My Favorite Bike

When it was new and unsullied.

"This is my favorite bike I have ever owned".

I said that the other night during a group ride.  And it got me to thinking.

The way things are  in my life right now, I typically have a couple of bikes or wheels or tires or forks or whatever in a revolving ellipse centered around my garage so I am forced to grab whatever is on the top of the dog pile for a ride in order to get the business done that needs to be done.

But the other day I put together a bike that had not been ridden in, what, a year?  Hard to say.  Even beyond that, it had been little ridden the year previous to last year!  Parts had been borrowed for other bikes and then uninstalled from the temporary builds they had been used for.  This bike, nearly a chassis only at this point, hung on a back hook in the garage and languished.  A shame, really, so I put it all back together with most of the original spec except for the wheels, shifters, and bars, and tuned it up again.

The first real ride was the other night with 'the gang' and I was chasing Navy Mike who was riding a Scott Spark 910, or he was chasing me, depending on the trail, for a good 90 minutes.  And it came to my mind that, and this was not the first time I had thought this, that this bike was my favorite bike I have ever owned, heck, maybe even ever ridden!

The bike I had resurrected from the nearly-dead (Princess Bride reference there) and had just defended my honor with against the Mongol hordes of the Tuesday Night Ride was a 2010 Specialized Epic Marathon.  This bike was pretty high end when it came out that year.  Brain rear shock, M5 aluminum frame, SRAM XX 2x10 shifting, carbon crown/steerer Reba fork, Roval wheels, Thomson seat post, etc.

I have added carbon Roval wheels and swapped to SRAM Grip Shift but besides that (and tires), it is stock.  And it is one sweet ride.  It is like Specialized, when they were stirring the pot of witches brew that all bikes are designed in, stole a peek into my soul and added that into the incantations, frog's legs, and dragon's gizzards that went into the cauldron.

I *heart* this Epic.  I always have.  What is remarkable to me is how well it has held up over time even when it is compared to the newer Epics and the competition.  XX may not be the wisest gearing for a older guy that lives where you climb a lot, but I get by and even when XO is really just as good and XX1 is getting all the hoopla now, XX 2x10 is still the best shifting front double crank I have ever used.  Yes, it takes a student loan to replace the cassette, etc, but it is crazy light stuff and has been dead reliable.  The bike, even with only 90mm of rear travel, feels balanced front to rear with that carbon Reba.  I went back to the OE 105mm stem and actually flipped it to get lower, reversing the trend I was on of shorter stems and higher bars.  It feels good that way.

Nothing perks up a 29er like wheels.  Cheap 29ers suck, mostly because the wheels get like hoops of lead and that is death to fun.  The Roval Control Carbons are solid enough for a much bigger travel bike yet are light and dead easy to convert across axle types.  No 142x12 rear axle for this bike.  Not even a 15QR front.  But the OS28 front axle caps and the well built frame deal with all that well enough and while carbon would be lighter and snappier for sure, it is no slouch when you stand and "git 'er done".

And there is the Mini Brain rear suspension.  If ever a technology was made for a guy like me, this is it.  Yes, you give up some suppleness.  Yes, it is proprietary and costly to repair.  But it works so well, especially when you stand and climb.  I have played with some of the latest DW link bikes and they are really, really good, likely better as an overall performing system, but the Mini Brain just has that 'something' going on that works soooo well for this type of bike.

The handling is very middle ground, not too fast, not too slow.  It is just right for covering ground as the hours and miles go by.  It is 'dialed', to use a word.  Sure, there are things here and there that are not the pinnacle of performance as time has upped the ante for what a 29er FS can be, but the sum of all this…and this is key…the sum of all the parts, angles, dimensions and specifications just rings like an old bell - smooth and clear, even if the surface is a bit tarnished.  Or is it perhaps Patina, and not tarnish?

What popped out of the cauldron that full moon night on trail, was a bike that, after going into 4 years of time passed, is still, if I had to have only one bike in the garage, and taking into consideration where I ride and how I ride, would be the one I would have still left on a hook when all the other hooks were empty.

