As I am in between DH bikes, I had to ride my big enduro rig at Northstar the other week. Obviously, I needed to bring a bash for the crazy rocks.
It’s hard to find chainring protection for modern 1×11 drivetrains. In the hunt for lighter and lighter enduro bikes, some parts have lost meaning. Most manufacturers are ignoring the bash segment entirely these days. It doesn’t really matter much as most folks riding bikes are looking for easy flow trails with little risk or challenge.
Worse, the ISCG mounts ala Scott (Genius LT) are complete garbage. I don’t know of anyone selling 94mm BCD bash rings.
Chips started flying.
3/8″ polycarbonate. Simple cut with no detail. Countersink with space for support washer. 32t chainring clearance.
SuperEnduro. Protection!
Notes on enduroing the DH after two days at Northstar:
1. Big. My enduro bike is a monster. 180F/170R. I wouldn’t want any smaller and expect to huck with abandon. I needed all I had and wanted more.
2. Trail gearing sucks. Rode 30(oval)/10 almost entirely. I won’t do this again without a change. I’m a peddler and I was spun out any time I wanted more speed.
3. I used 1,100 gram 2.25″ tires on 27.5″ tubeless. Heavier and slightly bigger 2.5″ tires would be good. No flats.
4. My rims survived but I was holding back in the extra gnarly rock gardens. Heavy rims would be nice so as to not worry so much. It’s rare I’m willing to hold back to save wheels.
5. I tend to run a low handlebar on trail. I shortened my cockpit (35mm stem) and raised my bars (20mm riser) as much as I could with the parts I had on hand. I was a little front heavy still. 35mm rise bars are now on order.
6. I had a bash but it ended up not doing much with the small chainring. I usually destroy bash rings when running 38t. With re-gearing and a 38t bash, I’m sure there will be a lot more damage down there.
7. Chain retention was not an issue even though I was in the 10t all the time. The bash may have helped some.
8. 170mm dropper is needed to not have to change post position. I had a 150mm on this bike and needed to lower ot 20mm.
9. DH pedals are a must if you don’t want to kill your nice trail pedals. I finally killed my old DX clipless pedals this weekend. Nice trail pedals are happy at home.
I was super impressed with what my bike was able to do. It isn’t a proper DH bike but it will go fast on full boost. With some more prep, I may have been able to explore the limit more but this weekend wasnt supposed to be about wrench spinning.
