RIP9, The Next Generation

Or more accurately, the second generation.
I couldn't keep going on without a RIP9 in my stable, it is that good of a bike. Blue had to move on, so I looked at this as an opportunity to see if I could still have a bike that exuded the same sort of confidence, without the weight.

I'm now riding an 07 RIP, the frame with the seat gusset. I pulled most of the components off of Kermit, mango Royale wheels with Stan's Arch rims. The Joplin post came with me from the old RIP, providing just enough "what the hell have I done" to make me not like the new bike right away. The fork is the new 120mm Fox F-29, and the stoppers are the same Juicy Ultimates that hauled my big ass down to speed on the VT50.


My very first ride on the bike was not that good. I had spent two hours prior finishing the build, and my first ride was plagued with a nasty bunch of gremlins. These gremlins messed up my suspension settings, stretched my cables, and worst of all, unseated my new Maxxis Ardent front tire. After installing a tube up front, and fiddling with the barrel adjusters, I finished my hurkey-jerky first ride.
I would almost equate this new bike to a newborn foal. It felt awfully spindly and unsure compared to 'Ole Blue.

As I ride the bike more though, that tentativeness dissolves.
My last few rides have been a lot of fun. The new bike weighs 29.49lbs with pedals, dirt and my signature carbon bottle cage. I know that this bike is capable of the same sort of malarkey that Blue was, except that it is a different kind of horsie. Blue was a bruiser, this new silver stallion requires a bit more finesse. This new lighter weight RIP is quicker, climbs faster, and only beats me up half as much. Provided I'm paying attention. You could get away with just about anything on Blue, but with this bike, you really have to commit.

Unfortunately, we seem to be experiencing some sort of a monsoon. This last week has been terribly rainy, and all of our local trails are closed.
I hope to be able to get out in the woods again soon, but it has rained non stop all day, and shows no sign of stopping for the next few days.

Maxxis Ardent 29er Tire Review

(Hi All - it's Mandy guest blogging with a new tire review)

Now available for 29ers - Maxxis calls the Ardent "aggressive tread tires in high-volume casings". These tires have a low center tread with ramped knobs to minimize rolling resistance as well as blocky side knobs for traction while cornering.

I've had these tires on my Niner RIP9 for a few weeks now, experimenting with different conditions and pressures and forming my opinions. I'm comparing them mostly to the ever-popular and always reliable IRD Fire XC Pro's, which I had previously ran on the RIP, and the fast and light Schwalbe Racing Ralph's that I have on my Lynskey Pro29.

The Ardent's are actually a nice mid-point between these two tires. They're fast. They're consistent. They're just like the Racing Ralph's, but with a little less 'race'. Generally I run my tires with fairly high pressure, but like this other reviewer, I found that taking the pressure down a bit made them more responsive on the trail.

I've been working hard on this weekend's Vermont Mountain Bike Festival - and was stoked to steal some time on the trail on Tuesday night to work on reviewing these tires. The light was perfect and I wanted to share a rarely seen peek at Calamity Ridge* on Perry Hill. No one ever takes photos of this section of smooth sweeping singletrack and it's a shame. Perfect terrain for these Ardents.

My verdict? These tires are fast and fun. If you're looking for an all around go-fast tire with much better traction than your everyday race tire - the Maxxis Ardent are a great choice.

*site of my posterior shoulder dislocation in 2004.

Dust in the Wind

At the risk of seeming sentimental, I am going to give give a huge shout out to my recently "ex-bike".


This bike has been the most fantastic pony in my stable, always ready, always eager to please. Sure, it started out as a svelte 27lb bike, but it packed on the pounds over the years. Did that make a difference?

You bet it did.

In an age where everything needs to be light, strength and durability is often sacrificed. Not so with this bike. It was always a completely different game for this Niner RIP9. Uncompromising traction, travel, power were the keywords at play here. I could count on this bike in any situation. I knew its few limitations, and relied on its many capabilities. I always got off the bike with a big grin. At 32lbs, with monster brakes, big tires and a great big fork, this bike had become something beyond what I'd though possible on a 29er. Sure, it climbed a little slower than the rest, but point it down and LOOK OUT! The latest addition of the Joplin seatpost was the icing on the cake.

