Matheny Endurance

Swapped from drop bars one day to flat bars the next and pretty happy to be able to ride more proper single track.

If you missed my other reel scroll back one but it reinforces the fact that once you advance to something more capable it stands out when you try to revert.

In this case the 2.25s, 100mm fork, 160mm rotors, single piston brakes & no dropper all added up to specially make it noticeable difference in my normal mtb style and routes. That’s a key separator for me actually deterring from routes I’d normally embark, but may not be for you or your surrounding trails.

But on the gravel side this setup seems like over biking but isn’t really. Smooths things out and makes it fun.

Hear me out! At some point the lines between bikes and there purpose becomes blurred and this is coming from one of the old times that says “I used to ride that on 25s” “on a hardtail” or “without a dropper”.

The analogy I see is the trend of bigger gravel tires makes sense because it’s smooth and similar to running larger stanchion forks, larger rotors, or more squish. You don’t realize how good it is or more-so what you’ve normalized until you experience it and try to go back.

But recently getting this hardtail built up with hydraulic couplers to swap between flat bars or drops has been fun. The big 2.25s roll fast and smooth and I can even hit take single track.

Haters gonna hate but gotta admit bikes are fun!

Here’s a principal I using coaching; it’s called the theory of relativity. And today’s example is a very cold commute as it has been across the country started out at -5 and now it’s -16 but when it was that cold earlier, this feels relatively warm.

The same principle holds in training. If you haven’t done work above a certain intensity level, then sometimes doing higher intensity can reset the perception of difficulty below that point.

It’s fundraiser time!

Bicycles are freedom, opportunities & experiences! This should be accessible for any kid!

As you can see I practice what I preach and my kids are 1st hand benefactors along with kids I coach being graduates of their programs.

Join me to support raising funds to have more kids on bikes!