The 29er freeride bike

(text from 2004) I've been riding the crap out of this bike lately. It's a prototype (and yes, I suppose I'm thinking of building them for folks, but I don't know yet, so if you're interested in one, drop me a line). It's a "freeride" bike, which to me means that it's got enough gears to go uphill, but it's really intended for going down. This sucker pedals ok if you're in the saddle; if you stand up it's a pogo stick. As far as I know, it's the longest-travel 29er on earth. The big wheels combined with the long travel mean that you can pretty much ride it like a retard and come out ok.

36 pounds even as shown. No, it's not light. With some fancier parts, it could be a bit lighter, but why? Everything is strong enough to be indestructible, and I really like the piggish Vanilla RC shock.

Frame is a Waltworks one-off prototype. It's a single pivot, 7" travel setup. Chainstays are 460mm long, toptube is a shortish 23", and the seat tube is mighty long (19" center to top) to accomodate my long legs.

Fork is a White Brothers BW1.3. I like this sucker pretty well for all-around riding, but when I want to be an idiot and just hit stuff, I put on a Risse Trixxy that has 6 inches of travel. The Risse is a dual crown setup, and it weighs about 3 pounds more than the White Brothers, but it's a true downhill fork and you can ride like an absolute MORON if you want to. The WB requires a little more subtlety.

Wheels are Rhynolite 700c rims laced 36, 3 cross to an XT rear disc hub and a Quando (meaning, J&B cheapo house brand) front thru-axle hub. Straight gauge spokes, nice and beefy. Tires are WTB Exiwolf 700c x 2.3 wire bead. They're *barely* enough to do some crazy-ish freeride and DH riding, but I'm still hopeful that a bigger and beefier tire will come out.

Brakes are Avid mechanicals. Best value in a disc brake, IMO. 7" front rotor, 6" rear. Plenty of stopping power for my 150 pound self.

The drivetrain is an LX crankset with a 22-32 chainring setup. No big ring, it's been replaced with a bash guard. LX front derailleur, old SRAM 9.0 rear. SRAM shifters, SRAM chain, XT 11-32 cassette. I don't really use the granny, but it's there as a bailout gear.

Pedals are Crankbrothers Mallets. I find that they're a little tougher to get into than the Eggbeaters, but the platform can be nice when I go to the resort and ride the chairlift.

Stem is a 60mm Titec. Short for DH. The cockpit is pretty short, so it takes some concentration to keep from looping out.

Seatpost is a Thomson 26.8x350.

Saddle is an ancient Paola Pezzo. No snide comments, please.

I'm running a Kona DH bar. It's a big pig, but I don't have to worry about breaking it. I'll probably replace it with a carbon bar at some point.

Grips are the ones that came with the gripshifters. Heavy and a bit big for my small hands, but whatever.

Headset, FSA Orbit UF. A fantastic deal.