Project Bandersnatch

The Bike
I was lucky enough to get three solid rides in this weekend, and still make good on my promises to complete my appointed chores.

My weapon of choice was the Vassago Bandersnatch. I originally built the bike up and got the initial ride in a few weeks ago, but I needed to make some component changes before feeling really comfortable on it.

The major change came with the wheelset. I had originally taken a disc only Bike 29 Foundation Wheelset from my Karate Monkey to build the bike. These are WTB Speed Disc rims laced to Shimano XT hubs. While this is a great wheelset, it is pretty basic.The XT hubs do not even come close to cutting it when you require instantaneous drivetrain engagement. I found myself in need of power more than a few times and having my legs move wildly until the Shimano pawl system caught up to drive the wheel. For my personal off road riding style, they simply do not work in our technical terrain. I replaced them with a mango and silver Bike 29 Royale Wheelset. Some may call this excessive, but once you ride on a set, you'll have a hard time riding anything else.

I changed the saddle after I found that my old white leather/red velour SDG was bent. I was pretty sad about that, it was my very first bit of free industry swag. It was replaced with a WTB Devo saddle. My aluminum bottle cage was replaced with a Bontrager Race X Lite carbon one. There is your excess.

After all was said and done, the bike went from 27.75 lbs to 26.6. Pretty respectable for a trail bike. Gearing is 1x9, a 32 front with an 11-32 rear. Tires are the IRD Fire XC Pro, run tubeless on Stan's Arch rims.


The Ride
I got a brief shakedown ride in on our Thursday night group ride. I had managed to overlook a couple of things during the build that really frustrated me. I had forgotten to tighten the plastic cable guide under the bottom bracket, which slipped, allowing the tire to rub against the derailleur cable. That just about drove me nuts trying to figure out what was making that weird grinding metal sound every time I put the power down.
When I finally found the problem, it was an easy fix, and the sound did not come back.

Now that the bike was in tip top mechanical shape, I was able to get down to some serious business. Even on my descent out of our local trails I found that I was riding tight and twisty sections that normally gave me trouble at speed. Not so with the Bandersnatch. This is one of the many great symptoms of Wet Cat Geometry. It was not my foul state of mind that powered me through the turns, it was by design.

Wet Cat
Anyone who has seen a cat on the tweak knows just how maneuverable they can be. The Bandersnatch is no exception. The basic gist of Wet Cat is an extended wheelbase, slack head and seat tube, low and forward BB. This all coalesces to put you "in" the bike rather than on top of it. It also has a very unique look, and even when standing still, you get the impression that there is something going on.

Cornering prowess is unexpected. The longer wheelbase keeps everything stable at speed, and mid-course correction is worry free.

The lower center of gravity minimizes the feeling of rolling off the back on steep climbs. This allowed me clean some pretty ridiculous stuff. My typical test etiquette is to pick the stupidest line possible without going overboard to see what the bike is capable of. The Bandersnatch always answered the call with a "Oh yeah? OK. What's next?"

I did have a couple of pedal stike issues, but these were mostly due to my poor timing. Because the BB is a little lower, I paid extra special attention to my pedal location when going over teh rough stuff.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the bike. For the entry level price tag of the frame of $359, there is nothing entry level about the performance. Custom powder coated finishes are available too, making this frame one of the hottest things going.

It's a keeper for sure.

A Weekend of Riding

Saturday's ride to Hyde Park was pretty fun. We included 4 trail systems in the 30 mile trip.
The first was Bear Claw, a trail that used to see a lot of use, but has since faded away over time. This is such a shame, as it is one of the more technical shorter rides we have around here. We found the tail to have a few large trees fallen in inappropriate places. After that, the trail became hard to read. Hopefully, the trail will get raked out this year.
We decided that in the best interest of getting the ride done in a reasonable amount of time, we would bail out of Bear Claw.
The next trail system was the perfectly manicured Stowe Town Loops. Always a great time.
Next up was two trails I haven't ridden in a few years, Tony's and Tamarack. They are best ridden the other way, but we decided to climb them. Tony's features some really excellent twisty and technical singletrack through pine and hardwood forest, and Tamarack takes you though hardwoods and rocks. Lots and lots of rocks.
The Bandersnatch handled it with aplomb.
Then there was a lot of road riding with a stiff headwind. we made the trip in just under 3 1/2 hours.


