Interesting Random Bikes

Here's an assortment of stuff that's caught my eye recently.

First up is the integrated custom carbon awesomeness that Ergon put together for their team rider Irina Kalentieva for the Olympics and World Championships this year (from the Ergon fb page).  It's a an integrated bar/stem/barend/grip combo with special clamp mounts for her brakes, shifters and fork lockout already molded in.  There's also a cool integrated Ergon GS-shaped grip with some thin padding attached.  Nothing actually clamps around it- all of her controls have molded mounting points or are totally integrated into the design.  

Next up is the carbon Zaskar that Cecile Ravanel raced in the first Eliminator World Championship race.  Standard 26" wheels, singe ring up front with an MRP guide, dropper post and American Classic tubeless wheels.  Nice setup.

This one is from the roadie-centric slam that stem.  Not sure what's so captivating about this, but I really like the simple 1 x 10 drivetrain with the two color paint, Reba and Thomson post.  Looks understated and put together- not to mention fun to ride.

And since I put together my Moots Divide I've been checking to see how other guys are setting theirs up.  This one is a 26" wheel version built up by one welders at Moots as featured on their blog.  It's a pretty sweet and versatile setup with a Fox up front, wide Answer carbon bars and sweet matching Answer Rove XC stem.  This is the second one I've seen with a dropper post, and since it's a 30.9 you've got plenty of options including...

The new dropper post from Thomson.  This looks like the usual Thomson fare- well made, machined aluminum pieces that use their existing mounting bolt and clamp configuration.  I don't have a dropper post, and at this point I would wait for this one.

And that would be a cool addition for non-racing outings on my MX Divide.  It's pouring right now or I'd offer a better image than the shitty iphone/dishwasher shots featured here.  I'm still deciding on how I want to dress it up, and since Tomas just sent me the Race Space SDG kit it's now looking pretty dope in green and blue.  The new Moots kit is navy with some green accents so if I can stay on the program next season (please?) I'll likely run it like this.  I'm really digging it right now with the blue topcap, blue seatpost clamps and blue Pro-35 sticker next to the green/white saddle and very vogue green grips.

Here's another angle.

Assorted Bikes and Friday Ramblings

It's been a rough week.  

Sunday was the Eastern Cup 6 Hour race at Catamount.  I can't find any good pictures or much time for a formal write-up, but I'll have that together shortly while it's still semi-relevant.

The short version is that I had an awesome race.  Bounced around in traffic a bit on lap 1, but settled in and rode steady for 8 laps and a 13th overall finish in a very strong field.  I beat some guys I've been gunning for all season and closed the gap on a few others.

Monday night we had an intense rain storm, which triggered a string of all too familiar feelings and reactions, all of which were bad and very much blown out of proportion.  As a result I ran around filling holes and just generally panicking, which is bad pretty much always.  

I had planned to try to race two weekends back-to-back, which is a tall order but possible with optimal rest and recovery in between.  I've had neither and am still formulating my weekend plan.

This week has also been tough at work, and I'll spare you the details.  I've spent a lot of time on the phone, and that means my mind is inclined to wander to thoughts of bikes and riding.  Here are a few images that I've stumbled upon this week. 

 

Late 80's LeMond.  Not sure of the material- looks to be aluminum lugs, but it's definitely not organic enough to be a Calfee.  My guess is that it's a LeMond/TVT from around '88-'89.  Totally dig the paint.

At the other end of the drop bar spectrum is this 2013 BH disk equipped carbon cross bike.  Wow.  I thought disks for 'cross were hokey...until this.  Same goes for the tubeless wheels.  Very svelte and shapely package.  This was posted on the BH FB page.

Also from the BH FB page is French Olympian Julie Bresset's hardtail race bike.  I can only imagine that this decked out carbon sled weighs comfortably under 20 lbs.  Carbon wheels and the ISP give it a very purposeful, race-only vibe.  Also a 1 x 10 XTR drivetrain with a KMC X10 SL Ti chain.  This looks fast sitting still. 

 I've posted pictures of this particular Fat City Shock-a-Billy before, but I think it bears re-posting.  I really like lilac paint with the fork and stem to match.  The mismatched headset and different color shift/brake housing really don't bother me either.  Maybe this is because boutique full suspension bikes are on mind since my MX Divide is scheduled to arrive any day now. 

