WTB sent me a new rear wheel that arrived on Friday, and I am going to box up the old one, send it back and let WTB take a look at it. Today, I am going to mount up the new rear and give it a run over the course of the week.

I have been a huge fan of Schwalbe tires for quite awhile. The Big Betty has been my go to tire for 6″ travel bikes because of it’s mass/volume, tremendous grip, fast rolling and surprisingly light weight for a true 2.4 tire (2.5 at the tread). They have, until now, only been available in a Gooey Gluey and Triple Compound version…no UST.

Until there are loads of money in the mountain biking blog business, I still have a real job. After a long, stressful day at the office I find that wrenching on the bike for awhile can really calm the nerves and center my thoughts. There are many different ways that people wind down after a long day, but this one works the best for me.

Carl over at MTOBikes.com shot me an email last week sharing his post on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mountain biking doesn’t get the national coverage that most of the other sports in the Olympics do, but it is still an exciting race on a grueling race course.

Finding the right helmet that fits your needs and your head can be a difficult task with all of the different versions and brands on the market today. Fox jumped into the mountain biking helmet scene in 2007 with the Flux. After looking over the Fox’s list of features, I decided to give it a try several months ago.

During a discussion about our ride over the weekend at Rich Mountain, Joe wrote a post that will inspire beginner riders. He gave me the permission to publish his post word for word here. Post by epoJoe (you have seen his photography work several times on this site).

Today’s ride started several days ago with a simple question. “Where are we riding this weekend?” As Tweety and I contemplated this great mystery, it was decided that Rich Mountain in the north Georgia mountains was going to be the setting of our suffering.

A great friend of mine, SSINGA, emailed me this information this week that I had to pass along. The Huntsville chapter of SORBA (Southern Off Road Biking Organization) is holding their annual Monte Sano Fat Tire Festival on the weekend of October 4th.

Tomorrow (Friday, August 15, 2008), I will be conducting an exclusive interview with Tony Ellsworth…the owner of Ellsworth Bikes. This interview is going to be made available to newsletter subscribers only, so sign up now to hear the questions that you want answered. This interview will be made available in both type and audio format.