It's a keeper, this one is.

Carbon delivers the goods

This has been the longest time I have been on a carbon HT now, at least by a little bit, and the only time it has been a single speed bike and I am pretty darn impressed.  It is quite possibly the highest performing SS overall that I have ridden...light enough, stiff enough, very, very smooth riding, climbs like magic, aggressive handling but not over the top.  Great high performance all day bike.

Carbon is such a black box in many ways but if this is a good example of what it can be...and it looks to be exactly that...then we are living in a good time to be a bike rider in search of tall mountains and winding trails.

I still think that when you get right down to it that steel is still the best for value VS. performance in a hardtail bike but this Stumpjumper SS is amazing.  In fact, I think I need to go ride it again.

Be right back.

WRIAD accomplished.

When I first read about the ride that is the White Rim In A Day, a 102 mile long loop through Utah's Canyonlands National Park, it caught my imagination as the right mix of difficulty, scenery and remoteness, and yet was regularly done so it was attainable by experienced and fit cyclists. 

It also fit into my goal of doing a 100 mile mountain bike ride, something that would nearly double my longest ride to date.  So plans were made and a date was set.  I put in some long rides, rode the SS a lot to improve overall power, and experimented with the right combo of supplements for sustained hard efforts.  A bike was built, a ride partner was found, and the days flew by.

And then I found myself driving along the highway with 'FFW' Dave pointed toward Moab.  Oh my.  Are we really doing this?  I had some doubts after my debacle with leg cramps on the Antelope Peak Challenge ride in Arizona.  That was only 60 miles albeit a hard 60 miles.  Still, I had a plan that, were it to fail, would leave me in a world of hurt in the middle of a lonely place.  Once you get into the White Rim a ways, you are pretty much committed.  I was concerned but the highway rushed on.

cuz ya gotta have a hat

My partner for this adventure was 'FFW' Dave, a well seasoned rider and all around good guy.  We had done some training rides together and had the same basic fitness and skills so our pace was very even.  That would hold true for the entire ride as we were never more than 100 yards apart, typically within 50' of each other for 103 miles and neither of us had to wait for the other.  We left So Cal after work in FFW's Magical Mystery Machine (well seasoned Saturn VUE) and hit St George at 02:00AM, grabbed a cheap but clean motel, and were back on the road by 08:00 AM.  Funny the things you talk about on road trips.  We swung from bikes, epic rides, the meaning of life, and cartoon/TV shows we loved as kids.  Just what was it that Hobo Kelly used to say into that looking glass?  In any case we both agreed that Felix the Cat rocked and the Master Cylinder was a great name for a villain.

WRIAD escape vehicle

It's a big desert out there

 I have been to Moab many times over the years so I knew the road and the town, but we had to get some supplies, drive to the park entrance and cache some water, then find camp at the end of a long dirt road.  We had decided to stage at the bottom of the Mineral Bottom switchbacks near the boat launch area and ride clockwise from there, climbing the 1000' foot gain early on in the dark, then riding into sunrise on the Mineral Road.  That was based on accounts I had read from other riders and avoided a big climb at the end of a long day.  I think it was a good plan although it turned out I had plenty of energy to get them done at the end of the ride, but who knew?  It would have been nice to camp up on the mesa for the views. 

Easter Jeep Week was spinning up in Moab so Jeepers were all over the place.  Cool.  I doubted we would see any of them on the White Rim though.  We hit up the City Market in town, grabbed a rotisserie chicken and chocolate milk for dinner and post ride recovery, then drove to the park entrance, cached some water and prepaid our $5.00 entrance fee per bike.  The ranger wished us luck and laughed just a bit as if to say, "silly, crazy mtn bikers".  We found our way to the river bottom area after winding down some pretty steep switchbacks.  This gave us a look at the opening 20 or so miles of road that would be the first leg of the next day.

Mineral Road

The Mineral switchbacks to the Green River

FFW

FFW, master tent builder.

