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.

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!

Weekend Washout

I was hopeful that the weather would cooperate long enough to get a good ride in off road, but alas. I was really excited to get a leg over the Bandersnatch, and to get a feel for those IRD Fire XC Pro tires.

Last week, we had made arrangements to go for a good long ride on Sunday. We didn't back down. We dodged rain drops for the first Five Hills Ride of the year. The 5HR is a silly local dirt road ride, with lots of climbing. The ride is centered around the store, and takes us up Barnes Hill, Gregg Hill, Loomis Hill, Perry Hill and Blush Hill in order, the five hills of Waterbury (and then some). You don't ever really get more than 5 or 6 miles away from the store at any given point in the ride, which makes it convenient to peel off in the event you don't feel like riding all five. Most of the winter and early spring, I'd do at least one or two of the hills to keep the legs and lungs in shape. I've been punishing myself on my singlespeed, and decided that yesterday would be a good day for Kermit and I to attempt all five in a row.

It wasn't even really raining, it was more like a hard mist. The temps were in the low to mid 50s made clothing choice interesting. It didn't really warrant full rain wear. I chose to wear my Endura Halcyon wool jersey and Endura HumVee knickers. (I also wore wool Argyle sox to complete the whole package)

I chose wisely!

I was not cold, nor was I too hot. Wool is good like that, keeping you warm against the elements while allowing your body to breathe.
I give two very hearty thumbs up to Endura.
Incidentally, Endura is a Scottish company, and as the saying goes, if it isn't Scottish, it's crap.

Well, if the weather is crap, then I'm wearing Scottish clothes!

It's Getting Hot in Here

I just finished building and shipping one of the new disc only Salsa Dos Niner frames.
I can't believe how light these things are, 4.2lbs for a large frame.
This build features the ever popular Bike29 Royale Wheelset in green, this time laced to Stan's ZTR Arch rims. While it isn't tubeless at the moment, the option is there. The complete bike weights in at 26.5lbs.


The seat and seatpost are mine, as the new owner of the bike already had those parts. I can't really take a picture of an incomplete bike, especially when they look as good as this, so Moo II gets the cameo. Moo I & II are a pair of custom SDG saddles made for me, way back in the day, they occasionally make an appearance or two on any given bike.

Also heating things up, are these IRD Fire XC Pro 29er tires. It will look familiar to those that have used the 26" tire manufactured by Panaracer. IRD has an agreement with Panaracer, who is actually making this tire for them in their factory in Japan. It is a fantastic multi-condition tire. I received them yesterday, weighed them up, and wouldn't you know it, fit right into what my idea of a decent weight trail tire should be. Knowing the capabilities of this tire's baby brother, it should be one to watch.
I was putting off a "Test Sled" build, but now my hand is forced.

I'll have that update tomorrow. I know a couple of internet savvy folks are already wondering what it might be, but let's just say, it will be frumious.