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  • In Review: Maxxis 27.5 Rekon and Ikon 2.8

    Over the years, I get a recurring question: “Hey Kris, what are your thoughts about XXX tire?” One of those tires that keeps popping up is the Maxxis Ikon. I don’t know why so many keep asking me about this tire, but when it came time to choose tires for a new prototype earlier this …

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  • 25 Years of Going Forward

    It was 1985 or 1986 and my best bud and I were headed to the Upper Perk Pool to play a little session of Home-Run-Derby followed by a dip in the pool. However, we had to head to Kuhn’s Drug Store before heading to the little league diamond. We needed some big league chew as …

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  • Ovaltined

    So here we go! Old technology is new again. Or is it rather Deja Vu all over again? It seems this is a theme when it comes to the world of cycling parts and technology. Every once in a while something comes back. Take flat mount for example or… more apropos, oval chainrings. Biopace anyone? …

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  • Creaks

    Any cyclist can attest to that nagging noise that develops over the course of a season of hard use. I’m no stranger to this oft times head scratcher. Sometimes the problem is quite clear. Diagnosis is quick. The repair a minor bump in ones time spent. However, there will be the occasional creak, crick or …

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  • Prototype Season 2018

    It’s that time of year again when I take all of last seasons observations and time out on the trail and funnel those experience into the next round of prototypes. I have one steel build planned as well as 2-3 Titanium mountain bike prototypes planned. Why so many? Well, I’d like to try a few …

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  • In Review: Thomson Elite External Dropper

    So I’ve spent enough time with my Thomson Elite Dropper to give everyone that is reading this a solid opinion. In one word, reliable comes to mind. It just plain works every single time I’m out on a ride. There’s no play in the head. It doesn’t click or creak. Action is smooth and responsive. …

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  • Dropper Tech: Internal vs External

    Here’s a question I’ve been getting a lot recently as more and more clients spec droppers with their mountain bike builds: Why no internal routing? Some builds will have internal routing while others will have external routing. No one ever asks me about this though: So how tough was it to set up that internally …

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  • SUPERBOOST

    Earlier in the year I put together a post just after completing the next iteration of the Marauder in a titanium prototype. You can read that post here. What is special about this bike is I used the pre-existing 157mm TA standard paired with an 83mm shell width. This is technically an existing DH standard …

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  • Tubeless Repair

    Every once in a while, I’ve err’d in my line choice resulting in a good hard rock strike. And every once in a while, POW… I’ve punctured one of my tubeless tires. Some will seal right up by rotating the tire to the lowest point and allowing the remaining tubeless sealant to work it’s magic. …

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  • How NOT to Cook a Corner

    When I first started mountain biking in 1989, I was continually scouring for information on “how-to’s”. How could I climb better? How could I corner better? How could I tackle tech better? Magazines were THE source for all that intel since it wasn’t like East Greenville, PA was the mountain bike mecca of the world …

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