A last quiet moment

Our home sweet home. Back yard landscaping by God

We set up camp down from the boat ramp area in a quiet spot and began checking over the gear and making the packs ready to go.  I was using my Osprey Talon 22 for the day and FFW had an Osprey Manta 30.  We both had two 100oz bladders and three bottles.  Add in food, tools, and some emergency stuff and we were packing heavy...likely 20+lb packs.  Ouch.  I did NOT want to be thirsty.  As well, the weather was changing and not for the better.  The temps had been in the mid 70s but now the ride day was to be 80+ and windy.  Oh marvelous.

Dave was on his Superfly 100 and I was on the new project Go-'Fish, a Salsa Spearfish with some Gucci but solid parts spec.  Both bikes were well suited to the task, but were we?  We dismembered the broiled chicken, then bat watched and star gazed next to the fire.  It was amazingly quiet out there.  I think we forget how quiet quiet can be.  City folks...bah!  The alarms were set for 04:00AM and we hit the tents with no small amount of apprehension of the next day.

We were rolling by 05:30 after some last minute "oops I forgot something" and a bathroom stop.  Pedaling out into the dark with our bike lights illuminating about 100 feet at a time, the Mineral Bottom switchbacks met us soon enough.  It is amazing how much the heavy packs weigh you down on a hill.  What felt OK just pedaling along a flat road was an anchor drag on that grade.  Still, we put those tight turns and the abrupt 1000' gain behind us and pedaled into the sunrise on the Mineral Road.  I think that was my favorite part of the ride.  Looking over at FFW as he rode beside me, the dawn gave light and shadow to the pastel hues of faded color, growing brighter and more vivid in the cool morning air.  It seemed quite surreal, all this.  And I was having a fine time.  We we actually doing this.

Magic time

We hit the highway to the park entrance, aware of the cows that looked ready to dash in front of the silly bike riders just to give us a scare.  Cow games!  Cows are such kidders.  Do they make party hats for cows?  But they were still waking up too so we were free of such merriment.  We tanked back up on water at the rangers booth and met another WRIAD-er from Colorado doing it solo.  Luck was wished all around and we rode over to the famed Shafer Switchbacks.  Oh my.  This is for real folks.  Once we drop down there, we are in up to our eyeballs in the White Rim.

Down there?

Really?  Down there?

Yes, down there.  And beyond.

It was about here that FFW's rear tire decided to be an airless tire.  FFW tried to make it seal by sheer willpower (and Stan's goo) but to no avail.  Stupid Small Block 8s.  WRIAD is no place for a racy, wimpy tire IMO.  Anyway, he fixed while I stripped clothing layers as the temps climbed a bit.

FFW can fix anything

We bottomed out and I have to say that it was here that I felt like I was in the game for real.  We were at a place where turning back would be a hard punt and we were 30 miles or so along.  Time to go.  The dirt and the miles sped by.  And it was grand.

We stopped only to mix some bottles of drink mix or take a very quick pic or two.  We intended to keep a 10mph average pace so there was little time for dawdling.  Lunch was at about 11:00 or 50ish miles.  Still to come was Murphy's Hogback at 60+ miles.  That was a suggested lunch stop and it would have been great, but when the dinner bell rings, you should answer.  We did not want to run a deficit energy wise.  The wind was a factor though.  It was a head wind or cross wind and was costing us energy and time.  I bet we were off one or two gears for 30 miles or so due to the wind, but it was what it was.  It did keep us cool.  I was wearing a long sleeve jersey from Alpinestars over a tank base layer and wool shorts.  It was a good set-up and I never had to change anything the rest of the day.

Mmmmm...Chunky Chicken spread and a salted nut bar from the dollar store.  I roll that way...cheap.

29ers rock WRIAD.  We had chosen wisely.

 

FFW sez':  "Hey grannygear...can we go already?"

The views never stopped for long.  Sometimes I had to say to myself, "hey dummy, look up!"

