At Sea Otter I met the folks from Motor Tabs.  While at their booth, they gave me a few samples of their energy tabs.  Below is a description of fluid replacement energy tablets:

§       Effervescent sports drink tablets
§       Optimal levels of sodium and potassium 
§       Multiple carbohydrate blend
§       Dissolves completely in water
§       No Aspartame, Sucralose, acesulfame potassium or high fructose corn syrup

I recently tried the Motor Tabs during the SC Velo XC Challenge in October.  Pleased with the results and the flavor, I contacted Motor Tabs and they provided additional samples.

Since receiving then, I’ve been using Motor Tabs regularly on my rides.  I have to admit that I do feel like I have more energy.  I don’t tire out as fast as I normally do.  I gauge this through the trails that I frequent.  After reaching a certain point my energy level usually drops.  Since drinking Motor Tabs pre/during my rides, I’ve been able to maintain a higher level of energy thus not tiring (where I normally would) and able to pedal through. 

Another example – I recently rode a fairly long trail, close to 20 miles.  Majority of the ride was climbing therefore at the end of the day I was pretty beat.  The next day I rode again, this time on my single speed bike.  Legs still tired from the previous day, I drank one 20 oz water bottle with Motor Tabs – prior and during my ride.  Results - I zipped through the trail as if I didn’t ride the day before.

Motor Tabs comes in four flavors:

§       Fruit Punch
§    Lemon-Lime
§       Orange
§       Grape

Instructions for use:

Use one Motor Tabs tablet for each 20fl oz. of water.  Remove tablet from wrapper and place tablet in water.  Leave the top open until the tablet has completely dissolved.  The effervescent ingredients will dissolve the tablet thoroughly in approximately four minutes so there is no need to shake the bottle. Individual fluid intake requirements will vary.  **Room temperature water.

The last part of the instruction I didn’t see initially.  On one of our hot days last month, I went for a ride and filled both of water bottles with ice and water.  On the way to the trail I dropped the tablets into the water bottle.  Fifteen minutes later, arriving at the trailhead, I noticed that the Motor Tabs have not dissolved completely… now I know. 

Thus far Motor Tabs has worked for me and can work for you.  Give it it a try.  For more information you can visit their site at www.motortabs.com.  I’ll continue to use Motor Tabs in 2009 so check back for a follow-up review.

 

Popularity: 8% [?]

Back at Sea Otter 2008 our good buddy Steve Richey from Promologic gave Moe the first ever ride on the Pronghorn PR6.

Pronghorn PR6 on the Sea Otter Demo Track

Moe enjoyed the short ride immensely and it seems, so did Bike Magic which had many praises for the Pronghorn. They have a more extensive review of the “quirky” looking Pronghorn. Here is just a bit of what they had to say:

Most bikes present some sort of first impression when you get on them. The PR6 goes with “fast”. Although the cockpit didn’t arrive with a particularly extreme setup, it’s still quite a forward-set position. It works a treat, though, and the frame isn’t so long that you can’t readily get your weight back should you need to.

Although the Pronghorn as tested wasn’t crazy-light, it still fair flew up hills. That’s thanks to the efficient riding position, taut suspension feel and fast-rolling tyres. It’s one of those bikes that manages to make you wish for flat bars and bar ends so you can get even more power down, and they’re a fairly rare breed. Tempting though the easy-access lockout lever is, we didn’t feel the need to reach for it.

Click here for the review by Bike Magic.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Who:
From Raxter Racks website:

Introducing RAXTER - The new standard for value in a wheel mount hitch rack. RAXTER is lightweight, it’s EASY to install, EASY to load, EASY to store!
The innovative design of RAXTER gives you the ability to move bikes forward or backward during loading and is independent of wheelbase. This provides unequalled flexibility to load any combination of bike styles or sizes.
We subscribe to the design credo “Keep it light, keep it simple�. Simple yet effective, marine grade Velcro straps are perfectly suited for providing absolute security for your bikes. Moving parts are minimized. There are no small, intricate parts to rust or become gunked up from road debris. RAXTER’s simplicity makes it reliable.

Product Tested:
Raxter 2 Bike Extenstion

Website’s MSRP:
$269.99

Details

2 Bike Extension for 1-1049 (2″ 2 Bike Rack), 1-1047 (2″ Single Bike Rack) or 1-1110 (Folding 2″ 2 Bike Rack). Quick installation and removal with only 2 bolts to attach to the rack and 4 more bolts to attach your crossbars! Gloss black . Ships in two boxes. $25 shipping fee.

About Me:
6’1� 210lbs, 28 year old male. I’m a mountain biking enthusiast who enjoys rocking the 29er wheels and riding with lots of friends.

