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xc ride...... dh style. (Saturday 1/13)

Abstrakt51

Monkey
Oct 11, 2006
981
1
OC
J, any chance of uploading that footage from last week on to youtube?

Nags, you making it a hubby/wife kind of thing or is the invite open to us dirty mongrels?
 

bullcrew

3 Dude Approved
J, any chance of uploading that footage from last week on to youtube?

Nags, you making it a hubby/wife kind of thing or is the invite open to us dirty mongrels?
Hell theres enough of us that we dont have to impose on them (if its a hubby/wife thing).
I dont have to ask If Im invited, Im bigger than you!:pirate2: LMAO!
Hey good riding on sun, especially with the jump and gap!
 

blender

Monkey
Oct 19, 2006
642
0
MDR
riding in SLO was incredible, lots and lots of insanely good shuttle runs everywhere... most of the DH flavor. Lots of trail and XC stuff too.
We witnessed a really gnarly local underground race. Seeing those guys rip up that trail was a really humbling experience. Ian posted pics and a review in the DH forum and on his site.

We stayed with a guy that built a freeride/DH trail on the local hill... which he showed us on Sunday. It was totally rippin' just like everything else we rode that weekend. I have a few pics, but i didn't have time or desire to get too camera happy.

SLO tirp
 

blender

Monkey
Oct 19, 2006
642
0
MDR
Thanks Randy..

just to clarify, the last two pics are NOT of any of my riding crew this weekend.. they're of the underground race that we watched from the sidelines. That line is called Thumbreaker, and is one of the most gnarly lines i've ever witnessed people ride. It is just one insane feature on the trail they raced, which is far beyond anything i've ever tried riding.
 

marlopez

Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
441
0
West LA
pavel,

who did you ride with in SLO? there's so many good riders up there because everyone rides together.
what trail is that ladder drop on? that wasn't there when i was there.

face is nuts. ive only ridden it once and that was on my hardtail before i owned a dh bike.

scott, are we riding saturday?
 

blender

Monkey
Oct 19, 2006
642
0
MDR
haha. no Ross didn't ride it.. but he rode Pick&Shovel with us on Saturday, and then had other "commitments" for the rest of the weekend.

I stayed and rode with Jeff Bowers, the ladder drop is on the trail he built called Firebreak.

Scott. I wasn't terribly fond of the 888 SL ATA, I guess maybe i was expecting more out of it. It was a decent fork, but it had some sticky bushings, and was tuned for a lighter rider, so I never did get the compression/rebound dialed quite right (that usually takes more than a couple of days :P). The R9 felt slightly unballanced with it, as the rear felt quite a bit heavier. I would prefer RC2X coil over it, but I've always liked coil forks better.

Now, these are all purely personal feelings and preferences, and what feels amazing to one rider, could feel weird to another. So, take this with a grain of salt.
 

Nagaredama

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
1,596
2
Manhattan Beach, CA USA
pavel,

who did you ride with in SLO? there's so many good riders up there because everyone rides together.
what trail is that ladder drop on? that wasn't there when i was there.

face is nuts. ive only ridden it once and that was on my hardtail before i owned a dh bike.

scott, are we riding saturday?
Taylor and I are going to ride Cheseboro, interested in coming along?

I can ride in SM's Sunday early afternoon.
 

Abstrakt51

Monkey
Oct 11, 2006
981
1
OC
Ill be there 9am! Then off to WEBB for some funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!
The course is a split between race #2 (saddle) and the last one on the right side of road. Andy's up there riding now!
Sh*t, so I'm guessing both flat sections are in full effect.
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
Mario, do you know anyone from SLO or just going through SB that's going to Fontana and may have room? I'm trying to figure out how to get there tomorrow.
 

Abstrakt51

Monkey
Oct 11, 2006
981
1
OC
RM guys did pretty well and I think everybody ended up hitting the podium for overall.

