Review & Images: Randy King

The 29er version of the Gary Fisher HiFi has been on my to-ride list for some time. Along with my curiosity, I brought some baggage with me into this short-term relationship. My best bike for three years was a 26″ wheel HiFi Deluxe. It helped me up my epic race game and went through 1,000’s of miles of mud and dust before coming to a sudden and calamitous demise when the frame broke in three places. These positive memories and nervousness about durability took turns coloring my opinion about how the big-wheeled version would ride. So, how did it go? Well, a bit like that … a mix of good and not-so-good.

Technically, there is no Gary Fisher HiFi. Gary’s bikes have been drawn into the Trek line-up, and now all that remains on the bike of Gary’s name is a copy of his signature on the frame. Hmmph, I say. I’ve met Gary Fisher (I know, I know, Jeremiah Bishop told me not to name drop), and it didn’t even take those meaningful 60-seconds for me to vote that  Fisher should have his own line-up in the Trek conglomerate.

Along with the bigger wheels, the HiFi Pro I tested sports a few other differences from my former bike. Trek has opened up the suspension linkage design a bit.  The bike also gets some upgrades, moving up to a Fox fork and adding three gears with the SRAM — 10 speed drive train. I tested the HiFi Pro model.

What I loved about my 26″ HiFi was its adapt-to-anything attitude. Above all, it was fun to ride. I am glad to see that this vibe is shared by the big wheel HiFi.

I chose the Witchback trail at Angler’s Ridge in Danville, VA for the test. This is a frequent up-and-down six mile loop with several short but gut-busting climbs and several quick and fast descents.  A mini-rock garden and a small drop-off add to the mix to make it a good test trail for trail and XC bikes.

The HiFi Pro tackles climbs with aplomb and good manners. It is stable and tracks well even on sudden steeps. The Bontrager 29-2 Team Issue tires are a good combination of fast and grippy for a trail bike.  The suspension is definitely more noticeable on climbs than it was on the 26″ HiFi – credit in part to the more open suspension design. It is also noticeable on the descents, where the HiFi has pretty good small-bump compliance without the harsh edge that sometimes plagued the 26″ bike.

What I didn’t like about my 26″ HiFi was its lack of durability. Durability is a key virtue in a bike that one hopes to ride for 100 KM or more at a time, over rough terrain.  The first time the frame broke on my 26″ HiFi, I had to climb the side of a mountain to get cell phone reception, limp for several miles out of the woods on stiff-soled cycling shoes, with a lump the size of a baseball on my thigh from a crash earlier in the ride. Durability is good. Unfortunately, the big-wheeled HiFi seems to bring its fragility with it. After less than 5 miles, I noticed some noise coming from the linkage. Hmm. The bolt that connects the top of the shock to the bike had worked loose.

The 29″ HiFi has 100 MM of travel, compared to the 120 of the 26″ version. And despite what so many say, a 29″ wheel is not the same as suspsension. In another words, I miss that extra 4/5 of an inch of travel. In its absence, it makes the bike feel more racy and less rideable.

Parting thoughts:

The $3,600 Gary Fisher HiFi Pro seems like a viable epic racer or enduro bike, and is up to frequent trail rides. While less “racy” than the Superfly 100, and costing less, it still feels less of a true trail bike than a high-priced bike meant mostly for going fast. A different set of tires and a wider riser bar might correct that, and you can get aboard a HiFi Plus for about $2,300, but stock the HiFi Pro feels like a long distance runner for those who can afford it.

© 2011 Big Mountain Riding

Photos: Lily Felgenhauer

If you live in the Inland NW and ride a mountain bike, there is only one place for you to spend your Memorial Day Weekend: Round and Round Production’s 24-hour mountain bike race at Riverside State Park in Spokane, WA.  2011 marked the 12^th running of the endurance mountain bike race with more than 850 riders.  Racers compete solo or in teams of 2, 5, or 10 members.  The race starts at noon on Saturday and riders can start their final lap at 11:59 a.m. on Sunday.

