We thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse into the bikes that we (the guys who work at Joyride Cycles) build and ride ourselves.  Like you, all of us have different riding styles, and we like to build bikes that fit our specific needs.  

Today's featured ride is a bike that I've owned for two seasons now and have had a ton of fun riding and racing.  It has actually hung as a pathetic parted out frame for most of last year, so it's really fair to say that it's been ridden for a good season.  But I decided to bring it back to life a few months ago and now it's back to it's former glory.  Maybe even a little better now that its adorned with purple components.  

The frame is a 2010 Banshee Rampant, size short.  The Rampant is a 4" travel dedicated dirt jump, slope style, 4x, slalom type frame.  I'm a hack dirt jumper with a sick rear wheel kick-out trick I do.  And I'm not a slope stylist, but I do loves to ride and race some 4x and dual slalom tracks.  So that's what I mainly built this bike to do.  The suspension is designed to be firm and only take the edge off hard impacts, not be supple.  Because the ride is firm, acceleration is quick and peppy the way a good slalom bike should be.  The suspension also helps keep wheel glued to the ground, in-turn providing more traction than a similar hardtail might have.  I'm also continually amazed at how well the short travel absorbs square-edged impacts like sharp rocks.  I attribute that to the parallel linkages, but that's only my short speculation and I don't really care what makes it do that.  I'm just happy to have that benefit. 

In addition to riding parks and race courses, I actually got out and did quite a bit of pedaling on this bike as it was my only ride for most of the 2010 riding season.  I did multi-hour XC rides, raced a super d, and did DH runs on this bike.  That said, I got a good feeling for how this bike handled high-speeds on rough terrain.  I gotta say it is more stable at speed that my old Transition Double was.  The Double was great all around, but got a little sketchy on steep technical sections.  

My Rampant weighs in at around the 29lb mark respectfully.  It could be quite a bit lighter if I switched to a race style saddle and small knob tires, but it's light enough for all practical purposes.  Plus after having sharp sided racer saddles that gouge your inner thigh, it's a nice break to ride this bike and not worry about my saddle stabbing me in the leg (or elsewhere).  Tires come and go, so sometimes it will be lighter and fast rolling and other times it will have burly earth-clawing traction.   It depends on the day.

The cushy Spank saddle has thick rails and provides plenty of comfort when needed.  I've never been one for big saddles and this is my first.  But I think I'll keep it around.

 The handlebar is a Deity Dirty30 bar.  It's plenty wide, plenty light, and looks like a million bucks.  It also has a pair of Deity Lean grips in purple ano.  The purple headset is also a pretty sweet design from David Meredith at Candy Components.  They are a small start up that is making some pretty killer stuff.  We'll have their catalog on our website soon.  I used carbon fiber headset spacers to keep things super light in the steering department.  They're the reason the bike is feather light.  The stem is from local company Marrow - It's in your bones.  Cool stem, lame name, lamer slogan.  The shifter is a super sweet X.7.  It's low end and barely works, but that's all I need in a shifter.  Get a good look at the carbon fiber lever from the Elixir CR brakes, because they wont be there much longer.  As much as I love SRAM as a company, we've had terrible luck keeping their brakes working well.  That is a new brake and today it just decided to die on me for no good reason.  Go with Shimano until SRAM gets it together in the stopping department.  I know I am. 

 Look at that beat down drive-train, it don't care because it works.  The crank is a no name Shimano take-off from a Santa Cruz build kit.  The chainguide is an e13 LG1+ that has a white lower and black upper guide.  Make a note to yourself:  Never go white for the guide, it only gets dirty and looks terrible in no time.  The chain a SRAM PC-951.  Derailleur is an older X.0 medium cage.  Still works great.  That Lizard skin chainstay protector is just about finished, but luckily it looks great.  Last, the chainring is a steel 36t Surly ring.  The thing better never wear out because it is burly.  Why do I even bother with carbon spacers and alloy chainring bolts?  Because like you, I'm a sucker for pretty shiny things that I think will somehow make my life better.