Sunday morning was spent at the Kingdom Trails in East Burke VT. We did a spectacular loop on the Darling Hill side, and rode Poundcake, Fenceline, Webbs, Toadies, Sidewinder, Old Webbs, Worth It and Kitchell. We really had to boogie as rain was threatening. By the time we got to Worth It, it was full on pelting down, even under the canopy. We couldn't of had the timing any more perfect. The ground hadn't yet become slick, we were on that fine balance of tacky and sloppy. It was pretty amazing, we definitely stole the best part of the day.


The best part of this weekend, is the time I've spent on the Bandersnatch.
Holy Cow! I really love the way this bike handles. Wet Cat geometry is for real.
I'll divulge more in the next post, which will be a detailed review of this frumious beast.

News and Goings on

With a good stretch of great weather, things at the shop have been flying right along. For a while I was maxed out, but things have settled down to a nice tempo. Albeit, a high speed high volume tempo, but manageable. I haven't had time to blog, but there are some cool things happening and coming up.

The Wednesday night races at Catamount start this week. This is the longest running race series in New England, with something like 200+ racers every week. Look for the Bike29mobile, and our new tent.

DA, Nat and myself were some of the lucky fools to have gotten signed up for the Vermont 50. This is a legendary race held in late September in southern VT. Registration for the allotted 800 riders was opened and closed in a record breaking 25 minutes. I believe Jay Pro got in too, but I haven't had a chance to find out.

Jerseys are hung up in customs. BOOOOOOO!

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer, riding and BBQs. Today, we'll have a little of all of that and more. Some friends are having a BBQ up in Hyde Park, about 25 miles from the shop. DA and I are going to get our first training ride in, hitting 4 trail systems on our way there. Should be fun.
Sunday will feature a trip up to East Burke to ride the Kingdom Trails. Always a good time to be had up there. Anyone local readers thinking about going should meet us at 10am in the parking lot behind the KT office. We'd love to ride with you.
Monday (weather permitting) will feature a trip to Barre to ride the Millstone Trails. I love that place, and it is pretty convenient to get to if you want to change it up from your local trails.

There are lots of cool products to talk about, but I am going to save those for some upcoming posts. Project Bandersnatch is in effect, and will be my ride today and tomorrow. All I can say is that Wet Cat geometry is fantastic.

Look for exciting updates coming up!

A Pleasant Surprise

When I was putting my bike on the roof of my car in the pouring rain, I was thinking to myself at just how much fun this race was going to be. I mean, it was POURING! It had rained all night, and it didn't look like it was going to stop.

I picked up Nat, and we headed north and west to Catamount, where the race was being held. We were commenting on just how cold, muddy and miserable we were going to be. Well, wouldn't you know it, when we came out of the mountains, everything was dry! It hadn't rained at all. What a fantastic surprise. Needless to say, the weather greatly improved our outlook. On arrival, I found I had managed to forget my gloves, and glasses. Good thing I didn't need them.


There was no standing water on the course, the wooded sections were tacky, and the grass sections of which there were many were fantastically grippy.
So how do you do a tire comparison in near perfect conditions? Well, it isn't easy.

Bontrager Jones
My race rig was my Niner SIR9 (Kermit), set up as a rigid singlespeed. My wheels are Bike29 Royale Singlespeed, using Stan's Arch rims. I am running them tubeless, and had 35 psi in both tires. The ground is still pretty soft, even the slightest incline would sap all your strength, but it was not the tires. For being such a blocky tread pattern with a soft rubber compound, they roll fast on anything hard. They stuck to the dry grass like velcro. I was really able to lay it down in the turns. About the only time they made we nervous was when going over wet roots. I don't know any 29er tire out there that is good at that. Racing rigid was interesting too. I felt a little skittery in the rough stuff. I may rescind my weight weenie ways and put a fork on Kermit this summer, but I am going to give it a few races.