Fully loaded at Sea Otter 2008

Testing Grounds:
Road trip to Sea Otter Classic 2008, Drive to San Juan Trail (1+ hour each way) and drives to many more Southern California trails, parks…

First Impression:
After testing the Raxter Rack back in October of 2007 I knew it was the only rack I would want on the back of my car to take on the trip to Sea Otter 2008 and back. The Raxter Rack 2 Bike Rack has held up extremely well with NO problems (none, nada, zip) but since we were going to Sea Otter with 3 people, and consequently 3 bikes, my first choice was to ask Raxter to test the 2 Bike Extension they offered on their website.

Raxter sent their 2 Bike Extension and I put it together very quickly. After having a couple of user related problems setting up the original rack, setting up the 2 Bike Extension was a breeze. I was slightly worried that after using the 2 Bike Rack for 9+ months of constant use the metal might have warped and made the extension difficult to install. No such problems. Screws went in smoothly and I was able to tighten everything down quickly to the original rack. Good solid workmanship.

RL and his pouty lips. 4 bikes: 2 x 29ers with tires ranging from 2.1 to 2.35 in width, a commuter bike with skinnies and a Swobo with 26″ bmx-ish type tires.

Strengths:
Same design, just with 2 extra trays: Raxter hasn’t changed a thing with the 2 Bike Extension… this is very good. The 2 Bike Extension is really just a simply designed, but strong, piece of metal that attaches easily to the original 2 Bike Rack. The crossing wheel trays attach using the same type of bolts and the arms of the wheel tray still exhibit the same design of the 2 Bike Rack. This design has served the Raxter Rack extremely well and it continued to do so for the 2 Bike Extension. There is a bit of stiction when you initially rotate the arm but the stiction lessens after a couple of uses and starts to move slowly with minimal effort.

The simple durable velcro straps are still there. They’re so easy to use that my 3 year old son has started to “help” me unstrap my bike after I get back from the trail. They securely held all the bikes in place for our long 6+ hour trek to and from Sea Otter. Actually, we never thought to check on them and when we arrived, they were still all in place.

The folding arm that attaches to the hitch still works: I was initially concerned that the added weight and size of the 2 Bike Extension would make the folding arm not fold. My concerns were misplaced as the folding arm still works great. The button still popped in and out of place with ease and using the folding arm gets the extra length of the 2 Bike Extension out of the way when not in use. Sometimes, with just the regular 2 Bike rack, I’ll leave it unfolded because it does not stick out too far from the car. But with 4 racks, I always utilize the folding arm to move the rack out of the pathway of other cars.

2 Bike Extension still works with the folding arm

Plenty of room, but still compact: On the way back from Sea Otter we had 2 x 29ers, one road bike and one bike from Swobo that does not conform to any preconceived bike categories. All four bikes easily fit on the rack. There was no need to adjust the seats or handlebars. Just slide the bike a little farther forward or backwards in the wheel tray to get a good fit. There is plenty of room for these four bikes. But where the 2 Bike Extension really shines is that it does not stick out off the back of the vehicle too far. It is still really compact for a four bike holder.

Other four bike racks I have previously seen/used extended out so far they are just asking to be swiped by other cars. In their efforts to make a rack that will comfortably hold all types of bikes they ended up making a rack that extended out so far as to be hazardous to the bike. The design of the Raxter Rack does not have this issue. By making the wheel trays relatively narrow and using the “Auto Nesting” design - sliding the bikes forward/backwards to get a good fit - four bikes can be fitted onto the Raxter Rack and still keep a compact profile close to the vehicle. Designing this took some thought

4 bikes, but not stretched out to infinity and beyond

Weaknesses:
I did treat the straps, immediately, to my flame treatment I detailed in the review of the 2 Bike Rack. With this treatment, the straps never exhibited any fraying. Also the straps I originally applied the flame treatment to have been working fine since then. No signs of fraying at all.

The rack is heavy. By itself the 2 Bike Rack is fine, maybe even relatively light. I’m confident that most people would not have any problems with the 2 bike rack, but once you combine the 2 Bike Extension to the 2 Bike Rack, you’ve got something at least in the 50+ lbs range that, due to its size, is also awkward to maneuver. At 6′1″ and 210 lbs, I’m an above average sized guy so I didn’t think working with a large rack would be such a difficult proposition. But it is.

After doing some research I discovered that Raxter is not alone with this dilemma, it is pretty much an industry standard. If you’re looking into a 4 bike rack that holds the bike by the wheels securely, as in not with upside down “J” hooks, then you’re going to run into this problem. It is inevitable. Remember the saying: “Fast. Cheap. Good. Pick two.” In this case: 4-bike rack. Held by the wheels. Lightweight. Pick two. The surprising thing is that the Raxter Rack fully outfitted (4 bikes) is about 20 lbs lighter then its competitors.

