Upgrades - Cake and Eating It

I didn't think it was actually possible, but I managed to find another upgrade to my RIP9.
I have been ecstatic with every change I have made to the bike, which I like to think is a good thing. I recognize it as progression.

It began with the fork upgrades, I went from the ubiquitous Reba, had a brief stint with a Maverick, then settled on the Fluid 135 from White Brothers. Not only did the fork feel great, it virtually eliminated a whole range of nitpicks I had with the bike.

Then, about a year ago, I took off the Juicy Carbon brakes and replaced them with the Avid Code brake. This was another good move, I could brake later into turns, and count on them grabbing hard when needed. For those that do not know, the Juicy is a 2 piston brake, perfectly adequate for all around riding, the Code is a 4 piston DH brake, which incidentally, are only about 42g more per side (non-rotational weight folks, totally acceptable) than the Juicy Carbon. Big kids take note - this is an upgrade worth considering. I'm still running the 180/165mm, front/rear rotor combo. Plenty of power.

With the new fork, I was beginning to really push the limits on my RIP. With the new brakes I was able to get away with a lot more.

Then I got a pair of the Ergon Enduro grips. Weird as they look, they make a huge difference to my paws, which would often get sore and beat up on rough downhills.

And now, just when I thought I had the bike all figured out, one of these found it's way on the bike.

For a long time I have poo-pooed the adjustable seatpost thing. 'Set and forget' and 'Run what ya brung' had always been my mottos, until about 4 hours ago.


This is the Crank Brothers Joplin post, a design licenced from the Maverick group. I can't see myself without this gadget on my RIP now. I was able to ride sections of trail so much faster, just because "the boys" were not in any danger. I have the Remote version of the post. The total travel range is about 3", which you can change at will with a weird, but cool and well thought out lever. You can literally adjust your saddle height within a few mm if you are talented enough.


But just imagine, if you could drop your saddle height 3" for just a few seconds on a trail, and then have it right back up for when you need to climb....

Oh yeah.

An unfortunate side effect for me, has been the amount of time I am no longer "on" the trail. With the family jewels safe, I can loft the bike higher up in the air without fear of retribution from the saddle. For the longest time, saddle height has kept my speed in check, but now, I'm beginning to find the limitations of the brakes....
...maybe time to get bigger rotors...

Why would you buy this post? If you are like me, you aren't getting any younger. My knees hurt from years of "splitting the difference". Our trails are technical, and have intermittent and sometimes long and technical climbs. I and others like me have set their saddle height in a spot where strong seated climbing is still possible, and out of the saddle BMX style flow through the flats and downhills can still be achieved.

Now, I can have the correct saddle height for climbing, and the right saddle height for wailing the crap out of my bike on the downhills! Woo Hoo!!!!!