Posts Tagged ‘Edge wheels’
The Caveman Cometh (and he’s on a 29er)
So, you are a trail mashing mofo; gnarliest of the gnar. Yes, you are a fit machine and can ride. You have skills. Skills, eh? How about swimming, mountain biking and running — as in consecutively… in one day… at race pace?
Whaddya say? That off-road triathlon stuff — Xterra — isn’t for true mountain bikers? It’s so easy even a caveman could do it?
Straight-up fact: The Caveman does make it look easy. And the Caveman will make it look easy as he smokes you out on some technical singletrack — on a big-wheeled bike, no less.
He isn’t racing Xterra — yet — on a 29er, Conrad Stoltz rides his Specialized Epic 29er the rest of the time. CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS IN THE SLIDESHOW BELOW Photo by Seth Lightcap
A couple of weeks ago I did an interview and shoot with Singletrack.com editor Jamie Bate (and photoman Seth Lightcap) in Truckee. We talked 29er, kicked some ideas around and I have to say I’m quite stoked with the result. This website has some real meat to it. Informative, technical material for the serious trail rider.
Here is the complete article from SingleTrack.com
Visit Stoltz29.org for my 29er manifesto
The busy insects of Africa & other snippets
What happens in Africa when you leave your bike stationary for too long. (Wont say how long, but not long at all!)
It is a kind of wasp that made a nest and probably laid some eggs in the suspension pivot of my Specialized Epic.
NO kidding. A perfect little wasp home. This guy is quite some engineer. On the farm the frogs also like getting into your shoes and sports bags- (I think they like the climate in there) and I have had a frog fly South African Airlines to
Those Edge Wheels
I have been riding Edge Composites wheels this summer.
What a pleasure.
The product is amazing – just about bomb proof wheels but also quite light. What I really appreciate is the joy and pride going into these hand crafted wheels. 340g per rim for the Edge XC MTB. The AM (All Mountain is more of a free ride rim- a bit wider, (36mm) but only 400g. What really blew my mind was the 280g tubular rim. The complete wheel set was a full 400g lighter than my Edge XC race wheel set. But then I did shred the 460g Tufo tubular on the 1st lava rock I hit. Shopping for durable tubulars…
Good 29er news: the clincher weighs only 380g and these wheels are so strong I’ll bet my life on them. a 29inch tubular is “easy” to make- all we are waiting for it tire technology to catch up…
Jasons’ friend and test rider is a 260 lbs Samoan on the 26″ clincher All Mountains and no worries with the wheels brah.
You just have to love the Edge logo. It depicts the Wasatch mountains (where Edge is based in Ogden) and the logo can be be read upside down too.
The week leading up to Ironman Hawaii, Kona
The Ironman village had a demo booth where athletes can test run shoes, ride bikes etc. I worked at the Avia booth and was amazed at the size and energy of this whole Kona/Ironman thing. The Avi Lite II seems to be the most popular for IM racing- its light with plenty of cushioning. I was also surprised at the might of the Triathlon Dollar, despite the world wide economic slump. Just proves again- Triathletes are overachievers, and Ironpeople more than most. Tomorrow is the big day- let the suffering begin!
Signing autographs at the Avia demo booth with triathlon legend Scott Tinley. Or, more like “watching Tinley sign his books.” I have been a Scott Tinley fan since (especially) my beginnings in triathlon in the late 80s, and I was stoked with my autographed ST books. The one says: “To the Conradenator”
The sweetest bike of all. 2009 Specialized Epic S-works
The 2009 Specialized Epic S-works.
The press has hyped the bike up and Susi won the XC World Champs on it, but DANG, I was especially surprised by: a) the suspension and b) the weight. And, yes, it is a really pretty bike.
As you can see in the background, I tested the bike on a not-so-old lava flow at Edison snow park outside Bend, to see how the new Specialized Armadillo Elite (Fast Trak 2.00) tires would hold up through the sharp lava. I ran into big lumps of sharp lava as hard as I could (to test the tires for tire cut resistance) but every time the suspension just ate up the much anticipated jolt. When the suspension is not active, bike is 100% rigid- unlike anything I’ve felt since… well, since my Tarmac road bike. The New Epic’s suspension is definitely a few cuts above the “old” Epic. And I’m sure many cuts above anything else out there.
