New Kid In Town: V-10

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a new downhill bike. I wanted a bike that fit a bit better (longer reach) than the Big Hit. As is usually the case, there wasn't a bike available to me to test ride, so I had to surf the forums and compare manufacturer's stats to pick the new bike. The winner is...a Santa Cruz V-10.

Those are very expensive so I had to browse the used market until I found one that was a few years old but didn't look abused. I found a 2007 V-10 that appeared to fit the bill. After some lengthy email exchanges, I was the proud owner of my very own V-10. Here's what it looked like when I built it up after it arrived from its previous owner in New York.


There were a few problems with the bike that needed to be addressed right away. It needed new cranks, a new rear derailleur, new wheels, a new rear shock and the fork was leaking oil. Some of that was known at purchase time, others were surprises after the fact. Oh well, that's to be expected when you can't test ride it before buying.

I called Fox and got some new seals and an extra firm spring for the Fox 40. I completely dismantled the fork and installed the new spring and seals. Here's an exploded view of the fork just before reassembly.


After consulting PUSH Industries, I called Go-Ride and ordered a new 2010 Fox Van R shock. I had Go-Ride send it directly to PUSH for custom tuning. I also picked up a new SRAM X.9 rear derailleur, Mavic 823 UST rims, and Maxxis Minion 26x2.5 UST tires.

On the used market, I grabbed a Truvativ Howitzer XR bottom bracket, Truvativ Holzfeller-OCT Crankset, Crank Brothers 50/50 XX pedals, and a Hadley 150x12 rear hub to match the Hadley front hub I already owned.

Today I picked up the rebuilt wheels from my trusted local mechanic/wheel builder and got the bike put together in its final state. Here are some beauty shots.

With the addition of the rebuilt wheels, I've now completed all upgrades planned for this bike. It took a couple of months to get to this point and I've taken it to Snowshoe twice already this year. The next trip is coming up in a few weeks.

With the bike fully built and running smoothly, the question remains, does it fit better than its predecessor? Well, it's about the same reach as before - maybe slightly less. However, there are some benefits to the new bike. Most significantly is the weight. The Big Hit was about 55-56 lbs. The V-10 is about 46 lbs. For the most part, weight isn't a big deal with a downhill bike. A heavier bike is more burly and, like me, has more mass for gravity to pull it down the mountain. Where I do notice the weight loss is when jumping the bike. This bike gets scary high. Way more air than I can handle right now. I'm still learning how to deal with that.

So, had I known then what I know now, would I have purchased the V-10? Probably not. It's an excellent bike, but I don't think I gained any reach with this purchase. I might have been better off had I held on to the Big Hit a little longer and purchased either an extra large 2010 EVIL Revolt or an extra large 2010 Turner DHR. However, since those frames alone cost almost as much as I have invested in the V-10, I'm not sure when I would have been able to afford one of those. I'm sure I'll post again when one of those frames arrives on my doorstep. Stay tuned. ;)

Snowshoe Videos

At this point, I have been on three trips to Snowshoe this year. I bought a new helmet camera, the ContourHD, and have some footage of this year's trips compiled into a few videos I thought I'd share. All of these are available in full HD. Enjoy.

August 2009 - Highlights Video



June 2009 - Basin Trail Montage



June 2009 - Ball-n-Jack Trail



June 2009 - Chainsmoke Trail



June 2009 - Pro DH Trail

Big Hit Make Over

I built up my Downhill bike last June. It has been to Snowshoe three times and worked great each time. At 6'5", I'm a tall rider and have a hard time finding bikes that fit me well. Although the Big Hit rode really well (and I just love the Monster T fork on that thing), I decided I'd see if I can get a better fitting bike; but more about the new bike later.

On my last trip to Snowshoe (June 2009), I damaged the rear derailleur and bottom bracket. So it was time to give the Big Hit some new parts. Today was the big day for the Big Hit. All of the parts arrived this week and it was time to strip it down and built it from the ground up.

Here it is broken down to just the frame, shock, and headset cups.


The Monster T had started leaking oil recently, so I broke it down, too. Completely dismantled it, replaced the oil seals and dust seals plus I replaced all the oil - nearly a liter (960 ml to be exact).


After a day's work getting everything just right, here's how she looks.


Here's a rundown of the build specs:

• 2003 Specialized Big Hit, Size Large
• 2003 Marzocchi Monster T with integrated headset
• Avid Juicy 3 brakes
• NEW SRAM X.9 rear derailleur
• SRAM X.7 shifter
• Truvativ Hussefelt DH Riser Bar
• Bontrager Big Earl pedals
• NEW Panaracer Fire FR rear tire
• Maxxis Holly Roller front tire
• Nearly new Truvativ Howitzer XR bottom bracket
• NEW Truvativ Hussefelt DH cranks with 38t chainring
• MRP Chainguide (ISCG mounted)
• Stock Fox Vanilla R rear shock
• NEW chain
• NEW 12-23 cassette

My trusted local mechanic has the bike now giving it one last blessing before its off to a new home for the Big Hit. Without a doubt, I'm going to miss that bike.

