Why Choose our Fit System?

When we chose to develop our Rider Profile on-line fit system, we entered into the project with a few core beliefs. Fit is the most important aspect of any bicycle purchase. That, above all else guides us. Equally important, though, is our belief that proper bicycle fit involves communication between individuals. Regardless of the technology brought to bare in the fitting process, the truth is that accurate and comprehensive bicycle fit demands a motivated individual to conduct the fit and offer analysis, and a motivated individual determined to find the best fitting new bicycle. Together, these two individuals can elevate the entire concept of "fit" to a comprehensive process, involving analysis of the physical dimensions of the customer, but also much more. Our personal approach to each rider's fit needs involves a detailed analysis of all elements of the bicycle--not just the size of the frame and components, but the intended use of the bicycle, and the unique riding style of the individual.
When we set out to develop our Rider Profile on-line fit system, we realized the magnitude of the task at hand: to properly fit a wide variety of individuals to a wide variety of bicycles with the highest possible degree of precision--without having the benefit of a rider here in the store. Creating a successful solution involved admitting that there is no automated form currently available with which to determine bicycle fit with any degree of accuracy, and approaching the fit process from the customer's point of view. Our Rider Profile fit systems has successfully fit over a thousand riders based on our simple and reliable formula: we spend time communicating personally with you. When you complete a Rider Profile from Speedgoat, you receive a personal typed analysis and a CAD-based drawing of your dimensions set over those of the bike you are considering. In an increasingly automated world, we're well aware that our method here is not designed to be the most efficient means of "processing" and individual, but we never set out to process people in the first place. Our goal has always been to match each rider with the perfect bike.

CREATE YOUR RIDER PROFILE


















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Posted by Beth on 07/23/08
BLACK RIBBONS, RATTLESNAKES AND BICYCLE RIDING
This past weekend we lost our 13-year-old Siberian Husky to a rattlesnake bite. Please be careful riding/hiking the mountain particularly if you ride/hike with children and/or dogs. It is snake season, and, there have been rattlesnakes seen on multiple trails here on the mountain. This particular rattlesnake was in our own fenced back yard and not on the trails. They are up here and people do need to be aware of them.





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Posted by Jeremy on 07/23/08
JAGWIRE RIPCORD/RACER DIY KIT ERGON GREEN

We just received some fancy new DIY cable kits in from the folks over at Jagwire.

In addition to being ERGON green the DIY kits contain everything that you would need to replace your housing.

The kits are available in mountain derailleur, road derailleur, and mountain brake. Obviously you don't run ERGON grips on your road bike. But who knows maybe you have a flat bar and you do run ERGON grips on your road bike? Either way if you are looking for some bright green accents on your road bike or you're looking to match your ERGON team grips on your mountain bike these cables have got you covered.

Aesthetics aside the Jagwire Ripcord and Racer cables are high performance and incredibly durable.



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Posted by Jeremy on 07/22/08
PIVOT DEMO

This past weekend Speedgoat welcomed Pivot/BH and Chris Cocalis for the first annual Pivot/BH demo. We had some amazing weather (except towards the end of Sunday) and a great turn out. Above is a shot of the demo bikes prior to a lot of root filled rocky fun on Saturday morning.


We want to thank the DCNR and the Laurel Hill Nordic Ski Patrol for letting us use their building as a staging area for the event.


Here is another shot of the whole spread around 11:30 on Saturday morning. Everyone was so excited for the event that we had a few people show up early.


Every rider during the demo was provided with at least one trail guide. This was a lot of fun for me and several members of our staff and race team. It is not often that we get the opportunity to go out and ride with our customers.

Above is a shot of Chris and one of our customers pedaling away from me.

We would like to thank everyone that came out and participated in the event and every employee and race team member who helped make this event possible.



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Posted by Chris on 07/21/08
SPEEDGOATER GERRY PFLUG TAKES MASTERS NATIONALS!
Speedgoat racer Gerry Pflug won the USA Cycling National Championships Master Men 40-44 Age Class Mountain Bike Cross Country Race this past Saturday. He won his class by three minutes and had the third fastest expert time of the day. This is Gerry's first national championship win, and we're all very proud and happy to see him get the win he deserves so much. Congratulations, Gerry!





