STRAVA: Love or Hate?

Here in Marin County a lot of people think of STRAVA as the reincarnation of the devil. Not kidding. I even find myself hating on the social app for tracking rides and runs. Most recently I even stopped using if for a few weeks, I was really frustrated with all the extra patrols on perfectly good mountain bike trails and in my mind blamed STRAVA.

A little history about Marin County, most likely you already know but just incase. Here in the birthplace of mountain biking there are very few "legal" mountain bike trails anymore. Most singletrack is closed to bikes, there is some great spots; China Camp, Camp Tamarancho and few others but in large mountain bikes are supposed to only use and enjoy big, wide,  did I mention steep and boring fire roads. 

What this has done is forced many riders to become trail ninja's, dirt pirates, poachers or in the words of the many equestrians CRIMINALS. Since STRAVA hit the scene many people think that mountain bikers have become so focused on Personal Records (PR's), King of the Mountain (KOM's, male) and Queen of the Mountain (QOM's, female) they forgot to stop and enjoy the trails and other people using them. STRAVA segments are reportedly being used in public hearings and trail use meetings to show that mountain bikers are in fact using illegal trails and are going way to fast on the trails that are bike legal. 

But I ask, is this STRAVA's fault? Is it a horrible app that has caused more damage than good? It seems to defiantly be putting bullets in the oppositions gun. Lets look at some of the Pro's vs. Cons. On a personal level STRAVA has motivated my dad, who lives 4 states away to ride and gives us a social media to compare our rides over and keep in touch on a daily basis, not a huge deal with every other social media site, cell phones and emails but still it is an excellent way for distant friends and relatives to keep in touch and motivate each other. Another great aspect of STRAVA is the ability to track you own rides, milage, hours, bike maintenance, trails you name it, all in one convenient spot. So, onto some of the Con's. It makes every ride a race for some people, with that said a majority of the strava "racers" are going to ride like assholes most of the time anyways. But in some ways I am sure strava is like giving steroids to a bodybuilder. Another con is that fact that anyone with a log in and can see where people are riding, if you are "friends" you can see times and location. This is becoming a huge deal in the fight for trail access.

I am sure we could go on and on and debate till the wee hours of the morning about STRAVA but I personally think we need to place the "hate" where it belongs, and that isn't on STRAVA. Be upset with your local county administrators, your elected government officials, the "anti-bike" citizens, don't be upset with a social riding app.

I highly recommend anyone that reads this look into there local trail advocacy groups, donate money, go out to trail maintenance day, help give a good name to cyclists.

Push Elevensix Review: Updated

Okay, I have at least a dozen rides on my Elevensix now. I will do my best to give a quality review here. 

First off, I decided to look at the Elevensix because I was unhappy with the tune-ability of my Fox Float X, don't get me wrong, the Float X is an amazing shock but it's hard to get that super plush and small bump compliance feel when you are a 200+ pound rider. My last bike was a Knolly Chilcotin, I had a CC DB Air and it was better than the Float X for me so I always felt the Float X was a down grade. I looked at getting another DB Air but when all was said and done I was still going to have to run high air pressure adjust HS/LS compression endlessly, so it was a really hard justification, spend $700 for a slight upgrade?? This is where the Elevensix comes into the picture, a big price tag but to me it is a big enough upgrade to make it worth it.  

So a little about my experience buying the shock. I can't say enough for the guys at Push. When I called to order my shock we had a long discussion about every aspect of my riding; where I ride, how I ride, how much I weigh, what my current set up is and the pro's/con's of my set up. 

I guess my stats are important for the review as well. I ride a Medium Pivot Mach 6. With all my gear; helmet, full camelback, spare tube, multi-tool etc.. I tip the scale at 218. I live in Marin County and ride as much singletrack as possible. I also take trips to Colorado, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah yearly. I am not a bike park type of guy so there are no shuttles, I have to climb to get the reward. I am not a fast climber but I can grind it out when needed. Most of my days involve between 2000-3500 of climbing. I like technical downhills/trails. I am not hitting huge gaps or jumps very often, I do hit the occasional drop. I enjoy rock gardens, baby heads, that fast chundery type stuff. 

So after our conversation my shock was shipped with valve 1 set up similar to the "trail" mode on my Float X and valve 2 was set for more downhill, plush feel. I also had the 475lb spring installed.

Once installed on my bike (which was super easy), I went to familiar local trails that I know like the back of my hand. I really tried to ride them hard and pin-it in the fast rough section, the elevensix was amazing, I could immediately feel a difference when it came to that fast small bump compliance, it felt like my bike was stuck to the ground and yet when I would come out of a rough section my teeth weren't chipped from chattering. I then went on one of my favorite rides that involves about 2500 feet of tight technical singletrack climbing. I was extremely surprised by the elevensix. The extra weight wasn't noticed, I really do think my bike handled the technical climbs better. At first I chocked it up to "placebo effect", new shock and all, but after a few more climbs I was able to compare some of my previous times and I was improving. But back to the fun stuff, going down, the elevensix likes it fast and rough...lol, I have never felt more confident on my bike when pinning it through rough terrain. 

Since getting my shock I have actually seen two others while out riding and it's instant brakes and "HEY NICE SHOCK!", it's like owning a jeep, I think we need to come up with a special wave...okay maybe not, but seriously the two guys I ran into were just as stoked as me and had very similar experiences.

I am not a pro, but I am an avid rider and have a lot of experience on different bikes and suspension set ups. I highly recommend the elevensix for those who like to go downhill fast. I think its a perfect shock for that heavier guy that cant get his mass produced shock tuned perfect, at least that was my reasoning, I am sure the smaller guys will love it as well. If you are a cross country rider who enjoys that climb more than anything else the elevensix is obviously not the right shock for you. I think the fact that this is a coil over shock people assume its purely downhill, I just want to share that it really isn't, it is a great trail/all-mountain/enduro shock. 

Everything I have stated is pretty much already known so I guess this "review" just adds onto the others that have said the same thing. All in all it's a huge investment, it will be something that many will have a hard time justifying, it took me 4 months to make up my mind and save and scrape together the money, I defiantly had sticker shock and some buyers remorse when I saw my bank account the day after buying it but that went away after my first ride. If anyone has any question please feel free to PM me.