NEW Steed to the stable

Ok, so it has been a while since I have been active on the social grid, electronically or otherwise, but I have decided to come out of hiding and have a new toy to do it with.  It showed waaaaayyy earlier than I expected but I'm not complaining in the slightest.  I traded in the S-Works Single Speed and opted for something a little more versatile.  Hot off the presses!!  A 2011 Stumpjumper Hardtail 29er EVO.  Ten more millimeters of travel (100mm), still a 29er hardtail, alloy frame instead of carbon and I didn't go with a full drivetrain, only a 1x10, and my bike is only three pounds heavier than the s-works coming in at 24lbs. with cages and pedals.   Made some personal upgrades off the bat but I am super stoked to get a ride in.  Stupid Rain.  Here it is:

Marathon Category here I come!

Snow? What Snow?

So along with everyone else that is dedicated to spinning some cranks instead of turning a key, I too have a post about my adventures in the first bought of "real" snow in the Omaha area.  And here we go.....

I was on a quest this summer to build my own ultimate snow rig.  I had ridden my cross bike last winter with some studded tires and wasn't completely happy with the results.  I tried riding my single speed 29er and enjoyed the ride more than with the cross bike but my knee joints didn't like me when it came to trudging through the deep stuff.  So I opted for the best of both worlds:

Redline Monocog Flight 29er 19inch frame
Red Chris King headset
RaceFace Evolve Cranks (22-32-44)
SRAM PG-990 11-34 cassette
SRAM X.O rear derailleur and grip shifters
Shimano XT front derailleur
Custom wheel set, SLX center lock hubs, DT Swiss Comp Spokes and X470 rims  (a little heavy but super bommer!)
Avid Juicy Ultimate Brakes
Maxxis Ingnitor 29 x 2.1 tires for the fresh powder
Nokian Extreme 294  29 x 2.1 studded tires for the deep and icy stuff

Upright riding position, super low gearing, grip shift for easy use with gloved hand, and a straight bar for more control.  So far the results are very, very positive.  Here is some pics from the ride in on Monday:

A little bit of frost on the beard.

 

 Even with fenders had some nice build up on the frame.

 

X.O rear derailleur took it all like a champ and never missed a shift.

And I will have more from my commute on Wednesday.  Tuesday I have off.

Ride safe!

New Rig....Wrong Time.

So I finally got my new rig put together.

Steel Langster frameset from Specialized.  True track geometry, 56cm.

Specs. as follows:

-White Steel 56cm frame set
-Custom Velocity Deep V White Rim
--Red All-City Track Hubs
--3 Cross lacing front and rear white DT Swiss Competition spokes

--Red nipples

-All-City Red 170mm 46t Cranks
-White Industries 17t freewheel
-TRP R960 red bake calipers
-Surly 17t fixed cog and lock-ring
-Cane Creek SCR-5 Brake levers
-Crank Brothers Candy SL pedals
-Thompson Elite silver seatpost
-Specialized Mondo Tire 700x23c red
-Nitto handle bar and stem
-S-wrap Classic bar tape
-Old School Saddle found in our back storage area 

22.5 pounds of road skiddin' love.  Just too bad I finally got it together when the weather turned shitty.  I hope for a few good days to break 'er in before the snow flys.