Summary:
The Raxter Rack’s 2 Bike Extension is a perfect compliment to the 2 bike rack. The weight, when combined to the 2 Bike Rack, is the biggest hindrance but this is the norm for all racks of this type. However, where the rack really shines is the simplicity of use and the compact/space efficient design even when fully loaded up. If you’re going anywhere and want to tote along 4 bikes securely then this is the rack for you.

For Raxter Rack’s official site, click here.
For Raxter Rack’s official site on the 2 Bike Extension, click here.
For our review of the Raxter 2-bike Rack, without extension, click here.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Mark Reynolds passed away while competing in the Downhill event at Sea Otter. Our great friends at Evomo have been organizing a Memorial fund raiser and many companies have stepped up to offer product donations for this event. Read more about it below:

Los Angeles, CA — A fund raiser is being held in conjunction with the CCCX Downhill Race Series starting this Saturday, May 3rd in honor of Mark A. Reynolds who died on Saturday, April 19, 2008.

Mark’s death was a result of the crash he had while competing in the Downhill race during the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA. Mark, who was just 48 years old, was the owner of Wicked Racin and innovator of the Dualrailluer Guide for which is in the process of being patented as the first dual chain ring guide. Mark was an avid mountain biker who raced competitively and he also enjoyed the action sports scene including snowboarding, wake boarding and even piloting airplanes. He was also a friend to many as well as a mentor to those looking to improve their skills.

After hearing the news on Saturday, members of the Evomo Mountain Bike Team stepped forward to contact fellow industry companies in order to organize a memorial fund raiser in Mark’s name. “I feel it’s the right thing to do and I really feel for the family who had to hear such terrible news”, said Tom Judy, Evomo Downhill Team Member. Everyone on the Evomo team instantly said they would be happy to make a collective Team donation to help. Within a few days, Fox Racing was ready to ship out some product donations and Keith DeFiebre, CCCX race organizer, offered his event location as a place to hold the fund raiser. “It was pretty awesome to get such instant support”, said Tom Judy.

Mark’s family hopes to contribute to a freeride or jump park that will be named after Mark so that people of all levels can enjoy the sport of mountain biking and can feel encouraged and supported, just as Mark made all of us feel.

Fox Racing Shox, Evomo, X-Fusion, Pactimo, Stan’s No Tubes, Cool Cycling Club, Calabazas Cyclery, Trailhead Cyclery, and Auburn Bike Works have already stepped up to donate cash or product for the fund raising raffle that will be held at the CCCX DH Race Series finale on Sunday, June 22. Memorial T-shirts and raffle tickets will be for sale at this weekends event in which all proceeds will go to the fund in honor of Mark. “By having a huge raffle at our series finale in June
we are able to maximize the cash we can raise by selling tickets at the next 5 races”, said Keith DeFiebre, CCCX Race organizer.

This weekend’s event will be held at Toro Park in California, located between Salinas and Monterey off of Hwy 68 just minutes from Laguna Seca Raceway. Registration for racing opens at 8am.

Donation information, please visit www.wickedracin.com where you can make a cash donation in his Mark’s name via PayPal.

Popularity: 9% [?]

We hooked up with Dirty Dog MTB while out at Sea Otter 2008 again to check out some of the new stuff they had going on. If you don’t know, Dirty Dog makes some of the best looking rotors out there. Not only do they look killer they also perform as well as if not better than stock rotors of the same size. We know this from experience as both RL & I have run different rotor designs from Dirty Dog for almost a year now.

Some new designs that Dirty Dog has included in its rotor lineup:

the High Roller

the Bone Burner

They have also reduced the weight of their Reaper Skull Stem although for the life of me I can’t remember by how much or what its current weight is at.

Guess who else liked Dirty Dog MTB’s products… Gary Fisher. Yeah that Gary Fisher, as if there was any other. GF stopped by the booth as we were perusing the new designs and I couldn’t help but overhear how GF wanted some of those sweet rotors on his rig too. By the way I mumbled a quick “Hi Garyâ€? as if we’ve known each other forever or something. Me & Gary, we’re just cool like that.

Gary Fisher talking with Nick DeBeer of Dirty Dog MTB

Nick has a cool orange custom 29er behind his right elbow. I should have gotten a better picture of it. And Gary Fisher is checking out the Skull Cable Guides.

Click here for Dirty Dog MTB’s website.

Popularity: 19% [?]

I got a chance to take the Pivot 429 out on a quick haul through the Sea Otter Demo XC demo course. I was out there for less than an hour so this is definitely not a full on review of the Pivot 429 but more of a couple of impressions I got from the short ride.

