bicycles can save the world

Transition Bandit 29er

Just saw this today courtesy of the NSMB feature, can you say HAWT?! Besides being in a color I’m still a sucker for,energy drink/slimer from Ghostbusters green (and yes,I know a lot of haters will say that color is played out) it’s a 9er that doesn’t look like it’d be boat like. Oh yeah,and MADE IN THE USA right here in the PNW –that don’t happen everyday these days. Going to have to find a demo locally and check it out. Note to the Transition guys,release it in that TR250 purple. While it’s not Husky purple it’s close enough,and since Jake Locker is from your hometown it’s kind of like your God-given duty to represent.

I would make sweet,sweet lust to this bike,and even cuddle after. Click pic to go to their site and read up

This color needs to happen on the B29

29er zealots will stand up and applaud this photo,26er zealots will say it's photchopped

3:00 into this video there’s a sneak peek of the Transition 69er

Transition Bikes can be e-stalked in all the usual ways - twitter,book o’faces,or old school homegrown html

Quotable

Remove the paint and stickers from 10 carbon fibre road bikes,priced between $3000 and $10,000,and very few riders would be able to put the bikes in order of price.

-briztreadley.com

2012 Yeti Demo Tour

I’ve been geeking hard on Yetis lately. I’m not sure why. Well,that’s a lie,in the early-90s when I was rollin’Raleigh Chill/MT-500s/whatever new frame they sent when I broke another Technium lug (remember that? Magnesium lugs + aluminum tubing = megafail apparently) I,like most everyone else,was dreaming about fully Ringle’d out Yetis (or e-stay Alpinestars,or stadium rock neon Kleins with 3-way neon paint jobs). Even though I know that Yetis are no longer made in the USA (but are still priced like they are –DAMN YOU INFLATION),the Yeti bike to me is that girl in high school you always wanted to bang but never had the balls to try with and now that you’re in you’re mid-30s you want to step to her just to shut that nagging voice in the back of your head up. I’m assuming I’m not the only person with that voice,but if so let’s retract that last statement and just skip to the next paragraph.

Anyways,Yeti demo tour. Saw over on empty beer that they announced some dates for their demo tour. I know everybody and their mom wants to try a SB-66 and SB-95 so posting here so you can plan your sick days accordingly.

Bike available:
SB66A
SB95
ASR-5C
575
Big Top
ASR-C
and SB66 Carbon once it’s ready

3.2.12-3.4.12
Moab,UT
Thaw Festival
10AM-4PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Poison Spider Bicycles
Moab Bike Shop | Bicycle Rentals &Service | Shop Online

3.10.12-3.11.12
Grapevine,TX
Location:TBA
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Mad Duck Cyclery
Grapevine Texas’Premier Yeti,Orbea,Moots &Colnago Bicycle Dealer

3.17.12-3.18.12
Austin,TX
Location:TBA
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
University Cyclery
Austin Bike Shops | University Cyclery | Austin TX

4.21.12
Morrison,CO
Red Rocks
9AM-3PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Wheat Ridge Cyclery
Wheat Ridge Cyclery

4.27.12-4.28.12
Fruita,CO
Fruita Fat Tire Festival
9AM-6PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Fruita Fat Tire Festival
fruitamountainbike.com

5.5.12
Boulder,CO
Location:TBA
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Sports Garage
SPORTS GARAGE CYCLING | Boulder,CO

5.20.12
Lakewood,CO
Green Mountain
12PM-4PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Single Track Factory
Single Track Factory | Denver,CO

6.2.12
Denver,CO
Deer Creek
11AM-3PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Single Track Factory
Single Track Factory | Denver,CO

6.20.12
Lakewood,CO
Green Mountain
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Bike Source
BikeSource Denver

8.17.12-8.19.12
Oakridge,OR
Mountain Bike Oregon
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Mountain Bike Oregon
A Three-Day Mountain Biker’s Dream Vacation! | Mountain Bike Oregon

10.5.12-10.7.12
Moab,UT
OuterBike
9AM-5PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles,com
OuterBike
Outerbike –Home

I rode the SB-66 last year in Targhee and it was fun. I don’t have enough experience on high end bikes to compare it to so I won’t bore you with my thoughts on it,but I’ll leave you with one tidbit –those XT brakes are like on/off switches,so be careful.

