OK, so if you were reading yesterday, you will know that today’s post features a bunch of stuff that I am getting rid of. For money. All the charity stuff is gone, but I can assure you that the prices are tantalizing, you know I like nice things… Some of this stuff I will be sorry to see go, other stuff can be replaced. But for now, it makes the most sense to let it make someone else happy being used, rather than making me unhappy and broke by sitting dormant.

The Trundleraptor

Shocked? Well, they say last in is first out, and this is true. This bike is fun as fun can be on snow, and has definitely saved my mental bacon, but where I am headed, this bike is unnecessary. Know I’ve been geeking out on it’s replacement…

Build spec is: 20″ Pugsley frame + fork, DT370.Surly hubs laced to Rolling Darryl 85mm rims with DT Super Comp spokes, alloy nips, Nate knobby tires, Surly Mr Whirly cranks with xtra wide spindle to clear those huge tires, WTB Vigo saddle, Thomson seatpost and stem, Easton EC70 bar, SRAM X9 shifter and derailleur, Avid Elixir CR brakes. Oh, and a very rare Chis King purple headset. It’s sort of a maximized Pugs, and I’d like $1500 for it. Would like to sell it locally as shipping this beast would be a small fortune.

The Gozarian

Yup, seeing as how all the cool places I used to travel to ride are going to be within a day’s drive, I won’t need this frame any more.

$650 – worth it for the S&S couplers alone. Plus you can run a belt on it if you are so inclined. The frame is a large Niner SIR9, modified to be single speed only.

SRAM XX 2×10 group

$1200 OBRO and you can tell me what size rotors (180/160/140) to send with it. Brakes are the World Cup model. Crank is the BB30 version, cassette is the 11-36t, and includes a new in box BB30 bearing set up. Very, very low miles on this group.

Rock Shox Reba SL

Enduro seals, fresh rebuild and oil. 159mm or ~ 6,1/4″ steerer. $200

Formula  Oro Pro brakes

No rotors, used but twice. These are good stoppers and are perfect for riders with smaller hands. They didn’t work for me ergonomically, so they got stashed in a corner a long time ago and forgotten about. $150, remember – no rotors.

All of this stuff is good stuff that needs a good home. I take Paypal or ca$hmoney. If anything here tickles your fancy, please let me know and I can arrange to have it in your hands as expeditiously as possible.

And if this ins’t enough stuff, I’ll probably find more to post tomorrow, along with another announcement that is completely not bike related.

 

 

The Strip, Las Vegas, NV

On with the show. The Sands Convention Center, one of the most wretched hives of scum and villainy, and also free beer and tequila if you know where to look.

As I said before, I had sat out the last few Interbikes, I’m not really a fan of being cooped up indoors, breathing conditioned air with a bunch of people milling about and touching everything. I’m not a germophobe by any means, I just have little patience for annoying and deliberate gawking in artificial environments. There are also the constant interruptions when you are talking with people, the butt-ins, the “hey, real quicks…”. I find that to be especially annoying, and completely counterproductive. Especially because I have such a short attention span and I am likely to forget what I might have been talking about. I’m of the firm belief that if you are going to discuss serious business with someone, you give them 100% of your attention, and the hi-5s with passers by should wait until said business is concluded. Just an observation, and a bit of a rant. This happens all the time.

The purpose of my visit was very focused, I had a couple of “important” meetings that I had scheduled, and those took place away from the isles and potential interruptions. This ain’t my first rodeo… they were productive, and I came away from them feeling like it was a good thing I had made the plane ride. This left me with a lot of well organized free time to mill about and gawk.

Unfortunately, my point and shoot camera has decided that it is going to take mostly lousy pictures from now on. Most likely a result from being jammed in my jersey pockets on hot sweaty rides over the last few summers. It has outlasted all the others I’ve owned, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. The flash does send up a puff of smoke when it is used, which is rather exciting.

want

Up first is this new crabon bike from Ellsworth. This bike fits in the trail category, along with bikes like the Santa Cruz Tallboy LTC, and the new Niner RIP RDO.

hey, isn't that Mike Maggs?

