The theater at PCH and Broadway in Laguna Beach will once again host a mountain bike film premiere—this time it’s for “Seasons,” the latest and greatest from The Collective - the film studio that produced such instant classics as “The Collective” and “Roam.”
The new film is organized by… wait for it, wait for it…. Seasons. The new film follows seven elite riders through a year’s worth of shredding, showcasing their considerable skills and various personalities in a package that only the boys at The Collective could pull off.
Doors open at 8 p.m. For ticket information call the theater at (949) 497-1711
Had a very interesting morning yesterday. It all started with a bright-and-early 7 A.M. breakfast with a representative of SRAM (which was super fun to wake up for after the premiere of and party for Kranked 7: The Cackle Factor held Sea Otter in Monterey over the weekend).
After some bacon and eggs I was thrown into a van driven by Tyler Moreland (are Canadian free riders really just allowed to drive in this country? Shouldn’t’ there be some special licensing involved? Waivers? Anyone?).
Anyways we arrived at the Embassy Suites in Monterey and I was led past a security guard to a dark room. There an attractive young girl blindfolded me, and I know what you’re thinking—girl, blindfold, dark hotel room? This is where it gets freaky! And how!
But this was really, really freaky. (And because we’re talking about mountain bikes here the girl quickly disappeared…)
But once inside I was told I had 30 seconds to ride a bike set up on a trainer. I knew what to look for (figuratively speaking, I’m still blindfolded at this point): the front shifting.
This whole elaborate rouse was set up by SRAM as the first real taste of a “revolutionary” front shifting system SRAM has been working on for months now. The shifter only had two positions, and by feathering the rear brake and shifting at the same time I could feel the gear ratio changing. What I didn’t find was the clackety-clunk of a traditional front derailleur in action. Instead the shifting action came smoothly, via the same sensation you get from an internal 3-speed beach cruiser hub.
So that’s all the info we have for now, but there you have it. SRAM’s Hammerschmidt, which we teased HERE last month, promises to take the front derailleur out of front shifting. The possible benefits are many. (Think single-ring, go-anywhere bike with a bashguard/chain retention device of your choice.) Stay tuned.
This here blog’s been down for a few weeks. We’ve had a crack team of eggheads under the hood, and while no discernible improvements have been made, it’s back online so I’ll just shut up now.
These fixie kids get a bad rap sometimes. And some of it is deserved (stealing your sister’s jeans—or worse: jean shorts—is just not cool). But too often I see these guys pulling moves on their brakeless, suspension-less, free-wheel-less skinny-tire bikes that make me all that much more shamed that I was not born with the wheelie gene.
Shuttled San Juan trail Sunday afternoon. It was raining on the top and the dirt was all-time tacky.
One of my riding partner was “Belgian Tom,” who has lived in the States for a couple years and was brought up racing road bikes. He picked up mountain biking just one year ago and now rides an Iron Horse Seven Point with a full face and jeans, and hasn’t touched the road bike in a year. Alas, the Calvin-and-Hobbes-loving Belgian gangster is moving back to Belgium soon, so we snagged this footage of him shredding the SJT for him to show to his roadie friends back home.
Also in attendance was my friend Michiel, the flying Dutchman. They were speaking Flemish jive the whole way down.
Jah, Est GUD!
This is a long video, but it’s a pretty good representation of the SJT from Blue Jay campground to the parking lot by the ranger station.
Also it’s one of the first runs with V.I.O.’s new wide-angle lens. Some vignetting on the corners but see for yourself, it’s pretty good stuff.
The big old tire in the frame is the new Kenda ExCavator, shod to new EX 1750 enduro wheels from DT Swiss.
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Seems like everyone got beat up this weekend. From Keyesville Classic carnage to the windblown hellscape at the first inaugural St. Patty’s Day Feast in Bootleg Canyon to ’scoped knees, tweaked backs and shoulders, artichoke-spine -spiked ankles and some pretty good crashes here at home.
Insightful coverage to come. For now, this says it all:
Eric Schutt over at SRAM is having a hard winter. He commutes to work in Chicago via a two-bike/one train system. The other day the beater bike he leaves at his home train station got hit with the slush machine.
I tried to make him feel better by sending him a shot of the mud I got stuck in the other day. But then I let it slip that yesterday was 75 degrees, the mud was dried and the trails were bitching. Now he won’t return my calls.