The race starts with a Le Mans style 600 meter run to spread the pack out before the first lap.

And They’re Off

Rain had made the course very soggy the week leading up to the race. However, it held off for the weekend, making a well compacted and very fast race course.  The approximately 15-mile course covers a good mix of technical rock garden infested single track, fast smooth single track, and fire roads with a ¾-mile section of pavement thrown-in to bypass the flooded “little Vietnam” section that the course normally runs on.

As the fatigue of lack of sleep and ever-increasing mileage built, riders began to fully understand the local names for different sections; Marakesh Express, Purple Haze, Devil’s Up, and Devil’s Down.

Devil’s Down claims another victim.

Let Not the Pain Stop

Due to the fact that there are so many categories and one has no idea what lap everyone else is on, competitions are pretty much internal or arbitrary.  I found myself in a top gear sprint to the finish at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, against a rider from EMDE Sports, a local development team.  I beat him to the line only to realize two disappointing facts: my team did not have another rider lined up for the final lap and if your team finishes before noon on Sunday you are marked down as a DNF.

“292 going out again” I gasped to the timing folks as I scanned my chip.  I darted off course to our tents and gulped down four partially empty water bottles that belonged to other team mates and the dog and got back on course for the final time.

It was eerily quiet on the final lap.  Giving encouragement to nearly unconscious solo riders was almost the only distraction from the numbness that was spreading up-limb from my toes and fingers.  Fatigue got the best of a Badlands Cycling Team member on the final section of pavement.  When I passed, medics had him back boarded and were sucking teeth out of his airway as he had eaten pavement while trying to grab a power gel before the last 5 miles.

Before the race I had asked my brother for any last minute advice.  He said to develop a mantra.  For most of the race, mine had been “keep pressing,” but it changed to “don’t crash” on that trying final lap.  I decided to stop and loosen my shoes lest I join the count of bodies next to the trail, because at that time I was numb up to my knees.

Parting Thoughts

Our team finished last in the Police, Fire, and Military category.  Yet it was our first year, and most of the team has already asked if we are going to do it again next year … and besides, we were only one lap down from the Olympia FD that won.  Like most endurance sports events, it was kind of fun, kind of painful, makes for great stories, and is very addicting.

Join us at Spokane’s Riverside State Park next year to find out for yourself!

For more info

www.roundandround.com

www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/may/29/geared-up-for-spin-cycle/

© 2011 Big Mountain Riding

The new mountain bike film, The Potential Inside, premiered in Lynchburg, Virginia on March 10, 2011. Liberty University’s Tower Theater hosted the premier of this inspirational film, and several hundred attended the red carpet event and the showing.

The singletrack of Candler's / Liberty Mountain played a pivotal role in the film. PHOTO: REDCLOUD PRODUCTIONS

The film is well produced, and shows off the Blue Ridge Mountains and Central Virginia’s trails and twisty mountain roads. For a local rider who built my riding skills in these hills, it was a joy to see how good The Potential Inside made this area look on the big screen.

The film has a strong faith-based message, and is a Christian film as much as it is a mountain bike film. Director Scotty Curlee, who also wrote the script and stars in the film, does a good job of showing (not telling), and the serious messages conveyed in the movie are not meted out with a heavy hand. I’d summarize it as being a movie about the challenges and ups and downs of both cycling and life, and how we can overcome.

Most who have spent a significant time aboard bikes know that there is a spiritual component to our pursuit – it’s one of the elements that warrant our obsession. The lessons learned striving for hard-to-achieve goals, suffering setbacks and overcoming trials mirror life and our spiritual journeys.

Rookie Jake gets lectured by veteran Chris. PHOTO: REDCLOUD PRODUCTIONS

The Potential Inside is also a cycling film, and features mountain and road riding, with extensive race scenes and in-depth physical performance testing with Hunter Allen.

