Looking good on the Mountain. Really good.
Ridley is Cross
Before riding the Parlee CX, I met with Ridley and interviewed them about who they are and their bikes. I’d admired Ridleys before, at the USGP in Portland and talked with the sales team briefly. I noticed then, “lots of mud clearance,” beefy dropouts, and was enthused to take the bike out.
In this video, Todd Schmidt, Ridley USA Sales Manager tells us about a company that is Cross and their updated X-Fire
Boom Boom Out Go the Lights
Double Flat Tastic
A double flat ended the test ride before it got started. I’d asked Todd repeatedly if he was sure he wanted to send me out on clinchers and 40 PSI. He did and as soon as I hit the rocky section of the trail, “boom boom out go the lights.” While the tires hissed, I brought the bike to a quick stop. Then checked my watch and had 45 minutes left to test ride more bikes with a long walk back to the resort demo area.
Mountain Rescue was most entertained to pick up a roadie with his “road bike” on the trail. The rescuer beeped his horn the whole way down the mountain and back up with me riding shotgun. I brought back a rock as a memento of that ride and noted that hadn’t happened before to me or Todd.
Rock of Love
Flats are the reason we run tubulars or tubeless and recommend you do the same. Ridley will send us an X-Fire for a full review soon. My initial impressions were good. It’s a solid race bike, but I did not like the Ultegra’s lever for Cross and, of course, would change out those wheels for race day.
See more Ridleys in our photostream and post on the FB.
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