I was reading Guitar Ted’s blog yesterday about the “perfect cell phone for cyclists”, and he brought up a few really good points. Everyone’s needs are different, but I feel that that device already exists. Love them or hate them, the iPhone is about the best thing going out there. If you read through the post, G-Ted’s idea of a perfect cycling phone is essentially an old flip phone, which does a pretty good job of being a phone. He also brings up the point that he uses other peripherals, such as a bike computer and camera.

But what if one device had all this?

There are apps for all of that. OK, so the camera on the iPhone is not the greatest, but I do like the fact that I have access to everything I need to make sure my business is running smoothly with the sweep of a finger. I have done countless deals while I have been out of the shop thanks to that little device. I can tell people where there orders are, answer important emails, order products or even pay bills. I can listen to my tunes.

Some would argue that bringing all this hoohaw along with you on a ride goes against what riding is really about. For some it is about being away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. I do like being away from it all, but would not be able to get very far if I lived within a rigid structure of free time/work time. I work all the time so I can be free all the time. Over the years I have adapted my schedule to take my advantages when I can, knowing that I really only need to be around the shop during delivery and pick up times. Technology is a wonderful thing, it allows me to still steer the ship remotely.

I wouldn’t be able to do it with a phone like Dicky’s…

Migo

I’d even go so far to day that my iPhone is probably one of the most important tools in my kit.

It is obvious that I can only write so much about gravel road rides before they become completely boring. I mean, how do you top a house on fire? Anyway, the season of crappy bike riding is nigh for many of us. On Thursday we have snow levels forecast as low as the valley floors here in central VT, which means it will likely be 70°. But it’s practically Novemeber. It is unavoidable. Winter is coming.

So.

I’ve decided that Wednesday will be “Ask George” Day. Comment on this post, and I will select a random question, or one that I like the most, and answer it. I will only consider questions for next Wednesday on comments on this week’s post, so don’t chime in on Thursday expecting to be on the train. It’s a hump day thing. And on it will perpetuate. Next Wednesdays’s comments will be answered the following Wednesday etc etc etc until it stops snowing, or I have something really amazing to tell you that can’t wait until Thursday. Or until Dicky starts posting on Wednesdays again.

The question can be about anything PG13-esque, and hopefully bike related. Wednesday to Wednesday. You’ve been warned. Who knows, maybe I’ll even answer more than one question. we’ll just have to see.

GO

Totally random, but on Sunday, Keller and I went for a singlespeed on some of the lesser traveled dirt roads to our south. I always try and make a point to bring my camera along, you never know what you might see along the way.

Usually, you see cool naturescapes. We were riding along side the Mad River for a while, and I wanted to grab a picture of the rocks, all scoured clean from the raging flood waters in August, but the light was not that good, and there wasn’t anything that really inspired me. It was a grey day, and kinda cold, so we didn’t want to stop and run the risk of getting chilled so far from home. We kept on.

On our way back towards the shop, we saw a thick black plume of smoke. That could only mean one thing, fire. As we got closer, it was apparent that this fire was pretty big, and was coming from the north side of town. Fires are one of those things that will instantly draw a crowd, so we went towards the smoke and found this.

FIRE!

This house was badly ravaged by Irene, if you look just behind the house, you will see a bridge, which was underwater during the flood. The house was so heavily damaged, it was deemed unsuitable for habitation and was condemned The owners (Green Mountain Power) ended up making a charitable donation, and gave it to the local fire department to burn down. This helps the nearly 50 strong local FD get some real training on an honest to gosh house on fire.

It was pretty impressive. And sure enough, practically the whole town was there. It was amazing to see how quickly the house was engulfed, even in a controlled burn. It totally gave me an appreciation for what fire fighters do. And while it was sad to think that this was once someone’s home, it is good to know that it’s last act was to help our Fire Department get some practical experience so that they might save someone else’s.

Niner has been hard at work redesigning their line up for 2012. Along with the addition of the unobtainable and ever so sexy RDO, they have also been refining the current line up. Industry wide, the long standing standards have been overturned, new ways of addressing problems have lead to changes in not only how bikes look, but how they are put together. Some would argue that too much change is a bad thing, while others (like myself) can appreciate the motives behind such changes.

