MTBBill

My Medium or Large Story

Okay I am the classic in-between sizes guy as I can fit on a medium or a large on most bikes. I spent a great deal of time this year figuring out wither a medium or a large Intense 6.6 was going to be the bike for me. The following rambling of words is most of the thought process I went through on figuring out which size frame to go with. I have been riding a medium Intense Spider since 2003 as my cross country bike. I have been riding a large 2005 Specialized Enduro Pro for a few years as my all-mountain rig as my main point of comparison. I would have to describe the riding I do with this bike as all-mountain stuff that has to deal with chunk, ledges and some occasional airtime in the 3 to 4 foot range. My bikes see very little shuttle action so they have to be climbable. First off let’s look at the geometry.

Aspect	Intense 6.6 Med	Intense 6.6 Large	05 Spec Enduro Pro
Top Tube	22.8”	23.8”	24.5”
Seat Tube	19”	21”	19” (Effective)
Stand Over	29”	29”	30.3”
Wheel Base	43.3”	44.3”	45.5”
Head Angle	68.5 deg	68.5 deg	68.5/69.5 deg
Seat Angle	73 deg	73 deg	68.5/69.5 deg
Chain Stay	17”	17”	16.7”
Bottom Bracket	13.75”	13.75”	13.7/14.2”

Okay lets get some of my geometry out of the way. I’m 5’11.5” with a 32.5” inseam and I weigh between 195 and 205 pounds on any given month depending on my riding and drinking regime. The burrito and pizza intake seems to most consistent part of nutrition plan.

The Previous All-Mountain Rig

I liked the 2005 Enduro Pro, it is a capable all-mountain bike with six inches of travel. The rear shock is a Progressive 5th Element and the front shock is a Fox 36 TALAS RC2. The bike comes with two rear shock mount carriages which allow you to vary the geometry of the bike slightly. One carriage provides a higher bottom braket and slightly steeper head angle than the other. I kept my Enduro setup with the higher bracket (14.2”) and steeper head angle (69.5 degrees). The main reason for this setup was that when I first got this bike I had a hell of a time trying to steer the bike with the low bottom bracket and 68.5 degree head angle carriage installed. I was coming from a zippy race/cross country oriented Intense Spider and had not developed the skills of handling a long slack bike. The steeper head angle carriage helped with that transition and I never bothered to try the bike with the other carriage installed after learning how to steer a long, slack bike.

I enjoyed the long wheel-base of the Enduro as it was quite stable at speed. At 45.5” it did make take some effort to navigate tight switchbacks and body English was required on the twisty stuff. The bike is not a light one as it was somewhere around mid-to-high 30s according the wheelset and tires I was using. It was a climbable bike but it was not a bike you could hammer up the hill, it was more that you would come to an agreement with the bike and it would beat you down over the course of a long day of riding. Additionally, the split seat tube design also limited how much you could adjust the saddle height. For me I had to compromise on the seatpost length to allow me to get the seatpost low enough for technical riding while extended enough for climbing. The end result was that the saddle when fully extended was about half and inch lower than what I would have like for optimal climbing. When lowered all the way I was forced to have just under two inches of post still sticking out.

The Medium 6.6

The Medium 6.6 that I first rode was built up extremely lightweight. XTR drivetrain (triple chainring) and brakes with Easton carbon bars and seat post. The wheels were Mavic Crossmax XLs with a set of Intense 2.25 System 4 cross country tires. The fork was a Manitou Nixon. The total weight on this setup was around 28-29 pounds. Needless to say this rig climbed extremely well. The term very “Spider-Like” came into my head on the first climb I hit with this bike. It was a bike you could hammer up the hill with. Once the bike turned downhill there was one thing perfectly clear, this was one extremely plush rig. However, the Nixon fork had only 145mm of travel which is a bit short as 160mm should be what you should be aiming for. The bike I had was one of the 6.6 prototype rigs that at the time of its buildup, the 160mm forks were not available. While the Nixon was super plush, between it and the wheelset, the frontend was quite a noodle when you get into the chunk. It was bad enough to cause a dip in my confidence in the chunk. I was spoiled with the Fox 36 TALAS RC2 that was on the Enduro. Compared to my Enduro Pro the cockpit of the Medium 6.6 felt cramped with the front wheel feeling a little too much underneath me. I felt more on top of the bike instead of down in the bike.

