Minus Ten Review 2009-42

The leaves of ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog I was chatting about Fall weather and riding some of the biggest, baddest tires for 29"ers yet made. The WTB Dissent was, if anything, a harbinger of things to come. But at the time, it was the outlier. A tire with no where to really use it, or a bike to use it on.

Ten years ago, trail riding was still dominated by 26" wheels. That's amazing when you think about that. The longest travel, mainstream suspension fork for a 29"er had 4" of travel. There were oddball efforts with longer travel, but these were rare. In fact, I was using a 120mm travel Reba, which at the time was the long end of suspension fork travel for any 29"er.

My.....how times have changed! Now days anything with two wheels going off road is available with 29"er wheels. 26"?

(crickets)

Ask anyone ten years ago if 26" wheels wouldn't be available for trail, much less DH, in the near future and you would have been run outta town. Just ask Chris Sugai of Niner Bikes. He could tell you.....

The image used today was from a mid-week ride ten years ago on Camp Ingawanis' North Side. These trails are largely unused by cyclists today, and as far as I can tell, it will remain so unless there is some movement by the Boy Scouts to invite cyclists back again. That's really a shame for the locals here. Of course, Ingawanis Woodland, the trails formerly known as "The South Side", when the BSA owned that parcel of land, is a fantastic resource, but those old North side trails were technically more challenging, faster, went "cross country", and had far more variety than anything on the South Side. Just one trail, the old "Broken Finger" section, was ten times more challenging than anything on the South Side. But, yeah...... I could talk for days. Only those who were on those trails can really understand what it is I am trying to convey here.

Obviously, I miss riding there. It was my choice to always do the North Side trails and then maybe do the South Side if I had the time. If you did all the North Side you were pretty tuckered out. There was more mileage there, (even considering today's Ingy trails which didn't exist back then), and the efforts required to do all the North Side were more taxing too. It was just all-around more fun.

Anyway....

At least I had the opportunity to taste what that was like a lot ten years ago. I am very grateful that I did get that chance.

Minus Ten Review 2009-42

The leaves of ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog I was chatting about Fall weather and riding some of the biggest, baddest tires for 29"ers yet made. The WTB Dissent was, if anything, a harbinger of things to come. But at the time, it was the outlier. A tire with no where to really use it, or a bike to use it on.

Ten years ago, trail riding was still dominated by 26" wheels. That's amazing when you think about that. The longest travel, mainstream suspension fork for a 29"er had 4" of travel. There were oddball efforts with longer travel, but these were rare. In fact, I was using a 120mm travel Reba, which at the time was the long end of suspension fork travel for any 29"er.

My.....how times have changed! Now days anything with two wheels going off road is available with 29"er wheels. 26"?

(crickets)

Ask anyone ten years ago if 26" wheels wouldn't be available for trail, much less DH, in the near future and you would have been run outta town. Just ask Chris Sugai of Niner Bikes. He could tell you.....

The image used today was from a mid-week ride ten years ago on Camp Ingawanis' North Side. These trails are largely unused by cyclists today, and as far as I can tell, it will remain so unless there is some movement by the Boy Scouts to invite cyclists back again. That's really a shame for the locals here. Of course, Ingawanis Woodland, the trails formerly known as "The South Side", when the BSA owned that parcel of land, is a fantastic resource, but those old North side trails were technically more challenging, faster, went "cross country", and had far more variety than anything on the South Side. Just one trail, the old "Broken Finger" section, was ten times more challenging than anything on the South Side. But, yeah...... I could talk for days. Only those who were on those trails can really understand what it is I am trying to convey here.

Obviously, I miss riding there. It was my choice to always do the North Side trails and then maybe do the South Side if I had the time. If you did all the North Side you were pretty tuckered out. There was more mileage there, (even considering today's Ingy trails which didn't exist back then), and the efforts required to do all the North Side were more taxing too. It was just all-around more fun.

Anyway....

At least I had the opportunity to taste what that was like a lot ten years ago. I am very grateful that I did get that chance.

Minus Ten Review- 44

The long discontinued WTB Sout (L) and a Maxxis Ignitor.