Niner RIP 9 Update

I've had the 2009 Niner RIP 9 for about 4 months now. I thought I'd post a preliminary review.

I've taken time to play around with shock pressures now and think I have it where I like it. I'm 220 lbs, 6'5" and ride an XL RIP 9. I have 160 psi in the RP23 and about 90-95 in the Fox fork.

I only have one complaint about the RIP 9: the bottom bracket height is too low. I'm constantly hitting rocks and roots with my pedals, feet and big chainring. I've already destroyed my outer chainring thanks to a collision with a rock. Bummer. I had the same low-bottom bracket problems when I test rode the Gary Fisher Hi-Fi Deluxe 29er, although the Fisher was quite a bit worse.



I've had to warranty my rear triangle already because the press-fit bearings on the top of the non-drive side seat stay loosened. (see image above) I guess the frame around the press-fit bearing enlarged allowing the bearing to move freely within the frame. This caused a few scary moments when g-ing out on big whoop-de-dos. Basically, the rear triangle moved out of plane from the front triangle during the heaviest g-forces at the bottom of the whoop-de sending me shooting a few feet off trail in a hurry.

I checked Niner's website and found the closest Niner dealer - Back Alley Bikes in Chapel Hill. Rob at Back Alley promptly called Niner and got everything taken care of for me. To Niner's credit, they wasted no time in replacing the rear triangle.

Today was my first ride since the bike was repaired and it's back to its original rock-solid platform.

Overall, I love this bike. The ride is wonderful, stable and plush. There's no noticable frame flex when riding. The 29 inch wheels just eat up the roots and rocks, which makes climbing loads easier for me.

Two Big Thumbs Up for the redesigned Niner RIP 9!

Ride Report - Delta Ridge Trails

95% of my riding over the last few years is done on weekdays during my lunch "hour". There is a good crew of about ten riders at my work that share my passion for moutain biking. A subset of them head out at lunch time just about every day.

We've heard about some new trail relatively close by and have wanted to sample them, but the weather hasn't been very cooperative. The Southeast has had a wonderful break in the Winter weather this week, so today was the day we tried out the Delta Ridge trails.

We knew where to find the trailhead and understood that it was a pretty good distance from work. Slghtly further than our usual trail systems. After having ridden five days in a row this week, it turned out to be a long haul to get to the trailhead for me. I felt exactly like Ben Stiller describes in his account of a night mountain bike ride. After biking for 30 minutes, I was tired, ready to turn around and declare the ride a successful workout. That’s when we got to the trailhead.

The trail itself was great. It’s a varied trail system - flowy in some sections; technical in others. I remembered riding parts of this trail 10 years ago. We were surprised to find a lot of new trail. Some of it a few months old, and one or two sections that must have been cleared within the last few days. I’m not sure how much trail there is – 6 miles? There were lots of spur trails off of spur trails. At one point, it felt a bit like our Behind the Rocks epic adventure at Moab – the trail kept going and going; getting further and further from where the trailhead was.

It’s definitely a challenging trail system. Of the four riders today, three of us had some really hard falls. When we finally emerged from the trailhead having completed the ride, we were left with a very hilly ride back to work. Long, grinding climbs are not my strength. This was reinforced as I watched Eric and Jon pull away from me fast on the first climb. We regrouped at the top of that climb, but they were gone again once we started the grind up the next big hill. I believe they beat me back to work by a good 15 minutes.

Overall, I had a lot of fun on these trails. We’ll definitely incorporate them in our normal routine, but we’ll need to find a better route there and back.

Sanford Trails

Some biking buddies and I drove an hour south to Sanford today. We rode San Lee Park and Governors Creek trails. The most surprising thing about riding these trails was how groomed they were. Over-groomed, in my opinion. Not one log crossing in 2 hours of riding. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast. There were plenty of creek crossings, climbs and all-out fun descents - but no logs.

At the end of the day, we all agreed that the trails were really fun, but not quite enough to warrant coming back too soon. With three kids, I don't have the luxury to drive 2 hours in addition to my biking time. It was precisely this problem that caused me to shift from primarily mountain biking over to road biking ten years ago. There are three decent trails in the immediate area. Otherwise, I have to drive 45 minutes or more to find some trails to ride.

But I digress. Back to Sanford.

