Some Bicycle Things I’m Stoked About On A Friday, Sept 12th, 2025
Coffee in the morning, lights at night, real life in the middle. Without the flexible income from writing about bicycles, and after floating for a bit, it seems that the ’25-’26 school year will largely be a return to older rhythms I know well. Be flexible. No, really, I’m working on that both mentally and physically.
This year, the reality is that Pipeline Tuesday and Fromme Friday will be occasional happenings, and the only sorta-sure-thing rides I’ll have inked on my schedule, aside from afterschool rips with my grom, of course, are after din-dins in the dark.
In fact, that’s my excuse for why this week’s SBTISAOAF is live on Saturday! I was out late enjoying the trails.
Magura Gustav Silver Performance Pads
What took me so long to install the ~15% more friction-forward Gustav rotor grabbers? Well, the brakes were just right for me as they were. Epic-level hydraulic pressure meant all the power I could want with a decidedly less grippy-grabby friction-forward feel.
In that sense, the Silver Performance pads are going to register as either a delight, a pacifier, or a disappointment depending on one’s personal preference. The extra upfront rotor wrastlin is real², but it’s not G.Magenwirth thrusting a Zweihänder into your spokes. Even with the long-lever-leverage and massive hydraulic pressure, the application of power is still nicely controllable.
The Silver Performance pads add enough noticeable extra friction that the vast majority of folks who wanted more up-front action from the Gustav Pro will be pacified. Folks like myself who were happy with the stock ‘gentle power‘ application will be inclined to try them, and for mountain biking, it will be interesting to see how the preference lands.
I’ve ended up running the stock pads in the rear and the Silver Performance in the front, and I love the braking balance, but I’ll add that right now the trails are very dry. The beauty of the stock Gustav Pro experience with the depth of power – all the wheel control – sans grab-point on steep, greasy trails will be worth considering as the temperature drops and the rain appears.
I will say, as well, that every brake system – light action, heavy action, progressive action – requires a learning curve regardless of what combination of power and friction it brings to the table. The three systems I’ve been riding the most lately are the Hayes Dominion T4, Magura MT7, and Magura Gustav, and they are all different. Though it probably won’t surprise you, the Gustav and MT7 are more similar.
I’m on record as envisioning a future where the Gustav is sold as two SKUs. The current model I’m riding, and then an MTB version {The Gustav Pro M} that includes the Silver pads and an HC1 lever blade as original equipment. And then, in addition, it’s inevitable that Magura will eventually offer the tire-barking action of their Gold Race pads for this brake as well. I’m positive that it will be more bite than I’m looking for, but I’m always prepared to be wrong.
Lights Make Right {Wednesday Night Lights Re-Launch}
Here’s the thing about night riding. Beautiful evening, perfect temperature, not raining, it’s easy to motivate myself to pedal into the mountains for a solo ride. What with the predictable traction and all, I’ll even go and hit some fairly technical, feature-filled trails.
But I know the darkest dark, the dampest dark, the dankest dark, the dreariest dark is on the horizon. For all my tough talk, I, too, have been known to occasionally open the door to inclement weather and choose a cheap whiskey next to an electric fireplace instead of an after-lights-out drenching.
So, in a throwback to years long gone by, I’m {making an attempt at} relaunching the Wednesday Night Lights group ride*. Tentatively, this will be happening {almost} every Wednesday evening at 9pm on Mt. Fromme.
*{Waiver: You’re a grown person of majority age riding bicycles in the f*cking forest on steep pitches, greasy rocks, gnarly roots, and elevated structures. Day or night, simply by choosing to mountain bike, you’re assuming personal responsibility and liability for the stupid choices you have made, are making, and will make in the future.}
The format will be a no-drop ride heading up No Quarter from Braemar {out of respect for local neighbours, we’ll actually meet above the road at the Tennis Courts}. The plan is to keep it friendly and to pedal for around 2hrs.
What are we planning to ride? Is it definitely a go? Show up if you’re happy to ride regardless, but I’ll send out a BCC e-mail each Wednesday morning confirming the ride is happening at the tentative ride ideas. Want to get on the BCC e-mail list? Fire me an e-mail!
One quick note about the 9pm start time. Depending on feedback, this could be an 8:30pm start. Some folks like 9pm, and some folks are concerned it’s too late {at least it’s not some 11pm old-timers hockey nonsense?} and we’ll see who/if anyone, actually shows up.
Uncle Dave’s MTeeB Thoughts
I still chuckle every time one of my Velomix* riding friends moans about Surrons or one-wheels on the trails {Closing the E-Gate}. And yes, because I’m an awful gatekeeping, elitist, snob, I do, occasionally, glibly goad them about their five-figure rig’s expected expiry dates or the pending transition to throttles and pegs {at what point will the pedals be vestigial?}. But, all the same, I have eyes, and I fully recognize that, everywhere I’ve ridden recently, e~MTBing is a rapidly growing activity and MTBing is not.
As Uncle Dave wrote, as fact, sans valuation: “The war is over. The machines have won.“
‘50,000:1 Club’ and all that, I can’t imagine a scenario where I don’t prefer walking my rigid single-speed up a climb before mounting a plug-in, but that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize that, cost considerations aside, more mountain bikers would, and will, be running pedal-assisted rigs than pedal-only rigs.
And that whole long preamble aside, we all know that the MTeeBs are here to stay and are going to become massively more popular, powerful, and lighter weight while somehow all continuing to have a ‘continuous power output rating’ below the legal class-1 limit.
