Here’s a quote from the e-newsletter:

Yes, we are breaking the hot news that we have been spending the past 6 months working on developing the On-One fleet by using the black wonder material and were getting very close to launching some hot new
models in 2010.

This is a World exclusive sneak preview to the first product to be launched in what we will be a first year launch of three exclusive frame designs plus the worlds first, only, and probably last carbon
29er rims.

Interestingly, the”sneak peek” they refer to will be a carbon rendition of the venerable AM hard tail, the 456. Also of interest is the mention of the carbon 29″er rims, but obviously they are not the “world’s first, only, and probably last carbon 29er rims”. We’re taking that as a bit of cheeky Brit humor here. That or they are daft. Anyway………

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this development. We can’t imagine that a carbon 29″er Inbred could be too far behind the 456 intro.

You can check out On One by clicking the link.

Image courtesy of Soul Cycles

The available colors are, from the back, Pearl Root Beer Brown, Pearl White, “Scotch Brite” w/Clear Coat, and Midnight Blue.

For more info go to www.ridesoul.com

Easton Stem Recall Notice: Here is a press release issued concerning a recall on Easton EA30 stems. Of particular interest is that these stems in question were used on some Raleigh 29″er models. Here is the release:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Easton Sports, has announced a voluntary recall on about 6,400 bikes with EA30 stems.

Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Easton Sports toll-free at (866) 892-6059 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at www.eastonbike.com.

New Geax Website: Above is the image sent to us by Geax depicting what you can expect to see on the updated website. Navigation has certainly been streamlined over the old site and finding information about 29 inch tires from Geax like the Saguaro, Gato, and Barro Race is easier than ever. Of particular note here is the missing UST Saguaro 29″er tire. Apparently it has been dropped from the line up. TNT still remains a mainstay; however, and is a highly recommended way to go for tubeless set ups or for those looking for a tougher sidewall in a 29″er tire.

Rumor has it that Geax’s next 29″er model will be the “AKA”. To see the 26 inch version of that tire and other Geax offerings, see the site at http://www.geax.com

Siren Bicycles Announces The John Henry Model: We’ve posted on this before and now Siren Bicycles is officially announcing availability of the steel hard tail called the “John Henry”. Here’s some specifics from Siren’s website:

Our first “standard handbuilt” frame is ready to go… anywhere you want to. In honor of the John Henry namesake, we build this 29″ hammer-swinger the old school way- here in the USA, by people who ride & love building bikes, and take pride in their craft. John Henry takes on the machine, bringing quality and performance comparable to high end custom frames at a production bike price. John Henry is available through your local bike shop, or directly from us at Siren Bicycles.
MSRP $995 USD

For more on Siren Bicycles go to their website.

Kodiak 2.5″ 29″er tires available: A reminder that the Kodiak 2.5 inch 29 inch tire is available now from Niner Bikes. They have an exclusive on this burly tire and they will be distributing it for the foreseeable future. Si if you have seen my test/review on it, and want to get a hold of these, then Niner Bikes is where to go. Just wanted to make that point clear.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more “News and Rumors” coming soon.

Picture courtesy of Salsa Cycles Facebook page

The Salsa “Enabler” will accept a 135mm spaced hub, and the Surly Endomorph and upcoming Larry tire. The fork is fitted with two water bottle mounts, ala the Fargo, and has stainless steel forward facing drop outs. No word on whether it will be available for this winter, but we’ll be bringing you updates as they become available.

The Elgokse stem/bar on the bottom and the Antler bar above.

Getting into the “MTB Wayback Machine“, we can dial up 1982 and check out the handle bar/stem action that was going on at that time. Looking around at the mountain bikes current to that day and age, we would find a strange looking single piece bar/stem combo called the “Bull Moose”. With its triangulated stem and bar center section, these bars were designed for rigid, rough mountain biking. Generally fabricated in one piece, you either got along with the way it was, or you had to swap out to an entirely new bar/stem combination. Okay, let’s get back to today…………

Rawland Cycles Sean Virnig took that old idea and updated it with face plates to attach the bar to the stem section and made the system threadless steer tube compatible. This allows for three things: First, a rider can adjust the bar to sweep downwards slightly, be level, or sweep upwards slightly. Secondly, the rider of the Elgokse can replace the handle bar if needed without buying a completely new system. Finally, the threadless system means that Rawland only has to make one rise version of the stem (six degrees), since height can be fine tuned using the length of steer tube and spacers. At this time only a 100mm reach version is available.

