2012 Santa Cruz Superlight RXC 29er Urban Test Ride

My LBS had a medium RXC kit built up in the new Santa Cruz Superlight 29er. Took it for a spin around the SOMA district of SF. Handicap ramps with railings served as tight single track turns and switchbacks and staircases serve as technical down hills. The bike pedals great and feels sweet out of the box like most SC's. Geometry similar, as published, to the Tallboy. The short chainstays make for easy manuals and wheelie poppage. The cockpit is nice with short-ish stem ?70mm? and 685mm ish bars. The bike no longer comes with the Mavic 719rims and they have moved to the WTB Frequency 19 in order to provide tubeless compatibility. They are still laced to the ubiquitous Shimano XT hubs that Santa Cruz specs on their R kits. This wheel set doesn't feel as stiff as the Mavic rim predecessor and I am little bummed about that. The Rockshox Reba was nice and plush and the tune on the FOX Float RL pedaled nicely even when I was accelerating out of the saddle.

The Superlight is reasonably light for this value spec. SC Bike Builder app says this bike is 28lbs and that feels about right. To check rear end stiffness I did some flexing of rear wheel with my hand and the swing arm itself. Yep it's there. To check that rear end flex on while riding I whipped the back end end hard into corners and did notice some flex. What will that mean on the trail? Pavement is harder than dirt, but I only weigh 172lbs. The trade off in weight and price between the SL29er and Tallboy aluminum for sure seems to be flex which is not unexpected given the single pivot. Tallboys in C and AL are both stout bikes and feel very confident into corners and chunky trail sections.

My current bike, 26er, has a carbon rear triangle and 12x142mm through axle so I am not exactly unbiased when it comes to rear end stiffness. I don't own a 29er so perhaps the big wheel long tube flex is something I am not used to? I am very interested to see what SL's rear end flex does on the trail. I would not buy an Tallboy AL as the weight penalty and cost would lead me to just go carbon. Still, I don't want to spend $5000 on a SPXc kit. Studies have shown you need to go full bore on the Tallboy C. I'd consider buying the Superlight 29er RXC at 2350 but not until I get a chance to rail ride it. I'm stoked that the bike has Santa Cruz's well thought out snappy 29er geometry. However, I need to know that this bike is more than just an entry level 29er and could handle some aggressive trail riding. I'd like to think a wheel set upgrade and a 10mm rear axle could improve the ride greatly, but that's taking this out of the value range. FP.

Retrospect. July 2011 Trip to the Mendocino Coastal Mountains

This is a re post of a trip report from, Jul 25 2011, I posted in MTBR.com. It was part of the thread titled "Shout Out to the Mendo Coast Cyclists". I just had some correspondence with Jesse the trail builder up in Fort Bragg and he said there are trails being built weekly and tons of land has been open to new building. Very excited to get back up to that area and the best part is you can ride year round. Enjoy.

Jul 25th 2011

Myself and good buddy Serge made the trip up the North Coast, based of Fort Bragg, this past weekend for some excellent riding. NugJug (Jesse a the local trail builder) awesomely took us around on Saturday for a 20+ mile loop including Widowmaker, Ride Through Tree and Gunslinger trails. Moderate climbs on fire roads with tight flowy single track descents. Sunday we joined a group ride with the Mendocino Coast Cyclists. Believe we did about half of their 22 mile ride by turning back on 730 Road. Our version of the ride started on 409 road and included Parallel Action, Stairs and Cookhouse Trails. The climbs felt bigger on Sunday as we did about 11 miles and packed in a fairly long descent, no stats, and had to climb back from one canyon/valley to another to get back to the car. Again on this ride screaming fast flowy single track in a dense, rugged Redwood Forest. Meeting up for a group ride or connecting with one of the crew up there is highly recommended. Trails can be navigated with maps by newbies as users have reported. However, I think it's good to get a feel for the place. Once you have a general understanding of the roads the unmarked trails will be easier to find. Fellow Nor Cal folks should make the trip up to the Jackson Demo/Fort Bragg area. It's a special time for Mendocino mountain biking and trails. One would be missing out if they did not sample these trails when they are fairly unknown and there are folks eager to share their hard work in routing and building trails.

