OK We'll ride tonight!

The weather was looking bad but turned around for the better. See you tonight for the race ride. We leave from Dacapo @ 6:30. Be ready for a quick paced ride.

- Bruce

Maybe No Riding

The weather is looking not so good for Wednesday night. Big wind on the way. Stay tuned. The weather can change in five minutes.
Wednesday rides are for those who would like to train a little harder for upcoming races. However, this ride is different than our famous Monday ride due to the ABA insurance that will be needed. I will update later the ride status.

- Bruce

16 Times The Fun

As a cyclist that has been on his fare share of club rides, I have to say, this one was a great time. 16 eager riders showed up at Dacapo to play their part in the ballet of two wheel chaos. A shifter broke. I had two slowly leaking tires. Another had a full on flat. Let's not forget how twisted up we got keeping such a large group together on a winding inner city MTB ride. Through all of this I can't think of anyone that didn't have a great time.

Where else can you see Lance Steinke point out a rare travelling Edmonton Iceberg?

The renowned metal sculptor, Rob Willms, showing that mud incrusted iceberg who's boss.

That's right, it's all ice under his bike. I don't think he even gave it a second thought!

We even have full support on this sucker by paying one of our mechanics double time and a half to show up and do on the spot tune-ups and expert diagnosis. Thanks Craig.

It dosen't just end when the wheels stop turning. We always leave plenty of time to have a couple fine euro beers or Italian pizza at Dacapo. Don't worry about the mud that you might drag in.....Antonio has a cleaning service. What else could we ask for?

For those of you who waited for the weather to clear up, this is one less,

ride and.......

See you all next monday night at 6:30 pm.

Where else?

Well, here it is, I have the wrong Q-factor. Truvativ makes three Q-factors, 156, 164 and 166. My bike came with 156. There you go.

The 2010 Devinci Moonracer SL XX

2010 has brought quite a few new bikes and equipment to redbike. One that really stands out is the Devinci Moonracer SL XX. The frame is made from Devinci triple butted Optimum G3 6061-T6 aluminum. They also have made the geometry very twitchy for a fast response to trail changes. This is basically the same frame as last year with a great new paint job. What has changed drastically is the groupo. For 2010 Devinci has added XX to the Moonracer line. What this means is a bike with a complete Sram Corp group. The all new Sram XX 2x10 group was used throughout with Truvativ, Avid and Rock Shox. Shifting the Moonracer is snappy and super responsive. Not having a granny ring is never missed. This is a race rig and not many serious racers ever use the 20 or 22 tooth gear. this means less chain-slap, weight savings and quicker shifting by having fewer options. By not having a granny gear Sram wanted to still give options to the rider. They came out with an 11-36 cog set.

Eight of the 10 cogs are machined from 4130 chromoly steel. The 7075-T6 large cog can be replaced when worn out. Cool! You hear that Sam, a stronger cog set with a REPLACEABLE large cog. For those of you who have heard that these are really expensive, you're right. They will cost around $375.00 to replace. However, the word is that there will be an X-7 2x10 group. That means there should be a cheaper cog set on the way. Yah!

Not all the news is good on this smokin' race rig. As I was testing it out today there was an odd clicking coming out of it when climbing. At first I thought my new cleats were moving around but no. With the new 2x10 system comes a crank with a tighter crank arm tolerance in relation to the chain stays. When putting more power down, the little flex from the crank and frame causes a serious problem. If this was left alone the crank would wear through the chain stay. As soon as I get back to work Devinci will be getting a call. The positive side to this is how great Devinci is with customer service.

All in all I'm very excited with the new ride. See you all Monday Night.

Spring Riding

Can you believe it, it's April already and time to put away the winter beater MTB and free the beast that's been tucked away in the corner of the basement. Some of you have already hit the spring trails. If you're carful you can make a ride out of it by picking around on the north side of the river. There are a few dry pieces on the south side however they are far and few between. Even on the north side there can be some problem areas. As you can see from the photo, trails are not all that great so please stay off the wet ones. I'm not concerned for you bike as much as I am for the trails. In fact the more you ride in the mud, the more our shop makes in parts sales!

As you can see from the small video not all trails can support cycling.

There are some shining stars in under the trees that have dried up enough to ride on. This one is just below Saskatchewan Drive and 91 Ave.

So, yes, please come out on April 12 @ 6:30 for our inaugural redbike Monday ride. I'll have a prize (mini-tool) for the best first crash of the year. No matter how long it takes, there will be one.

- Bruce