BIKE UPDATE '09

The last (I hope) bike of 2009 is a 2009 Gary Fisher Rig -- 19" with a Fox fork.

Niner MCR has been sold on Ebay. The poll is closed.

He chose this bike for the warranty, lack of corrosion of frame material, good engineering, ability to run single or geared, and the Fox fork and Bontrager wheels.

Photos soon with personalization of the stock bike.

Will the real Bill Richards please stand up, please stand up

http://whereonearthisbill.blogspot.com/2009/12/marquette-michgan.html

Not the Bill Richards you were thinking...
Yes, he rides. Lots of different bikes he has owned. Haven't seen any bike messengers --yet. It can be awfully cold and quite snowy but a Surly Pugsly could take you where you need to go.

We regularly have conversations about Dicky, Big Worm, and Pisgah. Even had a moment of silence for Wally.

Gary Fisher Rig vs. Niner Something

SIR Nine - can be single speed or geared, steel (is real), 2 year warranty

MCR - set up to be geared only, steel, 2 year warranty, does not have horizontal dropouts

Fisher Rig - can be single speed or geared, aluminum, lifetime warranty

Was he really riding a Cobia this summer?!

2008 RIG? http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/archivemodel/397

Nice subtle color, beefy fork, would you ride it rigid?

2009 RIG? http://garyfisherbikes.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/gary-fisher-rig.jpg

Nice color, I like the brown wheels, would you keep the components?

2010 RIG? http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/model/rig-single-speed

I'm pleasantly surprised by the color/graphics. Most of the 2010 fisher graphics seem obnoxious. Looks like the same fork as '08 and '09.

NINERS: http://www.ninerbikes.com/fly.aspx?layout=bike

What to think about:

Aluminum vs. steel

-(do you love Reynolds 853?)
-"It has soul."

-Will it rust? what does frame saver do to the paint job?

-how are the welds --does it matter?

-will you ride it in the rain? snow?

-steel is classic, timeless

-aluminum is cheaper, doesn't rust, but has a general life capacity before it just breaks --but if it does, GF has an amazing warranty.

Single speed vs. geared

-SS - always the wrong gear?

-SS - no muck in your derailleur

-SS - what ratio will you run it? will you be changing this often?

-Geared - 1 x 9?, heavy, ride anywhere

-If buying MCR, how difficult is it to run SS, can it be done?

Cost

- Niner EMD - why buy a Niner if you want an aluminum bike?

- is there a 2009 still in the shop? what upgrades to the RIG have they done since '08?

Graphics

- do you like the flecky, glittery paint of a Niner?

- do you want your bike to have the same graphics of one sold 3 years ago?

- do you want your bike to be identified as an '10 model?

Other thoughts...

Resale value?

Sizing - standover?, toe rub on the front wheel?, does the fork hit the frame when it is turned?

Would your wife consider riding it if you decided it was too small?

Component upgrade? - would you sell some of the components that are stock on the GF?

How difficult is it to get the fork that you want for the Niner? - what about color? Do you really want a hard tail bike?

Niner and GF have been making the 29er bikes for quite a while and seem to know the technology and what works -- rake?, frame geometry?, can you go wrong?

Didn't Gary Fisher sell a steel 29er a while back? Yep--Ferrous seen below.

What else?

What can brown do for you?

Specialized Saddles in Brown

Marquette Trails in November Bike Magazine

Just above the right brake cable, Marquette made the cover of Bike magazine. Check out The Flow here.

Hale and I got out for a spin last Friday evening...just for awhile. Winter weather is creeping in, so it's time to make the most of the milder temps.

We found the brohiohouse.blogspot.com grafitti. Cool.

Fall Mountain Biking - Marquette, MI

Harlow Lake

Leaves, slippery roots, and rain will make biking a little more tricky on the trails in the next couple of months. We have done some late season riding together on the trails north of Marquette -- the Noquemanon, Harlow Lake, and North Country Trails all have sections of technical singletrack and wider two track for both of our riding styles.

Hitler and the 29er

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jElwljxGGs&feature=channel

Pretty funny.

Salsa Fargo

Double Fargo. It's a Fargo Fargo.

