I was going to throw myself under the bus for never sticking with any ‘series’ of pieces I start on MEATengines. Okay, there’s YDINAC and Tunnel Talk, but those are cases of the-universe-provides rather than any effort on my part. And there’s Selling Out, but that’s more of a recap. Anyway, to break my streak, I’m actually going to try and come up with Six Bicycle Things I’m Stoked About On A Friday, every single Friday, and we’ll see how I do.
Today I’m in a fantastic mood. It’s raining and all the plants outside my building and in the forest smell happy. I managed to get in a good, short, ride that was exactly the right amount of climbing and descending to get me fired up, and I’m heading out in a little bit to drop off a saddle at Essential Cycles as part of MEATengines Saddle Library.
So, in no particular order, here are this week’s six:
1) New (To Me) Bike Week
Thus far all of the (now two) full suspension bike reviews I’ve taken on in 2024 have been well-used bikes. The first was Matt Beer’s Devinci Chainsaw, and the second will kick off a series on BikeMag that I’ll be excited to talk more about when the first hit goes live.
I’ve written quite a bit about min-maxing, buying and upgrading budget bikes, buying used bikes, and ‘buying the bike you already own’ and in my mind, this is a continuation of that process as well as always trying to do something different – inform, entertain, inspire.
2) Saddle Library Re-Charge
I had just finished updating the MEATengines Saddle Library Inventory and the How To Buy A Library Card assets when JacAttack fired me a screenshot of a donation to Harvest Project and a saddle booking. As you can imagine, I’m jazzed.
I’m asking for a $25 minimum buy-in and again that’s paid directly to Harvest Project with only a screenshot proof-of-purchase required by me. MEATengines (Me) and Essential Cycles, who provide a pick-up/drop-off location and installation if requested, are providing our input pro bono.
[NOTE: If you’re North Vancouver adjacent and would rather support a food bank supporting the community you live in, I’m happy to have that conversation.]
3) Shimano CUES U6000
I finally have a couple of rides on the U6000 10-speed drivetrain. I’m not going to say too much right now, it’s early days and I am working on a BikeMag review of U6000 & U4000 but I’ve been asked a bunch so here are some bulleted thoughts.
- Shifting action is surprisingly light even with the clutch on. Lighter than XT LinkGlide M8130, which is something I’ll investigate more. I actually really like it, it reminds me of Shimano M972 and M772 9-Spd in a good way.
- Shifting action is super precise without being slow, which is what I’ve come to expect from LinkGlide (LG). The crisp engagement is actually mind-blowing from a drivetrain that costs under CAD$300 for shifter, derailleur, cassette, and chain.
- The shifter looks and feels a bit cheap in the shop. Not exactly surprising for a drivetrain that costs under CAD$300 when a nice XT M8130 shifter is around a hundred Canuck bucks. I’d love to try min-maxing the same drivetrain with a Deore M5130 10-spd shifter.
- Thanks to that LG chain retention the system doesn’t love to a single-cog shift from the lowest gear to number two. I’ll keep playing with setup but I’ve quickly grown accustomed to double-tapping out of the easiest gear up to (down the cassette to) third.
4) DVO Onyx D1 SL
This DVO Onyx fork was fantastic on the front of the Marinster Truck but paired with a similar amount of rear-wheel travel and the highest speeds that I’m able to navigate janky terrain at (still fairly snail-paced), wow. More on that, and a teardown with SuspensionWerx, down the trail.
5) WTB Deva Saddle
The WTB Deva was my go-to favourite saddle for years and this tired old classic has been sitting on a shelf for a while, having been replaced by the WTB Koda and then the BikeYoke Sagma in terms of my personally preferred perch.
The Deva is firmer than either of those options and certainly less comfortable in the bike shop sit test. But out on the trail, it was nice to remember how well it works for me. Not to oversell it, but that’s why you can’t beat actually going out and riding a saddle. Especially one like the Deva where I need a few 1/4 turns of the saddle clamp bolts to get the angle juuuuuuuuuuuust right.
6) MEATengines Bottles
A few folks noticed that I added a photo of Jac’s bike with a shiny new MEATengines water bottle to the Most Interesting Bottle In The World thread. Okay, so it’s no Jumping Slug Community Cycles, or Box Dog Bikes, etc. bottle but it has that sweet Cy Whitling MEATengines logo and it’s purple.
Yes, I had a limited batch made and will be selling what’s left after The Clairebarian & Nina claim theirs. They’re Camelbak bottles and they’re great for drinking. You can buy a little rubber cap for them at your local bike shop it you want to keep the high-flow spout clean.
I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, but I will ship them to readers who aren’t North Vancouver adjacent. Maybe a minimum order of two? Maybe we can figure out bundling. Anyway, I think that’s more of a button-up-Monday than a stoked-on-things-Friday issue to work out.
Cheers for reading! If you enjoyed this piece please consider buying me a coffee. Any questions, concerns, or comments please feel encouraged to drop me an e-mail, or join us at r/MEATengines.