 

 Enough said.

One Down, Several To Go

I'm glad my first race of the year is out of the way.

This week was my first Wednesday Worlds, and my first race of the year.  Sure I'd been training pretty aggressively and had some new found trail skills to put to use, but a lot has happened since my last event on August 21, 2011.

I've deliberately avoided posts about training.  Some of that is probably because I can tell I'm improving but still don't have a good handle on where I am relative to last year, and some of it is because I'm a little self-conscious about it all.  Somewhere between the whining about hard efforts and existential crises taken out of context is the day-to-day of riding and training.  Keeping track of my performance has always been a challenge for me and I don't want to add pressure to myself or try to get too grandiose about how bad ass my training has been or how I'm going to take people apart on the race course.

Racing is hard, and although I remind myself of that regularly there's still no way to fully prepare for that all-out effort unless you're actually toeing the start line.  Physically and mentally there's no replacement for racing.

Leading up to Wednesday's race I was nervous.  I've been totally off the local cycling grid and have been riding almost exclusively by myself.  That suits my introverted style, and I push myself, but it makes it tough to benchmark relative to the competition.

So how'd the first Wednesday Worlds of 2012 go?  Overall pretty well, though I was ready to pull the plug halfway through the first lap.  This year's hill course is similar to years past, but somehow it manages to incorporate all of the sharp climbs at the expense of the long diesel ones.  I like the long diesel ones.  They suit my riding style and I know I can dig a little deep and reel people in towards the top.  I don't like the short, sharp ones.  It's tough for me to produce such short, sharp repeated efforts and I have to factor them into my pacing strategy.

I didn't do Flower Power, and I didn't get a full warm up.  The start of the course was similar to what we'd done before, so I anticipated where the hard efforts would be based on that.  I was planning on a handful of short, sharp efforts and was metering my effort accordingly.  My start was good, probably a little too good.  I was heading up the second steep climb with the group I want to ride with but can't quite yet.  I backed off a little and let a couple guys go who I knew I couldn't chase.  After that I got a little too aggressive punching it going over the wall and started to feel the effects of the start right when I needed to be maintaining my pace.  Ouch.

I started to slip a little, but recovered slightly for what I thought was the last steep pitch.  Previous loops had the gravelly slog up to the rockwall as the top of the course- but not this year.  After bouncing over the rockwall it was all new singletrack trough the woods- and a shit ton more climbing.  Barely halfway through the hard part, I was hurting pretty bad and going backwards fast.

From there to the top of the seemingly endless climbs I was essentially soft pedaling as racer after racer slipped past.  At some point Nemesis caught me and we started riding together.  Before long we were in a small group and were trading places with each other for the next few laps.

By that time I was starting to settle in a little, and knowing how much climbing lay ahead I backed off a little on the early steep sections.  That didn't really make it easier but it made the overall pace more sustainable.  Meanwhile my trail skills were totally gone.  I was riding like I'd just crashed (even though I hadn't) and was just losing time on every stupid turn.  Dammit.

On Lap 3 things improved a little.  I'd sorted out how I needed to attack the climbs, knew how long they were and was able to get a little smoother on the turns.  Simon's instructions about falling into my socks were starting to change my actions instead of just rattling around my head like some empty affirmation.  Looking back I think I've just done so many races there that my well-worn bad habits crept back when I was on the rivet.  I had to relax and back off a little so that I could let go of some tension and really feel the trail, and while I wasn't really smooth I was certainly smoother.

Nemesis and I had traded places many times through laps 2 and 3 with some other riders in our group trading pulls periodically.  Somewhere on lap 4 I got a gap and stretched it to 30 seconds by the finish.  Beating him is not why I get out of bed in the morning, but it's a very real performance benchmark.  Last year I had a couple of early season races where I was way ahead, and yet as I thought my fitness was improving he caught right up.  

Really I have no idea how I'm doing compared to last year.  Wednesday's race was a favorable indicator and I'm glad I finished when I really just wanted to quit.  I think my form is pretty good and if I can tweak my pre-race prep a little (by pre-riding the course and getting a decent warm up) with the right pacing I can improve on my performance.

