Dirt Rag Magazine took a turn on the Oskar Blues Brewery born titanium Single Speed TyREEB All-Mountain Hardtail after 2012 Dirt Fest. Check out what they had to say about this Colorado small batch, hand welded American made and beer blessed rig.
“Calm and precise handling” “Geometry shines on open trails where speed and playfulness are the order of the day”. “Closer to a modern trailbike than a XC racer bike” “isn’t like everything else on the market.”
An early morning start to a big day, Eldora to Witer Park and back on 85% gnarly single track; with Lyons, Colorado’s Redstone Cyclrey crew and owner Dave Chase aka (Death march Dave)
Your game had to be on from the start, right out of the Eldora parking lot was loose, steep, Jenny Creek single track.
After more rough single track it was time for a break.
Then it was time for some serious climbing up to the tundra landscape.
As we neared the top of Rollins pass, all that stood between us and the top of the world was one steep bike and hike!
Now it was time to take in the breath taking scenery of the Colorado Rocky Mountains as we make one last push to the top of Rollins pass along the trestles.
We finally had REEB’ed to our first summit of the day, only 12 miles in, our day was really just about to get kickin.
After some major money shots, it was time to descend into Winter Park.
Once in Winter Park it was time to fuel up and get ready as more than half our REEB venture was yet to come.
Getting to Winter Park and having to ride back was not enough for Death march Dave, so after lunch we embarked up Vasquez creek road for some local single track that would eventually spit us out at Winter Park resort.
At the resort we topped off our bottles and set out on the second leg of our adventure.
After several miles of riding and pushing, it was time to truly make this an epic ride with some bush waking!
After free styling, which cut out several miles of gravel road, we were back on track and ready to summit Rollins pass once again.
We submitted the pass around 6pm. As the great divide began to cast shadows to our east, we would begin our final decent back to the start of our epic day in the saddle.
We arrived at the Eldora parking lot just minutes before dark, we clocked out with about 55 miles and 8500 feet of climbing and all this on 85% single track, not a bad day. Dave Chase and Redstone Cyclrey indead gave REEB Cycles and everyone else an epic day on the steed, thanks Dave. Huge thanks goes out to Yann of Yann photo and video for capturing the trip, check him out on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/YannPhotoVideo, and his web site at Yannphotovideo.com. Now saddle up and get out on a REEB venture of your own!!!
Handbuilt 29er Hardtail straight from the heart of coloRADo craft beer country by Oskar Blues Brewery.
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Frame: REEB True Temper OX Platinum Tubing – Belt Drive Compatible
(100% American Made Tubing, Hand Welded in coloRADo)
Wheels: American Classic All-Mountain 29er Tubeless ready
SS Drivetrain: Gates Center-Track Carbon Drive
Fork: White Brothers Loop 29 or Marzocchi ti 44
Headset: FSA Orbit ITA adapter ACB
Brakes: Formula The One
Saddle: Rocket V Race
Crank: FSA V drive hollow SS
Seatpost: FSA SLK carbon 27.2
Stem: FSA Carbon
Handle Bar: FSA Carbon Riser
Tires: Maxxis Ardent 2.4
Outside Magazine named REEB one of the “Top 9 Mountain Bikes of 2012″, read the article HERE.
Mountain Flyer Magazine said “Oskar Blues has created a distinctive trail rig with the REEB.” Read their REEB review HERE.
Handbuilt 29er Hardtail straight from the heart of coloRADo craft beer country
by Oskar Blues Brewery.
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Frame: 29er True Temper OX Platinum Tubing
100% American Made Tubing, Welded in the Rocky Mountains of ColoRADo.
