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Rain, upcoming events and my $.02 on the Maxxis Ardent

The weather here has been monsoon like to say the least. June featured 24 days of rain, some of it quite heavy. July has been trying to catch up. We were lucky with the Festival, a week of dry weather that held on until the very last day of the event. Then it stayed rainy.
This last week we had 12" of rain!
Needless to say, the riding here is quite poor. Even Perry Hill has succumbed to the relentless rain. The lower trails, which are still quite fun by most standards, typically stay pretty dry due to the sandy nature of the soil, but now have some really nasty spots of standing water. Everything up high is closed. Slippery rocks and ledgy terrain is not so much fun when the ground is this wet, not to mention downright unsafe.

The Pittsfield 666 Race has been postponed until August 23rd and 24th due to the soggy nature of the ground. We were to be providing neutral tech support during the race.

There is a Fisher demo event at Catamount this Wednesday. If you haven't had an opportunity to check out a Hi Fi or Suprfly, this is your lucky day. You will be able to try out these fine bikes on real mountain bike trails.

Fool's Gold is August 16th and 17th, and DA and I will be there for the Bike 29 Gathering of the South East. This should be a fun event, not only is it a 50/100 mile race, but a festival too. We will be handing out prizes for "blingiest","lightest", "ugliest", and "most creative set up" for anyone attending who is lucky enough to be riding a 29er. A road trip is always fun, and we'll be swinging through Asheville NC on our way down to check out the magic that Industry 9 makes.


Now, you have read Mandy's review on the Maxxis Ardent. We have very different riding styles and very different tastes when it comes to tires. Mandy is more deliberate in her riding than I am, she picks lines and sticks to them, where I tend to have a severe case of Trail ADD. The faster I go, the more likely I am to change my line at any given time. Sometimes it works to my advantage, other times I get into trouble. The only things that can make or break my poor riding choices are my tires. What works for Mandy doesn't always work for me, and vice-a-versa. I like the Nevegal, she does not. She likes the IRD Fire XC Pro, I do not, etc etc.

Well, I think we may have found a tire we both like. I have had the Ardent on my RIP9 since the beginning of July, and have had the pleasure of learning this tire's traits in less than stellar riding conditions. And because Mandy instantly liked this tire, I felt compelled to find something wrong with it. I have a hard time with trusting new tires, especially ones that roll fast. The Ardent is an incredibly fast rolling tire. It has decent volume, and weighs in the low 700g range. It also has good cornering knobs, which I have learned to trust a little more each time I ride.

That spectre of doubt hung on for dear life though. I kept threatening to switch my tires back to the trusty Nevegal, but never did. And finally, last night, we had a great ride on the lower Perry Hill trails that permanently changed my opinion of these tires.

First of all, there is no tire out there that is good on mud, wet rocks and roots. They all slide, some more than others. The Ardent is a tire that slides very little on off camber rooty climbs, even it those roots are wet. On descents they are fast, and provide enough cornering grip to install superhero like confidence in high speed turns.

Maybe part of it is that I finally accepted the awful trail conditions. I like to think that the tires have proven themselves. And for a tire to do well in these conditions, they must be alright.
They get to stay on my bike.

RIP9, The Next Generation

Or more accurately, the second generation.
I couldn't keep going on without a RIP9 in my stable, it is that good of a bike. Blue had to move on, so I looked at this as an opportunity to see if I could still have a bike that exuded the same sort of confidence, without the weight.

I'm now riding an 07 RIP, the frame with the seat gusset. I pulled most of the components off of Kermit, mango Royale wheels with Stan's Arch rims. The Joplin post came with me from the old RIP, providing just enough "what the hell have I done" to make me not like the new bike right away. The fork is the new 120mm Fox F-29, and the stoppers are the same Juicy Ultimates that hauled my big ass down to speed on the VT50.


My very first ride on the bike was not that good. I had spent two hours prior finishing the build, and my first ride was plagued with a nasty bunch of gremlins. These gremlins messed up my suspension settings, stretched my cables, and worst of all, unseated my new Maxxis Ardent front tire. After installing a tube up front, and fiddling with the barrel adjusters, I finished my hurkey-jerky first ride.
I would almost equate this new bike to a newborn foal. It felt awfully spindly and unsure compared to 'Ole Blue.

As I ride the bike more though, that tentativeness dissolves.
My last few rides have been a lot of fun. The new bike weighs 29.49lbs with pedals, dirt and my signature carbon bottle cage. I know that this bike is capable of the same sort of malarkey that Blue was, except that it is a different kind of horsie. Blue was a bruiser, this new silver stallion requires a bit more finesse. This new lighter weight RIP is quicker, climbs faster, and only beats me up half as much. Provided I'm paying attention. You could get away with just about anything on Blue, but with this bike, you really have to commit.

Unfortunately, we seem to be experiencing some sort of a monsoon. This last week has been terribly rainy, and all of our local trails are closed.
I hope to be able to get out in the woods again soon, but it has rained non stop all day, and shows no sign of stopping for the next few days.

Festival Round Up

So many things happened this weekend, that it is tough to do any of it justice.
Needless to say, we feel the Festival was a success. We had about 100 registered attendees, and maybe another 50 or so that came and went throughout the day.

Friday afternoon, DeJay and Fuzzy from Niner arrived with their rolling home and demo bikes, and we went out for a quick ride after I closed the shop. It was great, in a humbling sort of way. Those two didn't even bat an eye at the climb up to Jose, and they were both riding single speeds!
We finished the night at the Alchemist, where they had tapped their special Festival brew, a delicious smokey porter type of beer, that went down way too easily.

