The Speedbomb has continued to be money well spent; as given that a winter of sparse skiing has smoothed into a truncated and sporadic spring for floating, making the past 6 months a great time to ride bikes a lot. It was also money spent at the right time, as some good, prominent press saw the Speedbomb, Mk6, and then newly released Dirt Tracker all sell out. If you want a Stooge mountain bike of any stripe, you’ll need to wait until some time in 2025, making my bike seem less an indulgence and more an incisive, timely investment in big fun.

Things wearing out and trips beyond the local bubble have brought on a few parts changes. The 16 year old Gobi XM was getting a bit hammocky in the center, and I replaced that with a very pleasingly green Chromag Trailmaster. Initial worries about the added 14mm in claimed width have proven unfounded, and the wide nose of the Chromag climbs steep stuff well. Grips I go back and forth on, with the Ergon GA3s being much preferred for long days, while only being an issue on really steep, chunky stuff with lots of braking. The small wing on the GA3 is better in this regard than the more classic Ergon grips, but particularly with rigid forks I’ve always found the wing pesky on terrain where gravity has your grip wanting to slide down and push back. On the other hand I find the added palm support makes for subtle enhancements in balance and kinesthetics, while on the other, other hand getting the two sides at just the right and just the same angle is always a fiddly process.

Bikepacking the Bob Open in May, a route mostly on dirt roads, was a good reason for a faster rolling setup, hence the Bontrager XR2 front and Teravail Oxbow. I went through two of the Oxbow’s predecesors, the Coronado 27.5×3.0, both in the light casing, with both dying though sidewall slices, so this Oxbow is the tough casing. It is a true 3.0, and noteably taller than the XR2 on the same width rim. The tough casing has held up well thus far, as has the XR2. Both are fast rolling, and at 11-13 psi dull little impacts in a way that both plays well with the Speedbombs flex and enhances momentum once up to speed on single and double track. Relative to narrower, knobbier tires the Oxbow climbs better some places and worse in others, loose soils, talus, and bare rock being strengths, with the dusty and pebbley local trails a prominent weakness. This weakness is mirrored in braking traction, as one would expect. The best part is the Stooke having legit (1 cm+ in all directions) clearance for this combo. I get the tinest bit of chain to tire buzz when cranking hard in granny, and this is with the chainring on the innermost spot of a 94/58 triple crank, on a 122mm square taper bb. Wider rims would be fun here, but you’d have to drop a cog.

The XR2 has been impressive, with a combination good rolling speed and good grip just about everywhere I don’t think I’ve experienced in any other tire, ever. I contrast it with the Maxxis Reckon, one of my least favorite tires, which always seems to underperform in traction across the board, all while being not that much faster than a DHF. The XR2 is unquestionably faster than the Reckon, and somehow has yet to come up too short cornering or braking, even in steep chunky rocks. Naturally this tire is currently on sale, making one wonder if Trek is discontinuing it.

The shortcoming of plus tires, especially on narrow rims, is while mountain biking, which is to say pushing things on compact surfaces and in turns. As things got dusty and pebbley going into July, the braking performance of the Oxbow really became an issue, and a pair of 2.6 Butchers (pictured above) went on, the front an older Grid casing, the back a new T7 Grid Trail. These have been satisfactory and on the 30mm rims supported and precise, and I’ve not been tempted by the fatter tires. Purpose-built “bike trails” (where I do 90% of my riding, out the back door) aside, it is interesting to ponder where on backcountry trails 2.6s might be preferred to 3.0s, with the former cutting through dust, mud, and loose better, as well as being more precise taking lines through embedded rock gardens. 3.0s can have better climbing traction, as noted above, and in a lot of the more straight on and lower speed jank provide both more purchase and comfort. Again, wider rims would be worth trying.

Most significantly, I’ve never had more fun riding my bike.