The dynamic between Jake (Michael Cuddire), who is not young although he is a racing rookie, and Chris (Scotty Curlee), the veteran who is at a loss in how to handle a deep personal loss, is what makes this film standout. As Chris shares from his expertise to help Jake realize his full potential as a mountain bike racer, Jake is able to help Chris come to terms with his deep loss and move forward with his life. Jake’s age – which almost made Chris refuse to coach him – is what makes him believable as someone who has experienced and overcome tragedy in his own life. The dynamic is a well-executed example of Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

The bridges of Blackwater Creek Trail PHOTO: REDCLOUD PRODUCTIONS

I enjoyed watching The Potential Inside. While some of my enjoyment stemmed from seeing someone from my earliest days of mountain biking succeed in achieving their vision (Scotty Curlee was instrumental in LU’s mountain bike club when I attended), and from seeing the trails I know and love on the big screen, I also enjoyed The Potential Inside for its quality storytelling, production and mountain bike scenes. I’ll be picking up several copies of the film for those on my gift list when it goes on sale on April 19, 2011.

© 2011 Big Mountain Riding

A familiar sight for riders from the Hill City - The Blackwater Creek Tunnel

Several years in the making, a film by one of our own about the sport we love and what drives us, premiers in Lynchburg, VA on Thursday, March 10 at 6 p.m. on Liberty University’s north campus, at the new Tower Theater. Filmed in part in Lynchburg, The Potential Inside features the terrain that define East Coast cycling – whether off-road or on.

The plot is one familiar in sports stories. A veteran, out of the sport, is brought back to the competition by personal tragedy and a budding rookie. A rocky coaching relationship follows.

Using cutting edge technology and scientific training methods, the retired racer Chris transforms Jake, the young prodigy, into a top contending cyclist; however, he struggles to teach Jake the most important lesson prominent in all champions, finding the true POTENTIAL INSIDE. The movie also features a big mountain riding star – Jeremiah Bishop.

Put on your red carpet duds, get a chauffeur to pilot the tandem and drop you off curbside, it’s Hollywood time in our little hill town. Learn more about the film, the premier and how to get tickets by visiting the premier site on Facebook. For those who cannot make it to the event, Big Mountain Riding will post a review following the premier. Read the review!

© 2011 Big Mountain Riding

By Nolan Connelly
Published: February 28, 2011

Bikes Unlimited Bikes Unlimited manager Douglas Main looks over a bicycle in the service area of the shop's new location. Photo: News & Advance

It’s a tight, perfect space.

That’s what Jack Parker, owner of Bikes Unlimited, said about the new home for his business.

Two months ago, he moved the bike shop from a box store on Lakeside Drive to an 1897 warehouse on Jefferson Street, once a bottling facility for Anheuser-Busch.

“It’s quite a change,” he said.

Parker bought Bikes Unlimited in 2004. The business opened in 1967 and had been on Lakeside Drive since the 1980s, he said.

His inspiration to move the store came partly from customer feedback, partly from experience.

Parker said he wanted the store’s atmosphere to reflect a Winter Park, Colo., bike shop where he had been a part owner. It also is in a downtown setting.

A native of Lynchburg, he was impressed by the changes that have taken place along Jefferson Street between the time he left in the ’80s and returned in 2004.

“It used to just be all industrial down here,” he recalled. Now, amenities include the James River Heritage Bike Trail.

When the lease expired on Lakeside Drive, moving downtown and closer to that trail was an easy decision.

“We’re very fortunate to have something like that right here that everyone can use,” he said. “…Usually you’ll only see that in a bigger city.”

The move opens up a lot of new possibilities.

Once a fleet of rental bikes comes in March, for example, Parker plans to use the location’s easy access to the James River Heritage Bike Trail as a bike rental point.

“We came to where the customers are,” he said.

Except for when the train rolls by, the new parking lot is quieter without the U.S. 221 traffic, Parker said, making it easier to hold Saturday classes that teach basic bicycle maintenance.

He sacrificed his old building’s 8,000 square feet for something smaller, with a bit more character. There are tall windows, exposed brick, iron beams and a slight ripple to the floor.

“That’s what you get with a building of this age,” he said. “I was looking for something that fit my personality and my type of business I wanted to create.”

