I have been keeping up with life, mostly. No fun rides or groundbreaking stuff to post about and I have not been particularly inspired to pontificate wise and eloquent things on the net.
Meh. However, Interbike is just around the corner.
But last night was a blast. Yeah, it was a fun ride and all that, just a local loop with the boys, but I recently loaned out the Giant Xtc 29er 1 test bike to jeffj, a local rider and absolute clydesdale rider. I am not sure if he will give it back. Every time I see him he is all excited about how much better this ride was or that ride was on that bike. Seriously, he is 20% faster everywhere...maybe more...than on any of his other bikes and they are not junky bikes, they just have tiny wheels.
I will say it again: Big wheels are not for everyone due to personal preference, but the wheels do what they do regardless of that. However, even though more and more smaller folks (especially wimmen-folk as mentioned here) are figuring that out, it is the bigger guys that get the most out of the bigger wheel IMO. I think it has a lot to do with all that weight sitting way up high and potentially waaaay over the front end of a bike. It is harder to get that weight past the point of no return on the bigger wheel and the attack angle and traction benefits are huge when you are dealing with a naturally high center of gravity and big payload.
So jeffj is stoked. He is like some big old kid, finding out that there can be more fun in riding on a bike that fits your needs and scale of body. And, I am getting a kick out of watching it happen. It is also a testament to the excellent design of the Giant hardtail cuz it does things very, very well.
So, if you are out riding in my area and see a flash of blue, black and white scream by with a fat, old guy grinning like a Cheshire Cat and ringing a trail bell, that is just jeffj, big wheels rollin'.
Posts
"Please don't let me die."
11 years ago
3 comments:
You know, last February, I was that 50 year old Fat Old Guy with a Niner RIP. Spent 9/14 with the other FOG doing some local creek bed rides on my hardtail, then went and talked him into an acid test of sorts for him to go climb East Canyon on the Giant 29'er. I think he came through all that with flying colors, but I'll let JeffJ do his comments.
I think some money's gonna have to swap hands before you ever see that bike back again. ;-)
One our comrades recently dubbed the F.M.O.C.. "Fat Man On Crack" after seeing me ride the XTC 29er1. I'm a 'show me' type guy and have always been curious to find out what a 29er could offer me.
I think if you polled the riders that I regularly ride with, they would have to agree the difference is not merely noticeable. It's ridiculous how much faster I descend on trails I have ridden hundreds of times on 26" wheels.
Will it be that way for everyone? I have no idea. Like I said, I'm a 'show me' type of guy and show me it did.
I'm glad I found this blog that I fit in. I am 55yrs old and picked up my first SS29'r jabberwocky two years ago. Never turn my head back to 26'r. since and felt more stronger and a better rider.
Totally brought new perspective in riding single track.
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