The 29er loved the fast, flowy Sanford-area trails. I was especially pleased with the RIP9's performance in the rock gardens in San Lee Park. I dabbed only once in The Gauntlet, and saw many preferred lines in Free Fall. Although I dabbed many times in Free Fall and tried more than a few sections over again, I was really pleased with how well the RIP9 lead me through these technical sections on my first attempt. Having ridden those sections now, I'm certain I can get through The Gauntlet with no dabs and Free Fall with only a couple.

Back at the San Lee trailhead, we met some guys from 29eronline.com. They were really nice and were shocked to see a 2009 Niner RIP 9 on the trail. The frame isn't supposed to be shipping to customers for another month. After tooling around the parking lot on a Turner Sultan while he test rode my RIP9, I realized that my rear shock is setup too stiff. I'll lower the air pressure in the RP23 and see if I can find the buttery smooth plushness I felt on the Sultan. Wow, the DW-Link on that bike was plush! It felt way too soft - like it would bottom out on a small 2-foot drop, though. I think it was under-sprung for my weight. Regardless, it did feel really nice.

Considering I have never bottomed out the fork or rear shock on the RIP9, it's time to lower the pressure a little. I'll do that and report back. Current pressure is 100 lbs up front (25% sag) and 180 lbs. in the RP23 (27% sag). The weather this week looks phenomenal. I'll have plenty of trail time to play with sag in the next few days.

Dry, Warm Weather Finally

For a nice change of pace, the wet, chilly East coast weather subsided for a few days. The trails are dry enough to ride and it's warm enough for shorts and only a single layer of shirts - well, it was toward mid-day.

I met a group of four guys this morning at a not-so-local trail system - Garner Recreational Park. It was my second single-track ride on the Niner RIP 9. Ah, what fun.

This trail was an excellent opportunity to get used to the new bike. These are some of the most varied trails in the area. Technical climbs, a few 2' drops, jumps, creek crossings, rooty descents and the ubiquitous log crossings.

Of course, the RIP 9 ate up the trail. The Niner is really more bike than I need for this area, but it's nice to know that I'm not pushing the bike too close to its limits. At 215 lbs., I really prefer a bike that feels stable no matter what I do to it.

Looks like tomorrow's weather will be a repeat of today. Yea! I just love a taste of Spring in the middle of Winter.

Yeti For Sale

It's a bitter sweet moment for me. As I put the finishing touches on building the Yeti, it's time to offer it for sale. A comment was added to my last posting asking about the bike build. Here you go:

* PUSH'd Fox RP3 rear shock
* Cane Creek S2 headset
* SRAM X-9 shifters
* Shimano XT front derailleur
* SRAM X-0 rear derailleur
* Race Face Evolve XC stem, seatpost and cranks
* Avid Juicy Five brakes with 185mm rotors
* Yeti grips
* Mavic 317 Disc rims, Shimano Deore rear hub, ARC front hub
* WTB saddle

All pivot and rocker (dogbone) bearings are brand new.
All cables and cable housing are brand new.

She weighs 30 lbs. as shown in photos with heavy Maxxis Minion DH Downhill Specific tires. You can get a sub 28 lbs build really easy with the 575's.

Classified Ad over at MTBR.

Yeti Lives Again

I received a call from my local bike shop on Friday afternoon. They had just gotten the 2008 Yeti 575 replacement frame from Yeti Cycles. I rushed over to pick it up. I immediately had the bike shop press in the headset cups, and then I spent Friday night and Saturday morning building it up.



I pressed in new sealed bearings in all the pivots and installed new shifter housing and cables. It's practically a new bike.



I knew this would be hard, but before I ride it and scratch anything, I'm going to sell it. I may ride it on some bridal trails just to make sure it shifts and brakes well. Otherwise, I'll sell it while it's still pristine. She sure is pretty, though...

29'er Revealed

I recently wrote about my first exposure to the 29er craze. After test riding that bike, I knew my next bike would be a 29er. I assumed I'd ride my beloved Yeti 575 for another season and then upgrade to the big-wheeled bike in the Fall of 2009.

When I destroyed the Yeti, my timeline for going big-wheeled moved up. Since test riding the HiFi, I have been researching 29-inch-wheeled bikes and had already decided on the bike that I wanted to get - 2009 Niner R.I.P 9.

With the help of Brett at Niner Bikes, I tracked down a demo 2009 R.I.P 9 in XL at Colorado Cyclist. At 2:00 this afternoon, UPS delivered some boxes to my front door.

Here's the puzzle that was in the bigger of the two boxes.



And here it is less than an hour later.

Death of a Yeti

One of the newest trails in the area recently had some new sections added to it. The new sections include a few small kickers, or small jumps, for added fun. Of course, they are optional features since you can easily pedal around them. However, I like them. After going to Snowshoe, I crave air time now.

