The '97 Chute frame I bought off a guy at Hayes opened ideas of what MTB could be, tickling and freeing up the BMXer I still was. It was a solid departure from my Bontrager Race and my attempt at being a somewhat _Serious Cyclist_. It rode like an overgrown BMX so saw a lot of time street and park riding in addition to playing bikes in the woods. Airing out of the vert wall at the park on Tioga DH 2.3s seems soooo silly now, but it was what I had, so I just run wut I brung. Ran it with a 130Z1 as was the norm at the time but also dabbled with the MrT off my Bullitt while the Progressive 5th Element was being repaired under warranty (again. And again), and that set up was silly fun. I longed to live in a place that I could justify owning a Stab as I was ogling their catalogs in Bike and MBA. The nature of their brand (go all out, have fun) appealed to me in a way no other non-BMX bike co's at the time did. We built jumps, drops, skinnies, and decidedly not IMBA approved fall line routes in backwoods bum trails and rust belt hills in former industrial areas. That bike saw it all and could be considered a catalyst to me giving a lot of shit about riding to this day.
April 19, 2024, 7:03 a.m. - JT
The '97 Chute frame I bought off a guy at Hayes opened ideas of what MTB could be, tickling and freeing up the BMXer I still was. It was a solid departure from my Bontrager Race and my attempt at being a somewhat _Serious Cyclist_. It rode like an overgrown BMX so saw a lot of time street and park riding in addition to playing bikes in the woods. Airing out of the vert wall at the park on Tioga DH 2.3s seems soooo silly now, but it was what I had, so I just run wut I brung. Ran it with a 130Z1 as was the norm at the time but also dabbled with the MrT off my Bullitt while the Progressive 5th Element was being repaired under warranty (again. And again), and that set up was silly fun. I longed to live in a place that I could justify owning a Stab as I was ogling their catalogs in Bike and MBA. The nature of their brand (go all out, have fun) appealed to me in a way no other non-BMX bike co's at the time did. We built jumps, drops, skinnies, and decidedly not IMBA approved fall line routes in backwoods bum trails and rust belt hills in former industrial areas. That bike saw it all and could be considered a catalyst to me giving a lot of shit about riding to this day.