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Posted by Chris on 07/17/08
PIVOT & BH DEMO DAY NEARS
Everyone is welcome to come ride the new Pivot and BH bikes this weekend. Here's the event schedule:

Saturday, July 19th
9am-11am: BH Group ride from our Laughlintown shop.
12am-5pm: Pivot demo ride on Laurel Mountain.
3pm-4pm: Chris Cocalis speaks about frame design

Sunday, July 20th
12pm-5pm: Pivot demo ride on Laurel Mountain.
3pm-4pm: Chris Cocalis speaks about frame design



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Posted by Jim on 07/14/08
DO YOU PAKE LIKE I PAKE?
We just received our shipment of Pake track framesets in the Limited Edition Bass Boat Green and they're, well, metallic Bass Boat Green...


Look for a Speedgoat Build Project soon.

Find them here


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Posted by bill on 07/14/08
FREERIDE WEEKEND RECAP
The Freeride Weekend at Seven Springs Mountain Resort was a huge success. Jeremy, Justin and myself worked the Speedgoat/Santa Cruz demo booth. Saturday had the best weather and over 400 people signed up for free lift tickets. I knew everyone would appreciate riding our Santa Cruz fleet, but I didn't expect every bike to be out by 9:05am. These brothers were our first riders of the day.




I truly enjoyed observing the amount of parents riding with their kids. This is the perfect sport that will create memories to last a lifetime. Parents that are looking for a way to connect with teenagers especially should consider coming up, renting a few Santa Cruz Nomads or Bullits and show how cool you still are.




Since we were busy hooking the masses up at the base, we weren't able to get any ride shots from some of the other sections but it was still action packed all day. We saw everything from full on gnar shredders like this dude to people on hybrids (hybrids definitely not recommended).




We got so busy that we had to start a waiting list which was running two hours and we had people that demoed both a Bullit and Nomad. Seven Springs Police was out in full force along with their EMT crew.




I brought Jasmine along to help out by being so cute. She actually started to pull the trailer at one point and almost knocked our tent down.




Sunday started out nice and was quickly ended by thunderstorms that were moving through the area. I had so much fun eventhough I was working because Jeremy and Justin were there and the demand for our demos showed me how lucky I am to be able to ride some of the finest mountain bikes in the world anytime. Thanks to the entire Seven Springs crew, Santa Cruz, Kona, Trek and everyone else who made this phenomenal weekend happen.








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Posted by Chris on 07/14/08
TECH QUESTION: BIGGER DUMMY?
Q: 1 If disc brakes are used on the Big Dummy, can 650B wheels/tires be used?
2 If the answer to 1 is yes, will the handling be adversely affected?
3 Does the price include the front fork?

A: Thanks for the questions. Because we like to break rules and answer things out of order, yes, the fork is included with this frameset. Regarding the other points, we contacted Surly and received the following reply:

"We don't know."

Then we hung up and called back with a different, higher-pitched voice, and they said:

"We encourage experimentation."

They let us know that the Big Dummy was designed around 26" wheels and not 650b, but thought that you might be able to get enough clearance as long as you used a smaller volume tire like the Panaracer Col de Vie 650B x 38mm Blk/Tan Steel bead ($22.00 each) or Panaracer Fatty Rumpkin 650B x 40mm Blk/Tan Steel bead ($28.00 each) - both of which we'd be able to special order for you, if you wanted to experiment. Of course, you might get them and find they just plain don't work. Being a special order, we wouldn't necessarily want them back either, but if you had another 650b, they might come in handy. Experimentation can get spendy, though. It's what keeps us from building the Santa Cruz Nomad tandem we think would be pretty cool. Colleges get grants to do this sort of stuff!

Surly didn't think handling would suffer, only that you'd increase the stand-over and bottom bracket heights due to the larger wheel size. But is it really possible to do anything to further adversely affect the handling of a two-wheeled vehicle with a 58" wheelbase and the ability to haul a small refrigerator? Personally, we'd be waiting for the "Big Dummy SL" before we go signing up for the local crit series.

