

[RideEverything]

Here's a quick slap-bang edit I threw together from yesterday's ride on the Honzo.



I'm loving the bike!
It does have a tendency to get me in trouble with my line choices though! Because the bigger wheels smooth out the chop I find myself riding more tech lines at speed than I would normally ride on a hardtail. Every so often with those line choices I am reminded harshly that I am still on a hardtail!

[Singlespeed McGee]

Sweet video, where was this shot?

[RideEverything]

Sweet video, where was this shot?

Thanks!
This is in Whistler on a trail called Danimal North.

[Singlespeed McGee]

Nice, Whistler has always been a place I really want to ride

[RideEverything]

This trail system is right beside the centre of town in Lost Lake Park. All of these trails are municipality built! And, each section is named after a Frank Zappa song. Locally these trails are called the Zappa Trails.

Enjoy!

[Singlespeed McGee]

You are super lucky to have such great looking trails so close by makes me want to move out to the Pac NW

[RideEverything]

More riding!

[lubes17319]

Only action shot so far.
-shot by PBRMe!

[RideEverything]

Nice but big picture is big!

[RideEverything]

Since my Honzo is out of action due to freehub issues (warranty issues) I am going to live vicariously through some footage that I've been sitting on for the past month.

Here's another vid.

[RideEverything]

A couple of shots.
I'm trying out new GoPro mounting spots on the bike.
These pics are from tonight's ride. I had it set to take pics every 30 seconds. The ride was a little under an hour. I have an idea for a video for these pics.

[RideEverything]

A quick edit I put together after tonight's ride.
The event is a weekly ride/race put on by the local mtn bike association: WORCA.
Local businesses sponsor the Thursday events throughout the summer. It's toonie ($2) to ride the course. The $2 also includes an apres dinner and beer(s) served after the ride.

[RideEverything]

Just changed out the stock Maxxis Ardent tires to Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 front and Nobby Nic 2.35 rear.
Holy Bananas! It's a huge improvement!
I actually have faith that the tires are going to hook up while railing hard through corners rather than letting go unexpectedly like the Ardents!

[eurospek]

How's the clearance with the rear 2.35 Nobby Nic? Same as with the Ardent?

[RideEverything]

How's the clearance with the rear 2.35 Nobby Nic? Same as with the Ardent?

The clearance is good. The Nobby Nic 2.35 is just slightly bigger than the Ardent 2.25. (I realize that with the numbers posted that sounds like an obvious statement. But we all know that tire manufacturers don't use the same "standardized ruler" when measuring their tires!)
Visually the Nobby Nic looks like it has more volume than the Ardent but there is still plenty of space in the frame.
I run my dropouts at the shortest settings.

[eurospek]

Thanks for the info, I'll have to look into that combo, as soon as my 2 sets of Ardent 2.4/2.25 run out lol.

And any chance I could trouble you for a pic of the rear clearance?

The 2.25 Ardent with the sliders all the way in are already quite close to my comfort levels coming from a 2.4 Michelin on my TransAM and still fitting a finger in between.

[RideEverything]

Thanks for the info, I'll have to look into that combo, as soon as my 2 sets of Ardent 2.4/2.25 run out lol.

And any chance I could trouble you for a pic of the rear clearance?

The 2.25 Ardent with the sliders all the way in are already quite close to my comfort levels coming from a 2.4 Michelin on my TransAM and still fitting a finger in between.

The Ardents are "okay" when it's dry and going in a straight line however as soon there is anything off camber or wet they blow!
You must have some seriously clumpy mud in your area if you are worried about clearance issues with the Ardents!

Here's the clearance pics of the 2.35 Nobby Nic.
I have no worries about clearance with this tire. My wheel even has a very slight wobble and there is still no worry.
Admittedly, when I was running the original wheelset I definitely had them rub a few times when cornering hard! (Which, by the way, I'm still waiting on a warranty response from Kona 2 months later!!)







That's 6.5mm. (I think that's like 13/57ths in the crazy non-metric non-decimal American measurement! )

[eurospek]

Thanks for the quick pics, clearance looks awesome on those!

But it looks like you got one of the earlier Honzo frames, the pre-production samples with the longer chainstays (and with heavier tubing and some were missing guides for the dropper). There was a mix up with some of these frames when they released and a thread about it.

Pre-production chainstay, longer CS length



Correct chainstay

[RideEverything]

I do have the correct chainstays.
I had the bike upside down for the picture. So that is the view of the bottom of the chainstays.
From the top my 'stays look like the ones you posted.

[eurospek]

Oops, lol.

