General thoughts on mountain biking.
The 650B wheel size has been drawing a lot of attention over the past year. Many see it as the compromise between 29″ and 26″ wheels, and also a way to get bigger wheels to longer travel bikes. The long travel market is not a great fit for the 29er market, but with the 650B wheel size, frame and component manufacturers can stay closer to the 26 inch wheel specs to get increased travel.
he paint jobs coming across the Specialized mountain bike line seem to be getting worse with every release. For me, it all started with the “candy corn” SX Trail. A fellow riding friend, APPBLING, sent his off to the powder coater straight out of the box to get stripped and re-coated silver.
After several failed attempts at getting local bike shops to do correct work on my bike, I decided it was time to start learning bike maintenance and wrenching on my own. In one specific instance, I was riding a local trail one hour after getting a new fork installed, and the front brake fell off during a downhill. It was at that point I realized that if I wanted it done correctly, I needed to learn how to do it myself. That next day, I went out and bought an Ultimate repair stand and several essential tools.
As the weather gets warmer, everyone starts preparing for the impending riding season. This means that business for bikes shops comes out of the usually slow winter season for a very busy spring. New and returning riders alike are looking for new bikes along with tuning up the old ones to get ready for that perfect sunny day.
Some time ago, on our local board we had a “discussion” on the pros and cons of square taper bottom brackets vs. external bearing bottom brackets. The mountain biking crowd has basically split into two camps.
1. Square Taper Devotees
2. External Bearing (X-Type) Riders
I think I have mentioned this before, but from time to time…I am going to post up the blogs that I read on a daily basis. These are some of the ones that I have found that have really caught my interest.
I think we have some great things to look forward to over the next year. These releases should make Interbike very interesting. I expect to see even more 650B offerings along with complete lineup changes from the major fork manufacturers.
The mountain biking community lost another passionate member yesterday during a race at Sea Otter. Mark Reynolds passed away from at heart attack (from what I understand so far) that happened during the race and caused a bad wreck over a bridge during the race.
So the pictures that are coming out of our regular rides seem to be getting better and better with each ride. Somehow the bar has really been stepped up a notch lately, and I am pretty stoked about how great they have gotten.
Jill is right, and I am really surprised that we haven’t actually seen this sooner. My “real job” involves a lot of steel, aluminum and rubber purchasing domestically and from overseas. Prices are increasing at a rate that most manufacturers can’t keep up with the increases.