Whoops

Can anyone see what is wrong with this picture?

Seems I forgot to tighten a couple of bolts.

Needless to say, I was very rattled from this experience, I had just completed a pretty high speed descent on part of the Perry Hill Trail System, and was on my way out, when my handlebars slipped in the stem.

I was riding a section we call "ZZ", a section of switchbacks that trail through a pine forest . The name of the game is momentum. I always play the "no pedal, no dab" game on this section. If you are unfamiliar with the trail, you will most likely dab once, or crank 1/4 of a pedal stroke to keep you going. It is a very BMX'y trail that requires a lot of body english to keep you rolling. I found that my handlebars were loose during a high speed manual through a dip, and lost control of the bike. In the picture, the bike points left, but the trail goes right...

After that, I was completely unable to get back up to speed.

I had lofty goals of getting the rest of the data for the Jet vs. Spider shootout, but today, I just had to get out of the woods safely.
With only my pride bashed up, I will regroup and try again in the morning.

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!!!!!

Post Father's Day Ride Syndrome

A group of us dads headed out for a ride on Sunday morning. It was beautiful and sunny. It had rained all night. Needless to say, riding was very interesting indeed. Our normally technical trails took on a new note of difficulty. While the mud made things interesting in the turns, it was the slick wet rocks that were the real problem.

We have a lot of exposed rock in Waterbury. We chose to ride 6 Flags and Joes, and there were several visits to the ground among our group. I took 2 rather spectacular tumbles on Joes. I chose to ride a couple of rocks that I should have taken the alternate route (around) on, and paid. I really should have known better.

I will say that I'm impressed with the paint on my RIP9. I dragged the non drive side about 10 feet down a steep rock, leaving marks in the rock, but found no damage to the paint. It's been a while since my last visit to the ground, and I hope to not go back any time soon.

I'm pretty banged up, but the ride was totally worth it.

Updates

The most important thing to report on, is that Niner has requested all dealers to halt all sales of the Jet 9, due to an issue with the upper rocker links. In some instances there have been failures, IE breakage of these links. They are quickly determining a solution to this problem, but in the meantime, for liabilities sake, they have asked that Jet owners keep their bikes grounded for the time being. Not one of the breakages have occurred from a bike sold from Bike 29.

Anyone that would like to know more specific details about the Jet 9, should contact me directly.

I haven't been able to ride my Jet in a while anyway, my work schedule and the rainy weather has kept me off the bike, up until early this week, when it was being horrendously sick that kept me on the sidelines. I don't often get sick, but when I do, I come down hard. I'm still trying to peer though the fog as I write this.

And on a positive note, the shop got it's new sign. It is absolutely killer. More details about the install can be found on the Five Hills Bikes webpage. It's water jet cut aluminum over a painted plywood background. The light is from an LED rope light that is mounted to the back of the aluminum. It looks awesome. A big thank you goes to Dr. Jones is on order for making the sign everything it is.


I hope to get out on the bike soon, I'm starting to get stir crazy!

Jet 9, Long Term Update

I've spent the last couple of weeks really getting to know the Jet on my local trails. It is by far one of the most "flickable" bikes out there, but it can come at the expense of mental comfort. By flickable, I mean it has the ability to go wherever you point it at a moment's notice, whether you are ready for it or not. It can be challenging at times, especially when you are feeling rusty. It has been my primary ride, although I do change it up for the RIP from time to time. That comparison is forthcoming...

There is no better way to describe it, the Jet is an animal. Definitely a race bike.

I have mine set up with a 100mm Fox, and it is still a very quick handling bike. It shines in the really tight stuff if you are on your game. If you are slightly off your game though, it will quickly wake you up.

It is very capable. It is very fast. Stand up on the pedals and it goes. I have not found even the most minuscule amount of flex in the rear end. Power up and you go. Mid turn course correction at any speed is not a problem.

It is most certainly a Jet, the sort that should have controls and devices that "dumb it down" for us mortals, similar to the way an F-16 has to be reigned in so the pilot doesn't die for blinking. I spent the weekend up in East Burke VT riding the Jet and a few other bikes, and, much like an F-16, I'm convinced that you should not be hungover while riding it.

While it is a demanding ride, you will be rewarded with speed, agility and quickness you've never thought possible.

I'm working on the grace part.
I would imagine, that if I was in the sort of shape to put this bike to real use, I'd be winning a couple of races...

