Leopard 29R review

I’ve had a chance to ride some fine bikes.  Some of them I’ve loved and have kept my passion for cycling strong.  Others, not as much.  The Leopard Cycles 29R mountain bike definitely falls in the former category. 

Having just come off a rough relationship with my previous carbon fiber hardtail 29er, I was hesitant to jump onto another this season.  I was assured by my local Leopard representative that the 29R was designed with a high amount of compliance, the lack thereof being the major complaint I had about my previous carbon rig, so I decided to take the plunge.

I’ve been riding and racing the 29R for 3 months now and after making a few tweaks, I feel like I am comfortable enough on the bike to offer an opinion.  For reference, I am an upper level CAT 2 mountain bike racer/rider from the Midwest who’s longest race on the bike has been a 12 hour duo event.  My favorite trails are are technical singletrack with lots of tricky climbs and descents. 

First of all, there is a lot to like about this bike.  It’s efficient like my previous carbon 29er but much more compliant in the rough stuff.  The frame does more than you would expect from a hardtail to smooth out the trail.  I’ve done some really rough endurance races on rocky singletrack without feeling beat up.

At 5’ 9 1/2”, I’m on the edge of the size 17” frame, but with a 110mm stem, I’m able to make it work.  With the longer stem, the steering was just a hair slow for my taste, so I cut down my 660mm wide handlebar a little and it’s improved the issue.

It climbs well, it flies in the flats and it is completely competent on the downhills.

This frame is tough.  I’ve had a few bad incidents with this bike, including the worst I’ve ever had, and the bike is no worse for wear.

Not only tough, this bike is light, too.  I'm running a full SRAM 2x10 XX drivetrain except for the RaceFace Next SL crankset which is lighter than the xx crankset, Stan's Crest rims mated to Chris King wheels, 100mm Fox 32 Float 29 FIT CTD fork, Answer Protaper XC Carbon handlebar and the older generation Shimano XT brakes. Including the Crank Brothers Candy 2 pedals, two water bottle cages and Garmin cycling computer accessories, the bike comes in at 21.25lbs with room for improvement. 

Bikes don’t come much better looking than Leopards.  You can choose from a number of different colors, pre-designed paint schemes or even have your Leopard custom designed.  Add to that internal cable routing and you've got a bike with clean lines that looks as good as it performs.

The only quibble I have about this bike goes back to sizing.  I only wish the 29R was available in an 18” frame which would would allow me to run the bike with a stem shorter than 110mm.  I’m not sure if they would ever consider it, but that’s my 2 cents.

It’s a tough, competent bike that’s stiff where it needs to be and compliant where you want it to be.  The geometry is right where it should be to handle everything I’ve thrown at it.  It’s a bike I would highly recommend if you are looking for a new hardtail 29er for trail riding or XC racing.

Of course, all of this carbon fiber awesomeness is a lot less fun if it's never working properly.  I'd like thank Wilhelm Harm of Harm Cycles for doing a great job building up and and maintaining this bike.

Serenity on the trail now!!!

I've been on rides where I've been enjoying the ambient sounds of the forest as I fly through the trees and the sound of my tires digging into the dirt as I push through a corner.  I've often found the sound of my chain slapping against my chainstay to be somewhat intrusive to that experience.  Over the last few weeks I've been playing with a new drivetrain and wheel combination on one of my mountain bikes.  I want to share the good word about it because it's been such a blissful experience.

I'm running True Precision Stealth hubs which are a completely silent, instant engagement hub.  Besides being delightfully silent, they are also made in California, USA just as the revered Chris King hubs.

I was previously running these hubs with a Shimano XTR rear derailleur with XT shifters.  Shifting performance was great, but my main complaint was that any time I hit any bumps at all, it sounded like my drivetrain was breaking off.  Enter the SRAM Type-2 rear derailleur.

SRAM claims the Type-2 derailleurs deliver maximum drivetrain stability—even through the most punishing technical terrain.  Through the use of a Roller Bearing Clutch the rear derailleur maintains more consistent chain tension which not only helps with shifting performance and reducing chain drops, it also makes for noticeably less chain slap.  With less chain slap comes a much quieter and more enjoyable ride (for me anyway).

Don't get me wrong, if you get into some rough stuff you'll still get some chain slap, but much, much less.  The feel of the X.9 shifters and rear derailleur aren't quite as good as the Shimano XT/XTR setup, but other than that the shifting performance is good.

If you want an awesome setup for a much quieter mountain bike ride, I highly recommend the True Precision Stealth Hub, SRAM Type-2 derailleur combination. It has really transformed my riding experience.  Through my rides over the last few weeks, I've felt a stronger connection to the trail and to nature and I really think quieting down my bike has been a big part of that.

Weather behaving badly

My friend Ryan and I had been scheming to destroy some sweet southern singletrack for a majority of the winter.  Our time finally came and we piled all our stuff in my car and pointed it toward North Carolina’s Great Smokey Mountains.  About 16 hours later and a scoot up the legendary Dragon’s Tail, we arrived in the general location of our adventures.

Out of all the great trails in the Pishgah National Forest Area, we decided to ride Tsali as this was our first real mountain bike ride of the season.  The weather called for two straight days beautiful weather.  After spending the night at the trailhead, we geared up and headed out on the trail. 

We marveled at the grand sights offered up by the mountains and savored every second of riding the sweet singletrack.  We weren’t even bothered by the amount of climbing we had to endure.

And then the weather started.  We were setting up a shot with our cameras when out of nowhere, rain drops started falling from the sky.  It didn’t last long though.  This happened several more times before we were finished with our ride.  Then, in the last mile or so of the ride, a brief down pour hurried us off the trail.

Our evening ride was rained out so we spent the night hanging out at one of the coolest coffee shops/bars in the mountain town of Franklin, NC called the Rathskeller.  It’s amazing how things work out sometimes.  Instead of riding like we had planned, we spent the evening conversing with the owners and other patrons and taking advantage of the wifi and electricity to charge our gear and check out the media captured from our day on the trail.

In the morning we work up early to sunshine as the last of the night’s rain hung from the leaves and grass.  We took the opportunity to take some amazing photos and explore the campground a little bit.

The sun warmed and dried things up quickly and we headed out for another ride.  After our ride we tore down camp and headed up to Indiana to ride the trails at Brown County State Park.

It was in the 70’s when we left NC and in the 40’s when we arrived at Brown County where according to weather.com, it was supposed to be beautiful and sunny the next day. 

We were awoke in the middle of the night by thunder and lightning.  It rained all night and completely soaked the trails.  So we broke camp and headed home early. 

Moral of the story: never trust the weatherman and bring all the gear you will need for all conceivable weather conditions.

The Wisconsin Bike Summit

A few days ago I had the opportunity to participate in the Wisconsin Bike Summit. It was a great chance to meet with state bicycling leaders as well as the legislators in our respective districts. We sat in on bicycling related seminars and learned how to effectively present information to our representatives.

The two issues to discuss with our legislators were the support of a vulnerable user law that would help give prosecutors options when pursuing charges against motorists at fault in incidents involving vulnerable users such as bikers, walkers, motorcyclist and anyone else traveling on the road legally that is not surrounded by a 3000 lbs steel cage.

