Gravel On The Inside, Dirt On The Outside

Today was the Giant/Liv demo out at Wilderness Park, its been awhile since Giant has been to Lincoln so I was pretty excited to ride some of their bikes. Unfortunately for me, I had been suffering from a fall cold the week before. While I was starting to feel better near the end of the week I was still a bit drained and on top of that the voice had gotten really raspy and gravely, so if you really want to make the reading of this blog more accurate you'll have to use the froggy voice from the Little Rascals. That is pretty much what I sounded like, when I was able to talk at all.


It was an absolutely beautiful day for riding, just wished I would have felt better but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I've owned a Giant Anthem before, Michaela has sort of inherited it, so I knew what they rode like... yes they are not 27.5 and not 29 but I felt that they were close enough that I wasn't all that interested in those. The bike I came for was their new XTC Advanced + in 27.5+ .


They only had one medium however and it was already out, not wanting to just stand around on such a gorgeous day I opted to take the Farley out with Gary, Janelle and Ed while they tried out a few of the Giant and Liv bikes.


Even on the Farley it was a great ride through the park and the rest of the gang looked like they were thoroughly enjoying the bikes that they had taken out.


Ed had taken out the large XTC and it seemed to really hold the corners well and zip right along, I tried to get a good picture of the two tire sizes together but that's more difficult while moving than I anticipated. While they were wide, they were on the smaller plus size at 2.8" on the back and 3" on the front so there was still room for larger tires if you wanted to go that route.


We got back just in time to see the medium XTC take off for another ride through the park.


Not wanting to miss it again, I put my name on the list and decided to have a little snack. New to the shop are these Bully jerky snacks made by the Sweetwood Jerky Company. They are a hickory smoked beef bar blended with black pepper, cherries and blueberries, not only are they really tasty but they are softer than other jerky snacks making them easier to eat on the bike and they are compact enough you can stuff them in a frame bag or pack without any trouble. Don't let the cherry and blueberry throw you off either, neither was over powering and really complemented the saltiness of the jerky well.

They do make you a bit thirsty though and I would have washed it down with this Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat that someone had left on the table at the demo but because alcoholic beverages are not allowed in Lincoln parks, I decided the best course of action was to dump it out and place the can in the trash. Obviously there were some hooligans out in Wilderness today.


Probably the same hooligan that leaned his bicycle on the tire of the new shop van, that is very much a no-no and Rick spotted it right away and promptly had the offending party remove it... then they appeared to be looking for their beverage but I had already disposed of it properly for them. It was not a good day to be up to no good in the Park.



I finally did get to ride the XTC Advance and it was well worth the wait, those plus tires are almost the best of both worlds. They grip almost as well as fat bike tires but with less rolling resistance and weight they are a bit more quick on the acceleration and take a little less effort to keep spinning. If I had unlimited funds I might see what one was like long term but since I don't I probably wouldn't give up one of the fat bike for the plus but that's just me. While another bike isn't in the cards most likely, it did have me thinking about the possibility of setting up a 27.5+ wheel set somewhere down the road to use with one of the fat bikes that I do own, letting me have a more long term go on the wheel size without the financial investment of a complete bike. That also probably will be later rather than sooner but it is intriguing to think about. By the time I rode the XTC we were getting hungry and I was running on empty, as a side effect of being sick the energy goes super quick right now, so we said good bye to the awesome Giant and Liv folks and went in search of food and drink. Even in my weakened state I was able to make quick work of that, so there is a silver lining to the story. Hopefully I'll be back to normal in a day or two and be able to get out and really enjoy this unseasonably warm November we are having.

Rydn9ers Rides Some Niners

Whether you love or loathe social media, one thing that can't be denied is that it has revolutionized the way information is disseminated to the masses today. I, for one, have fully embraced social media and prefer to look at and use it for the positive aspects of it while trying to avoid the pitfalls that also come along with having so little accountability for the things we say or do on it. Anyway, this isn't a post about social media, it's a post about a guy with a goofy social media handle (Rydn9ers) riding a bunch of awesome, high quality bikes... which he found out about through social media. Dundee Cycles made arrangements to have Niner come to our great city and bring some of their latest and greatest two wheeled offerings for us to ride at Jewell Park. Had it not been for social media, well technically had it not been for Tyler finding it on social media and sharing it with me, I never would have known about the event and I would have been very sad and would have had no idea why, just that there was a great disturbance in the 29er force that I couldn't explain. This is not a technical review of any of the bikes, parts or pretty much anything... if you want a technical break down of spec'd gear Tyler has a write up for that but I've never geeked out about parts, gears, etc., if it has two wheels, two pedals and preferably two handlebar mounted clicky things that makes it easier or harder to pedal that's all I need.


