This year, my wife wanted to make the jump to big wheels, so we spent time online browsing a large number of bike manufacturer’s website to find out what they had to offer for 2012. She wanted a good mountain bike that was specifically designed for women without looking too feminine. Colors like pink were an absolute no-no. In addition, she wanted a bike with a low standover. She quickly found everything she wanted in Specialized’s Jett Expert 29.
So, one rainy Saturday we made a visit to the Bicycle Gallery in nearby Ipsach. The shop is the largest Specialized dealer in the area and has quite a large selection of 29ers in the showroom. The shop had two Jett Comp 29 in 17 and 19 inches but no Expert. A quick look at the computer showed that Experts were already sold out. Three were at the central warehouse but were already reserved. Knowing that people often put a reservation on something but then decide not to get it, we told the shop that we would take one of these Jett Expert 29, should one become available. The following week we got a call and my wife had her Expert.
We bought it with its original 3x10 mix of Deore and Deore XT transmission, which I immediately removed. My wife doesn’t want to deal with derailleur shifting. Instead, the new bike was equipped with a black Alfine hub laced into the original, white Alex rim. Black spokes and red nipples were used to match the front wheel. The crankset lost its three chainrings and got a sweet Rotor Q-Ring with 34 teeth from Bikespeed.ch, which got us the ring in no time.
The Jett Expert 29 runs all the brake and shifting cables along the bottom of the top tube. The rear shifting cable the continues below the right seat stay to meet the XT shadow derailleur in the back. An Alfine hub is designed for a shifting cable at the chain stay. A bit of research before we purchased the bike showed that using an Alfine hub with the cable at the seat stay was no problem. One just has to use the green and blue spacers for vertical dropouts and swap left and right to have the hub cassette joint unit point upwards in the direction of the seat stay.
After a first ride this weekend, there’s one more thing on the wishlist - a Cane Creek Thudbuster suspension seatpost. A red K-Edge ring guard will soon cover the front chainring. Not so much for chain retention, but more as a barrier between leg and chainring. Other than that, the Specialized Jett Expert 29 is now perfectly set up and ready for regular rides through our local forests and along our nearby rivers and lakes.
A set of compact Rotor Q-Rings have been on my road bike for a year and I would not exchange them for anything else. I do a lot of climbing and Rotor’s oval chainrings have made every hill climb less of an effort. Whether spinning seated or mashing out of the saddle, I’m faster and return fresher than on round rings. Currently, only my road bike is equipped with them. The cyclocrosser will be getting a set next. If my singlespeed had a smaller 4-bolt spider, the Q-ring I just bought would have been on there long ago. This 34T singlespeed ring however will be spinning in tandem with the crank of my wife’s new 29er to propel an 8-speed Alfine hub in the back. I’m pretty sure she’ll appreciate the benefits of an oval ring as much as I do.
It’s the coolest thing when you get home and a package smiles at you when you open the mailbox. Usually, you expect a yellow delivery attempt notice with a hand-written note stating how much you owe customs. A day later you can go pick up your package at the nearest post office. You just have to make sure to bring plenty of cash else you return empty-handed. Today, I found a small package from the US in the mailbox. Since I’m waiting for a handful of things from over there, I had no idea what was inside. Before checking, I quickly had to run to my local bike shop to get an item ready for my wife’s new bike. When I returned I immediately ran for the package and found the Chris King i7 InSet I recently ordered inside. I had a standard 1 1/8” Chris King headset on my old One 9 but while growth hormones work well on cyclists, they do absolutely nothing when given to bicycle components. Well, that 1 1/8” relic from cycling days gone by just wasn’t going to meet present requirements. It found a happy new owner on Ebay and the world continues to spin - on King bearings of course.
Back in the early 90ies my mountain bikes were always equipped with the legendary Selle Italia Flite saddle. Later, I transitioned to the SLR out of the same house. In March of last year, I switched brands and gave Fizik’s Antares saddle a try. It was love on first contact. The commuter and cyclocross bikes got an Antares K:ium and in February an OO was installed on the Niner. Any Antares saddle is great, but the 00 is in a whole different league so it was only an obvious choice to use one for the next build. Purchased from the cool folks over at Bikespeed.ch.
