29"er Quotes Saying "Let's Ride!"

I have been posting my thoughts on some of mountain bikings, and specifically 29"ers, little quirks for some time now. However; once in awhile a couple of thoughts are offered up to me by some other really smart folks out there that I think are brilliant and need to be examined. Today's post brings you two such examples.

Disclaimer: The following is my take on each of these quotes. The author of each quote may have a bit different intent than what I have drawn from their quotes. With that understanding, let's proceed, shall we?............

"...........too many people ride on paper instead of the trail."

This gem was the closing statement in an e-mail to me regarding fork trail and geometry of a "certain 29"er" that shall for now remain nameless. The point is that their is a lot........nay, an over abundance of speculation on geometry and its effects on 29"ers. Real world riding experience and its descriptions are often overlooked when some folks get blinded by science. Too much focus on numbers and not enough time spent actually riding what they are speculating on.

This salient point was dropped in on me when I rode Mike Curiak's personal LenzSport Lunchbox during the Outdoor Demo at Bootleg Canyon this past year. Mike sent me an e-mail after the fact telling me the trail figure, head angle and other pertinent numbers from his bike as he had it set up for me. Let me say that I was stunned. Mike put it best when he wrote me, "......but for what the numbers are it’s surprisingly capable. Much more so than most (raises hand) would guess." So it's more about how the bike rides in the "real world" and maybe the numbers are just an indication of how it might ride, not a definition of how it will ride. Food for thought for sure!

The next quote dovetails into my last comments perfectly, I think.

"29ers don't need lower gearing, 29ers need people that actually ride!"

This was pulled from the comments section of yesterday's post and I think it is okay to say that George Wissell was the writer of that. I happen to agree. It gets old reading "stories" concocted by authors you can tell have never ridden the bike they are writing about. Or that have never ridden the "theoretical geometry" that they deem as being worthy/unworthy of consideration. I know......I know.........it is the innerweb-o-sphere way to pose as an expert. You get what you pay for there, and I suppose I ought to leave it alone, since I make some gravy offa this digital realm. The thing is, the place would be much better off if people would turn off this digital black hole and ride more, (or get back to work, as the case may be!)

At any rate, I think my words might be distracting from what George wrote there, so I'll let that speak for itself. It's pretty self explanatory, really.

And I guess that's the theme of this entire post, isn't it?

Go ride yer bike already!