Niner’s AIR9 has been a steady performer over the last few years, it’s price point lends itself well to being a “racer-on-a-budget” to trail bike, that jack of all trades as it were. I’ve built them up every which way. But now, it seems as if the role of the AIR9 has become a little more defined as an XC racer than it previously had been.

Niner has opted to discontinue the use of Scandium tubing in favor of new oversized and radically shaped hydroformed tubes. Hydroforming is neat in the way that is allows nearly 100% control over the wall thickness of the tubes, and you can also make the tube any shape you want. This means each individual tube can be stiffer without being heavy, and lighter where it can be gotten away with.

Darth Air

And I think it looks sleek.

square tubes

Also new is a tapered head tube. The hydroformed tubing lends itself well to the tapered headtube concept, lots of surface area for welding, making it stiffer without being heavier. In another bid to reduce weight, Niner has opted for an In-Set for a headset, incorporating the races into the headtube. The frame comes with an FSA headset.

IS head tube

And in keeping with the bigger is better theme, the bottom bracket is a Press Fit 30. There are certainly a lot of mixed feelings about the BB30 “standard”, although my own personal experiences have been positive. There is also a press fit BB that uses a “standard” threaded bottom bracket, with an outer diameter that will press into the PF30 shell, so you can use non BB30 type cranks.

Press Fit 30BB

The frame comes in 3 flavors, ano black on black (my fave), painted tang/black, and white/raw. Frame weight for the medium black is 3.3lbs, expect the painted frames to weigh a smidge more. And there you have it, new and improved. Lighter, better, faster!

 

The days are growing short, nights growing cold, and the leaves are falling off the trees. While our riding season is winding down here in New England, it is beginning to get good elsewhere, like say, the South West. If money was no object, I would be there, getting ready for the first event on 2012. In any case, I am starting to line up the events that I know I will be at come hell or high water

SSAZ2012, Feb 4th

One of my favorite events in the year. Despite having the shit kicked out of me on the High Chiva Loop in ’10, and a watermelon sized left knee in ’11, I plan on going back have having another crack at it. It isn’t just the riding, nor the stark contrast of average daytime temperatures between VT’s 15° vs AZ’s 75°, it’s the people. Over the years I’ve gotten to meet some pretty cool people who I only ever get to see out in Tucson.

Gravel Grinder, April 21st

This will be the 5th running of the Grinder. Doesn’t 30 or so miles of riding dirt roads in the rolling hills around Waterbury sound like a good time? Well, it is, especially as it is a ride not a race.

Singlespeed-apalooza, April 28th

The guys at Dark Horse really know how to throw a party. The trails are super fun, even when they are wet and muddy, which they generally are at this event. I’ll be there for sure.

Then it gets a litte slow, which is fine by me as it will give me time to get organized for:

Single Speed USA 2012, July 28th

Still shaking out the location details, but we are thinking it will be in the Stowe area. Details will be forthcoming, and I can guarantee you will not want to miss it. SSUSA2011 was held in Boulder, and was unbelievable. It’s great that it’s coming here.

Dark Horse 40, August 5th

Again, one of the best events on the East Coast. I highly recommend getting signed up at the same time you sign up for Singlespeed-apalooza.

After that, well… who knows? I’m certainly not limiting myself to just these events, they are just the mandatory ones. There are a couple of other things on my radar that I have yet to commit to, but I still have time to make those decisions. As I write this, the sky is that steel grey color, and the wind has that bite to it, you know, the one that makes you wonder if you packed the right clothing for your afternoon ride? I hope so. February is right around the corner.

 

 

As I’m sure you all have figured out, I’m somewhat of a tire nerd. I really like tires. I’m always searching for that Holy Grail, the perfect tire that does it all. Of course, that is pure folly, but along the way I often come across a tire that surprises me in a good way.

A while back, I was cruising around one of my distributor’s web pages, looking for tires to fill in my inventory, and I randomly came across the Tioga Psycho Genius. I stopped for a second. Really? Tioga? How did this one slip past my radar? Most of the time I’m in the know on these things, but this one just sort of crept in. Tioga has made some of my favorite tires in the past on my little wheel bikes. I was a big fan of their DH and FR series of tires, the treads were simple, rubber compounds good, and back then, I didn’t care about the weights of things. They simply worked with zero drama. Of course I ordered some, and was pretty surprised at what I saw.