As the situation currently stands in the state of Wisconsin if a motorist is at fault in an incident that injures a cyclist (or other vulnerable user), prosecutors only have two options on opposite ends of the spectrum. A normal, everyday traffic ticket like a speeding ticket or inattentive driving; or on the other extreme they can pursue vehicular homicide which can be very tricky to prosecute. This vulnerable user legislation gives prosecutors some middle ground where the punishment would more accurately fit the crime.

The other issue was a consistent, dedicated source of funding for bicycle transportation and other bicycle related projects. Something that is currently lacking from the state budget.

First up was a visit to my State Senator, Neal J. Kedzie. During our visit we were informed that both the Senate and Assembly were in session, so we met with staffers instead. It was a little disappointing not to be able to speak to the representatives themselves, but at the same time the staffers are the ones who do the research and get stuff done.

At Senator Kedzie's office we met with staffer Doug Wheaton. We had a very engaging conversation about the issues we came to discuss. Doug was very noncommittal, but he was willing to listen and engage in dialogue which I took as a positive sign. When it came to funding, of course there was no money in the budget. But like I said, he did listen to our concerns and at least managed to seem concerned with our situation. So I walked away feeling like we had a good first meeting.

Second up was a trip to our Assemblyman Stephen Nass where we me with his Policy Advisor Mike Mikalsen. When the issue of vulnerable users legislation came up, we were told that Rep. Nass does not support the bill. He was not willing to consider our point of view and throughout the whole meeting never asked a single question to show he was interested or fully understood what we were trying to ask him to consider. I asked him several different times to reconsider his position using several different approaches, but he was not willing to budge from his stance. So I urge you to email (Rep.Nass@legis.wisconsin.gov) or better yet call him ((888) 529-0031) and encourage him to make your safety a priority, because based on my conversation with his office, I feel he currently does not. When the issue of money was brought up, we were given a speech about the current financial state of the state. In other other words, nope.

In retrospect we probably didn't do a good enough job of selling bicycle infrastructure as an investment rather than just another bill for taxpayers. Oh well, live and learn.

My follow up plan looks something like this: I will write a follow up email to Senator Kedzie thanking him for his time and encouraging him to continue considering the issues we discussed. I plan on writing weekly or monthly emails to Rep. Nass thanking him for his time and urging him to reconsider his support for a bill that will help to protect many of his constituents. Perhaps I will call or email his office every time I finish a road ride and share every time I almost get taken out by a motorist (which is more times than I am comfortable with already).

We wrapped up the summit with two mingling sessions where I met quite a few interesting and influential people, including Kevin Hardman (Execute Director of the Bike Federation of Wisconsin) and Bridget Brown (the Wisconsin DNR trails czar (exact title may differ)). The last session of the night was hosted at the Trek Bicycles Mansion where I got to meet the owner of Trek Bicycles and a few other leaders in the industry. It was a beautiful house and I'm glad I had the opportunity to visit and mingle was such great folks.

I want to thank IMBA and the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and all the other sponsors of the summit for coming together to put on such a great event. Also I want to thank Trek bicycles for opening up their house so that we could continue to build relationships after the summit had officially ended. It think it was an excellent success and I look forward to attending in the years to come.

The Upcoming Season

We just go back from the Bahamas and I've had a chance to think about the upcoming mountain biking season. Which direction do I want to go for this upcoming mountain bike season? Last year I had a tremendous amount of success in the Wisconsin Off Road Series which consists primarily of XC races while participating in only 2 DH and 1 one Super D race. So successful in fact that I am a mandatory move from the sport class to the comp class. I worked hard and had a great time, but I've been wondering if I want to pour all that energy (and then some) into XC racing again this season.
I've always defined myself as a rider who races and not a racers. And I'm a rider who all kinds of variety that mountain biking has to offer. So with that in mind and the recent surge in regional downhill races, I've been thinking about making the gravity events priority over the XC races (with a few exceptions, of course). I'm also considering traveling out of my region for a couple gravity events. Going down to Snowshoe in West Virgina to hit up a race there fellow flight crew member Dan Lucas and Airborne Bicycles Customer Service Czar Eric McKenna is an option.

I'd really like to do well and continue to progress as a XC racer, but I know I can't have everything. Since I'm never going to be a pro mountain bike racer, does it really matter if I don't do as well this year and just have fun enjoying the sport in it's many different forms?

What say you and what are your plans and goals for this upcoming season?

While we are waiting for warm weather riding check out this video and look for a new video review of the Bikeray USA Bikeray III light.

Final thoughts on the Airborne Goblin 29er

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you know that I’ve been riding and racing the Airborne Goblin 29er all season long. From endurance races including the 24 Hours of Wausau to the shorter Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) races across the state of Wisconsin, I’ve been riding the wheels off this bike. You’ve also heard me talk at the beginning of the season about being a little cynical about the whole 29er thing. But, one toasted bottom bracket and destroyed rear derailleur later and it’s still going strong.


I’m going to do this in a bit of reverse order. First, I’m going to list the issues I had with the bike instead of the normal method of listing pro and then cons (just for fun).

I’ve had issues with the rear shifter at times during the season. The issues usually occurred during foul weather riding so there it is a good bet that that had something to do with it. However, I’m not a big fan of the X.7 shifters. I find the feel to be lacking. I think the throw is too far and the feeling is not as solid and definite as higher level shifters. But with higher end shifter comes a higher pricepoint so I understand the choice of the SRAM X.7 here.

Later in the year I had some issues with the rear derailleur. Firstly, the lower jockey wheel cracked all the way through. Luckily, it happened at the very end of my ride (or race, I really can’t remember which at this point). The replacement derailleur ended up failing a couple months later when the b screw tab bent causing severe shifting issues during a race preride. The onsite race mechanic was able to rig something up to get me through the race the next day and through the following warranty claim. In the end though, the drivetrain never failed to the point that I could not finish a ride or race.

I'd point out that I am the only one on the Flight Crew reporting drivetrain issues on the Goblin so I don't expect the above issues to be the norm.

Now the good stuff. Let’s start with the obvious. The wheels. The 29er inch bad boys roll. I know I was skeptical at first of the big wheels. I thought they would be clumsy and slow through the singletrack. To be completely honest, I thought the big wheels were for unskilled mountain bikers and they loved them because the wheel just rolled over everything. The last part is true. The wheels will roll over just about anything, but they can also be very fast and surprisingly nimble in the hands of a skilled rider.

I’ve been out riding at local trails and received several comments about how nimble I made the big wheels seem. But trust me, my first month or so of riding the bike was a real feeling out process. It took me nearly a half a season to really tap into the potential of the big wheels. And now that I have, I can hardly imagine XC racing with a smaller wheel.

The stock Avid Elixir R brakes are a decent set of brakes. They have good power and feel. Since I have shorter fingers the tooless reach adjustment is really nice. In the end, I decided to go in a different direction with the brakes to save some weight.

The bike is a bit on the heavy side for racing, but in all fairness, the Goblin is not designed as a pure racing machine. It is designed and equipped with trail riding more in mind than racing. So to get the weight down and the handling where I wanted it, I made a few modifications.

The first modification and the one I would recommend for anyone planning on racing the bike is upgrading the wheels. I chose the Sun Ringle Black Flag Pro wheelset. Not only did I loose a fair amount of rotational weight in the switch and gain points of engagement in the rear hub, the gold hubs, nipples and decals look awesome with the green, black and white of the Goblin. That upgrade was a total win.

