Oompa Loompa Thirty and Two... I've got another blog post for you

I wasted almost all most of my glamour shots of my Vassago Bicycles 32" wheeled single speed mountain bike (mebbe the Maximus... just trying to feed the Google machine) on the last post, so...

Sorry, wrong image.

Sunday's ride was going to be a more proper litmus test for the big wheels.  Aside from the technical A-Line climb at the Winter Shart Tarck course, there's not a whole lotta technical bits.  The other few sections that slightly challenge a racer's skillset, the big wheels rolled over them like they weren't even there.  The only downside I found to the big wheels that was glaringly apparent was on this high speed drop which had been heightened a week ago by adding a telephone pole to the lip (and filled in mostly with dirt):

What used to be a high speed, straight yeet three feet'ish high off the top sending you ten to fifteen feet out now has a bump where the pole is exposed... and that bump sent the rear wheel up to my taint for a brief visit.  That should make all the "you're too short to ride 32" wheels" haters so thrilled.  That said, the landing is an energy suck, and the go-around is faster/smoother.  I needed to send it in order to do some FAFO testing, but this bike is really meant to be my go fast/stay low XC machine.  It is a stupid rigid single speed after all. 

Anyways, I used to be a "gimme all the drop I can fit in the frame "guy, but on this bike, I might reduce the travel a bit.  That way, my saddle can tell my thighs can send a warning to my ass.  Dare I say I mebbe shoulda bought a 150mm travel dropper as opposed to reducing a 180mm down to 155-160mm?*

Sunday, I headed out to the Backyard Trails, the trails that are close to my house and a huge reason I wanted to live where I do.  They are some of Charlotte's oldest trails.  Janky.  Tight.  Rocky.  Rooty.  Steep.  Elevated features.  Plenty of jumps, drops, cannons and whatnot if you're one to yeet yourself haphazardly through the air.  The opposite of what's usually being built in this era of mountain biking.  This place has next to zero flow.

First things first.  This bike is still rigid.  While the monster truck wheels do make some things disappear, a pile of giant rocks or huge roots are still gonna send a message.  That said, all the tight turns were made easier being that I wasn't as worried about losing traction in the loose soil or over all the stupid gumballs that litter the trail this time of year.  The only real challenge I had on technical climbs had more to do with the 32X19 gear I have on the bike for Shart Tarck next week.  Where does 32X19 on 32" wheels put me in the 29er world of gearing?
 

Some people like Excel spreadsheets.  I like Chicken Scratch dicksheets.

So 32X19 on 32" is steeper than 32X17 (which I don't own a 17 tooth cog for... reasons?) on a 29er and not quite as hard as 32X16.  Normally at the Backyard, I run 32X19 but if I were too lazy to swap from my Pisgah gear (20) or my super flow trail gear (18), I just make it work. 

So through all the tech and twisties and lumpy bumps, I was not disappointed.  That said, I would still pick my 130mm squished fork Optimus for this type of riding.  Bypassing all the yeet opportunities hurt my feels pretty deeply.  I was sore the next day, but that was three days of rigid riding in a row, and also I did trail work Sunday morning, which always makes my old man body parts hurt.

And now it's time to race it this weekend.

Oh, and to address one thing that's been brought up about the downsides of having 32" wheels...

The bike does indeed fit in my 1Up rack, and it hasn't fallen out yet.

* I spent more time writing about reducing the travel on my dropper post than it took to reduce it to 160mm.  I also had time to realize that mebbe there's a reason the top XC pros run what I'd considered too short droppers.