Have you been on a Mission?

To someone that's been around the bike industry for a while, when you hear the name Diamondback you think a couple of things. Great value and solid design execution. It's nice, but it's only "nice".

That is the past. Add performance to DB's resume.

I've been able to put some miles on a DB Mission in different environments, and I wholeheartedly love it. (If it was bad, I wouldn't do this. Ask me in person for bikes I think are bad and I'll be happy to tell you.)
Regardless of the published weights, the one I've ridden weighs 33.2lbs w/Mallet pedals, WTB Tires, Lock-on grips, some Lizard Skin covers and a simple bottle cage for night rides. It hides it's weight well, as it's centered low between the axles.
I've ridden it in Bootleg Canyon, on Fullerton Loop and a big loop in Chino Hills park so I have some experience with it. It is truly an All-Mountain bike, but different from most others out there it goes exactly where you point it. Usually when you have six inches of travel the ride gets floppy on side-to-side flex; not here. I have been exactly "railing" thru corners on it, and loving that!
Climbing with a 33lb bike is guaranteed to help you see the sights, as you'll be doing it longer. Due to the platform options on the suspension, you can ascend without the bike going all "Sewing Machine" on you- READ THE MANUALS! For most folks I'd suggest setting all the headset spacers to the top of the stem, and adjusting it up from there. If you'll be doing zero XC rides, you might want to go with a shorter stem. The Medium comes with a 100mm, which is pretty lengthy for about anything now-a-days. I like it though.
According to Rock Shox recommendations, I should be running no less than 120lbs o' air in the fork. In order to get the right amount of sag (~25% when I'm on it) I'm down to 100lbs. I'm sure it's a "wear-in" thing. The rear shock set up very easy, body weight= air pressure. The rear shock manual is on a CD-ROM, so a rapid assembly/tuning step will be slowed for the mechanic a little.
Ride Summary- Under hard braking it does not stink-bug. When I'm landing off stuff it it sucks 'em up. On uphills it's a stable horse, and corners accurately. When I've spun it thru the gears on a Fire Road it's not jittery. If you have not ridden one yet, I'd strongly suggest it.
BTW- If you're looking for a Mission 2 on the west coast, you must come to Sport Chalet! We snagged all of 'em!

Review- Santa Cruz Chameleon

I've been trying to get one of these for years, and finally found it locally.
Q- What do you normally want in a Hardtail bike?
A- Reasonable Weight, Versatile set up, responsive under power, etc. I 've owned a few FR-HT's (Kona Scab, Kona Stuff, etc) and had forgotten how they rode. The Chameleon reminded me of how all bikes should handle. I messed around with my fork during today's ride, and it took it all in stride. Most bikes get squirrely or slow when you wind a fork from 90 to 130mm travel, not this one. The handling was great, and it is reasonably light weight. However- it is not a frame that is built for comfort. No my friend, comfort is ignored. If you've ever sat on a skateboard and felt the sidewalk clack underneath as you rolled (Maybe even with the old-school steel wheels?), you know exactly how directly this frame communicates to you. There is absolutely zero flex, and no dead-weight so this thing just leaps when you're dancing on the pedals. Due to the wide chainstays, I had to build it with a 118mm Isis spindle to clear the cranks vs. c-stays. This messed up my chainline, so I used a 2-chainring set up. I plan on hopping around with this, so that works out fine with the bash ring.

The rear facing dropouts will easily take any amount of torque that I can muster, but do complicate wheel removal. I got used to that with a Klein, I'm used to it today. They must be really handy to those that use this frame for single-speeding. Single-speed bikes are supposed to take five years off your life, as they're challenging to ride UP hills; I'm not interested in that.

I like it a lot, honestly. We sell very similar bikes from Marin and other companies, I'll remember easier to recommend this class of bike to a customer. The stiff ride will kick the snot out of me on a big XC ride, but I'll deal with that when it comes.

You see the nicest people at Interbike

You may know him. This is Tom Piszkin from store 6. I was pretty proud when we came out with these shirts, but to see Tom walking the show in one was a very nice moment. This is one of the ones from three years ago, and it still looks sharp. He's out there "Representin' ", makes me wish I'd brought mine and worn it.

BTW- Tom is THE guy behind the triathlon bike company Titanflex. He has his own bike company, is a renowned Coach and he works with us. He's a busy guy, and cares for this uniform shirt enough to wear it at the show.

Tom inspires me to work even harder. He sets a fine example for us all.

Conf Call = Success

We just wrapped it up, and things went well. This format is different from an on-site meeting in that your thoughts and energy go out to a group that sits quietly. So if you are hitting home runs or clockin' strikes the feedback is almost the same.

What we're getting via email and calls is all good, with requests for more of these. That's the true response we'll focus on.

Department Head Conference Call

Due to recent business updates, we are working on scheduling a Conference Call for all Dept Heads (Or delegates). Projected date and time will be Thursday Oct 12 at 10am, and is likely to run as long as two hours.

Definitely speakerphone stuff! It will be a paid event for one person per store, do not dial in on a cell phone due to the time factor.

Tell about new vendors?

Until we have signed contracts, I don't know "Nothing about nothin".
However, if you like word-scrambles maybe you'll figure something out...

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Interbike On Dirt Demo Sept 25 and 26

This event is held by the vendors so anyone can test any vendors bikes. Road Bikes, BMX bikes, Recumbents, they had it all. The event expo area had over 57,000 sq. ft. of display space filled, so there was a lot to do. I liked to hear people come back from rides and talk about how good or how bad the bike was. The reviews did often not match the reputation of the manufacturer, it was very interesting.
They had a free shuttle service from the Sands Convention Center to Bootleg Canyon. We waited in line an hour and a half to get on the bus the first day, and just drove ourselves out on day two. There were numerous "Show Specials", so you own the product for a great price. When nature called the Desert Heat really worked you over in the porta-potties, maybe you can tell from RJ's expression.