Friday News And Views

<===Buzzy!

Chris King hubs: Love em or hate em, they are definitely unique. I like 'em. They are buzzy, come in cool colors, and are dead reliable, at least for me. Yeah.......they are spendy!  But you'll have them a long time, if you want to,  so they seem worth it to my mind.

Anyway, I bring this up because the Cielo 29"er I have here on test for Twenty Nine Inches has them onboard. I haven't ever really seen the gold anodized stuff before, but man! Does that color glow! Makes me want to set up a bike with gold stuff like this one now.

That's the trouble when you are an anodized parts freak like me. I just love anything other than black anodized parts which are so......common! It gets tiring seeing all that black anodized stuff. Even silver is better, at least to my mind. I should talk though! I own one set of Chris King hubs and guess what color they are? Yup! Black! Boring ol' me!

 Here's something else that's gold- flowers! Have you noticed the wild flowers are popping like crazy right now? I have and it is amazing here in the Mid-west. One of my favorite things is to ride some gravel and see the wild flowers, which reminds me, next weekend is the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational Think you might be interested in this? Are you planning on showing up? Then hit that link and it'll take you to the link to print out directions for the ride. I'll be up there a week from today in the evening to help get things kicked off. Hope to see you there.

 <===The gears are turning......


I have a plan for the bike I'll be riding next weekend too. It'll be somewhat unusual, that's for certain. Hopefully I can get it together for a test ride this weekend. If that doesn't pan out, I'll probably show up on the Fargo like last year. Either way, I'll be ready with a bicycle, but maybe not so ready with my body! I've been not having any luck getting out on the gravel roads of late, and long rides......ha!

Well, let's just say that the "death" part of the GTDRI may be more literal in terms of describing my riding than usual! Hopefully I'll be okay, but ya never know.

Let's hope we all can get out there and enjoy some cycling this weekend!

Okay, That's About Enough Of That!

<===The corner of Baltimore and 2nd on Wednesday, 8:30am.

Yeah.........it can stop anytime now! The rain, that is. We received 5 inches in less than 24 hours, and in probably less than a few hours, truth be known, on top of an already saturated water table. No where for the water to go but where we don't want it. Basements, roadways, etcetera, were all flooded out on Wednesday morning here. Places that never even saw a drop of water in the basement during the record floods of  '08 were getting flooded. Weird!

So you can imagine how our off road trails are about now! ha!

It rained until about 9:30am, and sputtered awhile after that. The waters subsided to a degree, but even at 6:00pm, you could see water flowing out of cracks in the street yet!  Thankfully we are scheduled for three days of drying out, although I believe I think we need about three weeks of drying out to really do the trick.

And for much of the day, we had the lovely experience of having the percentage of humidity way above the actual temperature, which meant that you were sweating bullets standing still. Just the thing you need for frazzled nerves and grumpy people. To say it was a bogus day would be putting it mildly. That said, there were some extremely bright, bright spots to this otherwise not so great day.

First off, I found out that XXC Mag has accepted my submission for an introductory piece to open up a special issue coming out soon. This is pretty humbling and awesome. I am happy to be a small part of this (what I think will be) smash hit. It's gonna be very cool! More on that later. 

Then I got a text message from a co-worker that another test rig for Twenty Nine Inches came in. It is a Cielo, which is Chris King's handmade bicycle marque. many folks don't realize this, but Chris King was a frame builder first. He didn't like the headsets available back in the late 70's, so he made his own and, well.......the rest is history, as they say. It got to where Chris couldn't keep up with the frame building side of it, so he started Chris King Precision Components. Just within the last few years, Chris started back in making road and cyclo-cross bikes again. The 29"er thing happened by accident, kind of. The rest of that story will be told on TNI. For now I'll just say that by popular request, we have this 29"er to check out for a short time. It's a pretty sweet machine, so I can't wait to get out on it.........if it'd ever stop raining!

Oh yeah! And I got a sneak peek of the following...........

 Have a great Thursday!

Okay, That's About Enough Of That!

<===The corner of Baltimore and 2nd on Wednesday, 8:30am.

Yeah.........it can stop anytime now! The rain, that is. We received 5 inches in less than 24 hours, and in probably less than a few hours, truth be known, on top of an already saturated water table. No where for the water to go but where we don't want it. Basements, roadways, etcetera, were all flooded out on Wednesday morning here. Places that never even saw a drop of water in the basement during the record floods of  '08 were getting flooded. Weird!

So you can imagine how our off road trails are about now! ha!

It rained until about 9:30am, and sputtered awhile after that. The waters subsided to a degree, but even at 6:00pm, you could see water flowing out of cracks in the street yet!  Thankfully we are scheduled for three days of drying out, although I believe I think we need about three weeks of drying out to really do the trick.

And for much of the day, we had the lovely experience of having the percentage of humidity way above the actual temperature, which meant that you were sweating bullets standing still. Just the thing you need for frazzled nerves and grumpy people. To say it was a bogus day would be putting it mildly. That said, there were some extremely bright, bright spots to this otherwise not so great day.

First off, I found out that XXC Mag has accepted my submission for an introductory piece to open up a special issue coming out soon. This is pretty humbling and awesome. I am happy to be a small part of this (what I think will be) smash hit. It's gonna be very cool! More on that later. 

Then I got a text message from a co-worker that another test rig for Twenty Nine Inches came in. It is a Cielo, which is Chris King's handmade bicycle marque. many folks don't realize this, but Chris King was a frame builder first. He didn't like the headsets available back in the late 70's, so he made his own and, well.......the rest is history, as they say. It got to where Chris couldn't keep up with the frame building side of it, so he started Chris King Precision Components. Just within the last few years, Chris started back in making road and cyclo-cross bikes again. The 29"er thing happened by accident, kind of. The rest of that story will be told on TNI. For now I'll just say that by popular request, we have this 29"er to check out for a short time. It's a pretty sweet machine, so I can't wait to get out on it.........if it'd ever stop raining!

Oh yeah! And I got a sneak peek of the following...........

 Have a great Thursday!

Dyna-Sys 10 Speed: "Dyna-mite, or Dyna-Thud"?!

It's here! The dreaded day has come when your 9 speed stuff is "old school". Yep, that's right my dirt bikin' friends, you are off the back now with the introduction of Shimano's XT Dyna-Sys 10 speed, and SRAM's already famous XX 10 speed. SRAM is also set to soon be flooding the market with 10 speed groups all the way down to its X-7 level. New XTR is, of course, 10 speed, and so is Shimano's workhorse SLX group. Yep! You can officially start hording 9 speed stuff and call yourself a "retro-grouch" if you are into 9 speed stuff.

Of course, I jest, but to some degree, this is our perception of the new 10 speed, no? I recall when 9 speed XTR came out. Wow! There was a lot of grousing and folks murmured how they were "never going to ride 9 speed", and how Shimano was "ramming it down our throats". Hmm..........I wonder how many riders still feel that way about 9 speed in 2010? Especially now that 10 speed mtb is a reality. 