Besides the overall idea being derived from the Bull Moose bars of yore, Rawland also made the bar and stem from steel and finished them off in a brilliant chrome finish. The Elgokse stem/bar is not a light weight system as a result; however, it is durable, fairly stiff, and looks similar to the bars of the past, if that trips your trigger. Weight conscious riders and folks not into the retro look need not apply. If you do get into this sort of look and feel, these are very well made components though and look to be something that will last a long time.

The Antler Bar is a mate to the stem part of the Elgokse. It is meant to be run only with this stem, as it has the “anti-spin” serrations embossed at the points where the Elgokse stem will attach to it. It is similar in width to the swept flat bar the Elgokse comes with at 700mm, which sounds ginormous, but really isn’t that wide. If the width of the Elgokse bar offends, Rawland put nice graduated markings on the bar for cutting them down a bit.

The Antler is similarly graduated, but cutting off the extensions doesn’t make these bars narrower, it just increases the reach to them, so be aware of what that does to the way you interface with them on a bike. The Antler is pretty much 70cm wide no matter what! A few other points to make about the Antler Bar specifically: It is derived from the mustache bar idea but compatible with mountain bike controls (22.2mm diameter bar), not road brake levers. This allows you to put your brake levers underneath and back on the extensions of the Antler instead of out on the bend as in a traditional mustache bar set up. However; be aware that you will need extra long brake cables and housings (or longer hydraulic brake lines) from what you are currently using. Your old cables and housings will be too short. Not an issue on a new build, but this will incur extra cost on a retrofit.

Currently the Elgokse stem/bar combo is available through Rawland Cycle’s web site for a MSRP of $150.00 The Antlers haven’t had a price set yet, but you can reach Rawland Cycles vis the web link and get more information there on availability and price.

I’ll have my impressions of both these set ups coming in a week or so. Stay tuned!

Will There Ever Be A High End 9 Speed 12-36T Cassette? : This was a question I posed to Shimano peeps at Interbike. It seems that the cassette, which is a Deore level cassette, is being spec’ed on many 2010 29 inchers, but some have balked at the extra weight of this mid-level cassette. Shimano appears to be weighing market response to the cassette before committing to doing a higher level version. In other words, buy the Deore level cassette and Shimano will support a higher range version in the future. If OEM spec is any indication, it may well happen.

Scalpel 29″er Rumors…Again!: We’ve heard that Cannondale Scalpel 29″ers have been tested in proto-type form many times over the last three years. Well, we’re hearing it again anew. Apparently there have been eye witness accounts of the mythical wagon wheeler from the desert Southwest. Could it be that recent XC and Marathon wins aboard 29″er full suspension bikes has piqued interest in doing the platform in a 29″er version? Possibly, but if it is true, we’re betting that the recent infusion of cash from Cannondale’s parent company, Dorel, has more to do with this than anything. Keep an eye on bikes at this weekends Moab 24 hour race, maybe the beast will show up there since it is in the vicinity, apparently.

Fork It Over!: After seeing the redesigned Bontrager Switchblade at Sea Otter, the anticipation level for this new design has been at fever pitch. Promised for late June originally, information regarding the fork was scarce until just recently. Twenty Nine Inches has learned that the fork is now due at the end of the year at the earliest. Looks like most of us will have to wait till spring to see one of these on dirt. No word on why the delay is so long, but this still should be a pretty popular fork when it does come through. Two offsets for G2 or “standard” geometry 29″ers means that Fisher will finally have the rigid fork to match up with those looking to set up the lightest possible Superfly and Superfly single speed builds. (Not to mention Rig owners and Fisher G2 hard tail freaks!)

