The PI XProject 3.0 has been on several rides with me now. On the bike the sole is fine. I have narrow feet - very narrow and the buckles didn't allow me to tighten sufficiently. I modified the buckle to get another 3-4 clicks and solved that issue. Narrow feet beware.

Walking the sole flexes just like advertised. No issues with feeling like it was too stiff. The rubber bonded to the red translucent sole material is pretty tacky.... which makes them feel sure-footed.

As noted by another earlier, the heel cup is a bit off. I use two insoles (narrow feet) and that put my heel way too high in the heel cup of the shoe. Trimmed the insole a bit to allow the heel to sit "deeper" and that combined with the mod to tighten the shoe a bit more made it more comfortable.

I can see this isn't the shoe for those with narrow feet. But if they do fit, you can HAB in them pretty comfortably.

How did you modify to get more clicks from the buckle. I'm at the very end and could sometimes use one more click.

Definitely a good red flag to know about. If it had been once I'd say maybe a factory defect or something, but twice makes me have doubts. I'll be watching this thread for suggestions, I've gotta get something soon so I can break them in before spring. April 3 is going to be here before we know it. Thanks again for the good info.

I thought about this some more on a nice long climb we did this weekend. Cause what else you going to do while climbing?

Anyhow, my wife tends to run and HAB on her toes. When I HAB it tends to be more flat footed, but she is always on the front of her foot. I suspect that this is mostly responsible for the sole of her Rimes ripping in the front. Maybe the are just not designed for the stress of pushing up hills by someone who is front of the foot biased. I think that most people are NOT that way.

Glad you posted that JeffZ, I just did TD in a pair of Rimes and they held up great, excellent combo of durability and stiffness, decent tread with the Vibram sole and they dried fairly quickly, no problems with them falling apart even after rain, snow, sleet, mud, and more rain on the divide this year. The only thing I had to do was replace the Boa system when I got back, I couldn't even turn the Boa tensioners they had so much grit in them from the wet dirt/gravel roads(boa replaced them for free and I was impressed they had the forethought to make it an easily replaceable cartridge system). In total my Rime's have about 10,000 miles on them with a lot of hike-a-bike. I was riding, well, hiking my bike through tons of chunk in the late summer while gearing my training for AZT riding, they've been holding up well so far and I was thinking of using them for AZT750 in the spring but if you're saying you've had some issues with them blowing out in the desert.. hmmm. Might be time for me to start looking for another shoe.

The fact that my petite wife has destroyed 2 pair so far makes me unwilling to go with the Rimes. True, Oracle ridge did some damage on my PI xalps, but the Rimes were worse. And the HAB on Coco was not nearly as rocky - but same result.

I was thinking that maybe she just spends more time off the bike than some folks. But the first time they ripped the shoes had less than 300 miles on them.

Any thoughts on the Specialized Rime?  They look pretty good for hike a bike. Not sure how they are for on the bike.

I've heard good things about the Rimes from various people, but I am not impressed with their durability. My wife has TWICE ripped the soles off. The soles actually tear and separate from the shoe. IT appears that cutting out the section of tread to allow cleats makes them weak in that area.

First time was on the AZT 300. I was able to super glue them in order to finish the race. The shoes were brand new so they replaced them. However, it happened again during the Coco 250 this fall. The design is just not durable enough for serious AZ hike-a-bike.

While the Pearl Izumi X Alps seem to be the "standard" for bikepacking, they just don't work for me.

I have the X Alp Elites. While they are super comfortable and great to walk in, the front of the sole is just too soft and after a couple of hours I get substantial pain from the pressure of the pedal through the sole. Now, part of the problem is that I insist  on running Eggbeaters - but I'm not willing to give those up.

When I heard about the new PI X Project shoes, I was pretty excited. Supposedly they would offer a stiffer sole that still flexed enough to allow walking. Picked up a pair of the 3.0s to try them out about a month ago.

First impressions
 - Cramped toe box. Hopefully that would stretch with use
 - Nice bit of stiff carbon in the front part of the sole
 - Excellent tongue design. I hate the way the tongue on my Shimano's would slide to the side all the time. These have a nice padded and ventilated tongue with at V cut in the middle that keeps them from sliding to one side or another. Simple and effective.