Canyonland's Stonehenge

We did some ups and downs and generally climbed for quite a few miles.  I kept wondering about Murphy's Hogback.  Had we already ridden it?  It seemed like a formidable obstacle in the reports I had read so that was unlikely.  It seemed like we should have been there by now, running around the 60+ mile mark.  Then we passed by a sign that said Murphy's Wash.  Oh?  And there it was.  The Hogback.  You have got to be kidding!  This pic does NOT do this over 20% grade justice.  Ride that?  Nope.  That would overdraw the leg bank and frankly, pushing the bike was just about as fast.  Not long, but 'wow!' steep.

Really?  What crazy person graded that road?

65 miles turned to 75 then 85.  The legs felt good and the supplements were treating me well.  I really struggle with leg cramps.  If I do not cramp, I can pedal long and strong.  So I was dropping three Endurolytes every hour and I had a light amount of Citrus Elete in my bladders.  I was mixing three bottles at a time from one of the bladders:  two were Fluid Performance drink mix and one was Clif Shot drink mix.  I have found that the Fluid Performance drink does a great job of supplying long term energy and I hardly needed to eat any solid foods.  It keeps depth in my legs, but it lacks a bit in electrolytes (as I found in Arizona).  So the third bottle of the three has the Clif Shot mix which I prize for the salty-ish goodness but does not fuel me as well as the Fluid.  They seem to get along in my stomach and I never had any bloating or upsets all day.  And not ONE CRAMP, even when trying for a trophy run at Hardscrabble Hill.   Yep...more walking.  No shame in that.

Soon enough we were in the home stretch as we dropped to river level, negotiated the sand traps of the last few miles, then hit camp.  I had one more swallow of water left and then I was empty.  great timing.  We actually ran into that young guy from Colorado about 10 miles from the end and invited him to our camp to stock up on water.  He had only 10oz left and several hours of riding left to get back up to Horse Thief campground.  He was a grateful lad, that one, when we filled his Camelbak.  Fare thee well, brother.  He was stoked to know that he had chewed the biggest part of the challenge off and had the bit well in his teeth and the end in sight.

We were in camp and happy to be there.

Near the end, FFW contemplates a long day, a good ride, and world peace

103 miles and 12.5 hours overall with 2 hours of that off the bike.  I had in mind a 12 hour time so we were right in there.  I was very grateful for all the gear that worked so well.  The Salsa Spearfish with the SRAM XX drivetrain and the Roval carbon wheels with Continental X King Protection tires was a smooth, fast, and efficient beast.  The Fluid Performance drink along with the Clif Shot mix, Elete, and Endurolytes kept the cramps away.  I expected to be pretty shattered by the day, but while I was weary, achey, and ready to stop pedaling, I had good energy at the end and legs that were still putting out the horsepower.  Sweet.  Thank you God.  You sustain me.

We ate what our tired bodies would handle, washed as best we could, and hit the sack in earnest with no 04:00 alarms this time.  The next day we broke camp and drove into Moab after grabbing our water cache.  Breakfast at the Jailhouse cafe and a long drive through snow flurries had us both satisfied and on edge, but we were headed home satiated by the experience.  We had drenched ourselves in and soaked up the red dirt of Canyonlands until our bodies and souls could not absorb any more and we were all the better for it.  FFW, you are a fine fellow and I would ride with you anywhere.

But not for a couple of days :)

More WRIAD thoughts to come as I reflect a bit and think of what is next for me.

The vacant stare of the zombie..or is he asleep?

"Yes waitress, I would like everything in column B, stat!"

"Well, it is a good start, anyway"

Headed home in 29* weather.  Utah is awesome.

Hoops of joy.

The Rise of the 'Everybike 29er'

I was running down a rocky, rutted trail in Southern France after just enduring a short but intense ascent up a dirt road overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.  We had gotten to that point by way of a few miles of back alley riding around town.  I enjoyed the tight and responsive ride of a sample bike I rode to the trail head with nary a pedal bob or sluggish feel.  Then I had saddled up on a carbon FS and ridden the dirt section of the ride enjoying a bike that pedaled really well and was quite light despite the XL frame and less-than-Gucci parts spec. This one climbed very well and I remember thinking that I could race this bike just as it was.