Okay so now it was time to change some things around. I virtually moved my entire component build off my Enduro an put them on the medium 6.6. The burly medium 6.6 now included XTR derailleurs, XT crankset with 2 rings and a bash guard. XT brakes, aluminum handlebars, 90mm 10 degree rise stem, Fox 36 TALAS RC2 fork, Spinergy Xyclone Enduro Wheelset with Kenda Kinetics 2.6 tires. I also used a laid back Thompson seatpost.

Boy what a difference this setup made. With a longer and burlier fork combined with a stiffer wheelset and more purpose suited tires, this bike really came alive in the downhill chunk. This build added some weight to the rig, but it was still lighter than my Enduro. The laidback seatpost opened up the cockpit a bit but it still felt initially just slightly cramped. I quickly adapted to the feel. The need for a laidback/angled post did however limit how far I could lower the saddle, being forced to leave about four inches of post sticking out of the seat tube. For this medium this created what I call a minimum seat height (seat tube + exposed post) of 23 inches. This was only minor concern as my Enduro used a split seat tube which also limited how far I could lower the saddle which created of a minimum seat height 22 inches.

med shot

The shorter wheelbase (by 2.2 inches) of the Medium 6.6 was quite noticeable. The 6.6 was quite spry on switchbacks and tight twisty singletrack considering the slacker geometry and travel. There was little in the way of competition with the Enduro at this point. The 6.6 thoroughly trounced the Enduro in this area. I did not expect this as my Enduro was setup with a one degree steeper head angle than the 6.6. My thinking is the major difference was wheelbase. The performance of the two bikes in the higher speed downhill stuff was different. I have found that the longer travel bikes have a “wake-up” speed. This is generally when the bike becomes lively and in its element. The 6.6 was lively pretty much when you started turning the pedals. The Enduro needed a bit more speed to become lively. On the other end of the speed spectrum there is the stability aspect. You can scream downhill on both of these bikes, but the Enduro felt just a touch more stable than the medium 6.6 when you approach “ludicris” speed. I attribute this to the much longer wheelbase of the Enduro.

Decisions Decisions

At this point I had not decided wither I would get a medium or a large frame. The biggest difference between the medium and the large was the top tube and seat tube length. That additional inch in the top tube would open up the cockpit area enough so that I would not have to use a laidback seatpost. Eliminating the need for a laidback post would allow for the post to be lowered all the way down into the seat tube. I had read quite a few posts where riders were concerned about the two inch longer seat tube of the large. The concern being with ability to get behind and down on the bike when you get into the steep stuff and drops. For me this ended up not being a concern. The large frame and a straight post would allow for an effective minimum seat height of 21 inches. This was over two inches lower than the medium 6.6 and an inch lower than the Enduro. Another minor item dealing with the seatpost was that if I wanted to use a Gravity Dropper style seatpost at some point, it would have to deal with a cramped cockpit on a medium. I was not interested in using a longer stem as that would move my weight too much forward on the bike.

There is a lot to be said to the adage of use the smallest size frame that you can fit on. For me the high speed stability of the longer wheelbase and the ability to get the seat all the way down by using a straight post with the large frame won out over the medium frame.

The New Rig wider shot of bike

So last week I got the new rig all build up and I am pretty stoked. Here are the specs.

Large 6.6 in Red Works Finish

Fox RP23 rear shock

Fox 36 TALAS RC2

XT Crankset with Raceface bashguard

XT derailuers, cassette

XTR Brakeset

Thompson Elite Seatpost

Titec Hellbent Handlebar

90mm Stem

Cane Creek Double XC Flush Headset

Intense Saddle

Spinergy Xyclone Enduro Wheelset (Normal wheelset)

Spinergy Falline Wheelset (Downhilling wheelset)

Kenda Kinetics Stick-E 2.6 tires

The rig comes in at 31.7 pounds.