IRD Fire XC
Nat had his tires around 25 psi. I think this is way too low, but he likes the way they hook up at that low a pressure. We traded the lead over each other a few times over the race. Nat's EMD is set up with WTB Speed Disc Trail rims using tubes.

Kenda Karma
Jay had his tubeless Bike29 AYKM wheels on his AIR9, and had his tire pressure around 20. He really liked the tires. He commented on outstanding grip in the race conditions we had, and the ease at which the wheels could get up to speed. Not suprising for such a light weight wheel/tire combo.

For the time being, these tires will be camped out on the bikes. I'll be able to nit pick the tires a little better when there is more opportunity for on trail drama. There were folks running Nanoraptors, and even they had no problems.

The race results were not posted at the time of this post, but as usual, Jay won in his category. Nice job! There were also a suprising number of 29ers out there. The summer race season begins on May 30th.

Pimp my Ride

A special thanks to Chris at Factotum for the vinyl treatment on my car's fairing. It now stands out in what seems like a sea of silver Saabs. I also took delivery of my EZ-Up tent. The canopy will be going out for logos this coming week. Chris does great work.

Tomorrow is the first race of the season for me at Catamount. In keeping with the "pimp my ride" theme, I have rounded up some "race worthy" tires, influenced by Rick's comments on Back in the Saddle.

Changing a tire is a great and inexpensive way to change how your bike rides. I'd even consider it to be the most important things on a bike, seeing as ithey are the only thing keeping the bike and rider on the trail. The selection of tires below, are tires that I know will be raced on tomorrow. I'm sure there are more, but these ones are easiest for me to keep track of.

The Race

Traditionally, this race has been a mudfest. Weather here can be extraordinarily unpredictable. Rain is in the forecast, which means, it can either be really nice, or snowing sideways. Regardless, it will be a great arena for a tire comparison. Three riders, three ability levels, and three different set ups.

The Tires

Bontrager Jones ACX 2.2 Tubeless Ready
These are the tires adorning my ride. I'm looking forward to see how they do. I have one ride on them so far, and so far, so good. I rode out in Hinesburg Town Forrest last week, and was amazed at how well they rolled for such a knobby tire. Sticky too.

IRD Fire XC Pro 2.1
Daddy Nat is going to be rolling on these tomorrow. I have a couple of rides in on mine, and I like the way they hook up in the dry conditions we've been spoiled with. Once mother nature decides how she will treat us tomorrow, we'll get Nat's opinion.

Kenda Karma 1.9
Jay Pro has these on his new svelte 22.25lb AIR9 racer. This is one probably one of the most raced 29er tires out there, but they will be a first for Jay. Jay has also traditionally won this race over the last few years. Hopefully, he will crush again this year.

I'll have the results tomorrow.

Guest Blogger - EMD Review

Having been married to George for almost 9 years, I've seen a lot of bikes go in and out of our garage. A fair share of those have been my bikes. Actually, I tend to have more bikes hanging around than George because I form some pretty deep attachments to them and am less willing to upgrade to the next big thing.

Last summer George finally got me to liquidate my small army of Ellsworths and get on the next big thing -- a 29er. I had my eye on a Niner AIR 9 or a Voodoo, something with skinny little tubes. But the only frame available in my size last June was the Niner EMD. At that point I had sold the other bikes and just needed to pull the trigger on something, so the EMD it was - fat aluminum tubes and all. My requirements for a bike are fairly simple - fairly lightweight and everything has to work without causing me too many headaches. I don't like to fiddle with my bike, I just want it to work.

You can read more about the various components and details here. A lot of folks wonder if 29ers are just for the tall and lanky, but they're not. I'm no midget at 5'7", but for some reason my legs are freakishly short and my torso abnormally long. Always in-between frame sizes, I went for the small size in the Niner frame so that I could at least get a leg over.