Now I was on this roller coaster of a downhill ride on a longer travel feeling FS 29er with moderate trailbike angles and thinking that it was almost as good as the Specialized FSR I have on long term test, but it was more agile.  This would make a great medium to light/heavy trailbike and would do likely 90% of what the FSR does.

The thing was, it was all on the same bike.  The townie ride, the fast climb, the tricky downhill...no bike changes.  One bike, in this case a Specialized Camber Evo, a Euro spec bike, but comparable to a Camber Expert Carbon for the most part.  Carbon main frame, 110mm of front and rear travel, 70* HT angle, decently short chainstays, good tire clearance, bigger front rotor, nice 2x10 SRAM build.  Lock out fork and Propedal.  Fast but strong wheels.

And it occurred to me that 2012 is seeing the rise of the Everybike in the 29er world, that being a nearly do-all scooter that is light enough to race but tough enough, long enough (travel wise) and slack enough to trail ride.  It is a 29er bike you can take nearly anywhere and be good to go and that has not been the case until now.  Last year the Santa Cruz carbon Tall Boy caught my attention as a bike that, when run with a 120mm fork, was a pretty good do-all bike.  Light enough, stiff enough, capable enough.  Only 100mm of rear travel, but that was not too much of a deal breaker.

Now this year we see the promised Ibis Ripley, something my buddy that works at Ibis called a "Quiver Killer".  There is the Camber I was riding, the new Lenz Mammoth just announced, perhaps the Salsa Horsethief, and others to come.  So what makes a great Everybike?  Glad you asked.

Light weight -  Not crazy light but somewhere in that 27lb or less range in a XL.  25lbs would be a great target to shoot for.  Now that is a number pulled out of thin air a bit, but at that weight and with good wheels, it begins to pull itself along nicely.  Some aluminum bikes will not get there.  Some will.  The Lenz likely will as Devin is a wizard at whittling frame weights down...not sure about the Horsethief or the new Yeti SB95 but they are strong contenders.  Perhaps with the right parts.  But, in this case, carbon is king and the better Everybikes will be carbon and not cheap.


Enough travel - 100mm is not enough.  130mm is perhaps too much.  120mm is likely the sweet spot for the Everybike, but the overall balance will count for more than just the travel numbers.

The right spec - Parts need to be prudently chosen to keep the bike responsive and wheels need to be very good.  Tires cannot be a weight weenie 2.0 but on the Everybike, you can always change tires for the occasion. 


The right geometry - Just a bit slacker is better for an Everybike.  Not way into the 60*s, but 71.5* HT angles ain't gonna do it either IMO.

Now if you have a few 26ers in your garage, then you likely already have one of these 26" Everybikes.  Something like a carbon Stumpjumper or a Yeti 575 or maybe even a Ibis Mojo SL.  It is a bike that you can run on the weekends with your buds and still hang in the Team 12 hour before you head off to the Bike Park to ride the 'Blue' rated trails.  Not brilliant at anything, but very good at everything.

The Everybike 29er is here now too and they are gonna' sell a ton of them. 

Pedaling Uphill

After the lift assisted madness of the previous day, one of the guys I was with suggested we opt for some XC stuff instead of popping for another lift ticket fee of near 50 bucks.  Well yeah...save money, pedal uphill, ride new trails that are not part of a big, sculpted gymnasium?  I am all in.

So that idea spread and we put together a series of trails that were just perfect for what we were looking for.  Some of the boys were hurtin' for certain due to the cruel elevation that steals the power from your legs, but they made it happen anyway.

We began in sagebrush and pedaled into a lakeside camping area and waterfall.  My fav day so far.  Real mountain biking IMO, even though it was not all that epic.  It was sweet though.