A note on camping: We tried to get a site at the free Camp One zone up off Hwy 20 in the Jackson Demo. Many sites are currently closed for logging or budget issues or whatever. All sites were full by 1030pm on Friday night when we arrived. Public camping in the area is limited and the other options are State Parks which are always reserved on weekends. There is a private campground near the access road to Camp One but it's pretty dumpy and the tent sites are not flat. Most of the trail heads noted on here are South of Fort Bragg just off of Hwy 1. Bikers looking to camp may best reduce their driving by staying along Hwy 1 between Caspar and Cleone. We stayed at Pomo Campground in Fort Bragg. They have after hours self registration, tent sites were $25 for 2 people. The tent sites were mostly open lawn camping and not very aesthetic or serene. The facilities were clean and well maintained. There are showers, wet suit washing areas that could double as a bike wash, wash basin fire pits, ice and overpriced camp wood. There are a number of other private campgrounds nearby that from my research seem to offer similar lawn type camping. Perhaps the local Mendocino folks can comment further or make suggestions. You'll want to have a camping game plan if you are arriving late without a reservation. I don't make reservations because many of my trips are last minute. Thanks again Mendocino Mountain Bikers!!!

Riding through a tree!



Serge getting a natural high off the Mendo riding


Big Trees!

First legit ski day of 2012

Normally, by this time of year, I expect be writing more about skiing than mountain biking. The winter of 2011-12 has brought low snow conditions to most of the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. For that reason I have spent more time mountain biking to keep my mind off the lack of winter weather and powder snow. Finally, late February/ early March has brought a cold, moist weather pattern to the Sierra and the Wasatch Mountain ranges. Fortunately, I was in Utah for the second half of a 40-50 inch storm cycle and managed to enjoyo some good turns. The best day of the season, for me and for some folks I talked to on the lifts that had skied 40+ days already, was Friday March 2nd 2012. Knowing that the powder starved masses would be hell bent on getting up to the Cottonwood Canyon resorts Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton; I decided to head north. Powder Mountain has long been a sleepy resort but it's 5000 acres of terrain are what make it truly special. Pow Mow as it is called by locals gives a skier a backcountry experience with numerous in bounds hiking zones. Some of these areas will stay untracked for days after a storm. This is great in any situation, but it's even more sweet when the back country conditions are unstable as they have been most of the season in Utah.

When I arrived to Pow Mow a good deal of the mountain was tracked out. I did not make it up there until mid morning. This was ue to some indecision on my part. I already have tickets to Solitude resort which is only about 25 minutes from my home versus 1hr 20 minutes to Powder Mountain. Though for the issues noted above I knew that my best day was to be had at Pow Mow. Mid morning brought a relatively crowded Pow Mow. I know Utah is getting more skier traffic these days, but now that I look back on my days skiing this week I see that there something else going on. We are dealing with a snow starved country for the most part. Outside of the Pacific Northwest and AK it's been a pretty lame winter in the West and New England. Utahns by March actually start to back off on powder slaying a bit as by this time they've had at least a dozen epic days and can be tempted by other sports at lower elevations with warmer temperatures. This year, though, it's like junkies having withdrawals and I don't think it's just Utahns. I think powder starved fiends from all over the US are chasing storms and trying to get it where they can. I cannot blame these people. It’s been a rough winter.

On my way to Ogden I could see that most of the clouds and weather had already moved out of the Weber Valley and over the Northern Wasatch. Blue bird day and 16 inches of fresh on top of a previous 14 inches??? Sign me up. I started the day out on the Sundown lift which could be considered their lower mountain. It's got some good slopes and hike-able terrain. When arriving I saw some decent lines untracked and pulled into the lot, got my skis on, got a ticket and headed up the old triple lift. The lift was on and off, slow then fast then stopped over and over again Did two runs through some deep sun beat, heavy, submarining, powder snow and knew between that and the liftie not really caring about running the lift i had to get to another aspect with better snow. So, I drove with my ski boots on to the upper lot and headed into the belly of Pow Mow. The place was more tracked out than I have ever seen on a weekday. Again..I think it's because of the season not as much that Pow Mow is now on the map. Powder Mountain is far from SLC and on a shitty steep road. It reminds me of how Saddleback used to be in Maine before they updated the lodge.The road is likely still shitty.

I believe this was my 6th or 7th trip to Powder Mountain over the 8 seasons I've skied in Utah. Each time I have been there; there has been a zone I could see from the Paradise and Hidden Lake lifts that I never knew how to get to. Pow Mow is huge and there are several spots you need to hike or traverse some distance to and these hikes can take 20minutes to 1 hour depending on how far you want to go. Most of the times I've been to Pow Mow there has been at least one snowboarder along. Well, snowboarders generally don't dig skating or walking. This has made it difficult for me to explore and still be respectful to the folks I was riding with on those days. On this trip, I was determined to ski these lines. On my last trip there, last year, in talking to locals I mostly figured out the access point. Knowing this day would come I burned those directions into my head. The zone is called Sanctuary. It's shown on the trail map but not in any great detail. The faces that are skied are actually obscured on the map because of it's orientation. For years I have been drooling looking at squiggly tracks coming down long powder faces and suffering as I could not make it out there.