This Salsa Fargo was at Wells Fargo...not in Fargo, but in Marqette.

If it was in Fargo, ND it could have been a Fargo, Fargo, Fargo. That would be something, eh?

Sold 'Em

The Remedy - full suspension, orange and brown, 26-inch Trek has been sold.

The Cobia - hard tail, silvery, 29-inch Gary Fisher has been sold.

The new bike is a NINER MCR. Steel 29er, GOLD color, fully rigid.

Some parts were swapped over from the Cobia to the Niner.

Ebay drama with the Cobia.

Copper Harbor Fat Tire Mountain Bike Race

The Copper Harbor Fat Tire Mountain Bike Race is this weekend (Labor Day weekend). There may be a trip up to Copper Harbor in store for us to hit up some of the bike trails either before or after the race.

Here's the weekend agenda for the fest:
ADDITIONAL WEEKEND ACTIVITIES:
Thursday September 3: 6:00pm Group Ride--no cost. Plan to ride one lap (14 miles) of the race course at a group ride pace. Food and drink to follow at local establishment.

Friday September 4: Keweenaw Adventure Company Downhill Shuttle Runs in our 15 passenger van from 12:00-6:00pm--preview the downhill sections + other sweet trails not in the race without having to exert too much energy: $5/run or $15 day pass.

Saturday September 5: Keweenaw Adventure Company Downhill Shuttle Runs. 12:00-6:00pm. $5/run or $15 day pass. Race course will be marked during the afternoon and open for folks to pre-ride at their own pace.

9:00- Midnight--Fat Tire Reception at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge--Social time and live acoustic music with Mike Labeau...no cost (cash bar available).

Marquette Biker in Leadville 100

Lance Armstrong won the Leadville 100 earlier this month.
David Grant from Marquette finished 100th.

100. David GRANT in 08:49:21.5 MARQUETTE MI M4

http://www.velonews.com/results/96668

We've seen David out training this spring and summer on a Gary Fisher Superfly (I think). He and his wife Nicole Alexander won the Ore to Shore soft rock races individually. WOW. The pictures are of her climbing a sandy hill exiting the Forestville area. She beat the tandem by 21 seconds in the end.

David Grant recaps the Leadville 100 here: http://chocolayacecyclingteam.blogspot.com/2009/08/dave-grant-wins-12-hr-o2s-soft-rock-and.html

Gary Fisher - Cobia

After swapping out the white and silver components (seat, seat post, crank, and stem) he rode this 29er hardtail with the stock fork. Now he is riding it fully rigid with a black aluminum Bontrager fork. It is a FAST BIKE.

South Trails - Marquette, MI - Britton's Techy Trail

Perfect day for a ride.

Ore to Shore Marquette, MI

The 2009 Ore to Shore is this weekend. Some of our friends are racing it, others are riding it. We went out for a ride the Sunday before last and rode from our house up the railroad grade behind Econo to Northwoods Drive. After crossing the highway we rode all the way up Midway Drive/510 to the entrance to the trail. There sure are some long climbs on the way up. I was thankful to be riding my rigid 29er. Every pedal stroke was progress. At the trailhead we stopped for a break and had delicious BLT sandwiches before descending into Marquette.

The entire ride was probably between 25 and 30 miles and took around 3 hours. We got caught in the rain near the Forestville trailhead and just kept riding. It seemed easier to ride without sunglasses after a certain point.

There was some mucky muck and some sand but the 29-inch wheels really cruise over the sand so much better than when I rode the race a few years ago on my 26-inch Specialized Hardrock.

Now that was an ugly bike. Silver with black flames like a motorcycle.

Grand Island Cliffs

We planned to go biking today. Initially to Harlow Lake in Marquette. Then to Valley Spur in Munising. On our drive to Munising we stopped at the Grand Island Ferry and the ferry was going to leave in 15 minutes. We decided to go for it. A beautiful blue sky day, 70 degrees, almost no bugs, and a nice 20ish mile loop. We took the 12:00 ferry to the island and the 3:30 ferry back. Dairy Queen for the drive home.

