Giro Shoe Restock and SALE!

With cyclocross season around the corner we want to show you how great a new set of Giro shoes can be for your season.  Come in and buy any pair of shoes and get a $25 gift certificate for your next purchase!

We have the Carbide, Privateer, Privateer HV, and Gauge in stock currently in just about every size.

The Giro Gauge, my personal favorite CX shoe, reviewed here.  EC70 carbon sole for $200.

The Giro Privateer, the workhorse of the line, reviewed here.  Zytel sole for $150.

And the bargain of the line, the Carbide.  With a great fit and a killer price tag, $100, hard to fault.

A Recent Visit to the ENVE Factory!

I wish I could say I were the one touring ENVE's factory, but the guys at Singletrack Magazine recently found their way over for a nice tour.  ENVE not only make killer forks and cockpit parts, but also makes many of the carbon tubes and lugs you'll find on US custom, hand-made bikes.  ENVE works directly with a number of builders to ensure that the perfect tube is chosen for each and every bike that builder makes.

Here are a couple of photos that stuck out to me, primarily because this is how my Independent Fabrication Cross Jester (cyclocross bike based on the Corvid road bike) was designed and constructed.  ENJOY!!

2012 Felt F65x Gravel Grinder

Here's my new pride and joy set up as a road/gravel bike.  There's a ton of clearance front and rear for the "27c" Challenge Parigi-Roubaix tires, though mounted onto ENVE 29 XC rims the tire measures just a hair over 30mm.  One of my favorites about running disc brakes vs. cantilever when your bike is set up like this?  You don't have to be "that" guy showing up to a road ride with cantilever brakes!

What can I say about the new SRAM Red that I haven't said in previous posts?  It's really that good...

American Classic hubs have held up great so far, but with only a few hundred miles I would expect nothing else from them.  Engagement is a little slow compared to King or I9, but they sure are light!

ENVE rims have been spot on, but again only have a few hundred miles.  The internal nipples aren't my favorite since they require removal of the tire and rim tape to true, but I'm hoping a careful build with quality spokes will ensure they stay true for quite some time.

Clearance at the fork is huge even with a tire that measures over 30mm.  Of course, it should be since it's still had clearance with a Clement PDX mounted on a wide rim that was measuring 37mm.

Glamour shot from the rear.  The wheelset really sets this bike apart in my opinion, of course they retail for more than the stock complete bike so they should make a statement!

Hayes CX-5 still don't have a ton of miles on them, but have been a solid choice so far.  Performance is there, though the weight it a little high.  The weight can't be that big of a deal though since they weigh about the same as some Avid BB-7'.

Clearance in the rear is also massive.  Again, we'd expect nothing less since this is designed as a cyclocross bike with a fat smooth tire.

There she sits, I'm a fan.  More to come when the carbon version dubbed the F1x D finally arrives, which will hopefully be later this week.

Lumberjack 100 Follow-up, Part 3

In this installment of my Lumberjack 100 follow-up, I'm going to cover the final bike setup I used.  Having ridden the course last year, I knew it was pretty smooth single track, but last year I didn't even manage 50 miles coming off of a cold.  I decided a hard tail was still the way to go, even though I was spending 8+ hours on the bike.

Looking back, a very efficient full-suspension bike probably would have been a better choice for me, but not by much.  The hard tail offered incredible climbing, but a full-suspension frame would have offered a bit more comfort on the last lap.  I did lose some time on the last lap from cramping legs, so I'm split on whether or not I could have made up for some of that lost time with more comfort.

Regardless, here's the bike from my 2012 Lumberjack 100 campaign:

Niner Air9 Carbon RDO frame, large, licorice.  PressFit 30 carbon bottom bracket, Rock Shox SID XX World Cup fork with 15mm Maxle.  This frame and fork combo is as light and stiff as anyone could hope for right now.

New ENVE 29er XC carbon rims came in slightly lighter than their claimed weight and much stiffer than anyone could have convinced me of.  After getting used to riding light alloy rims built with light spokes, it's amazing how stiff a set of 29er wheels can be when made from carbon.  Sapim CX-Ray spokes were used not because they are bladed, but because they offered the best platform for building and keeping the weight low.

American Classic hubs were chosen for their light weight and adaptability.  These wheels will most likely see some cyclocross duty and the front hub can easily be adapted from 15mm thru axle to a standard QR.

