Out for a Spin

With the BigHit built up (and weighing in at 49.5 lbs), it was time to take it for a spin. There's nothing close by that would test this DH machine, so I decided to try the Morrisville creek jump again. It's easy to get to and will let me know how the bike will handle when it gets some air.

It's a very short pedal to get to the jump. During the little ride, I was overjoyed with how the suspension felt. The Monster T was incredibly plush - just stunning! I hit a couple of 2' drops-to-flat and it was like they weren't even there.

Here's some video of a few of the jumps:

I hit the same jump when I built up the Morewood. Note that I had a hard time keeping the nose down on the Morewood. No problem at all on the BigHit, thanks to the 12+ lbs. Monster T hanging off the front.

Only 6 weeks until Snowshoe!

Ready for Snowshoe!

I called Snowshoe on opening day and asked what make/model bikes they'd rent a 6'5" guy. I went online and got the geometry of that bike and realized that I wanted something bigger than that. So I found a couple of Specialized BigHit's for sale locally. Bought them both and took the best parts of each to build a Snowshoe bike for me.

I started with thse two bikes:

2003 Large BigHit DH	2004 Medium BigHit

and created this:

Here are the specs:

• 2003 Specialized BigHit - Large
• Frame has four-position adjustable shock mount offering 6.8 or 8.1 inches of plush FSR travel
• Stock Fox Vanilla rear shock (8.75x2.75)
• 2003 Marzocchi Monster T (mint condition)
• SRAM X0 rear derailleur
• SRAM X7 rear shifter
• Stock Hayes Nine brakes and 203 rotors front and rear
• Custom wheelset - Hadley hubs and Sun Intense Mag30 rims
• Truvativ ISIS Gigapipe 4 bearing DH, 73mm shell, 118mm spindle, E-Type bottom bracket
• Truvativ Holzfeller 7050, ISIS spline, 7050 alloy, 170mm cranks
• e.13 SRS chainguide with 38t chainring and bashguard

Now I'm ready for Snowshoe in July!

Yeti Spotting

A Yeti has been spotted in my neighborhood. Here's a photo of it:



It's a 2006 Yeti 575 that now replaces the Morewood Shova LT. The Yeti has 5.75" of rear travel and currently has 130mm up front. Once built up, it weighed in at 30.5 lbs. The Shova ran around 37.5 lbs. That'll be a noticable difference on the trails!

FedEx delivered it today. Here's what it looked like right out of the box:



I noticed some frame and wheel damage. The wheel damage and downtube damage was almost certainly caused during shipping. The headtube was likely there before I bought it.



I hope to take it out for it's first ride tomorrow!

Goodbye Dear Friend

After six months of bonding, it is with much regret that I part with the 2007 Morewood Shova LT. I'm 6'5" and it's just too small to use as an all-mountain (AM) bike for me.

Here's the last photo of it before it was dismantled:



And here's the last photo of it in my possession:



It has already moved on to a new home and I've cast my eyes to researching two used bikes to replace this one.