I didnt get any good pictures of the RIP RDO, thank you camera. So you’ll have to go here to see them. It’s a neat looking bike for sure. And I’m sure anyone glued to Facebook or MTBR last week has seen and read up on it already.

There wasn’t much in the way of awesome new tires out there. I, like The Dickness, feel that anything named for viral video sensation that was over long ago, lacks long term relevance in the market place. Besides, when the tire company in question actually has such tires in stock, it will be 18 months from now, making them even less relevant.
The only cool thing I saw was this:

white walls!

The white compound is supposed to provide a more supple ride. Whatever, it looks cool and I want them.

There are some new 29er suspension fork choices out there now.

"we'll never make 29er suspension forks!" oh, wait...

improving, updating and expanding

Then there was this. I really want one, just like this one. Anyone want to hook me up? It’s a damn good thing it was bolted to the ground…

double want

There were quite a few 650B bikes out there. They looked cool too, but reports coming back from the on dirt demo from trusted sources say that they either rode like 29ers or 26ers, begging the question, do we really need another wheel size?

Intense Tracer 275

The overall vibe of the show seemed pretty subdued to me, almost sleepy. There wasn’t much going on that had people buzzing. I think it might be time for the Marzocchi girls to come back…
Many of the regular players weren’t at the show, instead choosing to hawk their wares at the Outdoor Demo. Interbike is pretty expensive for an exhibitor, I imagine that hard choices have to be made as to which eggs are going into which basket, especially in this uncertain economy. I mean, you could literally do 5 or 6 events in a targeted environment, reach more consumers and have better results for the same cost of being stuck indoors at Interbike along with most of your competitors. There’s a reason why there is a Trek World.

That being said, I don’t regret going at all. It was great to catch up with friends, old and new, and making sure to enjoy some of the local “real”, off Strip flavor really made the trip for me. Vegas is no longer my least favorite place on the planet.

I’ve gotten quite a few quality rides on this machine so far, and I have to say I’m impressed. To some, the idea of a full suspension singlespeed might go against the very concept of simplicity – the single speed way. I suppose it’s true, but like Han Solo once said “hey, it’s me!”. I like to tinker, and why have limits if you don’t have to?

Bikes are supposed to be fun, and if I can’t have any fun on a bike, then why ride it? Rigid singlespeeds are fun, but only under certain conditions. I can’t ride one on super technical terrain very fast, or for very long. Adding a fork definitely helps things out, allowing me to ride longer and more comfortably. Still those longer rides beat me up. I mean, I can still DO THEM, but I feel terribly banged up anymore. Enter the next level of singlespeeding, front AND rear squish. My Niner Jet 9 RDO was hankering for some tinkering.

Having ridden just about any trail I would ever want to ride on my SS locally (there are ones I don’t), I can say that without a doubt, this weird bird flies. And flies well. Having put on a good show a couple of weekends ago over in Sterling Valley, and the Kingdom, I got another ride in on my locals, which basically was the deal sealer. I only had to walk one hill early in the ride, but that was because of lack of fitness and a cranky knee, and it is a steep assed hill. I’m not too proud to walk when I ought to.

something that should have no place on a SS?

So what makes it work? Oddly enough, it’s the rear derailleur. With any full suspension bike, you are going to have to deal with chain growth. Some grow more than others, just the nature of the beast. Niner’s CVA design has minimal chain growth, which makes things a lot easier for me. In a geared scenario, the rear derailleur handles the changing chain length by allowing the pulley cage to pivot as it needs too, which is how your squishy bike works, because the cage changes position relative to what gear you are in. If you take a look, one might bounce up and down on their FS bike, you might notice the cage moves a little bit. Now take away all the rest of the gears. Now you have a lot of extra chain flopping about. Now, as you don’t need all that extra chain, you can take as many links out as you can to stretch that cage out as far as you can while still allowing it to move. Again, the key here is that the Niner has minimal chain growth, so I can get that chain pretty darn tight and still have some movement on the deraiileur. Also important to note, you’ll want to use the shortest cage derailleur as possible to use the shortest amount of chain possible. Road derailleurs work great.

the transmission

Chainline is pretty crucial too, you don’t want it feeding onto the cogs at a funny angle, or you run the risk of having the chain walk off on you at some inopportune time. That is not fun. I run a shift cable through the barrel adjuster and anchor it right where I want it to keep everything lined up.