Maybe I'll do Coyote Hill this weekend. 

Review- Rudy Project Hypermask Performance

This winter I got a pair of the Rudy Project Hypermask Performance.  They are an evolution of the Sportmask that I reviewed before and offer a similar wrap-around frameless style.  I opted for the very en vogue neon yellow frame color.

The Hypermask really takes what was right about the Sportmask (great peripheral vision, lightweight, fog resistance) and adds in some new features like a grippier nose piece and rubber lined temples to make the glasses really stay in place well. 

 
The nose piece is the same one found on the Zyon and Genetyk models and is both wide and adjustable.  The grippy temples also help to keep them in place and resist sweat much better than the all plastic temples of the Sportmask.  Without the added rigidity of a full frame the glasses have more flex and in order to stay in place they need to have a solid grip where they rest on your nose and over your ears. 

The lenses are also interchangeable and can be swapped out by simply pivoting the temples up and away from the nosepiece as shown here (the nosepiece stays attached to the lens).  This is a small thing, but it means that I'm more likely to wear these glasses because I can run different lenses relatively easily.  Most of the time I've been running the yellow lenses as shown here.

The Hypermask is equally at home on the road as it is in the woods.  I really came to enjoy the great peripheral vision in every riding situation and felt that I could see more of the terrain.  Coupled with their low weight it's easy to forget that you're wearing them.

Over the winter I also used these for skiing which means that the temples need to stick to a wool hat in order to stay on my head.  It's a good test to see how well glasses can stay in place, and the Hypermask held on flawlessly for several long ski outings. 


During spring road rides when I was wearing a cycling cap I ran the temples under the helmet straps and tucked under the hat to keep them in place.  That approach worked remarkably well even if it meant deviating from my usual glasses over the helmet approach. 

 
So what's the downside?  They do still slip around a little as the sweat rate goes up, but it's not terrible and can be minimized by properly setting up the nose piece. The lack of a frame also means that if you drop the Hypermask you are likely to damage the lens so be careful when removing them during rolling wardrobe changes or while removing your helmet to make trailside pit stops.

I'd definitely recommend the Rudy Project Hypermask.  With the improved temples and nose along with the interchangeable lenses these are a great option for on and offroad adventures (nordic skiing too, actually).

For more information visit www.rudyprojectusa.com

GU-Mas 2.0

My spring GU order arrived yesterday and I'm really psyched about it.  When my GU orders arrive it's always cause for celebration- GU-Mas, if you will.

In addition to my standard Lemon Sublime GU and Citrus Electrolyte Brew I got some new Roctane to try out.  I used some on my ride yesterday and was impressed.  After I get some more time to try it out I'll post up a more thorough review.

GU has been a great sponsor for the last three seasons, and I'm really psyched to be working with them again this year.  I burn through a lot of their stuff racing and even more when training so their support is a huge benefit for me.

And just for reference, this box will last me about 2-3 months.

Moots Mooto X RSL Full Review

After a year's worth of use I think I can legitimately publish a review of my Moots Mooto X RSL.  For an entire season this was the bike I rode in every race, every trail ride and every dirt road excursion.  I even found myself favoring dirt road rides on the RSL over mileage on paved roads on my road bike, so that should give you an idea of how fond I am of this bike.

The foundation of the bike is of course the Moots ti frame and matching 30.9 seatpost.  The RSL family has several refinements compared to their predecessors, namely a 44 mm headtube, Press Fit 30 bottom bracket and a 30.9 seatpost.  Individually those changes add incremental stiffness to the ride, but together they really help to fuse ride quality and responsive handling while still keeping the lively ti trail feel.  Frame weight is 3.4 lbs for a 19, and the overall bike as pictured is 22.5 lbs- pretty svelte considering it's a large metal bike used for endurance races with no sketchy light parts.

This is the 2011 model which is technically designed around an 80 mm fork.  The 2012 has been tweaked to include slightly updated geometry for a 100 mm fork and the downtube now has an additional bend in it near the bottom bracket shell.

