For years the Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) has been the largest cross country mountain bike race series in the United States. Bigger than the NMBS, US Cup, SoCal series, you name it the WORS crushes it in number of participants. Each weekend the Wisconsin state series hosts 600-700 of the Midwest's fastest riders and two of the best are Mark LaLonde and Brian Matter. These two routinely finish within seconds of each other. LaLonde took the opening leg of the series and finished runnerup in two others, while Matter has won three events in the series.
LaLonde leads Matter in the Wisconsin woods (photo by Brittany Nigh)
While these racers are so alike in speed and skill their rides couldn't be any more different. LaLonde's weapon of choice is what he likes to call the "GT Freak Bike", a GT Zaskar hardtail frame with a rigid fork, 29er front wheel, 26 inch rear wheel, and all of it is powered by a singlespeed drivetrain. Matter on the other hand chooses a Trek Top Fuel full-suspension rig with a full compliment of 27 gears.
How can two bikes be so different in appearance and function yet carry their respective rider to victory in the largest mountain bike races in America. MTBracenews.com wanted to find out. We interviewed each rider to find how their bike gives them an advantage over the competition. In this two-part article we first presented that question to Planet Bike rider Mark LaLonde, which will be followed by Gear Grinders rider Brian Matter's rebuttal tomorrow.
Here are Mark's thoughts in his own words:
LaLonde rallies his one-speeder (photo by Mark Schindel)
I think it's important to know some of my background in athletics in order to understand my views on racing and racing gear. From grade school up to my fifth year of college (2005) I was a distance runner. I was competitive at the NCAA Division 3 level earning 7 all-american plaques. My original intentions with cycling were for fun and as great cross-training through bouts of injury. In 2001, I bought my first singlespeed mtb. I quickly upgraded to a lighter aluminum ss model. The summer of 2002 I had my first foray into racing, with mediocre results at the sport level. The next summer, I continued with racing and won all of the sport races in the WORS aboard a 26" ss for half the season, then upgrading to a 29er ss for the 2nd half of the season. Most of my cycling training at this point consisted of biking maybe twice a week, and running 80+ miles per week. I went on about 2 years of rarely racing my bike and focusing on running. I graduated college in 2005 and promptly quit running to start bike racing. Year one of strictly bike racing was tough for me. I finished in the top 10 in 1 WORS elite race. I stepped up the riding and kept progressing year after year to the point I’m at now.
Most courses in Wisconsin are composed of a good portion of tight singletrack and short power climbs. There is some amount of rock garden riding, but definitely nothing near that of courses east or west. I don’t view a singlespeed as a disadvantage in the tight singletrack and power climbs. I’d say I’m definitely a product of my environment. Singlespeed is all I know. The tough sections are the wide open ones. You’ve got someone like Brian Matter who can throw down a mean attack, and I’m spinning my gear for all I’m worth just to hang on.
Riding a fully rigid bike is another matter. I’ve raced with a suspension fork once in my life, the 2008 SSWC in Napa, CA (Skyline). I can see how someone living around trails like that would think a rigid fork is foolish, but come to WI and you’ll see. Through a summer of Wisconsin racing, I wish I had a suspension fork about 5% of the time. Again, it’s what I’m used to and it saves quite a bit of weight with a 700 gram fork.
The GT freak bike
As I’ve said, it’s been 29er for me since 2002. With the lack of suspension it really helps smooth things out. I’ve never claimed to be the most technical rider, but I may have a screw loose somewhere. I tend to charge technical sections and just run things over. Most of the time it works out fine. This year I made the switch to GT Bicycles aboard a carbon Zaskar 96er. Still rigid. The big wheel up front is still helping smooth my ride a bit and the 26” wheel in the back is proving to offer greater acceleration and climbing prowess.
Riding a rigid singlespeed forces you to focus on your next move. Keeping momentum up momentum and minimizing “stop and go” is always the goal. I have been experimenting with a geared bike a bit this year. Try number one I’d label as a failure. It would seem so simple to many, but I’m having to learn when to shift. Once I get that down it will be a true test as to which bike I’m faster on.
Check back tomorrow for the reaction from Gear Grinder rider Brian Matter.
