The thing of it is...

I'm closing in on 400 miles on my 32" wheeled single speed Vassago Maximus Ti.  I have many thoughts that are being reinforced, and some preconceived notions that are gradually changing.

I've had the chance to ride almost 80 miles out in St George, UT a few weeks ago, and I now have more than 65 miles in The Pisgah (Proper and Other).  I'm so glad I've finally been able to get this thing outta Charlotte to see what it can do.

And oh, what it can do... and also what it can't.

I'm amazed by the flat out speed I can hold, well... that is until things get rowdy.  I can dive into the inside corners on switchbacks knowing that not only will my wheel hold the line, the tire will not break traction.  Also, regarding my previous concerns about riding down steeps:

This is a washed-out, semi-steep, sorta chunky section of Cove Creek.  I haven't ridden it since Helene, mebbe even some time before that.  It's about as steep as I get at my age.  A few rocks have been moved around since the last time I looked at it, but I went ahead and rolled it twice two weeks ago.  If my butt touched the rear wheel once, I musta accommodated on the second try.  Mebbe the big wheel out in front of me has become the panacea of my ill-conceived poor handling skills, or perhaps the wheels are having a slight placebo effect, but it's definitely something to ponder next time I'm staring into my belly button.

Tiny Jesus saves.

The other route that I managed to squeeze in was at Wilson Creek.  21 Jumps, Yellow Mailbox, Yancy, 21 Jumps (again?), and Schoolhouse.  A big, fat 42 mile ride.  It was more of the same.  So much straight line speed, confidence in the corners, momentum carried into the climbs, and roll over in the tech.

But something is definitely missing.

I was almost all about riding and racing rigid from somewhere around 2005 all the way until (looking at the way back machine) mebbe the 2021 Trans-Sylvania Epic.  While I still do some events rigid, I can only think of the 2023 Moab Rocks (edit: 2022 thanks, Dahn) as the last event I did on purpose rigid just to say I did it.  That is until I took the 32" bike out to the True Grit Epic for the Mount Everest reason (it was there).  I do love the challenge factor, but in my golden years, I want as much fun as possible.

So...

I think I'm backing away from my opinion that I gave in the Bike Rumor interview about my future with 32" wheels.

"I’m heavily considering a mullet for my personal “Pisgah bike” once forks are available..."

" just a possible mulleted single speed for aggressive riding.”

I really didn't think that at my height, I was going to wanna ride anything close to rowdy with a giant rear wheel between my legs.  I didn't believe it would work for me, but...

It really has been a Double Whopper sized nothing burger for me.  

All that said, but mang.  I wish I woulda had this bike when I was a rigid head.

Then comes the bigger issues.

I don't wanna spend an insane amount of money on an upside down fork knowing that Fox and Rock Shox will eventually have "something."  This frame was made suspension incorrect on purpose, so I'd need to get a second Vassago Maximus Ti (the stock version is suspension corrected).  I'm convinced enough on the wheel size that I'm gonna go ahead and get a lighter set of wheels shortly when they are available... so yeth, if you're looking for a burly and beautiful set of Industry Nine Hydra II system wheels on Nextie Unicorn rims at an unreal price, they're coming.  The whole thing really is that good, BUT I am currently still getting a new garvel bike soon, and that just seems like too many new things in a short period of time.

Then there's the whole tire selection thing, because I'm not sure what I would want for a Pisgah single speed VS what's coming down the line, although info has been "leaking" constantly.

Coming down Schoolhouse in the rain had me thinking about what kinda traction I should expect outta my Aspens, especially the rear after a decent amount of desert riding.

As mentioned before, I solved for the travel bag issue, but I do sense a certain Naked and Afraid type of vulnerability doing a multi-day trip or stage races knowing that if anything happens to my wheels, I'm up shit creek with my ding dong for a paddle.

Anyways, until a regular squishy fork comes out, this is a non-problem.

Can't wait until it is a non-non-problem tho.