I'm happy to report that Sanctuary zone is about a 20 minute traverse from the top of the Poma Lift. What's kind of annoying is that I had been to this ridge before but never dropped in to skiers right always to the left. Something tells me that the folks at Pow Mow don't mind that this zone is not featured on their trail map. My first run I followed a local into a completely untracked area and made probably a dozen, fast powder turns into a gully run out. Full blast I pointed downhill and weaved through the trees and chased the fall line to make the most of the vertical. The goal is to get as many high speed turns slope and gravity would allow. I tend to find a run fulfilling when you chase that fall line and zones of new fresh snow keep opening up. This run had those characteristics. The snow was light and fast on top but a bit firm underneath giving that bottomless sensation. What's great about this kind of snow is you can keep momentum from the fast snow as the firmer lower layers give a little feedback allowing you to rebound,pivot and slash. The snow doesn't blow back in your face either which is great for visibility. I know no face shots, but face shots are a bit of a ski media cliche. Good powder does not require face shots. It was such a great feeling to have finally skied that zone and for it to be as awesome as I had imagined it to be.

The rest of the day I continued to lap this area and got about four more runs in as it takes nearly 45 minutes to ride the lifts, hike and ski the run. Every bit worth the effort and time spent. These runs were as good as any back country descent and even as good as some heli lines I did in Tahoe last year. On my last lift ride, I rode up with a transplanted fellow New Englander who had been at Solitude early in the week as well and had similar sentiments about the crowd being a bit aggro which was unusual for the 'Tude. His call was that this was the best day of the year in Utah. It also turned out that we have some similar flexibility in careers with being able to live near snow and take days off on short notice to enjoy powder. Given the fact that this skier seemed to be putting good vibes into the skiing atmosphere I took him on a run to this stash. We both were concerned that the lift may have closed as we were pushing it in terms time. Luckily the lift closed at 4pm and not 330pm. He and had to ride a few lifts to the parking lot and found some stashes along the way which made the last runs all that much sweeter.

March 12, 2012 was an all time day in my lifetime of mountain riding. Finished the day off with a $5 Little Cesar's Hot and Ready Pepperoni Pizza, Budweiser Tallboys while swapping ski stories of the day with my roommate in SLC. Pure Glory.

Below are some photos but unfortunately I only had my blackberry camera. Not the best quality.

First Run Down Sanctuary



Looking back at Cobabe Canyon from Sanctuary Ridge. Deep as you can see!


Sanctuary viewed from the Paradise Lift. This is the view that has haunted me for 8 years.



Just for fun:

Hurricane/St George final ride and trip end

Arrived to Hurricane, UT about an hour before sunset on Thursday night. It's a pretty drive through Northern Arizona. It's especially pretty where you cross the Colorado River near Glen Canyon. There is just a wall of red cliffs on the horizon standing 1000ft or so above the valley floor. The Colorado Plateau is a dramatic, colorful place. I'd like to get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at some point. I’ve been informed you can mountain bike ride Rainbow Rim along the North Rim of the GC. It’s on my list! Had intentions to get a quick spin in upon arrival to Hurricane, before sunset, but the wind was howling. So, I decided to give my legs a rest as I had already ridden that morning. Saturday I took my time getting started and did coffee at Over the Edge while chatting with Qwentin about bikes and swap stories about Sedona. It's good to know others share the sentiment that Sedona is a humbling place. Though something tells me he goes a little bigger than I do. The coffee, by the way, at OTE is excellent! Beta: Guacamole Trail has some 3 new miles that I'm eager to get back and check out.

Ride report: Made it over to Santa Clara, just west of St. George, for my final ride of this low snow winter protest mountain bike trip. Rode Barrel Roll, Sidewinder, Precipice and then did a figure 8 by connecting The Rim Rock trails. This made for a 3 hour ride and I am guessing about 15-17 miles as I started below the main parking lot on a user built single track. This was a nice way to end the trip as my saddle area was worked from 6 straight days of riding and my legs needed some fast pedaling to spin out the stiffness. Weather that day was low 60s and clear skies. These trails are mostly dirt with some technical slick rock slab sections. Very rewarding riding with flowy turns and reasonable climbs. Totally what I wanted for my last ride of the week. Post ride I enjoyed a beer by the car and then made the 4 hour journey to Salt Lake City. Can't say enough good things about these winter riding destinations. Get out there and Shred the Red as they say.


Off of Rim Reaper Trail


Start of Rim Rock Trail ( I think)


Climb out of Rim Rock


Flowy user built single track to the lower parking area
Red Cliffs and Snow Capped peaks!