Ten years ago on the blog I was going through the registration process for Trans Iowa v4. Remembering how badly I wanted to stop Trans Iowa after v3 due to several reasons, I recall a post here from 10 years ago that reflects my feelings about one of the reasons why I wasn't too keen on doing another TI. Here's a snippet of what I posted back then.

"A personal note: If you are just toying with the idea of T.I.V4 and are not really sure you would do it, but are going to get your foot in the door just in case.......don't do it! Don't even bother registering. You'll most likely drop out, and thus waste a lot of resources and time on my end. We have had drop outs the first two years, (T.I.V2 most notably because of the weather), but nothing approaches the scale of last year/this past spring where a full 64 people dropped out after being registered! That's right, half of the registered field! 35 didn't bother at all to say they wouldn't show up last April and I had their cue sheets ready, race packets ready, and had what little swag readied for them too. I worked several hours with my family helping out to get that done and they stiffed me. Thanks! (grrrrr!!)

So, yeah.....that kinda cheeses me off and frankly was one of the reasons that T.I. almost didn't happen again."

Since the T.I.v3 debacle, I had figured out ways to get the riders to tell me that they weren't coming earlier than the night before the event, or worse, to not even show up at all. I had gotten things to where a two to four "no-show" rate had become the norm.

Until last year! 

I had about a dozen folks drop off the roster the last week before T.I.v13, and once again, that "really cheeses me off". Anyone on the T.I.v14 roster should take note.

I also had three sets of tires from WTB to test. Way too many for one rider to do before Winter hit, so I asked a then friend of mine, Rob, to help out with that. I used the WTB Stout, a big, burly tread with a tough, heavy casing. I thought it was an awesome tire, but once again, WTB was waaaay out in front of reality when it came to 29"ers. Today had a tire like this been offered in a TCS tubeless ready version, no one would bat an eyelash. The weight would have been seen as normal, the big, burly casing, desirable, and these would really help an all mountain/enduro 29"er rig in technical terrain.

Trouble was such bikes did not exist yet ten years ago beyond a few oddball rigs from Lenz or other small builders. So, what riders wanted then were fatter tires, but to also have them be lighter weight. A conundrum that bedeviled the 29"er tire market for years until trail riders started using wider rims and the need for burlier tires was rekindled. The result in the end was that many folks turned their backs on the three burly WTB tire choices, the Kodiak, the Dissent, and the Stout, and all three were fairly quickly discontinued. Only the Dissent found any real popularity, and that was from the few riders who were daring enough to ride longer travel 29"ers ten years ago.

Minus Ten Review- 44

The long discontinued WTB Sout (L) and a Maxxis Ignitor.

Ten years ago on the blog I was going through the registration process for Trans Iowa v4. Remembering how badly I wanted to stop Trans Iowa after v3 due to several reasons, I recall a post here from 10 years ago that reflects my feelings about one of the reasons why I wasn't too keen on doing another TI. Here's a snippet of what I posted back then.

"A personal note: If you are just toying with the idea of T.I.V4 and are not really sure you would do it, but are going to get your foot in the door just in case.......don't do it! Don't even bother registering. You'll most likely drop out, and thus waste a lot of resources and time on my end. We have had drop outs the first two years, (T.I.V2 most notably because of the weather), but nothing approaches the scale of last year/this past spring where a full 64 people dropped out after being registered! That's right, half of the registered field! 35 didn't bother at all to say they wouldn't show up last April and I had their cue sheets ready, race packets ready, and had what little swag readied for them too. I worked several hours with my family helping out to get that done and they stiffed me. Thanks! (grrrrr!!)

So, yeah.....that kinda cheeses me off and frankly was one of the reasons that T.I. almost didn't happen again."

Since the T.I.v3 debacle, I had figured out ways to get the riders to tell me that they weren't coming earlier than the night before the event, or worse, to not even show up at all. I had gotten things to where a two to four "no-show" rate had become the norm.

Until last year! 

I had about a dozen folks drop off the roster the last week before T.I.v13, and once again, that "really cheeses me off". Anyone on the T.I.v14 roster should take note.

