We also competed in a race yesterday (we're fast becoming team Chiner with 4 I play bikes and one Big S and a nice Santa Cruz). It was a dawn to dusk relay ride on a ~14 mile loop. We had 3 Duo teams in total at our camp. Each rider did 4 laps.
The morning started out chilly and rainy. The trail was a mud bog for the first 3 or 4 laps. After that it was really nice, damp, hardpack. At the very end if the day, a storm blew in and looked pretty fierce; the city nearby had 50mph wind gusts and hail. So we packed it in. But technically be probably could have squeezed in another lap on each team.
All of the bikes preformed great. The IP-036 has a flat. My 256 and the gloss/matte black 256 both had shifting troubles in gears 9-11 (delayed shifting). This trouble came after we both rode through a deep mud puddle. I found out later that this was due to water and grit getting into the shift cable line in the chain stay. This caused the cable to have too much friction fur the derailleur to pull it. When I opened the trap door on the bottom of the frame, muddy water poured out. I will clean out the cable route and pack it with grease. Or maybe drill out the stops and run a cable housing throughout add others have done. I'm nervous to try this though. I will also look for a way to seal that little sir a bit better.
The highlight of the day was the hipster at the next tent over telling me just how light his SS, rigid bike was at just above 19 lbs and how his titanium frame has been awesome and had only cracked twice (!). I thought to myself, I have gears and a suspension fork and my bike is only 1.5lbs heavier!
Overall a fun event.