The steering and cush depart is handled by a sweet purple Marzocchi DJ2 fork, Crankbrothers Iodine FR wheels, and Continental Baron Tires.  I'll be honest, the fork and wheels are both items with sorted reputations that were sitting on our wall gathering dust.  I figured I'm going to have to discount them anyway, so why non try them out to see why everyone is bagging on them?  The good news is, there really isn't anything to complain about yet.  The wheels have given me no trouble, ride very nice, and set up tubeless tires with ease.  While the fork is firm and solid, the way a DJ fork should be.  I think Crankbrothers have got their wheels sorted out, and people just like to bag on Marzocchi for no good reason.  I've been a fan of Marzocchi forks since the 888 came out and I've hated to see the company go through so many production issues.  I currently own a 888RC3, 55RC3 Ti, and this DJ2.  Each one works great and has given me no problems other than a leaky top seal on the 55.  The products are solid.  I just started riding Continental tires last year and really like what I've experienced so far.  The Baren tires don't disappoint, but I didn't originally intend to set this bike up with big knobs.  I thought the Baren was a DH tire and bought it as a burly tire for my DH bike.  Turns out it's a single ply kevlar beaded tire.  I had them laying around so I threw them on.  They're currently set up tubeless and hold air well.  Traction isn't too shabby either.  They bite hard and stick.  I'm more of a small tread fan because of the lower rolling resistance so I'll likely change them out if I race the bike.  But you never know with tires.  

The Float RP2 shock just got a rebuild from Fox.  I really wish Fox would make their shocks shop serviceable, so I could do maintenance in house.  This could save you two weeks in down time.  Most bikes come with Fox rear shocks, but all my aftermarket units will be Rock Shox or Marzocchi for the fact that you can rebuild them yourself of have a shop do it.  You shouldn't have to go without your bike for weeks.  It does feel great after it's rebuild however.   Of note:  the Rampant pivots on Igus bushings instead of sealed bearings.  There are positives and negatives associated with each, but after a hard season of riding my pivots developed some play and had to be replaced.  The good news is that Banshee sends each bike out with a spare set of bushings.  The bushings also don't turn as smooth as bearings, which makes the suspension very sticky when compared with bearings.  Because this is a 4x bike, I don't really care about sticky suspension because I want it firm and minimal.  But if this were any other type of bike, it would be a deal breaker for me personally.

 Generally I don't hang on to my bikes for very long, but because good DJ/Slalom bikes are hard to find and rarely change, I will likely keep the Rampant in my stable for a few more seasons.  It's hands down the funnest (yeah, I said "funnest") DJ/Slalom bike I have ever owned and I've enjoyed XC and DH riding on it as well.  After all it is a bike and should be ridden anywhere and everywhere possible.   The plastic pivots are a minor issue, but a small trade-off for great suspension and killer handling.  Once the brakes are swapped, it will be tough to beat.

We thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse into the bikes that we (the guys who work at Joyride Cycles) build and ride ourselves.  Like you, all of us have different riding styles, and we like to build bikes that fit our specific needs.  

 The first bike up is the newest addition - it is Santa Cruz Blur TRc built by Jesse Taylor.  Jesse is a wrench at Joyride who has been training for the upcoming Super D race season. His stable includes a Nomad Carbon, some type of single speed 29", and a commuter bike or two.  But he wanted a bike built for Super D/Enduro style riding, and this bike is what he came up with.  Jesse has been giddy to ride this sweet machine and you can bet he's going ride the pedal off this green machine on his first ride.

The Blur TRc is Santa Cruz's carbon fiber offering in the trail bike category.  Among other things, you get 125mm of patented VPP suspension travel, a 68 degree head angle, modestly short (for a trail bike) 16.9" chainstays, and two water bottle cage mounts.  At about 6 pounds, this is among the best trail frames available today.   

You can see from this somewhat blury image, Jesse went with the 2012 Rock Shox Revelation WC Carbon fork.  He wanted the stiffness the carbon crown and tapered steerer-tube provide.  He reduced the fork travel to 140mm to avoiding voiding the frame warranty.  We mainly lean toward Rock Shox for our suspension needs, because we feel they are very comparable to Fox in terms of performance and durability, but the service we get from SRAM when something does go wrong is invaluable. You can't see it in  the image but Jesse also replaced the DU bushing on the Fox RP23 with a needle bearing.  It's a small detail that provides an incredible increase in sensitivity to the rear suspension.   