And pedaling induced suspension bob? Yeah, you’ll have some of that. But thanks to the miracle of modern rear shock technology, this is greatly minimized. Now, obviously you aren’t going to make a full blown DH bike into a singlespeed. This sort of nonsense is really only applicable to XC rigs, with short to mid travel. I found that the aluminum Jet was an absolutely fantastic choice for this with the Shreddie Van Halen experiment. The CVA suspension design, along with a few others do a pretty good job of isolating pedaling force from bump force, so if you have a smooth out-of-the-saddle pedaling style (like me!), you aren’t going to have much of an issue.

Shreddie

So why would I do this? Because I can, and so should you! Here’s to the next level of singlespeeding!

Get out there!

I’ve been riding Niner bikes for a really long time. They work for me. I’ve owned at least one of just about every model, with the exception of the EMD and the MCR. I’ve owned and ridden other bikes, there was a time when I had an Intense Spider 29er, and all of last winter I got to spend some quality time on the Spot Brand Rocker. But let’s face it, I’m a Niner guy.

The good news is that Niner makes a variety of bikes that work for many riders, but my one niggle is that they are a little slow to develop bikes in what I consider the “growth” category. Sure the RDO bikes are fantastically beautiful race machines, but not everyone races. In fact, the ratio to recreational riders to racers is a pretty big difference. I am referring to “trail” bikes. The bikes that people just want to ride.

Now, I’m a little different in that I’m a semi-weight conscious nerd, but there is one thing that I don’t like and that is heavy bikes. My WFO is not heavy by any means, but it is a 32lb bike. All things being equal, it is a beast of a bike, but there are similar bikes out there that are lighter, because they are made of carbon. Carbon is where it’s at, and Santa Cruz is currently singing my song with their Tallboy LTC.

mmm carbon

My friends up at iRide had just gotten one of these in, and offered me the opportunity to take one for a spin a couple weeks ago. I rode it back to back against Black Sunshine. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to get all nerdy with the weights and numbers as I was nowhere near my shop, plus the bike was a medium. I’d ride a large. The bike was set up with a 3×10 Shimano XT group, WTB Frequency wheels, Hans Dampf tires, Rock Shox Revelation fork and Reverb dropper post. A pretty legit build if you ask me. My course was to be 1 lap on each bike around the Adam’s Camp trails.

I rode Black Sunshine first, and it had ben a while since I had hauled my fat ass out on a bike. The DH40 to be exact. Ugh. Obviously, the climb up hurt a little, and I needed a minute or 2 to get myself ready to descend Kimmer’s. I wanted to concentrate on a nice smooth ride down, something I’m nit super capable of when I’m all blown up. But, I had a nice run down, not pushing it too hard, but also working the corners and keeping the speed up. Kimmer’s is a hard trail to ride fast, it pays to be smooth than speedy.

I got back to the car and swapped bikes. I set up the rear shock per the recommended rate of body weight minus 10psi or so. It felt really really firm. But climbing was fine, the 3×10 gearing allowed me to find a gear to get a good spin on, and I motored up to the start of Kimmer’s once again. I decided that I would drop some pressure in the rear shock. A lot actually. JayPro had ridden the bike the day before, so when I got my hands on it it had been set up for him. I dropped the psi form 200 to 170, and the back end felt immediately better. I left the ProPedal off, dropped the seat a couple inches, and also let some wind out of the tires. I like my Hans Dampfs around 22psi.

Well, it was a giggly good time, that’s for sure. The bike felt very agile and quick, but I’m willing to bet that had more to do with the size of the bike than any other factor. Still, it sliced and diced through the woods like nobody’s business, and I was hooting and hollering all the way down. The VPP suspension was great, very snappy and responsive, but in a different way than Niner’s CVA design. It had a bottomless feel that I really like, and did very well pedaling out of the saddle when exiting corners at speed. The frame was stiff and tracked with surgical precision. And it felt light. Flickable. Quick. Carbon. Love it.

