New year, same MEATengines. Welcome to the first SBTISAOAF for 2025. The site will be silent for Saturday and Sunday and then we’ll have Monday Musings and a couple of other pieces to start off the new year. I am currently juggling the idea of a regular Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule with some ‘Other People’s Stories’ and other short pieces dropped in randomly, but let’s talk more about that at a later date.
{Cover photo: Thomas @ F!rst L!ght Frames / Bike build by Condors Customs)
[PSA] Since this is the most read MEATengines piece most weeks, I’d like to start with a little PSA that I’m not stoked about. Trek, Bontrager, has now sold out of 29×3″ XR4 tires and it is my understanding that there are no plans to do additional runs. Not even limited minimum-order runs.
This is really unfortunate both for all their customers riding the Stache – because 2.6″ rubber is not a substitute for 3″ rubber – and for folks who are rigid mountain bike curious in general. The XR4 was one of, if not the, all around best 29-Plus tire for aggressive offroad riding. Good traction, great volume, fast-enough rolling, long-lasting, and with a well balanced sidewall.
{Drewitors note: I’ll warn you now that I have a ‘Dear Trek’ piece coming so this is not the last you’ll hear about the XR4.}
For those who would like to have some spare rubber around, WTB is no longer making the excellent High Grip variety of their Vigilante tire, and their 2.8″ rubber is certainly lower volume than the Trektrager 3.0″. But, the Vigi is still a very good tire in the Fast Rolling format and, most importantly, currently available. Who knows for how long.
If you are keen on riding rigid on aggressive mountain bike trails and want to build a bit of a tire library for yourself, it is always also worth your time to drop a message to Mike at LaceMine29 to see what he has in stock. [/PSA]
F!rst L!ght Frames
{Disc mounts, get your disc mounts!}
Thomas from F!rst L!ght Frames spends most his manufacturing time adding disc brake tabs to the endless assortment of rad classic steel hardtail frames (and forks) rolling around Vancouver. That’s to say, if you’ve seen a too-fresh-to-be-true vintage hardtail in the buy-and-sell and have thought “that would be the one, but I live in a rainforest and want disc brakes on my ATB” then there’s no reason you can’t have your bike and ride it too.
On top of building bikes, F!rst L!ght Thomas (FLT) is all in on building bicycle community and was the driving force behind the Paul Brodie Bike Show along with well received events like a Show & Shine and Bike Swap that will be coming back in 2025.
Nina, Claire, and I dropped in on FLT on New Years Day at a coffee and waffle (and bike nerd) event he organized that apparently none of my friends heard about? My fault!? Amazing coffee being made by He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, from the dark & sinister bike industry cabal, and some sweet custom built, and rebuilt, bikes to check out.
Anywho, if you’re a Vancouver-adjacent bike nerd and you follow – and I mean, follow as in manually check in, not rely on the shitty algorithm – one person on Instagram, I would make that person Thomas. You never know what he’s planning next!
{Drewitors note: Thank You, Thomas!}
My Tire Hoard
I’m not trying to rub it in, but the day I pedaled home from Obsession: Bikes, my preferred local Trektrager dealer, with my WZRD.bike YGWYGAYDGU rack laden with too-many-dollars worth of 29×3″ Bontrager XR4 tires, I felt like a little bit of a tool. Small space, limited budget, already had a ‘few’ spare Plus tires. Everyone who could see actual numbers said that Bontrager had tons of 3″ rubber left to sell.
I have had some beyond-excellent rides in the last two weeks running 3″ XR4 tires on Will’s Arcturian and up front on the truculent V2, even today with conditions being fairly greasy. And, especially when I’m riding my rigid bike, there’s a degree of joy that comes from knowing that I should have enough big rubber to last until the industry discovers their folly and Plus-sized tires come roaring back in popularity (hahaha).
First Fromme Friday of 2025
It was the first Fromme Friday of ’25 and it was a fantastic one – thank you, Grayden & Model-T. No Quarter was climbed and we put tires on Executioner and Karen’s Boundary Trail as well.
I was feeling particularly strong on the climb today and had a no-dab-no-walk climb from the bottom to the top. That’s almost unheard of for me on the one speed. I was descending surprisingly well too, but the me-powered-magic on the uphill has had me smiling all day. I’ll take my personal victories when, and as, they come.
We had a motley collection of rigs, but none of them would get a Jerry Willows’ stamp of approval. My rigid Waltworks, a single-speeded Kona Honzo with a 170mm SR Suntour Durolux, and a rigid Kona Unit with a multi-speed 1X drivetrain.