Jesse mainly rides flat pedals and chooses Straitline.  This bike got the new Straitline AMP pedal, which is great looking, reasonably light, and very durable.   They just happened to match, but that can't be why he chose the black LTD color, could it???

 

  The above shot details the burly bottom bracket/down tube/seat tube junction and the lower water bottle cage mount.  You can also see the MRP 2x guide, X.0 crank, X.0 front/rear derailleurs, and the DT Swiss Tricon rear wheel.  The Tricon wheels weigh around 1550 grams, making them good for most trail/all mountain riding.  They  use a propriety straight-pull DT Arrow Light bladed spokes that run a high tension to make them very strong and stiff.  The downside is that you have to buy crazy expensive tools to true them yourself, or you have to send them back to DT.  Very limiting.  He'd be better off building the same wheel with 240 hubs, Arrow Light spokes, and Stan's Crest rims.  They be lighter and he could true them himself.  I'm not sure what DT was thinking.

 The X.0 components are all business.  They function perfect, have a reasonable weight, and look good.  Not much needs to be said.  Same for the MRP guide.  It was made for the SRAM double crank, is quiet, and seems to do it's job. 

The brake duties are handled by the new Shimano XT stoppers.  You've probably ready great reviews of these brakes and we can attest that it is all true.  They are easy to set up, bleed, and they have gobs of stopping power.  Go XTR if you want to save some weight and spend more money, or just buy these.  You can see the new Rock Shox Reverb left-hand remote in the picture.  The Reverb is our favorite post.  Jesse has owned Kind Shock, Gravity Dropper and Rock Shox.  This is now his second Reverb if that means anything.  That is a green ESI silicone grip in chunky.  ESI makes a great grip.  I just converted myself and are very happy so far.  You can't see the branding on the handlebar, but it is an Easton Havoc Carbon DH bar.  30 inches wide and very light.  If you've been a wide-bar holdout, do yourself a favor and give one a chance.  It will change your life.  It will.

 

You're looking at a Shimano XT caliper with heat sinks mounted to the freaking brake pads.  That's high-tech.  And it probably does something good.  I don't have them and have never had a brake fire.  But it could happen I suppose, what do I know?  You can also see that Santa Cruz avoided using a post style brake mount and stuck with the traditional IS style.  It's a smart move that can save you a headache if don't have the proper adapter.  IS adapters are still much easier to find for rear brakes.  The rotor is a Center-Lock ICE-TECH unit from Shimano.  It's supposed to keep things cooler.  The QR lever is a DT RWS thru-axle style unit.  

Headtube badge and cables.  Two good things.  

 

  It's only right to have shades that match the frame.  The John Deer inspired Oakley Jawbones are the epitome of function and fashion. 

 

Look at that happy Bastard!  You'd be smiling too if your bike matched your shades. 

 That concludes this segment.  Thanks for putting up with the fuzzy photos, bad grammar, and poor product descriptions.  Maybe Jesse will chime in with a review once he's had to time to put some miles in...but don't cross your fingers.  

 

Make a difference in someones life by donating your old bike gear to one of the following organizations.  Joyride Cycles will be accepting donations Saturday Oct 1, between the hours of 11a.m. and 3p.m.  We hope to see you here!

Once again Pinkbike knocks the ball out of the park with their great Tech Tuesday articles.  This one covers how to  adjust Santa Cruz's VPP pivot bearings, and illustrates just how great the quality of Santa Cruz frames are.  Enjoy!

Time sure does fly, and thanks to the great support of our fantastic friends and customers, Joyride Cycles is enjoying a great third season in business!  We couldn't have made it without you, so we'd like to invite you to come to the shop this Saturday, July 30th, to partake in a morning group ride followed by an afternoon of free barbeque, drinks, and an in-store sale that lasts all day!



As a way to show our thanks and appreciation for all that you've done for Joyride, we are going to take you riding, then stuff you full of food and drinks on the house.  In addition to riding and food, all in-store merchandise will be marked 15-20% off all day. 