Blue, is after all, just a bike. It can be replaced. Or can it?

All of the experiences I've had on this bike, both good and bad, have made this bike what it is, not just to me, but to many other riders out there. My experience on the RIP has certainly painted a picture of the capabilities of this frame. Not only did I learn the limitations of certain components, I sometimes also learned my own. Having the bike remain a constant when testing new products was such an amazing gift.


Blue was a first generation RIP9, new to me the day I got back from Interbike in '06. This bike stood proud against nagging production issues, was always ridden hard, crashed harder, and above all else loved more than it's stablemates by it's first pilot, me.

Blue has gone on to make another owner happy. And it always will.

You're my boy, Blue... I miss you.

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.

Where did all This Stuff Come From?

In know where it came from, but it's still amazing to see it all in one place. In a previous post's comment, Racin' Rick (or Negative Rick as I now call him) said it would come to this. At the moment, he is absolutely right, but this is just a temporary thing.

I brought over all the bikes with the help of Nat and his almighty Tundra. It took 2 trips. (I soooo want one!) Right now everything is stuffed into the shop while we get the retail floor (or "ska" floor, as I like to call it) up and running. It's a good thing I have 30 hooks now! The rack stayed up overnight too, so it has been adequately field tested.

The wheel building station has been getting a lot of action lately too. I 'm really glad to have it. Because it is in it's own area, it is isolated from a majority of the chaos. I'm getting 2 sets of Royales a day out the door.


My slatwall showed up on the truck yesterday completely destroyed. A quick phone call ensured that another shipment was going to be headed my way immediately, but it still screws things up. The new counters are done, we'll just need to jimmy them in to place tomorrow afternoon, and finish them. The slatwall will just have to be addressed later.


Another item showed up yesterday that many of us were waiting for. Big B's RIP9 frame. Bruno rode the crap out of his RIP9 last year. It is now getting a full overhaul. Step 1 was to strip the frame down in it's entirety, including the bearings and head badge. I sent it off to Spectrum Powder Works for some paint. The original frame was Hi Ho Silver, but the big boy's sweat was so caustic, it made the clear ano run. Maybe lay off the canolis B?

Anyway, this sort of thing is not uncommon. I play guitar, and destroy strings and bridge saddles in a similar fashion. Especially when I am rocking extra hard. B rode this thing every day from May to October, so I'd say this amount of wear and tear is pretty normal. I mean, he turned a Rampage into a semi-slick. That's some miles.


So the front and rear triangle are adorned in a beautiful pearl white powder coat. I'll document the rebuild process over the next week. I so want a pearl white Niner...

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...

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Only I know when I'll be back again.

I'm off to fabulous Las Vegas for the big song and dance that is Interbike.
I'll get to see first hand all the exciting developments in 29 inched wheels, see some old industry friends, and maybe even get a chance to finally meet some folks I've only talked with electronically. I'm most excited to meet Guitar Ted in the flesh.

Flying is my least favorite activity. There is nothing like being confined in a shiny aluminum petri dish. And the proximity of the Vermont 50 so close to a trip to the phony and manufactured environment such as that of City of Sin, is going to put one heck of a strain on the mind and body.

So I'll leave you with a nice soothing picture of a RIP 9. This one is a beaut.


I have a pile of these frames on the way, in fact, they should be here when I return on Friday.

Also, Fox Forks......yes, they are coming!

Goings on

This little corner of the blogosphere has been quiet for the last week. I have actually been keeping pretty busy. September has been cranking right along for us at a ridiculous pace.
The weather has been amazing too, beautiful blue skies during the day, but chilly at night. Fall is here, and winter is not too far away.

The riding has been great too. Here is a little video of yours truly tackling the "Wall" on 6 Flags.

The RIP 9 is riding really well right now. I'm trying to get out as much as I can, training for the impending Vermont 50. I'm not riding the RIP, and sadly, I will not be riding a JET9 either. The race bike will be Kermit, and I have some decisions to make on the final race spec, tire choice giving me the most trouble. I really want to try the Bontrager Dry X, but you can't exactly get those just yet.