Wheels: American Classic Terrain 29er
Drivetrain: Gates Center-Track Carbon Drive (46T x 28T)
Fork: Rock Shox Recon Silver TK
Headset: FSA Orbit ITA adapter ACB
Brakes: Avid Elixir 5 160
Saddle: WTB Speed V Comp
Crank: FSA V drive hollow SS
Seatpost: FSA Aluminum
Stem: FSA Aluminum
Handle Bar: FSA Aluminum Riser
Tires: Tioga Psycho Genius
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Outside Magazine named REEB one of the “Top 9 Mountain Bikes of 2012″, read the article HERE.
Mountain Flyer Magazine said “Oskar Blues has created a distinctive trail rig with the REEB.” Read their REEB review HERE.
For more info shoot our peeps an email at reebme@reebcycles.com or give a shout to Oskar Blues Brewery at 303-776-1914.
Drink Beer. Ride Bikes. Repeat.
6:00 am, it was time to get up and ready for another weekend of racing, this time it would be on Colorado turf for stop #1 of the Mountain States Cup Series in, Salida, Colorado! This was my first instate race of the season and I was rather nervous. The first of everything makes you the most nervous, from the first race of the season to the first short track, or the first instate race. I always want to make a mark on the first!
By 8 am I was pumped and warming up for the first of two races that day, the hill climb TT up Tenderfoot Mountain with a 8:45 start. Before I knew it I was in the gate ready to shred! 8.o9 painful minutes, and 2 miles later I was atop tenderfoot mountain with a super solid time which was nearly a minute improvement on last year.
After a successful mourning it was time to rest for the noon short track start. Back to the camper we went to fuel up rest up and prepare to kick ass! 11:30 I was back at the start warming up and taking caffeine shots for a painful 20min. race against the entire men’s Cat. 1 field. We were soon off; most the racing took place on a dirt road that climbed about a mile up Tenderfoot Mountain. Atop the gut busting climb was a wicked steep and tight, single track decent! the decent was off camber, loose, and contained some of the sketchiest switch backs I have ever encountered. By lap to I was really ready to get kicking. I was sitting in 7th place for the cat. 1 overall but, I was determined to pick off as many as I could on this lap. There goes one, and another, and then a few more. By the top of the climb I was in 4th just seconds off of 3rd. But i would haft to wait a till the bottom of the decent to pass because there was n o way a position gain was going to happen on the tight single track. By about half way down the decent I was right on 3rd. places wheel and was riding comfortably, then smack I took a small spill laying the bike down on the non drive side. I was quick to get up but 3rd. was now out a ways and would be difficult to catch on the third and final lap. But I was ready to climb till I puked, and I nearly did. I didn’t catch him on the climb but i was hopping if I kept it together on the decent that i could catch him on the sprint climb finish! The final decent was smooth and problem free and I was ready for the sprint. I hit the climb and was racing an attack, i was about to catch him and then he, about 20 feet ahead put on the motor and crossed the line in 3rd. Still it was a great race, but now I needed to focus on tomorrow’s 17mile XC race, time to recover.
That evening we headed to beautiful and adventures down town Salida nestled upon the banks of the mighty Arkansas River. We ate dinner at the boat house cantina and then I got called up on the podium for leading day one of the riverside rampage. Now time for some quality rest, which would be easy to obtain considering I would start at 1:30pm the next day.
I woke up the next morning to find a large field of riders in my category. The race started out really fast, which was expected due to the short length( 2, 8 mile loops) The first 2 miles of the race where on a paved road section, at this point i just sat in the middle of the field trying not to waste any energy. As we were about to turn onto the single track portion, where you could not pass, I sped up into third place. The leader, a local kid Garett Lunberg, took off and was long gone very quickly. I sat in 3rd. right on 2nds. tail with 4th not to far back, for the whole first lap. On the second lap 4th place, Kyle Bloesser, and I worked together on the road. I ended up breaking away a little before the single track. On the technical single track I took off and got close to second place, he and I were pretty equally matched and so was Kyle Bloesser in third place who was about 30 seconds back. The course was very slow due to the loose rocky course, but we powered through venturing our way towards the start. With about 2 miles to go one of those loose jagged rocks punctured my side wall, I heard it immediately as the Stans attempted to seal the hole, I used my Co2 shot to seal it, it held for a bit and was beginning to seal, soon I was in 4th, as the 3 ahead of my took off to the finish. I kept on riding it and airing it up, I didn’t put a tube in because I could nearly see the start so it would probably take longer to change the flat. I ended up in 5th which was fulfilling considering the situation at hand.
