Das Rant
By C.G.

Catching the Verde 29 Bug

We knew CG was the oddball on staff. With his new Dos Niner, he's the oddball 29" guy too.

Like most of the staffers here at MBT, I’m an east coaster both in reality and in heart. I complain a lot during the off-season but a few weeks into spring are typically all it takes to snap me out of my depression. This winter, after months of ranting and raving about the long cold lonely winter, I received my tax return and immediately began the process of scheming. It doesn’t help that I’m almost always surrounded by trick components and frames laying around here that are either about to be tested, in the process of being tested, or awaiting disassembly for return. I admit that I don’t ride much -- I consider myself more of a bike mechanic than an actual rider. Even still, something about the Carver 96er had grabbed my attention late last season that stuck with me for most of the winter months. It had been the first 29 inch wheel I had the pleasure of spinning (after spending an hour truing it first). I was hooked on the slower steering arc and the 29 inch front wheel’s ability to roll over roots, stumps, and trail clutter.

Natural evolution had me instantly seeking a full 29er before spring arrived. After a few email requests, the boys couldn’t snag me a test model to sample in time. Once my tax return arrived, I wasted no time in letting that money burn a hole in my proverbial pocket. I had decided on the Salsa Dos Niner despite never having ridden one or even witnessing one pass through our work shop. I was strangely attracted to its pepper green and red motif. This coupled with its pivotless Scandium soft tail design and proprietary Relish air shock (one inch of rear wheel travel) was enough to whet my appetite for the unusual. I ordered the frame in Large (20 inch) and began the task of gathering up the components for my build. Fortunately, the guys around here upgrade their components (sometimes their whole bikes) like most people change their underwear. The Ed tossed me a barely used SRAM X9 drive train and some Shimano manual discs and most of the other necessary parts appeared on my workbench. All I needed to order was a Rockshox Reba 29" model and a pair of 29 inch hoops with rubber.

It was tight but I had been trying to squeeze enough out of my return to fly (with my new rig) to Moab to break it in. There are few cures for the wintertime blues like heading into the dry air of the west. Taking a new bike along for the voyage is the icing on the cake. By the second week of March I was onboard a westbound United.

Next month I’ll fill you in the trip and the Dos Niner’s debut.

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