A Trail In The Woods, In Southern Ontario.....

What a weekend, no rain and the trails are in mint condition. There are so many trail networks that fall off the overly populated locations it makes days like these even better. Only saw 2 other riders the entire day.

A couple of re-con rides equals a perfect single track day with everything thrown in, rocks, wooden stunts, jumps, climbs etc.

I want to also thank GoPro for the deal on the replacement camera in case you were wondering why this years videos have been on the low side make this note to self.

Self.. don't see if your GoPro works under water if you have not double checked that the skeleton housing you have on is indeed the waterproof one, NOT the one with the cut outs for incoming audio.

Coulson Hill Video Teaser....

It's been a long time ( 10 + yrs ) since Tom dragged Ell & I up to do this midweek. Well the midweek is still growing and so is the network of trails. The best way to describe this place is big ring single track. You see it from the 400 just north of 88 and it has enough riding for 2 and a bit hours, lots of stunts, well marked loops and well its just different. Here is a little sneak peak and more to come.....

And yes those are arm warmers :)

Rouge River ~ The View from Here.....

Just wanted to post something to let you know I am still here, and to thank you for the emails your sending on my mum's battle. We take our time here for granted ( at times ) but it is a gift.. so make the most of it....

Updated Niner MCR pic's

What a difference the ti makes over the steel / carbon cockpit set up I was running earlier this summer.

Castellano Silk ti 29 - Long term review ( part 2 of 3 )

John put this bike together and ran it through his fit kit. When you break out the numbers this is what it looks like on paper. 17" c to c or 19.875" to top, effective tt length 24.5", head tube length 4.25", bb height 12.0", cstay 17.9", head tube angle 71.5, seat tube angle 72.0.

The bike feels perfect and I am pretty sure that this is the best fitting bike for me as I usually end up on 19" frames. I opted to go for the Potts head badge for the Mt Tam nostalgic factor and threw in a King BB and King Headset. I replaced the Thompson post & stem for Moots Open trail stem and a Blacksheep Infinity post. There was no reason to swap out the Thompson parts but spending 7 weeks in Crested Butte CO this summer and I felt the need to have some local parts bling on the bike.

Kris and I both ride 19" frames and the plan is to do a swap of frames to do some ride comparisons between his Moots x-ybb and the Silk ti 29. The welds are amazing on this bike and it is easy to see why Steve Potts is considered on of the best frame builders in the world. This bike had 2 hard crashed in CO and the ti holds up nicely. The CO terrain really takes it toll on the parts as well but no issue at all with the frame. So what would I change if I had to do it over again ? First I wish this bike had a replaceable hanger. John said he has not had one fail but I don't know maybe it is just piece of mind ? The second is I chose under top tube cable stops and I would have preferred slotted guides for the disc hose and a third ( middle ) one. The latter is easily done the only problem is I can't ever imagine what would happen that would need me to send the frame back to John but the option is there if ever comes up.

When this bike had the big Nevegal's on it and running low p.s.i's the bike floated through the ruff stuff, part of this is the ti. I have upped the stock 80mm G2 fox to 100mm and this helped as well on those long CO down hills. Back to reality and southern Ontario there really is no need for tires this big so I swap between Hutchinson Python's and Schwable Racing Ralph's. The bike weighs 25 lbs give or take and it sits at 23.5 with the I9's and Stan's Raven / Crow's. Did I need a custom bike ? no. Did I need to spend as much as I did on the frame ? no. Do I regret it ? Absolutely not. I have 2 ti bikes in the past a GT Xizang and a Dean Ace X Lite so I love the material. It is confidence inspiring, something that was lacking with the carbon frame on the Superfly. There is a lifetime warranty on the frame and in all likelihood, I will probably fail before the frame does. If your thinking about a custom bike and you have narrowed it down to ti and a 29'er I would suggest exploring this option. If you have any specific questions not covered in these 2 posts flip me a email and I will get back to you on them. In the last part of this I will make some comparisons to the Moots and also the new parts installed and finally a update on the Mavic Crossmax rear hub issues.








Update: I just received my Blacksheep Unicrown rigid ti fork just in time for the mud & leaves. Looking forward to checking it out this weekend.
The fork is a 475 mm axle to crown length and it has a 51 mm offset which mirrors the G2 geometry that the frame was built around and the Fox F29. This should be a blast to ride.

