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Brian's Bikes |
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Brian's Bikes |
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My current top rated rides: SWEET!
As many of you know I keep up pretty well on all the cool new cycling innovations and personally try out many products. I go to the Interbike trade show every year and there are always new and exciting products that are introduced. Some work out and become a main stay of the cycling world and some do not.
I love cycling and I love the technology that goes into them. I try to find and ride the very best of everything there is to offer... within reason ;-)
The numerous questions about my bike(s) I ride might be answered below. I have posted up my current ride(s) and will add reviews and comments as I have time. I will try to keep it up to date as my bikes are in a constant state of change.
YOU CAN BE SURE OF THIS: If you have not checked out the newest technology of the last couple of years you are missing out on substantial improvements that have been made in this industry.
Santa Cruz is a new sponsor for us this year and the Tallboy 29er is my latest great ride:
I now have a ANOTHER FAVORITE BIKE! This bad boy rolls over chop so nice! A little harder on the climbs (more rotational weight) but I think a set of light weight Stan's wheels and careful tire choice will cure that.
This bike is currently a "stock" Santa Cruz XTR XC build with the 120mm fork. I've replaced the Fox fork "FIT" damper with a Terralogic damper for a much better pedal platform (It's like having an automatic lock out). Other than my plans for Stan's wheels this bike will probably stay pretty close to what it is now. It's a good build set.
The more I ride this bike the more I realize I'm going faster on sketchy stuff than my 26er's. I'm leaving my bud's behind! Plain and simple it's a FUN and FAST bike. I think with a lighter wheelset it will easily rival my Ibis flyweight XC race machine! (see below).
I just got back from a ride at Browns Ravine past Spanish House.... I have not had that much fun in a while. I think that trail is perfect for this bike. I was able to keep up with "fast Andy" on the flats and nasty technical (usually he leaves me in the weeds). I was apparently going fast enough to make him a little nervous on the choppy downhill stuff. Yee ha! It just seems a lot less work over the nasty stuff. I do think if I were to race this bike I might install a 20mm spacer in the fork and drop it dow to 100mm. I think the little quicker steering and a slightly steeper head angle would help for racing a bit, especially in the hard pack, as the front end pushes just a bit now.
How do I like this bike? I've intentionally not ridden my Mojo (below) in almost three weeks. I wanted to get real comfortable with the TallBoy and then go back to the Mojo and see what I think. Currently as I said above, my only slight complaint is a bit more rotational weight to push up those hills... but I tell ya, 29er's like to roll! Final verdict in a few more days.
Here is my Ibis Mojo as of 04/01/2010. It is a flyweight (yet long travel) XC racer at 21.8lbs.
Frame: Ibis Mojo SL - Medium w/Fox RP23"Fork": Cannondale Lefty Carbon 140 PBR Steer tube: Project 321 Lefty adapter Wheels: Stan's NoTubes Olympic rims on American Classic rear hub and Project 321 front hub. Rotors: Scrub Components - 160mm Ft, 160mm Rr Tires: Changes with conditions, WTB, Kenda , Specialized, Bontrager Crank: Shimano XTR M970 - 175mm Pedals: Crank Bros 4 Ti Egg beaters Cassette: Shimano XTR 12-34 Derailleurs: Shimano XTR M971 Brakes: Shimano XTR hydraulic disc M975 Brake line: Jagwire HiFlow hose Der Cable: Jagwire Ripcord Stem: Ibis 3D forged 110mm Handlebars: Easton MonkeyLite XC carbon Seatpost: Easton EC90 carbon Saddle: Selle San Marcos Caymano - carbon/Ti Grips: Bontrager XXX foam Additional Info: Current weight 21.8 lbs 5.5" travel front, 5.5" travel rear
So how do I like this bike? I love it. The Mojo is an awesome bike. I consider it an "All mountain cross country racer" It does both extremely well. I suppose if I were to going to seriously set it up for race the only thing I might change would be to go back to my Fox 130 or 140mm fork with the Terralogic inertia dampening valve for a better pedal platform. The Lefty has a lock out, but during racing I'd rather not fiddle with it. The Lefty that is on there now is simply the plushest and laterally stiffest "fork" (actually a strut) I've ever ridden. It tracks superbly and it's point and shoot over the nasties. The "DW LINK" on the rear suspension works awesome, plush yet minimal bob when you stand up, no wonder so many frame manufacturers are using it now. You turn on the "Pro-Pedal" on the shock and the bob really goes away... but I almost always run mine open for better bump roll over. This bike is basically a full Shimano XTR rig and the new XTR stuff works great. The shifting is smooth and the brakes are very good at my weight (145#). The current Lefty is more more "all mountain" oriented, but has a push button lock out, so still OK for XC racing. General opinions and recommendations: Here is a question I get ALL THE TIME: I want to do some upgrades on my bike and cannot afford a new bike, what should I do? The first two things I would recommend are:
I was a real hold out on the tubeless thing... I was kinda "forced" into tubeless when I bought a used single speed. I could not believe how well it handled over the bumps! I was used to running 35-38 lbs of air pressure, now I am running only 22-24psi! Amazing! What about rolling resistance? With high pressures the very small gain you might see in reduced rolling resistance (and only on flat, smooth hard pack) is negated by the bouncing up and back over anything else. The many benefits of tubeless outweigh tube tires by far IMO: Better handling, better bump roll-over - this is where you really make up a lot, and better traction. I actually run my tires as low as possible, until I start to feel excess side wall flex, or I'm in danger of hitting my rim. Currently I run 22-24psi. To be added onto as I have time.... A few more pic's:
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