I also had three sets of tires from WTB to test. Way too many for one rider to do before Winter hit, so I asked a then friend of mine, Rob, to help out with that. I used the WTB Stout, a big, burly tread with a tough, heavy casing. I thought it was an awesome tire, but once again, WTB was waaaay out in front of reality when it came to 29"ers. Today had a tire like this been offered in a TCS tubeless ready version, no one would bat an eyelash. The weight would have been seen as normal, the big, burly casing, desirable, and these would really help an all mountain/enduro 29"er rig in technical terrain.

Trouble was such bikes did not exist yet ten years ago beyond a few oddball rigs from Lenz or other small builders. So, what riders wanted then were fatter tires, but to also have them be lighter weight. A conundrum that bedeviled the 29"er tire market for years until trail riders started using wider rims and the need for burlier tires was rekindled. The result in the end was that many folks turned their backs on the three burly WTB tire choices, the Kodiak, the Dissent, and the Stout, and all three were fairly quickly discontinued. Only the Dissent found any real popularity, and that was from the few riders who were daring enough to ride longer travel 29"ers ten years ago.

Weekend Report

<===I'll shoot my deer with a camera, thank you!

Wow! If you didn't drop the rake, leave the dishes unwashed, or forget about washing the car and get outside, you were daft! It was a beautiful last chance to get out and enjoy shirt sleeve weather in 2009. (I'm betting)

I got out Saturday and rode at the camp- for a short bit! My chain sucked on the Big Mama and then not 50 yards down the trail it snapped in two. Not good for prospects of forward motion by two wheels. And I without a chain tool! Bad me! I should know better. I should have been riding a single speed!! Ha! So, now a full drive train replacement will be in order. It's time, and this was a sign.



<===Wait just a gol durn minute!

The fork for then Gun Kote El Mariachi came in last week. A 100mm through axle Manitou Minute 29"er fork. This will determine the wheel set now, which will be a Bontrager Rhythm wheel set I have had in reserve for months now. That means I'll most likely set it up with some Bontrager tires, or Specialized 2Bliss, which works well on the TLR rim strip too.
This Minute has the Absolute Plus damper and lock out, which could be upgraded to the MILO remote lock out if I wanted it. The fork, with an uncut steer tube weighs a paltry 4.2lbs. It'll be less than that once I cut it down a bit.



<===A bear of a tire.

The WTB, Niner Bikes distributed, Kodiak 2.5" tire showed up here too. I've gotten them mounted and ridden a bit too.

What do I think? Well, you'll have to wait for the Twenty Nine Inches reports, but I will say that it is a very different tire from the WTB Dissent that I also am testing here. Actually, they hardly share anything at all in common! Wire beads and Inner Peace sidewall protection, and that's about it from what I can tell so far. Stay tuned!


<===Some long overdue "love" for the Fargo.

I got a Chris King bottom bracket a while ago now. I finally installed it in the Fargo the other day. I think the green goes good with the stock paint, but really, the King BB is smarter than that!

I can maintain this one by injecting grease from time to time ala the King grease tool, which I have to get yet. Hopefully the Fargo will be fine for some time to come, but I need to order that tool anyway for customers at the shop that will be wanting a fresh shot of grease in theirs soon.


<===The frame isn't tiny, the wheels are big!

I saw a thread on mtbr.com that showed this prototype 29"er DH rig from Intense Cycles.

This is serious folks. Intense doesn't fool around with DH. They helped define the genre', and if they are fiddling with wagon wheels for DH, they have an inkling that it might just work.

This would be revolutionary if it proves out. DH has long been thought of as an area of mountain biking that 29 inch wheels were just ridiculous for. They would never be used in that application other than by experimenters and dreamers. The debates will rage now, but if racers start showing up on these, and more importantly- winning on them- then the last barrier to big wheels will have fallen. Will it happen?

Well, it doesn't really matter in the end, but what will happen is that many new ideas will be birthed from the experiment that will benefit long travel and any full suspension 29"er bike. Rim technologies, tire technologies, and of course- fork and damper technologies all stand to be altered by these DH experimenters. It'll be interesting to watch, at the very least.

Weekend Report

<===I'll shoot my deer with a camera, thank you!

Wow! If you didn't drop the rake, leave the dishes unwashed, or forget about washing the car and get outside, you were daft! It was a beautiful last chance to get out and enjoy shirt sleeve weather in 2009. (I'm betting)

I got out Saturday and rode at the camp- for a short bit! My chain sucked on the Big Mama and then not 50 yards down the trail it snapped in two. Not good for prospects of forward motion by two wheels. And I without a chain tool! Bad me! I should know better. I should have been riding a single speed!! Ha! So, now a full drive train replacement will be in order. It's time, and this was a sign.