Once we got Surly talking, they also informed us that there's been a substantial price increase for the next batch of framesets that will be available in the first few weeks of August. They've gone up from $1020.00 to $1150.00, but that includes both frame and fork and UPS Ground shipping to the lower 48 states if you're purchasing the frame from us here at Speedgoat. Likely, Surly realized that with oil making its way to $150/barrel, moving Big Dummy frames around is getting pretty tough. We suspect Big Oil gets pretty antsy whenever somebody else comes along calling themselves "Big" like that and going after market share. Is there a clandestine effort to keep the Big Dummy from falling into the hands of ordinary citizens? Not really, but what if there were? Would you know? Chilling, isn't it.


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Posted by Chris on 07/12/08
TECH QUESTION: DE-FIXING
Q: I have a Bianchi Pista that I would like to add a freewheel cog to ... will the Shimano Standard Freewheel do the trick?

A: Not being a Bianchi dealer, and not knowing if your bike is stock or modified, it's tough to know what hub you have on there, and that's an important thing in this case. Assuming that your Pista is currently a fixed gear bike, and has a rear hub that is specifically designed for a fixed gear application and doesn't have different threads on the opposite (non-drive) side (these are otherwise known as "flip-flip" hubs), you have a problem. You can't just remove a fixed gear cog and thread on a freewheel, no. The two different systems use different threads, and one needs to take up more space than the other, and one has a lockring--cats and dogs, brother.

So if Bianchi, being a staid and classical sort of company, didn't want to water the Pista down with a flip-flop hub, you'd need to buy a new hub before you could use a freewheel. Something like this Surly hub.

Surly will often come to your rescue. They're like the new Bianchi--or rather, they're Dean Martin to Bianchi's Sinatra. Actually, they're a lot like Dean Martin.


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Posted by Jim on 07/11/08
CALLING ALL HIPSTERS
We have some Limited Edition Pake Bass Boat Green track framesets on the way for all you urban fishermen.

Get your fixie fix while you can here.


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Posted by bill on 07/11/08
THURSDAY RIDE
This past week has been excellent biking weather and Thursday was super baller. My friend/coach/long time riding buddy Mike showed up for our Thursday ride in Champion and it was a blast. We rode the 24 hour race course and headed towards the Youghiogheny river to ride some fun technical sections.




I rode before and to work on Thursday and I knew this would be my chance to get some more riding time for the week.




Speaking of ride time. How about a free ride this weekend at Seven Springs Mountain Resort? Seven Springs is handing out free lift tickets and Kona rentals Saturday and Sunday. Trek will be there as well with a demo fleet.

More information is available here.

Speedgoat Champion will be there with our Santa Cruz rental fleet both days. We have Nomad's and Bullit's for your demo pleasure. Particpants will be given three rides per demo to make sure there is enough to go around. Justin will also be signing autographs. The course is in great shape and there are plenty of activities happening during and after the lifts close for the day. We will see you this weekend. Don't miss out!


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Posted by Jeremy on 07/10/08
YETI ARC SPECIAL

So here it is kids! One brand new Yeti ARC size small for $399. That's right, $399. Why, you ask? Because we love you, yes all of you.

Click here if you would like to be the proud new owner of a small 2008 Yeti ARC. If you don't click we will probably still love you, just not as much.


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Posted by Chris on 07/07/08
THE ADVANTAGES OF PRE-ORDERING

It's true. Pivot has shipped us a couple of 429 frames, and these will instantly go to the two or three earliest names on our pre-order list. Unfortunately, not everyone on the pre-order list will be able to get one this early--we're only talking about a few frames here, and we're getting them even before some of the magazines have received test bikes--but it's a good sign that these few are on the way. Honestly, we wish we didn't have to offer pre-orders, but supply is so short among the ultra high-end, that this reminds me exactly why we offer pre-orders on the hottest items.


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Posted by Jim on 07/02/08
HOWLER IF YOU NEED A BIG DUMMY
We have one, yes folks, I said one Big Dummy frameset in stock in the 20" size that needs a good home.

You may also want to pick up this incredibly fashionable T-shirt while you're at it:

Everybody knows that you need to look stylie while you're cruising on your Big Dummy. Dummy.


