Overbiked Maybe?

#followcamfriday bringing a canon to the knife fight with Noah Sears in Granby, Colorado

There is a current trend that the bicycle industry seems to be getting behind. Riding bikes with an insufficient amount of travel is now cool again, according to the Pinkbike audience anyway..... Yes, mountain bikes are amazingly good right now, and you can probably ride your 110 bike down the Whistler Bike Park, but.... Do you really want to do that? Really?

If I am being honest, we were a tad overbiked for this one. It isn't as much of a travel thing in my mind, but more of a geometry situation. Slack bikes suck to turn in the flats. There, I said it. If feels like parking my van in the "compact car" spot. It will fit, but it isn't going to feel very good...  I am less concerned with the climbing efficiency, and even less concerned with weight. But I will say that a 68° head angle just feels so much snappier while dodging aspen trees on flatter grades. All of this said, I am certainly not complaining, I will ride any bike, anywhere, and have a smile on my face. Damn these flat trails!!!! lol

I am a man who doesn't mind pushing a bit of extra weight on the climbs. It just makes you stronger in my opinion at the end of the day. Unless you are entering an XC race, there is no real reason to have a 21 pound race machine. They just aren't that fun to ride. It should also be noted that riding XC tires and wheels is a recipe for disaster if fun is your focus. But that said, a 64° enduro bike feels a bit "poochy" on the flatter bits. What is a man to do? We are so spoiled right now. These are not real problems, just bike nerd thoughts that enter my brain at times. It is a good thing for me that Noah was not on his XC bike, because he would have torn my legs off. Hurt locker situation. 

Noah and I filmed this a while back, before the Colorado wildfire situation had escalated. Grand County is taking it hard currently. Despite recent snows, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires are continuing to burn. If you are interested in donating to fire relief in Grand County, GO HERE. Several hundred buildings and residences have been destroyed, with many being displaced and evacuated.  A HUGE thanks to the people fighting to keep our public lands from burning. 

Fall was short-lived this year. We are now in that holding pattern that I like to call "drinking season" . As if I needed an excuse. Drinking Season sets in when snow closes the high country to riding, but doesn't produce enough white stuff to actually go skiing. With no major storms headed our way in the foreseeable future, the current foot in the alpine will be the snowpacks first and most stubborn weak layer. It always is. But that is a different story for another time. I am headed to the desert. Drinking Season.