JET 9, First Flight

Thanks to planetary alignment, good planning or just plain dumb luck, I was able to take flight on my Jet 9 tonight. My regular test loop is dry and riding very well right now. I ride every single one of my bikes on this loop, and I know it like the back of my hand. This is what makes it the best proving ground.

The Jet, well, this is some sort of awesome.


My initial impressions are that this bike delivers. It is quick!

I put a lot of new components on this bike. The brand new brakes aren't yet up to the task of slowing my 230lb carcass down fresh from the box, which made for some exciting cornering. Nonetheless, the bike was able to go where pointed despite my subconscious efforts to attempt low earth orbit.

I forgot about "taking it easy" many times, and often pushed it way over the line. When you are having fun, you just have to run with it. I made some tricky sections my first attempt tonight that often take me weeks to work up the gumption to even try.

This is the first bike I've built in a long time where the bars have been lower than the seat. It threw me at first, but this bike was originally marketed to be a "race" bike. I sort of have it built up as one, with the exception of the wheels. I built identical wheels to my RIP, knowing that I was going to wail the crap out of this bike right out of the gate.

My Fox fork was riding extremely saggy tonight, but that was entirely my fault. Over the winter I had the fork Push'd, totally re-valved and dialed in just for me and my ham fisted riding style. Tonight I felt the need to let some air out of it Fortunately, I remember it's Push'd settings, so I'll be fixing that IMMEDIATELY.

There are a lot of NEW (for me) parts on the bike; Ergon grips, narrow EC90 SL bars, and the rubber, Continental's Mountain King 2.4. What a weird tire! More on this in an upcoming post. I really like this tire, but not in a way that I can easily talk about at the moment.

It's very hard for me to be precise about my initial thoughts on this bike. It's not often that I am stymied when trying to find fault in something. Sure there are things that I wish may have been different with this bike, but wow, it I like it! It's impressive to be able to throw down on a brand new bike, the same way one might on a bike they may have had for years.

bling!

The Plane has Landed

After what seems like FOREVER, I finally have my Jet 9.

I'm not even going to talk about what it took to get these 10 frames here, but rest assured, they are here. Everyone that pre-ordered the Jet before 1.31.08, will get their frame before the rest of America. I just need a chance to do final QC before getting them packed up and on their way again. They will leave on Monday.

All I have to say is WOW!


What a beautiful machine. Everything is well thought out and executed to perfection. Typical of Niner. I had a really hard time deciding between the Kermit frame and the ano black, but I eventually chose black. I already have a Kermit, and he has been very good to me. I plan on holding on to my original Kermit for a long time, so it's best not to piss him off. In fact, Kermit gets the nod for the big ride this Sunday.


The Jet is a different beast. For my personal ride, I chose to bling out on the lightweight components, yet go with a beefier wheelset. I'm a trail rat, not a racer, but I wanted something I could duel with at Catamount if I needed to. With my "stock" set up, the bike rolls at 27.6lbs (with pedals and bottle cage). A full 2 pounds less than my RIP. It's set up with a "PUSHed" Fox fork, and an all mountain double (on a sweet set of cranks arms too!). I have a feeling that there are a great many things to be learned about this Jet...


An absolutely gorgeous beast this is.
I have a handful of medium and large frames that don't have homes on this run, but I have another 10 coming. I have a small amount of small and XL frames unspoken for.

Want one?

Call!!

Now Booking Flights - Niner Jet 9

Lots of folks ask me about the Niner Jet 9, and I'm pleased to be able to say, that we are taking pre-orders!

If you want to book one, simply visit the Niner Jet 9 page on my store.
And here's the kicker, Niner is giving away a really cool embroidered Patagonia Half Mass messenger bag to anyone that pre-orders their frame by December 14th. I have one of these bags, and it is nice! Think of it as a little Christmas present.
As if that isn't enough, Bike 29 is offering a pre-order special to our customers, in addition to Niner's offer. You need to sign up for our newsletter to get the deal though. And I'm not going to say what it is either, you have to sign up to find out!


If for some reason you are not familiar with the Jet, it promises to be one of the most sought after bikes of 08. With a little over 3" of rear travel, this bike is the ultimate XC machine. Pair the amazing CVA suspension design with the 29" wheels ability to roll over stuff, and you have a match made in heaven.

The first run of these will undoubtedly run out very quickly.
Catch your Jet, book your flights early!