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Posted by Chris on 06/30/08
TECH QUESTION OF THE DAY
Q:I am from Northern Virginia and was up in your neck of the woods this past weekend working for the Tour of Pa. Don't know who to ask and don't yet have my Garmin Edge 705.

I rode over Laurel Mountain from both directions. The signs west bound warn of an 8% grade. The Tour of Pa. says that the eastbound climb from Jennerstown is 15%. Even pedaling, I was "only" going 42-45 on my descent.

On the other hand, I also rode out 381 to Rector then up Darlington Rd to 711. That was steep. My descent on that one was 50 mph and I could have pushed it if I had hammered it on my approach.

I am training for the ride up Mt Washington (NH not Pittsburgh) so grades become very important to me. Do you have any idea how steep Darlington Road is?

Thanks!


A: Thanks for writing. As a retailer, my obligatory first response was to recommend purchasing a Garmin Edge 705, but then I realized that a lot of places on the interwebs offer them for less than our wholesale cost. Probably less than Slipstream team purchase price. D'oh! There went that idea.

That left me forced to try to answer your question armed only with local folk tales and the regional habit of measuring grades based on rolling a rock as far down a hill as it'll go. Even after the fancy invention of baseballs, the locals still use rocks. Go figure.

While we certainly have much steeper climbs in the neighborhood (I tend to rate them according to how close my tongue is to the road immediately in front of my face), Darlington up to 711 is only considered "steep." This is worse than "not steep" but not nearly as bad as "pretty steep," "real steep," "damn steep," and our peculiar regional Hors Category col nomenclature, "sucks."

I've also towed my twins up that road with standard road gearing, and I can quickly think of five climbs also within ten miles of the shop that I'd definitely not try that on. So it's probably not too bad, though I don't have hard numeric data for you. We have good customers who've done the Mt. Washington race/ride multiple times, and it appears that the length is also a major factor. The very, very bottom section of Darlington road probably does spike over 15%, and then it wanders back and forth under that initial grade. Apparently Mt. Washington would be like going up that thing repeatedly for seven-and-a-half miles. With oxygen depletion, fog, and freezing temperatures waiting at the top.

Depressing, but hopefully helpful, too. That Mt. Washington climb is "brutal."


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Posted by Jeremy on 06/30/08
LMVG TRAIL DAY

This Saturday was our first LMVG (Laurel Mountain Volunteer Group) trail maintenance day for the 2008 season. We met off of RT 31 at around 10am. After everyone arrived we dispersed into to several crews. I ended up on a crew consisting of 5 people. Our crew leader was our friend John from LHORBA (Laurel Highlands Off Road Bicycle Association). John had previously marked off a portion of Jones Mill Run trail that needed to be fixed.

After arriving at Jones Mill Run trail John walked us through the erosion damage on the trail. After discussing John’s proposed solution we got to work on diverting the trail around the main area being affected by the drainage issues.

You have to have the right tools for the job!

Here is a shot of our friend Andy raking out the new trail in the high ferns.

John takes out an oak tree hindering the path of the new trail.

And finally here is a photo of the finished product. The new trail that we built not only eliminated the drainage issue but it also added some new life to an old trail. John did a great job designing the new portion of trail--it has an amazing flow to it.

Thanks to everyone who helped out--I had a great time working with you.

I also wanted to thank Salsa for donating the water bottles for all of the LMVG volunteers.





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Posted by Jeremy on 06/28/08
SEVEN SPRINGS FREE RIDE WEEKEND

SEVEN SPRINGS, Pa. – Seven Springs Bike Park is pleased to announce the 2008 FREE Ride Weekend, July 12 – 13, 2008.

The Bike Park Crew has been building some sweet new trails in the Seven Springs Bike Park and would like to invite riders to come ride the park for FREE – That’s right, unlimited FREE lift tickets all weekend long! The high-speed, six-passenger chairlift will be running extended hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., July 12 – 13.

Additionally, there will be FREE bicycle test rides from Kona, Trek Factory, Trek WSD and Santa Cruz Bicycles. In addition to their standard fleet, Trek will be making a special delivery of 2008 Remedy and Session freeride bikes. All combined, there will be more than 100 bikes available for riders to test ride at no charge.