2008 Trek Remedy 8

I held off on posting about the Remedy because I didn't want to jinx it. This 26-inch bike made by Trek arrived at our house one afternoon. I walked up to the back porch and said aloud "Huh, whose bike is that?" His friend had a big smile on his face...he knew what I was thinking.

For the record. I think this bike is the ugliest bike that he has owned. I think the rootbeer color scheme is horrible. The other sucky thing about this bike is the fork doesn't work with our roof rack system. So because it isn't an efficient hard tail that he can ride out to the trail head, he plops it on the back of someone else's car, drives to the trail, and rides. He's been riding this bike built for "highly technical terrain" mostly north of town near Harlow and Hogsback.

What's good:
He's been riding it.
He's been having fun riding.
It is a stiff bike -- no flexing.
Nice warranty help. -- fork issues after about a month
He's kept it more than 40 days.

Farmer Tan

I have a farmer tan courtesy of the Trek Factory Demo. I had to convince him that we should go to this--I think it was sort of reverse psychology--you know, tell her that you don't want to go so she insists...

We rode two sets of bikes:

First I rode the Trek EX 9 carbon full suspension bike. We rode up, up, up, then down a familiar section of trail to the parking lot. I had to keep reminding myself to sit down over the bumps. This bike was like a couch compared to my fully rigid RIG. I sat much more upright--the distance from the seat to the handelbars was much shorter than my bike. It was fine. I climbed the whole thing, didn't fall, and remembered to sit down more. I knicked a tree with the left side of the handelbar on the way down and was thankful that I only knicked it.

Then I rode the Gary Fisher HI FI 29er. This bike was WAY more comfortable. I think that I was stretched out a little more. I immediately said that I could breathe better. It was more like my bike--less squishy. We rode up a rocky section then went down a swoopy area. Usually on the downhill area my legs get tired from hovering over the seat. I sat down more again through this section and my legs felt much better. We crossed McClellon and rode through one of my favorite sections of trail then back to the parking lot.

I think the HI FI is much more of a cross country style bike--which is what I'm more familiar with than the EX 9. Would I ride a HI FI? Sure. Do I need a HI FI? No. I like my bike.

He rode something Trek and then rode a ROSCOE. On the drive home he said that the reason he didn't want to go was because he didn't want to think about a bike other than the one he is riding. He was thinking about the ROSCOE.

Madsen

This bike looks like fun!

OS Bikes Blackbuck

He's been looking at this bike frame for a year or so. Only pictures on the internet though. The story of this frame: one of the WTB founders designed the steel, single-speed frame. He had it shipped this week from California. On Wednesday afternoon it arrived and he put it together and rode it that night. The beauty of single speeds -- you don't have to mess with derailleurs. The picture really isn't that great...but you get the idea. It is steel, rigid with a carbon fork, single speed, and curvy seat stays.

Rode It: Gary Fisher Rig - RIGID

Other pictures of the RIG setup here and here. It has a creamy white Vassago rigid fork (45mm rake with the Vassago).

We rode the 29ers together last week. He rode the blue Niner and I rode the brownish Gary Fisher Rig. His bike was full suspension. Mine was fully rigid. His bike had gears. Mine was single speed. Guess what? It wasn't bad at all.

We headed out from our house over to Tourist Park, through the woods, on some "new to me" trail, under the bridge, up the hill, across the hwy, up the hill, along the normal trail, through some snow, down to the river, hike-a-bike through some sand, rode a little more, then turned around. I was able to ride through the quick sand much better on the rigid 29er than I would have on my *SOMA Groove* and better than Bill did on the Niner.

The bike was set up pretty well. I didn't have any problem with the singlespeed gear --I'm not sure how it was set up-- 32 x 16? I really have no clue. The gear was a little to small on the way back along Lakeshore so I grabbed ahold of his backpack and let him pull me until we go to Fair Ave.

The fork is a NEW carbon one from Lakeshore. My arms, shoulders, and wrists weren't sore or tired. The other end was though. I didn't think the seat was too high and it didn't seem bad when I was riding the bike, but whoa the next day was another story.

All in all, it was a good ride. Light, fast bike. No falls.

