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Iwan Kemp

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Posted

 

How's the Vipa going?

Superb.

I will rabbit on a bit more later when I can get in front of a proper keyboard. Took her out yesterday, rode from the Arboretum up to Silvermine and back, and started feeling more at ease and started to get faster (thats a bit relative) and smoother. What a bike.

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Posted
Oh wow Crow, did you lend it out to Mark? Can't think of anyone more deserving! Nice one!!

 

Feel the difference Mark? See, it is the bike.

Oh yes he did and instantly tripled the value of my landy when we loaded it in there.

On that bike I can nearly keep up with Ben on the hills. Nearly. And it does make the descents slightly less panic stricken and screamy.

Posted

Just got the new bike... difficult 2 weigh on the bathroom scale, but definately under 11kg... 10 - 10.6kg... that is including wheels with slime and peddals and bottle cage! X01 with SID 100mm fork and the fox ctd evolution rear! No idea how to post a picture of the SEXY vipa with the new black SID fork!! Gonna take her out 4 a spin 1st thing in the morning!

Posted

Just got the new bike... difficult 2 weigh on the bathroom scale, but definately under 11kg... 10 - 10.6kg... that is including wheels with slime and peddals and bottle cage! X01 with SID 100mm fork and the fox ctd evolution rear! No idea how to post a picture of the SEXY vipa with the new black SID fork!! Gonna take her out 4 a spin 1st thing in the morning!

That's quite a Christmas..
Posted

Right here goes with my mini* review of the Momsen Vipa that Crow was kind enough to lend to me.

We met at Tokai and after a few minutes chatting and adjusting saddle height, and adding a frankly insulting pair of pedals to the wonderous looking piece of machinery before me, we set off for a slow meander up the trails of Tokai.

The first thing I noticed was a bloody great snake crossing the track just by the boom, heading straight for my completely oblivious son, after a bit of yelling Ben speeded up just as the snake had a change of heart and buggered off back into the bushes. A little later Crow and I had a chat and reached the, completely reasonable, conclusion that the snake was not a cobra but a fully domesticated and house trained grass snake. It just felt better to believe that.

First thing I noticed about the bike was the wheel size, having never ridden anything bigger than a medium framed 26’er the 29 inch hoops attached to a large frame looked, to be honest, bloody mammoth. I may have made a feeble joke about clowns, exploding wheels and confetti… But it didn’t take long to come to terms with the wheels and start enjoying the easy pedalling of the Vipa as it chewed (slowly thanks to the weak link known as Mark) up the jeep track.

Next thing I noticed was it is light, very light. This made climbing a new experience for me – I wasn’t weeping, growling and swearing all the time and my son, who usually disappears into the distance, could still just about be seen. We eventually meandered our way up Vasbyt in a serene manner and all was going well until a really cool guy (he must have been cool – he was dressed all in black) decided to have a pop at us for riding up a downhill track. I pointed out that he was incorrect and as there were no witnesses I absolutely deny swearing at him and calling him an “old arse”. It didn’t happen and anyway he was wrong despite being more cool than a really cool thing.

On the way up Vasbyt I found the pedalling, obstacle clearance and steering somewhat easier than I normally do with the 15 or so kg’s of pig Iron that I normally ride. However I did, initially at least, misjudge a few turns and stumble a few times. My fault entirely and in part I put it down to the wide handlebar that I wasn’t used to. As I got past the top of Vasbyt and entered Bluegum I managed to misjudge the size of the bars** on a couple of occasions and clipped a few trees on my way through. All rider error and something I needed to get used to.

After reaching the end of Bluegum we hit the jeeptrack and worked our way through to Boomslang via Puffadder (BTW aren’t these names just great). The bike really came into its own here. A lot more comfortable that my entry level homicidal maniac, rolling along really well and when grip was needed on the short climb up Puffadder it didn’t disappoint.

Then on to Boomslang. I was tentative descending the singletrack (I really, really didn’t want to break this thing) and didn’t help myself by using the dropper post and lowering the saddle so far that when I did try to sit and pedal my knees were around the same height as my ears. There is a time and a place for having your knees around your ears but this, without question, was not it. I looked ridiculous. I normally do but this day I had made a special effort. Having said that the bike offered great grip and, to me at least, quick and precise steering. The rear shock ironed out most of the bumps that normally have my bike in a sort of angry state with me and the brakes were fantastic with good stopping power but plenty of feel. A special mention here must go to the twist grip gear change set up, this was something I had always regarded as something for kids that struggle with ‘real’ gear set ups and mechanisms. How wrong can you be? In my case very as it turned out as gear changes were easy and slick and I found the twist grip meant I could concentrate more on the track and less on what my clumsy fingers were doing. It also helped being on a bike that would drop down just the one gear at a time rather than the three mine usually tries for.

On the way back down we covered Bluegum, Vasbyt and as Crow peeled off for My Roots, Ben and I headed down through Fairy Garden. All the way down I could feel the bike offered better grip, steering and smoothness than I am used to but I was still reluctant to push hard as I really was concerned about binning somebody else’s bike.

All in all the Vipa is a thing of beauty to look at and the ride is stunning.

Since Saturday I have been out every day up and down Tokai and by midway through the second outing I was moving much faster and the bike gave me the confidence to push harder just about everywhere. You can just feel that it will not let you down and if anything daft happens it is going to be down to rider error (always an option when I am around). On one trip I took it from the Arboretum up to Silvermine and it was a breeze climbing up there I then ran through every piece of singletrack I could find on the way down.

I have been told by she who must be feared that I have to stay at home on Christmas day, not going to happen. I am going to grab every chance I can to put some miles on this beauty before I have to return her to the rightful owner.

In short I can’t say enough nice things about the bike or its owner who must be mildly mental to let me loose on his pride and joy. Thanks Crow!

*My idea of ‘mini’ may be somewhat wrong.

**Those wide bars really do make sense after a couple of rides

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Posted

Crow. You must be crazy... but good! :thumbup:

Posted

Went for another ride on the Vipa today with Crow before handing it back. I had planned to bolt out of the carpark area and try and make a bid for freedom with the bike but had stupidly left all my belongings in Crow's car. Clearly not cut out to be a criminal mastermind...

The ride itself took in Cobra (a lot of wimping and walking from me there), through mamba, Boomslang, vasbyt, Your Roots and Fairy Garden. How big a difference does a decent bike make? I experimented by timing myself down Bluegum and Vasbyt on my bike and then again on the Vipa (Im odd like that) and after two sessions with the Vipa I was just shy of two minutes faster. That is big.

At some point in the ride bikes were swapped and I found myself pointing an Ibis down the mountain and attacking the trails with the complete lack of style that is my signature. I was pleased though, when waiting at top of Boomslang, to see a guy exiting Mamba with a more terrified look than I had managed. A victory...

Once again thanks to Crow for letting me loose on his pride and joy and dont forget I have placed a pre-order on whatever exotic bike passes through you hands next.

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