Being the Winter season on the East coast, the weather forecast is wet and chilly. Not too cold to ride, but usually too wet. After a small dry spell, we hit the trails again. Sure they were soupy in a few spots here and there, and the wet leaves and roots made cornering tricky, but we were finally riding again!

During the ride, we approached one of the new kickers. It's a small thing, really. Only about a foot or so high. The approach is a slight downhill and the landing slopes off a bit more. It's a great way to catch some air - albeit small.

As I approached, I sprinted for the kicker. I sailed into the air and cleared about 15 feet. The Yeti soaked up the landing with no problems at all, but the trail had a slight right-hand turn ahead. Unfortunately, I now had too much speed to get traction on the wet roots and leaves and missed the turn. I crashed into a small tree. I walked away with nothing more than a slight abrasion. Neither the tree nor the Yeti were as lucky.



Andrew, who was the rider following me, later described the crash like this:

"I only heard two things when this happened. A slap/snap sound which I am guessing was the tree protesting the blow. And what sounded like a 6 year old girl wailing because their favorite dolly lost her hair.

I saw the tree and it won’t be long for the world. But I never saw the girl or her damaged doll."

Ouch!

26er or 29er...

I'm 6'5" (36" inseam) and weigh about 210 (minus bike gear). I've always ridden a 26-inch-wheeled mountain bike. Over the last few years, I've brushed off the 29er craze. Most of it was centered around light, fast hardtails. I'm never going back to hardtails again, so I just ignored the ridiculous 29er fad.

Within the span of about 2 weeks this past November, the guys I ride with have expressed how "weird" and "odd" I look riding a 26er. They said it's like watching one of them ride their bikes with 24" wheels on it instead of 26" wheels. One guy compared it to watching a clown ride one of those tiny clown bikes at the circus.

So that got me thinking about the 29 inch wheel "fad." Maybe it was a good idea after all. It certainly makes sense for the vertically gifted; but has anyone decided to put a decent amount of suspension on those bikes, yet? Time to fire up Google...

As it turns out, there are a few decent fully suspended 29ers out there now. They've cropped up within the last three years, and a couple of them get very good reviews.

As a coincidence, about this time, a local rider posted his 2008 Gary Fisher HiFi Deluxe 29er for sale. What a great opportunity to test ride one and see if it lives up to the hype. I met the seller at a local trail and we rode for about an hour together. The HiFi weighs 3.75 lbs. less than my Yeti (with the big Marzocchi 66 ATA SL1). I noticed the weight loss right away as the HiFi climbed very well. I found it very responsive to accelerations and just a little bit sluggish when cornering - most likely due to the larger wheels size and greater centrifugal force to overcome when steering. However, I seemed to hit a lot of roots with the pedals. I found that quite unsettling.



The seller suggested I take it home for a few days and really get to know it. How could I refuse? As I drove home grinning from ear to ear about the graciousness of the seller to let me drive off with his bike, I realized that I had a very big problem ahead of me. Two problems, actually. First, I had no idea how to tell my wife about yet another bike in our garage. Second, I'll either have to spend more money that I don't have on bikes or I'll have to give the bike back. I didn't like either of those choices very much.

I rode the bike for four days on my home turf. To my surprise, I was able to clear technical climbs that I had previously not been able to do on the Yeti. That's no fault of the Yeti. I believe it's the bigger wheel that makes the difference. The 29 inch wheels want to go over all the small rocks and roots in the trail instead of bang into them and stop. I didn't have to wrestle the bike up-and-over all those small momentum-stealers anymore. +1 for the 29er.

While killing some time in a parking lot before a ride one day, I noticed a set of concrete stairs that I normally ride down on the Yeti. I thought it would be a good test to see how they feel on the HiFi, but I wasn't keen on the idea of circumnavigating the parking lot just to ride down about 14 stairs. Hmmmm... How about riding up the stairs instead? I gave it a shot. To my surprise, I made it up every one of those 14 stairs with ease. That's crazy! I could never do that on a 26er (which I proved a few days later). Ok, so that proved it to me - the 29er "attack angle" on obstacles is far superior to that of the puny 26 inch wheeled bike.

After four days with the HiFi my initial impressions of the HiFi hadn't changed much, but my prejudice of the 29er "fad" certainly did. The deal breaker for the HiFi was the low bottom bracket height. It also felt a bit delicate under my 210+ rider weight. After some research, I found that the HiFi has one of the lowest bottom bracket heights of the full suspension 29ers out there.

Reluctantly, I gave the HiFi back and thanked him for his generosity. This test ride has me convinced that my next bike will be a 29er (just not a Gary Fisher HiFi 29er). Out of curiosity, I asked the seller why he was selling his bike. He admitted that he's selling the HiFi so he can build up a 2009 Niner RIP 9, which has a higher bottom bracket and are built much burlier.