Late news and all the afternoon news from Sea Otter 2009……………
Sherwood Gibson of Ventana took some time out to talk to me about the new swinging drop out design he did for this single speed belt driven rig. Saying he was inspired by the Black Cat Bike’s design, he did a bit of tweaking and along the way he decided it would be a perfect candidate for a Gates Carbon belt drive. As with most of Sherwood’s handiwork, the execution of the design was super sano.
It seems every hand builder does a tricycle these days! Here’s Brent Foes version.
I found this curiously unattended Epic 29″er in the Expo area……………….
………….that had a World Champion owner!
In other Specialized tidbits, it seems that the fork that I posted earlier today is using Specialized steer tube, crown, and uppers mated to specially valved Rock Shox internals and lowers. Also, in a move that will surely fire up some single speeders, I have learned that Specialized is going to do a limited run of 29 inch single speed carbon hardtail frames and forks. One example is reportedly going to be raced at Sea Otter this week end. Keep your eyes peeled for that if you are there!
Now I know why the new Foes costs $3000! Brent has to pay for his big boy toys. And someone needs to explain to Stoltz that if he flipped his stem the right side up he could remove at least one of those headset spacers he has under it. It looks ridiculous in its current form, especially on a 29er. And on top of it looking good he would save about 10grams in the process.
29″, Singlespeed, Carbon frame, in a limited edition…are Specialized giving up on originality altogether?
To sort of defend Foes’ $3000 frames, they use a Curnutt shock which is specific to the 2:1 design. What other small shop has to pay for their own small-run suspension as well as tooling and frame production?
I’m not going to buy one, just sayin… Foes buyers seem not to mind the price.
Except that in this case a 2:1 design on a 4″ travel bike means a 2″ stroke shock which is the most common size available. If it was an 8″ or 10″ travel bike then the bump in price would make sense since there are no other alternatives. Incidentally 2:1 on an xc bike isn’t really new. The original Santa Cruz Superlight was 2:1 and that was 10 years ago.
Really? Is that what 2:1 means?
Where’s the new Rocky Mountain 29ers?
t0m–2:1 is the ratio of wheel travel to shock stroke. The second number is always 1. The lower the first number is the better. That means that the shock has more room to do its job which means it will use lower pressure, more oil, more control, and if it is position sensitive then the shock maker can be much more precise with where and how that part of the damper kicks in. The only downside is bigger shocks are heavier.
The reality of this number is that it is an average. The suspension design will vary the leverage ratio as the wheel moves through the travel. That is why some designs are rising rate and others falling rate. Rising rates are soft at the beginning of the travel and falling are softer at the end of the travel relatively speaking. This can be confusing because when manufacturers describe their bikes’ suspension rate style they are usually referring to spring rate not leverage ratio. The higher the leverage ratio the firmer the spring needed. So that means that rising rate designs have a leverage ratio that is actually falling as the wheel moves through the travel. For example: At the beginning of the travel the leverage ratio may be 3:1 and at the end it may be 1:1, that is a rising rate suspension. The Foes is a straight rate and it stays about the same all through the travel. I like straight rates on trail bikes because it makes the suspension very predictable. No soft spots, no firm spots. They pedal well and are much easier to design a shock around too.
I know that is way more information than you asked for so please forgive me if this long winded reply bothers anyone.
Love the Ventana. I wonder if Black Cat’s guy will be miffed?
Specialized doing a limited run of carbon fiber 29er singlespeed bikes? Didn’t another large fish-like 29er company already do that? Wow that’s living up to the “Innovate or die” tagline.