When you find yourself riding a dead horse, Dismount.

Every cowboy needs a horse, well if you were out in the old west you would need a horse. Now a days, all you need is a Mountain Bike. Bike packing is the closest thing to being a real cowboy. You can pack up your saddlebags with food, water, clothes, something to sleep on and you are ready to go. Originally I was riding a Santa Cruz Blur with 26'' wheels. She was a good ride, full suspension, disc brakes, and twist gear shifting. However, one day training up in Pisgah, North Carolina things began to go wrong. I don't know if it was the long climbs, the rocks all over, or just wear and tear but she began falling apart beginning with the brake pads. After an easy descent this high pitch shriek was coming from the brakes and started causing problems. My uncle and I went to Liberty Bicycles (Libertybikes.com, the best bike store i have ever been in) in search of a fix for the Blur. Mr. Mike showed us around his store, the bikes, gear and even behind the scenes where Liberty has the only "Green" bike cleaning station I have ever seen. Next, Than, the service manager working on our bikes, told us about the 29er Gary Fisher Paragon. He informed us about the advantages of having bigger wheels and how all the pros are racing on 29ers. Than was amazing he seemed to know everything there is to know about bikes and racing. I am grateful for all the help he gave us. We decided then and there that the 29er was the perfect bike for this trip and this cowboy got a new horse.

The Bike aka "The Bear"

Gary Fisher, Paragon

29er Hardtails Series

Gun Metal Grey/ Deep Blue

Full Specifications:

Weight:

26.5lbs

Frame

-Platinum Series 6066 butted & hydroformed aluminum

-cold-forged dropouts

-G2 29" Geometry

Brakes

-Avid Elixir 5 Hydraulic disc

-180mm front

-160mm back

Wheels

Bontrager Rhythm 29 Disc

28mm wide

Tubeless

Tires

Bontrager XDX 29 by 2.1

Headset

Cane Creek ZS1, Semi Integrated

Crankset

Shimano FC-M542, Hollowtech arms

Front Derailleur

SRAM X.9

Back Derailleur

SRAM X.9

Cassette

SRAM PG 970, 9 Speed

Handlebar

Bontrage Race Lite Big Sweep

Stem

Bontrager Race X Lite OS

Saddle

Bontrager Race Lite

Seatpost

Bontrager Rhythem Elite