What a fun ride! While it was not much more than our usual group that attended, it certainly was a good time. There were some good costumes, and I felt pretty lame with my last minute “zombie bike rider” get up. We had Pippy, Bob Ross, a creepy vet, a vampire girl or a witch(?) and some terrifying post apocalyptic cyborg cyclist. Oh, and me, as the lame last minute costume guy.

We gathered for a group shot in the cemetery behind the shop, and headed out into the night through town. We received some enthusiastic whoops from folks hovering outside the Rez and the Alchemist as we passed. Mandy had gone ahead to set up some ambiance in the tunnel at the trailhead. A strobe light and some Misfits cranked up on her project portable tuneage device. It was cool.

By the time we reached the main climb, it was pitch black, and it was starting to rain. Cool! Nothing spookier than being in the woods in the dark in the rain. We puttered around the big pine trees, got lost a bit, and decided to stop and have some of the refreshments we packed in.

Check out all the orbs! There is an old cemetery in the woods near where this picture was taken, it was where they used to bury the patients at the state mental hospital who had no next of kin…

Now, I do have to say, that while beer in a can is a good thing, not all beer in a can is good. Unfortunately, I was unable to procure the good stuff in time for this ride. I’m going to have to stockpile next time I’m traveling, because you seem to easily be able to get all this cool beer in Mass or NY. The best part of the beer in a can, is when you are done, you just squash the can and pack your trash out. It’s so much more portable than bottles.

We did a few more singletrack sections, but by  now, it was really pouring. I have never ridden my bike at night in the rain, and it was kind of cool. The driving rain added a whole new level of difficulty. All in all, we were probably only out there for 30 minutes, but it was a blast.

The Wallride at Night

I think next year, we’ll try and make it a bit more of a thing.

Kinda like Spring Cleaning, but for bikes.

I’ve been putting the finishing touches on just about all of my bikes, getting them dialed in just the way I like them, so they can sit around all winter. They need to be ready to go in case something comes up and I need to call on their services.

I’m pretty sure I’ll not be riding the WFO again this season, but it’s ready for me should I need to call upon it.

The RIP? Well, I am still cleaning all the 50 out of it.

Kermit is all set to be my primary ride for off road endeavors. The rear hub had a sticky pawl which had been bothering me a bit, but I had been too lazy to deal with it  until yesterday. After removing the driveshell, cleaning, re-lubing and re-installing, the hub is louder than ever. Awesome!  It has even taken on an even snarlier tone than it had before. I also  have the Wolverines to test out, which looks like the first ride will be tonight’s Cycle des Spectres. Should be a good time.

I’ve also made some progress on some much needed updates to the webstore. The biggest change is the new Royale Custom wheelset, which you may notice has some new options that weren’t previously availbale. I’ve added axle configurations for front and rear, so you can build up your wheels with the new QR15 front hub, a 135mm thru axle rear, and even the big 150x12mm rear hub that fits right on the big daddy WFO.

And finally I’ve brought the bladed spoke to prime time as it were. After a half of a winter, and most of riding season under me, I can safely say that the Aerolite spokes hold up pretty well. I’ve ridden them hard, in places near and far (like Durango for instance), and have been pleased with their overall performance. I even think that you get a little more speed out of them.

You may notice a few price changes though. My costs went up pretty significantly in late spring, and I have been absorbing the costs until now. I’ve managed to keep the base price of the wheels down, but the options that make the wheelset what it is have had to take a small price increase. I still feel my wheelset is very competitively priced. AND, I feel like if you were going to make the jump to going tubeless, and you were buying a wheelset from me, wouldn’t be a nice thing for me to do to facilitate that process by including some sealant? It occurred to me (I’m sometimes quite slow on the uptake), that not everyone has a bottle of Stan’s hanging around. Well, each tubeless wheelset will come with a pint of Stan’s.

And finally, we will not be shipping any orders from November 3rd through the 10th. Blame family vacation on that one, but thanks to the miracle of modern technology, AT&T and the internets, I’ll still be able to answer emails, check messages, and hopefully still be helpful.

Oh, and really finally, I’ll have some info to share on the new Niner Carbon Air pretty soon.

How about the mysterious “Weapon X“, just recently released by WTB?

I’m talking, of course, about the WTB Wolverine 29er tire.

At Interbike 2008, my rep had told me that there would be a 29er version of their successful 26″ Wolverine tire coming out soon. Sadly, at the time he was mistaken, and the tire he showed me was actually slated to be a 650B (what???!! isn’t that platform dead yet?). Anyway, finally someone at WTB said WTF, and decided to make the tires I had been pestering them for since I first saw them, for almost an entire year. Good move on their part.