Oh well...

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.

Empty House

I am home alone. While some may rejoice at the prospect, it does come with a penalty. It is awfully BORING. In my "free" time I have taken to watering the garden. I'm pretty well house trained, so I do my own clean up, laundry and other chores on time, so I'm not living in the reckless abandon of bachelor life.
I still wake up at 6. Sure there are dogs to walk, and cats to help be on the right side of the door, but otherwise, it's quite dull.

It doesn't help that it's 98° with a million % humidity right now. No riding.

Lots of working.

I even turned on the relatively ineffective AC in the shop. One corner gets ice cold, then a ceiling fan moves the hot air into the cold air. The result is a slightly less uncomfortable temperature to work in.

I got to miss the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo, an event I quasi inspired with my Meat-up. I was really hoping to be able to go, but it was a long shot, and I fell short. The shop can be all consuming. It can be tough being the onliest guy at Bike 29.

We did put together this sweet RIP for a local customer this last week.


I've been building wheels like crazy (great!)
My baseball team got swept (ehh...)
My dog even ran away on Monday after an unfortunate gastronomical event (horrifying!!)
I don't have 4th, 5th or even 6th bowls of Cheerios to get for my boy (sad)

It's quiet.
Too quiet.
All that will change soon.
I have a Bandersnatch to build for a new convert. A RIP for another.
And before too long, my family will return, and life will resume it's ridiculous pace.


I'd like to givea big shout out to Guitar Ted, and Tim Grahl @ Twentynineinches for all their fantastic effort with the Ballyhoo. While I think that they are bike visionaries of sorts, more importantly, I think they are really cool guys I have only ever dealt with on email and blog. I'm most sad about not being able to play bikes with them in Decorah, put faces to names, names to rides and rides to stories after.

There is always Interbike...

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.

First Impressions - White Brothers Fluid 135

Wow. Pretty much sums it up right there. Rarely will a single component change affect the entire feel of a bike, but this one does. It actually improves the way the RIP rides, to a level that I had been looking for since I first threw my leg over 'ol Blue.








The Details
The White is a coil sprung fork, with an air compression assist and oil damped rebound. It has beautifully machined lowers with a leading 20mm axle. It is pretty. It weighs in at 4.68lbs with an uncut steerer. I measured 128mm of actual travel, which is right on par, as White measures the 10mm bottom out bumper as part of the travel, even though you don't really get that travel.
More on that in a bit.

Installation
I thought for sure that removing the Maverick was going to be a nightmare. Fortunately, it came quietly. The Chris King front hub was easily converted from the 24mm Maverick axle to a standard 20mm thru axle, the hub shell is the same, and axles are interchangeable. I had to re-dish the wheel to center it in the fork.
I also needed to space the brake caliper over 5mm to center the rotor, I used 5mm chainring spacers, and some longer bolts. It was a snap.

Parking Lot Test Ride
The front end of the RIP now sits quite a lot higher. With my Reba, I used a 100 x 10° stem, the Maverick had it's own direct mount 95mm stem, and with this set up, I'm using a 90 x 10° stem (it's what I had). This new shorter cockpit actually turns out to work for me. Quite well.
I found while bouncing around that I was compressing the fork I was kissing the bottom of the crown with the tire. That's how I knew how much travel I was getting...
I pumped the air assist up to 95 psi, which seemed to cure it.

First Real Ride
Thursday is our Five Hills Bikes shop ride night, and what a perfect venue for seeing what the fork is capable of.
The climb up is pretty stiff, we gain 900ft in 3.5 miles, but it is paved, so it goes pretty quick. I noticed right away how slack the RIP now sits. While climbing prowess was not affected too terribly, it wasn't as comfortable as the lower front end of the Maverick. Out of the saddle climbing was much better though, as long as you kept your upper body still.