It was a great way to start of the Colorado season! I was still able to take home the stage race over all, so I was very excited. Thanks to REEB cycles for fueling my Salida adventure! Ride on!!!
After 10 years of supplying crafted, frosty malt beverages to the gritty, knobby tire culture of the Rockies, Dale’s Pale Ale has made a foray into the bicycle business with an Oskar Blues-branded 29er. Inspired by several months of beer-infused conversation, REEB Cycles debuted late last year with a handbuilt, trail-oriented, belt-driven singlespeed 29er.
“We wanted to build a simple bike that was fun to ride on the steep, gnarly terrain that we ride in our backyard around Lyons, Colorado,” says Chad Melis of REEB and Oskar Blues. “Most singlespeeds on the market are based around tame XC riding, and we wanted something different.” Melis, the brain behind REEB Cycles, works as the marketing director for Oskar Blues and is immersed in the beer and bike culture. “It’s just a fun thing to be involved in, offering up the ‘tools’ to help people have fun: bikes and beer.”
With its foundation as a simple trail-oriented singlespeed, REEB set out to create a bike that was tough and efficient for climbing, but stable and capable on the descents. To fit the singlespeed subculture, it also had to be understated and classy. The result is a humble yet tasteful OX platinum steel frame paired with a 44-mm head tube (to accommodate today’s tapered steerer forks), Paragon slider dropouts, Gates Carbon Drive, and a “trail style” geometry and build package.
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Check out the remainder of the rocking MountainFlyer article here http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/reeb-cycles-gates-carbon-drive-29er.html
http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/reeb-cycles-gates-carbon-drive-29er.html
Polar Explorer Eric Larsen rides Ice Cold REEB Cycles Snowbike on his Terramar Sports fueled adventure to Churchill Manitoba. Some great imagery as the M/V Ithica – a 1920′s freighter that ran aground in 1960-something provides a sweet backdrop. Read more about his weeklong adventure in Churchill, Manitoba via his website HERE.
The Journey to California, Sea Otter Classic By REEB Rider Joe Christiansen
Somewhere between the huge field of top notch racers, the 90 degree weather, the 20 mile course, and the outrageously steep climbs, was one of the harder races of my life at the 2012 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California.
The race started at 1:30 pm, racing this late meant a lot of time to waist before. My nerves were raging in the morning already, and long before the race the adrenalin was just waiting to be released. The nerves were worse than most races just due to the fact that we drove across the country to race so I better make it count.
After the long warm up, I was ready to set off on the legendary course which started off with a lap of the Laguna Seca Raceway. The race started out pretty calm, we all knew we had a long way to go. The paved raceway at the start was a good place to just test each other’s legs with small burst or sprints. Here we were all in a small group drafting behind the racer who wanted to go hard right out of the gate. The kid leading the race on the track broke his chain, just before we got on to the dirt, almost causing a big crash.
Now it was on to some double track sprint climbs at about 12% grade! The course would go straight up and right back down. On to the fire roads I led for a little just taking turns pulling. A group of three California riders were soon to make a break. The group of three was not far off and I wasn’t too worried about it. We soon ran into a at least 15% grade climb that was about 200 Meters. There was one rider in directly in front of me at the start of the climb that I pasted before we hit the steep part. I think this rider might have stumbled and blocked the rest of the field on this climb because by the top of the climb I was alone with the REEB. Three ahead of me and a whole pack somewhere behind. ….After a few more small climbs we hit a single track decent that was 1 or 2 miles long. At this point the three racers ahead of me were pretty close, and I gained quite a bit on them in the decent, putting me just a few seconds behind them.