The next major upgrade was the Fork. I swapped out the Rock Shox Reba for a Fox F29 RLC with a 15mm thru axle. There was nothing wrong with the Reba, I just happen to like the feel of the Fox forks. I found the 15mm axle stiffened up the bike a bit and the weight savings was nice for racing. I also really liked the the slight increase in travel going from 80mm to 100mm. I’d really like to see the stock Reba come set to 100mm travel setting. I really didn’t notice any slowing down of the steering with the change either.

Other modifications that mostly had to do with weight were (in no particular order): Thomson Masterpiece seatpost and Elite stem, Avid XX brakes and Answer Protaper XC carbon handlebar and KMC X10SL chain. I ran a set of Shimano XT brakes for the first 3/4 of the season and actually liked the feel and power of them better than I do the Avids. The drop off in performance isn't that bad so I’ve stuck with the weight savings of the Avids for now. I’ve had the rear brake bled once already and it isn’t holding proper pressure. If the problem persists, I may end up going back to the XT’s.

I began the season by taking off the stock 2.1 Kenda Small Block 8’s and swapping them out with 1.9 Hutchinson Pythons. As much as I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to like the Pythons. They felt very squirrelly to me and I didn’t much care for the narrowness of the tire. So without any hesitation I went back to the Small Block 8’s and couldn’t be happier with that choice. I really like the tire choice here because of the predictable and solid feel of the Kenda’s.

Like I said before the Goblin is not designed and equipped as a pure racing bike. The geometry is more slanted toward trail riding with a 71 1/2 degree head tube angle 74 degree seat tube angle. However, the Goblin does have a decently low bottom bracket. This makes the bike feel great in the corners. I found this also takes a period of adjustment. Upon hopping on and riding the Goblin, I found I was having an unusual number of pedal strikes. After adjusting my riding to compensate for the pedal strikes, I now have no more than normal. I just have to accept the fact there are some places I couldn’t catch an extra pedal stroke like I do on some of my other bikes. I find that the bigger wheels generally roll over what I would normally want to pedal over with a 26 inch wheel, so I don’t feel I’m loosing anything, just not gaining as much as I want to. But there is always tradeoffs with geometry. You can’t have everything.

Despite this, I had more success racing on the Goblin 29er this season than any other bike at any other time. Much of it had to do with the amount of training and riding I put in, but I’m now convinced that the bigger wheels are the way to go for XC bike racing because they definitely hold momentum better so you roll faster once they get going. Once you learn how the bigger wheels handle you can still go plenty fast in singletrack. When you condition yourself to get the big wheels turning, they tend to do much of the work as far as rolling over terrain.

Other than the minor drivetrain issues I have had with the bike, I’m very happy with the overall performance of the bike. I’m now a big believer in big wheels for going fast on XC trails and I’m elated with the result of my racing season on the Goblin. At $1,150, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better value on a 29er at this component level.

Warning: Cyclocrossing Zone!!

What a mindblowing season of mountain biking! It was so awesome hanging out with great people and meeting new friends. Accomplishing what I thought was unreachable and having a great time along the way is something I won't soon forget.

With the Cross Country season starting to feel like a distant memory, I find myself looking for other avenues to fulfill my need to compete and maintain fitness. Enter Cyclocross. Here in this cycling discipline wedged firmly between road biking and mountain biking I find my fix. Composed of a very interesting cross section of the cycling community, you are just as likely to find yourself racing against a mountain biker, a road rider or even a triathlete or runner. But it seems more laid back than any other bicycle competition I have been a part of. For example, the beginning of the race is fairly casual and almost anticlimactic. The race official tells everyone they have one minute before the start of the race. Then he slowly backs out of the way after about a minute and nonchalantly saying something, "okay, you can start."

For those of you unfamiliar with Cyclocross, the best way I can describe it is racing through a grass field or park on a course that has been marked off with tape on a bike that looks a lot like a road bike but with knobbier tires. The courses usually incorporate obstacle and short steep climbs that are not rideable for most as well as lots of sharp 90 and 180 degree turns. In Cat 4 where I have been racing, the race is 30 minutes in duration which usually encompasses 4 laps. Such a short race amounts to revving up to red line from the get go and barely coming back down before pushing right back up to red line and doing that for a half hour. I can tell why people hate it so much that they love it. It hurts so much it almost feels good. Sound an awful lot like masochism to you?

I don't have a Cyclocross bike at the moment and have just been using my Goblin 29er mountain bike and it seems to be doing okay. I'm finishing in the top half of the field so it's not like my bike is killing me.

In fact, at my first race in Sheboygan, WI, I was awarded $5 every time I cleared a steep climb that no one else in my class could. The reason was I had gearing for that type of thing on my mountain bike while everyone else in my class did not have the gearing for it on their CX bikes. There was one other racer on a mountain bike there, but he was riding a single speed which did not afford him the opportunity to find the right gear for the climb. End result: $20 cash in my pocket on my way to a 7th place finish. Not too shabby for my first CX race; ever. The top 3 won medals and a pair of socks. I'll take my $20 thank you very much :)

In my 2nd race last weekend in Estabrook Park in Milwaukee, WI, I did okay. There was more than twice as many competitors than in Sheboygan and I finished 20th out of 52 or so. Like I said I'm really doing CX for the fix and the fun so I am more than happy just being out there competing.

I'll probably do 1 or 2 more races before the offseason really settles in (which I can tell you, I am NOT looking forward to). But it will give me some time to work on a bunch of the video I've shot at the end of the season and iron out my plans for the offseason and next season. I'll talk about that in other post. For now I am going to ride outside as much as possible until it just gets too cold to bare.

Other flight crew news:

For a great read, check out my buddy Dan's blog post on what pizza and an epic road trip have in common. Be sure to read carefully. There'll be a quiz later.

You can also check out Brent and Kevin's adventures at the Collegiate Mountain Biking Nationals at Angelfire Resort in CO in this awesome video put together by the Flight Crew's own Brent Davidson.



Lastly, I'd like to wish Wendy Davis a speedy recovery from her ankle injury sustained during a recent ride. Heal up quick!!!

Finishing strong

I've heard that bicycle racing can be highly mental. I didn't totally understand (and I still probably don't fully) what that meant until the last WORS race of the season, the Wigwam MTB Challenge in Sheboygan, WI.The race course is an amazingly fun ride that features difficult sections of tree roots highlighted by the section called "Roots of All Evil," stream crossings, Sheboygan slickrock and a short steep climb where they pay you 5 bucks at the top if you clear it cleanly on your first attempt called the "Equalizer." It was on the Equalizer that I won the first money ever while riding my mountain bike.
There was also another chance to win some cash by winning the hole shot. However, while on the lead out I dropped my chain to the outside. I had to shift down to the small chainring to get the chain to come back on. I avoided major damage, but at that point a chance of winning the hole shot was gone. I think I was in about 5th-7th place crossing the line at the whole shot, but then passed a few people in the next couple hundred yards to enter the singletrack in 3rd place. I just hung out on the wheel of third place until the leader (who also won the hole shot) slowed terribly up a short hill, perhaps needing a rest from charging out so hard.

And then I was in 2nd place until about a 1/2 mile later when the racer in front of me went into a gravel turn a little too hot and wiped out. And then I was first. At this point I was setting a pretty good pace and decided to just hold it there for the rest of the first lap.