The tires may or may not have been the best choice, but I went with Schwalbe Furious Fred 29x2.0 tires.  They are shockingly light, hundreds of grams lighter than most other 29er tires, and they roll as fast as a CX file tread.  The down side was the low-volume casing which didn't offer the kind of float a 2.1 or 2.25 tire would have given.

Crank Brothers Egg Beater 11 Ti pedals were chosen again for their light weight.  Their ability to clear mud is great in cyclocross, but in a super-dry cross country race that didn't matter at all.

My favorite saddle of all time, but custom.  Fizik's custom program is awesome when you get in on it, it's quick and doesn't add an extraordinary cost to the saddle.  The Aliante has made it's way onto all of my bikes at this point, and even after 8+ hours in the saddle I didn't have a single saddle sore, no numbness at all, and no chafing.

The only cage anyone should trust, a King stainless.  King Ti is a nice touch, but it doesn't save much weight at all and gets really expensive.  The King stainless cage has a classic look and at $20 it has no match.  I've also never lost a single bottle when using one, which is the most important aspect.

Thomson X4 130x-10 stem has made it's way onto a number of my Niner bikes.  Puts me in a riding position I feel powerful and in control of the bike.  I also like knowing that it'll survive any situation I find myself in when on the trail.

Rock Shox has an excellent hydraulic lockout as part of the SID XX line.  I was skeptical at first, wondering why I'd need something other than a cable-actuated lockout, but once I used it I understood.  Smooth, light action to open your fork or lock it out.

Shimano brakes, XT to be specific currently.  They just can't be beat, and I've tried a lot of disc brakes.  Shimano has no equal in power, modulation, or ease of set-up.

Shimano XTR rear derailleur.  After 8+ hours and countless shifts in the sand, it still worked perfectly.  I didn't miss a single shift all day and after a quick wipe-down with a wet rag the derailleur looked brand new.

There you have it, my 2012 Lumberjack 100 race rig.  I'm not sure what 2013 will see me riding, maybe a Jet9 RDO or a Felt Edict 29?  We'll see.  If my fitness comes in better next year than this year, I'll probably go full-suspension.  Use my fitness to get me up the hills and let the extra squish get me downhill faster.  If my fitness comes in the same or less, I'll probably use a hard tail and hope it climbs fast enough to make up for that lack of fitness.

Lumberjack 100 Follow-up, Part 2

Part 2 is going to follow through a little photo montage of the weekend.  There are huge chunks missing since I wasn't taking a ton of pictures while racing (duh), but let me share a few things:

First, the pre-ride.  This time I DID have my phone with me to snap a couple of shots of the course.  Much of it looked just like this.  There were a few miles of sandy fire roads, and a TON of singletrack.

My wife was kind enough to grab a couple shots of Kenda course tape.  What we do without pictures of course tape!?

We missed some shots of the mass-start, which I can't help but to assume was fun to watch.  400 or so people buzzing down the road on knobbies at 25+ mph had to be kind of neat.

Luckily there were a few shots snapped coming in after lap 1.  Think it was a but dry and dusty out there?

Here's Rob coming in after lap 2.  Still in good spirits, it's all about getting out for lap 3.

Barry Wicks is a nice dude, but when someone is able to win a 100 mile MTB race in under 6:30 and have a smile on their face at the end I just want to punch them.

And then there's me, rumbling through the finish at 8:27.  Exhausted, but I had a great time up there.  I'll be back again.

Welcome to Lumberjack 100!

The drive is done, the training is in the books, my bike is ready, now it's time to find out if my legs can make it. 

I've just returned from about 15 miles of riding on the course and it's exactly as I remember it.  Plenty of going up, a ton of sand, ferns galore, and a lot of fun.  This is my kind of trail riding, very little fear of smacking into a huge rock and a lot of speed.  The trail is very buffed out for the most part with the sand smoothing it out, but it's easy to find yourself drifting off the trail if you aren't paying attention.  Much like a cyclocross race, sand can push you around, and if you work too hard against it you'll end up on the ground.

For me, I've found a really smooth tread has made the trail feel fast and the smooth tread doesn't dig into sand.  If you stay light on the bike it glides through the sand and doesn't push you too much.

Enjoy these couple of photos, I wish I could have talked myself into stopping to take more.  The vast majority of the course looks just like this, smooth and fast.

Wish me luck tomorrow as I come back to this race.  Last year I was coming off of a nasty cold and the climbing got to me.  This year I am coming back to show myself I can do this.

I also want to wish all of my comrades out there the best of luck tomorrow.  Ride hard, have fun, and I'll see you at the finish.