After a couple of shakedown rides I decided that they were good to go for the Coco 250. The Coco was a good test environment, with plenty of HAB opportunities. The result? These are not the perfect bikepacking shoes - at least not for me.

 - These shoes are GREAT on the bike. Even after 12 hour days the bottom front of my foot felt OK. This was a drastic improvement over the X Alps and an improvement over my Shimanos (that had a fiberglass sole).
 - The toe box did stretch a little, but still felt cramped after 250 miles. My feet did hurt a little due to the narrow toe box, but I can live with that. I don't remember Sidis being that narrow in the front. This seems totally unnecessary.
 - Off the bike is where these shoes failed. The back of the shoe rubbed me above the heel. Clamped down the ratchet all the way, but it still rubbed continuously - resulting in blisters and the accompanying pain.

So, for me, the search continues. At this point, my next move is likely to the Specialized Rime, but I think they may not be stiff enough in the front. Some people love them, but I've heard at least one person that had big issues with them. Given what shoes cost it won't be until next year that I can take the next step. Until then, maybe someone else will get it right.

If anyone has suggestions for a shoe with a stiff front sole that can handle HAB, I'm more than happy to hear your opinion.

Thanks.

Oh, it's all that and more.  You'll love your SS for the all the HAB -- it'll be so light to push!

As for the stupid steep and endless dirt road that is rideable in granny ring.... sucks to be you!

OK, I'll give you that. It was "all that", and then some. May be my number one most feared/hated HAB ever.

Anyhow, my spew on the whole experience is here: http://jzadventuretime.blogspot.com/2014/10/coconino-bikepacking-stage-race.html

Despite feeling like I've been beaten with a baseball bat, I'm really glad we finally got out there and did it. It has been said over and over, but the format of this race is one of the things that makes it special.

If I understand correctly we just stay on Lake Mary until the route crosses back over?  I have the gpx but want to make sure I don't get lost with the detour.

Yeah, rejoin at Pine Grove Campground.

I may have missed this somewhere, but What time at The Place is breakfast/start? time at Lone Tree & Butler? I do understand the start when ever & track my own time, but as noob I'd like the opportunity to ask lot's of dumb questions.

The website says 7:00am. I won't be there until 7:30am - which is only interesting to the people I am delivering SPOTs to. 
http://rockyroad5050.wordpress.com/5-coconino-250-and-350/

@ray would #2 just shift every thing around by one day? Is it even possible to contact everyone listed as racing? Are we talking pinon/juniper super mud?

That's one of the problems. How do you contact everyone the day before? And what about folks (like me) who have already made hotel reservations? I'm of the opinion that we petition Scott/Chad to officially OK a change in course, to divert to Lake Mary road, if the mud really is that bad. We are assuming it is because they got a little bit of rain. But, as far as I know, no one has actually been out there to assess.

And yes, he is talking about "stop you in your tracks" mud.

Tracker is online!

http://trackleaders.com/coconino14

For those renting, Jeff Z has kindly agreed to bring the SPOT units to 'The Place' on Friday morning, by 730.  I'll send out some details by email shortly.

I have the SPOT units in hand. Chris, Phil and Brad, you now have a dot on the map.

Since I'm coming up Friday morning from the valley area, it is possible that I may not be there exactly at 7:30 - I'll try. Anyway, I'm planning on having a nice big breakfast, so I'll be at "The Place" until at least 8. Would like to be out of there by 8:30.

Don't forget to bring 4 lithium AAA batteries.

Something to keep in mind when loading the track. The track that I downloaded has 15,000 points. It loaded to my etrex 30 without any errors. HOWEVER, it only loaded the first 10,000 points. Fortunately, I checked it before heading out on the ride. Ended up breaking the track into 2 and loaded both separately.

So, check your tracks. No fun to get to the Verde river find you have no track for the rest of the ride.

Great advice. So your filling up at a store in cottonwood and filtering water out of the verde?

Yes. My understanding is that the Verde is the only dependable water source between Cottonwood and Williams. There is Coyote Spring, but I hear that had a dead rat in it one year.

Here goes the new guy again... What is everyone taking for gear? Tent, jetboil, dehydrated food? I bought all this stuff and now  not sure if I need half of it. Not to mention it's heavy. I have been riding with 2.5L of water in frane bag and up to 3L in my osprey. Does that sound like to much for this ride? Any advice will help. Can't wait.

