February 2012
7 posts
6 tags
A Long Hike With A Bike
Saturday morning I pedaled out of town with the idea of riding a long loop on that early spring like day. The mercury had jumped up a notch, the snow was wet and falling off the trees. Things were dripping and melting. I chose an easy ascent above the lake thinking I would have a good chance to find rideable trails, but little did I know that I’d spend most of the six hour adventure...
5 tags
Kermit Green Niner Air 9 RDO
While it’s raining into the snow outside, I’m sitting at my desk drooling over the new Niner Air 9 RDO. A light, “race day optimized” all carbon frame construction with slimmer tubes and a new dropout design that places the brake caliper inside seat and chain stay. Quite elegant that new, kermit green Air 9 RDO.
5 tags
Rondchâtel Snow Ride
I thought about heading to the Lac de Joux on Sunday, but changed my mind knowing that I’d be spending two and a half hours in the car just to visit a frozen lake. It quite often happens like that. There are many cool places to ride in Switzerland, but as soon as I’m looking at the prospect of driving several hours, more often than not I forget about the whole idea and just hop...
5 tags
Chilly Saturday Ride
Today’s ride was another far below zero cyclocross ride. While it’s lovely to climb at those temperatures they come to haunt you on the descent. For one it gets really uncomfortable to brake over an extended period of time wearing thick gloves and the clothes that have been keeping you warm ultimately capitulate to the cold. Today’s ride was fun going up, even while hiking...
5 tags
A Mean Green Riding Machine
First and foremost be warned, what follows is some 26er content. You know, those small-wheeled bikes we used to ride in the dark ages of mountain biking. Those bikes we look at today wondering how in the world we possibly rode them across trails. Yes, I still own not one but two of those museum-worthy off-road velocipedes. The mean green riding machine is a bike that I’ve now...
5 tags
Minus Thirteen And A Little Frosty
While January started with some awesome weekends to ride, the second half of January was lousy and offered not a single pleasant day. My bikes were screaming for some dearly needed maintenance and were happy to stay home. February arrived and with it a blast of Siberian air that dropped the mercury below minus ten and more degrees. I got up with the sunrise and looked at a blue sky...
5 tags
January 2012
5 posts
6 tags
An Epic Winter Ride To The Chasseral
After Friday’s reconaissance mission to the Métairie du Milieu de Bienne with the cyclocrosser, I knew that we had some very favorable snow conditions to conquer the Chasseral. Saturday morning, I left early armed with digital and video cameras to do just that. Well, I spent one of the most amazing days on the bike riding miles and miles of tracks that snow-shoers had stomped into the...
5 tags
Yippie The Server's Dead!
Our server at the office seems to mirror the business as a whole. It runs pretty darn crappy to say the least. Today, as many times before, one of its vital organs failed. As that single black box is our only hub to the whole universe and beyond, I shut down my now utterly useless desktop client and armed myself with pencil and paper. But there just wasn’t anything to do other than...
4 tags
Mountain Biking Bernese Alps Soon History?
According to Swiss Ride Magazine, the Canton of Berne wants to ban mountain bikes. Their reasoning: mountain bikes cause permanent damage to the ground, especially when riding in wet conditions. What a bunch of bullocks! Whoever wrote this legislative draft, must have never set foot in a forest. If they really wanted untouched forests, they should start with a ban of all forestry machinery.
A 20...
6 tags
Saturday's Snow Excursion
Living at about 440 meters above sea level everything outside is currently green and brown. A few snow flakes managed to travel all the way to us, but they pretty much melted on impact. It rained a lot the past few days. Trails are wet and muddy up to an altitude of about 900 meters. Rain down here though meant loads of snow higher up and I was itching to check it out. I easily climbed to Evilard...
6 tags
Welcome In 2012
Well, hello 2012. I left the land of the holey cheese for Christmas and New Years and spent it in good old Northern California, which for my taste buds, makes much finer cheese than alpine Helvetia. The bikes had to stay at home and 29in.ch went forgotten while I overdosed on GT’s Kombucha, Maine Root Ginger Brew, Chai BaBa Chai and an occasional Zin. Yes, I was a regular at Whole Foods and...
