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.

Turkey Burnin'

<==Alien Technology Revealed! The Fisher HiFi Deluxe 29"er.

Today was the Turkey Burn up at Camp Ingawanis. I met up with Captain Bob, Casey, Paul, and Jeremy for some fun on the frozen tundra of the Camp's trail system.

I was sportin' the new '08 Fisher HiFi Deluxe 29"er and I let everybody ride it. Really! If'n ya wasn't there, then ya missed out! I'll be posting my thoughts on the bike on Twenty Nine Inches, (where I've already got a bunch of images and info up already on this beast), but let me just say that all that rode it gave it a big thumbs up. That was kind of nice to see the reactions from the other guys. It validates my feelings about the G2 geometry and how Fisher '08 bikes are really dialed. I've always said that you can write thousands of words about a bicycle but you can't often understand it until you ride it. Some of the guys picked up on it immediately. Pretty cool!

Anyway, the ride was good. I got lost from the main group pretty much immediately since I was futzing with my booties which weren't allowing my clean entry into my clipless pedals. More knife work will be necessary, but not today. I ended up ditching the booties and risked freezing my toes, but at least I could ride. I finally got reunited with the group, but I wasn't riding all that well. Seems to be a common thing this fall. I haven't felt "on" with a group for months. I have had flashes of great sensations on the bike, even recently while riding to work, but today I was really flat.

Still, the HiFi was making riding easier and I had a lot of fun on it. However; I had to do a test run on the SE Racing Stout too. So, I switched out and took off up the service road climb. The Stout is a single speed and I was dreading the climbs, but I was feeling a bit more spunk in the legs now and kept up just fine. I got into the first section of trail and ate it hard on a leaf strewn corner heading downhill. I heard something snap. The ground was really hard. I stopped, rolled over and stood up. I could raise my arm over my head, so I was okay. Whew! It didn't sound good, but I was okay.

Captain Bob and I were both on single speeds and we decided that it was time to head home after hitting the flats for awhile. the rest of the guys decided to head back too to start trail work . The final service road climbs were tough, but I made them all without killing myself and having to stop to rest. I was riding better and I was on a single speed. Go figure.

The trails were great, fast, hard, and sketchy with deep leafy cover in some spots. This made some spots treacherous, but still doable. Frost flew up off our tires as we sped along the trails. It was a great early winter ride. Mission accomplished, I headed home with Captain Bob's Mamasita in tow to repair her brakes. (Done, by the way!) The good Capitan will be testing the SE Racing Stout for a bit now, so he took that rig home. It's all good.

Spent the rest of the day with my kids and wife. Hope your weekend goes great! Get out and ride.

Turkey Burnin'

<==Alien Technology Revealed! The Fisher HiFi Deluxe 29"er.

Today was the Turkey Burn up at Camp Ingawanis. I met up with Captain Bob, Casey, Paul, and Jeremy for some fun on the frozen tundra of the Camp's trail system.

I was sportin' the new '08 Fisher HiFi Deluxe 29"er and I let everybody ride it. Really! If'n ya wasn't there, then ya missed out! I'll be posting my thoughts on the bike on Twenty Nine Inches, (where I've already got a bunch of images and info up already on this beast), but let me just say that all that rode it gave it a big thumbs up. That was kind of nice to see the reactions from the other guys. It validates my feelings about the G2 geometry and how Fisher '08 bikes are really dialed. I've always said that you can write thousands of words about a bicycle but you can't often understand it until you ride it. Some of the guys picked up on it immediately. Pretty cool!

Anyway, the ride was good. I got lost from the main group pretty much immediately since I was futzing with my booties which weren't allowing my clean entry into my clipless pedals. More knife work will be necessary, but not today. I ended up ditching the booties and risked freezing my toes, but at least I could ride. I finally got reunited with the group, but I wasn't riding all that well. Seems to be a common thing this fall. I haven't felt "on" with a group for months. I have had flashes of great sensations on the bike, even recently while riding to work, but today I was really flat.

Still, the HiFi was making riding easier and I had a lot of fun on it. However; I had to do a test run on the SE Racing Stout too. So, I switched out and took off up the service road climb. The Stout is a single speed and I was dreading the climbs, but I was feeling a bit more spunk in the legs now and kept up just fine. I got into the first section of trail and ate it hard on a leaf strewn corner heading downhill. I heard something snap. The ground was really hard. I stopped, rolled over and stood up. I could raise my arm over my head, so I was okay. Whew! It didn't sound good, but I was okay.

Captain Bob and I were both on single speeds and we decided that it was time to head home after hitting the flats for awhile. the rest of the guys decided to head back too to start trail work . The final service road climbs were tough, but I made them all without killing myself and having to stop to rest. I was riding better and I was on a single speed. Go figure.

The trails were great, fast, hard, and sketchy with deep leafy cover in some spots. This made some spots treacherous, but still doable. Frost flew up off our tires as we sped along the trails. It was a great early winter ride. Mission accomplished, I headed home with Captain Bob's Mamasita in tow to repair her brakes. (Done, by the way!) The good Capitan will be testing the SE Racing Stout for a bit now, so he took that rig home. It's all good.

Spent the rest of the day with my kids and wife. Hope your weekend goes great! Get out and ride.

More SE Racing Stout and Some News

I have gotten a ride or two in on the SE Racing Stout 29"er single speed so far that I'm testing for Twenty Nine Inches. I think I'll reserve comment until I can get a nice longer off road ride or two in on it. This weekend was a washout, literally, from a rain standpoint. The trails around here were just too muddy or underwater.