I opted to run a full 100 mm of travel, which does slacken the bike slightly.  The geometry table will show it's a pretty steep bike, so it's really not a major change.  When the 2012 came out I asked the guys at Moots about the head angle change to accomodate the additional travel they said that it was nominal and that the (mainly cosmetic) change to double curve the downtube was the biggest difference between the two bikes.


Interestingly Velo News reviewed the same model year RSL with a 100 mm Fox fork and they did not report any negative effects of the additional travel either. 

The 44 mm headtube does allow for a tapered steerer, but that adds to the overall stack height of the front end because the lower race needs to sit outside the headtube.  Since I'm running 100 mm travel I decided to minimize the overall change and run a standard straight 1 1/8" steerer.  In my mind the additional travel was more important than the nominal gain in stiffness.

The seatstays feature the trademark Moots monostay and aggressive shaping to allow for tire clearance.  Even around the Maxxis Ikon 2.2 there's plenty of room.

The chainstays have less tire clearance primarily because the chainrings need to clear the outside of the stay.  There is still room for my 2.2, but it's a tighter fit.  The front derailleur is also pretty close to the tire.  I've done several very muddy rides and races and never felt that this contributed to unnecessary mud build up.

The front end of the bike is pretty low slung.  Most of last season I experimented with my positioning mostly to improve my technical handling skills.  I'd read about using wider bars in conjunction with a shorter stem so I tried that out a few months.  To complicate things even more Moots changed their sizing so to get my usual 24"-ish toptube I would need to ride a 19 and not a 20 like my YBB.  Add in a steep seat angle and the longer travel fork and it was too much for me to geek out ahead of time- I had to experiment after I got it built up.  

 

The good news is that the bike felt pretty balanced and the 90 mm stem was a good starting point.  As bars get wider the reach effectively lengthens (consider how far your chest is from the ground when you're doing push ups with your hands directly under your shoulders versus further apart) so I didn't want to get too stretched out.  

I ran the 90 for several months and it felt pretty good, but when I switched to a 100 mm stem I felt the bike instantly had a more balanced feel.  The short stem/wide bar approach works great for trail bikes or long travel, but the key thing with the RSL is that the rear wheel is tucked in so tightly that it puts a lot of weight over the rear wheel.  As a result I had a few bad falls in wet terrain because I didn't have enough weight on the front wheel to maintain traction.  I could overcome that by aggressively weighting the front end, but that riding style didn't really suit the bike and isn't feasible in endurance events.

The ride quality of this bike is amazing.  I've ridden other 29er hardtails and this one takes the cake with the best handling/smoothness/stiffness combination for cross country racing.  I'm running it with handbuilt Chris King/Stan's Crest rims which are fairly compliant and fit well with the overall feel of the bike.  When I've ridden other wheelsets like the Sun Ringle Black Flag Pro the bike feels quicker and almost shorter (because the spoke windup and rearwheel deflection is minimized), but that also means more chatter on square-edged bumps.

The SID fits well with the overall race-centric feel, but the Reba that preceeded it was a great fork also.  The Reba was easier to setup as the SID is slightly finicky with the STP3 damping cartridge.   Once it's setup it's a remarkable fork and the remote lockout is the best I've ever used.

Overall I would agree with the Velo News review with the exception of their dismissal of the Press Fit 30 bottom bracket design.  The PF30 bottom brackets are certainly the Achilles heel of the bike- they creak and wear out very quickly, but they are also fairly inexpensive and easy to replace.  It's not having a wider crank spindle but rather the larger shell diameter that makes the difference since it allows larger diameter tubes to be welded together.  By doing that the bottom bracket stiffness is remarkably better than standard threaded bb shell ti frames, and to me that's worth the trade off.

PF30 has been adopted by many small builders like Moots because it allows for bigger tubes, and I would suspect that higher quality bottom brackets aren't too far off from companies like Chris King or Phil Wood.  The first generation of GXP bottom brackets sucked too, but they've been improved and I expect PF30 to follow the same path.  And if you really hate PF30 you can permanently glue in an adapter to run a threaded English bottom bracket and pretend this whole thing never happened.

The RSL is not cheap, but it's a great option for a bike that rides well and will hold up.  It's also American made and still offers a lifetime warranty- something that is getter harder and harder to find in mountain bikes.  With all of that said I can say the Mooto X RSL is now my favorite in a long list of high end bikes. 