Another Closeup

I got in two rides over the weekend with the bike. On Saturday I went out to a local trail that has some flowing yet tight singletracks as well as a couple of small stunts. The bike handled really well and when I drop the TALAS fork down to the 130 travel, the bike became extremely snappy in whipping through the tight tree covered singletrack. The term “Spider-Like” came back into my head again as this setting dropped the handlebars enough that my posture was very much like how I set on my XC rig. I also used the 100 setting of the fork during some moderately steep and tight switch-backing climbs and this setup worked really well. For the pressures on the shock and fork, I’m sure I don’t have them quite dialed in just yet, both being a little on the high side. It is generally thought that you need several rides to break in the shocks and forks so I was not concerned with the small bump compliance not being optimized yet. I hit one of the features out there and caught about as much air as I would ever want to and I did not bottom the fork and just did on the RP23 shock.

Why the RP23 shock when you see so many with a DHX Air? The medium 6.6 I rode had a DHX Air and while I got it dialed, it seemed like a lot of shock for the performance you get. I had talked with some folks who prefer the RP23 (usually Pushed) over the DHX-Air so I thought I would give it a try. If I can get the small bump compliance I want as well being able to handle 3-4 foot drops with my weight, then I will be happy. Otherwise I may drop the coin for either a DHX-Coil (pushed) or a Cane Creek Double Barrel.

Closeup of bike

Needless to say the first outing with bike was a success. The following day ended up being a 28 mile ride up in the San Bernardino Mountains which included some rocky and steep terrain along with some sections that allowed for the bike to let loose. Boy did the bike shine here and there were plenty of occasions where the saddle was dumped all the way. Since someone left their memory back at home, I have not pictures. I had no problems with getting behind the bike as it at least once, I grinded my butt on the rear wheel. The bike also felt really stable at ripping speed and was every bit as stable (if not more) as my stretched out Enduro. Once again I was glad I went with the large frame with the longer wheelbase. At the end of the day I was feeling tired from the 28 miles, some rough terrain, and a sizable amount of climbing but was not feeling beat up. The 6.6 proved to be a great all-day rig. I would be extremely hard pressed to take the Enduro on this ride as I would have been creamed from the weight and overall sluggishness it has on the climbs over the cross of the day.

So what it the point of all this rambling about medium versus large? Well I figure there are other folks like me that are classic in-between sizes guys who have tossed around the pros and cons of each. When the rubber hits the trail, it comes down to small preferences and trade-offs. One thing is for certain the 6.6 is one kick ass all-mountain all-day bike and I am stoked to have one the stables.

First Ride with the new bike

I got my first ride in today on the new 6.6 rig and while I’m still working a extensive review, the bike really felt great.

Here are a few shots from the day on a trail system attached to Los Penasquitos Canyon.

This is a big as air as I ever expect to get and the shock and fork were pretty close to dialed for it.

Greg
Greg getting a little air in the trees.

Brian in the air.

Stay tuned for a full review.�

I love cardboard

I love cardboard boxes. Some of the coolest things ever have come to me by way of cardboard boxes. Look at the worderfully inscribed boxes that have graced my presence as of late.

Foxy
Oh this box is so foxy!

Intense
And this box is just downright Intense!

There were a couple of boxes that were plain and unadorned. But inside of the bad boys were cool and shiny bits looking to get together for a bit of fun. Who was I to refuse? I picked up my new Intense 6.6 and buildkit yesterday on my way up to a July 4th thing at my Mother-In-Laws. What a better way to spend time at your Mother-In-Laws than hiding out in the backyard and putting together a bike. I bought all my tools along just for that purpose.

I got the frame in the really killer custom “Red Works” color which is a translucent red over the top of the works finish which allows for the various weld marks to show through the red in various suttle shades.

Close red
This picture really does not do this finish justice.

I got everything put together and aligned. I still need to trim down the brake lines but that will have to wait until after the weekend when I can pick up some more mineral oil. One thing that will not wait is a ride. I’m gonna hit the trail with this bad boy tomorrow.

Da Bike

Here is the quick low down on the bike setup:

Large 6.6 Red Works Frame with RP23 shock
Fox 36 TALAS RC2
Spinergy Xyclone Enduro Wheelset with Kenda Kinetics 2.6 Stick-E tires
XT Drivetrain, derailuers and shifters
XTR Brakes
Thompson Elite seatpost
Titec Hellbent Bars
Titec 100mm stem (gonna put a shorter stem on)
Intense saddle.

Have not weighed yet, but I guessing 31-32lbs.