This bike and I had a rough start. Maybe it's because I'm a bit rusty. The past three seasons have not been great for me and bike riding. Too much time spent being pregnant, dislocating shoulders, training for long distance trail runs and working full time while starting a bike shop have left me with little time in the saddle. Regardless, at first I had a hard time getting in tune with the bike. Athough I was loving the big wheels, I had a found it challenging to adjust to the longer wheelbase. Time makes things better and this year I've already seen more days on the trail than all of last year. And so far this year things are going really well, I'm liking the bike alot.

Here are the five things that I love about this bike:

1. 29" wheels. If you haven't yet ridden singletrack on a 29er, you need to. It rocks.
2. My handmade Bike29 Royale wheels. These make the bike. They were my mother's day present last year.
   
3. It's very stable, very dependable ride. Definitely nothing twitchy about it.
   
4. the weight. or rather, lack of it. i can't complain about how light this thing is.
5. It's a small thing, but I love this saddle. WTB Diva. Skinny and slim, it's awesome.
   

Overall, I'm quite happy with this setup. The Niner EMD is their lowest priced offering, at $499 it's significantly less expensive than their other hardtail frames such as the AIR9, the SIR9, the MCR. However, you're still getting a lot for your money and a frame that will make a great base for custom build.

Back in the Saddle Again

So I was totally prepared for the very involved process of changing the tires on Kermit. I had all of my Stanzing supplies at the ready. The compressor was full of air. I was ready.

And wouldn't you know it, those Bontrager tires aired right up! The beads snapped into place and sealed instantly. I was shocked.
Bontrager has developed thier own tubeless wheel system that uses a different kind of sealant, but so far, it's working with Stan's. They also have a new tire called the Dry X, which I am looking forward to getting my hands on.

To recap, I had put a bunch of new parts on this bike to get it to a more racable weight. All things being equal, a large steel bike with a steel fork is going to be heavy. I managed to get the weight down by going to a tubeless set up, which I wrote about in this post over the winter. I lost a pound, going from 24.49 to 23.53. No small feat.

Well, I replaced the Mary Bars with a low rise Easton Monkeylite. This one component change got me almost a full half pound. And the front end is so much more quiet now. Those Mary Bars, while comfortable, did little to damp any vibrations or bumps from the ground.

Then I replaced Moo I with a WTB Devo Carbon saddle. Carbon? Well, I figured on a singlespeed, I wouldn't be sitting that often, so why not get an extra 20g? Turns out, this is a VERY comfortable saddle.


And now that the big 2.55 tires are off, Kermit is a scant 22.46! And you can really tell the difference in ride. It will do just about anything you want it to, when you want it to. I don't anticipate being able to loose any more weight on this bike and still have it hold up to my abuse. I will not go the route of Ti hardware to loose grams, and while a carbon seatpost will get me almost 1/4 lb, I'm not prepared to do that.......yet.

Now, if I could only do something about taking weight off the motor...

BOOM!

Well. I had my first blow out today. We were riding out in Jericho, and had just completed a pretty technical loop, filled with all sorts of fun rock outcroppings, logs and roots. I had let some air out of the tires to get a little more "cush" and traction in the technical sections, and had no issues whatsoever.

Then we got out to a big wide open meadow, where I let it go. I guess I came into a turn pretty hard and then BANG! I blew the tire right off the rim. My thoughts are that the pressure was simply too low to be railing a high G turn, an that the large round profile of the tire was just too much and it popped right off. It happened right at the apex of the turn, and we were able to deduce what happened from all the marks I made in the ground. It's a good thing it was the rear wheel and not the front.

The good thing, is now I am forced to change the tires to the ones I am going to be racing on. I was putting it off because the conditions have been so dry, that the high volume and fast rolling characteristics of the Weirwolf LT have made riding my rigid singlespeed so much more fun. I'll be replacing them with the Bontrager Jones ACX. Still a relatively big tire, but with knobs, so that you will actually have grip in the wet and mucky. This dry stuff isn't going to be around for much longer.

Note to self, more air!