It's a simple and effective plan:

SATURDAY July 30, 2011 - 9A.M.-6P.M.

• Morning group ride at 9a.m. until 12p.m.  It will be a relaxed pace, no-drop ride for all levels.  Racers can go first and the rest will chill at a relaxed pace. 
• Post-ride we'll fire up the grill and cook until we run out of food and drinks.
• Go home tired and full of great food. 
  

That's all there is to it. 

We hope to see you all there!

Twenty Ten is in the books, and because of the hard work put in by the park organizers and volunteers last year, we get to look forward to some great park riding in 2011 and beyond.  The Eagle Bike Park, located just outside of Boise, ID, continues to expand on it's wide-range of riding options as riders of all types continue to flock to the convenient locale to get their ride on.  The park has something for almost every type of dirt rider. And thanks to several additions to the park in 2010 - we now get more riding options, will attract new riders, and the park's organizers have taken several leaps toward maintaining long-term sustainability so we can continue to enjoy this great place for years to come.  The key additions to the park include: the Stormin Mormon freeride line, an ABA Build BMX track and facility, expaned dirt-jump lines, and the formation of BAMBA - Boise Area Mountain Bike Association, which is a chapter of IMBA.  These changes amount to a great 2011 riding season that will be chock-full of fun events and gatherings that include trail days, various bike races, and great times with friends.  We hope you can make it out.


Image taken on one of the upper turns of Stormin Mormon before the trail was complete.

Meet BAMBA (Boise Area Mountain Bike Association), Idaho's newest advocacy group that is responsible for keeping the park alive for years to come.  There are many hidden facets to running a bike park, and the park has seen it's share of ups and downs in terms of how it needs to be managed and who is going to manage it.  After dealing with several issues that include land-use agreements and insurance requirements, the parks managers have turned to IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association), which has extensive experience in dealing with these types of issues, to assist them in handling these requirements.  BAMBA is the park's new non-profit advocacy group that will coordinate future development and maintenance with city and county officials.  The new group is founded by several of the individuals involved with the development of the park and the immediate goal of the BAMBA is to maintain, develop and protect the Eagle Bike Park.  If you live in the Boise area, or plan on frequenting the park, please consider joining this great group.  It doesn't cost much and the benefits are vast.  You can get more information or join on-line right here...


Almost finished...  Then new Eagle Foothills BMX facility.

In addition to the advocacy group, there is another new group joining the park this year - Welcome the Eagle Foothills BMX, a new non-profit facility located at the Eagle Bike Park that includes an ABA built BMX track and a separate track built for the "Hot Wheels", riders typically three or younger.  I didn't know kids could ride much younger than three, but apparently they're coming out pedaling these days...  The ABA track construction was started in October and enlisted the help of local BMX Pro, Matt Baisley, and BMX guru Sean Boyle, to lead the track design.  When the track is complete it will have a concrete start hill, paved corners, and will be grassed in and irrigated.  The park is a non-profit organization and track improvements are funded by donations and funds raised from race events.  Track maintenance is provided by volunteers.  The track is scheduled to be race ready this spring, with the finishing touches to follow.  The race schedule is already up.  If you’re interested in helping out or racing, please go to www.EF-BMX.com, email: efbmx@cableone.net, facebook: Eagle Foothills BMX, or call 208-396-3988.  There is no lack of contact information.



The greatest trail addition of 2010 gave us the new freeride trail, Stormin Mormon, started in 2009 and completed in 2010 with the help of a Bikes Belong grant we were very thankful for.  Not just a great name, but a really fun freeride trail built for intermediate-advanced riders.  It includes several well construcgted ladder drops that cross existing trails, bermed-turns, and various jumps.  There are no rocks so it can be ridden on anything from a long travel bike to a hardtail dirt-jumper.  This trail is best suited toward lighter bikes. 


Construction of expert dirt jumps.  I poached this pic from the web, please forgive me...

