[pisiket]

My buddy Emre has started mountain biking in July (offroading again after long years since his high school days). He had his eye on my SS since the beginning. He understood at that time that SS was the way to go.

Finally he ordered an Ibex and dropped the gear ratio from the crazy 34:16 to 34:19.

Aside: I had to fine tune his experience by "correcting" the orientation of the front wheel. He had assembled it backwards! He had some (!) handling problems and toe overlap issues because of that. We had a great laugh out of it! Ha ha!

Anyway, after his second SS ride today, he said that SS riding is a completely different experience. He absolutely gets it and he loves it! He thought that riding SS was different than imitating SS without shifting, which he has been doing on and off.

He felt connected to the bike too but that must be his new clipless pedals. (He mastered that pretty quickly as well.) Also, he loves his front shock and disk breaks a lot. What a big change from his beginner rigid bike to an SS with front shock, clipless pedals, disk breaks, etc. etc. Oh... and a new color-matched helmet too...

Looking forward to seeing you at Sea Otter...

Ali

P.S. This thread is useless without pictures.

 

[Sparticus]

Yup, useless w/o pix.

Whatever. Ali, I didn't get the chance to ride with you last time you came up to Disciples of Dirt land (a year ago... you rode Middle Fork Trail, didn't you?) but why don't you come back and join us again only this time bring Emre, too.

DOD's annual regional ride All Comer's Meat IV happens on Saturday, January 19th 2008. C'mon and feel the mud along with Emre. Wait, maybe that didn't come out exactly right. Anyway many, many singlespeeders plus other fun loving bike peeps will be there as well as draught beer and the unique magic of Whypass -- the Disciples of Dirt's secret singletrack stash. We've just added ~2 miles of fresh trail to the network for ACM4.

C'mon back now.

--Sparty

 

[pisiket]

Sparty, I would love to be that Ali who came up to ride Middle Fork Trail; but I am a different animal.

Pictures must follow to clear this confusion!

Ali

 

[Sparticus]

Oops

Sorry, Different Ali.

Well anyway, you're welcome to join the fun, too. C'mon.

--Sparty

 

[iaintdumb2]

I want pics!

I finally jumped the gun and put in an order for the ibex trophy SS too this past weekend, the deal seemed too good. I started mtn biking in September and just can't stop. However, I've been getting a little bored (mainly from the limited trail options) and have been wanting to try SS. Oh I currently ride an 05 Stumperjumper FSR Expert 120. I've been fearful of the gearing the bike comes with and think that I'll need a 19T cog. Any recommendations for this particular bike? I'm quite excited and can't wait to get the bike.

Sorry if this post was semi-thread jacking, I just was happy to hear about someone else starting to SS with the same bike I chose.

 

[pisiket]

Pictures

Emre is the happy-as-a-kid one with his new Ibex, and Ali is the guy with the Ti colored SS.

I haven't been on or around many bike brands but here is a note about Ibex SS: The bike has the feeling of quality. The paint and the decals are great. The front shock has lock-out, dampening and compression stiffness adjustments. As a horizontal dropout owner, I think sliding dropouts are the way to go and the one on the Ibex looks pretty good too. The chain stays are beautifully curved. The front brake cable looks a little too long though...

Ali

 

[iaintdumb2]

Thanks for the pics! It's good to hear positive comments on the bike. I can't wait to get mine, but I'm also getting scared of having just one gear... Ahh!

 

[iaintdumb2]

Ali, I just realized that you and your friend are from the bay area, as am I. Where were the pics taken? I'm guessing Santa Teresa, but I'm also guessing that I'm wrong, heh. Were you guys able to find a local shop with the larger rear cog? What brand/model is it?

 

[pisiket]

The pictures were taken at the Black Mountain on top of Montebello road; yes, in the Bay Area.

We ordered a Surly 19-tooth cog online. Not that we knew anything... Just because my cog is a Surly and that Surly is a reputable brand.

Ali