Well, I gave the bike back with a big smile and thanked iRide for the chance to play with their new toy. I’d own one.

I tracked my laps on my Garmin. I knew there was going to be a little inconsistency in my lap times because I was farting around a lot longer on my first lap before dropping in on the downhill, but what I found is that the Santa Cruz was actually a tad slower in terms of overall speed. The WFO felt like driving a baddass truck by comparison, exhilarating but requiring careful attention to stay on line. Think of it like the difference between a Ford Raptor vs a Tacoma TRD.

Well, Interbike is coming, and Niner put a sneaky picture of something on their latest newsletter. I wonder what it might be…

Its no secret I have a serious bike problem. At the moment, I’m in the process of thinning the herd. Tough times for all, and maybe I don’t really need 17 bikes anymore. I choose to think of it in terms of cooking. A sauce that reduces over a period of time is almost sure to be tastier than one that you just throw together and serve immediately. Right now, the sauce is very very good.

I’ve dabbled in this medium before. Some of you may remember such experiments as Pandora and Shreddie. Well, I’m here to tell you that the 3rd time is indeed the charm. However, if you were to tell me that my 3rd attempt at this would have a 120mm fork, I would have looked at you funny. This bike is straight up bonkers.

Bonkers I tell you!!

I had put the v1 version of the RDO Speedwagon up on the chopping block as I am in need of funds so that I might acquire a new B29 Executor. The Saab is getting on in years, and I have no Astro Mech to keep it running smoothly. But I had also sold off Rambo, my go to singlespeed A9C of 2 years. Yup gone, just like that, and all that is left is a pile of leftover parts. I had fully intended upon replacing the bike ASAP, but after my race at the 40, I’m not so sure. At least not yet.

I spent the best part of a Friday night after the shop closed abducting parts form my other bikes to make this project work. Breaking the rule of “don’t mess with your shit before a race”, I cranked up some METAL and went to town. Some would call me crazy, I call it winning. I proudly present the v2 version of my RDO.

I robbed the rear derailleur from my road bike to use as a chain tensioner. Sure, its a SRAM RED mech, and might be a little excessive for the average guy. It’s what I had available, but most importantly, it really works. You can use any road or short cage rear derailleur for this application. I looped a shift cable through the barrel adjuster to set the pulleys in line with the chain, and voila. I never once threw the chain while bouncing over the rock gardens of Stewart.

shifty bits repurposed

I also had a BB30 XO crank laying about. I did have to buy the 104mm spider though, so I could run my e*13 34t chainring.

cranking it up a notch

Overall, the bike is a hoot to ride, which is really all that matters. It weighs 23.7lbs, which isn’t a whole lot heavier than the A9C it replaced. Being able to have the control and confidence of a full squish bike is so much fun, and paring the gears down to one makes for a way different ride. The suspension on the RDO is pretty darn efficient, so with the right pedaling style, bobbing is at a minimum.

It's the best!

Good times! But I think I am going to run a 22t cog out back for riding around here…

Some may remember that my WFO experiment began way back in October of last year. The experiment began as Weapon X, with the goal to create a baddass trail bike that could take on our tight and twisty New England trails. It was born from my experiences with my previous WFO which was aptly named Honey Badger, due to its cantankerous nature. It just didn’t give a shit.

As I’ve spent most of my time this year on Weapon X, I found that my experiment was excelling at some things, and falling short elsewhere. This is all part of the game, and improvements and refinements were made along the way. Without my incessant tinkering I would not have made all the changes to this bike that have drastically improved the way it performs.

