Big Bikes

Make a Change

Heading into another fun, nothing to lose (but my teeth) race this weekend. The NYCMTB All-City XC MTB At Highbridge Park. The idea every season is to do some different stuff, and this qualifies as completely different. It's in the heart of Manhattan, apparently you ride over broken glass and discarded hypodermic needles while neighborhood kids spit at you and throw shit. Sounds awesome doesn't it?

In anticipation of the event, I made some changes to my tire set up. Thus far this season I've gone with a bring a Bazooka to every type fight mentality. When I showed up to fight those quadriplegic care bears, they were totally freaked out. What I mean by that in reality is that I've run the Mud Xs almost exclusively, regardless of conditions. After watching the preview video below, I decided to make some changes.





It looks pretty dusty, dry, hard-packed, and kinda shockingly gnarly. Decided to swap the tires out to a full-size 2.1 XDX in the front. Looks and rides a lot bigger than most 2.1s I've met. Threw a wee lil' XR1 in the rear. Went out for the Wednesday Cutler ride to check the set up out. Noticed right off the bat that they roll better on the pavement, and once I was in the woods I was liking the big (to me) front tire and really noticing how fast the rear wheel spun up to speed. For Cutler's dry, hard trails they worked great, but pretty sure they would not be the thing for anything loose or muddy. We'll see, perhaps I will keep them on until The Stoopid 50.


My silly bar ends. Yes I use bar ends. I prefer Singletrack Solutions ST Lites (below) but since they are unavailable from QBP at the moment I had to go with their big, lame brothers, the "Pro" model. They are more expensive, heavier, and more ergonomic (maybe for Lobster Boy). I run them backwards so that while standing and climbing my center of gravity is farther back over the rear wheel. That and I can more seamlessly transition between my the bar ends and my normal riding position.

zzz