Riders can choose between a variety of chairlift-accessed trails ranging from entry-level cross-country trails to expert-only downhill and freeride trails. Plenty of flowy, fun and exciting trails for riders looking for a mild bike path to share with their family or an epic freeride trail complete with ladder bridges, rock drops, fall-line sections and 20+ foot jumps.

Of course, it’s also nice to have a good après ride party, so the Foggy Goggle Bar is the place for music, $2 drafts and a barbecue starting at 11 a.m. each day. And for riders who want to stay all weekend, there is a special lodging rate starting at $135 available for FREE Ride participants. On top of all that, Seven Springs is even giving away a new bike to one lucky rider.

How do riders get involved in the FREE Ride Weekend? Just show up at the Foggy Goggle bar on July 12 and 13 with the proper safety gear to ride the park and test ride bikes for FREE. Call (866) 437-1300 early to reserve your lodging, since the special rate is first-come-first-served and the hotel is almost full!

About Seven Springs Mountain Resort

Seven Springs Mountain Resort, located in Seven Springs, Pa., is the state’s largest ski and four-season family resort and was recently rated the number one resort in the mid-Atlantic region by the readers of SKI magazine. The resort is easily accessible from either exit 91 or 110 of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Seven Springs Mountain Resort can accommodate more than 5,000 overnight guests in its renovated 10-story high-rise hotel, nearly 1,000 condominiums and town homes, cabins and chalets.

For more information on Seven Springs, visit www.7springs.com or call (800) 452-2223.




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Posted by Chris on 06/27/08
TOUR OF PENNSYLVANIA

Canadian David Veilleux won today's stage of the Tour of Pennsylvania, which happened to roll by five feet from our front door. Weather played a role today, as conditions ping-ponged back and forth between beautiful and clear to absolute downpour. The ride in from Bedford is pretty relentless, and by our calculations, the riders were getting hammered with the worst of the storms right around the time they were hitting some of the worst back to back climbs. I live on top of that misty little mountain in the background there, and it was pretty damn weird to see a KOM marker on the way to work today.

Racing was intense and the groups were totally splintered when they came by. All total, we counted eight or ten groups with as much as a half-hour gap between them. By the time they hit Speedgoat, these guys had put a solid day of climbing behind them, and the stronger riders were dropping the hammer.

Go SRAM frog car!

The descent off of the mountain and down to the shop had to have been pretty slippery today. I've ridden down that mountain to the shop a lot, and always dreamed of having the whole road--both lanes--with no cars. But today they would have needed the whole road.

Threatening skies. The lookback. An antique store with the same products out front they've had since Speedgoat opened ten years ago. It's no Graham Watson, but I love this photo Jeremy shot.

Dan the Man, cold chillin' with the neighbors and showing you he's damn near as tall as a Unimog.

Big crowds outside The Pie Shop, despite the weather. America needs more cycling events.

Zteam rider, Nathaniel English, building bridges.

On to Latrobe. The start of tomorrow's stage backtracks the riders into Ligonier, a few miles west of us. Congratulations to the new current race leader, South Africa’s Christoff Van Heerden, riding for the Konica Minolta team. And congratulations to today's stage winner and current second place rider David Veilleux of the incredibly strong Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast team. Veilleux is one one second off of Van Heerden at this point, so this race is far from over. You can follow what proves to be a dramatic finish on the Tour of PA's web site.

And one last shout back out to local boy and Bruyneel Cycling Academy racer Jim Camut for yelling "Speedgoat!" when he rocketed by. Thanks, Jim!


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Posted by Jeremy on 06/27/08
PRINCETON TEC NIGHT RIDE 6/25

We had a great turn out for our weekly Wednesday night ride this week. There were 10 riders and 2 dogs. The weather was perfect and everyone seemed to have a great time.

The ride started out from the main lot. We left a bit later than we usually do as we had to wait for Dan to rebuild his pedals in the parking lot. I'm just kidding Dan.

Other than that the ride went fairly smoothly other than one flat (not me for once) and our resident DH pro Justin ending up on his back in the middle of Summit road when a wheelie got away from him.


Here is a shot of us heading into Spruce Run which we found to be relatively dry given the amount of rain that we have been having.