Ridiculite

Every once in a while, you get to build up something so indulgent, that you can't believe your eyes when you see the finished product. And sometimes, what comes out is something that I classify as Ridiculite. The parameters are simple, it must be light, beautiful and functional. It doesn't even necessarily need to be the lightest thing in the world, it needs to work. Basically, it needs to function in a way that requires minimal maintenance down the road. There is a certain company that makes components that are some of the lightest bits out there, but they barely last a season, especially here in our wet New England climate. They do not fall under the category of Ridiculite.

So what we have here is a Niner One 9, with a White Bros IMV fork and a LOT of carbon, including the new and ultra sexy Truvative Noir 1.1 crankset. Delicious!


The wheels are Royale SS clones, built by a competitor who shall remain nameless (for obvious reasons). Because I built the bike up, I had the opportunity do a thorough inspection of the wheels. And they needed it. They weren't as round as I thought they should be, and they weren't dished correctly. It kind of validated my own personal idiosyncratic competition for perfection a little, especially when I spend a lot of time battling one wheel to get it just right. I can literally loose my mind on some wheel builds, but I always win, no matter how late I have to stay up. And I was pleased to learn that these competitor's wheels cost more.

Anyway, the result is still the same. Lots of tongues hit the floor when I rolled this baby out.
Enjoy!

Epic

Epics are one of those funny things that can be really good, or really bad, or have elements of either. Epics can take a very long time.
The good version could be that epic day long mountain bike ride with friends where everything was perfect, or something like Iron Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (March 14th!!!!!!).
A bad example would be something like the 45 mile ride that ended around midnight in Santa Cruz one summer (the last 3 hours were in pitch black).


In a true and classical sense just about sums up the completion of this bike.
8 weeks ago, it seemed that this should have been a snap. It's not exactly like we don't build these kinds of bikes all the time. Who could have foreseen the almost perfect storm that grew overhead as the build progressed?

First, the frames were not available.
Then the hubs.
Then the lost week of Interbike ensued.
Then the forks were delayed.
Then the forks were delayed again.
Then, the rear brake refused to cooperate.
Then the second replacement brake decided it was going to be a problem, but after many expletives and "one last try" , the nonsense suddenly stopped. Amazingly enough, I managed to keep my nerve through the whole mess.

Holy Cow!

But look at it! This is the first Atomic Blue RIP adorned with red bits. Coincidentally, the Easton logos on the handlebars are the same colors as the flames on the Terry saddle.
Pretty sharp.

Congrats Judy, and I'm really sorry it took so long.





Conditions at Stowe, not that epic.
Not quite yet...

Red 5.1

Since the retirement of the original Red 5, I have lamented it's absence. It was such a fun and responsive bike. It was my very first Niner, which replaced the Karate Monkey as the resident singlespeed. I owned it for several months, but ultimately retired it because it was a first generation One 9, and it lacked the appropriate tire clearance.

For a while, Kermit was a good stand in, but has since taken on other roles in the stable.
I was without a singlespeed in the line up for about 3 months when the golden opportunity to replace Red 5 came about.


And when Red 5.1 came, it brought it's pimp stick.

As with any "x".1, upgrades from the original were made. This time, instead of Delgados, we have the Stan's Arch rims, run with Bontrager ACX Tubeless tires, the White Bros Magic 100, Avid Juicy Carbon brakes, an Easton EC90 seatpost, and Easton EC70 Monkeylite bars. All told, with pedals and signature carbon bottle cage (that's right Jay, carbon...), Red 5.1 weighs 22.94 lbs, a full pound and a half lighter than it's predecessor.


You'll note, the Rogue bottle cap on my YAWYD. Red 5 is Luke Skywalker's call sign in his X-Wing, and he flies in Rogue Squadron. I am such a NERD!

No go out and Pedal Dammit!

Give me a Brake

Since the installation of the Fluid 135 on my RIP9, my riding style has changed. I've become a little more daring, riding faster, taking slightly more difficult lines. Which is great, except for when you need to make tight turns or need to suddenly scrub speed.

The Avid Juicy Carbons, which function perfectly on my other bikes, seemed to be letting me down on the RIP. And it all seemed to coincide with the new fork.

So, I took the opportunity to try out Avid's new Code brakeset, a burly looking 4 piston brake aimed at the freeride and DH market. I was pleasantly surprised that the front brake weighed only 42g more than the Carbon. They look heavy, but are under 400g a wheel (rotors and hardware not included). The levers pivot on big cartridge bearings, and have very smooth actuation. I did not swap my older Roundagon rotors for the new G2 Clean Sweeps, but after last night's ride, I think I might.