Part-time employee Bob Dunn said the store’s new location is an improvement in atmosphere, with more natural light.

“It’s so much better than being in a big box,” he said.

Already it resembles the look of an established shop, with rows of bikes from the floor almost to the ceiling, and racks of clothing and accessories.

“It’s almost like it was meant to be,” Parker said. “It just fit.”

Several things inspired the creation of this blog:

1. I was one of those kids who secretly thought Unsafe Ace was kinda cool. I mean, he has “Ace” in his name, right? And it is kind of funny when it happens to somebody else. Unsafe Ace is the Wiley Coyote of safety courses. Sometimes you cheer for him.

2. Danville, VA – my new town – had a poster of this kid who had crashed on pavement without a helmet. It reminded me of those long-ago safety courses. Photo coming soon.

3. My new town has a very visible representation of Unsafe Ace archetypal characters.

It was as I pedaled down the greenway and saw two old men riding toward me on cruiser bikes that the inspiration struck. They were both a bit paunchy,  dressed in blue jeans and unbuttoned short sleeve shirts and mesh-backed trucker hats.  The one guy was lighting his cigarette from the glowing end of his previous smoke – while wobbling his bike along the bike path. Ah yes, Unsafe Ace trumps the theory of survival of the fittest yet again …

© 2010 Big Mountain Riding

Share the road? Yeah, right!

People look at me like I’m crazy when I say mountain biking is safer than road biking. That’s not just a throw-away observation. Yes, the ground hurts. Yes, rocks are hard and can be sharp. True, mountain sides are steep and singletrack can be narrow. However, trees are not moving all around you at 30-65 mph, driven by people who may or may not be paying attention. You are at the top of the food chain in the woods. Not so on the road, explains Bruce Ebert in a recent Bicycle Times article, Incivility: How Lawyers and Legislators De-Valued Your Life. Be safe out there, especially if your big mountain ride requires you to ride on some roads – your life may not be as valuable as you thought.

©2010 Big Mountain Riding

The Salsa Mamasita is a capable back country explorer and XC racer

Review by:

Scott Schekman

Photos by: Scott Schekman and Randy King

Now that I have been riding my Salsa Mamasita for more than a year, it is time for a long term review. My Mamasita is built up pretty much as a race/play 29er hard tail with a ROCK SHOX REBA Race 29″ fork, RACE FACE Deus crankset, Stan’s 355 rims laced to a DT Swiss 240 front & Stans ZTR rear hub, Easton Monkeylite XC bar, SRAM X-9 triggers and rear derailleur and Hope Mini disc brakes. This build is average in weight at 24.5 lbs, but that works for me and I didn’t have to cash in my IRA to build it. New Mamasita frames are available online for about $750; complete bikes for less than $2,000.

This size small frame is made of Scandium/aluminum alloy with carbon seat stays. I have read of various advantages of Scandium alloys, but not being a metalurgist, I don’t actually know what is fact or not.  The Mamasita’s geometry is fairly standard for a 29er hardtail frame [See chart].

The Salsa Mamasita features clean lines and rider-friendly geometry

So far I have raced the Mamasita in two mountain-X races and the epic Shenandoah 100. All my other rides have been local trail rides at Candlers/Liberty mountain, Danville, VA’s Anglers Ridge, Bedford, VA’s Falling Creek Park or Roanoke, VA’s Carvins Cove. The Mamasita rock ‘n’ rolled through all of this terrain variety that included log hopping, rock gardens, swoopy smooth singletrack and typical east coast-roots, rocks, tree limbs, technical climbs and fast descents.

Riding this bike is like riding a small self-powered rocket. All the pedaling energy seems to transform immediately into forward motion. This bike will climb like a scared cat! I seem to favor technical difficult climbs, especially the kind most people only like to ride down. [Editor's note: He's not kidding!] The “Mama” excels at this.  I do run the Reba at 100mm travel which means I have to keep some weight forward on steeps to keep the front end down, but like on any bike, the rider has to learn how to distribute his weight to the bike’s advantage.

