Sometimes, you just gotta grab summer by the handlebars and ride.

Racing the DH40 this weekend, knee not feeling good. I’m hoping for a sub 4 hr finish, but we’ll just have to see.

So I’ve managed to get a couple of rides under my belt on the new Jet 9 RDO. As with everything else that Niner produces, the fit and finish is top notch. I find the frame visually appealing, the swooping curves remind me of a vintage sports car. Originally I thought I was going to be getting a black frame, but was more than fine with the tang colored one I received.

My first ride was my customary shake down ride at the Town Loops in Stowe. A little of everything can be found there in terms of terrain. Because this bike is a whole new design, I needed to pay extra attention to the shock set ups. And wouldn’t you know it, I forgot my shock pump. I had inadvertently over pressurized the front end, and had under pressurized the rear, the bike bike was a little saggy in the back, but far too firm in the front. Cornering at speed was a little scary at times, but mental notes were taken, and on we rode.

I made my adjustments to the suspension, trimmed up the shifting – the cables had stretched a bit, and the bike was ready for test ride II (electric boogaloo). As I said in my previous post, the bike was flawless. the suspension was perfect, and I felt very balanced. By my 3rd lap, I felt like I knew where the sweet spot on the bike was, and found that turning at speed in the tight singletrack was as simple as dipping your shoulder into the turn and pedaling through it.

photo cred: Shot in VT

This bike is STIFF! There is something about the feel of carbon that is unlike any other material. My WFO is stiff too, but the weight difference is what makes it feel so unique. My frame was 5.2 lbs right out of the box. The combination of the stiffness and lack of weight make for a bike that feels very lively and responsive. The geometry is quick without being twitchy. The rear shock was buttery smooth. The Kashima coating is very slippery, and there is no detectable bushing drag on the RP23 at all. The 4″ travel rear end of the bike feels bottomless.

My third ride was a recreational one. As I have no more races coming up (I’m doing the DH40 on my singlespeed), and needed to replace the front tire, I opted for a trail tire, one that I could just mount up and forget about. I had a set of older 2.25 Nobby Nics on Kermit, so a tire transfusion was performed. Tire clearance is a bit tight, but I don’t know that I would run anything much bigger on a bike like this anyway. We’re currently blessed with dry trail conditions, but I am a little suspect of mud clearance with these tires. It’s a good thing I don’t ride when it’s muddy!

I met up with E-Dog, JayPro and KP, and we headed up to the Kingdom for a solid ride. We rode all of the must ride trails, Coronary Bypass, Tap and Die, West Branch, Sidewinder, Webbs, Jaw, East Branch, and of course Kitchell. Early in the ride I was having issues with tire pressure and suspension settings. I was all over the place. After fiddling with everything a couple of times, I ended up softening everything up. I wanted to just sit and pedal over the roots and rocks, and let the bike do the work.

Well, this turned out to be a semi-bad idea. I sent the tire into the frame on one of the big G-outs on Sidewinder. BRRAAAPP! I checked it out at the bottom, and everything seemed ok, so on we rode. As we were climbing out, I hit a little whoopdie-doo, and burped the front tire upon landing, sending me over the bars.

OK, so the tire pressure was too low.

I fixed that with a CO2, and we continued to ride. The rest of the day was worry free, and we rode some fantastic singletrack. I got some video that I am currently working on.

I do have a couple of niggles with the frame though. I’m not a huge fan of the internal cable routing from a bike mechanic’s perspective. It looks great, and works well enough when everything is new, but performance tends to decrease as stuff starts to wear. Changing the shift cables is now a more arduous task, but the frame did come with some nifty cable guides pre installed when I got the frame. Running the cables during the build was easy enough, and I think that as long as people hold onto those guides, and maybe replace the cables before they are frayed beyond use, this will not be the same song and dance as a cable change on the A9C.

