The 29er Experience Hits Allaire

Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Just a huge group today. The world famous ChrisG led the train, and it may be an understatement to call it a mere train. I think 12 riders at one point? I got to talk to Chris before the ride, and after the ride. In between no such luck. Same with Ben, but less talk. Also had Chuck, Kirt, Nelson, JDog, JimVreeland, JimG, Scalpel6, DHSean, and a friend of Ben. During the intermission friend of Ben seemed to be replaced by someone else on a Cannondale, and another guy appeared to jump on. Also crossed paths with Clarkenstein, NJ-XC-Justin, and MWLikesBikes. Somehow missed Frank who I assumed was some sort of Allaire traffic cop and promoter.

Anyway, more 29er today. I raised the saddle which was good, but the cockpit is just not right, as pointed out by JDog. So in a twisty, up & down place like this, I just wasn't able to get a lot out of it. The bike didn't feel right, more weight on the rear wheel and overall unbalanced. Not a big deal for straight trails and big ups at Round Valley. But at Allaire, no luck. The bike didn't feel right so I don't think there was much to learn here. It also felt sluggish at times. Dunno what to say about that. Also, no technical data since the GPS simply refused to turn on.

On top, the rear derailleur threw off the cable 7 times because the guide on it has broken off at some point. So I lost a lot of confidence to do much of anything - log rolls, drops of any kind, any sort of bunny hop. So I wasn't able to just go, I had to always think what I could do to make that not happen. Any big downs, off it would go. That would leave me in the smallest cog in the rear, the bike effectively a 2x1.

So that's that, not really much to see with the post. But it's all part of the process. So I figured I would post up more on my experience. Right now I'm leaning towards a Niner build, Sir 9 frame, Fox fork, Crossmax wheels. On top of that it will be a mix of parts I already have and new parts.
 
Norm said:
During the intermission friend of Ben seemed to be replaced...
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Friend of Ben was JoeP (doesn't hang round here). During the intermission he was trying to find the cause of a strange noise. Unfortunately, it was his broken downtube. He was talking about a replacement just yesterday. How convenient. :rofl:
 
I didn't really know when anyone was heading out there today, however, I went out there around eleven thirty and the parking lot had thinned out quite a bit. I think I'm gonna do later rides on the weekends when I can, Allaire is a nut house in the am, it's getting to be a pain in the ass,,,,,, on the silver lining side of things though, a guy towing a horse trailer had to leave because he couldn't find a place to park that rig, heh heh. Sorry your ride wasn't all that fruitful, at least it wasn't 15 degrees out. Lates, TJ
 
i didn't realize you were part of that group i came across - i was too busy swallowing my lungs trying to keep up with josh.

it sucks that the ride didnt work out today - but i think you're looking down the right path with a niner. i think my MCR is a great ride.
 
clarkenstein said:
i didn't realize you were part of that group i came across - i was too busy swallowing my lungs trying to keep up with josh.

it sucks that the ride didnt work out today - but i think you're looking down the right path with a niner. i think my MCR is a great ride.
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I saw you in the lot before the ride, right? It didn't click that it was you until we passed you guys when you saw Kirt & Nelson.

It was a good ride regardless. That was quite a buzzing little train we had there for a while.
 
Hey, me and my 2 buds jumped on that line when you guys passed by the figure 8 area. Great fast pace. We decided to join about 30 sec after you all passed and had to hamnmer like heck to catch. Big fun. Thanks for letting us tag along.
 
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MMuller said:
Hey, me and my 2 buds jumped on that line when you guys passed by the figure 8 area. Great fast pace. We decided to join about 30 sec after you all passed and had to hamnmer like heck to catch. Big fun. Thanks for letting us tag along.
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where the hell is that figure 8 area? would it be to hard to explain?
 
MMuller said:
Hey, me and my 2 buds jumped on that line when you guys passed by the figure 8 area. Great fast pace. We decided to join about 30 sec after you all passed and had to hamnmer like heck to catch. Big fun. Thanks for letting us tag along.
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Cool man, glad you joined in. I remember 2 guys I didn't know. One in red (there were suddenly 2 Bens) and another in a white/blue team-ish jersey of some sort? I don't know the park so no idea what the figure 8 area is.
 
fig 8 section

That's what I call it anyway. It's probably the furthest point in the park from the lot. There are a bunch of little loops raised up in a swampy area that intersect each other. I think there are about 5 different loops that are a bunch of fun to keep going around. We hopped on the line from there out on the orange trail to just about the lot. What a blast to snake thru the park with a huge group at that pace!
 
No no, don't get me wrong. I'm enjoying it a lot. You just have to understand when you try to keep up with these guys the details make a lot more of a difference. In terms of assessing a 29er, it's been great. There's just too much weight on the rear wheel so the front isn't tracking as well as it could/should. So we went through Tiger Woods 3 times today, and that brings out all the little details.
 
I was simply referring to the crappy RD situation, and the fact that the bike is actually being ridden while Im sitting idle. Im glad you are having fun Normster.😀
 
gt2brew said:
It sounds like the hog bog. Marc, is it just off the fishermans rd. ?
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That's where it was. We came down the switchback reroute, making a ton of stupid noise, and ran into Marc and his homies there.
 
Yea, that's the place, but I call that switchback reroute the "hornet's nest" section because I was part of the reroute that day and I remember Mike running throught the woods with a swarm after him after cutting directly through their nest! 😛 Yea, we heard the big racket from you guys and had to hop on the line, even though it took all the way to the imba reroute to catch you guys!
 
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