Here are some pictures to tide you over.








Integrated headsets are not on my list of cool off road component ideas, but seem to hold up well none the less. I still say why make something that could roach your frame if it goes bad. Not a necessary development in my mind. Looks cool though, I'll grant you that.










Another seat post that's too short. This picture was taken with the post at max extension. I tried riding it, but no go! I took it out and realized it was only a 300mm post! When are we going to get it through to companies that we need to spec 400mm posts. You can always chop it down to whatever length you want. Just like a handle bar. Seems reasonable to me. On a positive note, the Velo manufactured saddle feels comfy......so far!






Clearance is okay. I think some of those Racing Ralph tires by Schwalbe or a WTB Weir Wolf LT might be too tight a fit with the wheel all the way up in the drop outs. I'll have to experiment with that.










A smart move to have the geared option here. The 9 speed compatible free hub makes it a lot easier. The simple spacer kit also gives this a clean look as a single speed but limits your choices in cogs to stamped steel ones. A wider based cog, like a Surly cog, would not work without changing to a different spacer kit too. The chain tensioner on one side is smart. It's all you need. People with balance/symmetry issues need not apply!


More on the Se Racing Stout later, stay tuned!

Trans Iowa Tune Up Ride: The latest scuttlebutt is that the course has suffered water inundation at several points but that the river is retreating quickly. If we can avoid any real soaking rains between now and Saturday, we'll be okay. We're still going with the original route. Keep in touch here, or at the Trans Iowa site for any last minute changes on that. Otherwise the weather for this weekend looks to be clear and pretty cool.

Some New Linkage! I'm very excited to announce the addition of another new blog link here to none other than endurance freak/pioneer ultra endurance crazy/29"er nutcase/ and gear guru Mike Curiak. Mike promises some straight shooting talk on gear, racing, and whatever hits his radar. Plus, there are some killer photos that Mike has taken already up on the site. Check it out for yourself, you won't be disappointed. I've got Mike's new blog linked on my right hand side bar for future reference. Also, I have linked Mike's business, Lacemine 29. Mike has literally built over four thousand 29"er wheels and counting, so he probably knows a thing or two about what might work for you. Check him out for your next project.

I like Mike, I've met him a couple of times, and I'm a fan of his straight shooting style. His wealth of knowledge and experience in long distance mountain biking is huge. He also takes a mean photograph and writes an easily read story. That's my take and that's why I'm excited about his blog.

Okay, that's it for your Monday. Ride if you can! It's all about riding your bike, no matter what it is.

More SE Racing Stout and Some News

I have gotten a ride or two in on the SE Racing Stout 29"er single speed so far that I'm testing for Twenty Nine Inches. I think I'll reserve comment until I can get a nice longer off road ride or two in on it. This weekend was a washout, literally, from a rain standpoint. The trails around here were just too muddy or underwater.

Here are some pictures to tide you over.








Integrated headsets are not on my list of cool off road component ideas, but seem to hold up well none the less. I still say why make something that could roach your frame if it goes bad. Not a necessary development in my mind. Looks cool though, I'll grant you that.










Another seat post that's too short. This picture was taken with the post at max extension. I tried riding it, but no go! I took it out and realized it was only a 300mm post! When are we going to get it through to companies that we need to spec 400mm posts. You can always chop it down to whatever length you want. Just like a handle bar. Seems reasonable to me. On a positive note, the Velo manufactured saddle feels comfy......so far!






Clearance is okay. I think some of those Racing Ralph tires by Schwalbe or a WTB Weir Wolf LT might be too tight a fit with the wheel all the way up in the drop outs. I'll have to experiment with that.










A smart move to have the geared option here. The 9 speed compatible free hub makes it a lot easier. The simple spacer kit also gives this a clean look as a single speed but limits your choices in cogs to stamped steel ones. A wider based cog, like a Surly cog, would not work without changing to a different spacer kit too. The chain tensioner on one side is smart. It's all you need. People with balance/symmetry issues need not apply!


More on the Se Racing Stout later, stay tuned!

Trans Iowa Tune Up Ride: The latest scuttlebutt is that the course has suffered water inundation at several points but that the river is retreating quickly. If we can avoid any real soaking rains between now and Saturday, we'll be okay. We're still going with the original route. Keep in touch here, or at the Trans Iowa site for any last minute changes on that. Otherwise the weather for this weekend looks to be clear and pretty cool.

Some New Linkage! I'm very excited to announce the addition of another new blog link here to none other than endurance freak/pioneer ultra endurance crazy/29"er nutcase/ and gear guru Mike Curiak. Mike promises some straight shooting talk on gear, racing, and whatever hits his radar. Plus, there are some killer photos that Mike has taken already up on the site. Check it out for yourself, you won't be disappointed. I've got Mike's new blog linked on my right hand side bar for future reference. Also, I have linked Mike's business, Lacemine 29. Mike has literally built over four thousand 29"er wheels and counting, so he probably knows a thing or two about what might work for you. Check him out for your next project.

I like Mike, I've met him a couple of times, and I'm a fan of his straight shooting style. His wealth of knowledge and experience in long distance mountain biking is huge. He also takes a mean photograph and writes an easily read story. That's my take and that's why I'm excited about his blog.

Okay, that's it for your Monday. Ride if you can! It's all about riding your bike, no matter what it is.