Forks With A Sense Of Humor: You can always count on Peter Kieller of Misfit Psycles to mix in equal doses of humor, irreverence, and techno-geek speak when he announces new product ideas. So check this out: We all know that a lot of the rigid carbon forks out there bear a strangely similar resemblance to each other, even though they bear different brand names. Well, Misfit Psycles future carbon fork will apparently skewer that idea with its name, the “Parody”. Misfit claims the new fork will be offered in 445mm and 470mm axle to crown lengths, but no mention of offset as of now. Also in the works is an as yet un-named steel fork with a target weight of 1000gm for a 465mm axle to crown fork. The carbon Parody fork will be offered separately or as a companion to the diSSent aluminum 29″er. The steel fork may be offered with the steel “Fe” 29″er only. No decision on that as yet. Stay tuned for more as we learn it…..

Singular Swift In Titanium?: Apparently this is true. Singular Cycles will offer a titanium version of its 29 inch wheeled Swift model in titanium which will be torched up by Italian titanium purveyors Nevi. This from a blog post on Singular’s U.S. distributor’s website. Apparently it will be a “production” Swift but on a per order basis. In other Singular news, the drop bar friendly model Gryphon is supposed to hit U.S. shores yet in the middle of this very month. Stay tuned…….

That’s it for this edition of News And Rumors.

Now that has changed. WTB has designed a tire at the behest of Mike Curiak with influence from frame builders Walt Wehner and Devin Lenz to address the short comings of the Kodiak and be a “true” DH worthy tire. Introducing the WTB Dissent 29″er!

WTB will be producing these in the near future, but if riders are interested, they are encouraged to contact their local bike shops and distributors to let them know this is something that riders are interested in. By the way, knob to knob measurement is slightly over 2.5″. Casing is about 60mm. This is on a Salsa Gordo rim at 30 psi. (Thanks Mike Curiak for the info and photos!) The tires are said to have WTB’s “Inner Peace” flat protection beads. Look for more details soon.

Gary explores a design for a 29″er in 1999.

To begin the story, we were handed plans and copies of e-mails from WTB’s Mark Slate and Gary Fisher. For those who don’t know, WTB was the first to make a tire that measured 2 inches with knobs for off roading in a 700c format. Gary Fisher was one of the proponents of “The Tire”, (WTB’s Nanoraptor), and now that it was being made, he needed a bicycle to ride that fit them. Gary explained that the concept was to use a tire available in both 26 and 29 inch size that could be compared on two different bikes- one 26 and one 29″er- that were as identical as possible. As Gary himself said, he needed to be convinced that the idea had actual merit in the field.

Gary wanted chain stays that would match his current 26″er trail bike, so this caused some consternation amongst the principals- Gary, Mark, and Steve Potts, who was to build the first two frames for Gary. After several iterations on paper- all of which we received to peruse- the final version was produced with an offset seat tube to accommodate the shortened stays. This made a bike that was as close to Gary’s 26″er in dimensions as possible, but it created problems with the front derailluer. Essentially, a custom made one off had to be fabbed from a stock Shimano derailluer and the bike was finally complete.

Former Trek Brand Manager, Zap Espinoza, with Gary’s first 29″er.

Gary needed a suspension fork, so he had a Manitou Mars modified to accept 29″er wheels with a whopping 50mm of travel. Gary said that if you hit a big bump, the tire would graze the bottom of the fork crown! But this didn’t deter Gary, and he was off to figure out if the wagon wheeler concept was going to be plausible or not for mountain biking, and more importantly, for sale to average trail riders. Ever the tinkerer, Gary didn’t leave the bike this way for long.

This is the same bike with a new paint job and a modified Look Fournales fork.

Still in 1999, Gary had the bike repainted in a scheme his daughter designed and fitted with a Look Fournales fork with the anti-dive, constant trail linkage. The fork, originally a 26 inch wheeled fork, was modified for Gary by Gary Klein by extending the legs with bonded on aluminum inserts. The fork travel was the same, but at least it didn’t hit the crown now! The bike went through two more re-paints by designer Paul Smith before being retired by 2000. By this time Gary had a Marzocchi fork prototyped to test out with it.

A prototype from 2000 in titanium.

By 2000 Gary was convinced it was a good enough idea to pursue and Trek allowed some prototypes for possible production. Still using technology that was based on other standards, (forks designed with 26 inch wheels in mind and converted Rolf road wheels), Gary could still see merit in the idea and forged ahead with the idea that these big wheeled rigs could be a part of the Fisher mountain bike offerings. These prototypes used Genesis geometry on big wheels for the first time. Also, interestingly enough, a 69er prototype was made to help solve front end geometry issues. The stage was now set to launch the first production 29″er the following year.