And I'll be the first to admit that I have been on record as saying this 10 speed thing was/is a bad idea. Road 10 speed is none too impressive, in terms of durability and wear life. I was and still am expecting that 10 speed mtb stuff will also fall short of 9 speed in this critical area. One thing I will also admit is that the SRAM XX 10 speed stuff I have ridden is dreamy! The best shifting I have experienced in the field yet, hands down. Especially the amazing front changer. I used to hate front derailleurs until I met the XX front derailleur and shifter.

My co-writer on Twenty Nine Inches and The Cyclist, Grannygear, and I talked about the implications of 10 speed groups for off roading just the other day. He wrote this excellent post on his blog about the subject, which I highly recommend reading. I pretty much agree with his estimation that the biggest downfall of the ongoing race to add another gear to our cassette, (and in many instances, take away a chain ring too), isn't so much about lack of performance, but about cost of ownership. This stuff will be expensive to replace once the parts wear out.

In the end, the riders will decide what will happen. Will Dyna-Sys be a Dyna-thud, or a huge hit? Riders embraced 9 speed eventually, and the market fully supports it now. However; if the cost to replace an XT cassette and chain, not to mention that composite middle chain ring, is astronomical, and we find ourselves racing to replace those XT bits with Deore, or SLX just so we can afford to ride, it isn't going to go over too well. The flip side is how will those lower priced 10 speed options perform? It's going to be hard to accept an X-9 cassette that doesn't shift as well as a high dollar XX 10 speed one, even if you did save some money. Maybe that gulf between the lower end's pricing and the upper end's will just be too much to take, or maybe it won't.

At any rate, it's a new day. A 10 speed mountain bike day, and you can choose to not play along, but it isn't going away any time soon. I'll have the XT Dyna-Sys group on test on Twenty Nine Inches and locals can check it out in the flesh. Just give me a shout out here in the comments or by e-mail, and I'll be glad to let you check it out.

Hmm...........I think I'll go for a ride on my single speed today! Have a great Wednesday!

Dyna-Sys 10 Speed: "Dyna-mite, or Dyna-Thud"?!

It's here! The dreaded day has come when your 9 speed stuff is "old school". Yep, that's right my dirt bikin' friends, you are off the back now with the introduction of Shimano's XT Dyna-Sys 10 speed, and SRAM's already famous XX 10 speed. SRAM is also set to soon be flooding the market with 10 speed groups all the way down to its X-7 level. New XTR is, of course, 10 speed, and so is Shimano's workhorse SLX group. Yep! You can officially start hording 9 speed stuff and call yourself a "retro-grouch" if you are into 9 speed stuff.

Of course, I jest, but to some degree, this is our perception of the new 10 speed, no? I recall when 9 speed XTR came out. Wow! There was a lot of grousing and folks murmured how they were "never going to ride 9 speed", and how Shimano was "ramming it down our throats". Hmm..........I wonder how many riders still feel that way about 9 speed in 2010? Especially now that 10 speed mtb is a reality. 

And I'll be the first to admit that I have been on record as saying this 10 speed thing was/is a bad idea. Road 10 speed is none too impressive, in terms of durability and wear life. I was and still am expecting that 10 speed mtb stuff will also fall short of 9 speed in this critical area. One thing I will also admit is that the SRAM XX 10 speed stuff I have ridden is dreamy! The best shifting I have experienced in the field yet, hands down. Especially the amazing front changer. I used to hate front derailleurs until I met the XX front derailleur and shifter.

My co-writer on Twenty Nine Inches and The Cyclist, Grannygear, and I talked about the implications of 10 speed groups for off roading just the other day. He wrote this excellent post on his blog about the subject, which I highly recommend reading. I pretty much agree with his estimation that the biggest downfall of the ongoing race to add another gear to our cassette, (and in many instances, take away a chain ring too), isn't so much about lack of performance, but about cost of ownership. This stuff will be expensive to replace once the parts wear out.

In the end, the riders will decide what will happen. Will Dyna-Sys be a Dyna-thud, or a huge hit? Riders embraced 9 speed eventually, and the market fully supports it now. However; if the cost to replace an XT cassette and chain, not to mention that composite middle chain ring, is astronomical, and we find ourselves racing to replace those XT bits with Deore, or SLX just so we can afford to ride, it isn't going to go over too well. The flip side is how will those lower priced 10 speed options perform? It's going to be hard to accept an X-9 cassette that doesn't shift as well as a high dollar XX 10 speed one, even if you did save some money. Maybe that gulf between the lower end's pricing and the upper end's will just be too much to take, or maybe it won't.

At any rate, it's a new day. A 10 speed mountain bike day, and you can choose to not play along, but it isn't going away any time soon. I'll have the XT Dyna-Sys group on test on Twenty Nine Inches and locals can check it out in the flesh. Just give me a shout out here in the comments or by e-mail, and I'll be glad to let you check it out.

Hmm...........I think I'll go for a ride on my single speed today! Have a great Wednesday!

Bike Shop Tales: Skid Lid

This "Bike Shop Tales" post, like last weeks,  is also inspired by "Ears"..............

When work got out at the bike shop, or before the shift was to begin, or- of course- on our days off, it was easy to find a bunch of guys and hit up the trails in George Wyth State Park. We usually hit up a big loop of the faster stuff and then headed home. Many times folks that hung out at the shop would join us.

I can't remember who all was on this particular Saturday afternoon ride, but Ears was one of the riders. He was young, and probably the only fellow in those days that was close to my size. We would usually make good riding partners because of this. We rode at similar speeds, and even though I was older than he was by a fair amount, I could keep up with the whippersnapper!

Well, on this particular day, we were heading back out of the woods towards the end of the Park, and further on, the shop. We all spilled out of some tight, single file only single track into a much wider path. This was pretty smooth, so we all spread out and big ringed it for all we were worth. This was all fine and dandy until the really wide path necked down a bit, and went into a slight turn.

I was up ahead, no worries. All I had to do was aim for the best line through and work on what needed to be done in the next section. Then I heard a commotion behind me, and Ears yelled out.

"On yer Left!

Ahhhh! On yer right! I mean.....(huff huff)....ON YER LEFT! 

Okay, so by this time, I have no idea what side he's coming up on. I veered slightly to the left, only because I was reacting to his second call, and his loud protest of "ON YER LEFT" at the end was too late. We bumped off each other like two bumper cars at a cheap county fair. Ears had the advantage, as he saw it coming. I didn't.

I swerved hard to the right, recovered to swerve hard to the left, and then I lost the front wheel, went over the bars to the left, and landed.

Right on top of my head!

It had rained a day before our ride, and Geo Wyth was a park covered in fine silt and sand here and there. Silt turns to a grease when it gets wet enough, and although the surface of the trail didn't show it that day, just beneath the crust the grease from the rain was still there. My Giro helmet caught that grease as I skidded on my head and packed in the silt all the way down to my head. I rolled over and ended up in a sitting position with a curious crown. There was grass on top, and even a small flower was sticking out of my helmet that just moments before had been growing peacefully alongside the trail. I was okay, but just a bit shook up. As I started to assess my condition, and think of some terrible malediction to direct at Ears, I heard laughter.