Because bikes are fun and work is only a necessary evil, Tyler and I cut out a bit early to try to make it to Jewell Park as close to the starting time of the demo as possible and we were pleasantly rewarded by being one of the first people to arrive. Looking over their range of bicycles I noticed that they had three ROS9s but only one of them was the ROS9+ so I jumped on that one like a single chick catching the bouquet at a wedding... I was prepared to throw some bows at fools if necessary. Luckily there were no fellow mountain bikers harmed in the riding of the ROS9+ and I was able to take it for my first spin, this bike was awesome! My full time geared mountain bike currently is my Trek Farley running 3.8" of rubber, the ROS9+ was running the 3" Knards, the two bikes seemed to ride similar with the 29+ maybe having a slight edge in the climbing and sharp turn category. Traction on this bike was amazing and I honestly didn't realize initially that it was full rigid as the bigger tires ate up most of the trail chatter. It climbed well enough for me, descended like a dream and it wasn't until I got on the Jet9 that I noticed that the trail was a wee greasy in some spots, with those 3" tires I didn't slip at all, going up or coming down, it rode like it was on Velcro. I'd be interested to give a 27.5+ bike a try to see what if any noticeable differences there are between the two wheel sizes, if the 27.5+ comes in a little bit more flickable... if such a word can be implied to these type bikes... but still maintain the traction and trail chatter dampening I think it would be the best of both worlds for someone like me who is more apt to be found riding trails rather than racing them. The one hit I might have on this bike is that it's a 1X setup, I know it's all the rage right now but it's just never been my thing, I'll take a 2X setup all day long... give me gear overlap, give me a "heavier" bike because I have a front derailleur, I'd take the perceived disadvantages over what I perceive to be the limiting nature of a 1X setup. 1X has always made me think of the saying they use for single speeds, always the wrong gear, choose too small of a front ring and you're doing a lot of spinning, chose too big and the climbs suck way more than the need to... you anorexic XC racers need to grab a cheeseburger, a few beers, chillax an leave my shit alone and stop trying to save grams by eliminating gears. Those of us who indulge in a few too many beers and slices of pizza miss those gears dammit.


The second bike I took for a spin was the carbon Jet9, the flagship of the Niner lineup... this is the bike that is supposed to give me wood so hard I can barely ride it, drool so bad I leave a permanent stain on the top tube, this is what the industry tells me I NEED... problem is it doesn't and I don't. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice bike, it's a really nice bike in fact and it's spec'd with some nice parts or at least that's what I've been told and it's got squishy bits up front and out back. It and all it's counterparts just don't do it for me, I suppose in the right hands, make that legs, this bike probably screams around the little ribbons of dirt amoungst the trees but for me all of the double squish, ultra light carbon bikes just seem a bit too squirrely and not at all as confidence inspiring to me as a good ole hard tail. To be fair I probably haven't ridden full suspension enough to get used to the feel of them or to give them an adequate evaluation but I suppose that's because every time I get on one it feels so weird... and don't even get me started on climbing, my uncle Bob seems to make an appearance more often than I'd like. They all claim to eliminate pedaling movement but you get a wheezy, overweight dude on one in survival mode, out of the saddle climbing, just throwing the bike left and right to eek out any and all possible forward momentum and those squishy bits are going to squish. Totally not the fault of the engineer or the manufacturer as they didn't force feed me that extra slice or make me drink all that beer but the point is still valid, certain people these types of bikes make sense but for my type of people it's more akin to riding one of those stamped steel seahorses at the playground tethered to the earth via a big spring... shit just bounces every direction.