The Wolverine is touted as a fast rolling variable conditions tire, with knobs spaced far enough apart to dig into soft or loose soil, but shaped to roll as fast Logan on a beserker attack. It definitely looks like it would do the trick.

These tires I have in my mitts, are BIG, in fact, they’re almost the same size as a Weirwolf LTs that they replaced on Kermit. The sidewall says 2.2, but see how they compare to a Conti Mountain King 2.2.

Maybe this is a classic example of Euro sizing vs American sizing..?

The tire is less like this:

Than it is like this:

Or to illustrate further, less like this:

And more like this:

I can’t wait to get them dirty!

Actually, this post is rated XX.

I’ve just received our first SRAM XX group, and I can tell you that I am very excited to see how it works. For those that have been living in a cave for a very long time, most mountain bikes (geared ones, singlespeeds don’t really apply here) have had a 9 speed drivetrain for the last 10 years or so. SRAM has preemptively launched a new 2×10 component collection, with it’s sights set dead on Shimano’s flagship XTR group

The concept of a mountain double has been bouncing around for a few years, although, it has been nestled in the 9 speed world. For a while, pro-racers had special 2×9 drivertrains cobbled together for their race bikes, but for the most part, the choices for proper gear ratios were less than adequate. We’ve certainly messed with it ourselves, and in fact, I use a 2×9 right now. It isn’t exactly a race set up, but it certainly gets the job done for general messing around. I use a 36-22 with an 11-34 cassette on my fun bikes, but have a standard triple on my XC/race bike.

Well, SRAM has definitely upped the ante here. Not only is this the fist mountain double, it has a range of usable gears depending on which components you select. I chose a 39-26 for the cranks, and an 11-36t cassette. There are 42-28 and 45-30 cranks are also available, as is an 11-32 cassette.

This is a beautifully executed group, that uses all of SRAM’s four companies, Avid brakes, Truvative cranks, SRAM gearing, and there is even a XX edition Rock Shox Reba 29er fork. There is a lot of carbon composite bits here, including the (of course) the cranks, cage of the the rear derailleur, the triggers on the shifters, the brake levers etc. All the hardware is Ti, and uses a Torx bolt instead of the more widespread Allen head, which should prevent even the most ham fisted mechanic from stripping out the bolts. The rotors are a two piece design, the steel rotor is riveted to a lightweight aluminum carrier.

Perhaps the most innovative feature of this group is the rear cassette. The eight middle cogs on the 10 speed cog is machined form a single piece of billet steel. It takes something like 8 hours or so for each cassette to be made, and it is truly something to behold. Even without a scale, you can tell that it’s a lot lighter than even the relatively light SRAM PG990 cassette. 50g in fact.

Sadly, it will be a while before I get to put this stuff on a bike and ride it. That is after all, where the real opinions are drawn from, the ride. It looks dead sexy though, I think they might be on to something…

Cycle des Spectres

October 30, 2009 – Waterbury, VT

Ever ride at dusk or in the night and around every turn is lurking a menacing dark shadow. A shady, mist of a figure. Chills running down your spine. A bear? A moose? Something else, totally unknown, totally spooky.

October 30 – join the Bike29 and Five Hills Bike crew for our 1st ever Cycle des Spectres. Dress as the undead, zombie, vampire, banshee, or favorite dead celebrity. Illuminate your bike. Make it glow, sparkle, flash and don’t forget your riding lights. After our parade through the village we’re headed up Perry Hill for a real spooked-out mountain bike ride. We’ll finish at campfire with some halloween-eve refreshments in the woods. After party at the Resevoir.

Cost to participate: donation of $$ or non-perishable food item for the food shelf. Contributions of beer  and or funds for beer are also wholeheartedly welcomed. Creative folks and non-riders can add to the spirit, hang out and help out. email mandy (at) bike29.com for more info.

5:30 – pre-ride at Bike29/Five Hills Bikes

6:00 – show off costumes and bikes with waterbury parade

6:30 – ride perry hell hill

8:00 – campfire party

9:00 – after party at the res

Well, now that “the 50″ is over, I don’t really have much on the immediate horizon. I have enjoyed my recent sloth, and will continue to do so for the next couple of weeks. The local weather authorities are crying for our first snow tonight!

I so don’t care about that.

This is the toughest part of the bike riding season for a lot of folks. Winter riding requires a special sort of commitment, and while it isn’t winter riding yet, it most certainly isn’t going to get awesome any time soon. Is this the end of summer? Or is it the beginning of next summer?

Mostly, I am a “glass half empty, and where the hell did all my beer go” kind of a guy. I spent most of this summer with a bum knee, and ultimately had to miss a lot of rides. This sort of led to a general lack of confidence in my riding, and ultimately I don’t think I raced my races as well as I could have had I been in a better mental place.

