img: http://www.flickr.com/photos/reggio/36187400/

The Trek Scratch was one of the bikes that rode perfectly. The BB height , head angle options (yes options 66 or 66.5 degrees) and chain stay length lead to flawless handling. The model I rode was set with coil springs and in spite of the associated weight it just rolled up the loose gravel road at Bootleg Canyon like a 28 lb XC bike. In fact while riding in the middle ring Andrew Shandro (from Trek Design team) and I were able to have a decent conversation about the purpose of the bike. We both believe that for a bike to be truly considered a trail bike it must climb well

Source: nsmb.com/3320-trek-scratch-ridden

See a replay of the mens finals:

Trek Bike Attack: the most fun on a bike!

YEAH! Bike Attack is my new favorite event! It’s on my for-sure list for next year and I’ll tell you why. The Trek Bike Attack is a 20km enduro downhill race with 2000 meters of descending and 140 meters of climbing. Starting at 2861 mtr  at the Rothorn and arriving at Churwalden at 1240 mtr.

Profile of the Trek Bike Attack race

On Saturday is a qualifying race, the result places you in the grid for the race on Sunday. If you don’t qualify  (eighter not participate or not finish) you have to start from sector 0, with about 600 people in front of you. Oh, and the qualifier finishes at the ‘tallstation’ of the Rothornbahn (1500 mtr) and is about 8km’s long.

Goodbye, my beloved Conti’s

My friend and I did a few training runs in the morning before having to qualify in the afternoon. Ilja had a total of 4 flats during these training-runs and I felt blessed I was spared the inconvenience. But oh… I should have known better…

Ilja bought brand spanking new Nokian DH type tyres, because the Mountain Kings weren’t keeping up with the pace. The Nokians kept perfectly btw! He finished the qualifier in 26 minutes and placed himself in the 6th sector on the grid.

http://www.sportograf.de/bestof/607/index.html

My qualifying race was terrible! All the flat’s Ilja suffered that morning, I had to catch up on in the race… unfortunately. I had 2 inners with me, but a 3rd flat was enough to prevent me from finishing. I walked back to the middle station and took the lift down. There I also bought new Nokians, only to discover I had shredded my beloved Mountain Kings to pieces… If I had listened to myself (in the review I stated: “not suitable for downhill”) and or checked the tires for wear and tear before the qualifier, I might have found myself in a better sector. I now had to close the line in the final sector. But yeah… I wasn’t there to win, or was I. I was stoked for Sunday though. Race day here we come!

Race day

Like the Megavalanche, the Trek Bike Attack is well organised and racers are invited on top of the Rothorn in stages. They all kept to the schedule and the mountain was filled well in time. This meant however having to wait a long long time. We took the post-bus to Rothornbahn and arrived at the middle station around 9:30. Way too early, so we chilled in the alpine meadow and arrived at the Rothorngiphel around 11:00. Again, way to early, because the race starts at 13:00 so we just bored and waited and waited.

12:45 all racers reported in the right sectors and after the briefing the starting-signal sounded promptly at 13:00. The poor sods in sector 7 took the time to see Wildhaber sprint away and disappear before we even took one step forwards. Finally there was movement in the crowd and we slowly moved foreward. We actually had to walk as far as the tiny bit of snow we had to cross and what I noticed that the spirit was “gemütlich”. No elbows, no shouting and most people smiling and making fun of the situation: having to walk down the hill. Past the snow we could get some pedal-strokes in, but had to get back in line on the next singletracks.

http://www.sportograf.de/bestof/607/index.html

Arriving at ‘the gallery’ I could seriously get into gear (praise the “Joplin”) and I actually got competitive passing people and not being to polite about it. I found that being polite doesn’t get you anywhere. They eighter don’t hear you or don’t care and in the worst case care a lot of being passed by a woman. So I continued shouting “left!!!” and was on my way. You would find ‘traffic’ at every ‘technical’ piece or singletrack, the biggest traffic jam was is the nice rocky singletrail near the middle station. It was going really well until there, I passed quite a few people and even caught up with my friend Ilja. We walked the singletrail together and moved on separately from there. He eventually crashed and lost an contact lens, having to continue with one lens.