On the second lap I let up a bit, feeling as though I had checked out on the field. However, half way into my second lap two riders came up to challenge me. They passed me and I just grabbed the wheel of the second guy and went along for the ride.

At the Equalizer (which is about 3/4 of mile from the end of a lap), I passed both racers back. If you've been reading my previous posts you would know that stems from my philosophy of not following other riders through technical sections if I can help it. Somewhere shortly after that we dropped one of the challengers and that just left 2 of us.

I upped the pace a bit but still the challenger stayed firmly glued to my rear tire. I wanted to test the guy to see where he was with fatigue. I tried to get him to pass me by slowing a bit at places I thought he would have a great deal of momentum to do so. I also slowed more than usually to get a drink of water thinking he would take the opportunity to pass. Lastly, I tried feigning that I was getting held up by lapped traffic, but in the end he didn't take the bait and just stayed right behind me.

At this point I decided I would just start talking to him (his name is Rennis by the way). We talked about the weather, how awesome of a race it was and what age groups we would be racing in next year when we moved up to Comp. Through all of this I could tell he was breathing harder and harder as we approached the Equalizer for the last time. As we approached the base of the climb, I called out to Rennis, "let's go get it."

I attacked the climb and opened a slight gap going over the slickrock and tried to put a lapped rider between him in I going into the home stretch. As luck would have it we were coming up on a female rider that I knew. I asked her if I could get by on her left and she was more than happy to let me go by. Rennis on the other hand apparently was pushing so hard he couldn't say anything and tried to pass on her left without saying a word. He ended up taking both of them out and I sped off to my 2nd straight victory to the sound of Rennis getting cussed out fading behind me.

So I finished up the year with two 1st place finishes not only in my age group but in the Sport class overall. That makes me feel a lot better about moving up to the Comp class next season. I'd like to thank Airborne for exposing me to the world of 29ers and all the potential these bikes have in a XC riding environment. I was a real skeptic at first, but I've never been this fast on a bike before and I have to give the big wheels a small slice of credit.

Lastly, there has been a lot of video stuff going on as well.

First we have a video called "Dichotomy." To me, it's more of a teaser piece. I think if it as Dichotomy A, with Dichotomy B still yet to come.

I also made a video of the build of my Airborne Wingman jump bike. Before you watch I have to tell you, and I can't emphasize this enough, that the Wingman is NOT available as a frame only. It is only available as a whole bike.

Lastly, I also put together this promotional video for Team Vision/Wheel & Sprocket. Please feel free to share with any business you feel could be a potential sponsor of the teams vision.

Overcoming adversity

How do you win a race? Certainly hard work and training go along way, but at some point you will have to face and overcome adversity. And adversity was what the WORS race # 11, the Bear Paw Rock n’ Roll was all about; adverse weather conditions, equipment malfunctions and lousy riding conditions. The Bear Paw Inn, after being rebuilt a few years ago after it was destroyed by a tornado, is not stranger to bad weather.

When I arrived on Saturday to do my preride it was already cool and raining. After a couple other riders assured me that the course was still in great shape, I decided to head out to ride the course. Maybe not the best decision I've ever made. The course was not in good shape when I started and got worse as the ride went on. As I rode, I could hear my drivetrain getting grittier and grittier, until it just stopped shifter altogether for a time. No matter what I did with the shifter my bike just stayed in the gear it was in. Then out of nowhere it started shifting again, but not into the biggest cog and then I had to coax it in order to up shift by shifting up a few times before it would move one cog.

I had originally planned to camp, but after my preride I was wet, muddy and cold so I decided I didn't want to camp anymore. I wanted a warm shower and room to sleep in. With all the decent hotels already booked, I found this hole in the wall motel. When asked if I wanted a room with heat upon check, I was promptly offered a small space heater. But at least they didn’t have have hourly rates.

So there I was in my room huddled in front of this little space heater until I was warm enough to take a shower. After the shower, I began the task of trouble shooting my shifting issue. I found that the b limit screw on the derailleur was slipping off the tab it is suppose to press against. I didn't have a fix for that. Thus, I had my all the excuse I needed not to race in the miserable conditions.

It rained most of the night and after running the heater wide open my room was finally warm by morning.

In the morning I went down to the race venue with no intention of actually racing. I was warm and dry in all my rain gear thinking I might be able to get some good video of the muddy racers and the beautiful venue. But just in case I decided to race, I took my bike over to the Trek Store of Madison tent to have the mechanic, Wilhelm take a look at it to see if he could work any magic.

After a quick fix that involved a combination of ingenuity, a twist tie and a great deal of imagination, Wilhelm comes to me and says in his German accent, "Well, it's horrible. But you can ride it. Just stay out of the top cog. No, the top 2.......3 cogs." I thought, yeah that's not good, but if it stays consistent, I can work with it.

Somehow I found myself on the starting line. I sprinted out with the leaders and followed them up the steep initial climb and through the following doubletrack. The field settled into a moderate pace so I decided to take the lead into the first section of singletrack.




I figured not being behind anyone that would be slipping and sliding all over the place would be a HUGE advantage. It turned out to be exactly that and the fading chorus of swearing and arguing was evidence of a gap being built. In the 2nd section singletrack I had about a 20 second lead on the pack when I dropped my chain for the first time.

It was here that I was able to draw on fellow fight crew member Kevin Bonney's experience at the Sea Otter XC race. He dropped his chain at a very inopportune time in his race while doing very well and found the only thing that stopped him from still doing well was how he dealt with the situation. In drawing from his experience, I jumped off the bike threw the chain back on the front ring and continued on.

The rain kept coming and course continued to deteriorate. With Small Block 8's front and rear I was evening having a hard time staying upright in the doubletrack, but I continued to push as hard as the limited traction would allow me to.

Only one rider bridged the gap at the beginning of the second lap but fell back after the big climb. After that I never saw another rider in my class despite dropping my chain again and a drivetrain completely caked with mud. Just a random rider from earlier age classes here and there.

I ended up winning my age group and the Sport class overall. I can hardly believe I went from almost not racing to winning overall. I'm so happy that my hard work finally paid off with a higher podium finish. It was nice seeing the gap shrink from race to race, but to actually beat those who have been beating me all season......It just feels good.

I’d like to add that I was able to accomplish this racing against guys who are riding bikes much more expensive and lighter than mine. With a price tag of $1300, the Airborne Goblin 29er has proved itself a very capable (yet still affordable) machine in all types of terrain and conditions. Anyone looking for a hardtail 29er for trail riding and racing and is on a budget should definitely consider this bike. I'm not just saying that because I'm a member of the Flight Crew. I think my race results speak volumes about the capabilities of the this bike.

Thanks again to Wilhelm for the mechanical support and also for all the volunteer course marshals who stood out in the rain all day to make sure we stayed on course and helped us to stay safe by warning of danger areas. And lastly, to Susan Lasecki for helping me pin on my number very quickly before the race started. I couldn’t have done it without you guys.

After some hard work, overcoming adversity and a little help from my friends, I was able to pull off my first win in the Sport class and my first number 1 overall of any kind. Not even the weather could dampen my spirits after that.

