Hello Old Friend!

I found this on my bench Monday morning.

I came in to work Monday morning, like any Monday, expecting a few messes to clean up from the weekend crew. Coffee cups, tools left out, and random parts are the usual fare I find. Sometimes a bike in my stand, a wheel, or some oddball component will be sitting there with absolutely no clues left as to what the deal might or might not be. I'm used to it after almost 14 years at the shop.

However when I arrived at the shop this past Monday I found something that at first glance looked vaguely familiar. Upon closer inspection, I was almost 100% certain I knew what the history was behind this white steel 29"er frame. In fact, I've been resurrecting some of that early history right here on this blog with my "Minus Ten Review" posts. If this wasn't my original On One Inbred, I was a monkey's uncle. So, I started asking some questions.....

One of the guys that worked the weekend shift said a tall man brought it in, asked if he could leave it for me, and promptly helped himself to the shop area, dropped the frame off, then briskly walked out the door. Nothing more about the man could be said by the co-worker of mine, but by his vague description, I thought it sure sounded like it was Craig, a former co-worker of mine.

 A quick text message confirmed it. Craig had dropped off the frame. Too many things in too small a space motivated him to come up and drop it off with me. He said he didn't need anything for it. Amazing! I was floored. So, now for the back story on this rig.......

Things started out like this....

This frame was my second 29"er rig. If you've been following along with my "Minus Ten Review" posts, you already know that. It was the rig that, ten years ago, I used at the very first Dirty Kanza 200. After owning it for several years, I ended up selling it to Craig, who at that time was a co-worker of mine. This probably would have been around 2009. He used it on one of my Death Rides, and then he passed it on to his brother. Craig left the shop and ended up in the Ames area. We kept in touch and occasionally we would see each other. In fact, I last saw Craig at the Renegade Gent's Race last April. I may have told him then, or at another time, that if his brother ever wanted to get rid of that Inbred frame, I had first dibs.

I guess Craig and his brother agreed.

So, now the question: what are ya gonna do now? Ironically I am going to the Dirty Kanza event, not as an official rider, but to be a support for my friend Tony, and I had planned on bringing a bike to bomb around on. Hey, maybe I should bring this thing back to life and drag it down there as a way to bring it all full circle. It would be easy to do, actually. I have the single speed specific Inbred that I can strip down and then transfer all the parts to this one. I have no real love for the second Inbred frame I got since it was a bit of a disappointment when compared to the ride quality of this original version of the Inbred. Although Craig couldn't find the original fork, I have the one that came on the SS specific Inbred which should be fine on this older frame, or I can always get a carbon fork for it.

So, we'll see how it goes. But before I go any further.....

Thanks Craig!