The rear triangle is pretty wide too. I rub my heels on the chainstays pretty frequently, but I am using the 156 Q-factor XX cranks. I wonder if the 166 Q-factor crank would fix that? Also, I knocked one of the zip ties that holds the rear brake line in place off on my first ride. It is kind of a busy arrangement, and wonder if there as a more direct way to run the line. So far, I have not replaced the zip tie, and it has not been an issue.

The bottom line is this. The bike is certainly capable. The option to run a 120mm fork up front is nice. I think with the longer travel up front, the bike could firmly tread on the toes of the RIP9. Who wouldn’t want that type of performance, especially when the bike would be 4 lbs lighter? I personally don’t feel the need for that much travel on this particular bike, but I will try it out before the summer os over. One thing is for sure though, I can’t wait until my next ride!

C’mon, you knew that was coming… anyway…

So after the initial shakedown ride of the RDO, Dough and I headed back to Waterbury to get cleaned up and went in search of a good pre-race meal. We went to the Alchemist, had dinner and a few of the IPAs that were on tap. Seemed like it was the right thing to do, as we were going into the 6 hour race in a pretty non-serious frame of mind. Still, we managed to keep it under control, and went to bed at a reasonable hour.

Morning came way too quickly, and we had to get our act together to load up the car and get to the race . We needed breakfast, the bikes, the tent and my portable grill. We didn’t have to rush, but we had no time to dilly dally. We hit up the Shaw’s in Williston for our pit supplies, 3 gallons of water, a bunch of bananas, a box of cookies and a bag of blue corn chips (the really good ones). Oh, and a case of PBR and bag of ice. We already had a pack of jalepeno chicken sausages that we planned on eating for a speedy recovery meal. Upon arrival, we got ourselves registered, as Team Car Ram Rod. We even wrote it down.

The starting lineup

Dough announced he would lead off, leaving me to set up our cozy little pit area. He was barely changed when the call “2 minutes” was announced over the PA, so we hustled over to the start line. I forgot the cowbell in the car, so I couldn’t give the starters a good send off. I checked with the race officials on where the tag out zone would be, and made sure I had all my stuff together and got ready for my lap.

Astro-mechs are an absolute MUST for races

The rumor was that 45 minutes was fast for the 6.5 mile course. Dough came in right about when I was expecting him (he is fast), so we tagged and I headed out for my lap. The first part of the course was flowy and quick. There were some fast open sections, but the singletrack was tight, and required concentration to pick the smoothest line. Lots of turning, bobbing and weaving through the trees. This part of the course was fairly flat, and you could get a decent head of speed, but there were a couple of spots that could take you by surprise if you had not previously ridden the course.



Fortunately for me, my prior experience at Wednesday Night Worlds was paying off, I recognized a lot of spots where I knew I had the advantage of big wheels, and knowing the line to take. Lines that don’t necessarily look very appealing to little wheelers. The next section was a gradual uphill slog, one that I am all too familiar with. I used this time to drink, and get my heart rate back down before going back into the tight and twisty and now boney singletrack. The next feature was a pretty rough and technical climb up some rocky, rooty switchbacks up to Indian Lookout, which is the big climb of the race, except you get a reprieve for a little bit before having to climb it again from the other side. Then a fast, technical (and quite flowy) descent, a couple of evil little punchy climbs, then some really tight, boney flat singletrack that was hard to ride with any speed, then a fast wide open cruise back to the lap zone.

When I finished my first lap, Dough was nowhere to be found. I checked out  of the course and headed to the pit to find Dough with his bike hanging from the tent, with wrenches in his hand. He turned and looked at me and said “oh, you’re here already? I wasn’t expecting you this soon!”

Team motto: One lap, one beer!

Bastard. Anyway, I churned out a pretty decent lap time, right around that 45 minute fast guy time. He headed back out on course, and I got my next lap’s fuel and hydration ready. I like this race format, as I don’t need to carry a ton of stuff with me. I tried to drink 1 bottle per lap, and 1 in the pit. And a beer. I did some stretches, checked my bike over, and headed back to the tag out zone.