A young Ryder Hesjedal on Gary Fisher’s first production 29″er.

In 2001 Gary Fisher Bikes introduced 29″ers to an unsuspecting world. Using specially constructed Marzocchi suspension forks, the idea was slow to take root with riders and especially dealers who were slow to warm up to what was at the time considered to be nothing more than a passing fancy. More models were introduced in 2002, including a full suspension model, but by 2003 things were looking pretty dire for the future of big wheels in the Fisher camp. In that year, models were cut, and a new “Dual Sport” model was introduced.

The Dual Sport models, which were pitched as do it all hybrid bikes, helped turn the tide in the sales department. Things started to turn around dramatically in 2004, when Gary Fisher Bikes introduced newly designed, externally butted frames in aluminum with better stand over clearances. They also cut a deal with Rock Shox to make the now classic Reba 29″er fork. Fisher Bikes fronted all the money for the tooling to make these purpose built 29″er forks. Fisher Bikes also introduced the Rig, a purple bombshell that propelled sales for Fisher 29″ers into unknown territory. Finally, Bontrager was making ground up 29″er wheel designs that were disc specific and stiffer and tougher than previous offerings.

In 2005 Cam Chambers won the National Championship 24 Hr race aboard a Gary Fisher 29″er. Then Jesse LaLonde almost won the Single Speed World Championships by dominating the actual race, but losing out in the go-kart finale required to win the title that year. Sales were increasing too, and Gary Fisher Bikes was becoming more of a big wheeled company all the time.

In the following two years, sales of 29″ers at Gary Fisher bikes doubled each year. Then in 2007 Genesis 2, or “G2 Geometry” was introduced for 29″ers and Fox Shox was persuaded to build specially offset forks for 29″ers. These were the first Fox forks for 29″ers ever produced. Rock Shox also had a new offset fork and all of this was done with the influence of Gary Fisher Bikes. On the racing side, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski becomes the first athlete to ride a 29″er at the World Championships.

Now Gary Fisher Bikes is one of the biggest 29″er companies out there and the big wheelers are the mainstay of the line up for 2010. Hard to believe after the low point in 2003 that it would work out the way it did. The race team keeps pace as well, as I have detailed in the previous post. Results on the racing circuit are unprecedented. The offerings on the table for 2010 represent a decade of refinement, also an unprecedented thing in the world of 29″ers.

That’s a wrap on the reports from the Gary Fisher Bikes Press Camp. I hope the coverage was informative and entertaining. I would like to thank Gary Fisher Bikes, Gary Fisher, Travis Ott, all the athletes and product engineers, and the other media folk there who made this camp a great time for me.

Look for a long term review of a Gary Fisher Rumblefish coming soon!

Just shy of 28 inches wide overall, the Carnegie’s Bar should be plenty wide for most folks. (Gotta clean the table!)

Pertinent info follows: (From Brant hisself)
“Width is 685mm tip to tip, but puts your hands effectively in the same
position as my old 700mm wide bar. Geometry is 25deg sweep with a 33mm forward
wiggle to keep the controls in the right sort of place. It nominally has a 38mm
rise, though this is lessened a bit when you angle the bar back and down for
comfort.”

Yeah, yeah……my hydraulic hoses need trimming, so what. Pay attention to the bar, ya’all!

Thoughts So Far: 310 grams is a decent weight for a bar you can hammer on. Very comfy bend. A bit less than a FuBar, but otherwise these two bars are very similar in layout. I like the 31.8mm clamp for something like this because with as much back sweep as these types of bars have, you need a great grip on that bar with the stem. Bigger clamp diameter equals more clamping surface area which gives me peace of mind. Plus Brant tests the livin’ daylights out of his stuff, so I don’t have to worry. Good deal.

I’ll have more on the Carnegie’s Bar later, but first I have Interbike. Look for exclusive Interbike coverage from myself and Grannygear starting next Monday from Bootleg Canyon!

Heather Irminger’s Superfly hard tail in the National Championship paint scheme.