Well, I will have to say it wasn’t a total loss, I managed a ride on the single speed this weekend. The day after the Mahoney-Jones wedding. I was very, very hungover…. and amazingly, managed to climb the climbs and deal with the wet roots and leaf strewn trails. And ZERO knee pain.

This gave me a little mental boost. If I start riding now, imagine how well I’ll be riding next summer! I know that I won’t be Lance Armstrong fast, but maybe I’ll be better prepared. I can work on my weaknesses, work on strengthening my knees. Improve my cardio. I have the power to rebuild me!

da-na-na-na-na-na...

So the next BIG thing on the horizon, besides Disney World with the family, which will be a herculean feat in and of itself, is SSAZ10, which is also SSUSA, which is in Tucson AZ. In February. I’ll need to ride all winter so I can be ready for stuff like this.

Then there is also these rumblings here.

SSWC10 is going to be in New Zealand, but will we make it? Only time will tell…

I had ordered up a set of aluminum spoked I9 wheels for Kermit to bring out to Durango for SSWC, but because of the level of complexity on the colors I chose, I didn’t end up getting them in time.

This is no big deal though, I think I can think of a place for them to go before next season starts…

…. maybe…

For some reason I felt I needed to have 4 colors going on, 5 if you count the white rims. I had I9 send me a mixture of black, silver, purple and blue spokes, and a set of purple geared hubs. I laced them up this afternoon, randomly drawing a spoke from the pile.

Some folks might find these wheels garish. Maybe they are, but I kinda like them, and it’s an example of what is possible. Some folks don’t like to think outside the realm of the “norm”, but I feel, if I am going to build someone the bike of their dreams, we should do everything in our power to make it everything it can be. Anyone can have black or silver spokes, or sometimes a mixture of the two, but not everyone has something like this. Of course, vanity comes with a price…

And speaking of explosions of color, check out this picture I snapped behind the shop on one of the recent rare occasions that the sun was out. This is a great time of year!

I recently had the opportunity to check out two new bikes that are bound to be a big hit in 2010 from Gary Fisher over at Catamount. It was a great place to try out some new hardware on semi familiar terrain.

First and foremost, I got some serious saddle time on the new Fisher Rumblefish. Essentially a trail tuned version of the HiFi featuring the proprietary dual chambered Fox rear shock, with a 120mm fork soaking up the bumps up front. The frame is an all new hydroformed design, promising more stiffness without adding extra weight. Also new this year is the ABP, or active braking pivot. Basically, it is a pivot that rotates around the rear axle, which in theory, allows the suspension to keep working even with the back brake held tight. Does it work? You bet.

I could brake very late into chunky turns, and still feel like I had control of the bike. The new stiffer frame became apparent when sliding about on wet roots, once the front broke away, the rear followed suit. I actually found the bike to be very predictable in questionable circumstances. I was very impressed .

So while I was being very impressed with the Rumblefish, I threw a leg over the Superfly-100.

Well dang that bike is fast.

And light. I tackled one of the big hills we race on some Wednesday nights – in my middle ring. The pedaling efficiency is awesome. I was out of the saddle, and far from smooth, but the bike flew up the technical rooty climb with relative ease. Again, very impressive. I feel the ABP equipped rear end adds a level of stiffness that rivals bikes like the RIP9. The suspension was buttery smooth, and the G2 geometry made for hassle free riding through tight trees at speed.

I like this bike a lot, and think that I might have to have one…

Saturday was also IMBA’s “take a kid mountain biking day”. Nothing quite like dragging a recalcitrant 5 year old. Thank goodness for M&Ms, and the whole concept of bribery. I think he had fun.

The VT 50 was so muddy…

… how muddy was it?

Really F*n muddy.

This is what my bike looked like before I cleaned it, but after it had spent an hour and a half in the back of an open truck bed in a rainstorm on the interstate after the “race” .

I had planned a total drivetrain replacement post 50, and really, it is going to be totally necessary before this bike rides again. Wow. It took me 20 minutes to get most of the grass and crap out of the cranks. But the thing to really consider, is that the bike was much more muddy than this at one point on Sunday. I’m not kidding when I say it had to weigh 150 lbs. The rear wheel was a solid disc of mud, in fact, the whole back end was. Despite the girth, I was able to ride the bike once I pushed the bike into the open, the rinsing rain and speed allowed for some much needed mud shedding, and I crossed the finish line with a bike that weighed 11 lbs more than it does when it’s clean (40 lbs).

I got some cleaning to do, and when I am done, I’ll give y’all a little tour of the bike I spent 9:17h on in less than ideal conditions. It did not disappoint, and I can still safely say that this is one of the best bikes ever. I’m glad I picked it.