Thank you for the writing and the beautiful pictures! A gorgeous bike! There may be a Gus in my future. Randy in Wisconsin
On Tuesday, May 24, 2022 at 1:00:32 AM UTC-5 Erik wrote: > After a long wait, I was finally able to pick up my new Gus Boots Willsen > frame from Riv headquarters this past week. As I've mentioned here before, > I purchased a large Susie from a list member last year knowing that I was > pushing the intended weight envelope. The bike was beautiful, but I > decided that I would try to pick up a Gus for the stouter tubing and 11/8 > steering tube. I wanted to be able to load the thing up and take it on > multi-day camping trips as well as tackle the roughest trails in my neck of > the woods. > > I have been a mountain biker for most of my life, since I started riding > back in the late 80s, and wanted a bike to replace what I knew would be my > last full-suspension beast, a lovely Salsa Horsethief. I sold the Salsa > last year after deciding that I was starting to prefer the simplicity and > fun of a rigid bike. I had my Atlantis set up as a mountain-ish / > hillibike with 2.2 Trail King tires and Bullmoose bars. I was riding that > bike on most of my local trails but wanted a bike that could handle much > larger tires and was more purpose-built for heavier off-road duty. > > First Impression: so worth the wait! I've got the bike set up with my > dream build, a mix of White Industries hubs/ Cliffhanger wheels built by > Rich, Paul Motolite brakes and Box Car stem, White Industries 1x crank set, > Garbaruk 11-50t cassette, Tumbleweed Persuader bars, Terravail 2.5 tires, > and more. I've taken the bike out for a couple of rides since I completed > the build on Saturday and am finding it perfectly suited to the sort of > riding I lean toward. > > I live in the Napa Valley and took it out to Moore Creek Park near St. > Helena on Sunday. The trails in the lower part of the park are newer, with > some really smooth sections, and are beautifully carved into the topography > of the hills. There's even a short flow trail section. The Gus was really > happy on all of this terrain. I don't do jumps anymore, but the banked > turns and rollers on the flow trail were a blast on the bike! Despite the > size and length of the bike, it handled really nicely on all of the > singletrack. Maybe not as snappy as some of my old aggressive geometry > mountain bikes, but consistent with a 29" wheeled bike. It felt smooth and > stable. I think some of this is down to the wheelbase and some to the > high-ish trail steering. Whatever the case, it's beautifully balanced and > rides like water flowing downstream. Unfortunately, I had a problem with > my seat post not wanting to stay put. In my haste to get it fixed on the > trailside, I broke the seat post binder bolt and had to finish out the ride > not using my seat. Great leg exercise, but not a good way to test out the > handling characteristics of the bike. :) > > This evening I took it out to Skyline Park in Napa where they held World > Cup races back in the 90s and single speed world championships more > recently. I remember watching in awe as Tinker Juarez, Thomas > Frischknecht, Paola Pezzo, and all of the 90s XC stars climbed the trails > in massive gears at unbelievable speeds during the world cup races. I > hadn't realized it was possible to go that fast uphill on those trails! I > certainly didn't set any land speed records tonight or even come close to > World Cup speeds, but was able to get the bike out onto some really rough, > rocky, technical terrain and put it through its paces. I was surprised at > how easily I climbed some of the toughest sections in the first mile > between the western entrance by Napa Valley College and the main part of > the park. That 1.5-mile stretch is really rough and really fun. Some > shots are below. I walked one very technical section in particular but was > able to climb and ride everything else with ease and enjoyed myself > immensely. The Paul brakes and dialed in perfectly and give me incredible > control. > > The bike handled moderate speeds on trails with lots of ruts and > coconut-sized rocks. without any trouble. It tracked really nicely and > stayed on my intended lines climbing and descending. The only limitations > were my lungs and nerves. I ride a bit slower and more carefully without > suspension but it's just as fun and is a great mental exercise, like > putting together a big spatial puzzle as I decide what the bike is capable > of riding over or between. > > So, just a couple of rides, but it's exactly what I hoped for. Just > enough flex to be fun, big tires (running tubeless and pretty low psi) to > soak up the bumps, low top tube for graceful quick dismounts, and a long > wheelbase and high trail steering...and it's gorgeous. I ran by Riv > headquarters today so Will could help me troubleshoot the slipping seat > post and replace the binder bolt. He ended up riding it around the > building and taking a whole bunch of photos. I am really flattered that he > posted them up on the site! I love how the build turned out. It's really > pretty and highly functional. It's all covered in a thick layer of dust > tonight, but was fairly clean when the shots were taken. > > https://www.rivbike.com/blogs/grant-petersens-blog/eriks-large-gus > > Next up: I'm headed up to the northern Sierra Nevada this weekend and will > be taking it on the trails and fire roads near Quincy. The trails are > really different up there and offer a LOT of climbing. I'm going to put > the Tumbleweed rack on and set it up with some bags and gear to try out > some medium loads on day trips around our cabin. The tumbleweed rack > includes three mounting holes on each leg to attach big cargo cages. I > picked up two King Cage Manything cages and have a couple of Big M.U.T. > bags on order from Randijo Fabrications. WIth those two bags on the > Manything, a frame bag, handlebar bag, and large saddlesack, I should be > able to carry a lot of gear. It's going to be a fun summer with the new > bike! > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7c141162-a9e8-41e9-9829-d6f80cc8820cn%40googlegroups.com.
