Month: January 2018

The Elusive 26 Inch Hardtail

/ veloshelly / 4 Comments

I came across a magazine article online a couple of weeks ago that had a 2018 review of the latest and greatest mountain bikes for the upcoming year. Surprisingly the piece came with a disclaimer: our new bike reviews do not include hardtails of any kind because they are simple machines, do not vary much from model to model, so it was unnecessary to cover them. As I read this my face began to turn red and beads of sweat began to drip down my neck. I thrust my hands toward the sky and shouted “NO” they can’t do this to us. As a loyal hardtail rider, I was offended by this blatant exclusion. How could they cast aside hardtails like a cheap polyester suit? I felt as if I had but punched in the gut, well not really, but this exclusion certainly got my panties in a bunch.

A couple of years ago I acquired a 26-inch full suspension mountain bike with all the bells and whistles: carbon frame, 120 mm fork in the front and 4 inches of travel in the rear. The weight was acceptable at 27 pounds for a xc/all mountain bike. Previous to this I had been riding a 26-inch carbon hardtail. So it was an immense change for me switching to a full suspension bike. It necessitated a few of rides to adjust to my new steed, but I indeed discover that my downhill skills began to accelerate. I could fly down fireroads with ease and attack rocky terrain more surefooted. The bike felt stable on the downhills due to the relaxed geometry yet with outstanding downhill handling came the realization that this bike was not nimble uphill, especially crucial in an area with immense amounts of climbing. It was difficult to shift to the front of the saddle when climbing steep hills, causing me to struggle to keep a proper climbing position. My uphill times went down and furthermore on flat terrain; the bike felt sluggish and plodding, not light and frisky. I was naturally disappointed because I was hoping the bike would deliver the goods, but it did not. In my quest for the ultimate machine, I tested 29er hardtails, 27.5 hardtails, and umpteen other full suspension bikes but ultimately returning to 26-inch hardtail was to be my path but finding one was a whole another story!

I set out on a quest to find a new 26-inch ht, but this was not an easy task. Perusing through local bike shops, I could not locate a single 26-inch ht anywhere in the store until I noticed one towards the rear of the store tucked behind the mechanics counter, a very swoon-worthy bike hanging from a bike stand. I remarked that it was a sweet bike and the mechanic stated that a customer had dropped it off for a tuneup. Well, what do you know, another 26-inch ht rider within the vicinity of my local trails? Maybe we would run into each on the trail at some point, eyeball each others bike and realize that we are a part of a small but hardcore group of crazy 26-inch hardtail riders. During my local bike shop search, I discovered one 26 inch hardtail, but it was already owned by another rider. So I continued my hunt, scouring online bike shops with no luck. If there was a 26-inch hardtail frame listed, it was some rejected size that no one wanted at a heavily discounted price. It would a be a screaming deal if I were 7 feet tall!

My search for the ever scarce 26-inch ht was becoming a frustrating experience. Did the fabled 26-inch ht still exist or had it indeed become extinct. I felt like I was on the lookout for the elusive Bigfoot, you know it exists, but you just can’t prove it. To say that I was having no luck in securing a bike was an understatement. That is until I was told by a friend that she knew of a small US bike builder that still produced 26-inch hardtail frames by special order. Finally a promising lead and with a few emails back and forth, I was able to secure a 26-inch hardtail built to my specifications. Wow, they do exist if you know how to look for them. For a while there I was expecting to see Bigfoot come riding out of the forest on a 26-inch ht. Now that would be awesome!

 

A 26-inch ht rider like myself could be regarded as a misfit in the world of mountain biking and be labeled a cyclist that refuses to keep up the with the technological advances of current mountain bikes, but these are not proper descriptions. A 26-inch ht rider is a big proponent of avoiding unnecessary trendy gadgets or gizmo’s that are very expensive, add unnecessary weight and become outdated after one season and therefore must be replaced the following year to keep up the ever-changing bike world. We adorn our hardtails with all of the necessary up-to-date mountain bike components: long travel forks 120mm or longer, disk brakes, the newest in tire technology, carbon handlebars, stems and dropper seatposts. All essential equipment to keep up with today’s discriminating mountain biker.