First and foremost, I found that the stock Rock Shox Monarch rear shock, while a very capable unit, was not living up to my expectations. It is quite tuneable, but the spring rate is linear, meaning it feels pretty much the same throughout it’s range of motion.  I’ve been riding full suspension bikes since ’96, and I’ve always used the rear shock to do a lot of the work for me (it’s why its there). My riding style is biased towards the rear of the bike, and I expect the rear shock to load up and provide some pop when coming out of a bump or exiting a turn. The Monarch was just not getting it done. I ‘d have to run so much air pressure that the bike would ride too harshly over rough terrain.

time to start the reactor

Enter the DHX air, which has a nice bottom out resistance setting. That’s the little extra dodad that sticks out of the shock like Quato. I can now run the shock  soft enough where it literally flutters over the bumps without worrying about blowing through all the travel. In other words, it ramps up quite nicely, and it delivers the sort of performance I expect out of a bike like this.

squeeze here...

...stop here

Also new, are the new 4 piston Avid XO Trail brakes. I only have a couple of rides in on them, so they haven’t developed full power yet, but I can say that lever feel is consistent with other Avid brakes I own, and hauling my ass to a stop on anything is a mere 1 finger effort, even when the old XO brakes might take 2. Looking forward to full power.

Plus I got to build up a new set of wheels for the bike that are more along the lines of my style. The old wheels are already on their way to their new home. While cleaning them up, I checked them over to make sure they were still good etc… Still round and straight after a few seasons of abuse, just in case you were wondering why I use the I9 wheels….

electroviolet

engagement, stiffness, a Jedi craves these things

Stan’s had just released their Flow EX rim, which has a 3mm wider inner width than the standard Flow. What does this mean?

wide

I measured the Hans Dampf as a legit 2.3 on the old Flow (measured at the casing).

MOAR WIDE!

I like big tires. I picked up 40g per wheel on this upgrade, which isn’t enough to get me in a fuss, considering I had spent a few weeks on 1100g tires.

The bike has been evolving from experiment to result, and it has taken on a whole new personality. I sort of felt like it might be time to give the bike a real name, as it has certainly earned it’s worth, and a permanent spot in my stable. Much in the same way Logan started as an experimental Weapon X, he became known as the Wolverine, I’ve given my Weapon X a new handle.

sweeten the ride

This, is Black Sunshine.

 

After fiddling around with the stock Monarch shock on Weapon X for a few months now, I have come to the conclusion that I need a different rear shock. I’ve never been able to find a good setting that works for me, it’s a good shock, but I need a little something different for my riding style. I find myself in need of something that ramps up more, something that tightens up as I drive the back end of the bike over bumps or through turns. Had I not previously owned a WFO equipped with a DHX Air, I wouldn’t know what I was looking for.

As chance would have it, Commander Cody hand delivered a brand new DHX rear shock.

many Bothans died to bring me this shock

Actually, a friend had ordered one, but found out the hard way that it didn’t clear his frame. I hadn’t really been planning on upgrading the rear shock so soon, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. The shock was the right size, and a quick (actually not quick, more like 20 minutes on hold) phone call to Fox, assured me that the shock would be appropriately valved for a WFO.

I’m looking forward to trying this bad boy out.

Finally! Some nice weather. I had made my very best attempt at getting out and riding during the week, while still taking a much needed couple of days after SSAP. I had been having some issues with the outsides of my feet falling asleep, which was quite uncomfortable, especially after 26 or so miles blasting around Stewart. Something was to be done. After some consulting with M2, a little cleat position fiddling, everything seemed to be OK.

My first ride was an out and back up Camel’s Hump Rd, a little jaunt from the shop, featuring a stiff climb after a good warm up. This road had been nearly washed away during Irene, and the rebuilding process took a while, finishing up in early winter. They seemed to have managed to find a way to make it steeper and longer. The good news, foot pain gone, the bad, post race tweaks to the bike need to be made. The rear wheel is no longer straight, and the dust coated chain sounds like a Sherman tank. Still, it felt good to get the legs going again.