When I built my first 29er back in 2006, I had Mike Curiak of Lacemine29 lace me up a set of singlespeed wheels using Hope Pro II hubs, Bontrager Mustang OSB Disc rims and DT Aerolite spokes. I rode this wheelset on my Niner One 9 for four years. They’re still in awesome shape, which is certainly more a testament of Mike’s wheel-lacing wizardry than my unspectacular riding skills, so they’re going to be called back into active duty on a new bike for which I’m currently assembling a mix of old and new components.
| Hubs: | red Hope Pro II (singlespeed, bolt-on rear) |
| Rims: | Bontrager Mustang OSB Disc |
| Spokes: | black DT Aerolite |
| Rotors: | Alligator Starlite (180 front, 160 rear) |
After many winter rides and a bunch of mud rides, the Formula rotors on my Niner dropped quite a bit below the minimum thickness recommended by Formula. The brake track was no longer flat so it was time to toss them into the recycling bin and put a new set on the bike. I found just the right pair on Ebay, bought them and got them in a nicely padded envelope from a vendor in neighboring Italy. New original pads came from my local bike shop. Lots of my own sweat was lost wielding a rag in one hand and WD40 in the other, before they were mounted on the sparklingly clean bike.
Today I got off a late start and the afternoon looked very much the same as the past couple of days. I wanted to reach the Colisses-du-Haut and then head eastwards. When I approached the Twannberg, it started to drizzle and the Chasseral was wrapped in clouds. I continued on and decided that the ride would only be cut short if conditions got worse. Well, it didn’t take too long and the rain ceased. Just above Nods, my rear tire picked up a nail and I had to stop to replace the tube. A while later, I turned into the long, steady climb to the Colisses-du-Haut at 1’325 meters above sea. The gravel-road was wet and extremely soft. Not much later, much of the forest floor was white, covered with a thin layer of fresh snow. From the Colisses-du-Haut, I turned eastwards with the idea of hitting the famous Geissrücken trail. The entire way there was super muddy and wet. The Geissrücken (goatback) wet - no, that wouldn’t be a very good nor smart idea. I checked it out anyway and found a totally dry descent. I rode as much as I could on my rigid Niner, without ever risking too much being alone up there. I wondered if I’d do any better on a bike like the Quarterhorse. Well, in a few months I should know.
| Distance: | 44.3 km (27.5 mi) |
| Elevation: | 1’512 m (4’961 ft) |
| Time: | 03:44:33 |
| Speed (avg/max): | 11.8/52.8 kph (7.3/32.8 mph) |
On Saturday, Biel woke up under a grey veil just as it did the day before. The wooden floor on our balcony was not in its usual grey but a shiny brown. It must have rained during the night. Looking south the sky looked threateningly dark. The Jura in the north however was engulfed in a friendly looking haze. It seemed safe enough to spend a couple of hours on the bike so I left for the Mont Sujet, which I had not visited yet this year. Standing slightly south-east of the taller Chasseral, the Mont Sujet seems to have his own climate that generally dictates a longer winter than anything else in proximity. I decided to take the easy western approach to climb the mountain and found it entirely free of snow. The ground though, clearly showed that the snow had only melted very recently. I had to be back home around 1PM, so I turned into the Noir Combe (the Black Canyon) to jump into a downhill trail ending at the Métairie de Prêles. Both canyon and downhill still had some snow. The rocky downhill was extremely wet and challenging. At the Métairie I stopped to see my mom and have a cup of coffee. I couldn’t stay long. A few things needed to be done at home. I took the shortest offroad way to reach the Spaghetti Trail and dropped to the Jorat. The trail had dried quite a bit in just a day and this time the tires remained in their trajectory through the trail’s rocky sections. On a wet day like yesterday, they slip all over the place. I was back in town in no time to take care of my list of house chores.
| Distance: | 39.5 km (24.5 mi) |
| Elevation: | 1’404 m (4’606 ft) |
| Time: | 02:55:54 |
| Speed (avg/max): | 13.5/53.1 kph (8.4/33.0 mph) |
While a lot of folks escaped south for the Easter weekend in search of a couple sunny days, we avoided the gridlock on the highways and stayed home. It’s been foggy and wet outside but it hasn’t been raining. In other words the day offered itself for a nice mountain bike ride across deserted trails. I chose the Rondchâtel climb, as it’s a good climb in any type of weather. The forest in the lower part of the climb is currently filled with a delicious smell of wild garlic. The whole ground is covered with this flavorsome herb. As I gained altitude, visibility got shorter and shorter. Trees were dripping water in the thick fog and when I left the gravel road, I really had to pay attention to stay on course. I decided to follow the crest across Les Goules (goule = stream sink), where I had to climb across a half dozen fallen trees and had to battle an extremely slippery trail. While I was moving forward rather slowly, the Niner rolled through mud and across soapy limestone with bravery. At the Cabane du Jura I turned left to hit the downhill back home. The slippery descent required a bit more force on the brakes and a bit more attention the the trail. Back home, the bike got a quick shower in the backyard after which the chain got dried and oiled to be ready for another ride tomorrow.
| Distance: | 31.7 km (19.7 mi) |
| Elevation: | 1’306 m (4’285 ft) |
| Time: | 02:45:48 |
| Speed (avg/max): | 11.5/45.4 kph (7.1/28.2 mph) |
Bigger is better!
Everything smaller is a compromise!
