Ride Fat Boy, Ride!!

Finally the much speculated upon new 'G-Spot' nears release and I get to try it out. I was out yesterday in better than could have been hoped for weather. Today's Demo ride would happen in some of the most inclement weather I had ever ridden in.


On the way back stopped in at the shop on Saturday. It was then finally I had the chance to set up our Double Date with 2 of the new Girls as Cove. Chaz is laid back and eager to have 2 of his regulars giver a go. Stuart on the other had was in the back, on his rocking chair. I thought I saw him holding a shot gun.
I am not an unbiased rider. I ride Cove bikes, exclusively now. Ian is not in the club yet, but is seriously considering going there with the release of the new G-Spot sometime next summer. Here are my impressions of the bike for those few who happen to stumble upon this blog and care.

Ian's and my own demo bikes we're equipped almost identically except for the rear shock. He was riding a Fox DXH air and I was using an RP23 with bigger Canister.
We started our Trek up in the usual fashion. A push to the yellow gate and peddle as much as we could to the top. I am currently in winter form(sorta outta shape, although round is a shape) and had ridden yesterday. So I took my time getting up to 7t this time. The climb was good. The granny ring definitely makes a notable difference against my single ring STD.
The current iterations of G-Spot are weighing nicely in the 32-34 pound range. Not the best available weight for a 6&6er out there but solid. When I was riding mine a felt as though a heavier rider would have no problem with this bike. The frame didnt feel weak or creaky or anything.
When we ride, Ian and I usually would rather ride than take pics. So I Took this chance to get a few of Ian on his.


It's not really my place to review this bike. One ride doesn't really give me a fair overall idea of how the bike rides. Just a few innitial impressions tho from a novice rider.

The Bad(most of these comments reflect on how the bike was set up, not the bike itself.)

The model I picked up had an under sprung Lyric U-Turn. I endo'ed twice on this ride because of that. I started getting a little nervous after that and took it easy for the rest of the ride. Otherwize the Lyric is the perfect front end for this bike.

I normally ride large size bikes. At first I thought the medium sized frame felt fairly spacious but it closed in on my after a while. Expecially on the flatter areas I felt as though my weight was too far forward. (Thus the comment above about needing to try a large one).

The Good

The G-Spot keeps a lot of my favorite qualities from my Hustler and imports a few over from the STD as well. The G-Spot is nimble, versatile and feels sturdy. She tracks well on skinnies and moves over rockfaces and trannies well. She's got a nice short turn radius and gets through the tight corners on 7th.

I was pretty happy with how the RP23 worked on my ride. I never really felt like I was running out of rear travel.

Overall

I rememeber my first ride on the STD. I had been riding a stiffee previous to that and felt the STD to be totally confidence inspiring right away. A major step up. When I rode the G-spot, I felt myself taking a step backwards in the confidence area. Something I'm sure I could overcome with a few more rides and a frame size that is right for me.

Still the G-Spot does have lots to offer. A fully built one will be more agile than the STD and maybe as much as 8lbs lighter without giving up any real durability.

Predictions

This bike will sell. Lots. It could be to Fromme as the Shocker was to Whistler. Ian even suggested that STD sales may drop when this bike comes out as riders are more and more staying local these days.

This bike will be perfect for riders who want only one bike, or riders who spend most of their time on Fromme or SFU. At the same time, you can definately get away with this bike on Seymour and if you set it up right can be used on XC trips in a pinch. You can even set up this bike with a coil shock, so the possibility of taking it to whistler is there as well.

For me

The option to pick up one of these bikes really isn't there for me. But if I were in the market for another bike I would have to demo a large sized frame, which isn't available at this time. And if I were to go large size then I have the feeling I'd might as well just stay with the STD I usually ride. But if the bike were out earlier this year when I was actually bike shopping, it probably would have been a serious consideration.

For Ian

I'm going to let Ian chime in for himself when he's ready. He has been riding an STD set up with a Dual Crown fork and his little bike is a stumpjumper. So 2 bikes at opposite ends of the spectrum. I don't think he has been that impressed with the Stumpy as he never got the chance to do the XC riding he thought he'd be doing when he bought it. Local rides on the shore and at SFU demand a bit more than a Stumpy has to offer so I think he is looking for something like this. But he can elaborate for himself......

Below are a few clip of Ian and I riding so you can have a Idea of the bike looks.

A Month later.....

Here in no particular order are some of this images from my solo ride today. Trail combo was 7th into Crinkum Crankum and griffen out to Mcnair.

The conditions were Ideal. I started off on Evelyn as usual and the temperature seemed to get warmer as I got further up the fire road, with the usual noted drop around the 6th switchback.


Compare this image from my last one in my last post. You cant see my line in there anymore. Good news.
This is the first trouble spot and its all the way just before the 6th corner. Nice little sheet of ice for you.
Back down is the third. On the right there you can see Sasha speeding off.


Thats me. The big winner today was my new ride jacket which kept my body heat in well.
This is Al. He tore off his derailure and made it to the bottom with no chain.

Thats the entrance to 7th on its side.

Good ride and a good day. I thought after last months ride the Fromme season was ending but it looks as though the mountain mustered up a nice little X-mas present for us.

