Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sea Otter round up.

Yeah,yeah.I'm a bit late on this.
Here's the finer points of TEAM DUMPED!'s Sea Otter 2012.

-Got down there on Wednesday.Smart move.
-Burritos.
-Slalom was fun.Real fun.
-Saw friends.
-Sunburn.And lots of it.
-Chicken on a stick with friend rice.
-Frozen lemonades.
-Ate shit in slalom quali's,missed out on the big show.
-Gianni's italian place.
-Pro slalom finals.
-Airhorn.
-Pro DH finals.
-Fun.

TEAM DUMPED! Results from the week.
-Rick
-4th Cat.1 Slalom.
-7th Cat.1 DH.

-Garrett
-16th Cat.2 Slalom.(Pissed).
-15th Jr.X DH.

-Me
-18th place? qualifer Cat.2 Slalom.(too pissed to actually look).



Rick.



























Garry T.Watch for this shit head come Northstar season.


A big issue.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Eastons-35-millimeter-Handlebar-Standard-for-DH-800mm-Havoc-2012.html

Another "standard",you say?
You've heard me drone on and on about how all these new "standards" are just making bikes more complicated and making the general weekend warrior doofers confused.Well,this is a new "standard" that I actaully like and think is welcome.

Bars have gotten fucking huge over the past few years.A trend sprung by Sam Hill when he started making waves over here some moons ago.I remebmer being pumped on running a set of 720mm wide by 1'' rise Truvativ XR team bars on my bike back in '04.I thought they were the shit and that I looked just like the Iron Horse/Madcats guys.Hardshell vert-style skate knee pads and all.Comming back from an absence from the world of mountain bikes I noticed that bars had gotten a fair bit wider,which was too my liking seeing as I had just come off of a BMX kick in which I had a self-proclaimed part in making HUGE handlebars a trend.(Solid Roseanne bars,look them up.I came up with those bars and had them made for me and a few friends,they caught on like wildfire and became a production run product.My first,last,and only signature bike part ever.)So,naturally I was real excited to see Gravity producing an 800mm wide bar.A quick call direct to FSA and those bad larrys were in route to being bolted into my stem.Horrible bends and an overall shitty feel got them unbolted from my stem in a timely manner.I moved onto something a bit narrower since I felt the full 800mm width of the Gravity's to be a bit much for a 5'9'',28'' inseamed,portly little fuck.I looked at what all my friends were riding at the time and snatched up some grey,bendy goodness in the form of the Sunline V-1 bar.I rode those fuckers for years and a set was firmly clamped onto every one of my bikes.That is,untill I wanted some more width.I went super fashonable and put a pair of V-1 flat bars onto my DH bike.An awkward move,but I told myself I liked them.That's when I noticed shit got a bit noodly when you're giving your bike the beans.No bends,a 762mm width,and fat kid who cases shit can do that to a set of bars.I tried some others after that.Race Face,Truvativ,etc...Nothing really felt as right as those non-flat Sunline V-1's did,but the now tiny 745mm span kept me from going back.Now i'm all over the map.Slightly clipped and way too low Race Face Atlas FR's on my XC bike.Slightly clipped,bent to perfection,but dirt cheap 35mm rise Kore Torsion's on my hardtail.And the current object of my affection,full width,super spendy,make me feel like Vilipoto,Renthal Fatbars on my DH bike.

I can't help but wonder if a set of stupid stiff bars would enhance the ride of my bike,or send wayyyyy too much vibration and force to my hands.I've always wanted stiff bars,but being a gloveless,super thin grip guy, I ponder such things.My Renthal's feel great and show no signs of flex.Plus 780mm happens to be my perfect width and once you start working on everyone else's bike 5 days a week,8 hours a day the last thing you feel like doing is lopping 10mm off either side of your brand new set of bars.Is a $200 experement worth it?Is potentally getting rid of my beautiful,handmade in Northern California,Point 1 stem worth it?I sure as shit won't feel like Vilipoto with my hands around some Easton's.Does any of this matter for a mid-pack Cat. 2'er?