<===Wait just a gol durn minute!

The fork for then Gun Kote El Mariachi came in last week. A 100mm through axle Manitou Minute 29"er fork. This will determine the wheel set now, which will be a Bontrager Rhythm wheel set I have had in reserve for months now. That means I'll most likely set it up with some Bontrager tires, or Specialized 2Bliss, which works well on the TLR rim strip too.
This Minute has the Absolute Plus damper and lock out, which could be upgraded to the MILO remote lock out if I wanted it. The fork, with an uncut steer tube weighs a paltry 4.2lbs. It'll be less than that once I cut it down a bit.



<===A bear of a tire.

The WTB, Niner Bikes distributed, Kodiak 2.5" tire showed up here too. I've gotten them mounted and ridden a bit too.

What do I think? Well, you'll have to wait for the Twenty Nine Inches reports, but I will say that it is a very different tire from the WTB Dissent that I also am testing here. Actually, they hardly share anything at all in common! Wire beads and Inner Peace sidewall protection, and that's about it from what I can tell so far. Stay tuned!


<===Some long overdue "love" for the Fargo.

I got a Chris King bottom bracket a while ago now. I finally installed it in the Fargo the other day. I think the green goes good with the stock paint, but really, the King BB is smarter than that!

I can maintain this one by injecting grease from time to time ala the King grease tool, which I have to get yet. Hopefully the Fargo will be fine for some time to come, but I need to order that tool anyway for customers at the shop that will be wanting a fresh shot of grease in theirs soon.


<===The frame isn't tiny, the wheels are big!

I saw a thread on mtbr.com that showed this prototype 29"er DH rig from Intense Cycles.

This is serious folks. Intense doesn't fool around with DH. They helped define the genre', and if they are fiddling with wagon wheels for DH, they have an inkling that it might just work.

This would be revolutionary if it proves out. DH has long been thought of as an area of mountain biking that 29 inch wheels were just ridiculous for. They would never be used in that application other than by experimenters and dreamers. The debates will rage now, but if racers start showing up on these, and more importantly- winning on them- then the last barrier to big wheels will have fallen. Will it happen?

Well, it doesn't really matter in the end, but what will happen is that many new ideas will be birthed from the experiment that will benefit long travel and any full suspension 29"er bike. Rim technologies, tire technologies, and of course- fork and damper technologies all stand to be altered by these DH experimenters. It'll be interesting to watch, at the very least.

Muddin'

<===Things got a bit messy out there!

One thing about riding in the Green Belt is that if it's muddy, you really can't hurt anything by riding in it. Those trails get so flooded so often that the constant deposit/erosion factor far outweighs any damage one measly bicycle could ever think of doing.

Not that you should ride out here when it is muddy, because if you do you can do incalculable damage to your bicycle if you are not careful.




<===That Dissent 2.5 tire is a great mud tire. It floats!

Since I am intimately familiar with this trail, having been on it often through the years, I understand how things can go. I only use it during times like this for tire testing. So it was that I rode the WTB Dissent 2.5"er to find out how it dealt with the sticky, gooey river bottom silt that lines Black Hawk Creek's bottoms.






<====I found a great bike camping spot in the midst of these Red Cedars by accident.

I found out that the Dissent/Gordo combination was excellent in mud and sand out there. Lots of floatation. But not enough to "float" me across the water that cut my forward progress off not far from Meyer's Lake. I ended up hike-a-biking through the scrub until I came across this awesome bike camping spot. I will have to remember that area when it comes time to test out some camping gear and sort out a good bike packing set up. The site was really well hidden, although there was evidence that I am not the only one aware of the place, as I found a fire ring with the remnants of a not too ancient fire still visible.



<===Tooth sharpening evidence.

Once I got out of that area, I found my way to the lake trail, which is usually high and dry. It was, but I did find some evidence of beaver activity. Beavers have come and gone in the Green Belt before, and now it seems that they are back again.