December 2011
3 posts
6 tags
Last Ride Of The Year
Sunday already marked my last ride of the year, at least on Swiss soil. It had been raining a lot all week so trails were both super slippery and extremely muddy. It didn’t deter me to head out for a short loop, and surprisingly it didn’t deter hikers to head out in droves. I received some flashlight mounts from DealExtreme last week, which will be used to mount my Replay XD1080...
6 tags
Firefly Rigid Singlespeed
A titanium masterpiece by Firefly.
5 tags
Cyclocrossing Up To The First Snow
This week I ordered a new microSDHC with the huge capacity of 32GB for my ReplayXD1080 action cam. If I think back at my first home PC, a Gateway desktop PC running Windows 95 on a dinky 6GB hard-drive, it’s pretty amazing to see the progress that has been made. This tiny Kingston microSD fits on top of a fingernail and is less than a millimeter thick. Pretty soon a cellphone will be no...
November 2011
8 posts
7 tags
Lake Loop Redux
Well, not losing many words about today’s ride other than it’s been another several hours of spectacular cyclocrossing. Truly blessed to live in such a wonderful country, have enough disposable income to afford two new bikes in one year, a wife that lets me buy them and ultimately have good legs to go climb some of the finest trails. Thanks!
Distance:78.6km (48.8...
5 tags
7 tags
Le Tour Du Lac
The sun was already poking through the hazy sky when I left for a cyclocross ride to the Chasseral. I spent the first half of the ride under blue skies, rode mostly dry gravel roads and passed some frosty spots on the shaded slopes that don’t get much if any sun this time of the year. The last pitch to the Chasseral antenna was as icy as last weekend and provided no conditions to...
6 tags
Chasseral Mudfest
First thing on my todo list this morning was a visit to the post office to send some goodies to the friendly Ebayers who bid and won. Three items, two buyers, both won and paid yesterday so now it was my turn to deliver. A front and rear Ultegra 6700 derailleur go to Italy, a set of Ultegra Dual Control levers travel all the way to Folsom, California.
After that was out of the way, I left home to...
6 tags
TRP CX8.4 Mini Linear Pull Brakes
After a couple of long rides with lots of climbing and descending the Avid Shorty 4 cantilever brakes quickly reached their power limits. The Shorty 4 is a decent, low cost cantilever brake that stops sufficiently well on flat land, but alas I’m a mountain goat. The best to cyclo-cross the Swiss Jura would disc brakes, but as long as Shimano or SRAM don’t have hydraulic road...
6 tags
Mavic Tempo MTB Shoes
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I’ve been singlespeeding either in Shimano sandals or trail shoes but have not owned a racy MTB show in over a decade. Cyclo-crossing, my feet demanded something more akin to a road shoe so I consulted the web to get an idea of what the market has to offer these days. I stumbled across Mavic, who has some very good looking shoes that most importantly don’t break the bank. I opted...
6 tags
Mellow Chasseral Cyclocross
After I’ve only found the way to bed past 2AM last night, I wasn’t feeling all that fresh for a long ride this morning. It was a bit hazy, but the sun was already busy slicing a clear message into the haze that a great day lay ahead. A bit tired, I pulled the Focus out of the basement and decided to take an easy spin up to the Chasseral. I climbed the Psycho to Magglingen,...
6 tags
Niner A9C #3 Is In The House
After #1 and #2 I stopped by Mainstreet 42 on Saturday to pick up #3. Sunday was riding day so I only got to the Air 9 Carbon Monday evening. All components had already been thoroughly cleaned long before, so I jumped right into assembling the bike. When I was about to attach the rear brake line, I discovered that all the holes of the clip-on cable guides had not been sanded. One might have gotten...
October 2011
7 posts
6 tags
Long CX Ride Under Cloudy Skies
I picked up Niner Air 9 Carbon #3 on Saturday but left it untouched and unassembled today. Instead, I rolled out of the house on the Focus Mares for another long Sunday ride through the Jura hills. I rode pretty much the identical route from last Sunday up to the Montoz and down to the Col de Pierre Pertuis. But instead of dropping into the valley, I crossed the Col and climbed to the Jeanbrenin....
6 tags
Cyclocrossing The Montoz And The Schilt
Today I jumped out of bed as if it was a weekday. Breakfast and I took off into a cold foggy morning. The plan was to cyclocross up a climb out of Péry that I have never done before. I kept an eye out for the church in town, then saw a road named “Rue du Montoz”. That was the one! The climb out of the village started steep, first on pavement and after the first sharp righthand turn it...
