I’m still on my ‘05 Giant Trance after two full seasons of riding. To be honest I’d expected some sort of frame failure by this stage, but the Trance is still alive and kicking.
For 2008, Giant released the Trance X series, which utilizes the same chassis as it’s little sibling but adds an inch of rear wheel travel. BikeMagic has posted up a real, quality review of the Trance X that’s definitely worth checking out if you’re in the market for a trail bike this year.
No Comments »
I know, I know, I was going to build up the hardtail. I will still do that, but I’ve been sidetracked by a new ride.
A couple of weeks back, I picked up the Haro Sonix S and I’ve been grinding out some miles as I get the bike dialled in and get used to running a shorter travel fork up front. The Sonix rolls nicely on gravel and it climbs well on steeps but I think I need to spend some more time with the Reba. I’ll do a more complete writeup after I’ve spent more time on the trails.
2 Comments »
A while back, I branched off on one of those 30-something diversions that gave me a new job, a new home, and a whole lot of changes in the way my family did the day-to-day stuff we’ve been accustomed to for the past decade. It’s not really a mid-life crisis (I think those things come in the late 40s now…) but a bunch of friends are going through career changes, shifting away from high stress work to stuff that’s arguably less tough on the nerves.
Anyhow, one of those things I’ve been wrestling with is a car that never seems to get any better, despite throwing plenty of cash at our mechanic. For much of the winter, I was forced — there’s no way in hell I was going to commute in torrential rain, wind, or snow — to drive the vehicle but spring has arrived (hopefully) and I’ve started riding my bike to work on days when the weather doesn’t suck.
I’ve got a couple commute-worthy bikes — my others are dedicated off-road rigs and flatout suck for riding on the road — and I’ve been giving them each equal billing on my trips to and from work. That being said, a favourite is starting to emerge and, to be honest, I’m a little surprised with my preference.
The first bike is the xc rig that I’m rebuilding into an all-round trail bike. I’m familiar with the mountain bike’s geometry and am comfortable with the ride, despite some of the ghetto parts and the crappy fork. It’s quick and I can usually cover the 5km trip to work in 12 or 13 minutes.
My eye opener came when I started riding my ‘06 Masi Gran Crit to the shop. I picked up the bike last year as a way of getting in better shape for mountain biking and took it on semi-regular rides along long, quiet roads near my home. I’d hop on the bike in the morning for an hour or 75 minutes, knock off 40km, and call it a day. I liked the bike but, in all honesty, I don’t know a tonne about road bikes so it might have been totally wrong for me and I wouldn’t know.
But as a commuter (albeit an expensive one), the bike took on a new life. It corners in a way I didn’t expect and it’s a total blast to rip around corners at 40 or 50 km/h. The best thing about riding the Gran Crit is that my car’s been on the same tank of fuel for the past month AND it takes me less time to ride my bike to work than it does to drive.
So after only a month I’m pretty pleased about the experiment. I’m not sure that I’ll ever proceed beyond being a fair-weather commuter but it’s a fun way to get in some miles before and after work. It’s also given me the time to look around and smell the flowers as I listen to the Ramones’, the Buzzcocks, Beirut, or some other hipster 30-something band.
3 Comments »
This is going to sound like a rant and, for all I know, it could be a very localized one because even though I am immersed in the local ’scene’ sometimes it’s hard for people to get a glimpse of the big picture when they’re so involved.
I live, work, and ride in southwestern BC, about an hour away from mountain biking’s version of the North Shore, and I’ve seen the trails morph from sketchy, hardcore paths into well travelled, rocked-in tracks over the past decade. Local advocacy groups like the NSMBA and FVMBA do their best to raise awareness about the sensitivity of the trail network — many of our trails are on fall lines and are susceptible to erosion if ridden in adverse conditions — and how important it is for riders to put some time back into the resource that they use.
BUT — and you had to know this was coming — even though these groups have done a heck of a lot in the communities of which they’re a part, it doesn’t seem to me that mountain bikers, the constituent members of these groups, are actually getting off their asses and helping the core component of the sport. Read the rest »
4 Comments »
My cross country bike is a 2003 Giant Rainier. Some of the spec is still stock and some of the stuff is not. It’s been serviceable, but I’m interested in changing it up a bit to reflect the style of riding I’m into while make it a little, less like a stock $1000 bike that’s four years old.