That's what I get for viewing this thread from my phone.

[RideEverything]

Here's a new vid.
However, it isn't all Honzo riding! I am riding my Honzo but the vid is focused on the crew that I coach through the summer. I have been coaching/riding with these guys for five years now. They are now 12yo.

Enjoy!

[el_chupo_]

Well done man, great job helping them out/coaching/leading/teaching.

Im gonna bug you, along these lines. What bikes are they riding, and how tall/short are they? Are they big enough to actually use much suspension? Looks like on some of the wood features I dont see much/any movement.

My wifes little brother is now about 11, and I wouldnt mind getting him on some trails.

At this point finding a bike to fit him is going to be a problem. H is not very tall. I dont hang out with a lot of 11 year olds, so I dont know how his height compares to others though... I have a steel Trek 820 in size midget, but its a heavy bugger, and he should be out of it in not too long. If he likes it, some more $$ may flow for a nicer bike.

Looks like at least one of them is a Giant?

[RideEverything]

Well done man, great job helping them out/coaching/leading/teaching.

Im gonna bug you, along these lines. What bikes are they riding, and how tall/short are they? Are they big enough to actually use much suspension? Looks like on some of the wood features I dont see much/any movement.

My wifes little brother is now about 11, and I wouldnt mind getting him on some trails.

At this point finding a bike to fit him is going to be a problem. H is not very tall. I dont hang out with a lot of 11 year olds, so I dont know how his height compares to others though... I have a steel Trek 820 in size midget, but its a heavy bugger, and he should be out of it in not too long. If he likes it, some more $$ may flow for a nicer bike.

Looks like at least one of them is a Giant?

They are in and around the 5ft height range. Maybe slightly under. I have a hard time guessing their heights because I'm 6'6" and kids are always way smaller than me!

There are several Giants under the crew. A Reign, a ReignSX, and a Cypher. There's also a Trek but I'm not sure of the model. And a Kona hardtail that has a clapped out fork.
All of the FS bikes all have air suspension front and back. They use these bikes for both pedalling and in the bike park. Their suspension is set up correctly.
I'm not sure what you're looking at in the vid but there aren't any massive drops or g-outs that would have them using up all the suspension. If you're looking at the teeter-totter sections these kids actually have skills to absorb the terrain like you're supposed regardless of suspension.
(Let me put it out there, these kids could probably school a large majority of people both in and out of the park!)
All of my older group started out on hardtails.

The biggest issue that I've seen and still see in "kids" bikes are crappy components, crappy suspension, stupid tall gear ratios and frames that weigh a tonne!. And, these are just the hardtails!
I realize that kids grow out of bikes but if the bike is built well the resale value should be decent enough to help finance the next bike.

If there is just only one change that you could make to a crappy to mediocre kids bike is put the right gearing on it!!!!
Change the chainring to the smallest you can get if it is a single ring up front - 32T. And, change out the rear cassette so that it has, at least, a 32T if not a 34T. For some reason most kids bike come with a DH type geared cassette! The biggest being 26T in the rear and a 36T in the front! WTF!
Most of North America views biking as a kids past time so why should manufacturers put in any effort into making good kids bikes?

All that being said, a lot of the kids in the program that I coach in just deal with the bike that they are on. It is unbelievably impressive what they can ride on a crappy bike! Although, the number of crappy bikes in our program of over 200 kids is quite low. Whistler is a bubble in a way. Most of the parents ride and understand that the bike their child(ren) are on needs to be a solid build with the right components and light weight. In fact one of the girls in the program has a custom painted Chromag!!

Sorry, that was a bit of a ramble and a rant but I hope I answered some of your question(s)!

[el_chupo_]

Thanks for the info. I have no doubt about their skills, but rather the issues I have found in setting up suspension.

The spot that had me wondering about suspension wasnt the ladders, but on the teeter around 2:25. The first one went off the side, then the second rode it. You could see the suspension move under him. Then, the third bike comes over and you barely see any movement with the fork. Next kid, some movement of the suspension.

I have ran into some problems with setting my wife's bike up, and found that the air suspension on a "WSD" bike was much easier to set up than on a "mens" bike for her and her light weight. Add another 30 or 40lbs, and Im sure it would be simpler.

And I am with you on the kids bike crap that is put out. I have really hesitated in getting a nicer bike for him until he shows interest, but I know how much better a nice bike can make things, especially with what is out here in the US.

[ebxtreme]

Nice....still haven't ridden It's Business Time. Jerome did a great job on that cliff zone......great craftsmanship with the ladder.

EB