I've been pretty outspoken about my personal view's on the 29er' movement. All you need to do is read some of the stuff the loonies on the 29er MTBR board say and you'll understand why dislike the movement.
I've been calling them "country western" bikes for some time since country music is good and western music is good but country western music is horrible. Yeah it's a weak argument but I'm sticking to it...
After the Whistler trip my ankle and toe were pretty beat up so I spent some time off the bike and now I can ride but don't want to roll my ankle again (at least in the next 2 months) so I've put the DH bike and Dirt Jump bike away for a little while.
Needing to get my two wheel fix and also needing to do a little research I threw my leg over our country western bike( the XTC 291 to be specific.) I really wanted to dislike it purely because of "The 29 movement" and the fact that I never liked any 29er's from other brands I rode. Reality was I knew it had it's place all along. I have a history of riding road bikes in the dirt for fun so why wouldn't one of these work well- and the plus was I wouldn't end every ride in a double pinch flat with dinged rims like usually happens went I venture off on a road bike.
I won't say how much time I spent over the past week on one but I will admit it culminated in the longest ride I've done on an XC bike in at least 10 years, I hadn't planned on it being that long, and I didn't get lost. I just wanted to ride longer. I was drinking a ton of water but knew I was in trouble after 3 hours when the hunger pings started coming, I kept going anyway. Once I got to a place of business I ate 3 Tacos Al Carbon from El Pollo Loco a bag of Doritos and the equivalent of a Big Gulp of Coke to get home.
Anyway that should give you an idea of how much fun it can be to ride that bike, and set in stone I'm in no shape to be riding for 6 hours straight.
Enjoy the post ride self portrait of my post ride chicken legs.
4 comments:
That 2010 catalog is reeking havoc on my mental state. I like too many bikes. I'm not super stoked to hear that the 29'er deal took hold of the old Road Gapper! I almost wanna race XC again but I need a whole quiver onf '10's.
Haha, I wouldn't say it's grabbed hold! It does make me want to spend some time training and getting "fit" again though.
I'm not sure which is worse. The fact you're a now a 29'er lover or that you still run Frogs.
Frogs. Yes it's true. Was wondering if anyone would catch that. I still love them. They are nice on my knees. I never said I was "in love" with the 29, just that they have a place. you wouldn't believe the rash of crap I'm getting from people. Most of them text messages asking if I really liked it, since they didn't want the question in a public forum!
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