"Dude! You should see your helmet! That's awesome!"

Now I was curious. I unbuckled my lid to check out what all the fuss was about. Then I laughed too, forgetting all about my wrath at being knocked off my bicycle at a high rate of speed. We carefully escorted the bicycle themed planter to the shop where it was ceremoniously placed right outside the back door. We actually watered it, and the grass and the flower actually stayed alive a few days. Then I decided I needed to wear it again, so the end of the "helmet planter" was at hand.

Maybe not the best story for helmet advocacy, but there ya go!

Bike Shop Tales returns next Tuesday, stay tuned...................

Bike Shop Tales: Skid Lid

This "Bike Shop Tales" post, like last weeks,  is also inspired by "Ears"..............

When work got out at the bike shop, or before the shift was to begin, or- of course- on our days off, it was easy to find a bunch of guys and hit up the trails in George Wyth State Park. We usually hit up a big loop of the faster stuff and then headed home. Many times folks that hung out at the shop would join us.

I can't remember who all was on this particular Saturday afternoon ride, but Ears was one of the riders. He was young, and probably the only fellow in those days that was close to my size. We would usually make good riding partners because of this. We rode at similar speeds, and even though I was older than he was by a fair amount, I could keep up with the whippersnapper!

Well, on this particular day, we were heading back out of the woods towards the end of the Park, and further on, the shop. We all spilled out of some tight, single file only single track into a much wider path. This was pretty smooth, so we all spread out and big ringed it for all we were worth. This was all fine and dandy until the really wide path necked down a bit, and went into a slight turn.

I was up ahead, no worries. All I had to do was aim for the best line through and work on what needed to be done in the next section. Then I heard a commotion behind me, and Ears yelled out.

"On yer Left!

Ahhhh! On yer right! I mean.....(huff huff)....ON YER LEFT! 

Okay, so by this time, I have no idea what side he's coming up on. I veered slightly to the left, only because I was reacting to his second call, and his loud protest of "ON YER LEFT" at the end was too late. We bumped off each other like two bumper cars at a cheap county fair. Ears had the advantage, as he saw it coming. I didn't.

I swerved hard to the right, recovered to swerve hard to the left, and then I lost the front wheel, went over the bars to the left, and landed.

Right on top of my head!

It had rained a day before our ride, and Geo Wyth was a park covered in fine silt and sand here and there. Silt turns to a grease when it gets wet enough, and although the surface of the trail didn't show it that day, just beneath the crust the grease from the rain was still there. My Giro helmet caught that grease as I skidded on my head and packed in the silt all the way down to my head. I rolled over and ended up in a sitting position with a curious crown. There was grass on top, and even a small flower was sticking out of my helmet that just moments before had been growing peacefully alongside the trail. I was okay, but just a bit shook up. As I started to assess my condition, and think of some terrible malediction to direct at Ears, I heard laughter.

"Dude! You should see your helmet! That's awesome!"

Now I was curious. I unbuckled my lid to check out what all the fuss was about. Then I laughed too, forgetting all about my wrath at being knocked off my bicycle at a high rate of speed. We carefully escorted the bicycle themed planter to the shop where it was ceremoniously placed right outside the back door. We actually watered it, and the grass and the flower actually stayed alive a few days. Then I decided I needed to wear it again, so the end of the "helmet planter" was at hand.

Maybe not the best story for helmet advocacy, but there ya go!

Bike Shop Tales returns next Tuesday, stay tuned...................

All Washed Up

Well, if not for deciding at the last minute to check out the July 3rd fireworks in Waterloo, and an errand ran on my fixed gear bike the same day, this weekend would have been a big washout. Rain returns and with the stuff being flung from the sky at intermittent intervals, it pretty much shot my ride plans for the 4th up like a cheap bundle of Missouri fireworks.

I will say that I got an extended ride in on the fixie and with all the back pressure I was applying to control my speed, I managed to put a burn in my legs that lasted all through Sunday! Funny how that works. I don't know if any of you regular fixie guys can testify to that feeling, but I know it happens whenever I work my legs in that way that only a fixed gear bike can.

The other thing I seem to find is that whenever I ride a "skinny" tired bike, (skinny for me is 40mm or less), I seem to get a flat tire. Yes, I flatted Saturday. Makes me not like them thar skinny tires, it does! But they is fast on the pavement, they is!

The fireworks were pretty crazy in Waterloo.Well, at least at the end they were. I think it was somewhat like a ammunition dump explosion more than a fireworks display, but at any rate, it was most impressive. I don't think I've seen that much smoke in the air since that Pink Floyd concert I went to in The Dome back in the 80's. But that was a smoke from a different fire there!

So, Monday is an extension of the holiday for me, as I am sure it is for many of you. I sure hope I can salvage a ride out of this extended three day weekend, but if not, I'll just go and recon some of the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational route. If you have the day off, I hope you have a good one. If not, well..............Happy Monday!

All Washed Up

Well, if not for deciding at the last minute to check out the July 3rd fireworks in Waterloo, and an errand ran on my fixed gear bike the same day, this weekend would have been a big washout. Rain returns and with the stuff being flung from the sky at intermittent intervals, it pretty much shot my ride plans for the 4th up like a cheap bundle of Missouri fireworks.

I will say that I got an extended ride in on the fixie and with all the back pressure I was applying to control my speed, I managed to put a burn in my legs that lasted all through Sunday! Funny how that works. I don't know if any of you regular fixie guys can testify to that feeling, but I know it happens whenever I work my legs in that way that only a fixed gear bike can.

The other thing I seem to find is that whenever I ride a "skinny" tired bike, (skinny for me is 40mm or less), I seem to get a flat tire. Yes, I flatted Saturday. Makes me not like them thar skinny tires, it does! But they is fast on the pavement, they is!

The fireworks were pretty crazy in Waterloo.Well, at least at the end they were. I think it was somewhat like a ammunition dump explosion more than a fireworks display, but at any rate, it was most impressive. I don't think I've seen that much smoke in the air since that Pink Floyd concert I went to in The Dome back in the 80's. But that was a smoke from a different fire there!

So, Monday is an extension of the holiday for me, as I am sure it is for many of you. I sure hope I can salvage a ride out of this extended three day weekend, but if not, I'll just go and recon some of the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational route. If you have the day off, I hope you have a good one. If not, well..............Happy Monday!

Unchained

If you've hung around here awhile, you probably have figured out that I like my single speeds. Road, gravel, and in the dirt, it's all good with one gear. Really! Ya ought ta try it some time. Anyway, this isn't about trying to convince you of that....

Nope! This is about something else having to do with single speeding, and that a very integral part of the single speed bike: The Chain.

The Single Speed Nation has a triumvirate of power. These are The Chain, The Crankset, and The Cog. The Three C's. You can not have single speeding without The Three C's. Well, you couldn't, that is, until some devious beings came up with a spawn of evil called The Belt.