Photo cred: Shot in VT

Because Dough is fast, and went out with the fast lead solo guys, when we tagged out I was right on that train. It was fun riding with the fast guys for a while, I even passed them on a short punchy up, one of the afore mentioned areas where I know the line, and actually lead the train for a short period of time. I had a bit of a breakaway for a while, but I let them pass me before the monster up, as I thought it would be rude to hold them up. I was riding well, but can not climb at the pace they were climbing.

And so it went. After Dough finished lap 3 he informed me he was having a visit from the cramps, at which point we had a brief team meeting on what our expectations might be. I only had expectations for 3 laps anyway, but was surprised to see how quickly we were making them happen. I was still feeling pretty good, testament to what suspension and gears can do for you. I made decent time on my 3rd lap, made the necessary adjustments in line choice to maximize my time. The climbs were getting tough, but I still wasn’t cramping.

Upon my arrival at the tag out, Dough was there, and he said was a go for lap 4. It was getting late in the day, but I knew that we would have a shot at doing well, IF I could complete a 4th lap. Dough went out, I had my beer, a banana, some space food, and got my accoutrements ready for my lap. I was beginning to get hungry on my 3rd, and I knew that was going to be an issue on my 4th. I stuffed some Gu Chomps in my pocket to stave off any would be hunger pangs that might visit me on course.

My pit stop was short and I hung out at the tag out station waiting for Dough. I kept a pretty close eye on my Garmin, we’d been doing well with the sub 45 minute lap times, and if he came in before 2:15, I would have my chance to earn us 8 laps. Dough rolled in at 2:14, and I took off like a shot.

In the excitement, I completely forgot to turn my Garmin on until right before I hit the first singletrack. I kinda knew where I was on course, but without the ability to track my time and mileage, it became a full on time trial. I kept my eye on the clock and gave it my all. I had a few close calls with some trees that could have been costly, not to mention painful if I hadn’t saved it in the knick of time. I decided that aggressively conservative would be the best approach in the flat singletrack. But during the climbs, I became a little more frantic. I wasn’t able to turn over the gear I wanted, and I was beginning to cramp. With one eye on the clock I dug deep and made it up the big hill, and saw that it was 2:40. I knew I could do this in 20 minutes, but only if I sprinkled some andale on it. There was still 3 climbs of note to deal with, and I knew I would loose time there, so I decided to up my DH game. Conservative went right out the window, and I got reacquainted with my best friend and nemesis, gravity.

Photo cred: Shot in VT

This was working out for me, well, for at least the next 10 minutes. Right around 2:50, it was apparent that something was not right with my front tire. In fact, it was going flat in an alarmingly quick way. I was really close to the flat wide open section, but there was no way I could ride it. I busted out my CO2, and blasted the tire bead back into the rim, at which point, 2 fountains of Stan’s began to shoot out of either side of the tire. Shit. I tried to jiggle the wheel to get the sealant to do it’s job, to no avail. 2:54 by my Garmin.

Fuck it. I started to run.

As I was running to beat the devil, a bunch of riders began to pass me, including Nina – one of Mandy’s friends and a veritable baddass on a bike, zoomed by me. She was in the duo class too, so I knew that I would be down a place at the finish. But I could still beat the clock. I kept running, and trundled across the finish line with the time of 2:58 on my Garmin. I beat the clock by 2 minutes. Team Car Ram Rod had just squeaked in 8 laps.

Dough greeted me at the finish with an ice cold PBR, and it never tasted so good. We cooked up the sausages at the pit, hung out with E-Dog and the notorious BOB (both of whom raced solo), traded tales of the day’s battle, and tipped back several cold delicious PBRs.

At the award ceremony, we found that Team Car Ram Rod’s effort was good enough for second place. We both felt that this was a pretty awesome achievement considering my mid-afternoon jog. We got to go up to the prize table and pick out some goodies, then packed up the tent and headed for home, tired but happy.

the writing on the board

SO, was the bike Race Day Optimized?  I promise I’ll tell you tomorrow.

