Went to Vegas last week for work 8Oand managed to get a day’s riding in. 😛

Thanks to tip offs from here (cheers ‘oli2001’) I got in touch with All Mountain Cyclery who loaned me a 2012 Stumpjumper 29er.
They gave me a map and told me to go get lost in the canyon!?

The lads in the shop were brilliantly helpful; reversed the brakes for me, set up the suspension, switched pedals and generally told me how ‘sick’ the trails are.
Actually, they thought my English accent was ‘sick’ and my Howies merino jersey was even ‘sicker’!

After a short road climb I was very quickly hurtling along dusty singletrack. The terrain was pretty intimidating; very very loose, big sharp rocks, and sudden drops. There were some short steep valleys that needed a a committed and quick descent if you were to shoot out the other side… the shop guys called the big gullies ‘G-bombs’!

Despite being my first ride on a 29er, the first thing I noticed was not the wheel size, but the tyre pressure. They were pumped pretty hard to avoid pinch flats (i normally ride low pressure tubeless).
The next thing I noticed was the bar width – this 2012 bike comes with 720mm.
Once used to those striking differences, I began to notice the larger wheels. There were some tight, fairly technical (to me) switchbacks and the bike did feel marginally cumbersome, but only for an hour or so till I got used to steering input.
What was noticeable was how easily the bike rolled over the sometimes very rocky bumps. I found I could carry speed and just hammer through lazy lines.

I really enjoyed the ride once I’d spent a coupe of hours with the bike. It may be that it’s just a better bike that my 26er (Boardman FS Team). The Spesh is more than double the cost after all… but it may be that the 29er wheels were really well suited to the local terrain.
Either way it was great to fully test a new format and come out smiling.

I’d really recommend Bootleg Canyon to anyone in the Vegas area. The drive from the ‘Strip’ was half an hour and once up the hill, you feel like you are out in the wilderness!

I saw a group of rams when I was a few miles from any other civilisation!

Loved this sign…

Dusty, dry trails… but Vegas does not do hosepipe bans. 😳

The following day I went and shot an AK47, which was quite a laugh.

In summary, Vegas is nuts. To stay sane if/when you go, I urge you to take a trip out to Boulder City and have a spin around the Canyon. It will definitely make you smile.
And if you do get to try a 29er for the first time, don’t worry, the wheels may not explode!

Good story and pics, looks fun.

Great little adventure 8)

Then back to UK mud and weather…few more months yet ’till dusty trails.

Some great pictures. I loved Vegas, wouldn’t rush back though! Everyone should visit once.

looks cool, wish id have thought about renting a bike when i was over there last summer. shot me the dirty hary pistol at the gun store as well 😀

Love those trails.

Am bumping this for the evening crowd as a shameless way to drive some traffic to my wanted ad below:

I am searching for a 700c disc front wheel here.
😉

I also have a this for sale:
Rabobank Pro Jersey.

Sorry for the cheeky bump! 😳

DUSTY TRAILS HERE IN ne sCOTLAND……….and welcome to the 29″ train of thought…….