7 tags
A Look At A Troublesome EBB
When you wait for a warranty replacement of your mountain bike, wait for a delivery of a new cyclocross bike, wait for replacements of recalled bike-light batteries that have yet to materialize and wait for the postman to drop off a box with new lights because days are getting too short to wait for the batteries - you find enough time to start analyzing what has gone wrong with your...
6 tags
The Speen Umlenker To Keep It Straight
The Focus Mares runs front and rear derailleur cables on top of the top tube. To reach the front derailleur the shifter cable runs down along the seat tube and loops around a pulley at the bottom to run back up to the front derailleur. The pulley sits just in the area that will collect the most mud and dirt from the rear wheel. On dry days no problem, but on wet days I think this setup is going to...
5 tags
Horses For Courses
After spending lots of time riding through the Jura on my asphalt rocket and less time on my trail bomber due to a second warranty replacement, I realized that I lacked the right horse for the region’s huge network of gravel roads. The farms, hilltops, valleys and plains are all well connected, but much of it are small non-paved roads. I’ve been pedaling across many of them on my road...
6 tags
Naked Bicycles BBQ Butterfly
Stumbled upon at CycleEXIF • Bike BBQ Butterly • Builder Naked Bicycles
5 tags
Hiking Le Schilt
Exactly a month ago, I posted my last ride report. I have been ninerless since as I’m waiting for a replacement for my second Air 9 Carbon frame. So, I missed out mountain biking one of the warmest and sunniest September months in recent history. But that wasn’t a bad thing, actually. Being without a big-wheeled bike got me to ride my...
September 2011
3 posts
5 tags
Replay XD1080 Unboxed
Just received a Replay XD1080 action-camera. Time to get to know this little gizmo, test out different mounting positions on the bike and helmet and create some first trial clips. Just need a mountain bike yet again before shooting any trail action.
6 tags
Bontrager XR3 First Impressions
Today’s evening sky while riding This evening I got out of the house somewhat late and only had about two more hours of daylight available. I left for a quick loop to the Twannberg and Magglingen. It was a test for two things - the creaky Bio-Centric BB and a Bontrager XR3 29x2.1 tire I mounted in the rear. Well, the clean BB with a fresh application of CarboGrip continued to creak badly in...
6 tags
The Dinosaur Traces To Hell's Gate
My original plan for Saturday was to head out to Friedrichshafen for Eurobike, but I could not pass up a wonderful fall ride. Had it rained, I would have gone and walked the show, but with good weather it just wasn’t worth it. I’ve pretty much seen everything there’s to see online already, so I don’t think I really missed anything. Instead I jumped on the Niner...
August 2011
10 posts
5 tags
TwentyNiners At Eurobike 2011
With the weather forecast for the weekend predicting a sunny Saturday and heavy rain Sunday, I’ll probably save myself the long trip to Friedrichshafen and go ride instead. Thanks to folks like HappyMTB, who has been busy shooting lots of photos at Eurobike 2011, I can instead walk the show virtually from the comfort of my desk - now and all week.
6 tags
The Ol' Creaky Bio-Centric EBB
The old set-screw EBB on my Niner One9 always wanted to be clean with a fresh coat of grease. A bit of grit and dirt, a couple of bike washes and it creaked under load every steep climb up. It became a ritual to take it apart, clean it and apply a generous amount of grease to keep it quiet and happy.
The story hasn’t changed with the Bio-Centric on the Air9 Carbon. The EBB of my second...
5 tags
The Lothurm Climb
Temperatures are getting chillier, evenings are getting shorter,
people outdoors are getting fewer and riding is getting better.
Distance:33.5km (20.8 miles)Elevation:1’854m (6’082 feet)Time:02:04:56Speed (avg/max):16.1/49.9 kph (10/31 mph)
6 tags
Milking The Swiss Consumer
Switzerland is the land of cows. There are the four-legged cows grazing the country’s green pastures and there are the two-legged citizens and consumers who are the cash-cows to producers and distributors who overcharge for goods like there’s no tomorrow. With the drop of the Euro and the Dollar, price differences between Switzerland and its neighbors have even grown wider and now...
