Pedal Review: Xpedo Faceoff 18

I have been using Xpedo brand pedals for a few years now. I most recently switched back to flats. I bought two different models, the Face-off 18's and the Spry. This review will cover the Face-off 18 as I am still testing the Spry (and loving them).

So a little about the brand, Xpedo makes many different pedals that bear different names and have been in the pedal making business a lot longer than most people think. Have you heard of Wellgo? Think of Xpedo's as a high class Wellgo.

Anyways here are the specs from Xpedo: MSRP $99

Weight:	385g
Body:	6061 CNC Aluminum
Spindle:	CroMo
Bearings:	1 Cartridge
Bushings:	1 DU
Pins:	20 Replaceable straight pins per pedal
Size:	99x100x22 (mm)
Colors:	Black/Silver, Red/Pearl White, Gold/Navy Blue

When my pedals arrived I was very happy with the feel of the bearings as well as the light weight feel of the pedal. My bike has a low bottom bracket height and my main concern is a low profile pedal that I can minimize strikes as I am pushing up or down the mountain. The main concern I had with this pedal was its durability. It seemed to have a lot of space for rocks and branches to get caught up in and this did happen a few times. To my surprise no damage besides scrapes resulted from my encounters with rocks and twigs. 

These pedals have a fairly good sized platform but a lack of pins, or should I say the pins lack grip, they are round and flat and when it gets wet out or when I hit that rough rock garden I lost a little confidence. 

I am hard on my gear and these pedals might not be suited for the all mountain/Enduro/Downhill guy.  I think better pins would make a difference. 

Pros:

Price

Weight

Platform Size

Cons:

Durability

Pins (Lack of/pin design)

Thinkness/profile

Bottom Line: I am again an all mountain rider, I like going down trails fast and hard, but I need to climb to get there. I would not purchase this pedal again for myself but think it would be a great upgrade for someone maybe more trail oriented or someone who doesn't want to make that leap to clipless. 

Tire Review: Schwalbe Hans Dampf

(Front after 500 miles)

I have had Hans Dampf 26 x 2.35 TrailStars mounted on my Knolly Chilcotin for a few months now. The Trail Star is the softer durometer tire. I recently purchased a new rear Pace Star, medium durometer. (both pics are of the trail star) I run these on Stans Flow Ex wheels, tubeless of course, 22 psi front, 30 psi rear. (I am a heavy rider)

A little about the tire; they are very true to there size. They come in around 700-800 grams according to Schwalbe. Which is respectable for that large of a tire. So down to the nitty gritty. These tires are great when riding loose over hardpack conditions. I wouldn't put a trail star on the back again as I ride a lot of rock gardens and dry conditions. These tires hook up great in the corners when your air pressure is set right, can get loose if ridden to high...I know thats common sense but these seem to be very touch with just a few pounds to much.

The biggest complaint I have about the Hans Dampf is the price and the durability. Durability will be an issue with any "soft" tire though so I just choose the harder compound (pace star) for the rear. The tread pattern is excellent and has been used by many name brand companies.

Pros:
Great selection, 3 or 4 different durometers
Good cornering, transitional tread is great
Easy tubeless set up.
Fast Rolling

Cons:
PRICE ($70 on Arts)
Durability
Air Pressure sensitive.

All in all this a great tire from a great company, if you are not worried about dropping $70 per tire and you understand that softer, grippier tires mean less life you won't be disappointed. I personally am going to try the Magic Mary's next. I want something similar but a little more aggressive so I the MM's will fit the bill.

(Rear after 500 miles)

Picking the Right Mountain Bike Tire

Well the age old question....which mountain bike tire should I buy? This is actually easier than you think. There are a few things you need to consider. First and foremost what kind of riding are you doing and second what is the trail condition? Are you riding in superb hero dirt every day or are you riding on the dry loose over hardpack that you see a lot here in the Bay Area?

Another thing you need to think about is your budget, as we all know there are tires out there that can run upwards of $90 each. What makes these tires $90, well one thing is, people buy them so why not charge that much if people will pay for it.

The next biggest thing in the price difference is the tires durometer, or hardness, in most cases a softer tire is going to "stick" to the trail better, but with softer compounds comes left tire life, they will wear out faster. But on the other hand a tire that is harder might last longer but it won't grip the trail as well.

Another thing that I have learned over the years is all the big name tire companies copy each other....I know crazy right...but look at some of the favorite tread patterns out there, Schwalbe Hans Dampf, WTB Vigilante, Kenda Nevegal, Conti Trail King, Maxxis High Roller...Not exactly the same but close enough.

With that said I think the next thing you need to look at besides price is how well they fit on your wheelset, for example, the WTB TCS line of tires is extremely hard to get on and off a Stans Flow EX.

So, back to trail conditions. If you are an all mountain, trail rider and riding on loose over hard pack I would take a look at a tire that has a medium to soft durometer with good transitional treads, these are the knobs between the edge of your tire and the center knobs. These transitional knobs will help prevent that loose feel while cornering. Schwalbe Hans Dampf is a great example of this. In the summer I run the PaceStar compound (Medium) on the back and the TrailStar (soft) on the front. This seems to work well on loose over hard pack conditions.

I am not a Schwalbe fanboy by any means, they came on my bike and I can get them at cost, if I had to pay full price I would not use them, I would most likely run on some Maxxis High Roller II's.

SOOO to recap;
1. Budget
2. Type of Riding
3. Trail Conditions
4. Wheelset compatibility
5. Durometer

Don't forget you can find similar tread patterns from all manufactures, you like most things in life are paying for the name and advertising.

Big Rock Trail Review, Lucas Valley, Marin County

Big Rock trail head is located in Lucas Valley. You can't miss it, off US 101 you take the Lucas Valley exit and head West. When you see a "big rock" on your right park. You will see the trail on the North side of Lucas Valley Rd, and a trail to the South. Big Rock is to the North, again, next to the big rock. Loma Alta Fire Rd is to the South and we can touch on that trail later, it leads to the infamous "680" trail. 

So once your all geared up and ready you can begin your 1400 foot climb to the "Towers".  It is around 3.5 miles from the Rock to the Towers. This trail is not technical but it can test your stamina and legs. A VERY FIT and VERY FAST rider can get to the top in 30 minutes or less. An average rider can expect anywhere from 45-70 minutes to the top. 

Well over half this ride is on open singletrack, only the top 1/4 is fire road. I did this trail as an up and back but it can be a very long loop if you decide to go past the towers and ride the ridge trail East, there are tons of trails and possibilities so to keep this simple I will just discuss the up and back. 

Back to the trail, it is a very well groomed trail, nothing technical, just some steep sections and some leg burners. I wouldn't say this is a an advanced climb but maybe a little intense for beginners or younger kids. 

This like most trails is a multi-use trail and is used more by hikers than Mountain Bikers usually. OK, so back to the trail, so once you fight through the singletrack leg burners you come to a wood fence (see picture) and you have an awesome view of Lucas Valley as well as Skywalker Ranch....you feel relieved and happy....you saddle back up and pedal around the corner and see the Fire Road "wall"....ughhhh, thats right you have about half a mile of fire road left with three steep short sections to battle through...you can see the towers...just focus and pedal you will be there before you know it. 

Once to the top you will ride past the big tower and from there you can look to the North and see all of Novato or to the South and see all of Lucas Valley, great views!! 

Now the fun begins, you get to go down what you just pushed up. Great sight lines and not technical. It is easy to get going very fast and like I mentioned before there will be hikers so be careful and ride with control.