After that we broke for lunch and then went back to the high desert on the other side of the highway in search of a trail that dropped into a deep canyon.  We never found the trail head, so it turned into a sand fest of desert roads that ended up pretty much nowhere.  Demoralized from all the sand and running out of time and energy, the group headed back to the cars and called it a day.  Of note was my 29er with the big 2.35 tires at 25psi.  I barely even noticed the sand and it really got me thinking about a fat bike as my next acquisition.  I really think that would be a fun scoot and would open up areas like this to biking.  Sand?  What sand?

The next day will see me pointing toward Vegas, but I plan on getting there on some back country roads.  Time to see some more new countryside.

A Ticket To Ride

It has been years since I was at Mammoth Mtn and the bike park there.  Likely the late 90s at best and more likely the mid-90s.  And I do not huck.  So, the thought of getting into the lift ticket thing had me a bit nervous.  I do not even own a set of pads (well, I do now, but that was an apres Mammoth acquisition).

So here I was, pinning a ticket to ride on my FSR, the biggest travel 29er I have at 5.5 inches F/R, and getting ready to 'session' the mountain.  I had mounted some new tires I was testing, some 2.3 Geax Sturdys, that looked burly for the pumice covered trails, and that was about as much as I had going for me.

I took the gondola up and the ground dropped from beneath me.  I am not all that crazy about those gondolas.  I actually prefer the lift chairs that are more open.  Maybe it is the enclosed feeling, but I get the impression that they would bounce and roll nicely back down the mountain if they fell off the cabling.  At least the chair would just wad up like a big lawn chair with me in it and get it over with.  More dignity but less style points I guess.

The first trail was a pretty easy run off the top of the mountain which still had snow on it and was 45 degrees and windy.  Off the backside, the trail wound down toward warmer climes but was, well, kinda boring but scenic.  I suggested that we up the ante a bit and was pointed toward another trail for the next lift run.

Oops.

I should have kept my mouth shut.  Now I am a pretty decent technical rider for an old XC guy, but this was an eye opener.  I would be pulled to the side looking at an oncoming trail feature and have two grommets pass me and cruise down it like it was flat.  Well, nuts!  So I made it and some of it was really fun, but also scary.  I was using ALL the travel the bike (and me) had and then some.  I felt kinda naked and I think a bit burlier bike and some body armour would have helped me feel better about things.  Still, it was interesting.  It was also a chance to catch up on my daily prayers.

A bit of grace here was appreciated.  Thank you.

The next run(s) were on trails that split the difference between too easy and too hard.  The Momma Bear trails were awesome and the Sturdy tires on the FSR were killer, floating and digging in.  Big wheels are such a great help in poor trail surfaces and the combo of big wheels and wide, aggressive tires was made for the day.

I know I need to get back up there and do that some more as I need to push and stretch myself a bit every so often.  Trails like this will do that for ya.  And I have to use those new pads I got.

Maybe I do huck every so often, but I would not want to earn a living that way.

Finding the sweet Spot

Lately I have been riding this bike almost exclusively.  The Spot folks sent out a test bike sporting the latest iteration of the Gates Carbon Drive system, that being the new CenterTrak.  So far the belt has been trouble free and solid except for one minor but annoying issue, but I will save that for later.

This is about steel.  Nice steel.  Nice steel tubes.  Nice steel tubes as used to construct a bicycle frame.  It is not secret how I feel about steel 29er singlespeeds.  A cursory search of this blog will bring up a few missives on my thoughts about that.  However, it had been a long time since I had been on a really nice steel frame, that 'nice' as it is used here, meaning a more expensive blend of higher end, thinner, lighter, and more manipulated steel tubing.  I have been on a few $500.00-$600.00 dollar retail frames and they have been just fine.  Sure, they are kinda heavy, but they do the job pretty well, well enough that I was not sure if spending twice as much+ for a frame like the Spot would really be worth it.

And after riding this for quite a few hours now, I think it is.  I think there is enough benefit to make it worth the step up in duckets for a frame like this. 