I was expecting the brakes to need a break-in ride, and I am willing to concede that last night's ride might not have been enough to get them good and grabby. I'm interested to see if changing the rotors have any affect on the stopping power. The housing also needs to be shortened.

The RIP is now weighing in at 29.75lbs, and I'm very pleased with the new performance these upgrades have afforded me.

I have my big road ride tomorrow, so I'll be laying low for the weekend, but I do have some other exciting news, the return of Red 5!

Stay tuned.

Bike of the Week

It's no secret I am a big fan of the Niner RIP9. It's always great when someone comes into the store, looking for a high end full suspension trail bike, and I can point them immediately to the RIP.

You may notice a pattern to the builds too. Most of the bikes I put out feature a Bike 29 RoyaleWheelset with Stan's rims, SRAM drivetrain components, and Easton bars. It's a combination of products I've used on my own bikes for the last few years that I have found to be very durable and reliable. If I had chosen the Hi Ho Silver colorway for my bike, this is probably how it would have turned out. The red accents really flash.

As I spend a majority of the day fixing other people's jalopies, I have little time left to work on my own bike, and when it's time for me to ride, about the only thing I have bandwidth for, is lubing the chain. It's really important for my equipment to be working properly at all times.

Today is our big trail day, which I will update on later this evening.

Blog updates this week will include some new bikes that will arrive tomorrow, a new fork, and a ride review of the Slingshot Farmboy.

Have a great Sunday!

oh my fokking gawd - or RIP 9 first ride report

(Mandy here, guest blogging to review my new bike) It's finally done. All the waiting for the shorter seatpost, the smaller bars, etc is over. The rain let up for a few days and tonight was the inaugeral ride of my new RIP 9. I'll let George go over all the details of the build in some other post, but I will say that this is a top of the line build and Hot Damn! does it ride well!

It's very responsive, quick handling and great in turns with that super-fun, roll-over-everything 29er feel. I was out riding the Town Loops in Stowe which have a little of everything, but aren't terribly technical.
I felt that the suspension worked really well. I've grown accustomed to the extremely nimble climbing of my Niner EMD, and feel that the RIP can easily outmatch the EMD in climbing ability. I'll elaborate further on the ride characteristics when I do a longer term review - but for now I'm extremely pleased.

When George first started talking to me about getting a full-suspension 29er, I couldn't possibly imagine how it would ever fit me. I'm just a smidge taller than 5'6" and have approximately a 30" inseam. The small Niner EMD with an 80mm Reba just barely allowed me to standover. The small RIP 9 has much more standover height. In fact, I think that this bike would be a great fit for smaller riders. And check out the long legged fork...
So if you fit into the 'smaller rider' category and thought that you couldn't get a 29er to fit, this would be a great setup to try.
George often gets calls from elated customers out on the trail during their initial ride of their new custom bike. If my phone hadn't just suffered a fatal meltdown, I too would have called to express my elation with the bike. It's perfect for me. Truly perfect. And the amazing thing is that I didn't select one thing on the bike. It's entirely a George build from soup to nuts and proof that the guy knows what he's doing. Sure, after ten years you'd expect that he knows what I like. But this is above and beyond what I ever expected.

There weren't many folks out on the trails tonight, but as I was headed out towards Last Run I came upon a group chatting on the side of the trail. I greeted them and rode on by and one of the fellows called out after me, "Sweet bike!" 30 feet later I fell off one of the little wooden bridges into a bog. Not only did I fall off the bridge, I fell onto my right side, the side I don't automatically clip out of the pedals. My Speedplay frogs only release if you kick out to the right. When you leg is bent under the weight of your bike in a bog, it is nearly impossible to get that right foot in a position to kick out of the pedal. I'm talking highly embarrassing, serious maneuvers to get that foot out of the pedal.

ugh.

Keeping it humble.

Ryan in the House!

What a day.
Mondays are typically hectic here, as not only do the weekend orders need to be dealt with, the giant mess I make on the previous Saturday needs to be cleaned up. And when you have a busy Saturday, the shop can be quite messy.
Ryan from Niner made a guest appearance, travelling in the area, and with a day free, took us up on some of our local finest. I love showing folks around on our trails. Having a somewhat decent personal Niner arsenal to choose from, Ryan picked Kermit, leaving me with the RIP.
He tried really hard to not completely blow Davey and I out of the water on the big climb up Perry Hill.
We had a short time to fit a lot of trail in, so we stuck to the ones we knew would delight. Bloody, 6 and Joe's.
A trifecta of the best of what Waterbury has to offer.

Check out Ryan on "Stitch".
He is fast.