If you want to lead, don’t follow (Treadfest)

Treadfest; Race #10 in the WORS lineup features a return to the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, WI. This race is a very singletrack heavy race that also features a good amount of climbing (by WI standards anyway). The singetrack is fairly technical and was rendered even a little more difficult because it was very dry and dusty. A month of dry weather preceding the event made for some interesting racing conditions.

It was nice being called up to begin the race and actually being in the front row for a change was even better. The bad thing was that we were one of the last age groups to start. That means lots of traffic to deal with during the course of the race.

The the race started with 3 big climbs which is not really my specialty. So I sprinted out from the word go and led the race for about the first 100-150 feet before hitting the meat of the first climb. I decided not to kill myself on the first climb like I figured all the guys passing me were. I was sitting about midpack after the first climb and then commenced my normal operation of picking up spot on the subsequent climbs. In hindsight I should have pushed just a little bit harder as I went into the singletrack behind 2 riders that were really slowing me down and creating some separation between me and the leaders. The riders in front of me were kicking up so much dust, that I could not even see the trail right in front of me half the time. But that was to be the theme of the race.

Every time I passed a slower rider or group of slower riders, I immediately caught another. And on and on this cycle went until the end of the race. It was extremely annoying to say the least. I hope my age group does not have to start toward the end again.

There is one tactic I use every race that on a technical course like this was very helpful. Any time I find myself behind other riders especially in technical areas or difficult climbs, I always try to find a different line than what the rider in front of me is taking. Because more often than not, the rider in front of me won’t be able to clean the technical section or climb. I’ve found that I can either take an alternate line and gain position when the rider in front of me fails or be taken out of the saddle and loose time. Given the choice, I’ll take the latter.

This tactic helped me to a 4th place finish and close the gap on those who have been finishing ahead of me. I hope that by the end of the racing season I will be creeping my way up the podium. And one thing that continues to impress me is how the Airborne Goblin excels in so many different types of trail and terrain. The 29 inch wheels just continue to roll.

By the end I was exhausted and covered in what looks like cocoa power, but it's really dirt. I really like participating in the Treadfest event because it is one of those trails that are not available to be ridden at any other time. They just lay hidden away on a small ski hill in Lake Geneva waiting to be raced once a season as part of WORS. I'll see you trails again next year.

Next up is the Bear Paw Rock N Roll up near Langlade, WI. I can't wait to drive up through the beautifully wooded Menomonee Indian Reservation and ride on what are suppose to be on some of the most technical trails in the WORS line up.

Reforestation Ramblings

The WORS Reforestation Ramble is a little bit different than the other races in the WORS series. And by different I mean longer and by longer I mean almost twice as long as a normal WORS race. It's a fast course and a perfect course for a race of this length. The course starts with about a 3 mile long doubletrack leadout that did a great job of sorting out the field before entering the singletrack. The mood at the starting line was a little more laid back than usual. I think most racers decided that since the race was so long that a good start was not necessary. So at the start of the race I decided to approach the start like a normal race. The result was a fantastic start as I followed the leaders into the singletrack. After following the leaders of group I started with (Sport class 39 and under) I decided it was time to settle into a pace I was more comfortable riding for the next 20 miles or so.

A little more about the course: Brown County Reforestation Camp, the home of the Reforestation Ramble, is a mix of fairly smooth double and singletrack with little elevation change. It is an absolute perfect match for a hardtail 29er like the Airborne Goblin. I can't imagine having a better setup for the course. Certainly there was some twisty singletrack and roots, but never so much that I was wishing I was on a full suspension rig.

On the night before the race I took my brother out for the preride. It was his first time mountain biking. Since he didn't have a true mountain bike of his own I took the clipless pedals off one of my favorite bikes and let him ride with that. It's always fun to take a friend or family member out and introduce them to one of the things I'm most passionate about. We went slow and had a good time. I wasn't too worried about the quality of the preride, just the quality time with my bro. Despite the the saddle soreness the next couple day I'm pretty sure he had a good time.

My brother and sister and all their kids came out to cheer me on which was very special to me. It was so awesome to have my brother passing me water and my 7 year old nephew telling me he though I was so cool racing my bike. I'm going to try and get my nephew out for one of the kids races this year.

But back to the race. I ended finishing 3rd place in my age group and 9th overall in the Sport class. So that's another podium finish for the Goblin and I'm one more top 10 finish away from being a mandatory move up to the Comp class.


Thoughts on Powerbar: I have to admit that I was skeptical on the whole idea of using powerbar products for racing and training. When I used to think about powerbar, I equated it with the Snickers energy bar. Just candy with a strong marketing department behind it. I poked fun at some of the marketing slogans like "cramp crushing electrolytes." But as a sponsor of team Wheel & Sprocket/Vision I thought I should try out their products before totally giving up on them. I've been using their energy bars, gels and recovery drink for a couple of months now and I have to tell you I am impressed. Since I've started using it I have had no cramping issues and it delivers the energy I need when I need it. Some of the races where the product really showed strength as a performance enhancer was the 24 Hours of Wausau and the 26 mile Reforestation Ramble. So mark me down as a believer and powerbar user.

On the video front, I just completed a promotional video for Wheel and Sprocket/Vision that won't be public for a while, but the hope is that it brings is more sponsors for the team next season.

Records were made to be broken

Billed as the world's friendliest rivalry, the WORS Border Battle, pits Wisconsin against Minnesota as they compete for bragging rights and a traveling trophy as part of this race. Wisconsin has captured the first two titles of this annual event, but every season the slate is cleaned off and new competition begins. Minnesota is ready for a rematch!

I've failed the last couple years to participate in this race despite my best intentions. I just couldn't bring myself to make the 8 plus hour round trip to River Falls, WI. But this year I had a few motivating factors to get me going. Not the least of which was the fact that WI had won the Border Battle in 2010 by only 1 point. I needed to go represent. Beyond that I had a podium streak going that I didn't want to break.

I had hoped that such a long trip would pay off with a great trail to race and ride. On that I was not disappointed. This definitely has to qualify as one of the best race course on the WORS circuit. With its roots and rocks; short, steep downhill and uphill sections; uphill switchbacks; grassy, wide open field sections; technical climbs; and a generous amount of flowing singletrack, the race was it's own reward. That being said, I did make the trip with the intent to perform the best I could not just enjoy the scenery.

So far this year, I've collected a few 4th and 5th place podium finishes in my class along with a number of top 20 overall finishes. But this course was such a great match for my strengths as a racer and rider I was hoping to do better.

Racing the Goblin I felt fast and strong for the entire race and ended with a 2nd place finish; my best finish since moving up to the Sport category at the end of last season. What was even more exciting was that I was in the top 10 overall. 2 more of those and I'll be a mandatory move up to the Comp category, which was a goal I laid out for myself at the end of last year. I'm not sure I'm 100% ready for that, but it's exciting to progress and see your goals being realized because of hard work.

This season has been going great, but I'm starting to get to the point where I just want to relax a bit and ride. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about the upcoming races, but I'm also ready to just take some trips and just explore new and fun ways to ride trail (which may or may not be the fastest way). Racing and riding the Goblin is a fantastic experience, but I find myself longing more and more for riding a dual suspension 26 inch bike in more of a free ride expression. Before you know it, it will be time to head indoors to Ray's MTB and start ripping it up on the Wingman again.

Speaking of the Wingman check out the latest video from Flight Crew members Brent Davidson and Kevin Bonney as the destroy the Mizzou Dual Slalom course on the Airborne Wingman.