NEW BIKE DAY! Independent Fabrication Ti Factory Lightweight

This one is getting ready to see it's day.  But, one last teaser of one very fun project....

New Build: ENVE XC 29er Carbon Clincher to American Classic Disc Hubs

Everything from basic 26" mountain wheels, bomber touring wheels, and even the occasional carbon mountain race wheelset, we build our fair share of wheels.  There are pros and cons to building wheels on a regular basis.  On the pro side I get to practice and improve my skills routinely.  On the cos side when it comes to building wheels for myself I usually rush through it to get it done.  I have an attitude when building my own wheels akin to stopping when they are "good enough" rather than done right.

This wheelset, after thinking about the components of it for quite some time, needed to be done right.  I don't build a ton of ENVE rims, but so far every one of them has been a pleasure.  They handle very high spoke tension, are perfectly finished inside and out, and are perfectly straight right out of the box.  To be honest, it's almost like cheating they build so nicely.

The rims came in at 379g and 381g, both under the claimed weight of 385g.  I love when manufacturers can actually be honest with their claimed weights.

Internal nipples aren't my favorite in any wheel, but I've grown to like building with them recently.  They offer a very secure connection between themselves and the nipple wrench which all but eliminates any opportunity for rounding a nipple.

Spokes are Sapim CX-Ray, an industry standard.  They are outrageously expensive, but in my opinion well worth it.  A bladed spoke won't offer any aerodynamic benefit on my XC wheelset, but it does allow me to easily hold the spoke straight while building to prevent any spoke wind-up.

Hubs are American Classic Disc.  This is a controversial choice, but not one made without much deliberation.  I would have preferred DT Swiss hubs, but the 240s front 15QR hub doesn't convert to a standard 9mm QR, and I hope to use these wheels for cyclocross, so I needed a hub that's convertible.  In strong contention were Chris King hubs, which are easily converted, but I had a strong ambition to build these wheels at or below 1400g and the King hubs wouldn't allow that.  Here is where the American Classic hubs shine: they are light, really light, and can be converted from 9mm QR to 15QR Maxle in the front, and many different rear axle configurations.  We have a winner.

Front hub came in at 118g, rear at 234g.  Claimed weights were 116g and 225g, front and rear respectively.

Here's the completed wheelset.  So close to managing the 1400g goal, I finished up at 1410g.  There are lighter wheelsets out there, many even cost less, but what those wheelsets really give up are stiffness.  Super-light alloy wheelsets are great to save weight, but those light rims are flexy and prone to denting (so I have found).

NEW BIKE DAY! Lynskey Helix with Ultegra 6700

We never tire of building these bikes.  Lynskey is one of those companies that can be so easy to deal with, or so tough.  Depending on their current work load and schedule, you can sometimes get your bike in 2 weeks.  Other times though, if you catch them at the wrong time, it can be 12 weeks.

Luckily this time around, we called at the right time.  This large Helix was ordered as a part of their special for a complete bike with Shimano Ultegra 6700 for about $5000 a mere 16 days ago!  This frame had been produced and was waiting for it's brushed finish and white decals then it was ready to roll.

Lynskey has a whole pitch on the Helix tubing and it's advantages.  I'll divert to their expertise on the actual tubing, but after spending more than a year on one I can tell you it's super stiff but retains the magical Ti ride.  It's extremely compliant on rough roads but still very snappy.  It doesn't have the low-speed, high-torque sprint of an oversized carbon bike, and it's slightly heavier, but since I rarely race on the road those qualities all sit fine with me.

Nice touches on the bike, like this brake bridge, are something many custom builders are known for.  Lynskey doesn't stop there, though....

They also use these beautiful Ti dropouts with the Lynskey clover and bullets ending the stays.

The Lynskey headtube badge is also available separately as a key chain for the Lynskey-lover in your life.  It's a nice touch as a gift as well to remind someone how much they love their bike.

Welds are top-notch as always from Lynskey.  I always expect to find something less with their pricing level, but they continue to impress.

Decal application is always perfect from the factory.  I've had to install a few replacement decals over the years, and it's shockingly difficult.  The decals are terribly thin and fragile until applied.

ENVE fork is always a staple on a new custom build.  I was happy to see Felt placing ENVE forks on their high-end framesets such as the F1x as well.

Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset makes for a killer training and racing wheel.  Not the more aero, but incredibly durable!

Shifting that's head and shoulders above all else, Shimano hollow front chainrings are the best in the business.  Until you've used it, you just can't know.