We have another angle of The Wall on 6 Flags.

We managed to get our ride in about 10 minutes before the skies opened up and dumped some much needed rain on us. While the trails are really dry, it was never meant to be that way. What is noramally tacky loamy soil, is fine powder. The trails are so dusty that the soil is pushing away from the highly traveled areas. We battle wet erosion with bridges and drainage work, but what can you do with dust?

We followed it all up with a nice dinner at the Alchemist with some of Waterbury's finest ales to wash the dirt down with.
Hopefully, we'll see Ryan again soon. We all had a blast.

RIP - Roll In Plenty!

My long awaited shipment of Niner RIP9s are beginning to trickle in.
I am beginning to fill back orders, and will even have a pretty decent stock after those have shipped. Very exciting times indeed.

In fact, things have been chugging right along at the shop. We are starting to look the way I always envisioned. Small tweaks to the layout, and more importantly, a way to get all the frames I have in stock out of their boxes and in the eye of the customer. It's pretty tough given the sheer amount of stuff you need to cram into a working bike shop. Even though my 1200 sq/ft space is not that small, it is very easy to clutter it up. So I've decided to make use of my 1200 sq/ft ceiling!
I had a pile of hooks left over from when I rearranged the shop. I'm amazed it took me so long to figure this out. I think they look great hanging there, and the frames are easily removed for oohing and ahhing.

The Next Installment

The new kid on the block is the White Brothers Fluid 135, now adorning the RIP9. I'm pretty excited about this fork. I measured an actual travel of 128mm, which already eclipses the Maverick's 119. The penalty is about 1/2 lb though, but it's a compromise I'm willing to make. It weighs in at 4.6lbs. It also brings the front of the bike slightly higher. The at rest BB height is now a smidge over 13.5". Will it be enough? We'll see tonight, when the Maiden voyage is planned. Any local readers are encouraged to join in. Call the shop for details, we'll be on "The Hill" tonight.



There was a good turn out at last night's race at Catamount. I rode Kermit, which also was sporting a new shiny black fork, the White Brothers Magic 100. I have had a little experience with the fork last year, and once I learned that the course would be in the woods, I needed to shed the rigid fork. The Magic weighs in at 3.98lbs with an uncut steerer. From what I can tell, the handling was not compromised in any way. I rode as fast as my gearing would let me (35-21), and finished my three laps in just over 50 minutes. I was 28 out of 40 in my race.
Look for a detailed review on the Magic in the coming weeks. It's staying on the bike, and I'm changing my gears...

Guest Blogger - EMD Review

Having been married to George for almost 9 years, I've seen a lot of bikes go in and out of our garage. A fair share of those have been my bikes. Actually, I tend to have more bikes hanging around than George because I form some pretty deep attachments to them and am less willing to upgrade to the next big thing.

Last summer George finally got me to liquidate my small army of Ellsworths and get on the next big thing -- a 29er. I had my eye on a Niner AIR 9 or a Voodoo, something with skinny little tubes. But the only frame available in my size last June was the Niner EMD. At that point I had sold the other bikes and just needed to pull the trigger on something, so the EMD it was - fat aluminum tubes and all. My requirements for a bike are fairly simple - fairly lightweight and everything has to work without causing me too many headaches. I don't like to fiddle with my bike, I just want it to work.

You can read more about the various components and details here. A lot of folks wonder if 29ers are just for the tall and lanky, but they're not. I'm no midget at 5'7", but for some reason my legs are freakishly short and my torso abnormally long. Always in-between frame sizes, I went for the small size in the Niner frame so that I could at least get a leg over.

This bike and I had a rough start. Maybe it's because I'm a bit rusty. The past three seasons have not been great for me and bike riding. Too much time spent being pregnant, dislocating shoulders, training for long distance trail runs and working full time while starting a bike shop have left me with little time in the saddle. Regardless, at first I had a hard time getting in tune with the bike. Athough I was loving the big wheels, I had a found it challenging to adjust to the longer wheelbase. Time makes things better and this year I've already seen more days on the trail than all of last year. And so far this year things are going really well, I'm liking the bike alot.

Here are the five things that I love about this bike:

1. 29" wheels. If you haven't yet ridden singletrack on a 29er, you need to. It rocks.
2. My handmade Bike29 Royale wheels. These make the bike. They were my mother's day present last year.
   
3. It's very stable, very dependable ride. Definitely nothing twitchy about it.
   
4. the weight. or rather, lack of it. i can't complain about how light this thing is.
5. It's a small thing, but I love this saddle. WTB Diva. Skinny and slim, it's awesome.
   

