The Best Of The Scraps - What MTB Parts Are Available? [Video]

Words by: Liam Woods

Intro:

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about the biggest bike boom we have ever seen. There are more people riding bikes and looking to upgrade than ever before. It’s great for the industry and at the end of the day it gets more people on bikes which we all love. Unfortunately, we have also seen a complete depletion of inventory for most products. Because of this, we decided to put together our favorite products that are still available. Check them out before they are gone!

SRAM NX Eagle 12-Speed Groupset with Cassette, Shifter, Derailleur and Chain:

SRAM NX Eagle 5-piece group has to be one of the best bang for your buck packages we sell. We did a full launch and first impressions on the NX Eagle it, we talk about it a lot, and we absolutely love it ourselves because for the price you get a 12-speed drivetrain and an 11-50t gear range. The cool thing about the NX Eagle is you can use the old, dare I say standard, Shimano HG style freehub bodies. So if you are currently running a 2x or 3x or maybe 1x10, then you can use the NX Eagle cassette on your wheel and get 12-speed shifting. For $375, you get the shifter, rear derailleur, chain, crank, and cassette. It’s an insane value that provides crisp, smooth shifting. 

Maxxis Assegai Tire:

The Maxxis Assegai tire is the signature tire from the downhill GOAT, Mr. Greg Minnaar. It’s designed to be consistent in most conditions and provide some insane grip. The Assegai gets a whole new tread design while taking hints from popular Maxxis tires that Greg liked. While not built for all-out speed in every single condition, I think the Assegai provides the most amount of grip out of any tire I have ever ridden. It makes for a great front tire, and if you don’t care about rolling speed, you can run it front and rear. Check out the full review we did about the Maxxis Assegai. It was instantly a favorite among the shop, racers, and trail riders all over. 

Maxxis Minion DHF:

What a classic! The Maxxis Minion DHF is a staple in the Maxxis mountain bike tire lineup. I'm not sure about some facts, but I would dare to say that the Minion tires have more World Cup Downhill podiums and wins than any other tire. In fact, they are so good that some pros will buy Maxxis tires and spray paint over the logo so they can run them instead of the free tires they get from their sponsors. While usually a front tire, you can run the DHF out back if you want to. It will also roll a bit faster than the Maxxis Assegai, so if you are looking for a bit more speed over grip, the Maxxis Minion DHF is a great option. Check out how we compared the Minion DHF and Minion DHRII tires against each other. It’s comical. 

Orange Seal Endurance Tubeless Tire Sealant Refill - 16oz (LU0327):

To go with your new Maxxis tires, you will need some sealant to use in those tires. Most of us at Worldwide Cyclery choose to use Orange Seal, mainly because orange is our favorite color…. That’s a lie. Really, the Orange Endurance Sealant, we think, is the longest lasting and best sealing sealant. It’s also really widely available. Most bike shops have it if you run into some issues out riding or on a trip. That is important because while there are plenty of other great sealants out there, you don’t want to mix brands as they will not work as well as advertised, so stick with what you got ‘till you get a new tire. 

KETL Swag Items:

Intro shameless KETL MTN plug here: Yeah, we have KETL product in stock. Recently we designed some KETL Fairweather Socks, specifically designed for outdoor activities. These are great for mountain biking, trail running, hiking or… well everything. They have some padded sections on specific parts of your feet to help add some comfort while also being thin in other areas to stay light and breathable. The other new product we designed is a pair of riding gloves, the KETL Fairweather Gloves, specifically to protect you in a crash, but also offer some breathability on top of the hand with some thin fabric. The fingers are also a bit different in that they do not have annoying seams. You will also find a soft microfleece cloth on the thumb to wipe sweat off things like your mountain biking glasses or goggles. The last product is a sweet KETL shirt, with a tri-blend of fabrics. The KETL Subliminal shirt is both comfortable for casual wearing or some light activities. I personally like to wear just my KETL shirt and nothing else and see how long it takes for people to read the subliminal “HAVE MORE FUN” on the back of the shirt. So far everyone notices I have no pants on before they notice my shirt says Have More Fun… 

Fox Shox Suspension Fork Volume Spacers:

When trying to get your suspension dialed in, the use of volume spacers can greatly help with that. Fox makes volume spacers for each of their fork models: 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40. By adding spacers into your fork, you can make it harder to bottom out, or add progression to your stroke. With the same fork travel and no volume spacers you might bottom out easily, now add one or two-volume spacers, and it will then take more and more force in the mid- to end-stroke to bottom out then. Volume spacers do not really affect the beginning 50% of your fork’s travel, but only the latter half to final 35% or so. I always use volume spacers to tune my suspension, even more so than compression. With proper sag or pressure that feels correct, and then adding volume spacers, you can get your suspension to feel good and then add some compression to get it to feel good after that. If you haven’t messed with volume spacers much, I suggest you give it a try. Watch some videos to get an idea of what you’re doing. They are cheap and can improve the way your bike feels more than any expensive upgrade part, you might be surprised! 

WC Water Bottle:

This magical vessel holds your liquids to hydrate you throughout your ride, or even day. Carrying 21oz of the liquid you choose, which could be water, sports mix, beer, or anything else I am not going to talk about. BPA free, with a smooth mouthpiece to drink out of, you pretty much need one of these in your life. Oh, and this water bottle now has the stealth Worldwide Cyclery logo on it. Pretty cool. Grab one, it has free shipping!

This article was written / authored by Liam Woods. Liam has been in the bicycle industry for over 10 years as a racer, professional mechanic, service manager and as of late, media and content creator. Liam has ridden thousands of different bikes, ridden countless components, tested endless MTB apparel of all kinds and written reviews on it all. He's a key piece to the Worldwide Cyclery "All Things MTB" content creation puzzle. He also makes consistent appearances on the Worldwide Cyclery YouTube channel and Instagram.