Now that phrase, "worth it", is, I admit, controversial and vague.  No one needs a $1500.00 steel frame unless they are truly unique in size or conformation and custom is the best option.  So really, what we are talking about is not really proof of worth, but rather a reasonable return in performance over and above the lesser priced brethren I have been pedaling.

After all, it is not half as heavy, twice as stiff, twice as smooth.....etc.  It is only twice as expensive.  So what do I think I have gained?  Well, it is just a little bit stiffer at the BB, just a little bit lighter on the scale, just a little bit smoother over the trail, and just a little bit spunkier when pedaled hard.  Just a little bit.

But I will tell ya' that "little bit" goes a long ways when you actually ride it.  The end result is enough of a gain to make each ride 'that' much nicer.  Nothing dramatic, but noticeable, and in a world where we spend $300.00 dollars on a saddle or agonize over the latest linked suspension design and whether it solves the mysteries of the universe, a simple steel bike with one gear and just a bit nicer overall ride is enough to make me smile and wheel it out of the garage, choosing it over more than a few other fancier scoots.

It is indeed, a sweet Spot.

Is 120mm the new 100mm?

Well the Ibis Ripley that I mentioned in the last post sure has been controversial.  There are lots of folks boo-hooing about the steepish geo of the bike once the numbers were released.  The 71* HT angle seems to mark it as a long legged XC bike more than a Heavy Trail/AM thing like a Mojo might be.

It seems that Ibis has focused on keeping this a bit tighter than that long awaited 'Mojo 29er' was imagined to be.  That, and the non-Ibis looking design will keep this out of the hands of many Ibis loyalists I bet. 

So what we seem to have gotten is a swipe at the Tall Boy more than anything, but this year there are more and more bikes coming out with 120mm F/R travel.  The Tomac Diplomat, the Trek Rumblefish, the Specialized Camber (at 110mm), the Salsa Horsethief and I am sure many others.  I opined a year or so ago that 100m was the sweet spot on 29er FS bikes, the point where you could do almost anything in moderation and have a balanced bike through it all.

But with the light and likely good pedaling Ripley, well, maybe we are seeing the needle swing towards 120mm as the new sweet spot.  Maybe.  We shall see. 

Either way, the choices for 29ers is getting pretty wide now and there should be something for everyone here pretty soon.

Letting the genie out of the lamp?

Regarding wishes come true:

A few months ago I was thinking this:  What is Missing.  The idea being that there is nothing in the 29er FS market that hit all the buttons for an All Trail bike if you also wanted light weight.  Basically, like the old blog said...an Ibis Mojo 29er with less travel.

Well, it has been no secret that Ibis has been working on a 29er FS even if they did do it kicking and screaming along the way (seems that they are not...or have not been...ardent big wheel fans).  Here it is.

It is, at least at first glance, just what I wanted it to be.  If the geometry is 'in there', then I just may have to begin saving up big time cuz a CF Ibis is darn expensive.  But, I could trim the quiver a bit, eh?  This could replace the Epic AND the FSR and be as light or lighter than the Epic is.  Hard to argue with that one.  But that cost is daunting.  Well, you can't have it all.  Light...strong...cheap.  Pick two, as they say.

Time will tell, but I am stoked and I bet more than a few companies are looking at this one through  squinted eyes, wondering if they should have rubbed that magic lantern just a bit harder.

Al-a-kazam.

Living the Low Life..

...Or "How I am learning to love being dropped".

The area I ride in is not typically that steep or super-techy. But every so often there are times when it makes a lot of sense to get your weight back behind the saddle or taste the wrath of gravity. In the early days, we had a product called a Hite Rite. It was a simple spring that, when you were riding along and needed a lower seat position, allowed you to open the seat post clamp quick release and push the saddle down with your body weight, then close the QR again. Opening it up again allowed the spring to pop the saddle back up and off you went. I still have one of those in a box somewhere.

In case you need to be convicted about your descending.

