It is true…nothing lasts forever and all great things must come to an end. For today, I am deciding to part with one of my personal sleds. My Ventana El Terremoto 6.0 has been my go to ride for over a year now and it is time to part ways. This has been my favorite bike out of my stable up until this point because of its raw ability to handle anything you can throw...

Today seems like another great day for a custom steel builder write up. Doug Curtis of Curtlo Cycles has been custom fabricating his amazing frames for over 20 years. His reputation for having one of the best riding steel frames on the market has been earned through years of perfecting is craft. Each frame is hand made exactly to each customers needs. From Curtlo.com: From...

As lined out here in a previous post, HIP/VIP is a time when a group of us off the MTBR board get together for some great riding in the Asheville, NC and Pisgah National Forest area. This is the mecca of east coast mountain biking with more epic trails to ride than you can handle. This year we went with Bent Creek, Laurel Mountain/Pilot Rock, Black Mountain and Dupont...

Starting today…the HIP/VIP (Homers and Ventanaphiles in Pisgah) weekend begins. Here is the schedule: Friday – Industry Nine Tour followed by a Bent Creek ride Meet at I9 ~1:30 Saturday – Laurel Mountain in the morning and Black Mountain in the late afternoon Meet at Sycamore cycles at 9 am Sunday – Dupont State Forest History of HIP by JNCarpenter: Background...

Yesterday, I got in a much needed day at the trail. My Saturday was filled up with a memorial service and a company party, both of which, I was not looking forward to. I woke up on Sunday morning with the sun and low 70 degree temperatures starring at me in the face. It was going to be a great day. I went ahead and loaded up both the Moots MootoX and the Ventana El...

I finally got a chance to take a really good look at the Maxxis Ardents…mounted, weighed and measured. Bike:  Ventana El Terremoto 6.0 Front Wheel:  Chris King 20mm Hub with DT Swiss 5.1d Rim (27.8mm wide) Rear Wheel:  Chris King HD Fun Bolt with Mavic EX 823 (30mm wide) Front Fork:  Rock Shox Lyrik Coil U-Turn 115-160mm Front Tire:  Maxxis Ardent 2.6 DH 3c Rear...

For our annual HIP/VIP (Homers in Pisgah/Ventanaphiles in Pisgah) ride this year, there is a raffle to benefit the SORBA Pisgah chapter. The ride takes place May 16-18 and for more info and attendees check MTBR.com. Up for grabs are two new frames: Turner Highline – Large in black Ventana El Fuego – Small in red Rules and regs… For each item you purchase...

Fred at Wolfhound Cycles hooked me up with a set of sandblasted and powder coated XT cranks to go on the Terremoto. The black powder coat matches the frame exactly. I really couldn’t have asked for a better crankset for this frame. I was having issues with the spacing of the Race Face Atlas set that I was using.  Something about the bottom out bold design with...