5 tags
Lene Byberg's 29er S-Works Fate Stolen
Specialized rider Lene Byberg had her mountain bike stolen. She rides a 29er S-Works Fate, of which only five have currently been produced. One day before the World Cup finals in Val di Sole, she walks into a grocery store to get a drink, leaves it unlocked and when she exits the grocery her Fate is gone. I don’t know if you can leave such a high-dollar bike unattended up in distant...
7 tags
The Wet Blackberry Loop
I left in the late morning with the idea that I’d climb up to the Chasseral if I felt okay. I opted for an easier approach of the mountain by passing through Evilard and the Jorat where I turned right to reach the Charriere Trail halfway from where I climbed to the edge of Les Pres d’Orvin. A right turn lead me into the next climb towards La Ragie. Reaching the crest, I went off to the...
6 tags
Creaky Saddle
Over the last few rides my Selle Italia SLR started to awfully creak and pop as if it were going to break in half each time I sat on it. Since I don’t rest my butt on it often riding a rigid singlespeed, I ignored it for two rides. But something needed to be done about it. Whenever something creaks, I start taking things apart, clean all contact surfaces and apply a touch of grease. Sure...
6 tags
Long Ride With A Cold
Yesterday was too nice of a day not to saddle up and head out into the Jura. Still battling a cold, I only left midday to hit my Rondchâtel Loop and climb to the Chasseral. I was taking it easy, never hammering, just keeping an easy pace trying to make it up every climb. When I approached the top of the “hors categorie” climb out of Rondchâtel, I reached for my sun glasses on an open...
5 tags
WTB Bronson Tire Mounted On Edge AM Rim
What do you do if you have a cold, it’s sunny outside and you feel like riding but you’re told not to and you know you shouldn’t? Well, the safe thing’s to take care of yourself and rest for a day or two. In the meantime, get the bike ready for the next time out on the trails. The 10 hour flight back from Brazil left me with a bit of a cold. These days it seems like I...
7 tags
Bontrager 29er Cross Country Tires
Back in April I ordered some Bontrager 29.2 and XR3 tires to have some lighter tires for the summer to my disposal. Unfortunately, the online shop I ordered them from could not deliver until the end of July. Lesson learned, I’ll never order from a shop again that doesn’t have correct availability information or clearly states that an item is out of stock. While I was across the big...
July 2011
7 posts
7 tags
AM Tire Inspired By Charles Bronson
Back in September of last year, I was excited about all the new 29” tire threads on display at Eurobike. Unfortunately, it’s been next to impossible to get my hands on anything new this year. As far as 29” tires, it seems like the world has run out of rubber. At least none of it has landed on European shores. CRC had the Bronson 29x2.2 on their site out of...
6 tags
Race Hardtail Simplon Razorblade 29er
The Razorblade 29 is Simplon’s big-wheeled race-hardtail. With a shortish 435 mm chain stay length and a short wheelbase, the bike is built to be an agile racer. The wide, flattened top tube, the thinly shaped seat stays and the small diameter (27.2 mm) seat post should guarantee plenty of comfort. Simplon’s done their homework and included must-have features...
7 tags
A Thunderstorm Of A Ride
After yesterday’s furnace loop had robbed me of every quantum of energy, I got up this morning with lead in my legs. I had breakfast on the balcony with my two cats and was happy that the clouds were hanging low across the Jura. My legs didn’t feel like another ride, but my mind did. On a cloudy day it’s a whole lot nicer to climb up to the Chasseral. I got out the door before...
7 tags
When Things Don't Go As Planned
With the weather forecast indicating a high chance of thunderstorms, I decided to head out singlespeeding across a local loop. As I climbed out of town, the trail dropped shortly, then made a left turn and climbed steeply. As I rolled around the turn, I hit the pedals hard to keep my momentum and mashed up the hill. A couple of pedal strokes into the climb, my right foot suddenly made a long down...
6 tags
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Open Source Polygon Cassette Concept
From Bicycle Retailer & Industry News: Kirk Pacenti thinks cassette body splines are outdated and should be replaced by a polygon freewheel body. He’s already testing a single speed polygon cassette body in hubs that they’ve made in Tennessee and wants to work with the biggest component makers - Campagnolo, Shimano and SRAM - to help make it a reality. “A polygon shape can be...
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