Finally, I was able to finish the bike with the new brake line, and with that, I was able to get an accurate weight, all built up. With Crank Bros Eggbeater 3 pedals and a carbon bottle cage, the bike weighed in at 24.2lbs. Not too shabby huh? Here is the spec:

Reba XX fork

Cane Creek 110 tapered headset

Thomson X4 stem, Niner carbon Flat Top bar, Ergon GS1 grips

ENVE seatpost, Thomson seat clamp, WTB Devo saddle

SRAM XX group with World Cup brakes, BB30 cranks (39/26), 11-36 cassette, direct mount front derailleur and medium cage rear

An older set of I9 wheels with crazy spokes, Arch rims, Maxxis Ikon/Aspen, DT RWS skewers

Certainly not a cheap build by any means, but I managed to already have some of this stuff laying about anyway.

The new bike featured the same geometry as the aluminum Jet, but the sexy new carbon frame has 100mm of rear travel (vs 80), and the headtube is rated for a 100/120mm fork (vs 80/100). Hmmmm. All of a sudden this is a different bike. As it would happen, there was a race this weekend, and I would get to see first hand if this bike really was Race Day Optimized.

This summer saw the return of the classic Eastern Cup, held at Catamount Family Center, only this time with the addition of a 6 hour race. I haven’t been graced with the free time to spend as much time to train this year, and having the Dark Horse 40 coming right up next weekend, I was in no way ready to ride for 6 hours and still have any hope of riding another 40 so soon after. Fortunately Dough said he would be up for  a little bit of last minute conditioning too, and offered to come up and ride the race with me in the duo format.

I took Dough out to Town Loops for my traditional new whip testing grounds onSaturday night. The ride was fun, and I was pretty stoked that we went. I was really able to dial in the feel I wanted after this ride (I didn’t quite have it right before the shakedown). Shift cables were re-adjusted, pressures in the shocks changed, and the bike was ready for race day.

Part 2 coming up…

Tried as hard as I could to finish this bike and ride it. I did not have a rear brake line of appropriate length in the shop, but that will be all fixed today.

I can tell you a couple of things that I know for sure about the bike:

When it is ridden, it will be ridden hard.

It will be mistreated.

 

OK, it’s time for you non social media people to get yours. This was by far one of the most exciting days I’ve had at the shop. Facebook updates, pictures and tweets have been flying all over the place all day. I kept my mouth shut for forever about this. I knew it was coming. I got as much work in the shop done possible before Brown Santa delivered, and, as hoped, all productivity slammed to a halt.

As I write this, the bike is mostly built. It will be done tomorrow before noon, at which point a test ride will be in short order. Except it is supposed to get over 100° with a billion% humidity. Guess we’ll see how it turns out won’t we…

Here is another bike I recently put together.

This is an XL Niner Jet, with a matching Reba XX fork. I’m a big fan of the matching Tang fork. I outfitted this bike with a B29 Royale wheelset, using gold hubs laced in triple black with Arch rims, a gold colorway XO 2×10 gruppo, your typical Thomson parts and a WTB saddle. Also present is the Niner carbon handlebar, in matching tang, and of course, Ergon grips, in this case the new GS1.



The customer had to wait a little longer for this frame, there were not that many tang XL frames produced, but after the first ride he assured me it was well worth the wait. I have to say that this is one of the best parts of my job. I love building stuff like this.

The time has come for me to step into the ring as it were with my thoughts and opinions on the Gates Belt Drive system. Almost everyone has an opinion about it, wether they have any real experience with it or not. I just put together my first bike with the new Center Track belt.



The bike actually belongs to Mandy. Her travel frame from Caletti finally arrived, and it was time to get it built. We decided that it would be built up with the belt first, as there is still plenty of time to learn about setting it up, or find any would be problems before she heads out to SSWC Ireland. We know the traditional chain and chainrings work. At the moment, there is only one option available for gearing, a 46/28, which is something like a 32/20 with a traditional chain set up. Not ideal for Mandy, but it will work until there are more options.