Sedona Wrap Up

Had a hard time leaving Sedona. There are these energy vortexes (they do not call them vortices) at different locations throughout Sedona. We rode near or through a number of them. I can't say I felt much energy or any vibrations, but I can say that Sedona had a way of keeping me there as well as the Pivot Finland crew. Day 2 brought faster flowy single track punctuated with moderate climbs and technical. ChuckWagon, Gunslinger, Mescal, and Aerie to name a few. Did a shorter version that day and bailed at 3.5hours. Day 3 brought chunky technical at the Hogs area a shuttle to the airport area with a descent down Sketch and Ridge trails. Each of those evenings we had bbq sessions "the Dude's" house with good beer and camaraderie. Day 5, today, I did a quick rip on Cockscomb, Western Civilization, Girdner and Rupp. Flowy fun with a little sandy/rock wash technical. I am so lucky to have timed my trip for when this Sedona local’s tour went down. THANK YOU TrailDoc, Sedona Crew and Pivot Finland!!!

So, in the past 12 months I've been number of the top of mtb destinations here in North America: Whistler, Sun Valley, Brevard, NC, Hurricane, UT, Park City, Downieville, and even the new Cuyuna IMBA Trail Center in Crosby, MN ( I needed a Midwest example). Not in the past 12 months, but in the last few years, I've been to Moab and Fruita. My opinion on Sedona as an MTB travel destination: Sedona without a doubt has some of the best access to riding right from town. You barely need to drive and if you were up for it you could ride. There is so much continuous, loop able, single track. I rode 2hrs on day 1 and 5, 3-5 hours on days 2, 3 and 4 with very little back tracking. If you are an advanced rider or want to step up your game, this place is burly and loaded with "epic technical". Though that's not to say there are no good beginner and intermediate rides. There are plenty of buff dirt ribbons that flow masters, novices and children can enjoy. I will not say Sedona is the best of all of the above places because that is highly subjective. However, I will say pound for pound with regard to access and trail quality Sedona is easily at the top of that list. Of course it helps to have a local take you around but the other destinations I have visited multiple times and gained familiarity and still could not make the trail connections that were made in Sedona. It seems the trail scene is just getting going down there. Easy day trips can be had to the Black Canyon Trail, Prescott and Phoenix as a part of a Sedona trip. Winter is the time to go. I'm in Hurricane, UT, right now, with probably one day left of riding in this vacation. Need to get up to SLC and catch a flight back to the Bay on Sunday. I'll finish off the report with some SW Utah riding content and leave you alone for a while.

Sketch Trail with my demo bike that day.

Western Civilization back country feel.

"The Dude" getting it done on hefty big travel bikes like they do in Sedona.

Apres ride with Finland Pivot and the Sedona Ambassador Family

Ok so we do have this beer in NorCal but it was way cheaper in AZ.

Massive Sedona Local Hook up.

My timing was amazing, on Sunday night, when I decided out to a fellow member of the Online Mountain Biking forum MTBR.com know as Trail Doc. He's been deemed the self appointed Sedona Ambassador. I had seen his posts in the Nor Cal forum a few times. Sunday night I googled some stuff on Sedona and his posts came up. I sent him an email and lucked out! Trail Doc just happened to be gearing up for a tour for Pivot Bikes and invited me along. After some discussion if I was a cable rider he was kind enough to invite me along. Trail Doc and a Finnish Pivot bike shop crew on a loop including Highline which skirts the ridge below the peaks of Cathedral Rock. Very exposed and narrow with incredible views. We had a solid 5 hour riding day and only covered about 12 miles. That's insanely slow going. What's cool about riding with this guy is that he and his friend built many of the trails that we rode. I've been lucky enough to have ridden with a trail builder before and it's about the coolest way to get to know a new trail town. The Finnish group was very strong with amazing technical skills. They claim it's because of their awesome Pivot DW linkage, but these guys are damn good. Trail Doc and I near Cathedral Rock Witch Doctor or Special Ed trail. Classic Sedona chunky single track.