I finished this race in 2nd and 4th place overall. Racing is fun, but surely not as fun as trails. Not sure yet if I'm going to hit up the next series.
 

blender

Monkey
Oct 19, 2006
642
0
MDR
good work guys!
Randy, not freakin' bad for your first ever season of racing! Now that you have that Glory pimped out as a race rig, why wouldn't you race again? ;o)
 

blender

Monkey
Oct 19, 2006
642
0
MDR
yo! can we get an update on the deity vendeta crankset?
The Vendettas are treating me VERY well.
Since I bolted them on when I built the bike, I haven't heard a peep out of those things. They're smooth and solid, veeery stiff. So great in fact, that I'm considering using them for a DH build. Already contacted Eric with some questions, and he seems very eager to help out, which is awesome.

They addressed some key design issues with this revision. There are now dustcaps on the outside of the crank bolts, which prevent them from ever backing out. I know that was a bit of an issue with older Deity's. The dustcaps also act as self-extractors, negating the need for a crank puller or extraction tool. I can't really say how these fair against the older version, as this is my first Deity set, but so far I'm very happy.
 

blender

Monkey
Oct 19, 2006
642
0
MDR
i guess there is noreason to keep anything under covers anymore.
I sold my Transition Dirtbag to a buddy, and *gasp* picked up a slightly used Sinister R9 frame from a fellow RM shredder (fred.r)

I'm picking it up this coming weekend, and going to start the sloooow process of building it up.

I test rode Gordon's R9 all weekend in SLO, and I can't wait to get one dialed for myself. The bike is truly amazing.
 

blender

Monkey
Oct 19, 2006
642
0
MDR
Wait, you're stable is going to contain something other than a Transition?
imagine that! however, i do think that R9 > Blindside.. and considering that it is used, I am getting off a lot cheaper than shelling out for a new Blindside frame. The R9 is in great condition, and is an FTW welded tank! I'm putting a fresh set of enduro bearings in all the pivots, so it should really feel mint.. still on the fence about a fresh powder coat, I'll have to look at the raw frame for a while and make my decision then.

The build will be 888 coil, Roco WC, Saint or Deity cranks, Code or Formula brakes, and other miskalinious used stuff to finish it off.. really trying to build this one as cheaply as possible.

what are your news?
 

Nagaredama

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
1,596
2
Manhattan Beach, CA USA
imagine that! however, i do think that R9 > Blindside.. and considering that it is used, I am getting off a lot cheaper than shelling out for a new Blindside frame. The R9 is in great condition, and is an FTW welded tank! I'm putting a fresh set of enduro bearings in all the pivots, so it should really feel mint.. still on the fence about a fresh powder coat, I'll have to look at the raw frame for a while and make my decision then.

The build will be 888 coil, Roco WC, Saint or Deity cranks, Code or Formula brakes, and other miskalinious used stuff to finish it off.. really trying to build this one as cheaply as possible.

what are your news?
My new ride will be very similar in terms of the build as yours. Still trying to sort out the wheel situation.

I know you didn't care for it but what does Gordon think of his 888 SL?

As a side note I plan on hitting Kenter after work about once a week if anyone is interested.
 

blender

Monkey
Oct 19, 2006
642
0
MDR
Gordon really likes the 888 SL, but he has that thing dialed for himself.. and he's not too concerned with the bike being slightly unbalanced, as he usually likes to stay pinned through rocks and drift corners, and prefers not to drop ladders and boost doubles.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fine fork, and I think if I spent time dialing pressure/compression/rebound for myself, I would like it a lot more... but, I've always liked the way coil forks feel, they're just much less finicky, and the whole air chamber pressure loss/leaking business isn't really my cup of tea. If you blow your damping cartridge on your coil fork while being 10 miles out on some DH run, you can still ride it out without much trouble.. if you're on air, forget it!

The only real advantage here is weight savings, which, being a big guy, really doesn't concern me too much. Look at J, rocking an 11 pound fork with a big grin on his face :)

what's the frame you're building up??? the suspense is killin me!