It was time to do a little paring down.

We took our steed to Adam at the Downhill Zone in Seattle. After going over the state of the art that the industry has to offer, here’s what we came up with to get our bike diet under way.

1. The Bike Diet explained, step by step, component by component. Bike porn at its most tantalizing!

2. The results of a week of Adam’s magic.

3. We sneak a peek at what our prospects are for our target weight by swapping out our wheels in expectation of the Easton carbon Havens, due out this fall.

I took the bike home and slapped on the XC wheels — Chris King, Mavics, tubed Nevies — for a basis of comparison. The wheels themselves are probably a pound and a half heavier than my target wheels — the forthcoming Easton carbon Havens (1450 grams rated). I figure I can get in the neighborhood of the tire weights with 2.3 Conti or Maxxis “lite” UST models. And the ti XTR cassette on my XC bike (an Ibis Mojo) is of course heavier than the hogged-out SRAM (although not by a huge amount).

With a pound and three quarters to lose, it’s gonna be close once I get the Eastons. But see what you think …

From the specs and a little guesswork, Adam had predicted a loss of 2.3 lbs. You have to understand that when it comes to rated specs, Adam is a flat-out whack-a-geek. He’s like one of those freaks who can watch a freight train pass by and then recite back, in order, the registration numbers on all the rail cars.

So when the actual scales tally came in at 2.25 lbs., I was like, Adam, you’re practically an ounce off! What happened dude?

Actually Adam’s margin of error was less than the standard deviation for spec versus actual weight. So all was cool.

With the scales weighing in at 31 lbs. 12 oz., my goal of a 30-lb. Firebird seemed not only within reach but flat out guaranteed. Because I still had the wheels coming, and they were big. Not big as in heavy. Big as in way cool. I’ve got the Easton carbon Havens on order — expected sometime this fall. At 1450 claimed grams light, the Havens will crash the 30-lb. barrier like Brian Lopes out of the starting gate.

Adam’s gram-busting component selection included (claimed weights):

RockShox Lyrik Solo Air fork (replacing Lyrik U-Turn coil). 4.8 lbs.



Point One Podium platform pedals. Very sweet, strong and tight, plus they’re light: 359 grams. And made in the U.S.A. (San Jose).

Action Tec 20-tooth ti granny ring. Super light and tough. I’m not saving a ton of weight with it but it’s durable and better suited to complement my other major drivetrain enhancement, the cluster. 20 grams.

Thomson Masterpiece seatpost. 158 grams.

Selle Italia SLR XC saddle. 184 grams.

SRAM XG999 9 spd. cluster. 175 grams.

Here’s Adam with the full rundown —

But at our age especially, losing weight is just too dang tough. And expensive too! Have you seen what it costs to go through those Fat Farm rehabs?!

So we decided to do the next best thing and put our bike on a diet.

We love our Pivot Firebird trail bike. Checking in at 6.5 inches of travel, featuring an ingeniously integrated DW-Link suspension, it’s our favorite of the 7 bikes we own. It may well be the best bike we’ve ever owned.

But at 34 pounds and counting, it was getting a little pudgy around the quick releases.

So we took it in to Adam at Seattle’s Downhill Zone, who’s helped keep our quiver loaded for the past decade, and told him to have at it. Here’s what Adam came up with for our first cut at getting the Firebird in trim for the summer season.

Ibis Mojo HD, the MacBook of MTB

Ibis has responded to Bike Intelligencer’s query about why the new Mojo HD won’t come with a coil shock option. With any bike of nearly six and a half inches in rear travel, a lot of riders lean toward a coil for increased consistency, reliability, durability and tuneability. But Hans over at Ibis says coil’s advantages are waning with vastly improved air shock technology — e.g. the Fox RP23, stock on the HD. Here’s what Hans had to say when we pointed out that Brian Lopes, America’s winningest male mountain bike competitor ever, runs coil shocks on his Mojos:

“Brian has his own custom tuner and has shocks for different purposes so he runs shocks that are super firm, soft or lower his bike or whatever he feels is the hot set up for the course.

Most of the shortcomings of air shocks have been overcome in the last few years and if you want to make a lightweight frame or bike, they save a lot of weight. The spring curve is different than a coil, so the suspension on the HD is designed with that air spring curve in mind.”

Even as recent as a year ago I would’ve begged to differ with Hans. Virtually all the long travel trail bikes I’ve owned and ridden — Ventana, Turner, Intense, Santa Cruz, Specialized — have benefitted hugely from coil. So it’s something to think about when buying a bike, because replacing an OEM air shock with a coil after purchase can be a pricey proposition.