I finished out the ride on the bike path and wended my way back to my home. It wasn't a fast ride, so I ended up being out two hours! In dry conditions, I can do a similar loop in under an hour easily. Not so fast today! Mud and wet ground will do that to you, not to mention the bushwhacking I had to do in spots.

I got some time in on a new hydration pack and some fancy-schmancy bottles I received for testing too, but that will come in another post. Stay tuned............

Muddin'

<===Things got a bit messy out there!

One thing about riding in the Green Belt is that if it's muddy, you really can't hurt anything by riding in it. Those trails get so flooded so often that the constant deposit/erosion factor far outweighs any damage one measly bicycle could ever think of doing.

Not that you should ride out here when it is muddy, because if you do you can do incalculable damage to your bicycle if you are not careful.




<===That Dissent 2.5 tire is a great mud tire. It floats!

Since I am intimately familiar with this trail, having been on it often through the years, I understand how things can go. I only use it during times like this for tire testing. So it was that I rode the WTB Dissent 2.5"er to find out how it dealt with the sticky, gooey river bottom silt that lines Black Hawk Creek's bottoms.






<====I found a great bike camping spot in the midst of these Red Cedars by accident.

I found out that the Dissent/Gordo combination was excellent in mud and sand out there. Lots of floatation. But not enough to "float" me across the water that cut my forward progress off not far from Meyer's Lake. I ended up hike-a-biking through the scrub until I came across this awesome bike camping spot. I will have to remember that area when it comes time to test out some camping gear and sort out a good bike packing set up. The site was really well hidden, although there was evidence that I am not the only one aware of the place, as I found a fire ring with the remnants of a not too ancient fire still visible.



<===Tooth sharpening evidence.

Once I got out of that area, I found my way to the lake trail, which is usually high and dry. It was, but I did find some evidence of beaver activity. Beavers have come and gone in the Green Belt before, and now it seems that they are back again.

I finished out the ride on the bike path and wended my way back to my home. It wasn't a fast ride, so I ended up being out two hours! In dry conditions, I can do a similar loop in under an hour easily. Not so fast today! Mud and wet ground will do that to you, not to mention the bushwhacking I had to do in spots.

I got some time in on a new hydration pack and some fancy-schmancy bottles I received for testing too, but that will come in another post. Stay tuned............

Classic Fall Ride

<===You have to have a worthy bike....

So I went out Wednesday to go test out the WTB Dissent tires I had mounted up to the Salsa Cycles Big Mama out in the woods of The Camp. As I stepped outside to load up the truck, I felt a heavy drizzle.

Well, overcast skies, drizzle, and cool temperatures- what says "Fall" more than that? I figured it was appropriate, so I kept on with the preparations to leave. Once loaded up, I got into the truck and noticed that hey! I was going to need the windshield wipers to be on. Well, okay. Intermittent wipers. No big deal. It'll blow over and who knows? Maybe it isn't raining, or whatever- at all up at the Camp, ya know? So off I went.



<====.....and you gotta have leaf strewn trail in the woods....

Well those intermittent wipers became full on wipers once I hit the highway, but I figured that at 70mph, ya know, the wipers would need to be on all the way because my speed was like- you know.....making me run into more water droplets. I mean, it probably wasn't "that bad", okay.





<===....and then you have to have a heaping helping of tree color. That's a classic Fall ride!

Ahh! Who am I kidding here! This was a full on rain. Rats! And I was almost there. Okay- I figured once or twice down the big hill and I'd know enough for today. I could pack it in and come back again on the weekend. But then a strange thing happened. By the time I finished getting the tire pressure set, I didn't feel anymore rain. No mist. Nothin'!

On that note I sped off up the service road and had a blast riding the trails. I saw plenty of deer, and even chased a big ol' wild turkey up and it ran off a ways before taking flight. Later on I stopped and I could hear the sounds of the turkeys clucking and chirping to each other. Echoing off the woods and trailing off into silence. Cool!

It was slightly muddy and wet from the rain. Just enough to make it all interesting. The trail ride worked out great for testing the tires and I got in some wonderful time in the woods on a classic Fall day.

Hope that you all get one in soon too. Fall won't be around forever!

Classic Fall Ride

<===You have to have a worthy bike....

