29er with 27-27.2″ of stand over. It doesn’t sound amazing, but it’s more than an inch lower than the small.

I am super interested to see one of these up close and personal, hopefully our local Niner guy will get it on his demo truck. My fears are the handling and front end stack height for those that are on the smaller end of the spectrum on this bike. Yes 29er wheels roll better but never sacrafice handling or fit! I’ve seen super small 29ers like this, but with custom rigid front forks (and only designed around 80mm.)

At the end of 2007 I purchased my first “smart phone” an iPhone. It was awesome, it had a camera, could connect to WiFi, did all smart things with my MacBook Pro. I was smitten, it went every where with me.

Then one day I crashed with it in my back pocket. The delicate screen cracked. I was saddened as there was no insurance for these things. I sent it off to a place in Florida that specialized in replacing the screen. $150 later I had my phone back and it was back to being in love. 6 months later I dropped it 1.5 feet to a counter, it cracked again. I was done, with it cracking it shattered my heart. How could I love something so much that was so delicate?

At this time the cases were very flimsy and the famous Otterbox was not invented, but there was rumors about it. Fast forward, I had a BlackBerry for a year and a half, and then an Android for almost two. At the end of this past December I was gifted with a new iPhone 4s and again I’m back in love with my phone. I work more efficiently, I talk to Siri when I am driving and I am content. (I’ve been doing my best not to live on the phone btw.

Cases that Seem Bike Shop Girl Proof

Over the past couple weeks I have been looking at all different cases that would keep the iPhone in one piece and safe from me. Cases have been recommended and the general consensus has been Otterbox Defender has been the general consensus. There has also been talks of the LifeProof Case.

The above cases seem the most durable, the LifeProof can be waterproof but is recommended to test prior to submersion.

BioLogic Bike Mount Case – seems cool, the idea of having my iPhone on the front of my bike does worry me, but probably safer than my jersey pocket.

This guy won’t keep your phone too safe, but it sure is cute – found on Cafepress with oceanem.

 Wahoo Fitness Bike Pack turns your iPhone into a cycling computer with wireless sensors. It mounts to your handlebar through a pretty simple looking mount (has anyone used one?) I’m going to try to get my hands on one of these for testing, or if you have one please contact me for a review.

If you want something more basic, Topeak has a cool dry bag with foam built in. Plus a mount on the back to put on the handlebar. Oh, they come in white – which is catchy for me!

Salsa Cycles recently released photos of a full suspension fat tire bike

For those that live in North Carolina or on the West Coast won’t get this. What are fat bikes and why does this matter? The answer for the first question comes Tuesday. The answer for the second question is simple.

Because they can.

Monster truck with front and rear suspension to make your own path, hit the sand, hit the snow and be fine when you hit those logs or rocks in the way.

From Salsa’s blog:

The inspiration for this project came from numerous people within our team (in a strangely timely convergence actually) and from the fact that fatbikes are being ridden all year long as opposed to being strictly thought of as snow or winter bikes….

These are prototypes. We expect to learn a lot from them. They may or may not eventually become an actual product. That is undecided at this time.

I’ve been building demo bikes, finding time to ride and testing product for reviews. All of this should really start hitting next week, with timing out post, filling in the schedule and pulling in part time guest writers you should see more diverse writing on this site in 2012.

You’ll see more riding, more event coverage and more of everything. I’ll be on the road a ton, which means a lot of time to think, ride new trails and roads, meet new people and try to hit the bike industry with storm.

I have goals for 2012 but those still need to be smoothed out before I release them to the wild, for now know you all – my readers – are a specific high line goal of mine.

What are your goals on and off the bike? Tell me more….

2011 MN State Cyclocross Championship
November 19-20, 2011
Basset Creek Park
Crystal, MN

Music by Frontier

www.lazersport.com
www.ridley-bikes.com
www.mcf.net

The Troll was an interesting vehicle and rather fun to ride. Take the proven 1×1 platform, edit a few things, add a crap ton of braze on mounts for fenders, racks, and various other things. Add mounts for a killer Surly trailer, and have sliding drops like I’ve never had before. The Troll also has a bigger brother, the Ogre, which is the 29er based completely on the Karate Monkey. Once the Ogre is available in another color other than army green I plan on replacing my beloved Karate Monkey frameset with the new Ogre. It won’t be breaking any weight barriers, well maybe with being heavy, but it is tough, stout and can take abuse from the best of them. Oh yeh, it’s steel – that’s a winner too!

Camelbak Podium Chill Bottle

Insulated, easy to use mouth piece and a close off valve to keep the bottle from leaking in your bag or on a shaky mountain ride.

Rear Blinky Light

Walk in to any bike shop and for $10 – 40 you can get a good rear light. Depending what type of traffic and weather your cyclist rides in you may want to spend more.

Cycling Socks

I’m a sucker for wool but maybe your cyclist is into pastel colors, crazy designs or an easy “STFU” on their cuff. Another easy to find stocking stuffer.

Tubes

Tubes for your bike is a much needed evil for when you get a flat on the side of the road. Take a look on the side of the tires of your cyclist bike, right down the sizes and note if the valve of the tire looks like a car or a skinny presta valve. (If you explain it at all to a shop they’ll understand.) Often during the holidays shops will have buy 5 for the price of 4 or something.

Holiday Clif Bars

During the holidays Clif puts out limited runs of their bars in Gingerbread, Pumpkin and Peppermint. Local grocery stores and bike shops should have these in stock.

How would you dress for such weather? What are key things I should pack and worry about?

Sound off!

There will be plenty of local cluster oysters brought in from the coast! We will have all the accoutrements up to and including chili, crackers, horseradish and Tabasco! There will be several kegs compliments of our good friends at RJ Rockers Brewing Co. and Community Tap! And, can you believe it, Grass Backerds returns to entertain with some amazing Bluegrass!  In addition, the BIG ACC Football Championship game will be showing outdoors on the BIG screen so you won’t miss a thing.  Did I mention the impressive bonfire to keep us warm and toasty? This go round, we will also have s’mores and weenies for the kidz!

It sounds like a partee!

BYO: I.D. if you wish to imbibe, chairs, shucking knife, shucking glove/towel, marshmallow/weenie skewers for the kidz

Prices in advance (through noon on December 2nd):
$15 for children ages 4-12
$25 for ages 13+
$15 LADIES ONLY on 11/18 and 11/25

Day of event pricing:
$15 for children ages 4-12
$35 for ages 13+

No refunds. RAIN or SHINE.