Saturday morning, we got up super early and went to the festival site where I set up our tent and repair stand. The weather was beautiful, blue sky and no clouds. Our Oakley rep set his tent up, and was loaning out cool new shades to experience on trail. Anyone who hasn't had an opportunity to check out the new Radar glasses really should try some on, they are sweet.
I had to open the shop at 10, so off I went. Coincidentally, the State of Vermont had a tax holiday this past weekend. I will say that while the numbers for Saturday weren't too shabby, I expected that there would be more folks buying. I guess folks were using this weekend as an opportunity to clear Best Buy out of big screen TVs. Oh well. I did sell 3 RIP 9s though.
DeJay and Fuzzy were getting lots of folks stoked on the big wheels. I was really glad they came, they brought the festival element with them (or maybe it was the several cases of New Belgium beer).

Saturday night was the big party at Waterbury Wings, my neighbors. The place was packed. We had a raffle and giveaways.

Sunday was another early one, and it unfortunately started to rain. The Stowe ride was cancelled, but the Waterbury folks persevered. It wasn't raining that hard and the canopy provided adequate shelter. We had a couple of group rides in the morning and afternoon. The Waitsfield ride went off on time, but I had offered to let Mandy ride as she pretty much organized the whole event. I felt I should do at least something, and opted to help with tear down and clean up.
We had just begun to unload all the small bits and pieces out of the cars when the sky really let loose. We scurried as fast as we could to get it all indoors, and then went and hid in the Alchemist for some late lunch/early dinner. I was pooped!

DeJay and Fuzzy hung out for two nights, their next stop is Mount Snow for next weekend's NORBA races. They left this morning, hopefully well rested and caught up on laundry.

Everyone I spoke with had nothing but positive things to say about the event. Obviously, there are some things that could have been done differently, but hey, this is the first time we've ever thrown a festival! We had some good ideas pop up over the last couple of days, which will make next year's event even better.

Maxxis Ardent 29er Tire Review

(Hi All - it's Mandy guest blogging with a new tire review)

Now available for 29ers - Maxxis calls the Ardent "aggressive tread tires in high-volume casings". These tires have a low center tread with ramped knobs to minimize rolling resistance as well as blocky side knobs for traction while cornering.

I've had these tires on my Niner RIP9 for a few weeks now, experimenting with different conditions and pressures and forming my opinions. I'm comparing them mostly to the ever-popular and always reliable IRD Fire XC Pro's, which I had previously ran on the RIP, and the fast and light Schwalbe Racing Ralph's that I have on my Lynskey Pro29.

The Ardent's are actually a nice mid-point between these two tires. They're fast. They're consistent. They're just like the Racing Ralph's, but with a little less 'race'. Generally I run my tires with fairly high pressure, but like this other reviewer, I found that taking the pressure down a bit made them more responsive on the trail.

I've been working hard on this weekend's Vermont Mountain Bike Festival - and was stoked to steal some time on the trail on Tuesday night to work on reviewing these tires. The light was perfect and I wanted to share a rarely seen peek at Calamity Ridge* on Perry Hill. No one ever takes photos of this section of smooth sweeping singletrack and it's a shame. Perfect terrain for these Ardents.

My verdict? These tires are fast and fun. If you're looking for an all around go-fast tire with much better traction than your everyday race tire - the Maxxis Ardent are a great choice.

*site of my posterior shoulder dislocation in 2004.

Dust in the Wind

At the risk of seeming sentimental, I am going to give give a huge shout out to my recently "ex-bike".


This bike has been the most fantastic pony in my stable, always ready, always eager to please. Sure, it started out as a svelte 27lb bike, but it packed on the pounds over the years. Did that make a difference?

You bet it did.

In an age where everything needs to be light, strength and durability is often sacrificed. Not so with this bike. It was always a completely different game for this Niner RIP9. Uncompromising traction, travel, power were the keywords at play here. I could count on this bike in any situation. I knew its few limitations, and relied on its many capabilities. I always got off the bike with a big grin. At 32lbs, with monster brakes, big tires and a great big fork, this bike had become something beyond what I'd though possible on a 29er. Sure, it climbed a little slower than the rest, but point it down and LOOK OUT! The latest addition of the Joplin seatpost was the icing on the cake.

Blue, is after all, just a bike. It can be replaced. Or can it?

All of the experiences I've had on this bike, both good and bad, have made this bike what it is, not just to me, but to many other riders out there. My experience on the RIP has certainly painted a picture of the capabilities of this frame. Not only did I learn the limitations of certain components, I sometimes also learned my own. Having the bike remain a constant when testing new products was such an amazing gift.


Blue was a first generation RIP9, new to me the day I got back from Interbike in '06. This bike stood proud against nagging production issues, was always ridden hard, crashed harder, and above all else loved more than it's stablemates by it's first pilot, me.

Blue has gone on to make another owner happy. And it always will.

You're my boy, Blue... I miss you.

Vermont Mountain Bike Festival

Today is the first day of what will be a busy month for us.

Preparations for the Vermont Mountain Bike Festival are going well. We have had a lot of support from the local community, their generosity has ensured that the weekend will be one to talk about for years to come.

DJ and Fuzzy from Niner Bikes will be there with the demo fleet.
There will be lots of rides. We'll be organizing rides at trails in Stowe, Hinesburg, Waitsfield and Underhill. Sugarbush will also be a destination for folks that want to try the gravity scene.

The Alchemist will be brewing a special beer that will be tapped on Friday night, Waterbury Wings will be throwing a party on Saturday with great food, live music and prizes.

To ensure the quality of the event, it is only open to registered attendees, so if you are interested in coming, you will need to sign up.

The weather trend is improving, and the trails are drying out nicely.
Hope to see you there!