As we approached the next single track climb they began to gain on me again, they were still in sight but a ways out. I was soon to be caught by a whole athlete rider. We worked together a bit on a up and down section at the top of a ridge. He took off and got pretty close to the group of three.
Another rider, Justin Griffin of Utah caught me, we knew each other and worked together a lot. We ended up catching the whole athlete rider which joined us for a while. We three were off and on together from mile marker 8ish to around 14 or 15. Right around 14 or 15 the whole athlete rider said he was dyeing and told us to go by. He was still with us at the back. Not long after he let us by there was a climb, the steepest in the race, which was about 1/4th of a mile. I took it hard knowing that there was a decent after, just settled into a rhythm and was gone. I put a gap and would be by myself the rest the race. Basically it was 5 miles of chasing and hoping that I was strong enough to not get caught. But I, with the REEB, would climb strong!
I got my second wind just in time for my specialty, more climbs! The next climb was about 3 miles, the longest in the race. I felt very comfortable and defiantly gained some time on the three leaders. I killed the climb but it wouldn’t be enough to catch the top three. I finished a solid 4th which was very fulfilling especially considering that it is early in the season. 
As day turns to dusk I am left with much to think about as I sit willing to learn from the race, and plenty of time to do so as we begin our long trip back to where I belong…. Lyons, Colorado.
The Journey to California, Sea Otter Classic By REEB Rider Joe Christiansen
The new REEB has been dialed to perfection, and it is time to set sail upon our first journey. With everything set, my father Darren, and I hopped in our van and headed west California way, rarin’ to race in the 2012 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. We left Tuesday afternoon set to arrive in Monterey Wednesday night. Our first leg was from Lyons, CO. to St. George, UT. I fortunately was able to get a little REEB desert action before the sun went down, at Rabbit Valley in, Fruita, Colorado.
REEB in Rabbit Valley, Fruita, Colorado
Then it was on through the desert, all the way across Utah through the night. Utah at dawn After a good night’s rest, on the mattress stuffed in our van, we took off through a small chunk of Arizona, all of Nevada, and from south east Cali, to Mid West Cali. More desert and mountain but, mainly Joshua Tree filled Desert.
We hauled through Nevada and were soon to trek across California. Some more Joshua Trees in Sothern California Some hills a little outside Monterey Finally to Monterey Cali Now the fun really starts. I got some rest and then got some riding.
If you have never been to the Sea Otter Classic you definitely have to check it out! It’s on a car raceway and is just about the biggest gathering of cyclist you will ever see. I was astonished as we came upon the expo and race area. Its shear numbers tower over any national championship event!
The Cross Country course is a 20 mile loop, and a grueling 20 miles they are. I pre-rode the course today and it has a lot of gravel road. But it is straight up. Super steep climbs and very steep descents as well. It should suit me good as a climber. I guess tomorrow will tell………………. REEB atop the course
Best For: Hard-riding (and hard-living) single-speeders.
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The Test: If you have to ask why Oskar Blues, the Longmont, Colorado, brewery, is producing a high-end steel single-speed, this is probably not the bike for you. With OX Platinum tubing (the good stuff) and a savvy mix of parts (Thompson post and stem, Formula’s grabby The One brakes, mega-wide Truvativ carbon bars), the Reeb (yep, that’s “beer” backward) is for real. The wisest bit of all is the Gates CenterTrack carbon drive belt that powers the bike, which is ice smooth, totally efficient, and dead silent. “Amazing!” one tester enthused. “For single-speeding, chains are dead.”
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The Verdict: Like the tattoos they award at the Single Speed World Championship, you have to be fast and dedicated to deserve one. 22.7 lbs
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Read the entire article here: http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/bikes-and-biking/mountain-bikes/SFP.html
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