D’ya reckon this will be go down well?

Commencal 29 demo bike

We have just had our first (snowy) ride on our new 29er and have been thoroughly impressed. Normally I’m pretty cynical about a lot of stuff in the bike trade but I can safely say that I am now a convert to the wonders of large wheels. This bike is simply outstanding, all of my fears about large wheels being difficult to steer and handle have been proven wrong. The first bit of lumpy singletrack that we hit ( frozen mud!) was a revelation, the bike floated over the top like a small travel suspension bike but enabled all your power to be driven through the cranks and delivered to the floor. Quite honestly it felt like cheating, then the trail turned smoother where I had a feeling this bike would be in its element with the large wheels gobbling up the smoother terrain. it ws good but not quite as impressive as the lumpy stuff.

Next up was a steep climb where occasionally the larger wheel weight could be felt as we were straining out of the saddle, but this was on a climb that i know people regularly walk. Next up came some twisting singletrack, no issue what so ever with the larger wheels, didnt really feel any different and then it was back onto the bumpy stuff and it was back in its element and the grin came back as the bike powered through frozen ruts and roots. On to more singletrack where it was just muddy mess, the thin racing tyres cut through and never did you feel that you need a mud tyre ( I think you would have benefited from a mud tyre on a 26) due to the larger contact patch with the ground. The other surprising element was the bike was set to 80 mm on the front, which never felt like it was out of its depth, I cant remember the last time I rode rough stuff with less than 100mm (possibly around 96?) . The larger tyres do a huge amount to smooth the stutter stuff so with the fork set up quite hard the bigger lumps could be taken care of. So that’s me converted to 29 wheels, Im still a bit wary of the big travel designs as I think they will sit up too high but if you want a fun fast hardtail  and you are around the 6 feet mark or above, 29 is the way to go. I still believe smaller wheels are better for trail bikes and anything that is more weighted towards gravity fuelled riding and also for smaller people!

Thanks for the eggs madison

Pretty new things at torico

Great news for Torico’s newest team rider. Kade Edwards blitzed the competition at the recent 661 mini DH in the ripper category putting 9 seconds into his closest rival and he would have nearly podiumed in the juvenile category. Now, there are’nt many races that have a ripper category, So British Cycling have given Kade special dispensation to ride in the Juvenile category for this season. Nice one Kade!

Just eating a LUNA bar

Apparently they are for girls, which is good as it might make me a more caring and altogether better husband when i get home tonight as I will be more in touch with my feminine side. That or I’ll grow boobs

Good

• Free food and beer- thanks ISON distribution and Core
• E-13 and Hope pedals look promising
• Colnago CLX3.0 DI2 looks stunning in flouro
• New Fox dealer packs should make life easier for servicing forks.
• Fox dropper seatpost prototype!
• met some nice chaps who race bikes 

Bad

• Beer tasted good but upset my tender stomach - YIKES!
• Going for a jacuzzi in spa at the world wide sausage fest 2012
• Realising that pink painted toenails are not a great look in a man filled jacuzzi( thanks to Phoebe my daughter for the glitter!)
• Dropper seat post by fox looks like cheap tat - hopefully its pre-production? but manual cables and a lever straight out of the 80s - come on Fox you can do better than that

This year, as well as having our own gravity team with some great new riders and some existing old wobblers, we are also supporting the Spead giants. They are a great group of lads who race enduro XC, the odd Cross race, some 24 and 12 hour events and the occasional road sportive. Look out for them on the road, they will be riding PIMP bikes and looking mighty fine in their new kit.

Lapierre X-FLOW, trail bike handling with a little less bounce, should be a winner this season

 What’s your views on this, a gnarly hybrid or the future of mountain biking? 

We have just updated our hire bikes for 2012 for our Morzine store and we are pleased to announce we are having an expanded range of Nukeproof bikes this year. We will have 2 style of bikes on offer, the all mountain Mega and the full on Downhill bike the Scalp. They are available in all sizes and are available to hire now. 

More details can be found on our site http://www.toricomorzine.com/ We provide a free DH helmet when you hire from us as well as offer Body armour for rental too.

Muddy day at the SPAM winter challenge, good fun though

This is a very cool bike builder. build your dream Lapierre on line and pick up in store - its pretty cool just to mess about with !

Torico have always supported young riders and for 2011 we are pleased to welcome Kade Edwards to the Torico team. Kade is a ripper caetgory rider, hes 11 years old and is already showing some impressive talent. His father (Tom) was pretty handy on a bike back in the day (Tom rode for MBUK NIKE amongst other teams) and already Kade is putting seconds into him. Kade recently destroyed the competition at the 661 mini downhill at the Forest of Dean and we are delighted to have him on the team.

Steve Atkins Torico team rider following ex-Torico rider Isaac Anderson ( now on Rose Bikes) 

One happy customer with his new Colnago M10 hanging up in his garage - thanks for the photo Nick.

Great day at the forest of dean today, well done to Kade Edwards in the ripper category. Nice chatting to familiar faces andeeting some new ones too

New colnago? Yes please.