Two out of three bikes were Kona rigs (and mine was born out of riding Honzo, Unit, & Explosif frames) and three out of six tires were Trektrager XR4s. I’m not normally much of a stats person, but I’m keen to keep track of what shows up on Fromme Fridays through the year, where all self-powered bikes are welcome.
In 2024, carbon sag-wagon appearances were next-to-none and only Penny regularly showed up on a full suspension rig. The two bike brands that were most represented (by far) were Kona & Knolly with Chromag a distant third.
Growing Gaggle of Gloves
It was dank and damp today, although not dark and dreary enough to qualify as a ‘Dave Smith Day,’ not to mention cool, though not quite cold. With metal brake levers I would have been required to boost up to a thicker set of gloves – my Leatt Windblock 2.0 or 100% Briskers. But, thanks to better living through carbon fiber, one of the few situations where fantastic-plastic makes an immediately notable difference, I was still in my thinnest summer-weight gloves.
And I’m happy – stoked even – to say that between their surprising resilience and some excellent deals of clearance colours, the number of pairs of Chromag’s superlight Habit gloves I have on hand is approaching luxury. They are essentially weightless so I always have a couple or few extra pairs on my pack.
Anywho, Chromag has had my two favourite colours, Lagoon LTD & Cosmo Blue, on sale for CA$18 so it was impossible to resist stocking up. I will say that I prefer to buy them ever so small (size medium) and stretch them in but Nina & Claire both wear them as well and that process is certainly not a necessity for loving these gloves.
{Drewitors note: remember, bike gloves are meant to fit perfectly when holding a bar or giving a fist bump.}
On Winning At The Great Game Of Millimeters
My journey back and fourth between two excellent old-school-moto-inspired alt-bars, the Hunter Smooth Move & Stooge Moto Bar, didn’t truly get interesting until I scored a win in the great game of millimeters.
For a snap shot, the Hunter High Rise sports a 75mm rise, 780mm width, and 15° back sweep. The Stooge Moto Bar sports a 3mm rise, 780mm (cut from 800mm) width, and 17° back sweep. I’d been running them both with the same 40mm NSBilllet Overlord stem and playing about with headset spacers (more under the stem for the Stooge and vice versa for the Hunter).
The Hunter was perfect but I never quite (but almost) had the Stooge in the right spot (spacers, roll, etc), until I switched to a 32mm stem. Yep, that’s 8mm. No even a single full centimeter. And yet ride after ride I’m stoked on the higher and longer Hunter setup OR the shorter and lower Stooge setup. I could happily ride off into the sunset with either.
What’s the take away? If you’re not certain it’s always worthwhile to experiment with even the smallest setup changes.
Midday Dark
Not that my photos are anything special on a good day – I’m more of a photo to capture the moment then a photo to wow the senses type – but I recognize they tend to get worse this time of year. That’s because I rarely carry a real camera – or dig it out of my pack when I do – but rather, in the cold and wet, I rely on my cellphone tucked close & dry in my HMPL phone carrier.
{And also because I love being out in the midday dark.}
I find the automatic over-processing annoying so I snap .jpg images with as much of the added crap turned off as possible, and in the end what you see is what you get. Maybe some phones are better than others, but my iPhone struggles in the forest in the midday dark and I like that. Really.
{Did I mention I love being out in the woods for a 12-noon night ride?}
Even the bright yellow front triangle of (my) Will’s Arcturian doesn’t pop in the midday dark of proper North Shore winter day in the woods, when the only things that shine and glisten are roots and rungs. There’s an honesty of experience there that may not be nice to look at but I can feel through an image.
And with that thought, I’m going to roll off into Talker Tunes (all killer, no filler from Terry Walker this week!!!), an ice-cold Tequila (thank you, D&B), and some shut eye. See you next week.
Larry Talker’s Tunes For The Week
Happy New Year!
Here we go with another new album (2024) from a classic rock era band:
Saxon: Hell, Fire And Damnation.
On rotation for several months in this household, it’s a must have for any heavy rock/metal fan. Best listened to while wrenching at home or the shop. You will work faster with fewer mistakes! Every track is great—no filler, all killer! The lyrics are terrific as well. Album of the year in my opinion, across any genre.
Standout tracks include: Hell, Fire and Damnation / Madame Guillotine / There’s Something in Roswell / Kubla Khan and The Merchant Of Venice / Pirates of The Airwaves / 1066*
*{Model-T note: “Coincidentally, earlier this past year I read The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England 400-1066. If you’re interested in the shitstorm leading up to the year 1066, be prepared to buckle up for a few months to sort out the cast of characters including: Britons, Danes, Normans, Kings, Queens, and all manner of shenanigans.“}
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