So the frame itself is actually quite nice. Very nice attention to detail, clean welds and beautiful paint. The build is pretty stock, I9 hubs laced to Stan’s Crest rims, a new 2012 Fox Fit RLC fork with the ultra slick Kashima coating, the cranks are old Truvative Noirs, the drivetrain is the aforementioned Gates Carbon Drive, headset is a Cane Creek 110, BB is a King, Easton EC90 carbon seatpost, Niner carbon bar, Ergon BioKork grips, and some Hayes Stroker brakes.



Ironically, I did not weigh the bike. Mandy and I were far to excited to see how the belt would work. It was literally being ridden seconds after it left the stand.

There has been a lot of stuff said about the belt. Some good, some bad. It seems everyone has an opinion on it, wether it is based on any real world testing or mere supposition. As with anything new, there will be haters out there. The Center Track is the latest refinement in the design. It features a thin ridge in between the teeth of the cogs, which was designed to help the belt track better than the previous iteration.

There are a couple of key things to consider when putting this system together. One would be the chainline (beltline?). It needs to be arrow straight. I seem to have managed this without too much hassle. Belt tension is another. There is a nifty iPhone app that will help you “tune” the belt. I had a hard time getting mine to “hear” the belt twang, so I just gave it my best shot. The crank turned freely, as did the rear wheel. There was no unnecessary tension or drag in the driveline. Snaps for me!

But how did it work? Apparently, it worked flawlessly. Mandy got a ride in shortly after picking the bike up, and reported zero issues. We will be discussing this topic again soon.

As I posted on FB the other day, I will not be going to Ireland to join in the shenanigans that are Single Speed Worlds. It was a really tough decision, one that I labored with for weeks. I was constantly going back and forth in my mind as to what to do. In light of all the things that have happened this year, are currently happening or what might happen, I didn’t feel it would be a good time for me to be gone for a week with no one to cover the store.

There was a lot of unrest. I received a barrage of comments on the FB, a few hateful emails, and a couple of harassing phone calls. I’m bummed too. It would have ben epic. And I don’t even like that word. That’s how epic it would have been. Not only would I have been riding singlespeed bikes with a bunch of my friends in a foreign, english speaking country, competing in the worlds’ most awesome bike race, it all would have happened around my 40th birthday. I can’t think of a better scenario than that.

I suppose, in the extremely unlikely event of some sort of financial windfall,  I would immediately change my mind. Instead, I will be turning the big 4 0 with my family, and maybe some friends. My new Plan B is to maybe go see a Red Sox game at Fenway sitting in really good seats. Not quite the same level of fun, but good nonetheless. It will definitely be less expensive…

Am I missing out? I don’t know. As Dicky pointed out to me, I have been to the “scene” no less than 3 times already this year, SSAZ, Whiskey 50/Sedona Base Camp and of course SSUSA. I won the rights to bring SSUSA to VT for 2012. And there is still a lot of year left, who knows when my next trip out west might be… Were I to go to Ireland, I think that I’d miss some pretty important family time.

I think I made the right choice.

 

So, not 20 minutes after all the Treks that I had sitting on the floor had been loaded up and taken away to their final resting places, while sweeping up all the Seamus hair that I discovered was hiding between the bikes, I sold a Niner. The customer had come in to an empty shop, looking for a bike to bomb around on the many dirt roads we have in the area. After a brief consultation, we settled on a build, and he pulled the trigger.

The bike was to be a Kermit green Niner MCR, with matching steel fork and Flat Top bar. To keep the bike within the specified budget, I used a mix of X7 and X9 drivetrain components (10 speed of course). The wheelset is a Stan’s ZTR Arch, with a WTB Nano/Vulpine combo for rubber. The bike needed to be comfortable, so I flexed the budget a bit with a Moots Ti post. It makes a huge difference, and is well worth the added expense. And what bike made for all day cruising on mixed surfaces would be complete without Ergon GP1 Bio Kork grips?

The bike came out great, despite the fact that the stem I ordered didn’t show up – shame on me for not checking the parts box before I started the build. The Easton is a loaner until the real stem shows up.

It just goes to show you doesn’t it?