I also bagged another climb mid week, which was awesome because Seamus got to go with me. He loves riding bikes. I headed out to Cotton Brook on a chilly damp morning, and made the ascent, about 3 or so miles of elevation gain with grades ranging from “this isn’t too bad” to WTF?”. I figured out that Seamus’ top speed is around 25 mph on the descent, so I had to keep it reigned in on the way down. He found a big mud hole towards the end, and came back another color.

into the clouds

Then Saturday came, and it was glorious. Blue skies, and perfect riding temps. My schedule had me free for 2 good rides over both days of the weekend, and my mind was racing trying to figure out where I would go. And then I got a text from Mandy saying I had a package at the house, which happened to be the one I had been waiting for the last half of the week. I needed a part for JayPro’s Niner RDO, which was necessary for it’s completion. Seems that they forgot to include the BB cable stop/guide at the factory, making running the cables impossible.

RDO Speedwagon

Instead of riding, I cranked up some tunes, and spent the afternoon finishing the bike. It came out super nice, full XX build, Stan’s ZTR Race wheels, Fox Talas 120 fork. 22.55lbs. No joke. This is the bike Jay will be slaying on at the BC Bike Race.

waterfalls are pretty

So Sunday, I spent my morning on my own RDO, which I had also mounted a Fox Talas on. More on that in a future post. I pieced together a nice little ride from my place, hitting some of the local favorite spots, plus a few that I hadn’t been to in a number of years. About halfway through the ride I became really hungry, so instead of forcing a bonk, I called it and went home and made a big pile of steak egg and cheese tacos. Mmmm, tacos…

 

 

After the race, we were hanging out with Mike from Niner, talking about this and that, and then he busted out the new extra small Niner EMD. I’ve had great success getting vertically challenged folks on small Niners, but this new frame size makes big wheels available to an even wider range of riders.

How small?

How about a 4ft tall 8 year old? I was so proud of him. He wanted to ride it as soon as he saw it, so we let him do some hot laps around the parking lot for a while, until I decided he needed to see what it felt like on trail. There was a small piece of singletrack that was part of the course not too far from where we were hanging out, so I took him down there to see what he really thought of the big wheels. We must have hit that section 10 times. Again dad! Again!

You can see the smile on his face in the video. He had the best time, and didn’t want to stop riding. Now what does that tell you about a product? And the funny thing is, that this XS EMD probably weighs about the same as the 20″ kids bike he’s currently riding. He had no problem controlling it, he just needed a little help getting on and off.

Now I’m not about to give an 8 year old a $2700 bike, but it sure was good to see him have fun rolling around on the big wheels. It definitely got me thinking about his next bike, and how it shouldn’t be a heavy unwieldy tank. I also happen to think that there might be a bunch of smaller 26″ bikes up for sale before too long…

Saturday afternoon was my one and only window to ride and map the 2012 Grinder course.
I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but needed to
1} make sure it is a feasable ride, and
2} map it out. The ride has traditionally been around 30 miles, with around 3000ft of climbing. This year, it is morer.

So here it is. 33.1 miles, 3278ft of climbing. It is the longest and climbiest Grinder to date, but it puts you out there in areas of inexplicable beauty. Most likely, you will hate me though. The cool thing about the Strava app, is that Grinder participants will be able to see how they stack up against other Strava users on this course. If’n that is your sort of thing. Or you can just ride it and have a good time.

I had spent the morning tweaking my RDO and getting it ready for the summer. Due to my screwumpus knee, I decided that gears would be the smarter choice over the singlespeed. My bike choice was awesome, but the weather was far from it. I had a bitter, relentless and unescapable headwind that blew from the north. It was raw, and I felt the need to get this ride over and done with as quickly as possible. While I didnt go at race pace, I went pretty quick, and was starting to develop the hints of some major leg cramping and one hell of a bad attitude. I set my sights at the “top” of the course, where I would pull off and drink the beer I had stuffed in my jersey pocket. At that moment, the wind died down, and the sun came out just long enough for my frozen claw hands and feet clubs to thaw at little. It was bliss.

Cheers!

The descent was freezing, but I was ready to be done, so I powered through. The first order of business once I got to the shop was to get changed into my civvies, and head over to the Reservoir, and stuff a bacon cheeseburger into my face as quickly as possible. Mmmm… bacon…