Big Bikes

One

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting and riding around on what was a perfectly awesome geared bike (which I hated) my new Rig is finally here and I am one stoked camper. No racing this weekend and I didn't end up heading to VT to ride the gaps with Whittingham
so plan B was to ride my new bike as much as possible. Couldn't work it out saturday so I put all my chips down on sunday, all in, I don't play poker so I really have no idea what I'm talking about here.

The Rig in it's just slightly altered from stock state. Threw on a Race X Lite stem and bar, the wheels from my 07 Rig with Bontrager Jones ACX's set up tubeless, weighs in at 24.7 Lbs, with a few more upgrades I should have it a wee bit lighter soon enough.

Sunday AM, woke up at 11:30, didn't know I could still sleep in like a hungover teenager, but I pulled it off (thanks to Miriam for the Tequila shots, ow). Drank a few buckets of coffee while throwing the disc brakes on Miriam's recently converted to single speed Stumpjumper and we were out the door. Six minutes later we were on the trails, it was a wet "morning" but the rain was holding off for a bit. The roots were slick and the moss covered rocks were bright green and as beautiful and deadly as a great white shark (if it got plastic surgery to look more like Rosario Dawson).

We played around for a couple hours, at one point we ran into an all star crew of riders including local pro Sara Bresnick-Zocchi, Michael Zocchi, and MTB Mind's Rich Blair, good to see some other folks out there. Then I got a call from my neighbor, IF racer guy Greg The Leg, I made a plan to meet him back at the house in half an hour. I called another fast mountain bike riding neighbor Colin Reuter and roped him into the ride as well.

Actually a shot from the sunnier Thursday AM ride. McQueen muscling his Rig up part of the NEMBA MTB loop.

I hadn't eaten anything before the first ride of the day, the plan was to have a big brunch and the time to digest it before the sequel later in the day, but no dice. Before Greg and Colin showed up I scarfed a piece of toast with a pound of jam on it and downed yet another cup of coffee. By the end of the 2.5 hour second ride my body was devouring itself. We went out and did some the best technical stuff in The Fells, heading all the way up to the northern tip and back down again. Technical issues were rampant. Colin front flatted, didn't have a tube, and as I stood there explaining to him how he would have to kind of knot my 29" tube into his 26" tire I realized that I had, in fact brought a 26" tube. Sheer brilliance.

So we were at the top of the Fells with no tubes and more pointy rocks in-between us and home than you can swing a cat at.
Greg's rear tire was leaking but with frequent stops to air it up he was alright. Then I went to hop a log, my foot unclipped, my glasses flew off my helmet, and I came down all cock-eyed, catastrophically burping my tire. Luckily the seal held and I was able to fill it up and ride on. Greg also had the seal plate on his White freewheel back off causing the body of the freewheel to jam between the hub and the frame, bizarre. I was able to pull it apart (dropping the pawls in the dirt and finding them in the process) and get it going again. Lastly Greg developed a gash in the sidewall of his old Hutchinson tire which became a not so slow leak.

We all hobbled home under our own power and I subsequently ate enough take out Chinese food to feed a family in the Gansu province for a week.

My first impression of the new Rig is 100% positive. Why I like it so much more than it's geared, identical counterpart The Paragon is unquantifiable for the most part. It's quiet, the freehub is silent, pushing the same gear as I would on a geared drivetrain feels easier and better. It's stiff as all hell but with the large contact patch of the 29" tires coupled with the suppleness of running tubeless at sub 30 psi makes for a smooth ride. I would sit here and try to convey how psyched I am on the new ride in type but I'd rather go get some sleep and dream about riding in the woods again.