One thing this bike is certainly missing is some dirt! �

The Portal Trail in Retrospect

I am in the process of putting together my video of the Poison Spider Mesa and The Portal Trail. For those of you who read my review you should have noticed the unusual amount of attention I paid to how dangerous this trail is in the exposed sections. Standing on the edge there knowing that three mountain bikers have fallen to their deaths is quite an experience. I thought we were quite cautious in what we rode and what we walked on that infamous and precarious trail. While reviewing the footage I had a couple of OMFG moments when I saw a couple of spots that we did ride. While these couple of sections were flat and tame with some ground buffer between us and the edge I’m pretty sure I would not ride them again. Too much of the hebegebes put in my head now. For me there has only been a few trails that have gotten into my head like the Portal Trail. If you have ever had one of those dreams where you are falling forever, this could be that place. I’m not sure how this thought process with effect the final video, I’ll just have to see where it takes me.

Bill O'Neil on the Portal �

Herkey Creek and May Valley

Springtime riding around Idyllwild is some of my favorite stuff around SoCal. Unfortunately due to some ill-timed (like there is ever good-timed) injuries and a horrible bout of poison oak, I missed the spring riding in the area. Even though I knew it was going to be hot I met one of my regular riding buds who was in the area for a wedding this weekend. Considering that he was going to be up late with the reception and all, we opted for a 9AM start time from the Herkey Creek Campground area. We knew it would be even toastier with that start time. Hot it was but a fairly consistent breeze kept it just hot vice blistering. We brought plenty of extra water and electrolytes and kept to a “heat management” pace on all the significant uphills.

The trails can get pretty loose here during the summer. I was quite impressed with how well the trails are holding up and I am pretty sure it is due to the care that most of the locals take when riding this system. You can not rail this stuff like you can during the spring and moist times and it is impertive that you hold the lines and skillfully use the brakes. The trails simply can not hold up to skidiots and turnblowers. There was plenty of evidence to show that some of the people who do blow a turn took the time to stop, go back and make an effort to repair their damage, or at least brush out their off-trail tracks. I hate to say it, but you just don’t see that generalized level of trail ownership by the routine-users in the more urbanized areas like Orange County and San Diego. We should all take a lesson from the Idyllwild folks.

Bill Gets Air
In addition to enjoying the flowy twisty singletrack goodness that this place is known for, we played around and a few rocks.

Bill O twisting
Here is one of the twister rocks bits that is nearly a maze. Hats off to the builders of this.

This was a great finish to a good week of riding, which included some of my local stuff, and the Santa Margarita River Trail (aka SMaRT). I was slacking with my camera for those rides, but here is a ride report on the SMaRT ride on SocalTrailRiders.org.

-Bill

MTBR viewing tips

Not a whole lot of blog posts going on lately. I have been doing up pages and video for the site.

Have you noticed the increased bombardment of ads on the forums on MTBR.com? They take up near 50% of the screen lately. It never was too much of a bother for me before, but recently it just seems ridiculous. Here is a tip that those of you using Internet Explorer without any third party ad-filtering software can do to cut down on the ads.

Navigate to Tools — Internet Options to bring up the Internet Options Dialog Box

Click on the Security Tab, then on the Restricted Icon. This will enable the “Sites” Button. Click on the Button

MTBr Viewing

This will be then bring up a dialog box that will allow you to enter a website address. By default it will enter the address of the page you where currently on when started this effort. You will want to clear out the information currently there and enter

http://creview.adbureau.net

in the dialog box and press enter.

mtbr

Then press “Close” and an OK or two to your browser. Refresh your MTBR page and you should see a dramatic drop in ads on this site.

The above address is the primary adserver that mtbr uses. By blocking their adserver it will eliminate most of the ads on thier site.

Happy MTBRing (or not).

-Bill

Beat down at Iron Mountain

I should have known better. One of those days when I was too stubborn to follow my own advice, and I paid for it with some suffering on the bike. I decided to ride Iron Mountaintoday. It was nice and cool with a thick marine layer at my home and Vista so I thought what it will probably be okay out in the Ramona/Poway area where the trails is at. I got out to the Ellie Lane trailhead around 9AM and it was already warm. I took Ellie Lane over to the Wild Horse trail and then cutover to the Iron Mountain trail. I was not even up to the T-intersection with the other end of the Ellie Lane trail and Iron Mountain and the heat was already getting up there. I had forgotten how the rocky terrain here just radiates the heat back at you. At the saddle here, I contemplated that 100 ounces of water may not be enough to do both the Ellie Lane and Iron Mountain trails today. I thought about just hanging a left here and doing just the Ellie Lane loop. (This was the smart side of brain thinking). Instead I decided that I’ll push the decision to later and make my way up Iron Mountain.