If you already like the Yeti (and who doesn’t?) and your local dealer doesn’t carry them,you can always hit up the good peeps at Huck’n'Roll. They’ve currently got the 575 Race as well as a few ASR5 builds (alloy and carbon) on screaming deals.

Shaun Palmer Interview

You like to snowboard and you like to mountain bike,right? Welp,so does Palmer,and he’s get legend status in both of them.

Five Things I Hate About Cycling

TGIF,awwwwww yeah it’s Friday. Monday thru Thursday bring nothing but love for cycling,today though it’s time to spew some hate!

1. The prices. On everything. You can get this for less than the price of this. As much as I know the R&D costs behind moving a chain with a few rollers and a cage pulled by a cable must take I’ve got to believe that internal combustion takes more.

2. The sheeple that buy the marketing hype. I mean seriously,I think cyclists buy into the marketing machine worse than junior high girls buying into the latest boy band.

3. Companies that switch their manufacturing overseas but still charge US made prices. Seems to be the rage these days,I guess,but I find it ridiculous.

4. Along those lines,companies that buy catalog bikes,slap on their brand,and sell them as something original. Seriously,GTFO with that crap. It’s one thing to so your own R&D and offload your manufacturing to someone else (like Specialized does to Giant,or just about anybody in the biz),it’s a whole ‘nuther level of ridiculous to just pick next year’s models out of a generic catalog and slap your labels on ‘em.

5. The fact that I don’t have enough time to ride as much as I’d like. Between trying to get a new startup off the ground,training muay thai,and just lack of focus/too many hobbies I can NEVER ride as much as I’d like to!

VID:26er vs. 29er Test

I think I saw the horse twitch.

I’ve mentally prepared myself and my wallet to take part with the average annual income of a 3rd world worker in exchange for a new ride this year and have been trying to decide which side of the fence I want to play on. Current ride is a low-end hardtail 29er,have just started the process of demoing other bikes,thus far only a Stumpy FSR Comp 29er (unless you count my Yeti SB-66 rides in Jackson last year….but my wallet ain’t that deep). On one side I love the way the 29er wheels keep up momentum and float over rocks/roots/etc.,on the other hand I’m not super stoked on the boat-like feeling,and wouldn’t mind something a bit more playful. Typical,you ask a 29er rider about them and they talk like it’s the second coming of beer,you ask a 26er rider about them and you get the typical downsides. I think it’s because cycling is so damn expensive that people defend whatever they’ve purchased (be it brand,technology,etc.) to the Nth,cognitive dissonance maybe? Point being,there’s a lot of subjectiveness passed around as fact in this old horse beating.

This video is the closest thing to ‘fact’I’ve seen. Yes,the conclusion seems a bit preordained so as to not cut into sales ’29ers are faster but I choose a 26er instead for these reasons’,and it doesn’t exactly follow scientific method (seems like the heartrate difference between the two rides hints at the fact that more effort was put forth,how would that translate over a longer ride when you have to worry about bonking,etc.),but interesting nonetheless.

What sayeth you? Currently riding a 26er but longing for a 9er? Currently riding a 9er hardtail but want a 26er fully? Drop some comments and knowledge.

Ben Stiller’s night mountain bike ride

In some sort of crazy 6 degrees of separation I mentioned Zoolander the other day and then had this old video of Ben Stiller describing a night mountain bike ride sent my way. No brunch anybody?

Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29er

Demoed a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29er yesterday. Short walkaround vid below,review coming later this week!

Exposure aka Zoolander Ridin

Saw this one over on the Fat Tire Farm blog. On this trail it pays to not be able to go right. Holy crap!

NEW Swobo Novak for sale

Received a new Swobo Novak as part of a gear trade. I don’t actually need it though,massive city bike quiver overlap. Sick urban ride,3 speed internal geared hub,seat post with built in light,basic no frills looking bike that won’t catch the eye of your local bike thief. Still in the box (tho prebuilt,really just connect it up and go,not like you’re lacing wheels!),60cm (fits 5’9 to 6’3 or so),$500 and it’s yours!

Specs

UPDATE:SOLD! Time to buy new gear….