Thanks to massive amounts of time an energy of a few key dirt-jumpers, the entire jump section was rebuilt to better accommodate all levels or riders.   The beginner set was buffed-up to make it a little safer and easier to learn, while the intermediate set was better shaped to allow riders to comfortably advance into getting more air and trying tricks.  The expert riders continued to build horrifically large jumps that scare the bejesus out of
most who pass them. 


Sunset view from the top of Stormon Mormon.  Cant wait for warm weather!

All in all 2011 is shaping up to be a great year for the Eagle Bike Park -  Proper management is starting to fall into place, new riding groups are a welcome addition, the trails are better than ever, and there is a schedule of races and gatherings for just about every type of dirt racer out there.  You can find the schedule of races and gatherings by clicking here...  I hope you can get out to the Eagle Bike Park this summer and join us for some great riding, and thanks for reading!

Need a couple good laughs to break-up the work-day dul-drums (hyphen abuse, I know)?  Then check out this highly funny bit Vital MTB calls "17 Questions", with Santa Cruz Syndicate rider, Josh Bryceland.

17 Questions: Josh Bryceland - More Mountain Bike Videos

Get some great insight into the Santa Cruz Bicycles brand, with this great interview of Santa Cruz owner/founder and Skate Legend, Rob Roskopp.  Pinkbike.com slays it yet again with another great interview.  Check it out and see why we can't help but love all that is Santa Cruz at Joyride Cycles...

Click here to link to the story...

Watch the Skate vid right here...

Pinkbike.com just posted this handy section about how to service your Rock Shox Motion Control damper.  It's a relatively painless process if you have the proper tools and the time to do it.  If you get stuck, you can always send your suspension to us for service.  Here is what Pinkbike wrote:

Keeping your RockShox fork running smooth and consistent is easier than you may have imagined. All you need is some tools and oil, and after reading the instructions and watching the video below you'll be ready to dive into it. The question is though, how often should you do this job? RockShox recommends dropping the lowers off for cleaning and adding new lube oil ever 50 hours of riding, but as always, you should do it more often if you are riding in nasty conditions or you notice that your fork isn't as smooth as it should. The damper service covered here should be tackled after 100 hours of riding and it is good practice to replace any O-rings or wear items at this time as well. As with any repair job, if you don't feel comfortable tearing into your fork you probably shouldn't be doing it. Take it down the road to your local shop and have them perform the work instead. Motion Control dampers can be found on RockShox BoXXer, Pike, Reba, Recon, and Revelation forks.

Some pointers before you begin...

• Think you're tough? You won't be when you get fork oil in your eye. Wear some glasses and nitrile gloves to lesson the chance of having an incident.
• There is a good chance that you're going to make a mess during this job, especially if it is your first go at it. Not only do I recommend wearing gloves and eye protection, but it also doesn't hurt to put down an old towel on the floor to soak up any spills. Be sure to properly dispose of your old oil as well, not by just pouring it down the drain!
• You'll be dealing with some small parts during this job, including the foot nuts and the very small detent ball and spring tucked up in the high-speed compression knob. Don't lose them! Having a small dish or container to put these bits in after removal can save you from spending a lot of time on your hands and knees scouring the floor.
• You'll have to remove your fork's lower legs before being able to service the Motion Control damper. Check out this video if you need some guidance on how to do this. Once you have the lowers off, take a few minutes to inspect your stanchion tubes to be sure that they don't have any fatal scratches or dings in their finish.

If you've never had your fork apart you'll be doing yourself a big favor by taking a few minutes to read the instructions found on the RockShox site before watching the video below. Better yet, print them out to have them on hand in case you get lost. You'll also find the correct oil weight and volume levels for each fork as well. This is very important - too much oil in the fork's damper will prevent it from attaining full travel and possibly damage the internals. Too little oil and your fork will suffer from inconsistent damping... get it right!

What's needed: hex key set, internal and external snap ring pliers, 24 mm socket wrench, a pick or awl, isopropyl alcohol, rag, 5 wt. suspension fluid, and an oil pan (an old Tupperware container works great)


Time to service your Motion Control equipped fork? Watch the video first!

Joyride Cycles was just featured on KBOI Channel 2 show Etv.  The show talks about gift ideas, and has some great footage of our shop and store-front.  Check out the video and get and idea of what Joyride is all about...