The Belt has been lauded in certain circles as being The Savior of Single Speeding. It is not.  Believe me, it is a terrible lie.

They said the belt would rid us of the greasy chain. Hmm...........really? I never have had a problem with that part. Okay, they said The Belt would be quieter. Hmm............how can it be quieter than "quiet"? (And I've heard some pretty squeaky belts, by the way) Well, then they said The Belt was lighter, and "almost as efficient as The Chain. S'cuse me, but I'll take "heavier and more efficient" any day. They said The Belt was better than The Chain in bad conditions. Really? I've ridden a chain in horrible conditions, never had an issue. I've seen The Belt fail in dry dust, and I've seen The Belt fail in mud. Oh yeah, and when The Belt fails, you need an entire "The Belt" to fix it.  The Chain can be fixed easily, without breaking the frame, with a simple tool and a couple spare chain links, or "quick links". Simple.

And I won't even get into the "ratcheting" deal involving The Belt.

As far as I'm concerned, going "Unchained" is only good if you're a Van Halen fan. Otherwise, I'll take The Chain every time on my single speed, thank you very much.  (Best use of a flanger EVER! by the way)

Have a great 4th of July weekend and ride those bikes folks!

Unchained

If you've hung around here awhile, you probably have figured out that I like my single speeds. Road, gravel, and in the dirt, it's all good with one gear. Really! Ya ought ta try it some time. Anyway, this isn't about trying to convince you of that....

Nope! This is about something else having to do with single speeding, and that a very integral part of the single speed bike: The Chain.

The Single Speed Nation has a triumvirate of power. These are The Chain, The Crankset, and The Cog. The Three C's. You can not have single speeding without The Three C's. Well, you couldn't, that is, until some devious beings came up with a spawn of evil called The Belt.

The Belt has been lauded in certain circles as being The Savior of Single Speeding. It is not.  Believe me, it is a terrible lie.

They said the belt would rid us of the greasy chain. Hmm...........really? I never have had a problem with that part. Okay, they said The Belt would be quieter. Hmm............how can it be quieter than "quiet"? (And I've heard some pretty squeaky belts, by the way) Well, then they said The Belt was lighter, and "almost as efficient as The Chain. S'cuse me, but I'll take "heavier and more efficient" any day. They said The Belt was better than The Chain in bad conditions. Really? I've ridden a chain in horrible conditions, never had an issue. I've seen The Belt fail in dry dust, and I've seen The Belt fail in mud. Oh yeah, and when The Belt fails, you need an entire "The Belt" to fix it.  The Chain can be fixed easily, without breaking the frame, with a simple tool and a couple spare chain links, or "quick links". Simple.

And I won't even get into the "ratcheting" deal involving The Belt.

As far as I'm concerned, going "Unchained" is only good if you're a Van Halen fan. Otherwise, I'll take The Chain every time on my single speed, thank you very much.  (Best use of a flanger EVER! by the way)

Have a great 4th of July weekend and ride those bikes folks!

Saw An Old Friend

Usually on my day off I am busy doing web related work and riding test bikes and parts. Well, my co-worker, Craig had told me that he wanted to go check out Cedar Bend Park and well.......it was too nice out to work! 

So I rode a bike just for fun!

I decided to give ol' Grimace the call up today, the 2007 Salsa Cycles El Mariachi with the Gun Kote finish and the purple Chris King head set I was gifted by George Wissell. As always, it rode awesome!

Craig and I had a great time riding, and Grimace was behaving well, climbing up all the steeps and handling like a champ. Funny thing about this bike is that it is a medium. Salsa Cycles  did things a wee bit differently back then, and I prefer the old medium over a large. (I'd definitely ride a large now!) It reminds me a bit of how things were sized in the 90's. A bit shorter top tube, a bit longer stem. I slapped on the 47mm offset On One fork on this too. Makes the Salsa come alive, and this bike just rips single track. The Industry 9 single speed wheels are great, and the free hub sounds like a cicada in August. Amazingly buzzy and loud. Someday I may upgrade to a titanium seat post, but this ThudBuster is a great post on this bike. Makes my back happy, it does!

Anyway, Craig and I decided a stop for something to drink afterward was in order. We pulled into the Janesville convenience store and what to my surprise did I see but my old "Dirty Blue Box"! I was floored! Someone decided it was worth fixing up and driving. Cool! It even had all my old cycling related stickers still on the end gate too! A little worse for the wear, perhaps. It was missing the entire rear bumper, and the right front fender was wrinkled, but when the lady who was driving it started it up, she sounded like a champ.

Don't get me wrong! I am waaaay better off with the "Truck Without A Name", but it was cool to see an "old friend" that I had spent tons of hours and thousands of gravel miles in still alive and kicking. 

I spent the rest of my day with Mrs. Guitar Ted, who also had the day off. We had lunch, and then I took her to the jewelry store to look for something special. See, Mrs. Guitar Ted has completed all her course work for her B.S. in Nursing at a local college, so I am going to get her something special to commemorate her graduation, which takes place in August.

Then we swung by the shop where I picked up the Shimano DynaSys 10 speed group. Yep! I'll be a busy bee mounting up some fresh componentry here soon.

Overall, it was about as perfect a day as you can get. So good that it makes you wonder: "When is the other foot gonna fall?" A definite "red letter" day for me! 

I sure hope everyone reading this has a great day today, and if not today, real soon. Get out and ride yer bikes folks. Grab that ride when ya can. You never know when "the other foot is gonna fall", ya know what I mean? Life is too short to not take those chances when ya can.

Saw An Old Friend

Usually on my day off I am busy doing web related work and riding test bikes and parts. Well, my co-worker, Craig had told me that he wanted to go check out Cedar Bend Park and well.......it was too nice out to work! 

So I rode a bike just for fun!

I decided to give ol' Grimace the call up today, the 2007 Salsa Cycles El Mariachi with the Gun Kote finish and the purple Chris King head set I was gifted by George Wissell. As always, it rode awesome!

Craig and I had a great time riding, and Grimace was behaving well, climbing up all the steeps and handling like a champ. Funny thing about this bike is that it is a medium. Salsa Cycles  did things a wee bit differently back then, and I prefer the old medium over a large. (I'd definitely ride a large now!) It reminds me a bit of how things were sized in the 90's. A bit shorter top tube, a bit longer stem. I slapped on the 47mm offset On One fork on this too. Makes the Salsa come alive, and this bike just rips single track. The Industry 9 single speed wheels are great, and the free hub sounds like a cicada in August. Amazingly buzzy and loud. Someday I may upgrade to a titanium seat post, but this ThudBuster is a great post on this bike. Makes my back happy, it does!

Anyway, Craig and I decided a stop for something to drink afterward was in order. We pulled into the Janesville convenience store and what to my surprise did I see but my old "Dirty Blue Box"! I was floored! Someone decided it was worth fixing up and driving. Cool! It even had all my old cycling related stickers still on the end gate too! A little worse for the wear, perhaps. It was missing the entire rear bumper, and the right front fender was wrinkled, but when the lady who was driving it started it up, she sounded like a champ.