However, as time went by and everyone got in a weight weenie state of mind, we ditched our QRs and just went to single bolt clamps.  So much for the Hite Rite.  And, I basically learned to ride steep things with the saddle up.  No biggie 99% of the time.

So fast forward about 20 years and here I am, still not dropping the saddle, although baggy shorts (when I wear them...which is not often), are an incentive to drop the saddle or get caught up in the web of crotch material and die.  But a new product has arisen in that time that really is the logical evolution of the Hite Rite, something basically referred to as a 'dropper post'.  They give you a multi position option for lowering the have a bar mounted control so you do not have to ride with one hand to enable it, and pop the saddle back up to normal whenever you are ready to go.  A bit heavy and sometimes mechanically challenged, the dropper post changed the game and no one with an all mountain or heavy duty trail bike would be caught dead without one if they had their druthers.  I basically ignored them.

So about a year ago I was sent a Specialized Command Post to try which is Specialized's version of the dropper post.  The product manager was pretty stoked about the bennies of the post and how it transforms some aspects of riding.  I was skeptical, but I mounted it on the Epic Marathon and gave it a shot.  It did not last long on there.  One, I was bummed at the thought of adding any weight on the bike.  Two, when I did drop it, I felt out of balance, like I lost some control of the bike.  Three, well, I really did not need it.

The Command Post came off and went back into the box.

A year or so later, I am chasing the rabbit of a Global Marketing wonk down a trail in Colorado on a new FSR 29er with 5.5" of travel and a dropper post on it and I have one of those 'light bulb' moments.  On that trail, littered with tight turns, root drops, etc, and with all that travel in the suspension that encouraged speed and daring, the dropper post was once again back in my mind as something worth having.

And now, as I have been on an FSR of my own over the last few months, the Specialized Blacklite dropper post has become indispensable.  Really, I would not want to ride this bike without it.

Of course it makes sense that for rough and fast trails, getting air, etc, the nature of the bike is accentuated by the ability to get the saddle down and out of the way.  The bike becomes a big BMX-er then, and you can soak up bumps with the knees and, of course, get behind the saddle and then quickly back over it again.  It encourages fun and a 'stunty', playful feel that I do not get, say, on the SS hardtail with 80mm of travel.

The high life.  Now it's up....

...now it's down.  Low and loving it.

But the other day I was dropping down a typical So Cal singletrack, steepish, loose, rutted, and bermed in the turns.  I did not really need to get behind the saddle...not that steep...but the dropper post allows you to get LOW.  And, I am here to tell 'ya, LOW is where it is at.  The ability to lower your body weight on the bike in turns and downhills is golden.  In fact, I think many times when we used to get behind the saddle on steep parts, what we really wanted to do was get lower, we just did not know it.  getting lower allows you to stay centered on the bike and retain better steering, where being totally committed to be behind a raised saddle takes away too much steering and braking control.

Think about this.  If you could flip a lever and turn you bike into a recumbent, where you were seated at just above the BB level, you could stay right in the middle of the wheels and never go over the bars.  So getting low allows for your body weight to be centered and low AND you can still get behind the saddle and have the option of scratching your butt on the rear tire if you need to.  I actually (despite the pic above) seldom use the full 'slammed' position, but the 'cruiser' setting is about perfect.

I predict that more and more XC Trailbikes will be spec'd with dropper posts.  If I was at 100-120mm+ of travel and I had any pretenses of rough trail use, I would find it hard to run sans a dropper post.  It really is that good.  For a pure XC race bike?  Well, no need for that on a groomed race course like the Leadville 100 dirt road race, but for something like the Breck 100?  Oh yeah.  That I can see.

I also predict that there are other old dogs like me who will begrudgingly try a dropper post and learn to love being dropped.  Who would have thunk it?

The week in review.

Clif Bar sent some new flavor samples.  Mojos are awesome with a glass of cold milk.

Some new products are getting wrung out.  The 2012 Camelbak Charge LR and the White Brothers Loop 29er fork.

The HDR on the iPhone 4 still continues to impress me.  Morning sky giving way to the day.