Overall, I'm quite happy with this setup. The Niner EMD is their lowest priced offering, at $499 it's significantly less expensive than their other hardtail frames such as the AIR9, the SIR9, the MCR. However, you're still getting a lot for your money and a frame that will make a great base for custom build.

Back in the Saddle Again

So I was totally prepared for the very involved process of changing the tires on Kermit. I had all of my Stanzing supplies at the ready. The compressor was full of air. I was ready.

And wouldn't you know it, those Bontrager tires aired right up! The beads snapped into place and sealed instantly. I was shocked.
Bontrager has developed thier own tubeless wheel system that uses a different kind of sealant, but so far, it's working with Stan's. They also have a new tire called the Dry X, which I am looking forward to getting my hands on.

To recap, I had put a bunch of new parts on this bike to get it to a more racable weight. All things being equal, a large steel bike with a steel fork is going to be heavy. I managed to get the weight down by going to a tubeless set up, which I wrote about in this post over the winter. I lost a pound, going from 24.49 to 23.53. No small feat.

Well, I replaced the Mary Bars with a low rise Easton Monkeylite. This one component change got me almost a full half pound. And the front end is so much more quiet now. Those Mary Bars, while comfortable, did little to damp any vibrations or bumps from the ground.

Then I replaced Moo I with a WTB Devo Carbon saddle. Carbon? Well, I figured on a singlespeed, I wouldn't be sitting that often, so why not get an extra 20g? Turns out, this is a VERY comfortable saddle.


And now that the big 2.55 tires are off, Kermit is a scant 22.46! And you can really tell the difference in ride. It will do just about anything you want it to, when you want it to. I don't anticipate being able to loose any more weight on this bike and still have it hold up to my abuse. I will not go the route of Ti hardware to loose grams, and while a carbon seatpost will get me almost 1/4 lb, I'm not prepared to do that.......yet.

Now, if I could only do something about taking weight off the motor...

Happenings

Wow, the last couple of days have been incredibly busy at the shop. All it takes is a couple of nice days in a row to bring all the clunkers out of the woodwork.
Having your internet connection at the shop go south on you doesn't help any either.
Well, the repair rack is full, internet is fixed, shop is cleaned up again, and now I can post about a few things that we did at the shop this weekend.


Late last week, Ponte received his Waltworks single speed. He had it custom built this winter, around a non suspension corrected fork. Should be a razor quick ride. Build quality is amazing, finish work is beautiful, and the color has to be seen to be believed. Pictures don't do it justice.


Another RIP found a new home. This one built with our Bike29 Royale Wheelset in blue on Salsa Delgado Race rims, Reba fork, X9 drivetrain w/ XT cranks, and all the usual Thomson and WTB accouterments.

On the ride side of things, the weather was so good this weekend, that I rode Kermit four days in a row. With the trails still snowbound, I was relegated to cruising the back roads. Fortunately, there are a lot of hills here, so each day I managed to get a solid workout in.
I have a couple of interesting component changes on Kermit to talk about in an upcoming post.

The jersey design has been finalized, and the window to order has closed. I'm really excited to see the finished product. Thanks again to all that helped shape it's design.

Bad Weather

With Mother Nature up to her cruel tricks again, we got about 8" of heavy wet snow on Sunday afternoon, as part of a fluke mid April winter storm. Nothing will stand in the way between me and my grill though...

The snow gradually turned into rain, and then the wind picked up. 30 mph breezes with gusts up to 70 mph. It stopped raining in the early afternoon, but the wind was relentless all day. Despite the power outages, and the extra work it created with downed trees and other mayhem, it did help to make the snowbanks disappear. The roads are pretty dry up here, and if it stays like this, we'll be riding again in no time.

I finished the big silver RIP9. Here are the pictures.


A shot of the green King front hub and headset framed my the DUC.


The matching rear hub. The rims are Stan's Flows with Panaracer Rampage tires.


The bike came in at 28.59 lbs, without pedals. Not bad for an XL frame.


Also in the shop today, we finished up a new Karate Monkey. This is a big bike. It's owner is 6'7. The wheels don't look that big on this bike at all.

I'll have more stuff to show and tell tomorrow, so come on back!

More JET pictures

Ryan from Niner was kind enough to forward me some shots of the new beast at Sea Otter.
The bike as pictured weighs 22.99lbs, pretty impressive, despite the high zoot components.
I have been told that we'll be seeing these in August, which is much too long to wait for!
I want one now!