Here is a shot of Dan finishing up a climb in the tall ferns.


The one flat of the evening gave everyone a break after a gradual climb.


Rob at dusk on Spruce Flats trail.


Here is a shot of the group as we took a break before finishing up the last portion of Outcrop trail.


Thanks to everyone that came out for the ride and we hope to see you again soon.

If you've never experienced night riding before or you just want to try out a Princeton Tec Switchback system we urge you to come out for a ride.



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Posted by Chris on 06/26/08
TECH QUESTION OF THE DAY
Q: I am interested in a Moots and have some questions. A few years ago, while in Steamboat, I rode a Smoothie. I currently ride a three year old Trek Fuel Ex-9. I am a cross country rider, 6 feet tall and 200 pounds.

My questions begin with the frame style. Which style more closely matches the Smoothie...the Zirkel or the Cinco? I see on their web site that Moots makes both bikes with aluminum rear triangles. Do they make either rear triangles with titanium?

In building bikes, do you have a group of components that you recommend? I would like to stay with US manufacturers wherever possible (e.g. Chris King).

A: First, though it's increasingly difficult, we'd be happy to create as near a full American component group as possible for you. Given the number of options we offer, we're uniquely positioned to do this, though disc brakes would be problematic: there is no U.S. company currently making them.

The Smoothie was a short-travel frame, so in that way it most resembles the Zirkel. You won't see many framebuilders opting to use titanium for their rear triangles because it's so flexy in that application. Or rather, you'd have to use 6lbs. of titanium to get it as stiff as the aluminum rear end on the current Moots bikes, and that'd be awfully heavy. Also, a key advantage of titanium as a material, vibration damping, is largely useless on a frame with a "biasing member" or shock built in. One of the only advantages of employing titanium even in the front triangle of a full suspension frame is impact durability: titanium tubes can take a punch pretty well.

Please feel free to let us know more information about the size you'd require, or complete one of our Rider Profiles, and we'll be happy to create a custom kit for you.




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Posted by Chris on 06/25/08
TECH QUESTION OF THE DAY
Q: Do you hubs to fit these 15mm QR Fox forks yet? Specifically looking for I9 all mountain wheel set in black.

A: While many manufacturers you'll have heard of have plans to produce 15mm through axle hubs for this new fork dropout system, we aren't aware yet of specific release plans from Industry Nine. Those guys are extremely busy right now just keeping up with demand for their current wheels, but they're able to adapt to changes in the industry better than most, so there certainly is a chance we'd see something from them in the distant future.


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Posted by Chris on 06/24/08
TECH QUESTION OF THE DAY
Q: I am looking to buy a new bike and need some questions answered if possible. I am only 5 ft tall so I am forced into choosing a bike that fits into the xxs size. The only manufacturers that seem to fit the bill are Titus (Racer X) and Pivot (Mach 4)... perhaps you know of another? Can you give me your opinion on the suspension performance on these two bikes? I have only been able to see pictures as they are not available in Canada and there isn't a distributor that could bring one in. I am concerned about the Pivot's difference in suspension travel from front to rear and how it will affect the handling of the bike. I ride in the Canadian Rockies on technical trails that have a lot of rocks and roots. I want a suspension that provides the best climbing compliance under these conditions. Will the torque lock out of the Pivot design firm up too much to provide ideal compliance or will the extra inch of travel allow it to track the terrain better?


A: While there are other options out there (Santa Cruz Juliana), the Pivot and Titus are among your finest options. Both suspension systems are outstanding, but there are differences. The Titus is an extremely progressive suspension system--the more it compresses, the more it resists. This has made the Racer-X arguably the favorite full-suspension frame ever among converts from hardtails and a fine choice for racing. It's extremely agile. What it would give up on the Pivot would be the ability to eat up the smaller hits and square-edged hits. In contrast, the Pivot's particular axle path and spring rate do a better job at soaking up even the smaller hits, but this exact same trait also makes it erase some terrain rolling underneath you that you might otherwise want in order to be able to "read" the trail, and thus makes it feel a bit less like a hardtail in terms of feedback from the ground. It's a tough comparison, and both are the absolute top of their class. There are some really active bikes out there that make you feel as if you're literally hovering over the trail and not riding "on" it, and neither of these bikes belong to that category; they're both go-fast machines with an emphasis on agility and speed.