Castellano Silk ti 29 - Long term review ( part 1 of 3 )

On November 10th 2008, I got a email from John Castellano to say that my bike ' Hudson ' was en-route to me in Canada. The time frame that I was waiting prior to this email was approx 3 months. I mention this mainly because of the issues around time lines you sometimes get with small builders. John gave me a realistic time frame and finished a few weeks early. Having come off a Gary Fisher Superfly I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with John going over measurements and what I was looking for in my bike. I wanted the quick handling racy feel that the Superfly had but with a bit more comfort for the long hours in the saddle. John had already outlined what he was going to build and chose the ti tubes specifically for my weight and ride characteristics. 5 days later UPS dropped the frame off just in time for a loooong cold Canadian winter.

Over the next few months I was relegated to riding the rollers and heading outside when the snow held so the first real ride would be in April in Asheville North Carolina. My bike was built up with a xtr drive train, a Fox F-29 G2 80mm fork, Mavic Crossmax 29 and a Thompson cockpit. In the material I got with the bike John had suggested what stem length, crank length, bar width, seat offset etc. I go with and with the exception of the crank length I went with his suggestions. The bike felt great right off the get go and it took almost no time at all to love the ride.

This was my first time on a soft tail so I was not sure what to expect with that but Kris had a Moots YBB and loved it ( he's since replaced it with the 29" version ) With just under 2" of travel it is perfect for what I was trying to achieve. The flat plate chain stays are almost ( side ) flex free and the suspension feels active all the time. Under the boot are 2 separate CDE elastomers with grease ports for lubing ( Jonnisnot Syringe was included ) and under the ti shock body there is a sag adjuster to adjust the pre-load. A Shimano bb tool or a 19 mm socket can be used for this.

John suggests after a few rides that you adjust the sag as the CDE's will start breaking in. I set the sag to .5" and it felt great. The elastomers typically last a year and can be replaced with different supply spring rates. Lubing the CDE's is supposed to happen every 20 hours or so of riding although the rubber boot does a great job of keeping mud and dirt out and off of the shock. What I love about this design is the no fuss set it and forget it. No pivots to loosen up, no pivots squeaking, bushing slop etc.

Another good feature with the chainstays is the tire clearance. On a recent trip to Colorado these easily fit the Kenda Nevegal 29 x 2.2's I ran with room to spare. We will come back to Colorado in part 2 of this review.

Meanwhile back in Ontario this bike really shines. Smooth fast tight single track and this bike feels like it is a slot car. The fit is perfect and it climbs like a goat. The small amount of travel really lets the back wheel hook up on the steep ups. I have been able to put almost 2000 km on this bike so far this year and the bike has been to North Carolina, Crested Butte, Gunnison, Fruita, North Dakota and all over southern Ontario so it has seen pretty much every possible kind of terrain one would throw at a mountain bike. Lots of parts have changed since the first build. Some for preference, some for necessity. My Mavic Crossmax 29'er rear hub blew up on me and the scoring inside the cassette body left us scratching our heads. These have been replaced with a set of Industry Nine's on Stan's Z 355's. I will post the outcome of this once they return from Mavic's warranty department.


The Avid Juicy Ultimates that came over from the Superfly have also been upgraded to the Hope Tech x2's. The Avids were good but after you got past the set up ' quirks ' with the Hope's. WOW! In the part 2 of this I will spend a bit of time on what makes this bike truly stand out, the workmanship. Steve Potts of WTB fame is the welder and John Castellano who originally did these bikes for Ibis ( silk ti & bow ti ) and has this baby patented really are masters of their craft and all you need to do is look at the frame for reminders of this fact. I made reference to the name of this bike as Hudson earlier in this article. John does not put serial numbers on his frames. So you get to name the bike and Potts engraves it under the bb shell. Hudson takes the name from my riding buddy who passed away with canine cancer back in 08'. It's only fitting that this grey ghost bear the name of the O.G.

Castellano Silk Ti 29-Blacksheep-Moots-Mavic-XTR

Castellano Silk Ti 29 ( welded by Steve Potts )