Don't get me wrong! I am waaaay better off with the "Truck Without A Name", but it was cool to see an "old friend" that I had spent tons of hours and thousands of gravel miles in still alive and kicking. 

I spent the rest of my day with Mrs. Guitar Ted, who also had the day off. We had lunch, and then I took her to the jewelry store to look for something special. See, Mrs. Guitar Ted has completed all her course work for her B.S. in Nursing at a local college, so I am going to get her something special to commemorate her graduation, which takes place in August.

Then we swung by the shop where I picked up the Shimano DynaSys 10 speed group. Yep! I'll be a busy bee mounting up some fresh componentry here soon.

Overall, it was about as perfect a day as you can get. So good that it makes you wonder: "When is the other foot gonna fall?" A definite "red letter" day for me! 

I sure hope everyone reading this has a great day today, and if not today, real soon. Get out and ride yer bikes folks. Grab that ride when ya can. You never know when "the other foot is gonna fall", ya know what I mean? Life is too short to not take those chances when ya can.

So.....What's Next?

Okay, June is shot, so what's next? Plenty! That's what! Here are some things that I will be focusing on in the immediate future.....

Getting Torqued Off: I have recently received a "D-Torq" wrench from Topeak to check out for The Cyclist  and Twenty Nine Inches. With the high tech gizmos and ultra-lightweight bits and pieces we are playing with on our bicycles these days, it is becoming more and more imperative that we pay attention to proper torque on fasteners. I've been reading about stem/steer tube failures, and other cracked bits and snapped parts. Maybe some of this could have been prevented by applying proper torque protocol, maybe not, but we really should be doing our part where we can. I'll be writing up some posts which I'll link to later. These posts will focus on proper torque wrench use and the D-Torq in particular.

The Tale Of The Tape: I also have a proper Velocity approved rim tape and valve stem kit for the P-35 rims I have on test at Twenty Nine Inches. Once I get this kit installed and ridden, I'll be doing a write up on the strips, stems, and a final review on the wheels/rims.

DynaSys XT 10 speed: I also have a DynaSys 10 speed group that is starting to show up at the shop. It will be put on a test sled and flogged within an inch of its life and then I will put up the results here and on the sites.

10 speed mtb stuff has a lot of folks questioning things, bemoaning another standard, and drooling, depending upon who you are and your point of view. I am not a fan going in, but I have talked to the principals involved in the testing of this group and I have delved into the Shimano marketing pool to see what is up with this stuff. We'll see. So far, the group shows some very meticulous engineering and manufacturing prowess, so I am expecting a lot from this move to 10 speed. 

When The Scout Comes In: Hopefully soon I will be swapping over some single speed parts onto one of these Origin 8 Scout 29 frames. I've reserved one to get in and check out which I will also be doing a review on for Twenty Nine Inches. This frame features revised clearances from the original steel Scout 29"er and still retains the super-short chain stays. I'll have to see how those short chain stays work out on our trails here.

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational: My annual, stupid-long, crazy hilly, in the hottest time of the year, gravel grinder is coming up soon. Check out the details here.  I have to double check the course out, but we'll be doing the same loop as last year which will be 118 miles of loopy, crazy gravel roads with a total elevation gain just six feet shy of 10,000 feet. If you add in the climb back into the campground, it easily goes over that figure! We'll be camping out afterwards too, so plan on staying late. Unfortunately, this falls on the same date as the Ponca 155 in Nebraska, so I doubt we'll be seeing any of the Lincoln crew, but I'm sure they'll have a great ride over there. One of these days I'd like to do that one!

And I am sure I am missing some other details of the summer which have slipped my mind. This is going to make summer feel very short!

So.....What's Next?

Okay, June is shot, so what's next? Plenty! That's what! Here are some things that I will be focusing on in the immediate future.....

Getting Torqued Off: I have recently received a "D-Torq" wrench from Topeak to check out for The Cyclist  and Twenty Nine Inches. With the high tech gizmos and ultra-lightweight bits and pieces we are playing with on our bicycles these days, it is becoming more and more imperative that we pay attention to proper torque on fasteners. I've been reading about stem/steer tube failures, and other cracked bits and snapped parts. Maybe some of this could have been prevented by applying proper torque protocol, maybe not, but we really should be doing our part where we can. I'll be writing up some posts which I'll link to later. These posts will focus on proper torque wrench use and the D-Torq in particular.

The Tale Of The Tape: I also have a proper Velocity approved rim tape and valve stem kit for the P-35 rims I have on test at Twenty Nine Inches. Once I get this kit installed and ridden, I'll be doing a write up on the strips, stems, and a final review on the wheels/rims.

DynaSys XT 10 speed: I also have a DynaSys 10 speed group that is starting to show up at the shop. It will be put on a test sled and flogged within an inch of its life and then I will put up the results here and on the sites.

10 speed mtb stuff has a lot of folks questioning things, bemoaning another standard, and drooling, depending upon who you are and your point of view. I am not a fan going in, but I have talked to the principals involved in the testing of this group and I have delved into the Shimano marketing pool to see what is up with this stuff. We'll see. So far, the group shows some very meticulous engineering and manufacturing prowess, so I am expecting a lot from this move to 10 speed. 

When The Scout Comes In: Hopefully soon I will be swapping over some single speed parts onto one of these Origin 8 Scout 29 frames. I've reserved one to get in and check out which I will also be doing a review on for Twenty Nine Inches. This frame features revised clearances from the original steel Scout 29"er and still retains the super-short chain stays. I'll have to see how those short chain stays work out on our trails here.

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational: My annual, stupid-long, crazy hilly, in the hottest time of the year, gravel grinder is coming up soon. Check out the details here.  I have to double check the course out, but we'll be doing the same loop as last year which will be 118 miles of loopy, crazy gravel roads with a total elevation gain just six feet shy of 10,000 feet. If you add in the climb back into the campground, it easily goes over that figure! We'll be camping out afterwards too, so plan on staying late. Unfortunately, this falls on the same date as the Ponca 155 in Nebraska, so I doubt we'll be seeing any of the Lincoln crew, but I'm sure they'll have a great ride over there. One of these days I'd like to do that one!

And I am sure I am missing some other details of the summer which have slipped my mind. This is going to make summer feel very short!

Bike Shop Tales: Blowing Off Steam

Welcome back to "Bike Shop Tales". I received a lot of positive comments last week encouraging me to continue the series. Today, I would like to dedicate this post to my friend, "Ears", who got this ball rolling again.

Back in the mid-nineties we had quite the "crew" hanging around at Advantage Cyclery. I suppose the big, open area we had for repairs was partly to blame. Folks could gather in there and not be in the way of normal everyday activity. It also didn't hurt that this area was somewhat closed off from the main selling area. The conversations didn't need to be "edited" for public consumption due to that arrangement. I suppose us shop rats were also somewhat to blame too! We certainly didn't chase anyone out of there!

