The Rig Rides Again

The 20 is going to be solid overall. Down south a 19 will be perfect. If your looking to rip your legs off go with the 18. Welcome to the club!
 
fwiw, there are a good amount of people using 21 or 22t cogs in steeper terrain. i used a 22 for la ruta. run the gearing that works best for you.

oh, and it's nice to see her getting the care she deserves, and out on the trails. now we need some action shots! over the turtle with you!
 
anrothar said:
fwiw, there are a good amount of people using 21 or 22t cogs in steeper terrain. i used a 22 for la ruta. run the gearing that works best for you.

oh, and it's nice to see her getting the care she deserves, and out on the trails. now we need some action shots! over the turtle with you!
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Actually the 20 wasn't too bad...it was the more technical climbs where maintaining momentum was difficult that caught me out. If I had a 21 or 22 I'd give it a try, but I don't...I'll get a couple more rides on it before I do anything...

Ha! Normal rocks have me spooked because of my recent gravity checking activity--my right leg is never gonna' get healed! However, I told you that when you visit next year I WILL ride the turtle...I plan on sticking to that promise.

When I was getting my upper GI series done at St. Claire's yesterday, the radiology doc looked at my right leg and ask "What the hell happened to you?!"...my only response, shaking my head, "rocks, man, rocks"...he looked at me like I should be in psychological testing instead of drinking the barium...
 
Is this a "bad" sign?

...so I'm finding that I'm starting to pillage "better" parts off the 5-spot to put on the Rig. Of course, this is "temporary" as I go through my 29er/SS experiment, but still...

Pulled the seat post and seat off the spot as my bum isn't happy with the seat on the Rig. Fortunately, it doesn't look like the angle of the seat needs to change nor does the fore/aft adjustment on the Rig from the Spot, so it is easy to swap back and forth.

Now I eye my Formula "The Ones" on the Spot every time walk by it. 'Don't like the Juicy Carbon/BB7 combo on the Rig...I really miss the Formulas...hmmm....hmmm...I'm gonna' try to resist this one...

Also swapped the Cane Creek S1 POS headset on the Rig with the FSA Orbit Extreme Pro headset I had on my old Stumpy (that never gets ridden)...

:hmmm:

Anyway, I'm also finding that I am going faster on the Rig than the Spot...to the tune of 1-2 mph average up at MD (that's 15-30% folks). My theory is that instead of dropping to a low gear and spinning up hills, I have to attack the things with the SS, and thusly get up them *a lot* faster. Sure the 29" wheels and the fact it is a more efficient platform (hard tail) may have something to do with that, but the time saved climbing up hills is obvious.

:hmmm:

'Also finding it is a better overall workout. I'm finding that my arms and core have been worked a lot more since riding the SS. Makes total sense as the Spot is a stay planted on the saddle and motor kind of machine (or at least that is how I've been riding it). Getting out of the saddle and wrenching on the bars to climb with the Rig is clearly working stuff that wasn't getting worked on the Spot.

:hmmm:

It might be a worthwhile experiment to take the Spot out and use the platform/lockout feature of the shocks (which I've not used), get out of the saddle and push a bigger gear up the hills.

I'm clearly liking the 29er/SS...a lot. I want to start figuring out whether it is the 29" wheels, the fact it is a HT that doesn't *completely* punish me, the fact it is a SS or a combo of the above that is at the root of it all. Or maybe it is just the "newness". I will take my time and let nature take it's course...in the end though, there will not be an expensive bike sitting in my basement collecting dust. The Spot will get it's fair share of trail time or it will go. If that happens, the question will be does it get replaced with a Sultan or a nicer 29er/SS (either one with most the good parts off the Spot). I think by the end of the summer the answer will be obvious...
 
Fogerson said:
Anyway, I'm also finding that I am going faster on the Rig than the Spot...to the tune of 1-2 mph average up at MD (that's 15-30% folks). My theory is that instead of dropping to a low gear and spinning up hills, I have to attack the things with the SS, and thusly get up them *a lot* faster. Sure the 29" wheels and the fact it is a more efficient platform (hard tail) may have something to do with that, but the time saved climbing up hills is obvious.
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I have found that to be true in a lot of races. I see SSers just bomb up hills and make them a lot faster than I do some times. The SSers know if they cant pedal, they have to get off and walk, so might as well bomb as much of it as possible.
 
