More 2007 Stuff and My Fist

Floyd. I'm saddling up the ponies for a trip up to PA. And I'm going to get your mom to ride shotgun. And I'm going to punch you square in the mouth. And your mom is going to be stoked. Here's why. Bastard. It may take me a few weeks to find you, but I'm coming. You better get those lawyers working harder. This just sucks. Before Tyler, all I had to deal with was Lemond the drunk. Now we get Tyler, Floyd AND Lemond the drunk? That's just too much for me to handle. Where did I read about Lemond's dumb ass recently... Dammit, I can't remember. Did I mention that Lemond is a drunk? And he's talking trash about Lance. 'Pay attention to me, I won the tour first!' God I hate that guy.

Tomorrow, Shawny, Phil, Martin and I are rolling up to the Jamis 2007 rollout in NYC. We've got the rental car booked and we'll be breaking laws all the way up.

The early word (sorry for getting anyone in trouble) is some sub-1000 gram road stuff from them. Way to go Greg and Carine. And Steve.

The stuff that we'll be seeing is all pre-production stuff or mock-ups. We'll see bikes that haven't been heat-treated with un-rideable forks and stuff, but we'll get the gist of it. I hope Carine decides to take us to Diablo next year. That would really rock. HINT HINT!

I'll try to post some stuff tomorrow night but we'll be wining and dining on a river cruise on the East and Hudson rivers starting at 7 or so. I may be able to sneak a post up so look out tomorrow around dinner time. I think there's another new mtn bike to check out so I'll keep my eyes peeled.

I'm still reeling from the Spec'd intro. All the new stuff is so rad so here's more pics... Lars and Sloan on the day we were actually scheduled to ride bikes at Northstar (day 2 for us). Not a bad spread, eh? There are a couple of carbon frames thrown down at knee level just for kicks. Check out that baby blue SX Trail... Nice.

Here's the captain of the ship. Mike Sinyard started Specialized a couple of years ago (heh) and he continues to expect the best of the boys and girls at the Big Red 'S.' He really has put together an amazing team from driving the woman's market, big-hit bikes, carbon, shoes, helmets... I have respect for the respect that he gives to the people who make it happen for them. It means a lot that Brandon and Jason and Luke can all express themselves through the product. Mike just makes sure that it's the best stuff that's out there and I end up with a smile on my face.

Here's more detail on that new linkage on the Demo 8. It's hard to cut a full pound out of a frame AND make it ride better but Brandon and Jason did it. The trapezoidal link from year's past was rad but it was HUGE. I think that thing is over a foot long on the top. This new linkage shaves quite a bit off of the rear-wheel weight bias issue that slows this bike down. It's an improvement, for sure. Was it necessary? Maybe not but Brandon wanted it better. That's what I'm talking about, baby.

And finally, we have the Big Hit bikes. These things are heavier than the Demo stuff but ride great. A bunch of us took these suckers out on the DH course and nobody had any complaints. Sure the forks are less than ideal when you compare it to a Totem or something, but if you want a fully-capable DH or FR rig, it's hard to get past the Big Hit bikes. Anybody who spent time on the 24" rear wheel version of these bikes will tell you that they are a blast to ride and handle very well in all terrain. You don't want to try and pedal that sucker, for sure, but you can if you need to and it won't slow you down when the terrain points south and you are hanging on to a helluva lot of speed.

The tires really make this bike worthy. The Big Hits are all 26" front and rear now which opens up the tire choice and gets rid of the need to carry two tube sizes with you. You can't really run anything but big meat on these bikes and the Chunder line is really nice. When you are plowing through rocks and drops, you need a big, fat, strong tire underneath of you to keep your ass below your shoulders. The dual-ply Chunders in 2.3 are PLENTY of tire for anything I've ever seen. 8" rotors, hydro brakes, Fox shocks, Marzocchi forks. The rest is easy. BRING IT!