Descending is a flat out rush; this bike will go faster than my brain will let it. I have never yet missed full suspension on the downhills. It might be the combination of wagon wheels and carbon stays or just the geometry, but this is the fastest XC bike I have ridden yet. The only time I notice any limitations is when I am trying to keep a smooth cadence on choppy (roots and small rocks) flat ground. This is probably a disadvantage of any 29er hard tail. It tends to kick me off the saddle some, which disrupts my pedaling so I installed a USE suspension seat post which helps – but is still no substitute for rear suspension.

The carbon seatstays and big wheels soften up the ride a bit on this rocket-fast hard tail

All in all, the Salsa Mamasita is a blast to ride or race. It is a screaming fast descender, a mountain goat climber, nimble and quick without any twitchiness in steering control. The Mamasita rider feels confident and in control climbing up or blazing down the mountain. The Salsa Mamasita is definitely worth a closer look for XC and epic racers and big mountain riders – as long as you’re not a downhill-only rider, or into frequent jumping or drops bigger than two feet.

©2010 Big Mountain Riding

“Even with speed it is essential that the mind does not stop.” Takuan Soho

“If a man strikes at [the beginner] with the sword, he simply meets the attack without anything in mind. As he studies … and is taught … where to put his mind, his mind stops in many places. … Later, as days pass and time piles up, in accordance with his practice, neither the postures [or ways] are weighed in his mind. His mind simply becomes as it was at the beginning.” Takuan Sōhō, The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom.

On a recent group ride, I tackled a local legend – the eponymous feature on the Liberty Mountain Dam Trail. I had concluded that it was pretty straightforward from  one side at least. It required only full commitment. So I said to Scott as we bypassed the one end, headed up the ravine. The blue sky peered through the leafless canopy above. The 8″-wide concrete wall stretched across the ravine from trail to trail, reaching a maximum height of  4′ on the uphill side and maybe 5′-6′ on the other. Checking my head as we rolled closer, I slowed, turned onto the line and went for it.

This chutzpah stems from my new focus on the bike, wood work. Fortunately for my health and finances, I live in the Blue Ridge and not the Northwest. Yet the key to survival and success is the same on bridges, skinnies and “up-in-the-air” riding of all heights. Oh, I hear your skepticism. I remember reading about this free-climber (those who climb massive rock faces without ropes or attachment) saying that most people can walk across a 2X4 set up between two cinder blocks, ergo most of us could walk across the same board 100′ in the air. In both cases it’s a question of would not could; we have the necessary ability.

Focus on the end goal to ride elevated features

Look at the singletrack that you ride regularly. Do you often veer off the trail because you are unable to follow that thread of dirt? This is important, because I’m not suggesting a “Just Do It” or “No Fear” outlook. I am suggesting that if you’ve ridden singletrack for years, advancing your skills, then you have what it takes to ride contraptions and obstructions when you encounter one. They are just elevated editions of the challenges you ride on the ground.

“Technique and principle are just like the two wheels of a cart.” Takuan Sōhō, The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom.

Fear, that old fox

Right, you say, but I’m not riding onto that log or that bridge. Right, I say – the next time I rolled up to the Dam, I wouldn’t do it. Por que no? It may be that old fox, Fear. Sneaking around whispering vile lies about how you’ll never this, and who are you to try that?

“(Come in under the shadow of this red rock), and I will show you something different from either your shadow at morning striding behind you or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland

So, how do you defeat fear? You don’t. Fear is a natural reaction to things perceived different and dangerous. That gives us two points to with which to work.

1. Fear is not be feared – just because you’re scared doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Think in cardio terms. Many people stop pushing themselves when they are out of breath or when their heart is hammering. Bikers know that we can keep pushing further. In fact, we will need to if we want to achieve our cycling goals. This applies to fear too. Accept the fear and ride through it. Following my backing away from it, I approached the dam on another ride and rode across it again, fearing the entire time that I would not make it. I rode through the fear.