Iron Mountain

From this spot it is only 1.45 miles to the peak. But it is a beater even on a cool day and today was not a cool day. Until you get fairly close to the peak you spend most of your time on the east side of the mountain. The key thing here is that the onshore breeze is blocked resulted in the bake factor being even higher. This climb is a pick your battle kind of ride, and I hiked a handful of sections. The heat was sweltering and sapping my energy.

The views at the top were nice as usual and the onshore breeze was taking the edge off of the heat. I had also slogged up my pads and full-face helmet up the mountain on my pack in preparition the return trip. (I had worn my normal helmet on the climb) This was my first ride with the new full-face helmet so I was interested to see how it would feel. A couple of quick thought: Good field of view, when you are moving there is plenty of airflow and it is a little harder to hear the outside world while you can hear your on breathing very well.

The descent off of the peak went really well as I cleaned plenty of stuff I had not before. It was not the chunk that was giving me the troubles, it was switchbacks. Often times clearing the chunk leaving with little to nothing to work with for getting through the switchbacks. I sessioned some sections, finally getting some while having to let a couple wait for another day.

Back down at the T-intersection I once again had to think about my options. The smart choice would have been to skip the Ellie Lane trail as it was freaking hot right now. I decided to be a big dummy and take the Ellie Lane trail. I felt good about my decision early on as I got a bit of descending before the trail turned back uphill. At this point I was once again blocked from the onshore breeze and the temps jumped up. I was also reminded who bike unfriendly and poorly laid out the numerous waterbars on this trail are. At nearly ever switchback there is a treated log waterbar that is placed right through the apex of the switchback. This is no big deal if you are a hiker or an equestrian but these things have the biker approaching them in a nearly parallel direction forcing near-trials like moves to get past them. Skills I don’t so there as plenty of hiking up to the Ramona Overlook and the saddle.

Yes this is the trail

I was pretty much roasted back the time I got the saddle above the Ramona Overlook. After slapping back on the protective gear, I had a good run down off the saddle. Once again really tricky stuff, but I did not session much stuff as I was feeling the need keep moving towards the trailhead. After this descent there was some more suffering to be had to get up to the tablerock area. I moved into fully blow survival mode as my water was terribly low the terrain was basically a large rock bowl. I felt like I was in a brick oven. I hiked most of the climb up to the tablerock to avoid overheating which I could tell I was close to doing. I started to be a bit more generous with my water rationing at this point as I was close to peaking out on the last significant climb. I had the early stage of a headache brewing, not good. At the saddle there was a little relief from the breeze, but it was not much help at this point. The full-face helmet would stay in the pack for this section as I felt heat stress was a bigger risk than a header into a rock.

I got down off the saddle fine, but I could tell my technical skills were not crisp due to my fatigue. The rest of the ride out was okay and I drained the last bit of my water about a 1/4 mile from the trailhead. I was beaten down, and hella-fatigued for the rest of the day. The mileage count was only 11 miles, but I felt like I had done 40. I think the riding season at the Iron Mountain/Ellie Lane combo is rapidly coming to a close as summer rolls in.

National Trails Day at Lake Calvera

Today was National Trails Day and the City of Carlsbad put together some events that included a hike and a bike ride. The San Diego Mountain Bike Association asked for mountain bikers to support and what a great showing of support the Mountain Biking community did today. My rough estimates, Mountain Bikers were over 2/3rds of the participants present. With some city officials present, it was apparent that we got their attention.

Briefs
SDMBA’s Coastal North County Liason, Erik Trogden give a quick brief.

There was a quick round of briefings and waiver signings that have to occur for these types of events and then we were off for a quick ride.

Adult Group
Most of the Intermediate Group

There were two ride groups, an intermediate and a beginner ride. I was going to led a third kid-friendly ride. As it turned out all of the kidless adults went for the intermediate ride, so the beginner ride became the grommet ride.