Now if air shocks only came in gold...

But here’s the deal. For the past year I’ve been riding a 6.5-inch Pivot Firebird all over the place, from Galbraith Mountain to Whistler to Leavenworth to Ashland to NorCal, including UC Santa Cruz and the Soquel Demo Forest. And I’ve been waiting for the slightest excuse to go coil, especially since the Cane Creek Double Barrel comes with a gold shaft that would match nicely the Firebird’s gold pivot and the Chris King gold bottom bracket. Bling! But drat it all, the stock shock, the same Fox RP23 that goes on the Mojo, has been just too rock solid to think about replacing. In fact, it’s been a set-it-and-forget-it thing with the RP23. (Now if Fox only made one with a gold shaft.)

Granted, Dave Weagle (the DW-Link inventor) was in on the Firebird’s design, along with the Man himself of course, Chris Cocalis. So you have to figure hand-in-glove relationship between the technology and the design. The Cane Creek has gotten raves on MTBR.com and elsewhere, but my experience is never change a winning game — or bike setup, for that matter.

Plus that same relationship with Weagle applies to Ibis and the Man himself, Scot Nicol. So no quarrel from me this time. I’ll look forward to not worrying about a shock upgrade with the new HD. (That white is the bomb btw!)

Ibis Mojo: The industrial design equivalent of Apple Macintosh

The thing looks really spectacular. When it comes to industrial design, Ibis is the Apple Computer of the cycling world. Specs look dynamite, my only question being, why no coil shock option?

Brian Lopes' Mojo, fitted with coil

The press release says linkage rates were incompatible with coil, yet Lopes himself rides coil on his Mojos all the time. So what gives? I have a query over at MTBR.com to Hans, we’ll see what he says. In the meantime, your official Eye Candy for 2010 is here.

Ibis site.

MTBR forum.

MTBR announcement.

My other DW-Link bike, the Pivot Firebird, which I am NOT gonna give up for the HD, which also does NOT mean I won’t GET an HD as an upgrade from my current Mojo, will be part of the Pivot Demo Days lineup just released. Funny how these things work. The HD is the closest thing out there to the Firebird, and the Ibis and Pivot lines appeal to the same DW-Link crowd, so whaddya know? Both companies announce on the same day. Coincidence? You decide…

From the early 1990s days of carbon road frames that pioneering manufacturers like Watsonville, CA-based Kestrel and big-name companies such as Look and Trek built, carbon has made inroads into mountain biking as well (Kestrel’s seminal frames included). But frames are almost incidental to carbon innovation today.

At Interbike 2009, carbon bikes still are turning heads (the latest being Santa Cruz’s full-suspension 29-incher, the Tallboy). But carbon accessories and parts are showing up all over as well. And like frames, they’re being touted as stronger than aluminum, while also just as light and durable.

So you’ve got carbon handlebars, carbon seatposts, carbon rockers, carbon cranksets and even forks (lowers in mtb suspension forks). The least expected stunner: A carbon “chain,” actually a belt drive, that supposedly will outlast and outperform its veteran steel counterpart.

Although widely reviewed by test riders on a spot-ride basis, the Gates belt drive jury is still out, simply because so few real-life installations yet exist. The drive cannot be used with conventional derailleurs and is best suited to single-speed setups or an internal hub like the Rohloff. That said, it offers immense maintenance and performance advantages — as long as it lives up to its billing.

Similar claims are being made for other carbon parts, particularly handlebars. Once prone to chipping and breakage, bars today come with strength specs that surpass metal while soaking up hits better and transferring less shock for a smoother ride.

Carbon posts, which early on were flexy and unreliable, have made strides as well, although slippage remains a problem. And hollow carbon cranksets are turning in gram counts that put the shame to aluminum.

But is all the carbon chatter for real, or just industry hype aimed at suckering bleeding-edge types and weight weenies? We went through all this before with the first wave of carbon, which relied on pattern weaves and epoxy, and saw frames shatter, components fail and performance diminish quickly over time.

I’ve had three carbon bikes. The first, a Trek Y-33 bike, was light and stiff and compliant (it soaked up hits well). Its single-pivot design was not the greatest and it sure was noisy (the slightest sound reverberated through the hollow body) but the bike stayed in good shape as long as I had it (about a year before it was stolen). I got a Giant carbon hardtail in 2002 and loved it. It was by far the least harsh hardtail ride I’ve ever had. But the bottom bracket shell separated from the frame after about 9 months, and Giant, which had given up making the frame, replaced it with an aluminum model.