I made it past the middlestation at about 25 minutes, which got me stoked even more. Rushed through the very nice berms towards the ‘tallstation’ and discovering what 140 mtr of climbing actually feld like… like blowing up!

140 mtr uphill is nasty!

It was hot, bloody hot. Did I say the forecast was awful? Couldn’t have been more wrong, sun sun sun and about 30º walking up because you blew yourself up in the first half. But I didn’t care, this first half is the most fun you could have on a bike and I was very happy with my riding there (and the Nokians did splendidly, not as grippy as the Mountain Kings, but perfectly grounded the Remedy with their excessive weight).

I took my time in the climbs, trying to recover and save some energy for the final km’s downhill. The second half has a few km’s through the woods, with roots and singletrail, and ends with a very nice steep downhill. I gave the Remedy full control and it rushed down like a maniac. With it’s owner smiling like a maniac. Pushed the final km on the pedals towards the finish and crossed the line 29th in the women’s-class at 1.13 hrs.

Give me more!

Giving the fact I started at the end of the line, this made me feel like a million bucks. I passed a fair amount of people, and finished in a decent time if you ask me. Next time I’m back with a hunger to finish the qually in say 30 to 25 minutes and having to start in a proper sector on the grid. Yes, I am competitive, but just as long as my passion for riding goes. I want to do as well as I am capable of, and I have a strong feeling there is room for improvement.

The Trek Bike Attack is less technical then the Megavalanche, but way more challenging then the PPdS. It’s more a downhilltrack like the qually-track off the Megavalanche is. The top 8km’s are fast, soooooooo fast!! And soooo much fun. But it’s no wonder  the Mountain Kings got shredded there, the wonder was they lasted as long as they did.

The Remedy however feld right at home, even in the fast and rocky parts. It didn’t feel too ’small’ or inadequate in any way. It’s the perfect bike for the Bike Attack, and the perfect bike for me. Only the Juicy 5’s did meet their limit and Elixirs are on their way.

Tina?

Oh, the funniest thing. Our first names are printed on our number plates, very cool for the nice people who are watching to cheer you on by name. Especially when they think it says “Tina”.

(ps. Hi Bella!)

Tanja = TINA

We are heading out there tomorrow with a campervan and expect to land somewhere friday afternoon. Might do a run on the track if we have time. Or else it’s early rise for us on saturday. 2pm the quali’s start. The Bike Attack quali’s are voluntary. It might give you a good position on sunday. For me: an extra run in the Swiss Alps included, as it’s about 1.000 km’s by car to get there. Sunday is the race with a mass start, like the Megavalanche, but as far as I can tell, not on a glacier. Which is fine, because the forecasts for this weekend are AWEFULL!

Scratch Air 6

Sizes 15.5 17.5 19.5 21.5
Color 1 Gloss White
Frame Alpha Red Aluminum w/ABP, Full Floater, alloy EVO Link, E2 tapered head tube, oversized pivot bearings, ISCG03 mounts, 142×12mm or 135×12mm rear axle, replaceable derailleur hanger, adjustable geometry, 170mm travel
Front Suspension RockShox Lyrik Solo Air w/air spring, rebound, E-2 steerer, 20QR, 170mm travel
Rear Suspension Fox Float RP-2 w/ XV air can, ProPedal, rebound; 8.5″x2.5″
Wheels Bontrager Cousin Earl Disc wheel system, 6 bolt, tubeless ready
Tires Bontrager FR-4, 2.35
Shifters Shimano SLX
Front Derailleur Shimano SLX, Direct Mount
Rear Derailleur Shimano SLX Shadow
Crankset Shimano SLX, 44/32/22
Bottom Bracket
Cassette SRAM PG950 11-34, 9 speed
Pedals
Saddle Bontrager Rhythm
Seat post Bontrager Rhythm Elite, 31.6, 5mm offset
Stem Bontrager Rhythm
Handlebars Bontrager Big Earl, 25mm rise
Grips Bontrager Rhythm Dual Lock On
Headset FSA NO.57E, E-2 , ACB sealed bearings
Brake set Avid Elixir 5 hydraulic disc
Extras Frame adapters for 135mm rear wheel