A Line in the Snow

I could have named this entry a lot of things , like "WTF was I thinking?" or "Why do I ever listen to Ian?" or maybe "I'm definately buying a snowboard". Not going to state the obvious about taking one for the team. Instead, here is my Fromme trail report for Sunday November 22, 2009.

This was the first of the snow we saw at the third switchback. I thought "yeah thats not bad, we won't see much more of that."


Thats Ian on the 5th. Still not too bad.

I love the ambiance of winter riding. Out in the elements. Poor visibility. I'd like to do this post again with some Zombies Photoshopped in.
Ok down to the details. This is the entrance to Pipeline. Not bad. Later on we would hook up with Alanb and ride down. Pipeline is muddy in places but accessible and ridable.
This is looking forward from the entrance to Pipeline.
Expresso wasn't looking too bad either. Ready to start the trip down? Nope, not us.
Well, Ian and I could have bailed, but our bikes would have gone on without us. Around the end of the 5th and all the 6th was a little depressing. Upper oil can is not long for this season. 7th, well as much as I love her, just ain't worth it. The snow varied between 1 and 1.5 feet after around the Expresso Entrance.If you really really want to, the entrance to Upper Oil Can still looks doable.
Finally we hit our destination.

Here is the entrance, not too bad looking but you'll still be doing a lot of walking in the snow if you start here. Our trail combo for the day was a classic. 7th into Pipeline. Pipeline like mentioned earlier was pretty clear. 7th was an on again off again mess for the first 60%. If you do ride in this, please take rations, a friend and respect the trails. We all depend on our builders and they would prolly rather we not make craters with our tires.
Other than that, feel free to poach our line.

By the prick of my thumb.....

...something wicked this way comes.

Winter is on its way. We sure felt it on Friday.

Drew first into'd us to Pure Gynt.

Some of Drew's inner posse.
Executioner into Dream weaver is a great combo. Something for everyone on that trail.

But that wasn't for me.

Shots

I never was much for taking pictures. But I was never much into the arts either. Thats my bike. I love her dearly. I love my other one dearly too. Bikes don't get jealous. I do.
Aaron got a lucky shot off on the weekend. One good pic next to my zillion shitty ones.


It was a trip down UOC, Expresso and Skull. Dave likes Skull for some reason.
Like I said, I love my bikes. But what if I had waited a year? I might have been in a monogamous relationship. LOL.
I think the new Gspot will compete against the Delerium , Nomad and maybe Fuild LT and Pitch pro. Looks like a good shore bike to me.

Back in the Saddle

These are images from my 3rd ride this past weekend. Arguably the most enjoyable. Ian would argue that with me, but Im pretty sure I didn't wreck my legs here. That honour would go to a full days ride at Whistler on Saturday. Ian and I pulled a little Old School No Variety, which is a nice way of saying we whored 'No Joke' all day. The night before was our first night ride of the season, here at SFU.

What made this ride so much fun was the casual pace set by Dave and Ilana. Dave has been MIA, busy with Family trips, and Ilana is getting in some progression rides with me and my crew. She's moving right along.
And she show's good spirit here smiling through an ouchie. I didn't see her tumble. I left her in Dave's charge and rode on ahead. Hmm, come to think of it, most of my wipe outs in the early days came with Dave looking on......and laughing. Sorry Ilana, won't do that again.
Dave likes to stop every 100ft or so to tell a different story.
Below is Ilana and Dave finishing up the trail.

In the Picture

My Island ride buddy, Sarah, has a blog of her own. She is one hell of a good photographer. She can even make me look kinda good, which ain't easy to do.

She's a Creaking Lemon.

Welcome to the Gong Show

There's probably a Seinfeld joke in here somewhere about Elaine's new friends.

I don't know why it is I never learn. Crankworx was on again in Whistler. Time for the park to be taken over by spectators. Kiosks for showing off the latest gear, which somehow always looks like last years gear. Except at the Specialized Kiosk but who cares about a mega brand anyways?

There's Ryan Leach. He's a trials dude.
This is what Crankworx is all about. Crowds. Whistler never does a very good job of managing this event. The park is always so crowded that it's impossible for the riders to get into the lines ups.
Everyone gathers in mass to see the slopestyle event. IMHO, an event that has peaked. No one is out there right now advancing the discipline. I think people just gather to watch people wipe out and hurt themselves.
Oooh. Come on!
Uh oh!


Ahh that's too bad. He landed safely. Ah well, maybe the next guy.

I had the choice of 2 scenarios. 1 stay down in the lower half of the park and endure the crowds, or 2, go up the Garbonzo lift to the top where is was really slippery and hard to ride safely. It was as tho the mountain was telling us that we could ride up there if we wanted to but it would cost us.On No Joke, I wiped out pretty hard and torqued my ankle, ripped a hole in the back of my right riding shoe, tore up a brand new pair of socks and left limping and sore.

Maybe Whislter is telling me to change my attitude.

Karate goes on. I however do not. I am resting a nagging ankle issue(yeah, thanks No Joke). Sensei Sharp was in T town last week. He's way on the right there. Y'all should know who he is by now.

My grueling school schedule has come to a temporary end. And without Karate and even tho I continue to work as normal, I feel like Im on vacation. I haven't been this relaxed in months it seems.

Nice to have some me time. I think I'll grocery shop. Clean. Buy a shelf. Be human again.

Matt Good posted Last Parade on his website. Nice to have some theme music for the weekend.