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Switched from a 32t ring to a 30t ring. Doing that I discovered that the creaking on the crankset area wasn’t lack of grease but a cracked BB cup. It did its job though. ~8000 miles in 6 years :) I cleaned it completely and repacked it about once a year. It also survived a fire which left very...

I was going to recommend some DEXA Fit in NJ (they have 20 locations) because I paid $160 for TWO scans but I see that over there they are 3X more expensive than in CO! The machine seems the same, and it's the same company, same services, same protocol, etc I wonder what's going on.

Ha. Interesting. I'll try it out. The Garmin Index reading right before I headed out for the scan was 18.4%, so 5.4% above; that's 41.5% off. I'm planning to do 2 more Dexa scans at least, one each time I do these tests until August. My hope is that with 3 data points, and similar protocols...

2/28 Fitness test part 1 https://www.strava.com/activities/17557242197 Base line test as I'm starting with a coach that uses other data and algorithms besides FTP in his training plans. The protocol is kind of long/complicated so I screwed up in a couple of places. Part of the baseline data was...

2/26 1:34 hr Z2 ride https://www.strava.com/activities/17535301742 It was supposed to be an easy/relaxed ride. Coach added "breath through your nose only" and I ended up being miserable the whole ride. I felt I was drowning. I thought (and wished) that my HR was going to be out of Z2 quickly...

2/24 1:38 hr 1' intervals. 74F but very windy/gusty. 1' intervals

2/22 3:02 hr Z2-Z3 non-stop steady ride. Taking my first ice bath in years to help with recovery. Pretty sure my neighbors can hear me cursing. It’s in Spanish though so they probably are just scratching their heads. https://strava.app.link/HSaHGc1wY0b

Funny you say this. After my first old Epic evo (7), I had a Stumpjumper S-works for a couple of weeks. The feeling of the new Epic 8 Evo reminded me of that bike. After a couple of rides I sold the stumpy, bought another old Epic evo frame, and built it up (my current bike). It's really a jack...

Exactly my feeling on both bikes! The thing is I'm looking for a more Downcountry geometry/suspension setup since I'm building this bike for a bikepacking race with long, chunky descents. I know of people that have put a 130mm fork on the old evo and are happy with that. A few others have...

2/20 0:10 "ride" to test fit of new bike (hey, rules say no minimum :) Test ride 2/21 2:46 Z2 ride mostly. First real ride on new bike. Mixed feelings about it but should be better with several part changes and setup adjustments. Still, not sure if it'll be better than my older Epic Evo...

I took it out of the box and assembled it :) New bike day (new for me). 2025 Spec Epic 8 Evo Expert. Rode it for 10 min around the neighborhood and not love at first sight but I have to dial in the setup and change some parts.

2/19 Z3 ride 1:51 hr Z3 ride Had to do 45 min in Z3 but ran out of gears and went over at some parts. This is my benchmark hill. It tells me more about my level of fitness than an ftp test. Today I didn’t finish it because Im trying to stick to the training plan.

2/18 1:03 hr recovery ride Recovery ride

2/17 1:31 hr Intervals on trainer Nice day out but strong wind with gusts of 48 mph. difficult to do intervals in that wind so I jumped on the trainer for the second time in the year. I need to get Rouvy, it's so boring looking at my garmin for 1:30 hr!

I installed and bled the brakes (Motive Ultimate). Can’t check how they work because I don’t have wheels yet. Also put on a frame bag that I got pretty cheap at REI. Almost a perfect fit with the frame. I actually went into REI with the frame before starting the build to check different...

Yes. It’s supposed to be as it’s more “gradual” with two monster descents at the end that most people love. I rather spin and walk those up than race those down.

Yep.

Yes!!! I was about to message you! If you are planning to consider it, you have a place to stay near the starting line and pickup from the finish line. I think you'd have a lot of fun with this one, and suffering, that's a given :) SSing this thing is crazy! In my first try I rode a day with...

Yes, the surface factor is a good idea. I started thinking about that when @Steve Vai mentioned that above. The big impact, in this race in particular, are several hard hike-a-bike sections. I have to identify those well.

Not sure how to work this into the numbers but I think all that goes into how fast and how fast can you climb at the end of the day, when looking at this over accumulated months of training for the same thing, because the training is similar. In terms of the weight, I'm also looking at the work...