Two years ago, I was honored to have interviewed Heather Irminger at Sea Otter. At that time, the Subaru/Fisher Bikes race team had a choice of whether they wanted to ride 29″ers or 26″ers on any given race day. Heather told me then that due to the impending run up to the Olympics, she was not going to risk any new changes and would be campaigning the smaller wheeled Fisher for the year. However; she did say at that time that she had recently began training and riding for fun on a 29″er due to the influence of her husband, JHK, who was really talking up some of his experiences on a 29″er with her over a period of time.

Fast forward to early 2009 and Heather was starting to contemplate actually riding a 29″er for the season coming up. She stated that it was not going well. She wasn’t feeling comfortable on the 29″er, and was about to give up on the entire idea of ever trying one in a race situation. Of course, being 5′4″ tall, who would blame her? Conventional wisdom was that small riders don’t work on 29″ers, or so it was believed. Travis Brown, who picked up the story, also agreed that even to his mind, the idea that Heather may not be suited to a 29″er was entirely possible. However; the feedback from team members Sam Schultz and JHK kept ringing in Heather’s ears and she liked what she was hearing, but wasn’t feeling it on the bike.

Travis Brown then said that they took measurements off of 26 inch bikes Heather had been riding and found that they matched up better with a medium sized Superfly. Heather had initially been trying a size small. Once on the medium, the bike clicked and Heather said she felt more “in the bike” than “on top of it”, which was confidence inspiring for her. Heather said to us that “…being cradled inside of something is a really powerful feeling”, as she tried to translate the transformation of just changing sizes on the Superfly. Race results showed she was on to something as the two National Championships attest. Not only that, but Heather had a personal best finish of tenth at the World’s in Australia this year. Heather’s ride at the National Championships was the first time a 29″er had been ridden at Nationals by a pro.

Heather is so convinced that 29″ers are her future in race rigs that she exclaimed, “I don’t even know where my two-six bike even is right now!”

JHK’s two National Championships were won on a Superfly 100

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski has been on board a 29″er off and on for a few years now, but this year he fully committed to racing the entire year on 29″ers for the first time, not even having a 26″er built up for ‘09. When I asked him about how the transition was for him, battling strong competition at a World Cup level that were on lighter bikes, Jeremy told me the toughest part then was trying to decide at each race venue which bike would be faster. His analysis over two race seasons along with continuing advancements in technology lead him to find that eventually, for him, the 26″er was slower on all types of courses. So, the move to all 29″ers all the time was easy for him for the 2009 season.

Of course, this was on a Superfly hard tail in the beginning. JHK is a self admitted hard tail proponent, so when Fisher announced to him that they would be doing a mid-year introduction of a full suspension bike for the race team, he had some doubts. However, he was won over by the performance of the bike, and after a few tweaks to the rear shock and a couple of other minor tweaks, he raced it to a local XC series win and never looked back. Two National Championships later, the Superfly 100 earned nothing but praise from this devout hard tail fan, calling the Superfly 100 “the best full suspension bike I have ever ridden” in a private call replayed for us at the Press Camp. JHK was also the first to race a 29″er at the World Championships in Australia this year.

L-R: Fisher Brand Manager Travis Ott, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Travis Brown (seated), and Heather Irminger

Heather’s counterpart on the women’s squad for the Subaru/Fisher Team this year was Willow Koerber who after hearing of the other team members successes on 29″ers asked about trying one out for herself. Now it must be told that Willow is just shy of 5′2″, so again, conventional wisdom would have kept her solidly on a 26″er and no one would have thought that would be unusual. However, after Travis Brown’s experiences with Heather, he felt that possibly a small Superfly hardtail would work, and Heather advised her in this way as well. So, the bike came and was built up for her to try out.

After a 45 minute test ride at the Vermont race this year, Willow decided to race the bike in that event! In that race she scored a podium. In the first three races after switching, Willow notched a 2nd, a first, and the Bronze medal at the World Championships.

In fact, counting Katie Compton, who also appeared at the World Championships aboard a 29″er, the women for Team U.S.A scored first place in team competition and all were aboard 29″ers.

Pretty impressive results and it may just turn many folks preconceived notions about 29″ers on their collective heads. Certainly, no one could have guessed at such results even just a year ago.