For more information visit moots online.

   

Review- Maxxis Ikon 29 x 2.2

Last summer I tested out a set of Maxxis Ikons in the 29 x 2.2 size.  After testing them on a variety of conditions they became my go-to tire.  

In some ways a 29er tire that's 2.2" wide and weighs 500 grams doesn't seem possible within the laws of physics.  Just a few years ago I was happy to run 26" tires that weighed 500 grams and were 2.0" wide.  Achieving that low weight for such a large tire is done through a low density, sticky rubber compound and a relatively thin sidewall and tread casing.

For most of the conditions around here that's a good compromise- the soil is usually soft, sharp rocks are minimal and the low mass helps on the frequent climbs.  There's a slightly heavier EXO model with reinforced sidewalls and that would definitely be a better option for areas with more rocks and frequent sidewall cuts.

The tread pattern is fairly small but aggressive, and the casing shape is square across the top.  That adds up to mean a fairly wide patch of rubber is in contact with the ground, and as the bike is leaned over the cornering knobs transition smoothly onto the trail.  The tread blocks are in slight chevron pattern so they don't all hit the ground at once (which increases rolling resistance and slows down forward progress), but there are enough of them spaced closely enough so that there's consistent bite.  

The treads are shallow to medium depth and moderately spaced as shown in the photos below.  It's not a tightly spaced hardpack pattern with low treadblocks like the Aspen or Small Block 8, nor is it a widely spaced lug/paddle pattern like the mud-specific Beaver.  The tread design and the squarish-casing make this tire very much aimed at the middle of the trail condition spectrum.

Most of the conditions I normally ride in would be considered intermediate- the ground is firm but not quite hardpack, and there are almost always some slick sections and thin mud.  In that environment the Ikon is very fast and predictable.  As the terrain gets muddier the Ikon really shines when you lower the air pressure a few PSI.  That holds true for most tires, but I found myself running these 2-4 PSI lower than my normal range and it made a huge difference when it came to cornering confidence and wet weather performance.  In general I've been running my 29er tires with slightly less pressure than comparable 26er models, and I think the additional width of the 2.2 casing makes the optimal pressure even lower.

When I did run this tire in dry conditions it worked pretty well but didn't quite roll as quickly as other options.  Last summer we had so few dry days that this was the option for me for pretty much every ride.  On one particularly rocky ride in Upstate New York I did get a cut through the tread casing, and it was big enough that it wouldn't seal up on the trail and I had to walk out of the woods.  In places like that the EXO casing would be a good investment and worth the weight penalty.

On wet, slick trails, these tires really shine as they're supple enough to conform to the terrain so the knobs can bite on wet roots and rocks.  In my mind that is a tough combination because the tall knobs on pure mud tires are too squirmy yet shallow or closely spaced treads quickly get packed with mud and are equally useless.

 

The sticky, low durometer eXCeption rubber adds to the wet weather performance, and although the increased grip is palpable they seem to wear remarkably well.  The pictures show the rear tire after three months of regular use and the knobs are still fairly sharp.   

Overall I would summarize these tires as very capable.  They're fast and stable throughout the spectrum of conditions, and although they may not be the best in pure hardpack or serious, sticky mud, they're predictable enough to be a great option if you're not sure what to expect or like to only run one set of tires.  These are definitely race tires, and accordingly their lightweight casing favors riders who go around rather than over trail obstacles.  

For more information visit the Maxxis website. 

Just In- Gaerne G.Keira

Over the last few months I've lamented the many pairs of mountain bike shoes that I've had that haven't met my expectations.  Since I retired my Specialized Comp Carbons I haven't gotten more than a season out of a single pair of shoes.  

Last week my new Gaerne G.Keiras arrived, and I'm hopeful that my search is over.  If the mild winter weather continues I might be able to get some time on these in the next few weeks, but I won't post a full review until I have some real hours on them after the season gets rolling.