With the exception of kids who install 160mm forks on their father's 1990 Pro-flex and chopper it out beyond rideability, there are absolutely no issues with "travel imbalance"; that's essentially one of those strange mythical problems that originated with magazine bike reviews trying to find something to fill article space (other than "this bike is better than the rest of the brands bikes out there" or "man, is this bike a pile of garbage"). It's very important to remember that "travel" is independent from the geometry--the way the bike is built. A bike that is engineered for a 100mm fork will ride correctly for that length fork, regardless of its rear wheel travel. Again, wild disparity there--the kind of stuff that comes from bolting up a fork never intended for your frame--can cause problems, but we're not aware of any high-end frame that suffers from a ride imbalance if set up with the recommended fork and rear shock.




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Posted by Jeremy on 06/23/08
EWR AT SPEEDGOAT

As many of you already know, legendary framebuilder Eastern Woods Research is back. What you don't know yet is that we are going to be selling them. We should have EWR products on our site by the end of the week. But for now take a look at the OWB29er prototype.


We're incredibly excited about the release of the OWB29er, and we already have some on order to prove it!

Though a small framebuilder, EWR punched above their weight in the serious influence they exerted on frame design. Much of what's now become current frame design--emphasis on ultra-short chainstays, extremely low standover, and balanced rider position--is something EWR was stressing well over ten years ago.

Something else that hasn't gone out of style: real-world big grin product testing. EWR owner Jay de Jesus on the new 29er:

"I cannot believe how good it felt -- so much so that I drove half of the way home with my helmet on before I realized!"

For more information on the OWB29er or on EWR in general click here and stay tuned to Speedgoat for availablity.



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Posted by bill on 06/22/08
THURSDAY RIDE AT 5PM
I have been getting a lot of people stopping by our new shop asking for trail directions. In the past few years, there have been some new trails built in the Champion, Seven Springs and Hidden Valley area. Some of these trails aren't on any maps yet. This makes it difficult for new users to find their way around. No need to worry as I plan on leading Thursday evening rides starting around 5pm. This will give riders a chance to explore some new trails without fear of getting lost. I might even amuse you with some stories of me being lost when I started riding bikes up here 15 years ago We probably won't leave until 5:30 so everyone has a chance to gear up. This is a casual ride with plenty of breaks. No mountain biker will be left behind, this I promise you. Ok, so we aren't going into combat or anything but you get the point. Please email me at bill@speedgoat.com for more info and to let me know if you are riding. See you this coming Thursday at 5pm at our baller Champion location.


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Posted by bill on 06/21/08
SINGLESPEED 24 HOUR COURSE TO BLUE HOLE
I had to drag my body out of bed at 5:30am today to get a few hours of ride time before working my shift at our new demo center. When you work 11-12 hours it's hard to stay motivated to ride after work or before, but after the first two minutes, I'm always happy I decided to ride.

We sure had some weird weather last night. It was storming in Champion, but dry in Indian Head. My ride last night had to be postponed until this morning. I couldn't decide on a loop but then it hit me. Why not do a mix of skinny singletrack and dirt roads? My bike is clean after what I thought would be a total mudfest.



The 24 hour course at Seven Springs was awesome! It was suprisingly dry given the amount of rain last night. My favorite sections have to be the new singletrack on the backside and the new route across from the Villages. Once I finished the course, I still had a good 1:15 minutes to ride, so I bombed down Glade Road to Bluehole, but could only hang for 10 before I had to start back to be at the shop by 9. It's one of four Blueholes in the area. There is one by Seven Springs, one by Camp Carmel on the Yough River Trail in between Connellsville and Ohiopyle, one in Hawkins Hollow and one on Jacobs Creek. It was definitely a workout and I got 19.7 miles in by 8:43. Even Jasmine stayed clean.



Jasmine and I plan on riding Forbes State Forest after work over to North Woods XC ski area. The trails are in great shape so get up here! Stop by the shop from 9am-8pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday located at the Country Commons.



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