Like Ray, I'm not planning to bring any cooking gear. I'll stock up on stuff I can eat without cooking at the start and in Cottonwood. Thinking about ditching the bivy as well. If it is going to be dry and not TOO cold up on Mingus then I'm thinking sleeping bag and pad are sufficient. But that depends on dry, warmish weather. Not something we can depend on.

and maybe a beer (if you're into that) from Munds, if anyone goes for the unofficial time bonus.

Did you just challenge me to see if I can cram a six pack from Munds into my pack? This would require that Ray shotguns at least one of them.

Oh, it's all that and more.  You'll love your SS for the all the HAB -- it'll be so light to push!

As for the stupid steep and endless dirt road that is rideable in granny ring.... sucks to be you!

It hadn't occurred to me that you guys haven't ridden Coco yet.  It's a classic.  I think you'll love it, while also making sure that both Chad and I don't need ear warmers, no matter how cold it gets. 

Heh, looking forward to invoking your name on the push up Mingus. Another classic HAB that I need to add to the quiver.

Hope you can make it. And bring that girl along. I know you guys have some stories...

My wife and I are looking forward to FINALLY doing this loop. Just hope the weather holds out.

Anxious to see if Mingus is "all that".

--Jeff

Barry Ritchey here. Finished the 300 at 1:50 AM on Tuesday. Back to work yesterday, Wed, with mind still in a fog. Race is still a big blur right now and I need some time to process, but I will report a distilled account of my final 21-hour ride out, which started bout 10 miles short of the Freeman water cache. I'll make other posts w photos later.
Coyote calls and the howling wind make great Thin Lizzy lyrics, but suck for getting any sleep the eve of your final push. Would coyotes actually attack somebody sleeping? Up most of the night. After getting tired of just laying there in a state of denial, finally got packed and my ass going about 5AM Monday. Cut tire... [2nd time]...we're not riding up that bastard of a hill [Ripsey?] are we? Yes we are... Need water, precious water... That copper mine is a Goliath... Much stabbing pain in the neck and radiating down the left arm [2-1/2 days of this], which only went away if relaxed my grip and held my neck at a very low and awkward angle, making it hard to see down the trail in front of me... IBU did nothing for the pain... A very thin line to not to meltdown along the Gila... It was hot, oh so hot... Hid in the shade during the peak heating and went for a magic hour sunset swim in the Gila, right there the trail leaves the river. A great recharge to shed the dust and sunscreen. This flipped off the negative vibes and got my mind off the pain. The sunset ride off the river and up into those awe-inspiring majestic cathedral peaks, with a full moon, experiencing an unexpected eclipse, catching up to Arno who is lucky he didn't fall hundreds off feet off the trail, flushing those red-glowing-eyed birds off the trail [what are they?], stopping [after seeing hundreds during three evening rides] to finally inspect the source of the blue-green blinking lights [the Spiders from Mars?], a HAB that never seemed to end, finding a groove and will that seemed like it would never end... all made for one epic evening that I'll never forget. It almost brings me to tears recalling it. The 2AM warm double IPA out of the cooler and bacon jerky tasted like a meal for a king...

For me, this is the WHY to do something like this. Amazing highs and near crippling lows - and they can come in the space of a few hours. Surviving the lows - finding what you are made of -  and savoring to highs are what make this an experience that you will always remember.

Well done Barry.

In her call-ins she mentions cursing my name on Oracle Ridge, then loving the Cody Trail descent, then cursing me again as the course wound around aimlessly east of Oracle.  Classic.

I'm pretty sure just about everyone has been there. Sounds exactly like my reaction to that section. Good times...

Here is mine.

http://holtharlan.blogspot.com/2013/05/aztr-300-rewind-there-are-multiple_6.html

Nice writeup. Now I understand how we were able to catch you - mechanical issues. You really do need to come out and do the Picketpost to Kelvin section during the day some time. It is spectacular.

Anyhow, don't think I posted my writeup on here yet - so here it is.

http://jzadventuretime.blogspot.com/

BTW,
I found a pair of distinctively styled gloves on Ripsey. Given that not many people get out there I'm thinking they may belong to one of the racers. Anyone lose a pair of gloves?