Quick Stop Bike Shop

Too convenient. Two blocks away. Quick Stop. I usually stay in the car. If he is in there for more than 5 minutes I get out of the car and walk in the store. Sometimes it is at lunch, sometimes it is on the way home from the grocery store, sometimes it is after work. Quick Stop.

Great service, nice people, and too convenient, Quick Stop has the best website and window display of all of the bike shops in town. And I like their sign.

You know how women's clothing stores usually have a comfortable chair for the men to sit in while the wives are shopping. Quick Stop has a chair too and it is comfortable. I'm sure it is one of Andy Gregg's chairs from bikefurniture.com. Could be this model http://bikefurniture.com/pagesSeating/lcmx.htm

Quick Stop sells:

• Gary Fisher Bicycles



• Kona Bikes



• Intense Cycles



• Lemond Cycles



• Electra Custom Cruisers



• Redline Bicycles



• Fit Bike Co.



• S&M Bikes



• Mirraco



• Fox Clothing



• Troy Lee Designs



• Smith Optics

Carbon? Aluminum? Steel?

WAY OFF! Sweet sweet TI. That's right...Hale gave me full clearnance to purchase a MOOTS.

I put the order in last night, and scheduled delivery is approximately June. A little long to wait, but I don't mind. It is being built exactly as I want it to be built. No compromises in desgin. The only compromise will be to my wallet.

Can't wait!

Birthdays

He is very lucky to have a birthday in April. Perfect time to start (start? does it ever end?) thinking about bikes and gear.

He sent an e-mail to his parents and me a few weeks ago with a couple of ideas for his birthday...

Since I cannot delay the inevitable, I figure I will ask to be showered with gifts. Enough gifty glee to help me forget that I am on my way to 40. ;-(

Ideas:
Pearl Izumi Attack Bib Short. Size medium. Need.
Osprey Talon 11 pack. Need.

I replied... "A smartass reply. Need."

Dome Show

Live stream here: http://domecam.nmu.edu/

This weekend all of the bike shops in town are being represented at the annual Dome Show at NMU. It is called the "Boat, Sport and RV Show". All of the new bikes will be on display and probably on sale. It usually also means the bikes will be on sale in the shops too. Good news for bikers. Good news for him.

Yesterday Bill bought a Gary Fisher Rig from Quick Stop Bike Shop. From what I can tell it is a single-speed hardtail bike that has a suspension fork. They blog here: http://quickstopbike.blogspot.com/

He'll be selling his SIR 9. I suggested locking it to the stop sign in front of our house with a "for sale" sign attached to it. The traffic on our street has increased significantly with the Dome Show just three blocks from our house. Interested in a green SIR 9? It is size Large--19 inches. Fully rigid with brand new wheels, cables, handle bars, seat post.

He Sure Is A Lucky Guy

Hello Fischer Crew - I have a special request. My husband has FINALLY found a bike that he LOVES. In our four years of marriage he has seriously had at least 25 bikes and I have heard about each and every one. From full suspension to hard tail and fully rigid, scandium, aluminum, steel, partial carbon, 26 incher to 29er and back and forth a couple of times. Road bikes, mountain bikes, cruisers, commuters, you name it. He now rides the Gary Fischer Ferrous and LOVES it. He loves it so much and talks about it so much that three of his friends are now riding 29ers. In attempting to convince another to buy one he let his friend take is beloved Ferrous for a test ride. He started to get nervous after the bike was not returned within two hours --he thought (name) was having a really great ride, and really loving it. An hour later his friend called to say he was having a hard time getting his pedals off of his old bike--he hadn't ridden the bike yet. He called a while later and said he was going to take it out for about an hour. Two hours later (name) arrived with the bike, said he really liked the ride and mentioned that there was a Paragon in his size at the shop. My husband brought the bike in and when he was cleaning his bike noticed paint chipped on the tube that runs from the seat post to the back of the bike --a spot where the pedal wrench could give it a good whack. He was devistated. His perfect, beautiful STEEL bike had its first doink. I calmed him down and told him he did the right thing by letting his friend borrow the bike. That is was definitely an accident that the chip was there, etc. Any how...he is really sad about his bike. Do you have a tiny vial of paint that I could use to touch up the spot on the tube? The spot is about the size of a pencil eraser. If you would rather send it to James at Quick Stop Bike Shop in Marquette that would be wonderful too. Thank you for your help and for making a bike that he is finally more than content with. --Haley

Cyclist vs. Biker

He asked me, "Why didn't you call it Married to a Cyclist?" He said it makes it seem like motorcycle blog when I say BIKER. Oh well.

