baloom profile

I have not seen that anyone has posted Anarchist Mountain. This is an annual ritual for me….I go back for about a week of riding in OK every August and Anarchist Mountain is my early morning staple. The climb from Osoyoos to the rest area is about 1.25 hours for 8-9% with good pavement and you can continue from there further towards Rock Creek though the climbing mellows with some uphill and downhill thrown in for good measure. Traffic is relatively light and you will almost always meet some riding comrades on your way. Vistas during the first hour or so are to die for and if you are out early enough, you will almost certainly see deer and occasionally will see bear and rattlesnakes in the ditches. Pretty cool.

I owned a 2000 Big Hit and it had a 26 on the back. Gay fenders and all.

http://forums.freeriden.co.nz/files/2000_specialized_big_hit-bikes.jpg

Gotta say, I had no idea they called those BigHits at the the time. I thought it was an FSR DH or something like that. Good catch :)

Vegas Baby, you are so right and I am wrong. I missed that one (re: the 2001 BigHit FSR) and here is my lameass reason……if you look at the photo for the 2000 "Bighit FSR" it is essentially identical to the 1999 FSR which was Spesh's DH bike of the day. No substantive changes (except ultra cool fenders)including identical monocoque frame. If you look at photos and spec of the 2001 BigHit (they dropped the FSR part of the title in 2001) it is the 24 inch rear wheel and hydroformed tubing version which everyone will know (except for the ultracool front fender that they kept over from the 2000 version). So, just as the 2009 BigHit has little to do with its predeceasors, the 2000 version has little or nothing to do with the real version which following in 2001 and for many years after.

http://http://www.bikepedia.com/Images/image.aspx?filename=2001%20Specialized%20Big%20Hit%20FSR%20Comp.jpg

Gotta say, I had no idea they called those BigHits at the the time. I thought it was an FSR DH or something like that. Good catch :)

I was looking at a couple of BigHits the other day, and agree almost 100%. My only knock against them (for what they are) is the lack of a small chainring. It seems like the kind of bike that is likely to be the only bike for someone getting more into the sport after getting their feet wet, so it is odd that Specialized didn't include a little pedability. Am I off base here?

Yup, this was my only really significant beef but I have to modulate my opinion given that I really, really like to pedal. I was super disappointed with the lack of a front derailleur (and a dual range chainguide) which would have opened up a whole packet of new possibilities for this worthwhile ride. These would be very worthwhile mods to make if you were considering purchasing this rig.

I owned a 2000 Big Hit and it had a 26 on the back. Gay fenders and all.

http://forums.freeriden.co.nz/files/2000_specialized_big_hit-bikes.jpg

I obviously cannot speak for Specialized, but I would guess that riders willing to splash out for a frame-only probably want either an SX Trail or Demo. With the Big Hit's current "value" market placement, to anyone willing to build a bike up from a frame it lacks the appeal of either of its two siblings.

Not sure when the original Big Hit came out, but I know that as far back as 2001 (or maybe it was 2002, but I'm pretty sure it was 2001) Big Hits had 24s on the back. I assume the author was thinking the same vintage. Was there a generation of Big Hits before that?

I would agree with your fairly wise assertion re: the value (or lack there-of) of building up a bike from a value-based frame. The real value in this kind of build is that it can get someone onto the trails with pretty good gear at a much lower price point than would otherwise be possible. Spesh hits the mark in that regard.

As far as I am aware and according to my researching for this piece, the original BigHits had 24 inch hoops out back but I welcome any contrary opinions (including some proofs please, in the way of a parts spec from said bike).

Anyone recognize which trails those photos where taken on? Looks pretty nice!

All of the riding pics were on a variety of trails on Vedder Mountain.

….oh ya…..it is on tomorrow (Sunday) and the weather looks perfect for trail maintenance.

posted a little late to be marking it on our calender, isn't it?

It's never too late if it helps folks to get involved. If you enjoy riding at Vedder, even occasionally, give some thought to giving back to the great trails we have. Last year there were several folks from the Lower Mainland that trekked out and it was so much appreciated to see them step up. Karen of Boundary trail fame worked with me the whole day. If you do come out, find me and introduce yourself so I can put a name to a face…..I will be the one in charge of everything….

Mark.

Annual Vedder Mountain Trail Cleanup [HTML_REMOVED] Maintenance Day

For those wanting to earn tons of good Karma, mark Sunday April 26 on your calendar for the

How a little time will change things….a week ago friday, the trails were actually a bit dusty and the riding, superb. Wanted to ride yesterday but there was simply too much snow. Headed up again today because it was so warm today. The road up was passable with lots of water running down the surface of the road but most of the snow was gone up to just past Dilemma (so you could manage to that point with 2 wheel drive). At Hidden Pleasures the mud was impressive and there was about 3 inches of snow. Just around the corner heading up to 2 Cents, the amount of snow on the road was much deeper and the only tracks beyond this point were from a quad that managed to struggle up past this point. I perservered with my hump up the road and made it by slogging through nearly a foot of snow to be the first down 2 cents. The trail was a fun ride but definitely very wet and sketchy. Once on Hiddden Pleasures the snow gave way the wicked nasty mud which only got worse was on to TerdFerg. Things improved on Dilemma which was in reasonable shape. I would give the ride a pass for now as all trails are simply too wet to hold up well to any volume of riders.

Time to grab the saw and go do some trail work.

Rode up on Friday…….the mud was positively impressive. The new, unpacked roadowork, goodly amount of rain, thawing snow and truck traffic = spectacular mud. Once onto the trails, Skidder/Hidden Pleasures was muddier than I've seen it in a while and the 'wheel suck' meant almost coming up short on a few things I never give any thought to. Nice little adrenalin surge.

Baloom's been at the cat medicine again.

I am regularly into the cat medicine. It's what gives me an edge, though it causes me to be unduly interested in licking myself.