And my latest offer featuring the Airborne Taka DH bike.

The Battle of CamRock (and of pain)

A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to race at one of my favorite area trails. New to the WORS lineup this year was the Battle of CamRock at the CamRock 3 trails system nestled between Cambridge and Rockdale (hence CamRock). These trails are twisty with fun technical sections peppered in. This race turned out to be another good test of the Airborne Goblin.

One of my main concerns in making the switch to racing a 29er was it's ability to handle tight singletrack. It's taken a while to get good at it but at this point in my evolution as a rider I think I have the hang of it. I can now navigate just about anything tight and technical equally as fast on my 29er as I can on my 26 inch bikes and I can make the Goblin go really fast every everywhere else.

The race course layout had two good sized climbs right from the word go. After the two climbs there was about a mile of doubletrack before entering the singletrack which seemed to be about the perfect amount to get us somewhat sorted.

This was a little bit longer race than the races leading up to it. Now I've found that there are times in the race where it's just you and pain of pushing the pedals. It's in these times that I have read that pro's develop a strategy for dealing with this mental fatigue. What I've started to do to get over this mental obstacle is to think about how fortunate I am to on my bike at that time riding that particular trail. I mean, there are some people who cannot ride a bike and there will be a day when I can no longer ride a bike (at least not like I do now). So even though I am in physical pain, I'm learning to embrace the time on the bike and it's working great so far.

Having lost my call up from the last race, I only had a mediocre start somewhere in the top 3rd of the pack. So for the next 3 laps I had a blast catching and passing riders while working my way up to a 5th place finish in my age group.

A few thanks have to be issued for this race. Given that this was a little bit longer race and how hot it was, it was important to have some support with people handing me water/sports drink during the race. I want to thank Jeremy Drake of team Nord Lock/Safe Wheels for volunteering to help me out on that.

CORP (Capital Off Road Pathfinder) for building such an awesome trail system and putting on such a great race. As trail builders, these guys get it. The trail incorporates free ride features into the trail and makes excellent use of the available terrain to maximize the fun. From the "Rip and Ride" downhill section that makes use of a draw that swoops you from wall to wall on the natural berm to technically challenging climbs and descents of "Sidewinder," it's just and amazing ride.

And of course, thanks to Airborne for allowing me to push beyond my comfort zone and continually expand my riding experience. This makes 3 straight WORS podium finishes. Let's keep this momentum rolling :)

On the video front the new Goblin video just dropped.



I also just finished a video for Wheel and Sprocket - Delafield.



And lastly, here is a fun little piece from this weekend's race in Green Bay, WI. It features Pro Mountain Biker Brian Matter.

Brian Matter, Steelers Fan from Team WORS on Vimeo.

The 24 Hours of Wausau

The 24 Hours of Wausau (the race formerly know as the 24 Hours of 9 Mile (or 24-9 for short) that Granny Gear ran into the ground) was held again this year at end of July at 9 Mile Forest in Wausau, WI. I did this race last year and for those of you who know me, I pledged that I would never do another 24 hour race again. Waking up at 3 in the morning and putting on a still wet jersey and shorts while temperatures dipped into the 50's and humidity remained high was not my idea of a good time.

Then a couple months ago, something strange happened. I started thinking about how much fun the race was last year and that I might like to do it again. I could hardly believe myself. Was I really volunteering to put myself through that again? What was I thinking? But when someone came calling that they needed a 4th for there 4 man team I jumped at the chance to do it again.

I decided if nothing else it would be a good test of the Airborne Goblin's ability to handle technical terrain over an extended period of time (or maybe more rightly put, my ability to ride a hardtail through very rocky and technical trails over and extended period of time). I brought my 26 inch full squish bike thinking that at some point my body would not be able to take the pounding any more.

It was decided that I would be the last rider in our rotation and after my first lap I actually had the fastest time which was a really positive start to the event. And then the rains came. While our 2nd rider was out a thunder storm rolled in and forced a 3 hour delay in the race because of lighting. And that is why it shows up as a 3 hour 50 minute lap. He's really not that slow. The clock just never stops. Not even for weather delays.

At this point we were very grateful that our team leader had the foresight to bring out the family camper so we could take shelter, get some rest and stay dry.

After the rain I was a little concerned about the course as I was running Kenda Small Block 8's which are by no means a tire that excels in mud. On my next lap the two most technical sections might as well have been ice as far as my tires were concerned. It was faster to just hike a bike through those sections at that time. By my 3rd lap however, the entire course was ridable again.

On my first night lap, I laid down the fastest night lap for the team and after a little more rain on my second night lap I improved on that time and FINALLY cleared the whole course (which I had never done before). And what was even more awesome was my body was feeling good. I thought for sure by this point I would have been on my full suspension bike. But the 29er just kept rolling over stuff.

Just when I thought I couldn't be more amazed. I put down my fastest lap of the race on my last lap. It certainly didn't feel fast while I was doing it, but the clock doesn't lie. I don't want to discount my hard work training and conditioning, but I think that definitely says something about the capabilities of the Airborne Goblin.

As a member of Airborne Flight Crew, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to continually try other types and genres of riding. Through these opportunities I find I am continually being amazed by all the variety of awesome experiences to be had with in bicycling. Now I can add racing a hardtail 29er in a 24 hour race to that list of amazing experiences. Being a 29er skeptic at first, I am slowly coming around. Stay tuned for more race results.

Alterra Coffee Bean Classic

Coming off what I felt was a very strong week of riding, I was excited for the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic WORS race. After a strong finish in the previous race, I had moved into the top five in series points, so I was entitled to a call up. This was something entirely new to me and I really didn't know what to do with it. In the end it really didn't change anything, though.

The race started well and I had a good charge up the initial climb and was sitting in about 10th spot. Still feeling good I passed about 7 other riders in spots I identified during my preride and was looking good going into the singletrack in 2nd or 3rd place. However, on a very bumpy section just before the singletrack, my chain jumped off my sprocket and despite playing with the shifter trying to bring the chain back on, it just wasn't happening. So I pulled out of the way and threw the chain back on and waited while a line of about 15 riders flew by. Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me.

So long story short I picked my way back into the top five while crashing 3 times in the process. But I felt pretty good most of the race. I felt like no one could pull away from me. I ended up with my second straight podium finish (4th place) and finished ahead of everyone that was ahead of me in series points.

Here is where things get a little weird. Despite beating every single rider that had more points than me going into the race, I actually dropped to 6th in series points after the race. So no call up for me in CamRock. It's just one of those things, I guess.

It doesn't take away my excitement for the next race. The 24 Hours of Wausau. Look for a blog entry on the event soon.

The Goblin at the Chippewa Firecracker

Yesterday was my favorite races of the whole season; The WORS Chippewa Firecracker. After feeling like I got off to a slow start this year, I was really looking forward to having a great race. I had a fantastic 2 weeks of training/riding leading up to the race so I was feeling ready to break out.

Let's back up a little bit and start this story off on the 4th of July. On the 4th, I was out riding at John Muir and and performing a bit of an experiment. For awhile now I've been saying how fast the Airborne Goblin 29er feels. I wanted to see if I could prove that it actually is faster than my 26 inch race rig. So after a 20 mile warm up, I decided to take both bikes out for an orange loop at Muir. The orange loop is about a 6 mile loop that features a little bit of everything; rocks, roots, a tight bermed section, a technical climb, a fast descent and some flowy stuff, too. The idea was to ride the bikes back to back on the same loop at the same perceived effort and allowing myself enough rest in between to let my heart race come down and for my muscles to recover a bit.