Last night we watched Wild Hogs. Well, we watched the movie over the weekend and watched the extras last night.

One of the bonus features was How to Get Your Wife to Let You Buy a Motorcycle.

1) Convince her that you won't be riding your motorcycle with traffic on the express way. --that you'll instead be riding on quiet country roads without other cars.

2) Look good in leather.

3) Tell her that you can really experience scenic views way better than in the car--when you barely get a chance to look out the window.

Here's what I hear when he wants to buy another bike...

1) Convince her that riding a MOUNTAIN bike is so much safer than a road bike--you won't be riding dangerously close to crazy drivers on cell phones.

2) Look good in SPANDEX. (cough)

3) Tell her that you can really experience more nature when you are on the bike trails.

4) Tell her it could be big screen tv's, boats, snow machines, 4-wheelers, or drugs.

What He's Not Buying:

• The Motobecane Titanium 29er http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fly_TeamTI_29.htm
• The FULLY XTR bike here http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantompro_dsIX.htm
• This $8800 Specialized Epic
  http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?sid=09Epic&eid=99

Pedal Damn It!

More riding. Less Not-riding. Or in other words...stop thinking about riding and just go ride.

Seeing as how this blog is about my Cyclosis, I figured I chould chime in now and again...

Went out for a great ride yesterday on the SIR 9. Nice bike. I still think deep down that a Reynolds 853 hardtail is the bee's knees. However, the reality of back pain dictates that I also have a full squish in the quiver.

Anyhow, the ride was great. Cleared my head and put to rest any thoughts I was having about selling the hardtail. I also decided that I am going to keep running the SIR as a SS. I had been toying wit the idea of popping some gears on it...meh...I like it how it is.

So I think I will be sporting the RIP and the SIR this summer. My hope is to be able to remain convinced that I don't need to do the whole end of season buy/sell/get the updated stuff when November comes around. It would be a novelty for me to ride a bike for two seasons in a row, i.e. not have a new rig every year. Just because one "can" doesn't mean one "can", or should.

Along the same lines, I came across a nice thread on mtbr.com yesterday. Something about "What's cool for 2009?". I was surprised to see how many folks responded with "keep what you have", "ride it 'til it breaks", etc. Apparently I'm not the only one with this sentiment.

Thread is here: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=493924

Bike Bloggers in Our Home

When we drove to Colorado Springs for Christmas we got a little bored driving through Nebraska and Iowa. Okay, it was more than a little bored. We had some conversations about what our favorite bloggers were blogging about that day...

Here's who we talked about and are on a first name (well sort of) basis with in the R&R household:

Jeff Kerkove http://www.jeffkerkove.net/

Team Dicky http://www.teamdicky.blogspot.com/ and his spouse "The Pie"

Guitar Ted http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/

Drunk Cyclist http://drunkcyclist.com/

Mike Curiak http://lacemine29.blogspot.com/

Bike 29 http://bike29.com/ride29er/

I get to hear:
-"Guitar Ted's neighbor is going to be on Wife Swap." You should hear what his neighbor probably says about him...
-"Mike Curiak biked the Iditarod!...without support"
-"does my Drunk Cyclist jersey make me look fat?"
-"bike29's wife commented!"
-" (_____fill in the blank) went back to a rigid fork."

He gets to hear:

-"Crunchy Peas went skiing and she got a new haircut."
-"Friday Playdate is drinking vodka again and she just painted her dining room."
-"Posie Gets Cozy just finished up a new pattern and it is full of beautiful colors."
-"This Young House refinished their hardwood floors."

I like to read happy blogs and he likes to read biker blogs.

Buy the F-ing Pugsley

This time he isn't the one who is hummming and hawwwing about a Pugsley. Thank goodness! Buy the Pugsley to ride on snow in the wintertime if you really are going to ride it. Don't buy it to show up at a ride in Ishpeming to look cool. Stop humming and hawwing. Geesh!