Right out of the box I noticed the quality of these shoes.  They have a very solid feel, and by that I mean that although the uppers are lightweight and breathable they hold their shape and have a certain amount of stand-alone stability.  Many cycling shoes have gotten more and more slipper-like, favoring lightweight construction and minimal treads.  That's fine for the road, or even shorter mountain bike races where there's little to no time off the bike, but in endurance races there are always hike-a-bikes, deep stream crossings, unrideable climbs or other obstacles that require walking.  In those instances a shoe with an actual grippy sole is a necessity.  Admittedly I'm a racer snob, but when I was riding sketchy, slick and muddy terrain because I was worried about falling while walking at the 6 Hours of Pat's Peak I realized I needed something a little better suited to my riding.  

Other Italian brands tend to hog the limelight, but like their more widely known competitors Gaerne has a background in motocross boots and their lineage shows through with rugged but not overbuilt offroad shoes.

I opted for a size 44.5, which is what I normally wear for cycling shoes.  The fit is superb, and the heel counter has an aggressive but not obtrusive feel that seems very secure.  For my average to slightly narrow foot these feel perfect, but they're likely to not work well for wide feet.

The ratcheting top strap has an adjustable pad that can be moved around so that it can be properly aligned to alleviate pressure points. 

The straps feature a mini ratchet mechanism that helps to keep the straps at the desired tension.  It's a cool idea, and in my living room tests it really works. 

The buckle is aluminum and has a much more solid feel than anything else I've used.  I broke two sets of plastic buckles this past summer, and I'm optimistic that these should prove to be more reliable.  You can see that the strap length is also adjustable on the outside of the pad.

The solid construction of these does make them slightly heavier than other offerings in this price range, and the standard G.Keira model shown here does not have a carbon sole.  That said, I'm done with flimsy, poorly constructed mountain bike shoes that are slippery when walking on dry pavement.  I think it's worth the trade off.  All of this handmade Italian craftsmanship does add to the pricetag, but if these last as well as I expect them to they'll be around for several seasons. 

I'll offer a more detailed review once I've used these more, and I'll post more details in the coming months.  I'll also post my new shoe setup process for break in, cleat setup, etc. 

For more information visit www.gaerneshoes.com.

Review- Pearl Izumi Thermal Arm & Knee Warmers

Arm and knee warmers are one of the small accessories that can have a big impact on your riding experience, and their simple design belies their utility.  Through a season's worth of use I've decided the Pearl Izumi Thermal arm and knee warmers are my new favorites.

The weather in Vermont can be variable, especially in spring and fall when temperatures can swing 20 or more degrees in a few short hours.  I won't try to convince you that warmers and a good baselayer are the key to staying comfortable in those conditions, but look at the pictures you see of pro riders racing or training and you'll see arm, knee or leg warmers out in all but the coldest conditions when thermal jackets and wind resistant tights are required.

The Pearl Izumi Thermals are made of P.R.O. thermal fleece, a medium to heavy weight lycra that is heavier than the standard material used in bib shorts but not quite as thick as a softshell.  That weight is pretty optimal as it is warm without being bulky and still offers some wind resistance.

The arm warmers have an interesting cut that follows the curve of your arm with your hands on the bars- the elbow is slightly bent with an interesting gusset at the top.  The gusset lies mostly flat under a short sleeve jersey, but it helps avoid the all too common jersey/arm warmer gap.

The asymmetrical wrist opening allows the outside of the arm to remain covered without any additional material getting in the way of your palm.

Here's a shot of it from the inside- note the clever "L" markingsso you can tell which side is which.

Here's a shot of that upper gusset- you can see with my arm relaxed at my side that the outside comes up higher than the inside to provide some solid overlap with the jersey sleeve. 

With my sleeve down you can still see the slight bump, but it's small and unobtrusive enough that I think it's worth the trade-off.

The knees.  You can see they share the same right and left-specific mentality, which means that they fit really well when you put them on correctly and look completely ridiculous when you get them switched up. 

When it comes to knee warmers the fit is critical.  They need to stay in place without bunching, binding or sliding down.  These have the best fit of any I've ever tried, and they hold their shape through many rides and trips through the laundry.  

These pictures were taken after a 90 minute ride in the woods without readjusting to show how well they stay in place.  Overall the fit and feel is the best of any knee warmers I've ever worn, and as you can see they didn't move around hardly at all.   

 

For more information visit www.pearlizumi.com.  

