Crash!Fresh news from a our SoCal HQ, we would like to make a warm welcome to Dave “Crash” Collins; long time friend of MC, underground race promoter, and now artist… Amongst other things, Crash runs a series of races in/around Bootleg Canyon, one of our favourite places to ride & home of the Interbike Dirt Demo (And spiritual home to our dearly departed friend Brent). We’ve been proud to help Crash make these races happen, as over the last couple of years they have gained a superb reputation for fun, clean and honest racing. We’ve attended as sponsors/exhibitors, sponsored the uplift trucks, given away prizes, and now were delighted that Crash has decided to come on board and help us out by hauling on one of our bikes. He’s recently kicked off the cobwebs and come out of retirement to race in a select few events, including the invitational race at renowned Woodward West, where he says “the bike handled Fricken Awesome!!” You can find out all about Crash Innovations over here If you take a close look at the photos, you’ll notice something pretty distinctive on the mainframe, some custom hand-painted artwork that I think looks pretty darn fine… We sometimes get asked the question “why doesn’t my bike have decals on the front frame?” Crash has answered that question; we’ve left you a blank canvas because you have to get inspired and make that bike your own! Rumble RideNot long ago I built myself a little Rumble play bike, from an assortment of bits and pieces I had lying around in my garage. It’s one of the 2005 Rumble frames, in medium, and it’s really surprised me just how fun it is for XC. Even though we sell the rumble as a “do it all” bike, it is true that it’s been designed to withstand some serious abuse, and therefore gets categorised more as a free ride bike, than XC.
On the front I have a Revelation with 120 mm travel, which keeps the steering nice and lively, even though it’s a bit more travel than I’m used to for pure XC. Wheels are my trusty Mavic CrossMax, which are running with big fat Schwalbe UST tyres. I have got one of the new shadow rear derailleurs from Shimano on the back there, as well as a pair of well used, but still sturdy, set of Truvativ carbon cranks. The brakes are a personal favourite, the formula K24 with a few factory fitted prototype parts. Equipped like this, it’s a really nimble and lively machine on the single track. The backend is certainly stiff, but with those wheels and tyres it’s not at all uncomfortable. The great thing is I can get out and pedal, just like on a traditional XC rig, yet things like the super short stem and height adjustable seatpost really do change the character of the bike. Bootlegits been a long and dusty day out here at Bootleg Canyon, 30 minutes or so outside of the sprawling city of Las Vegas. As you know this is where the Outdoor demo takes place each year, a chance for buyers, journalists and shop staff to swing their legs over next year’s hot thing. As has become something of a tradition with Mountain Cycle, we were rushed off our feet all day. While we don’t have the biggest presence here, Nor we one of the biggest brands (in terms of sales volume) there is always a queue of people waiting to try our bikes…
As expected, this year’s hottest bikes for us were the Battery and Shockwave, though we were also pleased to be getting some really positive reviews of the Fury. In many ways the Fury is the perfect bike for out here, there are some seriously challenging routes in and out of the valley. The Fury just eats those up, the only sad thing (for us as riders) was that we just didn’t get enough time to go and ride! The highlight of the day, was a guy who had been riding a Heckler for the last few years. He could not believe how much fun the Fury was, and he certainly couldn’t believe us when we told him the retail price… Rumble A-okNot the prettiest of pictures, but here is one of the new Rumble frames from final QC.
We are waiting for the dropouts to come back from the anodising company before they can get assembled, and they too can get shipped out. |