Well, it wasn't long into my tenure at Advantage when I saw two high school aged kids coming in on a fairly regular basis.  They were from a nearby town called Shell Rock and were asking about all sorts of high end mtb parts. Obviously, they were very well read (Mountain Bike Action) younginz. At first I figured that they were just pulling our chains, but then one of them actually popped for a new, gold colored Rock Shox Judy fork. We hadn't even seen one in the shop yet when this dude bought it. So, instant "cred" was afforded this guy and his friend. Turns out that I would become rather familiar with both of them in time. But at that time I knew them only as two punk kids from Shell Rock named Matt and the other one with the curious name of "Ears".

Fast forward a bit to when we were regularly riding with and seeing Ears and Matt in the shop. One of the features of Advantage was that there usually was an industrial trike or two sitting around with various busted up wheels and parts laying around for them. Now- You have to understand that an industrial trike is one of the crudest wheeled vehicles you'll ever see. Really ancient technology rendered in heavy mild steel. The wheels weigh a ton, are chromed, and very poorly made. A local industry made use of these trikes as a way to get around their manufacturing plant. Well, they routinely were getting mangled by fork trucks and we ended up picking up the pieces afterward.

So- What does this have to do with two high school dudes into mountain biking? Plenty! Ears and Matt would often come in with the usual "teenage angst" and we had a way for them to blow off some steam. We would hand them wheels from these busted up trikes and tell them to "have at it". Matt wasn't to into it, but Ears........oh yeah! He would go totally bonkers on those wheels until they were folded up into pretzels. It was a beautiful thing to watch!

Ears ended up having to go out back into the alley to do this most of the time, because the rage was so intense, you never knew what might get destroyed in the ensuing melee'. I remember one particular time when a trike wheel was seen bouncing up off the pavement about ten feet into the air, narrowly missing a parked car. I looked out, but couldn't see Ears. Where the heck was that maniac?

Turns out that he had scaled an outdoor stairway on the side of an adjacent building for a better effect. Throwing from a height increased the level of damage he could inflict upon a wheel, but it also vastly increased the danger factor! I had to go out and put a stop to that! A 25lb wheel launched from a second story landing, and ricocheting off in whatever direction, helter-skelter, was not cool!

Dang kids!

Next Week: More Bike Shop Tales on Tuesday! Look for it!

Bike Shop Tales: Blowing Off Steam

Welcome back to "Bike Shop Tales". I received a lot of positive comments last week encouraging me to continue the series. Today, I would like to dedicate this post to my friend, "Ears", who got this ball rolling again.

Back in the mid-nineties we had quite the "crew" hanging around at Advantage Cyclery. I suppose the big, open area we had for repairs was partly to blame. Folks could gather in there and not be in the way of normal everyday activity. It also didn't hurt that this area was somewhat closed off from the main selling area. The conversations didn't need to be "edited" for public consumption due to that arrangement. I suppose us shop rats were also somewhat to blame too! We certainly didn't chase anyone out of there!

Well, it wasn't long into my tenure at Advantage when I saw two high school aged kids coming in on a fairly regular basis.  They were from a nearby town called Shell Rock and were asking about all sorts of high end mtb parts. Obviously, they were very well read (Mountain Bike Action) younginz. At first I figured that they were just pulling our chains, but then one of them actually popped for a new, gold colored Rock Shox Judy fork. We hadn't even seen one in the shop yet when this dude bought it. So, instant "cred" was afforded this guy and his friend. Turns out that I would become rather familiar with both of them in time. But at that time I knew them only as two punk kids from Shell Rock named Matt and the other one with the curious name of "Ears".

Fast forward a bit to when we were regularly riding with and seeing Ears and Matt in the shop. One of the features of Advantage was that there usually was an industrial trike or two sitting around with various busted up wheels and parts laying around for them. Now- You have to understand that an industrial trike is one of the crudest wheeled vehicles you'll ever see. Really ancient technology rendered in heavy mild steel. The wheels weigh a ton, are chromed, and very poorly made. A local industry made use of these trikes as a way to get around their manufacturing plant. Well, they routinely were getting mangled by fork trucks and we ended up picking up the pieces afterward.

So- What does this have to do with two high school dudes into mountain biking? Plenty! Ears and Matt would often come in with the usual "teenage angst" and we had a way for them to blow off some steam. We would hand them wheels from these busted up trikes and tell them to "have at it". Matt wasn't to into it, but Ears........oh yeah! He would go totally bonkers on those wheels until they were folded up into pretzels. It was a beautiful thing to watch!

Ears ended up having to go out back into the alley to do this most of the time, because the rage was so intense, you never knew what might get destroyed in the ensuing melee'. I remember one particular time when a trike wheel was seen bouncing up off the pavement about ten feet into the air, narrowly missing a parked car. I looked out, but couldn't see Ears. Where the heck was that maniac?

Turns out that he had scaled an outdoor stairway on the side of an adjacent building for a better effect. Throwing from a height increased the level of damage he could inflict upon a wheel, but it also vastly increased the danger factor! I had to go out and put a stop to that! A 25lb wheel launched from a second story landing, and ricocheting off in whatever direction, helter-skelter, was not cool!

Dang kids!

Next Week: More Bike Shop Tales on Tuesday! Look for it!

Inspiration To Ride "Something"

Wow! Is it like wet out there, or what?!! Two nights in a row and we got pounded by inches of rain. Now it is flooding. And yep!........almost all the single track is too wet, or under water!

Well, Saturday I figured that I would wait until later in the day to ride, figuring that Cedar Bend might be good to go by then. I threw the Lynskey in the truck and went up about 4:30pm to find that it was very humid, hot, and the air was still in the woods up there. It was a real cooker!

I had put a full charge of water into the Osprey Raptor 10 and I was prepared to try and do at least two laps of the trails. Unfortunately, the Cedar River truncated a lot of my choices that were lower in elevation! I still managed to put together a decent loop including the service road, and two big, steep climbs. I stopped to take the photo here, and was being swarmed by insects. I didn't stick around in one place too long!

What a pressure cooker out there! I was drenched in sweat after the first loop, and I did another, faster loop the second time through. I was starting to feel the heat in a bad way. Maybe I should bail outta here? But after a bit of service road, I dove back into the woods for lap #3. I figured I would back off a bit to settle down and just have fun. Ya know what? I ended up going faster! Should I do a lap #4 Nah! I bagged it and went back home before I did any damage. Probably a wise thing, seeing how profusely I was sweating! It was just running off me!

Saturday Night/Sunday Morning: Big, big thunderstorms roll through again, dumping inches more rain down. Crap! No way that Cedar Bend gets better after this, and that was all I had for anything off road around here. I stuck around the house, took the kids on a hike, and then................I got inspired!

 <===A "Fendered" Karate Monkey

 I remembered an e-mail from Mike Curiak where he admonished me to "just go for a ride". I thought about that, and how he had all these really cool places to ride, some right out of his back door. I didn't have that cool stuff to ride, but I had something to ride, or better said, "somewhere". I had also been perusing a site by mountain bike pioneer Charlie Kelley. He often just rides in blue jeans and a t-shirt. I figured that not only did I have somewhere to ride, but I didn't have to make a big fuss and change my duds out just to ride it.