2012 Sponsor Announcement- Ergon

This year there will be some slight changes to my sponsors, and among those changes I'll now officially be riding for Ergon.  As you know from my posts I've been running Ergon grips exclusively for the last few seasons and this makes it official.

Currently I have the GX1's on the RSL and I have yet to decide what to run on the YBB, but I have both GA1's and another set of GX1's at the ready.  There's also the new GS1 which is replacing the GX1 as the top race-oriented grip so I'm sure I'll find myself giving those a shot at some point over the season as well.

Ergon is most known for their innovative line of grips, but they've also introduced some interesting gloves that are starting to pop up at races, and new this year a line of mountain-bike specific saddles. 

What's cool about Ergon is that they are a high-performance accessory brand that makes effective and sleek mountain bike products and are among few companies that offer a Euro-cool factor exclusively for the offroad set.

How could you not get excited about a company that ran this as their 2011 Christmas card?

New Gear- Fischer RCS Skate

You may recall that on my last day out last winter I broke my Madshsus Hypersonics.

So this season I picked up a set of Fischer RSC Skates.  They're only available with the NIS binding plate, so my Salomon setup means drilling through it- but really that's no problem and the Hypersonics were mounted the same way. 

Up close they look like this.  They were just ground and treated with base prep, so now I have to run a few warm wax cycles on them to get them ready for the weekend.  If I can make an effort to spend some time on them and the conditions improve or at least stay stable I might even get out on them in the next few days...

2012 Sponsor Announcement- Rolf Prima

I'm happy to announce that for 2012 I'll be adding Rolf Prima as a sponsor, and I'll be racing on a set of Ralos 29er race wheels.

In 1999 I got a set of Rolf Vector wheels for my road bike, and for the next 8 years I put those wheels through their paces on various road and cyclocross bikes.  I probably trued them twice and adjusted the bearings on the front wheel once.  The Dolomite was the top Rolf mountain bike wheel at that time and I remember seriously considering getting a set.

Rolf has gone through some changes since then and is no longer affiliated with Trek after some legal wrangling with Shimano over Rolf's paired spoke patent.  The core idea of the paired spoke is unchanged, and after only offering road and 'cross models for the last few years the Ralos is Rolf's re-entry into the performance mountain bike market.

In the coming weeks I'll be making more posts about the gear I'll be using next season.  Now if I could just get that YBB built before the snow flies...

Anticipation- YBB 2.0

Here's the first shot of the 2012 Moots Mooto X YBB.  As the build kit gets rehabbed and the wheels get assembled I'll be working on this as time allows.  

The bike was supposed to have black decals, so right now it's sitting at home awaiting the black decal kit with the red ones removed.

The build will be many of the parts that made up its predecessor- 10 speed Sram X0 groupset (including brakes), Chris King hubs, Stan's NoTubes Crest rims, KMC X10 SL Ti chain, Easton EC70 bar, Easton EA 70 stem, WTB Devo Carbon saddle, XTR pedals, Moots Setback Ti post and a Cane Creek 110 headset.

I'm still undecided on tires, but I have Kenda Karmas sitting in a box collecting dust so I'll probably run those.

I'll post more updates as this bike comes together.  As much as I'd like to get this done I have neither time nor all of the parts to so.  

World Cup Geekery (As a Distraction)

In 2009 I watched Geoff Kabush ride away from the rest of the elite men's field at the Bromont round of the Mountain Bike World Cup.  The race was held in an absolute downpour, and everyone was having mechanical trouble as a result.

 

Immediately after the event I snapped some shots of Geoff's setup- taking careful note of his drivetrain and tire choices.  

The course was punchy with short power climbs, and for that the single 32 tooth chainring (first used in the World Cup by Adam Craig and later Julien Absalon) was a great choice.

Larsen TT for the front tire on an XTR wheelset.

 And a mud-specific Medusa out back.

At the time XTR 970 was the current model, and as Shimano sponsored rider Kabush ran a full Shimano drivetrain.  In my mind the 970 vintage XTR was Shimano's most complete and durable offering, though I haven't spent much time on 980 yet.


So why does this matter now in the days immediately before my biggest event of the year?  One word- distraction.  I need to relax, and geeking out helps me do that.