I love the machined and anodized hardware. This is the upper rocker assembly...

...and the lower.

I'm interested to see if the bushings will provide the same lateral stiffness that the RIP has. The RIP has bearings, and each of it's rockers feature stiffening brace. The pivot axles are stepped too, and the RIP has no lateral flex or wind up at all.

I remember that my old bushing generation Ellsworth Truth had no cross member either (the newer bearing one does). I don't remember there ever being any lateral flex on that bike.

Needless to say, the JET has many compelling attributes. I am most anxious to see how this bike performs on the trail.

The JET 9

While I was enjoying epic mid-April powder in the woods at Stowe VT, others were enjoying the sights and sounds at Sea Otter in Monterey California. This is the event where manufacturers unveil the shapes of things to come.

Niner Bikes debuted the RIP 9 here last year, and sticking with tradition, this year they are showing the JET 9. I've had a picture of this bike for a long time, but was sworn to absolute secrecy on the matter.

Photo courtesy of Twentynineinches.com

This is essentially a short travel RIP. It gets 3" of travel, and instead of using bearings, it uses bushings. This helps the frame loose almost a pound over it's big brother. I've always said that bushings are better than sealed cartridge bearings, they are lighter, and can take more side loads than a bearing. Bearings are great for things that spin, like hubs and cranks, but for a system that moves 15° or so, a bushing is a much smarter choice. The only caveat, is that they need some loving from time to time.

I'm guessing that the bike in my head is going to be about 23.5 lbs, a great race weight for a bike with the manners we have come to expect from Niner. With any luck, this bike will not be plagued with the same production gremlins that the RIP9 had, and I'll be riding one in June.
So far, the scheduled colors are anodized black, and the ever present Tang.

I would imagine that this will be a hot bike.

RIPs in the House

What a beautiful sight. This production run has not lasted long, and I imagine these will be in short supply before too long.

Good thing I stocked up!





The big boy in the back is hopefully going to be a complete bike by the weekend. I will give a thorough update on the build process of this bike.

This is the first unsolicited, no holds barred, full on, "George Build" of the year. What that means, is King hubs and headset, SRAM X0 drivetrain, XTR cranks, Easton bars, and, a Maverick fork.

This next picture is for anyone who is thinking about the Atomic Blue RIP 9.


When I said it glows in the dark, I was not kidding. There is nothing cooler than that.

Shop Shenanigans

The latest project nearing completion, is a partial build for a customer in Texas.
When I say partial, the only thing we aren't doing, is the grips and seat.


The frame is the much loved Niner SIR 9, built with WTB hubs and Salsa Delgado rims.
The drivetrain is the legendary White Industries ENO crank, and Niner's Cogalicious cog.
The bike was a pleasure to build and set up.
I know it is even more fun to ride.

Bike 29 News

With biking season coming close, I figured I can let a few cats out of the bag to help get people fired up to ride.

The biggest cat, is in fact Catamount. Five Hills Bikes will be a proud sponsor of their ongoing summer training races. What does this mean? Well, myself, and a few other Burlington area shops will be lending a hand every Wednesday night this summer to the racers who gather at Catamount Family Center. Besides moral and tech support, we will no doubt be throwing down for some post race BBQ and "recovery" drinks.
As part of our agreement, we'll be providing demo bikes for Catamount's patrons to check out.
That means if anyone interested in demoing a 29er off road, in real mountain biking scenarios, has access. There will be more details as to what bikes will be available in the coming weeks.

There are the beginning rumblings of the soon to be legendary Bike 29 Meat-up. Details are still being flushed out, but the official venue and schedule of events promise to be one to write home about. Hang on to your hats boys and girls, this will be an event to remember.
I expect firm details of the Meat-up to be available early next week.

Bike 29 is also a proud sponsor of Crooked Cog's Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. Although they "borrowed" the idea from my Meat-up, they have certainly raised the bar. The event will be held in Decorah Iowa. With any luck, I'll be able to attend. I've never ridden in the Midwest, and I think it will be a ton of fun.

In product news, Niner has a new bike that will be unveiled at Sea Otter. I can hardly wait, and I am bursting at the seams about this bike. Needless to say, there will be one in my quiver. Optomism points to a June release, but we'll have to see. The RIP was supposed to be out in June last year, and widespread availability is only just now being realized.

More news as it happens...