Free Rider
This gadget is cool. This connect the seatpost of th big bike to the head tube of the little bike. It lifts the little bikes front wheel off the ground so Dad can steer a little easier. Both ends have quick disconnects so that either bike could be used as normal within a minute or two.

The kids were riding well ,so the loop ended up being just a bit bigger than planned.

Grommet Crew

The Junior League

It was really great that so many people took the time out to represent Mountain Bikers to the City of Carlsbad. I know that Saturdays for many is often the only chance during the week they have to get in a big ride. So THANK YOU to all who gave up the “big ride” to help further our interests here in North County.

Riding “Naked” in Alpine

So yesterday I was all primed to head to Alpine to hit up one of my favorite technical/stunt trails. I had a brand spanking new full face helmet and was ready to go. I had not ridden with my buddy Steve in months so it was going to be cool to catch up on things with him while out on the trail. I show up to the trailhead early and get all my stuff together. Steve shows up a little early as well and as I’m making final preps I realized that I left my pads at home! Freaking Bummer! Now it did not make much sense to be to wear a full-face helmet and no pads so I threw on the my regular helmet for the ride and went “naked” protection-wise. I always throw on pads at the top of Anderson because, well, this place has a tendency to have you leaking at the end of the ride if you don’t. But for this day, I decided to skip a few of the trechreous spots and generally take it easier.

What a great ride I ended up having today. It was one of those days when things just all seem to click and you have to tell people about. Not because you want to brag, but because days like this don’t always happen. They are kind of special and today was one of those days. My gear snaffu aside, I rode well and it was just a great day to be out on a bike. The stuff I did hit, just seemed to flow and feel much more effortless than in the past. I was jazzed. Steve and I always play around on stuff up there and today was no different. I was also having a great day with the camera. Angles just seem to be coming into view better and I was getting my envisioned shots on the first take. It was cool to be in a camera zone as well.

Stairstep
A different angle on the “Stair Step”

This is called the Halloween Drop. I’m not sure why, maybe it is because it will be a trick or treat. Not much room in between.

This little rock drop had been messing with my head since forever out here. I had launched bigger stuff than this but I would always roll it, even with pads on. I think it was the rock onto a rock that was tweaking my melon. After riding a few days in Moab, where this stuff is everywhere, I hit this without hesitation. I had to stop afterwards, look around and go “What the hell was I fretting about?”

Further down the trail, the camera zone continued as I got a different angle on the 911 roll. I was jazzed with getting some scenery in the background on this shot.

On our way back down I had an “interesting moment” on the wall ride. I came into the wall mighty hot and went up a lot higher than I had planned. I also had enough speed that I basically blew through the wall forcing me to come down off the wall in a much steeper section while turning the wheel sharper than normal. About halfway down the wall I was still leaned over and my fork was way out to my left. Because of the steepness of the wall past the “normal” area the fork came off the wall and somehow I managed to pull the frontend back underneath me and straighten it out just before the wheel touched down at the bottom. It all happened really fast, but there was still that bit of the mental slow motion thing happening. I stopped afterwards and had to let out a big yell. I had the post-adrenaline rush shakes and my stoke meter was officially pegged!

The rest of the run was a cruiser and we finished off the day off with some yummy burritos. Another great day to be a mountain biker.

-Bill

New Bike Shop in North County

North County has a new bike shop, BikeBling.com. I had heard about the new shop located in Escondido so when I was in the area I swung by. The place still has the that “new shop” smell and from what the owner told me new stuff is coming in everyday. I dig that the service area is not tucked away in the back somewhere. It is right up front as soon as you walk in the door and you are more than welcome to watch the service in action. The shop is catering towards service and higher end gear, you know real MTB stuff. I forget all of the bikes brands they carry, but it was a nice list. This is pretty cool for Escondidio as there was no real MTB bike shop in town after the Performance Shop was shutdown. It is also cool for all of North County to have another local shop to add to the variety stuff to chose from as no one shop carries all brands. The shop is also going to be doing Internet sales as well.

I was impressed that they had a really good selection of full-face helmets and I ended up getting a Giro Remedy CF to me from busting up my face again. Now I just have to go get some sweat on the inside of this bad boy.

Full Face Helmet