Scratch Air 8

Sizes 15.5 17.5 19.5 21.5
Color 1 Gloss Black
Frame Alpha Red Aluminum w/ABP, Full Floater, alloy EVO Link, E2 tapered head tube, oversized pivot bearings, ISCG03 mounts, 142×12mm or 135×12mm rear axle, replaceable derailleur hanger, adjustable geometry, 170mm travel
Front Suspension Fox 36 Talas R w/air spring, lockout, rebound, alloy E2 tapered steerer, 20QR, 170mm travel
Rear Suspension Fox DHX Air 4.0 w/ ProPedal, bottom out resistance, rebound; 8.5″x2.5″
Wheels Bontrager Cousin Earl Pro Disc wheel system, 6 bolt, tubeless ready
Tires Bontrager FR-4, 2.35
Shifters Shimano XT
Front Derailleur Shimano XT, Direct Mount
Rear Derailleur Shimano XT Shadow
Crankset Shimano XT, 44/32/22
Bottom Bracket
Cassette SRAM PG970 11-34, 9 speed
Pedals
Saddle Bontrager Rhythm
Seat post Crank Brothers Joplin w/ height adjustment, 31.6
Stem Bontrager Rhythm
Handlebars Bontrager Big Earl, 25mm rise
Grips Bontrager Rhythm Dual Lock On
Headset FSA NO.57E, E-2 , ACB sealed bearings
Brake set Avid Elixir R Carbon hydraulic disc
Extras Trek fork sag meter, frame adapters for 135mm rear wheel

Nice anodised details, in gear, grips and headset. The presumed ‘Slopestyle’ model SCRATCH, but it supports a double ring and mechanical seat-post (picture on top) so my guess is a Remedy on Steroids, like a Specialized SX competitor. Just when I told myself NOT to buy a new bike every year… they go and build nice new ones like this one and the Carbon Remedy 9.9.

As seen on:

• mtb-news.de/forum
• mountainbike.nl/forum
• southerndownhill.com/forum

“a new high-end model! The Remedy 9.9 features an OCLV frame: the new Fox DCRV shock (which comes on all new 2010 Remedy models) giving a very coil-like performance, Fox TALAS forks, a Crank Bros Joplin seatpost, magnesium rocker and an all up weight of 27lbs (±12.2kg)!”

2010 Trek Remedy 9.9 OCLV carbon ©Singletrackworld.com

What I can see on photo’s is that the lower-tube now has a protection plate for inbound pebbles: a very nifty finish! The Dirtrag photo’s here show the protection plate and the carbon’s almost ‘Rootbeer’ brownish colour: me like!

Protection plate 2010 Trek Remedy ©Dirtrag.com

They’ve also posted a few jaw dropping pictures of the  Remedy 8 and 9.8, I’ll post one and invite you to look at the rest on the post of Singletrackwork.com here.

2010 Trek Remedy 8 ©Singletrackworld.com

I’ve been riding with the Raceface 3/4 DH shorts for almost 3 years. These are supple, excellent length and tough as hell. Now… why do women always want to get something NEW and DIFFERENT?

The same day I shipped back the from Maloja gear, I ordered a new Raceface 3/4 DH short from Chainreactioncycles.com (here). Fashioably brown (and the only colour in my size in stock) and they look nice, fit well (even better then the old ones) and cost about half.

First new thing on my second top 9 of 2009: stick to what works. That said: I’m glad I also bought this Mace jersey (here at crc.com). I should want for dry sunny weather on saturday when I go to the Ardennes… but I want to wear these…. ;-)