So I went out Wednesday to go test out the WTB Dissent tires I had mounted up to the Salsa Cycles Big Mama out in the woods of The Camp. As I stepped outside to load up the truck, I felt a heavy drizzle.

Well, overcast skies, drizzle, and cool temperatures- what says "Fall" more than that? I figured it was appropriate, so I kept on with the preparations to leave. Once loaded up, I got into the truck and noticed that hey! I was going to need the windshield wipers to be on. Well, okay. Intermittent wipers. No big deal. It'll blow over and who knows? Maybe it isn't raining, or whatever- at all up at the Camp, ya know? So off I went.



<====.....and you gotta have leaf strewn trail in the woods....

Well those intermittent wipers became full on wipers once I hit the highway, but I figured that at 70mph, ya know, the wipers would need to be on all the way because my speed was like- you know.....making me run into more water droplets. I mean, it probably wasn't "that bad", okay.





<===....and then you have to have a heaping helping of tree color. That's a classic Fall ride!

Ahh! Who am I kidding here! This was a full on rain. Rats! And I was almost there. Okay- I figured once or twice down the big hill and I'd know enough for today. I could pack it in and come back again on the weekend. But then a strange thing happened. By the time I finished getting the tire pressure set, I didn't feel anymore rain. No mist. Nothin'!

On that note I sped off up the service road and had a blast riding the trails. I saw plenty of deer, and even chased a big ol' wild turkey up and it ran off a ways before taking flight. Later on I stopped and I could hear the sounds of the turkeys clucking and chirping to each other. Echoing off the woods and trailing off into silence. Cool!

It was slightly muddy and wet from the rain. Just enough to make it all interesting. The trail ride worked out great for testing the tires and I got in some wonderful time in the woods on a classic Fall day.

Hope that you all get one in soon too. Fall won't be around forever!

Wednesday News And Views

<===WTB Dissent 2.5" 29"er tires making the Big Mama even bigger!

So here we have the absolute gnarliest, heaviest, highest tech cased 29"er tire ever. Say hello to the WTB Dissent 2.5" tire. (Note I didn't say it was the biggest tire, more on that in a sec...)

This thing was made for aggressive riding in severe terrain. Big casing, and huge knobs! They look like motorcycle tires more than bicycle tires.

And WTB didn't scrimp on this one either. You see, normally tires made for 29"ers are standard casings, not the high tech, best available casings found on 26"er models. WTB threw their latest tech at this one. Super Duty casing, which is a ......oh heck! I'll just let WTB explain this!

SUPER DUTY CASING
This thick-ply casing resists cuts from rocks and debris
while damping impacts. Our Inner Peace sidewall reinforcement further protects
the tire from damage, reduces sidewall flex and dramatically reduces pinch
flats.

Besides this, the tire tread is siped to provide more working edges and the tread compound is a 50A which means it is sticky and grippy. And that it is! And it rolls great too. Amazingly so.

But anyway, this is the first 29"er tire that was designed to go toe to toe with your rock infested trail and come out in one piece.....oh yeah, and with air in it!

<===Big knobs, little clearance.

Now a lot of folks are going to wonder, "How big is this beast?" Well, the casing isn't as big as say, a WTB WeirWolf LT, or a Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4 incher, but it isn't a slouch in that department. The casing on a Gordo at 30psi measured 57.7mm, but it is the knob width that is crazy, measured at 62.2mm at the widest point. Now add in the height of the casing, which is pretty dang tall, ( 29.5" overall diameter!)and you're talking a whisker of clearance on my Reba Team. I can get knob rub in certain side loaded situations, which is a bit unnerving. Oh well! I hear other forks clear this combination of tire and rim better, so I will either have to shop for a new fork, or put this tire on a Bontrager Rhythm wheel, which has a 28mm wide rim, which might get me just enough clearance to do the trick.





<===Drop bar freaks rejoice! The Woodchipper is coming!

The Woodchipper is coming! Salsa Cycles has released info on the ETA on this new off roadable drop bar, which is going to be awesome. I can't wait to bolt this on the Fargo and give it a whirl.

Salsa says that these should be in late November/early December. Check out the Amigos Blog for more.