 

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Definitely Not On Cody’s Fun List

/ veloshelly / Leave a comment

Much to the disappointment of my loyal trusty dog, Cody, I have an irksome addictive habit that takes time away from the day of fun he has planned for everyone. That addictive habit is cycling. Much to Cody’s annoyance, cycling is a time consuming selfish way for me to spend the morning. Why would anyone want to get on this weird contraption? Sure it has wheels like a car ( Cody loves going on car rides), but there is no back seat, it doesn’t go very fast or make loud accelerating engine noises and you certainly can’t stick your head out the window-there is no window! Maybe if he were a small dog, we could use my bike to go to the dog park, but since Cody weighs 65 pounds, this is out of the question. So from his point of view, a bicycle is a useless object, it has no purpose other than being a fast moving object that he must chase, ridden by some poor bike riding victim who happens to cruise by the wrong part of the neighborhood-past Cody’s house. How dare they? This is my property I must effectively deal with the cyclist, chase the hell out of them all the while snarling, foaming and showing off glistening white teeth. I guarantee you that cyclist won’t be back anytime soon. Of course, this is only a fantasy in my dog’s mind because I would never allow my border collie car chasing pooch to roam the neighborhood on his own. That would be trouble.

Being a border collie, Cody has an extensive vocabulary library and is very attuned to any words that may reference cycling or any future riding that may occur. He is the first dog I have ever owned where I have to actually spell out certain words such as ride, riding or bikes. Sentences such as where should we go riding, when do you want to go riding or are the bikes ready for tomorrow immediately trigger his warning signal to go off as if a Tsunami warning siren has just been initiated and you only have 20 minutes before death and destruction will occur. Cody has us trained so well that we will change the word go into embarking, depart or any other variant on the word go just avoid letting the poor little guy down.

Of course, as soon as any bike is spotted being carried from the garage to the backyard for a pre-ride tune-up, Cody is quick to catch on and let us know that going riding is not listed on Cody’s schedule of fun. This is when the puppy mind games and tactics begin. First panic sets in realizing that he may be soon left home while the humans are out playing, possibly with another dog. Traders! So he lays down on the floor with his paws under his chin staring at Rick in the backyard oiling the chains. Rick soon enters the house again, and then the, please don’t go tactics begin. Wow, he really wants a bone right now, so we open up his bone box, and he selects a bone and starts throwing it up in the air, prancing around.  Cody uses his persuasive puppiness to try and convince us that he is much more fun than a ride and how could we possibly give up the chance to play bone just to go riding. This is true, Cody is a lot of fun, but we humans also want to go play on our bikes so while bone play is excellent fun, unfortunately, little buddy it will have to wait til after mountain biking. Begging for a piece of cheese is another Cody tactic. Eating a snack might possibly slow the humans down. Oh wait, I know I will ask to go pee, that should stall them for a while. Once I am out there I won’t actually go pee, I will just strut around the backyard searching for squirrels and lizards. My owners know they can’t leave unless I have gone potty and if I don’t go potty they will be afraid I may not be able to hold it for very long so they will have to cut their ride short.

 

When various playful moves can’t dissuade us from leaving, he resigns himself to the fact that he is going to spend a dreary morning all alone. He hangs his head down, lowers his ears and sulks off to the living room to watch us depart. So with our bike kits on, tires pumped, chains oiled we head out the door praising our little pooch telling him what a good boy he is, guard the house against bad guys and we will be back soon.

Arriving home begins a celebration like no other. We can hear him barking already as we roll up to the house. We open the door and unleash a monster of uncontrollable excitement. Leaping to and fro, whining and slobbering all over my bike kit I am greeted with an abundance of unabashed love. The humans have returned, the humans have returned now the real fun begins!