Just being reminded to stand up will make you much faster. People buy FS and get comfortable. They are not designed so you can sit all day they are designed to hit bigger things faster.In MX you sit when your toast and then you just get pummeled even worse.Glad to hear you're gettin fired up and out on the trails...........
 
hardtale70 said:
Just being reminded to stand up will make you much faster. People buy FS and get comfortable. They are not designed so you can sit all day they are designed to hit bigger things faster.In MX you sit when your toast and then you just get pummeled even worse.Glad to hear you're gettin fired up and out on the trails...........
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I believe it; though it doesn't help that a lot of books/sites/etc. say the best way to climb on a FS bike is with your butt planted on the saddle. Then you get used to it. Then you get a suspension w/platforms & lockouts, but keep your butt planted and never use it :)

I'm gonna' guess most of that keep your butt planted instruction/advice came about before the platform/lockout technology. If I stand & climb on my Spot w/o activating it, things get pretty inefficient in a hurry (mostly with bob in the front, actually). I'm pretty sure I'll cover real-estate faster on the Spot if I flip the levers and climb like I'm on the Rig/HT.

In MX if you're sitting more than when you're bangin' berms or on a straight, it doesn't matter how rough things are...you're slow...go do some bicycle riding and come back later! And even then, you're probably sitting too much. Back in the late 70's/early 80's when I was racing, the fast way down the straights on the old YZ's (I'm talking YZ250E/F vintage, here, when they were YELLOW!), was to hang your ass off the back of the seat and let the front wheel float. 'Didn't always work so well when I was desert racing, though...got my ass bucked off at rather high rates of speed more than once out in the middle of the Oregon desert. Ah memories...
 
Fogerson said:
...got my ass bucked off at rather high rates of speed more than once out in the middle of the Oregon desert. Ah memories...
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that actually explains quite a bit tim. thanks for sharing.

oh, and yeah, stand.
 
SS is hard!

So I'm learning why folks say riding SS will make you a better rider. Slow, technical, twisty stuff, especially uphill, will punish the hell out of you on a SS if you don't think through each turn and set it up appropriately. I was punished a lot today.

Also ran over a 2 inch by 3 foot branch that managed to flip up, get caught somehow, and rip the brake line out of the Juicy Carbon master cylinder. That was a WTF... 'Hope that the barbs and balls for my Formulas (I have extras) work on these...or the Formula will find it's way onto the Rig or it's time to run the Spot again until I can get somewhere to get replacements...
 
Thats it, keep swapping stuff over. Soon Mr. Turner will be naked and cold, asking how this could have happened.
 
Fogerson said:
So I'm learning why folks say riding SS will make you a better rider. Slow, technical, twisty stuff, especially uphill, will punish the hell out of you on a SS if you don't think through each turn and set it up appropriately. I was punished a lot today.

Also ran over a 2 inch by 3 foot branch that managed to flip up, get caught somehow, and rip the brake line out of the Juicy Carbon master cylinder. That was a WTF... 'Hope that the barbs and balls for my Formulas (I have extras) work on these...or the Formula will find it's way onto the Rig or it's time to run the Spot again until I can get somewhere to get replacements...
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Tim take the ss over to KVSP when you get a chance, you will fly up all those steep little inclines. It is really a fun park on a ss, just don't expect to reach the needle on your first trip there.
 
Sparta Brad said:
Tim take the ss over to KVSP when you get a chance, you will fly up all those steep little inclines. It is really a fun park on a ss, just don't expect to reach the needle on your first trip there.
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I plan too...

Well, the barb & compression fitting for my Formulas won't work on the Juicy...apparently the hose is a tiny bit smaller than those on the Formulas.
And I can't even use the old barb because there isn't one :scared: Guess that explains why the hose pulled out so easily. Sigh...

'Hope Rt 15 has the parts...

Well, gotta' clean up the Spot this evening so I can ride tomorrow. That's right Walter, I've decided to not pull the brake off the Spot and put it on the Rig. So there!!!
 
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