I love that new tire smell

First off, these tires are not light, they are slightly above 800g, putting them squarely in the Nevegal/Rampage weight zone – there are a lot of knobs on this tire, so this is not much of a surprise. The knobs are siped triangles, and the layout is reminiscent of the Maxxis Ignitor. They are called out as a 2.25, but they seem smaller when they are freshly mounted. I’m hoping they grow a little bit after a couple of rides. There are a bunch of little triangular shapes on the sidewalls, giving it a texture unlike any other tire out there. These are there to resist sidewall tears, and this sort of thing does actually work, as I’ve experienced with tires from Continental. Alright, I’m interested, what is the deal with this tire?

side nubs

They aired up immediately with my Topeak floor pump, and held their pressure overnight. Good sign. These tires are not billed as tubeless ready or compatible, but you all know that doesn’t stop me. The first set of wheels I had these tires on was a set of Cole 29er Lite wheels that I had been given to try out. Due to the sheer hassle of setting these wheels up tubeless, rotor compatibility issues with their centerlock hubs, overall weight and price, I rode these wheels once and gave them back unimpressed. Around this time, Weapon X was starting to come together, so I remounted the tires on my red/black I9s with Flow rims.

lotsa teeth on this tire

My first ride was a lesson in tire pressures. I started around 28-30, which was too high. I let out some air, finally settling around 22psi. The sidewall nubs definitely made for a stiffer casing at first, but after a few rides, they really seemed to become more supple. I was immediately impressed at how well this tire gripped! There are times when I’m riding that I can tell when a tire is at it’s limit, and normally I’m right. The tire will almost always break, slide or burp when I am expecting it, which is better than when I least expect it I suppose. I pushed these tires as I would any other on a first date, and found they did my bidding without question. Very interesting! You can actually hear these tires grab while riding on pavement. It sounds like a bunch of tiny suction cups grabbing and popping as you roll down the road, but the tire never felt sluggish. The motor on the other hand…

Tioga has a cool video of their tread pattern technology, which is worth a watch. It totally makes sense, and it totally works.

So my initial opinion? Goofy name, great tire. I can say with absolute certainty that the tire is a solid performer, works as advertised, and it will stay on Weapon X until the next new “big” tire needs to be tested. I’ll provide further feedback after a few more rides, which I hope are numerous. I’m not ready for snow yet!

Coming up on October 23rd is the second running of the CircumBurke Challenge, an endurance style fun ride, that as the name suggests, circles Burke Mountain. This is not an ordinary ride though, it harkens back to the olden days of mountain biking (at least in these parts), where you would go off into the wilderness in search of trails. There is an element of being in the “wild” that just isn’t there on well manicured singletrack. Old School if you will.

Burke Mtn

This ride is held in memory of local outdoor activist, father and avid rider Dave Blumenthal. Dave lost his life in a collision with a vehicle out on the Tour Divide of 2010. He was the type of guy to head out on forest doubletrack and ride it until it went someplace. This ride encapsulates the same sort of spirit, and would be a great way to spend one of the last few days of the riding season.

So I got a solid amount of time on my new Niner WFO over the course of the weekend, a fairly complete tour of Sterling Valley on Saturday, and a little bit of everything at the Kingdom on Sunday. I used every feature of the bike, which worked perfectly with one exception.

Since Irene came into our lives here in VT, many of us have not had the opportunity to keep those maintenance rides in, meaning the fatness is taking over. My legs felt like crap all weekend, with my bum knee acting up most of Sunday afternoon. That did not detract from the amazing rides that were had though, it was hard to not have a good time.