*{‘High Performance Blenders’}
Now, can vs. should, I don’t think recognizing that MTeeBs are here to stay, and the fastest growing group of trail users locally, is at all the same thing as agreeing that the activity of mountain biking, and the trail infrastructure, should have ever become motorized. This may sound silly, but I know at least a few folks who actively ride them, promote them, and think they’re great fun, and who don’t think they should exist. If everyone else is turning on Pandora’s mountain bike, right?
Yeah, so. Epic preamble aside, I actually just wanted to say that when it comes to everything I’ve read about MTeeBs, I don’t think anyone has hit the nail on the head quite as well, or as neutrally, as Uncle Dave Tolnai did {no collateral hammer damage to his future throttle-thumb, hehehe} in his piece about MTeeBs today on NSMB.
Hardtails Are Slower {And Fun}
Suspension adds traction, control, and hold-on-and-shred comfort. It makes riders smoother, and smoother is faster. Certainly, I can keep most of my faster friends in sight on some trails, if they don’t know we’re racing. At a certain group size, I can often even hang on my rigid bike.
But I don’t need a stopwatch to know that I was faster, fresher, up No Quarter on the We Are One Arrival A140 than on any hardtail – single or multi-speed – and significantly faster down any trail on the Arrival A170 than even my best efforts on the Marinster Truckin’ El Roy or Will’s Arcturian.
Me vs. me, all those extra bearings and $1000 worth of rear shocking action deliver. And yeah, there are folks I can’t hang with on my hardtail where I’d have a chance on a big travel bike, or even a mid-travel bike, and I’m not invalidating anyone for whom max speed is a big part of mountain biking.
I’m a plunker. I can go fast enough, hard enough, on my old* steel hardtail to make me happy, and I’m generally in the woods with folks who are also plunking, or who enjoy my company enough they’re willing to ride the brakes a little extra and wait for me to decide if I really want to hit that wooden roller coaster today.
Anyway, I’ve had exchanges with not less than three separate folks I’ve ridden with this week, talking about going faster on bikes. And, the simple fact is, if you’re trying to keep up with rippers on your hardtail and can’t, there’s a rig with a rear shock for any off-road application that’s going to pump up your jam.
Anywho, there’s a reason that hardtail hardcores like Cotic, Stanton, Chromag, etc. started making sag-wagons, and it’s not just because so many of their customers are old. No matter your level as a rider, from beginner to World Cup XC racer, a full suspension rig is going to be faster and easier to ride in most circumstances.
And, yes, if you haven’t tried a modern hardtail, you really, really should. They’re so much fun.
*{Does six years count as old?}
Fester or Dump
I’ve had some strangely reasonable, refreshing, even relieving used bicycle pricing conversations this week. One in particular rang out when a customer asked me how much cash I thought he’d score for his used Trek Slash {pre-HP+I} rig.
Flippantly, which is the only way I can deal with used pricing questions, I replied that he should see what folks are selling the same bike for on Pinkbike or Marketplace, and then make a hard choice. If you want it to still be festering in your bike storage next year, then match their pricing. If you want it to fester and to answer a billion dead-end “Is this still available?” or “Can I have a discount?” messages, then price it 20% lower.
But, if the goal is to actually move it on, then price it at 50% with a note that the sum is 1) firm, 2) reflects the fact that the bike could probably use a suspension service, brake bleed, and tune-up, and 3) the first person to show up with money leaves with the rig.
In the past, these sorts of forward responses have often earned me the ire of the asker, but in an unstable market where the new-new is always on the horizon and the as-good-as-the-next-generation aging inventory is selling fresh-from-a-box for significantly fewer figs than the SRP price, folks are starting to recognize that there’s no sure price for the two-wheeled wonder they no longer want to wheel.
Instead of “You could have just said no,” the same response is garnering “Thanks for the advice,” and “Yeah, I’m ready for my next bike, so I really just need this gone.”
I’m fairly certain that at some point – MTBs and MTeeBs – the biggest brands are all going to start buying back bikes from the previous 3-4 seasons {trade-ins}, servicing them, and reselling them used through their integrated dealer network. If for no other reason than that, eventually, the resale price of a freshish few-year-old bike is going to have some bearing on the street price of a current model.
And yes, we all know that leasing options are on the horizon. Plenty of folks just want the newest without dealing with disposing of their past purchases.
And that’s a wrap! If pricing sanity comes to wherever you peruse used project bikes, then I’m expecting a thank you. Yes, even if the seller has a fairly fresh Kona Unit or Honzo ESD. They have checked out Kona’s updated SRPs for brand new bikes, n’est ce pas?
Maybe see you for a pedal on a Wednesday night.
Larry Talker Tunes
As unpatriotic as it may be, if I had to pick one favourite band to listen to for the rest of my days, it wouldn’t be Joel Plaskett, Said The Whale, Hawksley Workman, Leonard Cohen, Rum Ragged, or any of the other Canadiana that I love.
What It Means is one of the most lyrically powerful songs I know, but beyond that, from the wonderful storytelling to the all-war-is-class-war bent, I can listen to the Drive-By Truckers catalogue for hours on repeat.
They did release a fresh album recently, 2022’s Welcome 2 Club xiii, but I’m going to take a page out of Model-T’s music recommendation musings and instead assign the 2024 ‘Deluxe Edition’ re-release of 2001’s Southern Rock Opera.
Terry Walker, don’t miss out on ‘Dead, Drunk, and Naked‘ {“Daddy used to tell me / that everything comes down / to what they say about you / when you’re not around“} and Women Without Whiskey.
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