What am I looking for? Over the next year or so, I’m looking to build it up into a hardtail trail bike that’s suitable for a heavy dose of xc. That means I’m interested in a 25ish pound hardtail that’s fun and comfortable to ride, rolls well, and can handle the type of riding I really enjoy. I ride on rooty, technical terrain that features short and steep climbs and fall-line descents.
Budget. Budget isn’t a huge concern, but I’m not interested in a Rohloff hub or some other exotic part that I can’t replace on the spot at my local shop — that’ll definitely play into my final decisions. It won’t be a Bombproof Blue Collar build but I don’t can or will to drop coin on custom ti cassettes or $400 bar/stem combos.
The starting point
Here’s what I’ve got:
- 2003 Giant Rainier frame
- 2003 Marzocchi EXR fork, 80mm
- Shimano Deore crankset
- Shimano 9 speed cassette, 11-34 // Shimano chain
- Race Face Deus XC bars, 25.4mm
- Thomson 110mm stem, 25.4mm
- Hayes El Camino brakes, 160mm rotors
- SRAM X.0 twist shifters
- SRAM X.0 rear derailleur, medium cage
- Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires, 2.1″
- Deore hubs laced to some Alex rims
- Crank Bros. Eggbeater pedals
- Stock post and saddle
Obviously, there are some things in the list that aren’t stock and that I’ll likely be keeping for the final build. But to start, I don’t really want to spend the cash on the frame, fork, or wheels just yet, but I don’t really care where I start. Brakes? Tires? Drivetrain?
I’m in no hurry to get this thing going, but I’ll start moving on it in the next week or so. I’m also pretty open to letting the build evolve as the season changes, so if parts (like tires) are good for wet but not dry, I can switch things up as necessary.
The weather around my place is pretty crappy right now, so a lot of my bike time is spent commuting or on flat gravel roads, so I need something
8 Comments »
The Biking Hub has been silent for the past few months. There are tonnes of excuses that I could pull out of my pocket but it really comes down to the fact that, even though I was getting lots of stuff from the other contributors, I was getting worn down pushing out stuff on a near daily basis. In hindsight, it would’ve been better if I’d let posting be open, rather than moderated but I didn’t do that, and TBH started to feel less like a hobby and more like a job. That’s something I was never really interested in pursuing; as a result I pretty much walked away.
So what’s next? Expect to see a Biking Hub that’s less formal, more opinionated, and, probably, a lot more interesting. I’m going to write about the type of riding that I do in BC and there will probably be others who write about riding in their part of the world.
Don’t expect formal reviews, lots of industry news, and stuff like that (at least not from me). I’m sure I’ll post the odd tidbit, but there are other sites out there that are more into that sort of thing than me.
So on to my first new post in months… There might be posts from The Others, but I’ll leave that to Them.
Comments Off
Well after a two-month break we’re finally back to work here. With family to visit, parties to attend and presents to buy, sometimes cycling gets put on the backburner around the Christmas holidays. Now that the New Year is here, it’s nice to be able to get back to the regular routine of riding, planning and (of course) trying to post some stuff up here on TBH.
My first post for 2007, other than to apologize for not posting in so long, is about setting goals. January is the perfect time of year to start looking ahead to the upcoming riding season and trying to establish what you would like to accomplish this year. Read the rest »
2 Comments »
Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park is like a fine wine. It gets better with age.
The unique indoor cycling facility located inside an old parachute warehouse in Cleveland, Ohio celebrated its three-year anniversary over the weekend with a grand re-opening.
Read the rest »
16 Comments »
There comes a time for in every biker’s life when he or she needs tools. Most people invest big money in their bikes but don’t do the maintenance they need to have their bike operate at its best. I built up my previous tool kit over the past five years with bits and pieces that I had picked up over time.
One thing I found was that I was always missing one or two tools to do the jobs that I needed to do. With this in mind I looked at the option of buying individual pieces and decided that the cost was too great. I finally decided that I needed a whole new toolkit (as you do) and the result after much hard selling of old bike bits on eBay and wife convincing was the Park Tools PK 57 Tool kit and a nice roller tool chest.
Read the rest »
3 Comments »
Ibis Cycles, makers of the exquisite Mojo Carbon mountain bike, has relaunched its website. There are a couple of wonky bits and empty pages in there but it’s a fun site and I find it easy to forgive any bike company whose flagship mountain bike has detailing like the Mojo.
Visit Ibis Cycles for more pics of this bike! And if you’re interested, Scot Nicol (aka Chuck Ibis) has a “not-a-blog“.
3 Comments »
