> I am currently without a pedal bike, and have therefore resorted to mooching bicycles from others. You see though, it really isn’t so much others, more than it is Kim. I mean the guy owns a bike shop and I know he has a great quiver to choose from. So, as bad as i feel for asking, its no so bad having to borrow a bike.

Bike mooch of choice: Santa Cruz’s new Blur LT2 carbon. That’ll put some lead in your pencil. Maybe lead is too heavy, rephrase, carbon in your pencil. This is one piece of suspended sex. The clear-coated raw carbon frame is like a bare model with Santa Cruz body-painted on.The Santa Cruz engineers didn’t leave their list of details on the Kitchen table that’s for sure. There are elegant and neatly place chain-slap protectors, and … Read More »

> Here’s Steve, crossing the boarder. This was a sweet creek crossing on Fromme, on the Leopard trail. It definitely helped make the ride.
7the Secret was the target for this ride. We hadn’t been up this high on fromme yet this year. There was some snow in our way getting into the trail, which was a bit annoying, but after that its all gravy.
So apparently the timer setting takes more than one photo… We all tried swapping rides on this ride. Steve was curious of how my Giant Reign compared to his more XC set-up Blur LT. I don’t know if he’ll admit it to Santa Cruz but he was wowed by my Reign. It was more plush, and slack than his LT which is preferable for Fromme. I think he wants my Fox TALAS 150 QR15 on … Read More »

> Connor Macleod, fresh off the plane from San Fran and already making business calls. Looks like his CapU business degree is making dividends. Fully kitted out, in fresh Steed steez its good to have Connor back out on some trail rides.
Tristan Olk enjoying a refreshing cuppa joe from the one and only Bean Around The World coffee shop. A little caffeine never hurt to prepare for another round of xc action. The wonderful people at Bean take their coffee as seriously as we take our riding. Thanks for always being there to fill the empty tank.
An xc ride on the North Shore is never complete without a couple ladder-bridge rides. Don’t let the excessive Lycra fool you, Connor is showing us how its done on the Giant Reign 0. The conditions couldn’t have been much better on … Read More »

>This is the bike that makes it Reign…And this is the man that makes in rain! I think they will make a good couple. Connor Macleod has been racing downhill mountain bikes for years at the top levels of Junior and Mens racing. Coming from a hardtail xc bike Connor it pumped to be on his new Giant Reign 0!Connor hasn’t ridden xc in over a year and even though he said he wasn’t trying, nothing was slowing him down, but me.It as a good ride in the snow, Connor is looking forward to the next time he can make it Reign!

-Scott

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(By Graham from Kintec) It was cold the night before day 3. We woke up with a good layer of frost on our tents and grass. There was a dog that had followed a group of riders through all of day 2 (someone had to take a 2 hour car ride to return this dog to its home ranch) and it barked half the night.

Day 3 was supposed to be the short day, 4-5 hours. We were to ride down the rode to the lake and follow a trail that circumnavigated the lake. There were 3 significant river crossings and we were told to be prepared to get our feet wet. In fact we were told to be prepared to get wet up to our chests.

After a hearty breakfast put on by the fantastic hostesses of … Read More »

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(By Graham from Kintec) Day 2 was our longest day by far. My Giant Reign was the perfect bike. It would consist of huge climbs, long alpine meadow rides and fantastic views. The initial weather forecast called for sun and clound, but the day started with beautiful sunny skies. Looking at the weather at the start of the day I re-evaluated what I was going to bring – neoprene gloves, nope don’t need those. Goretex pants, gone. Wow could I have made any worse decisions.

The peak that you can see to the right in the picture above is Tullin Mountain. This is about 1/3 of the way that we would be traveling today. The day started with a 12 km road ride to get to the trail head. From here it was almost instantaneous hike-a-bike for over an hour.

Shortly … Read More »