Now for a bit of a side track. I get web stats and once in awhile, I get a bunch of hits from folks on some forum over in Europe wondering about us nutjobs over here that like off road drop bars. Well, I was surprised to see a bunch of hits from a forum in Greece, of all places. Crazy! Anyway, yeah. Drop bars work off road, but they need to be like the Woodchipper, which isn't anything like a road bar. Really!

<===Cold weather is upon us. Got Glove?

I just checked out these Giro "Proof" gloves which are really two gloves in one. The liner is a lycra type deal with nice rubber grippers on the palm and a nice cuff to keep the wind out. The outer is Thinsulate lined and has a great shock cord that tightens everything down that can be operated with a gloved hand. Pretty cool......well, actually- warm!

The gloves are available for about $54.00 MSRP.

<===On One does up Midge in colors!

Now the "grand daddy" of the nouveau off road drop bars has always been On One's Midge bar. You have to get these from the U.K. and they have always been black. Now, seeing a bunch of interest in colors, the On One crazies have announced the Midge in white, silver, red, gold, and probably some other colors I can't think of. So if you are into that sort of thing, hit this in a few weeks and see if they are in. (Black ones are in stock)




There is one other drop bar for off roading coming, and that is Ragley Bikes "D-62" bar. That should be coming sometime in the spring, I think. We'll see!

Okay, that's it for now. Have a great Wednesday!

Wednesday News And Views

<===WTB Dissent 2.5" 29"er tires making the Big Mama even bigger!

So here we have the absolute gnarliest, heaviest, highest tech cased 29"er tire ever. Say hello to the WTB Dissent 2.5" tire. (Note I didn't say it was the biggest tire, more on that in a sec...)

This thing was made for aggressive riding in severe terrain. Big casing, and huge knobs! They look like motorcycle tires more than bicycle tires.

And WTB didn't scrimp on this one either. You see, normally tires made for 29"ers are standard casings, not the high tech, best available casings found on 26"er models. WTB threw their latest tech at this one. Super Duty casing, which is a ......oh heck! I'll just let WTB explain this!

SUPER DUTY CASING
This thick-ply casing resists cuts from rocks and debris
while damping impacts. Our Inner Peace sidewall reinforcement further protects
the tire from damage, reduces sidewall flex and dramatically reduces pinch
flats.

Besides this, the tire tread is siped to provide more working edges and the tread compound is a 50A which means it is sticky and grippy. And that it is! And it rolls great too. Amazingly so.

But anyway, this is the first 29"er tire that was designed to go toe to toe with your rock infested trail and come out in one piece.....oh yeah, and with air in it!

<===Big knobs, little clearance.

Now a lot of folks are going to wonder, "How big is this beast?" Well, the casing isn't as big as say, a WTB WeirWolf LT, or a Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4 incher, but it isn't a slouch in that department. The casing on a Gordo at 30psi measured 57.7mm, but it is the knob width that is crazy, measured at 62.2mm at the widest point. Now add in the height of the casing, which is pretty dang tall, ( 29.5" overall diameter!)and you're talking a whisker of clearance on my Reba Team. I can get knob rub in certain side loaded situations, which is a bit unnerving. Oh well! I hear other forks clear this combination of tire and rim better, so I will either have to shop for a new fork, or put this tire on a Bontrager Rhythm wheel, which has a 28mm wide rim, which might get me just enough clearance to do the trick.





<===Drop bar freaks rejoice! The Woodchipper is coming!

The Woodchipper is coming! Salsa Cycles has released info on the ETA on this new off roadable drop bar, which is going to be awesome. I can't wait to bolt this on the Fargo and give it a whirl.

Salsa says that these should be in late November/early December. Check out the Amigos Blog for more.

Now for a bit of a side track. I get web stats and once in awhile, I get a bunch of hits from folks on some forum over in Europe wondering about us nutjobs over here that like off road drop bars. Well, I was surprised to see a bunch of hits from a forum in Greece, of all places. Crazy! Anyway, yeah. Drop bars work off road, but they need to be like the Woodchipper, which isn't anything like a road bar. Really!

<===Cold weather is upon us. Got Glove?

I just checked out these Giro "Proof" gloves which are really two gloves in one. The liner is a lycra type deal with nice rubber grippers on the palm and a nice cuff to keep the wind out. The outer is Thinsulate lined and has a great shock cord that tightens everything down that can be operated with a gloved hand. Pretty cool......well, actually- warm!