We did 6 Flags, followed by Joe's, which are by far, my favorite trails. This is where the bike began to shine like it never had before.
Handling was greatly improved, despite the slackened angles. I was able to rip through turns that always used to slow me down. The front end is STIFF. in fact, it is a lot more stiff than the Maverick, which I found to be pretty darn stiff. Tracking is amazing.

Well, all this adds up to added confidence, which in turn adds up to changing the line you ride. I decided to open things up a little. I was gliding over parts of the trail that used to rattle me. I was missing some sections of the trail all together, which is when I found that the air I put in the assist chamber may not have been enough. I buzzed the tire a couple of times coming while landing. From that point, I minimized my airborne time, until I can get a call in to White today.
Everything else was amazing.

The higher front end raised the lowish BB to a point where pedal strike was greatly reduced. I think that this may be why I was able to ride so fast through certain sections that gave me trouble before. I only clobbered the ground twice, which I would deem acceptable in the situations I was in.

Nit Picks
The front axle can be pretty tricky when trying to mount it to a roof rack. Because of the thru axle, an adapter is needed. My Topeak Alien is not the best tool for getting the job done, so I will be installing a "car 5". A small price to pay for the performance gain.
The fork has a fair amount of stiction, but White states that it takes about 10 hours of use before it breaks in. We'll check back on that later.

Verdict
It's a keeper. I have a ride planned on Snake on Sunday, which is where it will receive some serious abuse. I think this may actually make riding there fun...

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...

Maverick Long Term Update

So I've had the Maverick DUC 32 front shock on my RIP for quite a while now, I've had a chance to ride it on just about all of our trails. This is what I've found.

Installation
I won't lie, I was not a fan of installing a fork with a rubber mallet and hacksaw on the list of necessary tools. A fork that costs this much should mount up easily and without the need to go caveman on it. I was more than a little frustrated getting the upper crown on correctly.

Set up
The initial set up with my fork was somewhat of a learning exercise. I had the legs out of the fork on numerous occasions trying to get the right oil heights and viscosity, the right negative air spring rate etc, but I was able to find a setting that did what I needed eventually. It seemed like every time I changed one setting, I had to rethink the others. It took up until last week to finally get it all figured out.

The Ride
On my very first ride, I hit a large root which produced a very large clunk from the headset. I figured that the upper crown must have finished seating itself, because you can only hit the thing so hard with a hammer in the stand and feel good about it. After I checked every bolt, and tightened them back up accordingly, the noise was gone, and has yet to return.

The quality of travel is actually quite amazing. It feels very well damped and controlled while seated, but get out of the saddle and it has a tendency to dive. But add pitch to the equation, and there goes most of your usable travel.

From these photos, you can see that I'm pretty much bottomed out. While the fork will extend into depressions keeping the front wheel firmly planted on the trail, situations like this demand raw positive travel.





It seems adjusting this out of the fork is not possible at this time. Maybe a platform valve of some kind would help immensely. Or maybe I need my own personal Maverick tech to play with it every time I want to ride.

They have been extremely helpful too, I would add. I'm not even going to talk about what I had to do to one of these forks to get it to work on one particular set up, but they were there every step of the way.

It certainly goes where pointed with no drama. The direct mount stem is the first I've used since my days on my Boxxer equipped DH bike.
It's always good to know where you're going.

I did manage a few large drops (3-4 feet) this Sunday, and it soaked them up with aplomb.

One of the problems I have with certain bar/stem/shock combos, is that my hands get beaten up. I use carbon bars to help with this, but my Reba always used to pound my palms numb. Not so with the Maverick. That is a big plus for me.

I have read on some of the mountain biking forums that some folks have had issues with the fork on off camber sections of trail. The complaint is of the bars wrenching out of your hands while going over rocky sidehills. This could be caused by not having the axle secured properly, one leg could rotate while the other stayed put. I never experienced this, as I paid extra special attention to the clamping force on the quick release. I found Maverick's quick release to work pretty well, but the one thing I would improve is to give the tension bolts a coat of threadlocker or something to stop them from coming out of adjustment. It seemed like every time I had them open, I had to fiddle with them to get them back to the correct tension. On more than one occasion, the QRs were too tight, and I lost the skin the knuckle of my thumb more than once on the brake rotor trying to re open the damn thing. That was super annoying, as I have a small car and I have to use a roof rack to get where I'm going to ride. Time spent fiddling with one's gear gets big BOOs from me.