And ya know what? I went out for a ride. On my Salsa Cycles Fargo, in my jeans and t-shirt, on gravel. Yup! That stuff Mike Curiak once described as something he couldn't figure out why anyone would want to ride miles and miles of. (I think he was just trying to get a rise outta me when he said that) Well, I rode about twenty miles of it, and it was great.

I saw deer, I saw rabbits, I saw a baby bird learning to fly, and whose very concerned mama gave me a quarter mile escort out of the area! I saw the sun setting on waves of green topped with "green caps" of trees waving in the wind. And by the way, the corn is fixin' to tassle already!

So what if I didn't have primo single track that was easily accessed. I had something to ride,  and I rode it.

I hope you got your ride on this past weekend too.

Inspiration To Ride "Something"

Wow! Is it like wet out there, or what?!! Two nights in a row and we got pounded by inches of rain. Now it is flooding. And yep!........almost all the single track is too wet, or under water!

Well, Saturday I figured that I would wait until later in the day to ride, figuring that Cedar Bend might be good to go by then. I threw the Lynskey in the truck and went up about 4:30pm to find that it was very humid, hot, and the air was still in the woods up there. It was a real cooker!

I had put a full charge of water into the Osprey Raptor 10 and I was prepared to try and do at least two laps of the trails. Unfortunately, the Cedar River truncated a lot of my choices that were lower in elevation! I still managed to put together a decent loop including the service road, and two big, steep climbs. I stopped to take the photo here, and was being swarmed by insects. I didn't stick around in one place too long!

What a pressure cooker out there! I was drenched in sweat after the first loop, and I did another, faster loop the second time through. I was starting to feel the heat in a bad way. Maybe I should bail outta here? But after a bit of service road, I dove back into the woods for lap #3. I figured I would back off a bit to settle down and just have fun. Ya know what? I ended up going faster! Should I do a lap #4 Nah! I bagged it and went back home before I did any damage. Probably a wise thing, seeing how profusely I was sweating! It was just running off me!

Saturday Night/Sunday Morning: Big, big thunderstorms roll through again, dumping inches more rain down. Crap! No way that Cedar Bend gets better after this, and that was all I had for anything off road around here. I stuck around the house, took the kids on a hike, and then................I got inspired!

 <===A "Fendered" Karate Monkey

 I remembered an e-mail from Mike Curiak where he admonished me to "just go for a ride". I thought about that, and how he had all these really cool places to ride, some right out of his back door. I didn't have that cool stuff to ride, but I had something to ride, or better said, "somewhere". I had also been perusing a site by mountain bike pioneer Charlie Kelley. He often just rides in blue jeans and a t-shirt. I figured that not only did I have somewhere to ride, but I didn't have to make a big fuss and change my duds out just to ride it.

And ya know what? I went out for a ride. On my Salsa Cycles Fargo, in my jeans and t-shirt, on gravel. Yup! That stuff Mike Curiak once described as something he couldn't figure out why anyone would want to ride miles and miles of. (I think he was just trying to get a rise outta me when he said that) Well, I rode about twenty miles of it, and it was great.

I saw deer, I saw rabbits, I saw a baby bird learning to fly, and whose very concerned mama gave me a quarter mile escort out of the area! I saw the sun setting on waves of green topped with "green caps" of trees waving in the wind. And by the way, the corn is fixin' to tassle already!

So what if I didn't have primo single track that was easily accessed. I had something to ride,  and I rode it.

I hope you got your ride on this past weekend too.

Fork Flip Friday

Maybe you don't pay attention to these sorts of things, but I do. Fork lengths on 29"er hard tails are getting longer. Used to be you went with the ol' original Reba at 80mm travel and you were all good. Then Fox got into the game with an 80mm travel fork. Okay, yippee! Manitou was there with an 80mm fork, life was good.

100mm forks were for FS rigs. Nice! Works well there. But guess what? Now all the new hard tails have 100mm forks. Ever see a 2010 with an 80mm front end? Not too many are set up that way anymore.

So it was that when Lynskey sent over this bike, it had a 100mm Fox fork up front. Nice fork and all, but the front end of the bike was so tall, that the handle bars were higher than the tops of my Fargo drop bars! Umm............'scuse me, but that's tooooo upright folks! Not only that, but the longer lever arm the 100mm fork presented was playing havoc with the front triangle of the bike. I wasn't really digging it, ya know?

So I figured that I'd try a suspension corrected for 80mm travel rigid fork, like the Salsa CroMoto Grande' Ahhhh! It is just the right spicy additive to this titanium stew! Man, the bike is just really a whole heckuva lot better than it was. Better steering, better stiffness in the front end, better seated position, better weight distribution on the front wheel, and oh yeah.................it is lighter too. 

But what about that rigid, stiff steel fork? Ya know what? Funny thing is that it rides just about as smoothly as it did before. Oh sure, big hits will rattle yer eyeballs a bit, but the frame is working now like it hasn't before because of the rigid fork. The little stuff I'm hitting feels about the same as it did before. Titanium. Nice. Smooth. I wasn't getting that so much from the front suspendedness I had going on before.

Front end lowered to a reasonable height, lighter, better steering, nice titanium feel. It's like I have a different bike to test now. Too bad I didn't swap it out earlier! It's a Twenty Nine Inches test rig, so it won't be here much longer. I just know that now I'll need to stock an 80mm travel suspension fork for these longer legged hard tails that the industry is foisting on us now. Ya know, sometimes "more" isn't really "better".

Have a great weekend and ride yer bicycles!

Fork Flip Friday

Maybe you don't pay attention to these sorts of things, but I do. Fork lengths on 29"er hard tails are getting longer. Used to be you went with the ol' original Reba at 80mm travel and you were all good. Then Fox got into the game with an 80mm travel fork. Okay, yippee! Manitou was there with an 80mm fork, life was good.

100mm forks were for FS rigs. Nice! Works well there. But guess what? Now all the new hard tails have 100mm forks. Ever see a 2010 with an 80mm front end? Not too many are set up that way anymore.

So it was that when Lynskey sent over this bike, it had a 100mm Fox fork up front. Nice fork and all, but the front end of the bike was so tall, that the handle bars were higher than the tops of my Fargo drop bars! Umm............'scuse me, but that's tooooo upright folks! Not only that, but the longer lever arm the 100mm fork presented was playing havoc with the front triangle of the bike. I wasn't really digging it, ya know?

So I figured that I'd try a suspension corrected for 80mm travel rigid fork, like the Salsa CroMoto Grande' Ahhhh! It is just the right spicy additive to this titanium stew! Man, the bike is just really a whole heckuva lot better than it was. Better steering, better stiffness in the front end, better seated position, better weight distribution on the front wheel, and oh yeah.................it is lighter too. 