The gloves are available for about $54.00 MSRP.

<===On One does up Midge in colors!

Now the "grand daddy" of the nouveau off road drop bars has always been On One's Midge bar. You have to get these from the U.K. and they have always been black. Now, seeing a bunch of interest in colors, the On One crazies have announced the Midge in white, silver, red, gold, and probably some other colors I can't think of. So if you are into that sort of thing, hit this in a few weeks and see if they are in. (Black ones are in stock)




There is one other drop bar for off roading coming, and that is Ragley Bikes "D-62" bar. That should be coming sometime in the spring, I think. We'll see!

Okay, that's it for now. Have a great Wednesday!

Misfit Psycles Dissent: Flat Black Goodness!

The Misfit Psycles Dissent frame and fork have landed at Guitar Ted Laboratories. The frame and fork combination are both constructed from 6061 Aluminum, which is a bit of a different deal in comparison to the large amounts of steel single speeds available out there for 29 inch wheels. The frame and fork can be had for under $500.00 so that puts it squarely in the budget priced/decent frame sets out there. Let's take a quick look at what we have here. A more complete run down can be found at Twenty Nine Inches later on today.

The Dissent, a I mentioned, is a single speed frame that uses these massive sliders to tension the chain with. The disc mount on the disc only frame is also integral with the non-drive side drop out, so futzing with the caliper in terms of wheel changing and cog swaps shouldn't be an issue. The drop outs have that huge slot for the axle so that they are compatible with a Rohloff internal gear hub. A nice touch I think. If you do want to go geared, a drive side sliding drop out is available with an integral derailleur hangar. Note: There are no cable stops for geared use on this frame, a touch I happen to like. Running single speed with extra cable stop braze ons hanging out just waiting to rip something apart- nope- not my cup-o-tea! Looks cleaner too. By the way, the rear brake routes underneath the top tube for an even more stealthy appearance.

I'll be building this frame and fork up as a "budget" project to touch on what I think is a trend for 2009: Builds that will feature some nice parts selections, but maybe at a lower price level. I think a lot of guys will still be building new rigs out in 2009, but maybe the overall price points on them will reflect a more conservative take on 29"ers than we have seen before. Then again.....maybe not! You never know! That said, that is how I will be approaching this rig. look for more thoughts in the days to come. One thing is for sure. I'll be spending a heck of a lot more time in the Lab in February than I have this month! Woo Hoo! Let the fun begin!

Misfit Psycles Dissent: Flat Black Goodness!

The Misfit Psycles Dissent frame and fork have landed at Guitar Ted Laboratories. The frame and fork combination are both constructed from 6061 Aluminum, which is a bit of a different deal in comparison to the large amounts of steel single speeds available out there for 29 inch wheels. The frame and fork can be had for under $500.00 so that puts it squarely in the budget priced/decent frame sets out there. Let's take a quick look at what we have here. A more complete run down can be found at Twenty Nine Inches later on today.

The Dissent, a I mentioned, is a single speed frame that uses these massive sliders to tension the chain with. The disc mount on the disc only frame is also integral with the non-drive side drop out, so futzing with the caliper in terms of wheel changing and cog swaps shouldn't be an issue. The drop outs have that huge slot for the axle so that they are compatible with a Rohloff internal gear hub. A nice touch I think. If you do want to go geared, a drive side sliding drop out is available with an integral derailleur hangar. Note: There are no cable stops for geared use on this frame, a touch I happen to like. Running single speed with extra cable stop braze ons hanging out just waiting to rip something apart- nope- not my cup-o-tea! Looks cleaner too. By the way, the rear brake routes underneath the top tube for an even more stealthy appearance.

I'll be building this frame and fork up as a "budget" project to touch on what I think is a trend for 2009: Builds that will feature some nice parts selections, but maybe at a lower price level. I think a lot of guys will still be building new rigs out in 2009, but maybe the overall price points on them will reflect a more conservative take on 29"ers than we have seen before. Then again.....maybe not! You never know! That said, that is how I will be approaching this rig. look for more thoughts in the days to come. One thing is for sure. I'll be spending a heck of a lot more time in the Lab in February than I have this month! Woo Hoo! Let the fun begin!