So, back to the ride. As expected, the bike climbs well. I knew it would, as I never had a problem with the way the Honey Badger climbed, with the exception of the floppy steering on steeper trails. The TALAS fork definitely fixed that. A simple twist of the dial, and the front end drops a little over an inch. I even rode it in the reduced travel mode on a few level sections of trail between climbs, and found that the bike was still manageable.

getting the right angle

I definitely felt that the Angleset was living up to my expectations as well. The bike had a quickness to it that was unlike it’s predecessor. I need to find my angle finder so I can confirm the actual angles I have, but in my head, I think my experiment was a success. There was a little bit of creaking coming from the headset on bigger bumps, so a phone call to Cane Creek is on my to do list today. No other niggles there. The bottle opener was put to good use as well post ride.

shockingly good

I’m still dialing in the shock pressures. I feel like the ride is a little harsh still, on both ends. Upon setting the sag where it is “supposed” to be, I was at 90psi front and 170 rear. I ended up letting some air out and at 85/150, I still feel like the bike glances off bumps rather than soak them up. Still have to do some fiddling there, but overall, I think I am pretty happy with the Monarch rear shock. There are 3 settings, much like Fox’s Pro Pedal on the RP23. These settings are much easier to use on the Rock Shox with a simple flick of the blue lever. Settings are for the “Gate” which basically means how quickly oil can pass through the damper under compression. The gate runs Open (-) to Closed (+) in three clicks, and that  is a nice way to do it, although I found myself running the shock all the way open most of the time.

stuck

The seatpost was the only sticking issue with me. Literally. The post would go down all the way, but would only come back up half way on it’s own. I was able to pinch the seat between my legs and pull it up the rest of the way, but that is not how it is meant to work. Rock Shox is replacing it for me, as there were some problems with earlier models of this post. Besides that, the action was smooth and easy to use. The Match-maker handlebar remote is a nice feature, and keeps the cockpit nice and tidy.

I was thoroughly impressed with the Tioga tires, separate review on those forthcoming!

We have been blessed with a long run of beautiful weather up here in the northeast. This made for some fun times on two wheels, which was much needed. I spent most of last week moving into my new apartment (5 minutes from trail!) while dodging raindrops.

The previous week was wet and miserable, a far cry from the weather we are experiencing right now, which is good, for this weekend was jam packed full of outdoor fun. Saturday was the first running of the Leaf Blower Fall Ride, held by the Stowe Mountainbike Club. About 87 people showed up to ride the best of what Stowe had to offer for trails, and we split up into 2 groups, one heading to the new trails (Pipeline, Kimmers, Derby etc), while a group of about 27 or so headed off to go ride the classics in Sterling Valley (Tony’s, Tamarack, Loren’s Loop etc).

Getting ready to head out

country roads

I had severely misjudged the weather, and dressed as if it was going to be in the 60s. By the time we set off on our ride, it was well into the high 70s, so I spent most of the time being way too hot. Our route was Tony’s>Tamarack>Godstreet>Kent’s>Peek-a-View>Loren’s Loop>Catamount Trail>Maple Run>Tamarack>tony’s>Beer>awesome food provided by Frida’s. Conditions were good for this time of year, although some trails were still very wet from all the rain earlier in the week. These trails are definitely “old school”, built way before the time of IMBA spec’d sustainable trails. They require a certain amount of skill or bravery to ride fast, they don’t flow, and often have violent transitions between down and up, but this is what makes them fun.

heading into Sterling Valley

carpet of leaves

Mt Mansfield

Having a big group like that definitely stretched the ride out to a 4.5 hour voyage. There were several mechanicals, some bonking, and lots of breaks to enjoy the phenomenal scenerey. I had tried to take some video of the ride, but had tried out a new position for my helmet cam. I grow increasingly more frustrated with my Contour camera, aiming it is a PITA, and the field of view is far too limited to get an idea of what one might actually be riding on. I got a ton of footage of right in front of my front tire. Meh.

not a cloud in sight

rare conditions for October

The party after the ride was a ton of fun. I got fed, had a couple of PBRs with various folks, including the president of the bike club who is very interested in SSUSA2012 Will it be in Stowe…? I pedaled back home to shower and put on some civilian clothes and went back to rejoin the party, where the bicycle games were just beginning. We did our take on Foot Down, which included the standard rules of no intentional contact, to which we added that you had to have a beer in your hand. You could only use both hands once your beverage was finished. It made for some quality hilarity.

Then there was the pumpkin pull. Think of it like a tractor pull, we had to drag a pumpkin across the finish line on specially made skids, on a bike other than your own. It was a lot of fun. We raced 2 at a time, and gradually we whittled it down to a single winner, which was ME! Yeah, I am the reigning pumpkin puller. I won on a 26″ squishy bike which had some people up in arms, so I offered a re-do on the final pull on Weapon X. I won again. We then finished the night out by watching some bike movies on a big inflatable movie screen.