Today I have an Ibis Mojo for high-country XC epics, tipping the scales at 25.2 lbs. It seems tougher and sturdier than previous carbon, and I’ve had no issues in two years of riding. I’ve also ridden the new carbon Blur, which feels downright bulletproof. One thing about the Blur is how the one-piece molding transfers load so evenly, you don’t feel like you’re hammering the bottom bracket. The whole bike seems to soak up hard pedal action.

All that said, carbon is in many ways still too evolutionary to draw hard-and-fast conclusions. Carbon still can shatter, as evinced by Jeremy Honorez’s encounter with a traffic bollard. One doubts aluminum or steel would have survived such an impact either, but let’s remember we’re not talking infallibility here.

A lot of the carbon hype has to do as well with looks. Carbon molding, combined with its innate strength, can add some sexy curves and design innovations to a fork and frame. The press release usually banners the performance advantage, but let’s face it, a cherry design sells. And carbon is offering more design variability than aluminum or steel.

Manufacturers also seem confident about boosting carbon’s warranty claims, as Gary Fisher recently tweeted:

“I get asked ” is there a weight limit on your carbon MTBs?” No and they all have a lifetime Garantiee”

Fisher isn’t alone. Santa Cruz has replaced its aluminum Blur XC line with carbon Blurs (not everyone is pleased), and says its longer-travel Blurs will take any fork without risk of frame breakage. Other manufacturers, including Ibis, are making similar claims. Weight claims are getting downright feathery, with 22-pound builds not uncommon.

Carbon still does not seem ready for burly duty. No one yet is offering cranks for freeride or downhill action. Carbon frames are rare in those arenas as well, although they may be coming. Carbon forks, pedals and wheels also do not yet seem ready for the Big Hit crowd. Innovative Pivot went with a carbon rocker for its long-travel trail bike, the Firebird, but has since begun replacing the rockers with aluminum. The issue supposedly is to permit a coil shock, but you have to wonder whether carbon was holding up under the jumps and drops.

(Aside: I asked a recent mountain-biking acquaintance who works on parts specification for Boeing whether carbon was making any inroads into commercial airline production. He kinda laughed.)

Still, carbon’s future seems bright. While aluminum and steel are pretty much set in their ways and maxed out on specifications, carbon technology seems to improve almost annually. And let’s face it, the stuff is basically still plastic, which means costs should keep coming down with widespread adoption.

For now, carbon is cycling’s miracle drug. It’ll be fascinating to watch it evolve in the marketplace.

Links Links Links

Gates belt drive

Blur LT

MTBR.com at Interbike: Carbon, carbon, carbon!

Anyway, the bike world’s big wheel keeps on turnin’ …

IMBA is coming to the Point Reyes National Seashore this weekend for trail work with Chris and Leslie Kehmeier of the Subaru Trail Care Crew. It’s always a great time with the IMBA gang, and there’s a ride scheduled for Sunday as well.

Bike magazine, the No. 1 in readability, will produce something big and fat and self-important that it is modestly calling “The Bible,” full of reviews and other mtb stuff. It’s a bit curious because Bike magazine’s reviews are not its strong suit, not nearly as technical and in-depth as Mountain Bike Action’s. Instead, we love Bike mag for its feature articles and ‘tude. But we’ll see. Good writers should be able to write insightful reviews.

And when it comes to descriptive bike prose, nobody can write quite like Cedric Gracia … which is probably a good thing:

“The race was really good! Even with the rain, in the final I was in a 2nd place but I try to hard in a corner, I lost the grip and crash.” More on Cedric’s Red Bull Road Rage exploits here.

Moment in the Sun: Ellsworth’s long-travel trail bike, the Moment, has nabbed “Best 2009 All-Mountain Bike” from Singletracks.com. Taking nothing away from Tony and the gang, I’ll stick with my Pivot Firebird in that category, thank you.

Huffington Post has an excerpt from David Byrne’s new book, “Bicycle Diaries.”

On a bike, being just slightly above pedestrian and car eye level, one gets a perfect view of the goings-on in one’s own town. Unlike many other U.S. cities, here in New York almost everyone has to step onto the sidewalk and encounter other people at least once a day–everyone makes at least one brief public appearance. I once had to swerve to avoid Paris Hilton, holding her little doggie, crossing the street against the light and looking around as if to say, “I’m Paris Hilton, don’t you recognize me?” From a cyclist’s point of view you pretty much see it all.

More here.