RIP9 Redux

So finally I have a few moments to recant the major overhaul on my RIP 9.
To recap, the bike weighed 29.25 set up with a Reba, an older version of the Bike 29 Royale wheelset and pedals. While the nuts and bolts of the build didn't really change that much, the two changes made were pretty significant.

Fork
I replaced the front end with a Maverick DUC 32 fork. Truly a thing to behold. Despite it's stout look, it is almost the same weight as a Reba, but it's packing another 22mm of travel in those legs. I felt like I was running out of travel with the Reba on this particular bike, so maybe this will be the ticket.
The Maverick is an inverted fork, the axle is mounted to the sliding portion of the fork, which telescopes into the uppers. The Reba has two lower legs connected by a crown, that slides up on the sliders. Because there is now lower casting and crown, the Maverick has less unsprung weight. Only the axle and sliders move, allowing it to soak up small bumps with ease. On top of that, the fork is very tunable. Things like the oil weight and oil height can be changed, along with the damping circuit shim stack. It can be pretty confusing, but one can really dial this fork in to suit their needs.
And it better, it costs $795! And then you need to buy the stem, and upper crown, and requires a proprietary 24mm axle front wheel.
Is it worth it? Well, for the ultimate in tunability, I think it very well could be. It will be a while before I can actually put it to use. The snow still lies thick up here.

Wheels
With the aforementioned need for a proprietary 24mm front hub, I needed to rebuild the front wheel.
And while I was at it, I decided that I may as well try out one of the new Stan's rims, the ZTR Flow. I made the jump to tubeless. I built a lot of the Stan's ZTR 355 rims over the last year, but they were not suitable for my weight (don't ask, let's just say I'm a clydesdale). In January, they released the ZTR Arch, which is a beefed up 355, and the wider ZTR Flow rim, suitable for heavier riders, or getting aggro on full suspension bikes.
Because tire changing will now be more complicated, I also decided to try a Kenda Nevegal tire, in anticipation of the impending soggy trail conditions. These tires, while not light, have high marks in grip and cornering ability in sloppy riding conditions.

I also ran a tiny cockpit mod, the Avid Matchmaker. It's a cool little clamp that replaces the rear clamp of one's Avid Juicy hydraulic brakes, and allows you to directly mount a SRAM X0 or X9 trigger shifter. The only real benefit of this clamp, is that it frees up a bit more space on the handlebars by removing the shifter clamp. The actual weight of everything it replaces is 18g, which is how much the Matchmaker actually weight. You can adjust the trajectory of the shifters too, which is a nice feature for those that have to have it "just so".

The final build weight now is 29.07lbs, I suspect that had I kept the Rampage (679g), the bike would be about a 1/2 lb lighter. The Nevegal weighs in at 786g.


This was not an exercise in weight reduction, rather a significant performance upgrade. I still need to crack open the Maverick and set everything up the way I want it, but all in all, I'd say I have great confidence in the new set up.

We're talking about making a road trip down south in the next few weeks. Southern New Hampshire has some trails that might be rideable within the next few weeks.

Rebel Yell...

...is what is in the bottle that Maggs is christening his bike with.
We are getting closer to completing the bike overhaul we started in Jaunary.
The big updates this time include a White Industries ENO crank, and a Chris King wheelset laced to Velocity Dyad rims. Bright yellow rims.
Way cool.

New Stuff

Not only are there lots of new 29er specific products showing up, there are lots of new 29er only companies popping up. It seems that there might be a market for this after all.

While we are still shy a few extra fork choices, we do have some more frame choices.
One of these new companies I'm referring to, is Vassago Cycles. They are a 29er only company, with two frame offerings, a horizontal dropout bike called the Jabberwocky, and a geared only version called the Bandersnatch.

Both frames are made from 4130 CroMo, and are priced to be competitive against the ubiquitous Surly Karate Monkey.
Vassago has a unique take on frame geometry they call "Wet Cat Geometry". Essentially, they put your weight "in" the bike, vs. being "on top" of it, giving you better handling characteristics on those long uphill grinders.
I was instantly hooked when I first saw the site. My first Bandersnatch arrived today. I'm impressed. The paint is a cool grey color, almost a primer grey, only way better. It is also clearcoated, which was throwing some shine when I was trying to get shots of it. Once I have the camera settings dialed, and all of the lights adjusted, I'll provide more shots of the details that make this bike stand out above the rest.


Also on deck, is the new Niner M.C.R.9. Standing for Magic Carpet Ride, anyone that has spent time on Niner's S.I.R.9 knows, that this is the best description of how this Reynolds 853 frame rides.
Smooth.