First up was the Goblin. I rode the Goblin around the loop in 20:35 seconds and ended the ride feeling very good and ready to keep riding. Next up was my 26 in Jamis Dragon. I rode the orange loop on the Jamis in 20:40. I think it is worth mentioning that my Dragon at least a couple pounds lighter than the Goblin. As far as this experiment is concerned, however, the Goblin was faster, but only 5 seconds faster. I found the biggest difference was in how I felt upon completing the loop. Despite trying to give the same perceived effort on both bikes, I felt exhausted after finishing on the Dragon.

Now what happened after that is still a little hazy. Apparently, I was riding around the parking lot at the trail head (presumably just cooling down) and proceeded to ride into a car, giving myself a concussion. I really don't recall what happened leading up to the incident or what happened right afterwards. But a few minutes later I came back to reality and stopped babbling incoherent nonsense. A couple fellow bikers were good enough to take me to my local hospital so my wife didn't have to travel with our 22 month old and 4 month old very far. So thank you very much Shawn for helping a guy out.

I also would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to the Kali Protectives crew for designing such excellent helmets. I apparently hit my head hard enough against the car to leave a dent in one of the metal pillars. And I'm assuming that must be true because the right side of my face was sore for the next couple days. Luckily there is no dent or damage to my head thanks to my Kali Avita Carbon helmet and I was back on my bike (albeit on the road) 1 day later. Even more surprising, is that there is no visible damage to my helmet. But don't worry, I've already replaced it with another helmet. My old helmet did it's job and is now going to be sent back to Kali for them to examine.

Fast forward to the Chippewa Firecracker. Despite having a little bit of an interesting run up to the race, I resolved to be aggressive from the beginning. This race starts with about a 1-1 1/2 mile lead out before entering singletrack. My goal was to go into the singletrack as close to the leaders as possible no matter how hard I had to push to do so. And that is exactly what I did. I was running in the top 3 after the first lap before settling into a more sustainable pace.

During the preride the course was bone dry and very fast. However, that morning a thunderstorm rolled through and dumped just shy of an inch of water on the course. Most of the course drained well with the exception of the freshly cut singletrack. Those sections were just a slippery mudfest the first lap, but were substantially better the 2nd lap. After starting out so fast, I found I was slowing down the 2nd lap and was passed by a couple riders in my age group.

The Goblin propelled me to a 4th place finish, which is my best finish since moving up to the Sport class and I'm very happy with it. Now I just want to keep riding and training so I can beat that guy who finished 5 seconds a head of me. Thanks to the Chippewa Off Road Bike Association for putting on such a great race. It's always been such a great experience.

Swapping out the fork on the Goblin with the Fox F29 that I won from the Subaru Cup video remix contest was a great upgrade. The overall feel of the front end was noticeably improved. Not that it was bad before, it is just so much better now. The 15mm QR axle stiffened things up and the fox fork handles like a dream. The weigh savings is always nice too. We'll see if we can't make a few more upgrades before the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic at Crystal Ridge.

Subaru Cup Pro XCT race report

How awesome is it to compete against the best in your category (or in the case of the Subaru Cup, the next category up)? You see, in the Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) Cat 2 is split into to separate groups; Sport where I race and Comp which faster guys who usually do one more lap than Sport riders. However, since the Subaru Cup is a USA Cycling event all Cat 2's raced together. No, I didn't beat single Comp rider, but it was cool to get a gauge on where I stand in relation to those guys. I mean if I didn't like competition, I wouldn't be racing, right? Plus, it's always nice to chat with the Pro's.

I chose to ride the Airborne Goblin for the XC and Short Track races. I'm not sure a hardtail 29er was the best choice for me given the technical nature of the XC course at Nordic Mountain. But at the same time the top finishers among the Pro men and women were riding hardtail 29ers, so I certainly can't blame the bike.

I actually wasn't doing too bad until about with 2 miles left on my last lap, I hit a rock hard with my rear wheel and proceeded to listen to the sound of my tire going flat with each rotation of the wheel. The stan's finally sealed the leak with what felt like about 10 lbs of pressure left in the tire. At that point it was so squirmy that I couldn't hold a line and risked damage to the wheel if I pushed through any technical sections. So I basically just road very cautiously and pretty slowly the last couple miles and hoped that no one would catch me.

I was wrong. Someone caught me on the last climb and passed me with about a 1/2 mile left. He kind of blew himself up on the last climb and I stayed with him and tried to out sprint him but could not make the last 180 degree turn up to the finish line. That was really frustrating because I know on any other day I could have out sprinted him. Next time :)

Where the Goblin really shined was in the Short Track event. The course was basically a short cyclocross track. I was able to hang mid pack for the majority of the race. Then on what I figured would be my last lap, I just went all out and passed 4-5 other racers and hoped I would get pulled. Luckily that's how it went down and I finished better than I probably would have otherwise. It was pretty intense and after initially deciding not to do the Short Track race, I'm glad I had the experience.

The last race was the Outback Super D. I pulled out my purpose built Yeti 575 for that race and man, what a hoot. I had so much fun on that bike on that course. I wish I could to the Super D as a stand alone event that wasn't proceeded by an XC and Short Track race.

You can check out the whole event in this video I produced for WORS.

The Goblin weight reduction program begins: I finally received the new Fox fork for winning the WORS Subaru Cup Video Remix Contest. I chose the F29 RLC w/15mm QR axle. It'd be going on the Goblin tomorrow and will have it's first test in the race this weekend in Eau Claire, WI. This will be nice step up in performance and step down in weight. There was nothing wrong with the Rock Shox Reba that came stock with the bike, it's just that I really like the feel of Fox forks and it's lighter.

I'll be sure to let you know how it performs and how the race goes after the weekend. In the meantime, get out and ride!!!! This weather is awesome!!!!!

Airborne Goblin 29er review

I've been riding the Airborne Goblin 29er hard and often (insert crude joke here) since I received it back in early May. Aside from riding and training rides, I've also had a chance to race the bike in 2 Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series (WEMS) endurance races as well a 15 mile CAT 2 Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) race. After all this riding, I feel I'm ready to render an opinion on this 29er phenomenon sweeping the Midwest and on the Airborne Goblin specifically.

You have probably heard a million different opinions on 29ers just like I have. "They climb great," or "they are harder to climb" or "it has the equivalent of 1 inch of travel due to the larger wheel size." I set out dismissing everything I heard about 29ers so that I could form my own unbiased opinions about the bike. The following thoughts are from a guy who was a bit of a skeptic on the 29er thing who loves riding technical terrain on a 26 inch full squish bike.

I left my bike mostly stock until shortly before my first race when I replaced the stock WTB Laser Disc wheels with super light Sun Ringle Black Flag Pro's and the WTB grips with Ergons. I didn't find the weight of the Laser Discs bothersome like others have, I just wanted something to make the bike really fast for racing. Thus the change to the Black Flags. As for the grips, that's just a personal preference. But now onto the bike.