Sedona Day 1 and Black Canyon Trail

Arrived in Sedona Saturday late afternoon after a quick layover in Vegas. Bootleg Canyon had a Super D going on and I was staying in Boulder City. Decided to hit the road and get to AZ as I have yet to ride here. Rode a couple of hours before sunset on the West Sedona Trails including Mescal, Chuck Wagon and Girdner. It was a bit rainy and cold in Sedona today so I headed down to Black Canyon Trail and did a 16 mile out and back starting at the Black Rock City trailhead. Can't wait to get back on the bike in Sedona tomorrow. Dirt should be prime! I can't believe how much riding is packed into this amazingly spectacular place. So far the flow has been great which can be an issue with the red rock areas. Plenty of tech for you grinders as well. It's definitely strange being upscale compared to the other desert mtb towns like Moab, Fruita and Hurricane. I could see camping here or renting a house being a good way to go. Mescal Trail West Sedona Black Canyon Trail (Horseshoe Bend segment?) Widely available. O'Dell of Fort Collins, CO Myrcenary Double IPA. 9.3% but goes down smooth.

2011 Santa Cruz Tallboy Aluminum DXC Kit Test Ride at Waterdog Park in Belmont, CA

02-11-2012
Today provided me with the good fortune of test riding an Aluminum Santa Cruz Tall boy in the entry level D XC kit with the RP23 upgrade. If you've read the review that Dirt Rag did this month on the same bike, then I can say my impressions are quite similar. I had a size medium and am 5'8" and weigh 170lbs. The bike with my flat pedals weighs approx 32 lbs. I thought Waterdog given the recent rains and it's moderately technical trails would be a suitable place to verify the Tallboy's well marketed prowess. Most of the trails at Waterdog today were grippy with some puddles and a little mud. The only concern was that some of the ruts that had gone a bit clayish. I walked around on the firmer dirt to cut the trail some slack. I imagine tomorrow will make for a great day at WD.

This was not my first Tallboy ride. I put about 20 miles on a Carbon Tallboy this past October at Cuyuna in Minnesota. Cuyuna is an amazing IMBA designed trail system, but a little too flowy and packed to show the strengths of the Tallboy. My impression, up until now, of the Tallboy was that it is stiff, fast and handles better than some of the other big wheel bikes. It was today, at Waterdog, with a mix of slick and hero dirt conditions that I saw how awesome the TB geometry is for climbing and clearing steep shots and snappy feeling for a 29er. Lest we not forget the low center of gravity and immersed in wheels feeling you get with a 29er that makes you feel more stable on the down. I'm sure I sound like a broken record as we've all read a million praises about the Tallboy. What I am saying is that Tallboy in the 32lb configuration with a basic spec pedals, handles and shifts amazingly well. Definitely did not feel like grinding my 32lb Nomad up the Finch trail switchbacks. I was impressed dropping down Berry's, above the lake, with the stiffness of the QR/Rock Shox Recon and how the fork tracked riding some of the roots on the fringes of the corners. One thing that was odd is it took a ton of air pressure to get the fork from being too squish i.e. an extra 40psi. This could be an issue with the shock. Lock on grips would have been nice and the Maxxis Crossmark is okay, but that tire is more about fast rolling than hooking up in the corners. Nice to see the entry level Tallboy is a fun ride and SC has not compromised quality to make the bike price point more accessible. Waterdog was great riding today and so was the aluminum Tallboy. Happy Trails, friends.

couple of shots of the dirt and the bike.

Writing about stuff from 2011 in 2012

I meant to compile a number travel photos and experiences from 2011 and post them in a blog. Clearly, now that it is early 2012 , I have been a bit delayed in this undertaking. For most of my life I have spent time in the mountains on skis or on a bike. 2011 was the year that I began to identify, on a profound level, with “riding mountains” rather than just the snow or trails. During the rainy spring/summer of 2011 I was obsessively mountain biking the Coastal Redwood Forests of Northern California. It was then on a series of rides that my perception changed. It started like this: I was riding on a long ascent in my favorite riding spot in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s a 30 mile trail network in a 2600 acre second growth Redwood forest that sits between 1000-2000ft above the Pacific Ocean. During this climb lengthy climb I made a mental connection between back country skiing in the winter and trail riding my mountain bike. The similar ritual with the two activities was that I would hike or ride up for some time and then descend. Because of where I like to ride and ski it is often I am descending through forests and positioning my body to make the best of my rate of descent on a given decline. Perhaps it was that I was spending more time hiking and then riding down mountains than I ever had before. Up until 2011 I mainly rode ski lifts to ascend mountains. In 2011, I started skinning and hiking more to ski the snow I wanted to access. I also bought a lighter bike the same year which afforded me longer climbs and more mileage on my rides. More time on the mountains meant a better connection. Here is an analogy: A surfer rides a wave and a skier/mtn biker rides a mountain. Sure it makes sense, but I hadn’t really thought about how central this experience is to my existence. I spend significant energy in my life riding mountains near and far. I hope by sharing the beauty and adventure that I can give insight to those who might ask why I do what I do. I also share to create a chronology of some of the beauty I’ve witnessed and the thoughts I have had along the way.