When I hopped on the 429 and started pedaling, I instantly noticed that this bike has an almost hardtail-ish racy feel. I attribute this to a very solid/stiff rear that transfers power down without any wasted flex. There was no noodley feeling from the rear that I occasionally get with other fs 29ers. This suspension seems to be on the firm side rather than ultra plush. I personally prefer this setup as it suits my riding style to a “t”.

The demo trail at Sea Otter is not extremely technical but it does have a couple of short climbs one being particularly steep and a couple of uphill grinders. It also has some nice flowy singletrack with stutter bumps, small XC-ish jumps and, on this weekend, sand. On all the climbs around the demo course the 429 to performed very well. Standing and seated climbs were easy and the rear suspension never felt like it got in the way. I was particularly happy with the way the 429 climbed a steep section as the rear felt planted and the cockpit felt comfortable enough to change from a seated position to a standing position and back to a seated position without losing balance or being awkward.

The steering feel of the Pivot is neutral. Not fast like the Gary Fisher G2 geometry but not slow either. The bottom bracket height is almost a full inch taller than my Redline but this did not impede handling, nor did it make me feel like I had too high a center of gravity. I still felt comfortable carving the singletrack at SO although the tires did not give me confidence to rip any of the jumps. The stutter bumps were muted by the suspension but did not disappear entirely as the suspension is more firm than plush.

Overall the 429 is a very fun racy bike that fits my type of riding entirely. I would probably go with a tire with a bit more grip both front & rear if I were to ride this but I could see the Kenda Small Block 8 on the rear being used for races.

Click here for pictures of the Pivot 429 prototype seen at Sea Otter 2008.

Click here for the video of Chris Cocalis discussing the Pivot 429.

Click here for Pivot’s website.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Most companies that decide to offer 29ers usually start off with a hardtail or fully rigid bike. Pivot, however, decided to come out with a FS 29er using the dw-link suspension design called Pivot 429. The Pivot 429 has 100mm of travel in the rear and optimized for a 100mm travel front suspension fork.

dw-link rear suspension

head tube/seat tube/top tube junction

Tire clearance to chainstays.

Tire clearance to “seat tube” which is further behind on the prototype and will be moved forward in the production bike

Quick word on tire clearance to where the seat tube normally connects to the bottom bracket: This area is replaced by a plate shown in the picture above, but the plate was welded at an incorrect spot. It should be pushed forward on the bike which will provide more clearance for bigger tread tires to fit. The prototype 429 I rode had Kenda SB8 and the tire on this photo shoot had WTB Exiwolfs 2.3.

Rear suspension close-up

Rear dropouts & brake mounts

Chris Cocalis and his vintage 1989 Fox gloves holding the stout rear linkage

Chris & Me doing the interview. Very cool dude

Frameset MSRP: $2199

For those interested, the geometry numbers for the Pivot 429 (can be enlarged)

By the way once RL is done editing (he’s the video master here) we’ll be loading up a video of Chris Cocalis president of Pivot. He’ll be discussing the Pivot 429, something you’ve got to see. Check back here for that and later on I’ll have my impressions of my ride on the 429. Let’s just say its fun, fast & smile inducing.

Click here for Pivot cycles website.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Last night after a full day of “working”, the boyz and I decided to get some grub. So we drove around Monterey until we found “The Grand Buffet!” As you may know, I LOVE buffets!

Here’s Jeremy enjoying his “pizza” at the Chinese Buffet….who gets pizza at a a Chinese buffet???

Moe enjoying some shrimp.

I then reminded the guys to not look so happy, remember “smiling is for sissies!” Dang they look hardcore!

One of the best parts of the buffet was the chocolate fountain. Jeremy loves chocolate, dude, this guy even took his glass and stuck it under the fountain to catch the flowing hot goodness. Then the owner of the restaurant slapped his hands and scolded him. So after that, he grabbed some of the fruit and decided to follow the rules…look how happy he is!

After dinner we drove back to our 2 star hotel…oh yeah, we like to stay in luxury hotels…The rest of the night was spent working. All of us were either uploading, editing or creating something for Sunday morning.

Check back later today as we’ll be posting more content from the show. We’re actually leaving around noon today since we all miss our families. But through out the week we’ll be playing catchup and posting more goodness. Until then, go to church, ride a bike and enjoy your Sunday!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Last year the Otter and I met for the first time…is it possible that my experience last year was luv at first sight? Who knows, but when the Otter and I saw each other again today, it was like as if we had just seen each other yesterday…

Some how the Otter got shorter?

Then we were back to our old selves…baaad Otter! Or was it Baad RL?

Popularity: 3% [?]