Winner!

All in all, it was a great day on the bike. Weapon X did everything I asked of it, except pedal itself up the steep hills. Thank goodness that thing has gears. Ride impressions coming up next.

As I alluded to last week, there was a project bike in the works. I present to you Weapon X.

Weapon X

The name of this bike came from the Wolverine, probably the only creature more baddass than a honey badger. I know that some of you are asking yourselves “didn’t he already have a Niner WFO?” and you would be right. I did (past tense), but I sold it as it wasn’t really being ridden, as I had a fancy schmancy carbon squishy bike to play with. Conditions permitted for me to send it along down the road. The Honey Badger is currently being well loved and is running amuck down in North Carolina.

This bike is a little different from its predecessor though. This particular WFO has a few pieces of special equipment on it. I’ll start with the not so obvious one, it has the new 142x12mm Maxle rear end on it. Not a huge change in stiffness from the 135mm Maxle rear end, but getting the wheel in and out of the dropouts is now much easier.

mo bigger, mo bettah

Also the head tube does not have the bearing races machined into it as the old one did. You actually have to push headset cups into it, which means you have a choice when choosing a headset for this (and all of Niner’s bikes, save for the A9C). My choice was to use the Cane Creek Angleset.

Now, my one gripe with the old WFO is that for around here, the bike was a bit too slack to be ridden quickly. Most of our funnest trails are far too tight and twisty, much more suitable for a bike like the RIP. I found myself blowing through turns a lot, and had to ride quite a bit slower to ride certain trails cleanly. Get the bike out in the open though, and you can let it run. The suspension was never an issue, it gobbles up everything. It climbed well, but did suffer from floppy handlebar syndrome on steeper pitches. The HA on a WFO with a 140mm fork is 69°, the RIP is 70° with a 120mm fork. What if I could have the same angles as a RIP on a WFO? Sound silly? No. That is where the Angleset comes in. You can magically increase or decrease the angle of the headtube of just about any bike out there with this magical headset. It utilizes an offset cup, that when oriented a certain way, will increase or decrease the HA. The steerer tube of the fork is not centered in the headset the way it normally would be, and there is a whole bunch of tech I could go on and on about but won’t this time. I’ll provide more detailed account of this device in a future post, but for now, you can rest assured, it works as advertized. The headset kit that I used steepens the HA by 1°.

adjustable angler dangler

Cool huh? WFO with RIP geometry.

Lastly, the floppy steering on steep climbs. We have lots of those here, and it can be a bit of a pain trying to keep the bike on target when you are climbing singletrack. Well, wouldn’t you know it, technology exists out there that can change the travel on your fork on the fly. With the Fox TALAS forks, in this case, the brand spanky 34 chassis goes from 140mm to 110mm with a simple twist of a knob. This drops the front end of the bike considerably, steepens the HA even more, and most importantly reduces the wander of the front wheel. FTW!

not the age I wish I was, but the diameter of the stanchions

I’ll get into the fork on a future post too.

I managed one quick solo night ride on the bike before the weather turned absolutely nasty here, but it was just long enough to learn a few things:

1. The bike steers more like I wanted it to. It feels heavy handed compared to the 24lb race bike I’ve been riding, but at 30.8lbs, Weapon X is no pig. I just need to ride it more.

2. The TALAS fork is a huge benefit, but like with every Fox fork I’ve had, it will take some fiddling to find the sweet spot.

3. The Rock Shox Monarch rear shock is actually really good! I was almost convinced that I would be calling Fox today to order a different shock, and I was very pleasantly surprised that the stock shock far exceeded my expectations. It gets to stay.

4. Tires. I chose the Tioga Psycho Genius because they looked cool. Good tire, not so good name.

The good news is that the crap weather will only be with us for one more day, then it is supposed to get nice again for a while. This bodes well for Saturday’s Leaf Blower ride, which will serve as the for reals shakedown ride as we ride EVERY trail in Stowe. With any luck I’ll have the legs to meet Dough up in the Kingdom on Sunday. That should give me a pretty solid amount of time to get to know the bike.