The Verdict
For what it is, the Maverick is a pretty good fork if you are an "in the saddle" rider. I can see that on long epic rides, the fork's lack of weight and buttery softness would be a big benefit. It is an amazing climbing fork, the inverted design allows it to react to even the smallest of bumps, and the direct mount stem kept it pointed the way you wanted it in technical rocky ledgy climbs. You can tune it 100 ways to Sunday, allowing you to get the ride you want in for most applications.
The down side, is that there isn't much you can do about the dive on the fork if you are riding steep, technical descents. "Out of the saddle" riding effectively turns the fork into a really expensive rigid fork on descents, or a giant pogo stick in short sharp thrusts up.
The clatter of the stanchion guards was a little unnerving at times too. It made a racket on almost every bump hit.

What initially had me pretty excited about the fork was the possibility of more travel for my RIP, ended up to be something I don't think it was ever intended to be. It is not the 4.5" travel all mountain fork the RIP so badly needs to reach its full potential, but it is a good fork for the cross country minded trail rider.

Stay tuned for the next installment on the RIP. That's kind of a funny joke...

Maverick Ride Report

This winter, I upgraded the front end of my Niner RIP9 from a Rock Shox Reba, to a Maverick DUC 32.
I was looking for something with a little more travel than my Reba, and something that was a little more tuneable. Over the last few days, I've been riding the RIP and trying to get a feel for the new hardware. So far, I've been extremely happy. The first few rides were my usual shake down trip out to the Stowe Town Loops.

Today, we visited Snake Mountain in Addison VT. Anyone that has ever ridden there knows that any equipment will show it's soft underbelly under the duress of the trails up there.

So far the only thing I want to change about the fork, is the high speed compression setting. It tends to dive hard under braking, but holy cow does this thing go where you point it! I used the travel reducer for the brutal climb up to the top of the mountain (it's a little over 1.7 miles with an elevation gain of about 900ft).


Everywhere else, the fork performed flawlessly. Not once did I feel it bind up or twist. There were lots of loose pointy rocks, steep roll downs and tight switchbacks on this ride. There were even a few spots where I chose to walk, and spots where I should have walked. There were even a few spots where I got lucky.

Treachery aside, the mountain itself is beautiful. You get to ride through hardwood stands, deer yards, giant exposed stretches of granite, cliff bands, pine stands, beaver ponds, streams and mud holes. I'm looking forward to riding down there a lot more this summer.


The most notable thing, was the post ride feeling. Or should I say lack of feeling. It's been a few years since we rode there, but normally a trip to Snake leaves you feeling like you've been through a meat grinder. Not so today. It was also the first time we had ridden there on 29ers.

Coincidence?

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!

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.

Happenings

While most of the bike industry is focused on the new and exciting 29er products that will be shown in Monterey, CA at the Sea Otter Classic, we'll be dealing with a winter that just won't quit.

I did actually predict a back loaded winter this fall, but I never expected it to be like this. Last weekend was amazing for snowboarding, not so good for biking. We have TWO Nor'easter storms on deck, with the possibility of a third next weekend. What does that mean?

More snow.

So now I will be kicking myself for opting not to go to Sea Otter this year, and digging out my other riding gear.

In the shop, I have a couple of really cool things going on.

I will be working with Vassago Cycles, and sponsoring their Endurance racing team. This time around, I'll be supplying 2 sets of Bike Royale wheels for Jeremy and Chris. I spoke with both of these guys, and I'm really pleased to be able to help them out.
Check out Jeremy's website here.

The big silver RIP should be completed by the weekend, just in time for about 30" of snow. It's coming together nicely, we're just waiting for the last few straggling parts to come in.

There is a medium blue RIP in the pipeline too, a new Karate Monkey, but most importantly, I'll be able to divulge some privileged product information in the next day or two.
Stay tuned!

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.

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.