After a few spins around the roller coaster dirt track of Jewell I opted for a little road/gravel time on the full carbon BSD 9 RDO. I liked this one, would have been better had there been miles of gravel to ride it on but it seemed like a really nice riding bicycle for the little bit I did ride it on the road and the one small stretch of gravel. If I rode cross type bikes more I could see picking one of these up down the road maybe.



Last up for me wasn't even a Niner but the house brand from Dundee Cycles, this is more up my alley, light weight and rigid. I do like a little front squish from time to time but I don't seem to be as sensitive as some people when it comes to needing to have suspension up front and carbon for me does a nice job of dampening most of the trail chatter. This bike ended up being my second favorite ride of the night behind the ROS9+. This one was setup with grip shifters, a 1X setup and I9 hubs, the grip shifting took a bit to get used to again but after that it was smooth sailing. I was really impressed with the I9 hubs, first time I have ever rode a pair and they have as good as, if not better, engagement than Chris King hubs have, there was absolutely no lag when you applied the power to the pedal... and man did they sing on the descents, it was a beautiful sound... like a chorus of wood nymphs all singing in perfect harmony. At $1200 for frame and fork they aren't exactly giving them away but they are also at the lower end of the spectrum for a full carbon frame and fork and you can fully customize your paint scheme. When it's time to upgrade the single speed this bike is definitely going to be on my short list of possibilities, it was that much fun to ride.


Once the riding was done it was time to replenish some of those fluids lost to sweat, fortunately the NBC taproom is only a hop, skip and a jump (don't try this after having too many libations or you'll likely twist and ankle or worse) from my pad and they make delicious beer. Paired with one of their meatball Paninis it was the perfect ending to a perfect day of riding.

So light, so fast... so pricey

Cycle Works put on a demo day over the weekend with Giant Bicycle Company out at Wilderness Park. Up until this year I had never owned a Giant bicycle... Giant brand, not to be confused with the size of the bike... but after buying the Anthem 29er late last year I am sold on Giant as a good quality bike at a reasonable price, so I put the date on my calendar so as not to miss the chance to ride a few bikes I'd have to sell a kidney or three to obtain.



It was a great setup with lots of sweet bikes to test out, learned a couple of interesting things while testing the bikes, the first one being that test riding bikes is much more fun and less pressure than test driving a car. That might have something to do with the fact that these particular bikes are just for riding and not for sale, matter of fact they seemed to be the ones that the Giant team uses to race with since they were labeled with someone's name... unless Giant is into naming their bikes. Which brings me to the second thing I learned, I am apparently the same size as the average Giant racer... albeit female racers apparently, not sure who Nancy or Amiee are but thanks for the use of the bike... doh!



The first bike I rode was the carbon XTC 29er, super light, super fast and just plain down right awesome bike. If I had $3,700 laying around I'd be awfully tempted to pick one of these up at the LBS, it would fit nicely with the other 5 I already have. I am still a little leery about a fully carbon framed bike especially since I am not jockey sized, I fully understand that these feelings are most likely completely unfounded as they use carbon fiber in most aircraft manufacturing, what little bit of G-forces and stresses I'd put on the frame surely can't be anywhere near what an airframe goes through... but still.






The second and final bike I rode was the carbon fiber version of the Anthem 29er, the big brother to my aluminum model if you will. I was not crazy about the color scheme, which seems like a nit picky thing but when you are dropping the kind of money it takes to ride home with this type of bike it might make a difference to some. I really loved this bike but this one is way out of my price range, hell depending on the setup this bad boy might cost almost as much as my car, as this one sat I believe it was in the neighborhood of $8,000... talk about sticker shock.

While the bikes where out of my price range I still had a great time riding them through the single track of Wilderness Park with nothing more than a smile, a friendly hello and my drivers license; try that with a high end sports car sometime and see how fast they boot your ass out the door. I rode both bikes in a small frame size, I generally opt for the medium size as I am one of those in-between heights; as it turns out having rode these two frames I think I need to really reconsider the frame size of my next bike. The small size just seemed to feel more natural, the problem with this is that I generally buy bikes if I happen to find one I like that is on sale or clearance right before the new models come out, finding a medium in this group is usually challenging, finding a small may be next to impossible. Looks like I might have to save my pennies a little longer and skip the clearance... curse you geometry.