2. Features are not different than technical trails – The technicality of features is not any different nor much more dangerous than a challenging singletrack section. It is only in our perception that they differ greatly. And in the level of commitment required – like a steep, sketchy downhill. Focus on the end of the feature and onto where you want your front wheel to go – not where it is currently.

“The gnarlier the line is, the more speed you need and the more you must commit. … When the going gets really steep and silly, braking screws up your bike’s handling, and you can’t really slow down anyway. You just have to surrender yourself to the hill.” Mastering Mountain Bike Skills.

I can tell you, from personal experience, that the reward of pushing your personally-set-limits is immensely satisfying. And once you succeed a few times you will begin to see the trails and places you ride in a new light. New options will appear to you and it will spice up your riding. As you continue practicing pushing yourself, you will move past methodically thinking it through, and like the warrior in the opening quote, you will find yourself riding these features without even having to think about it. Happy Trails, amigos.

Don’t miss – Of Zen and Mountain Biking Part I & Part III (Coming Soon)

For Stanley, Christa, Darren and Dig, who tolerated my early bike-borne Zen ravings.

© Big Mountain Riding

The Remedy eggs you to take the rough route home

Cruising Moab’s main drag for the first time, my brother and I dug all the signs of this vibrant culture we had joined: the Moab Cyclery safari truck with mounts for 20 bikes, the Gonzo Inn, the Poison Spider Bikes mural. One of our favorites was a campground that boasted: Fun Pigs stay at Slickrock. The Trek Remedy 8 is made for those self-same fun pigs. It is a bike that eggs on its rider and will feed your porcine speed-needs until you find yourself hours later, still pushing personal limits and stuttering gibberish like that laughable Looney Tunes porker.

It takes craft to make something that rides like such cheap fun, and this is a well-made all-mountain rig. Trek redesigned the Remedy with matched 150MM (6″) of quality Fox travel front and back, and it rips along the trail. Although it seemed a bit portly on the climbs, I rode a Large frame (not the XL that Trek recommends for my height), and the Remedy is spec’d with a wide, low-rise bar. I think a bit more of a rise on the bars and the correct size frame would make the bike climb better for me. As it was, I felt too low for really efficient climbing – especially in my knees and hands.  The suspension and geometry did not seem to be the culprits in this climbing conundrum.

Yet who are we kidding here, with all this talk about climbing? A bike like this pays its way at high speeds and on the descents. Know that aboard the Remedy you will not have to walk up too many hills, and when you get to the top, you can expect a stable, velvety ride during the gravity-fed madness that awaits.

The Fox Float RP-2 with DRCV shines on the Remedy

Riding the Remedy at Bedford Co’s Falling Creek Park, I instinctively veered toward the rough lines, and flowed over natural obstacles instead of following the path more traveled that swung around them. Indeed, the bike and I both wanted more challenges, although I did not test the Remedy on any drops higher than a couple of feet.

In Big Mountain Riding Review #6, I highlighted Trek’s proprietary Fox Float’s with DRCV. The extra-volume shock shines on the Remedy 8 too, making the back-end feel bottomless during aggressive trail riding over roots, rocks and features. Although I did not drop it off anything of size, the bike’s suspension, solidness and geometry feel like it would handle easily drops of 3-5 feet (0.9 -1.5 M). That’s more than enough for me – as drops above 3-feet make me grow increasingly attached to my front teeth (and to keeping them intact).

Other spec highlights that shone on the $3,700 Remedy 8:
Fox 32 Talas RL fork

Avid Elixir R Carbon disc brakes with 203 MM rotors

The Remedy 8 wears its brawn well, tipping the scales at under 30 pounds (13.6 KG) and rumor has it that a few upgrades can trim off a couple more pounds without removing muscle. Today’s efficient suspension and light weight materials enable all-mountain riding, and when pulled together in bikes like this, they inspire fun pigs everywhere to point their front wheel toward the big mountains and ride a little farther. Go for it; nobody would understand your gibberish back in civilization anyway, Porky.

© Big Mountain Riding

Fun Pigs will find much to like in the Remedy's smooth travel and light weight