If you want one there was a pretty dark gray one right in the stinkin' shop. Just buy it and be done with it. Alright? Alright.

You think you're tough? Try this: http://www.arrowheadultra.com/blogger/blogger.html

Riding the RIP 9 in the snow

Last night he went for a ride on the trails near Tourist Park. Up to the 8, down to the 5, down by the river and up the hill to Wright street. He said his front brake was acting up and later realized he hadn't tightened up the bolt that holds it in place. 1 bolt down. No people on the trails. A pretty good ride.

Selling It S.I.R. 9

What I'm hearing these days...
-I think I want to keep the singlespeed so we can ride together (mountain bikes)
-I think I'm going to sell the SIR9 to get a headstart
-I think I want to keep the singlespeed so we can ride together (road bikes)
-I think I'm going to sell the SIR9 because it might be too small.

Skiing

We're skiing this week in Northern Minnesota -- Tofte. Hoping for more snow instead of rain--the complete opposite from normal where more rain would mean less snow and less snow means more biking.

Marquette City Bike Ordinance

There must be a lot of bike riding happening these days.

NMU Students,

Marquette business owners and city officials have asked the university to remind students about the city ordinance against riding bicycles (as well as skateboards, roller skates and similar devices) on city sidewalks in business districts during regular business hours. Doing so is unsafe for many reasons, but becomes particularly dangerous during the winter months when sidewalks are more narrow and icy. Business owners are also concerned about bike riders being hit by doors that open out into the sidewalk. There has been an increase in the number of accidents involving bike riders on city sidewalks this year.

The city’s ordinance (Uniform Traffic Code, chapter 34, section 6) states: No person shall ride a bicycle, skateboard, roller skates, coaster or similar device on a sidewalk in the City of Marquette in the following business districts, except between the hours of 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays: Washington Street between Lake Shore Boulevard and Seventh Street; Third Street between Fair Avenue and Baraga Avenue; and Front Street between Ridge Street and Baraga Avenue.

To comply with the ordinance, please dismount from your bike (skateboard or other travel device) when using city sidewalks in these business areas during business hours. If you have questions about this ordinance, please contact the City of Marquette Police at 228-0400. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Cindy Paavola
NMU Director of Communications and Marketing

Featured LBS: Lakeshore Bike | Marquette, MI

Two minutes from our house, Lakeshore Bike is too convenient... "Can we just stop in during lunch so I can drop off my wheels?"

Lakeshore sells and services bikes. They "specialize" in Specialized, Rocky Mountain, Niner, Jamis, and Electra bikes. They sell mountain, road, BMX, and bike path bikes.

Like a kid in a candy store.

505 North Lakeshore Boulevard Marquette, MI 49855 906.228.7547

Open all year - but not on Sundays

Snowy Bike - DePauw

Cost (Room and Board + Tuition and Fees) of attending DePauw University 2008-2009 = $40,225.00
http://depauw.edu/univ/profile.asp

Cost of the full suspension bike locked to the bike rack = $96.00 http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4231518

Article photo featured here: http://depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=22883

A Crap Load of Snow

When we get enough snow at once we're lucky enough to get a snow day. The last two days we've been getting snow, just not quite enough. Skiing instead of biking. Or shoveling instead of biking.

It's Baaack

After further thought and calculations the RIP is still with us.

Niner R.I.P.9 December 2008- February 2009

When he was thinking about selling it I thought he was joking.

He had lots of different emotions. Even though he was a little sad about selling the RIP 9, it was ultimately his decision.

R.I.P 9 = Rest In Peace

RIP 9 was a solid bike. She glowed in the dark, didn't creak, had a color similar to the Ferrous, and rode amazingly. Purchased less than two months ago, she was brought into Bill's life with loads of joy and anticipation--an amazingly built 29er, full suspension, a solid fork, nice welds, and quality travel. There was nothing wrong with her, just not the right time.

She joins many amazing bikes who have passed before her (see sidebar). Leaving behind one hardtail Niner, the S.I.R. 9.

E-bay listing soon. May she go for lots of money.