First and foremost, the Goblin is a 29 inch bike that is also a hardtail and none of that "built in travel due to the larger wheel size" talk will make you forget it. Not that there is anything wrong with a hardtail. My last race bike was a hardtail and I can tell you it was very fast and efficient and I can definitely say that about the Goblin. It is a fast, fast bike; faster than my previous race bike.

Why is it faster than my 26 inch bikes? I think there are two reasons for that. Firstly, the momentum of the wheels tend to make them roll over things a little better and therefore loses less speed over bumps. Of course, the flip side of this is you have to develop the fitness level necessary to get and keep those big wheels rolling, but it doesn't take long. The second reason is the 2x10 SRAM X.7 drivetrain is a perfect match for this bike in my opinion. With a 39 and 22 tooth sprockets in front and a 11-36 cassette in the rear, I've never had a problem finding just the right gear. The only thing I didn't initially like was the big jump from the big sprocket to the little one. However, as you train and ride the bike you start getting a better feel for when to shift, you'll lose less and less momentum due to that big jump. In fact, now that I'm used to the 2x10 drivetrain, I found I hate the feel of my 3x9 setups. I just can't seem to find the right gear to keep my speed up at my desired cadence. I'm sure that's because my legs are now conditioned to the new gearing.

Like I said earlier, I've had a chance to race the Goblin a couple times. I did a 3 hour endurance race on a very rocky course that was probably a better fit for a full suspension bike. I did well in the race and turned decent lap times. I did, however, feel quite beat up on the last lap and after the race. A lot of that had to do with the previous condition of my back (which had been giving me problems leading up to the race). The bike actually had no problem handling the rocky course and I knew that going in from previously riding the trail on the Goblin. But riding for 3 hours straight is a lot different than regular riding and that's why if I did a race that long on that rocky of a course, personally I would choose a full suspension bike.


The 15 mile WORS race was a lot of wide open fire road with small sections of really technical singletrack peppered in. It was the perfect bike for a course like that. I flew through the wide open sections and easily rolled through the technical stuff. The Rockshox Reba fork proved competent through the technical sections and the lockout feature was invaluable on the fire road and climbs.

The second WEMS race I competed in the Goblin shined again. I turned my fastest lap times on my home trails ever (and did so lap after lap) and turned in a WEMS personal best 4th place finish. I did this 50 mile race as part of a duo. That means I had about 50 minutes between laps to recover. This was a really great opportunity to see that the bike does more than just feel fast. Seeing my lap times proved that the bike really IS faster on my local trails. While these trails are not the most technical or rocky trails around they have plenty of rocks and roots to keep things interesting.

Speaking of climbing, you can add that to another thing this bike does well. Provided you condition your legs to keep the wheels rolling and to the 2x10 gearing it's easy to fly right up hills. I'm by no means a strong climber, but the Goblin allows me to get to the top at a decent pace without blowing myself up.

Another thing I like is how this bike corners. Due to a relatively low bottom bracket this bike feels very stable while cornering. The Kenda Small block 8's do their job well, too. They work very well on hardpack and even do okay in looser stuff. Due to the small knobs, the tires obviously don't do well in mud, but as tires go you can't have everything. I think the Kenda's are a decent choice here.

Now, I realize I'm talking a little bit out of both sides of my mouth here because the low bottom bracket lends itself to great corner, but at the same time it makes the bike prone to pedal strikes. This does does get better with more time in the saddle and you learn where you can pedal and where you can’t, but this is at the expense of losing pedal strokes through certain sections.

The other complaints I have, which is a general 29er complaints, is its ability to handle tight and twisty singletrack. The bigger wheels make it harder to time turns through narrow corners. So generally, I feel a little slower through those sections. I expect this to improve slightly over time with more practice, but I don't think the Goblin will ever be as nimble as my 26 inch bikes. It also doesn't necessarily like to be in the air. It's hard to explain, but the bike feels like it would rather roll over small ledges, jumps and drops rather than being launched into the air. My riding style is not to just roll over things. I like to jump on, off and over obstacles. While the Goblin does all of this, it just seems to take more effort and ability to do so.

This last quibble is pretty minor, but I think it is worth mentioning. I wish the water bottle cage mounts on the seat tube were lower. As is sits right now its a tight fit for a 16oz bottle and getting a 24oz water bottle in there; forget about it. I'd like to see these mounts on future models pushed as low as frame design will allow (assuming they are not already).

Summing up:

There are a lot of things this bike does well and I can see why someone would want to add this high speed weapon to their arsenal. I'm really happy to have it in my collection and will most likely be using it as a race rig and at my local trails going forward. I will also be gradually upgrading it as funds allow. The intent strictly being to shed weight from the bike; not to gain any functional improvement as I'm very pleased with the performance of the stock components; especially considering the price. That said, my 26 inch bikes are not going anywhere. I find the 29er a nice addition as it does something different than anything my current group of bikes, but it is not the end all be all of mountain bikes as I've heard others claim.

My advice regarding 29ers: Don't believe the hype about 29 inch wheels. Ride one and find out for yourself!

New biking experiences: Embrace the Bibshorts

There was so many great things about being at the Sea Otter Classic this year. From meeting all the cool people like Nick from Demon Dirt (of Save Nick's Eyes fame, good to see him riding again), Mondo from Black Market and Art Aguilar from MtnBikeRiders.com just to name a few; to being surrounded by all things biking. Despite being an experienced mountain biker, one of the really cool things was all the firsts that I experienced at this years event.

Embracing the bibshorts: For those of you that know me, you know that I fashion myself a mountain biker first and foremost. I've never worn spandex on the trail before and prior to Sea Otter would have never considered otherwise. However, thanks to an awesome kit from Airborne and some good natured peer pressure from another Flight Crew member (I won't mention any names but his initials are KEVIN BONNEY) I found myself lining up for the Cat 2 XC race in bibshorts. Boy did that feel awkward at first. However, as the miles went by I found I didn't really notice them. Which I have to say was a good thing. I mean the last thing you want to be thinking about during the sufferfest which is White Road is your shorts. I may even try it again. Don't judge me.

I know 29ers are all the rage right now. Aside from taking a friend's 29er for a short spin I can't say that I've had enough experience in the saddle of a 29er to see what the buzz is all about. I'm still not 100% comfortable on it and since it was essentially my first trail ride of the year (on unfamiliar trails nonetheless), I'm having a hard time formulating an opinion. It feels fast, got me to the top of all the climbs and a non last place finish (which was against a field comprised completely of California guys, besides myself). So there's that.

I have been riding my home trails on my 26" wheeled bikes since getting back and the new Goblin (the hardtail 29er offering from Airborne) has just arrived. Now I have a baseline and a few trail rides under my belt so I will be able to better judge the bike. Not only will the Goblin, , see trail riding on my local trails, it will also see more race action. Will I drink the Kool Aide? Stay tuned.

A real downhill course. Prior to Sea Otter my longest DH ride I had ever experienced was 58 seconds. Riding a course with 3 minutes of continuous downhill riding was mind blowing. It just kept going and going and going. It was all too awesome and I want more.

Those were my cool new experiences this year at Sea Otter.

Meanwhile, back home I just entered and won a video contest with my local race series (WORS). The prize is a Fox fork, Kurt Kinetic trainer package, Ryder sunglasses and a healthy energy package from Honeystinger. I may have more exciting news soon on this front. I'll keep you guys up to date. That's it for now.