FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - February 15, 2014 - New tread patterns, locking tubeless rims, and coil suspension featuring quadruple bypass technology were unveiled in a remote corner of the Southern California Mojave desert accessible only by dirt roads on Friday, February 7th, 2014. Pictured below are photos of the aforementioned products:
BF Goodrich Baja T/A KR2. Non-DOT Approved, durometer too low to list, 37" and 39" sizes only - yeah, forget 29" son, these be 37+
Dear Warranty Dept: My side knobs are tearing off. Dear Consumer: We don't care. Low duromter rubber is for one thing only: Winning.
Locking Tubeless Rims.
Quadruple Bypass Suspension Technology. Looks like some sort of home brew kit, or an alchemist's secret weapon, but it's a shock designed for hustling.
The Return of Coil Suspension: High Speed and Low Speed Compression, and we wonder where Fox gets all its rad technology...
So what am I blathering about? Well, a group of mountain bike media gathered in the desert. Why? To feel severely outgunned by real off road vehicles with big motors, menacing tubes, sputtering horsepower, and perpetual squeaks from true long travel coil suspension - not air shocks and carbon frames, mind you. We, well I, felt small.
Basecamp. Nate's very kind and generous family had their RV allowing the tent-bound a little reprieve from desert winds.
Still confused? Alright. We were spectating the King of the Hammers race. No, familiar as it may sound, Hammer is not referring to a cyclist. The King of the Hammers off road website titles itself as being "the World's Toughest Off Road Ultra4 Race." It entails three 65-70 mile long laps around a course in Johnson Valley OHV park that combine high speed, baja style full on desert racing and then very serious, real deal, rock crawling up massive, near vertical walls of slippery rock. Thrown in between are incredibly steep pitches that racers fly through, seemingly unperturbed.
After hours rowdiness. After Thursday's race, those feeling like rolling over lined up to tackle crazy things like this obstacle, named "Backdoor."
Racers drive full-on, hot off the desert whoops, into serious rock crawling. Pumped up, they have to settle themselves, gear down, and attempt some composure scampering up huge, slippery boulders.
From full-on desert drifting, to then regearing and scrambling up rocks. Alan from Decline captures the action, sporting his lovely WTB hoody.
Sadly, it doesn't work out for all. Many don't finish, many crash out, many have equipment failures.
What happens when you run Maxxis tires, end over end at 60+ MPH. Don't say I didn't warn you...
What happens when you run Maxxis tires, end over end at 60+ MPH. Don't say I didn't warn you...You get a slightly different crowd from your typical mountain bike event...
Who says High Vis is just for bikes. This shot is soooo King of the Hammers - Texas flag waving in the breeze, people heaped over car tops and rocks... a real show.
But there's also some familiarity:
WTB Silverado atop at Transition TR450 at the Fox booth. Slightly different product assortment displayed at the Fox Booth than we were used to seeing. Ryan of Santa Cruz Bicycles and Saris of Bikerumor peeping big tires in the bottom left.
And amidst the noise, madness, and good times there's humanity sprinkled in. A little sensitivity between the mayhem between man and beast.
Pitbull does make 4 wheel tires, this isn't an add for them. Just a sweet Pitbull loving the attention, a moment with man's best friend in a pause from machine. Plus, Nate spicing up the shot.
Pitbull does make 4 wheel tires, this isn't an add for them. Just a sweet Pitbull loving the attention, a moment with man's best friend in a pause from machine. Plus, Nate spicing up the shot.And then it was time to go. Time to load the mottos, time to head back to the bay, back to rain, back to reality.