Trails are OPEN

With the current stretch of fantastic weather stretching on and on, the ground has quickly become dry enough to ride bikes on. This is such great news. Most of the trail work we did last fall paid off, there is just a few fallen branches to clear up. Ponte, DA and Patrick Kell from VMBA have done a lion's share of cleaning up the big stuff. There were a lot of fallen trees over knocked down over the winter, we'd had some serious wind storms. Their work with the chainsaw is most appreciated.

Not to be out done by DA, here I am rolling down he Wall on 6 Flags. The picture I took last year, found its way to all sorts of websites and articles, most recently the NEMBA Singletrack Magazine article on 29ers. Ironically, I took this picture of DA exactly 1 year ago yesterday.


The Perry Hill trail system now features 3 well marked loops, all of which are open. There is a trail day scheduled for this Sunday at 10am, so anyone local that would like to chip in some time, please show up at the parking lot by the tunnel. Bring work gloves, food and plenty of water.

Maverick Ride Report

This winter, I upgraded the front end of my Niner RIP9 from a Rock Shox Reba, to a Maverick DUC 32.
I was looking for something with a little more travel than my Reba, and something that was a little more tuneable. Over the last few days, I've been riding the RIP and trying to get a feel for the new hardware. So far, I've been extremely happy. The first few rides were my usual shake down trip out to the Stowe Town Loops.

Today, we visited Snake Mountain in Addison VT. Anyone that has ever ridden there knows that any equipment will show it's soft underbelly under the duress of the trails up there.

So far the only thing I want to change about the fork, is the high speed compression setting. It tends to dive hard under braking, but holy cow does this thing go where you point it! I used the travel reducer for the brutal climb up to the top of the mountain (it's a little over 1.7 miles with an elevation gain of about 900ft).


Everywhere else, the fork performed flawlessly. Not once did I feel it bind up or twist. There were lots of loose pointy rocks, steep roll downs and tight switchbacks on this ride. There were even a few spots where I chose to walk, and spots where I should have walked. There were even a few spots where I got lucky.

Treachery aside, the mountain itself is beautiful. You get to ride through hardwood stands, deer yards, giant exposed stretches of granite, cliff bands, pine stands, beaver ponds, streams and mud holes. I'm looking forward to riding down there a lot more this summer.


The most notable thing, was the post ride feeling. Or should I say lack of feeling. It's been a few years since we rode there, but normally a trip to Snake leaves you feeling like you've been through a meat grinder. Not so today. It was also the first time we had ridden there on 29ers.

Coincidence?

Yay! Dirt!

So today was pretty awesome. I received word from a friend that one of our local trail systems was dry, and quite rideable. This proved to be absolutely true. With the exceptions of a few large dead falls blocking the way, the conditions were nothing short of spectacular. It doesn't get any dryer mid-summer.


So I took the opportunity to get to know the Bandersnatch a bit. I was really impressed at how well mannered it is in the tight and technical. It is a long bike, the wheelbase is a hair over 45", and it certainly feels long. However, it was able to thread the needle through the tightest technical switchbacks with the greatest of ease. I attribute that to the low center of gravity provided by Wet Cat Geometry. It is a charmer for sure.

Climbing was excellent. I was able to stay seated an power up rough climbs easily, the front end did not lift unless I asked it to. Since the frame is designed to work best with an 80mm fork, I felt the front end to be a touch low, but not twitchy. There was only 1 instance where I though I was going to roll off the front of the bike in a high speed berm , an that was purely related to my riding position.

Everything else about the way the bike handled was great. My only real gripes were component related, and those will be fixed as quickly as possible. As the bike sit right now, it weighs in at 27.45lbs with pedals. I will be updating the blog with every upgrade.

The IRD Fire XC Pro tires were exceptional. Not once did I break traction, and I managed o put them on just about every surface I could find. Roots, rocks, wooden bridges, pine needles, some mud, a couple of damp rocks, sticks, gravel, pavement, you name it. It was confidence inspiring.
Of course, the real test will be time, but man was the first real mountain bike ride of the year ever fun!