Maybe i'm a trend whore,maybe i'm a sucker,but you've got to admit.That big ass bar,and that wide ass stem look fucking good.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Special,special.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/The-Coastal-Crew-Is-On-Specialized-2012.html
There it is.A group of my favorite riders left a brand that was boring and made some pretty shitty bikes and took a huge step up to the wonderful world of Specialized.That or Scott said "Fuck you guys,we don't have enough money for you AND Fairclough."Either way i'm psyched to see them riding some good looking quality shit.Some will disagree with me on what I just said though.I've heard a pretty solid grip of people talk shit on the big red S.Granted,they like to make retailers of their products sell as much of their stuff as possible by sometimes strong arming other companies out of the way,but hey,that's busniess.What I don't get is when you hear hate towards the bikes they produce.I mean fuck,they pretty much produced the first relaxed geo.,smooth riding,yet still can hammer shit out,road bike under the Robuix name.Trek just now came out with a similar bike like a week ago.They mass produced the first mountain bike,which is a pretty big statement for a bike company.Sure,the higher end full suspension line of their bikes sucked for numerous years.Espically the side I care about.The first Demo was an ugly,heavy,over built fucker.Comming in stock at somewhere around 50 pounds.She acceled the first couple of years in exsistance,then when everybody who wanted a bike over 7'' of travel shifted from hucking cliffs and skidding down "big mountain" lines to wearing moto kits,no knee pads,and D2's and were all about riding under the clock the Demo floundered.She kinda fell off the map,getting a different paint scheme and maybe a new part here or there every year,but a big change happened when they signed the aging and slowing Sam Hill.Gone was all the weight,the once revelant geometry got a much needed update,and the ugly-ness factor was taken down quite a bit.There were still some nagging issues though.A 10x135 rear end,ISCG old tabs,and a 1 1/8'' headtube.Specialized knew these things and came out fucking swinging next year.Full revamp once again which produced a DH frame that was,and is,on my short list of frames I want.Also,come on,who doesn't want an fully built SX in their line up,hmm?And sure the P bike looks good but having it be designed by a bunch of "Locs" who only dirt jump resulted in too short of a top tube and chainstays.Make 2 P frames,Specialized.Keep the one you have now for said "Locs",then produce another one that gets about an inch longer top tube,half inch longer stays,and non-single speedable dropouts.Pllllleassseee?

Yeah,I know this sounds like a Specialized dick stroking session but it isn't.I don't even own a Specialized.I have 2 hardtails from the UK,and a full blooded American downhill race machine.Their tag line of "Innovate or Die" is pretty fucking stupid,and the lower end of their bikes is nothing special and the most of the bikes still come speced with goofy tire set ups,narrow bars,and a whole fuck load of Sram.But hey,look at Giant,the other member of the "Big 3" family,at least Specialized doesn't suck as hard as their fucking bikes.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Still kicking.

Sorry folks.
TEAM DUMPED! is still alive.We've just been experiencing some technical difficulties.By that I mean my internet connection shit the bed because I live in the sticks and have to have satalite internet because local yokles fear DSL or something.Long story short HughesNet+un-announced server upgrades=no TEAM DUMPED!It still isn't all the way back up to 100%,but fuck me is it far better than it was for the last 2 weeks.So,hopefully it stays like this or improves so we can continue to bring joy to your hearts.

In other news,Sea Otter is less than 2 weeks away,and in usual TEAM DUMPED! fashion stickers and shirts were promised and neither happened.I can assure you we will be in full force at pro slalom finals with air horns,a California flag,and Brian Lopes hate.Also,watch for us on the top of the Jr.X DH,Cat.1 DH,and Cat.1 slalom results.Look mid-pack in Cat.2 slalom and you'll probably find your lovely authors result,too.So look for the flag and listen for the boos and you'll find us.