But what about that rigid, stiff steel fork? Ya know what? Funny thing is that it rides just about as smoothly as it did before. Oh sure, big hits will rattle yer eyeballs a bit, but the frame is working now like it hasn't before because of the rigid fork. The little stuff I'm hitting feels about the same as it did before. Titanium. Nice. Smooth. I wasn't getting that so much from the front suspendedness I had going on before.

Front end lowered to a reasonable height, lighter, better steering, nice titanium feel. It's like I have a different bike to test now. Too bad I didn't swap it out earlier! It's a Twenty Nine Inches test rig, so it won't be here much longer. I just know that now I'll need to stock an 80mm travel suspension fork for these longer legged hard tails that the industry is foisting on us now. Ya know, sometimes "more" isn't really "better".

Have a great weekend and ride yer bicycles!

Opportunity Knocked And I Downloaded!

One of the biggest nits I have about my work area is that it is so cramped and cluttered. Being in an old basement in an old house, well.........I shouldn't expect much! The thing was that I had collected so much bicycle stuff since the mid 90's that it was beyond ridiculous down there. It made it so that I dreaded having to even set foot in the place, actually.

There were a lot of reasons for that mess. One was that during my time as a car mechanic I had felt the need to grab on to all the spurned bike parts I could because that helped me in my fixing up of other peoples bikes on the side. I had no inside hook up for cheap parts, but I could make do with lightly used ones and still do a tune up or two for some extra pocket change back in the day. 

Then I got back into a shop job and things just went crazy. Well, by 2010 I am sitting in a veritable bicycle rats nest. I was of the mind to download a lot of it, but to whom? Most of the stuff I wouldn't want was, well.......pretty much junk.

Then I heard about the plan someone in Parkersburg, Iowa had to make a "bicycle tornado" sculpture to decorate the town for the arrival of RAGBRAI next month. Opportunity was a knocking! So today I downloaded a whole pickup load of stuff and I even drove it all the way to Parkersburg myself, (approximately 30 miles from my house), just to see it off. Man!  What a difference!

I now have some "breathing room" in The Lab, and I am excited to do some sprucing up down there now so I can actually move around without smacking my head on something or knocking a bicycle over. Really! You folks have no idea how crazy it is down there. (Well, actually, Captain Bob does, but not many other folks do!)

 Okay folks. This is for those that were on the Fargo Adventure Ride. Last weekend we were reported to have 9 riders. Okay, something about the math isn't adding up for me, and I need help here. (I admit not being good at math, but just entertain me here for a minute)

Here's our pile of Fargos at the end of the day. I count six bikes: Three across the far side, two in the middle, and one in the foreground, right?

Okay, besides these Fargos, there was one Vaya, a Redline 29"er, a Kona cross bike, and a Surly CrossCheck. That equals four bikes, right? Okay, who was the "ghost rider" if there were only nine of us?

I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just confused. Help a brother out here Fargo Adventurers!

Have a great Thursday!

Opportunity Knocked And I Downloaded!

One of the biggest nits I have about my work area is that it is so cramped and cluttered. Being in an old basement in an old house, well.........I shouldn't expect much! The thing was that I had collected so much bicycle stuff since the mid 90's that it was beyond ridiculous down there. It made it so that I dreaded having to even set foot in the place, actually.

There were a lot of reasons for that mess. One was that during my time as a car mechanic I had felt the need to grab on to all the spurned bike parts I could because that helped me in my fixing up of other peoples bikes on the side. I had no inside hook up for cheap parts, but I could make do with lightly used ones and still do a tune up or two for some extra pocket change back in the day. 

Then I got back into a shop job and things just went crazy. Well, by 2010 I am sitting in a veritable bicycle rats nest. I was of the mind to download a lot of it, but to whom? Most of the stuff I wouldn't want was, well.......pretty much junk.

Then I heard about the plan someone in Parkersburg, Iowa had to make a "bicycle tornado" sculpture to decorate the town for the arrival of RAGBRAI next month. Opportunity was a knocking! So today I downloaded a whole pickup load of stuff and I even drove it all the way to Parkersburg myself, (approximately 30 miles from my house), just to see it off. Man!  What a difference!

I now have some "breathing room" in The Lab, and I am excited to do some sprucing up down there now so I can actually move around without smacking my head on something or knocking a bicycle over. Really! You folks have no idea how crazy it is down there. (Well, actually, Captain Bob does, but not many other folks do!)

 Okay folks. This is for those that were on the Fargo Adventure Ride. Last weekend we were reported to have 9 riders. Okay, something about the math isn't adding up for me, and I need help here. (I admit not being good at math, but just entertain me here for a minute)

Here's our pile of Fargos at the end of the day. I count six bikes: Three across the far side, two in the middle, and one in the foreground, right?

Okay, besides these Fargos, there was one Vaya, a Redline 29"er, a Kona cross bike, and a Surly CrossCheck. That equals four bikes, right? Okay, who was the "ghost rider" if there were only nine of us?

I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just confused. Help a brother out here Fargo Adventurers!

Have a great Thursday!

When It Becomes "Just Another Bike"

<===Breezer's 2011 Jetstream Comp

Seems like everybody is coming out of the woodwork this year and saying that they will, or are introducing a 29"er. Kind of reminds me of 2007 again! The thing is, this time it is different.

In 2006 there only were a handful of companies doing 29"ers. Surly was still selling a lot of Karate Monkeys, custom builders were still making a lot of Karate Monkey knock-offs, and everyone was waiting to see when single speed, do-it-all bikes would stop being introduced in favor of some full suspension and hard tail specific bikes. Then during 2006 and on into 2007 a lot of companies started selling 29"ers that hadn't before. It was a welcomed thing, and helped elevate the "niche" to a full on "sub-category" of mountain biking. 29"ers were not going to fade away!

Now in 2010 we have seen companies that swore they would never, ever do a 29"er introduce one, (Yeti), and companies we thought would never, ever do one make some, (Canfield), to seeing more and more companies expanding their lines and introducing their first 29"ers in some other cases. So what's up? Why all the fuss?

It seems that the market is feeling that 29"er mountain bikes are primed for expansion, and are the "hottest category" in mountain bikes right now. Expansion seems imminent- In Europe, where 29"ers are just starting to crawl out from under the rocks there, to marketing numbers that point to big wheel mountain bike sales that are increasing, while others stay stagnant, or are in decline, it seems that now it is time to......well, to excrete or get off the crapper, to put it bluntly.

What is going to start happening is that with all the choices coming down the pike, the average aficionado of  big wheeled-ness is going to start glazing over while the younginz just coming up are not going to differentiate between the two sizes of wheels so much. It will all combine to make 29"ers "just mountain bikes" as we move forward from this point. Some will have big wheels and do this and that well while others will have smaller wheels and do that and this well. It'll be just like the choices between 100mm of travel or 120mm of travel. Big, fat tires, or faster skinnier ones. Jumping in the air bikes, or XC race weapons. Big wheels or small ones. See what I mean?

It always has been "just another bike", and I've always said so, but it really will be down the line as time goes by.

Note:In regards to the "Bike Shop Tales" it looks as though I will pick that back up due to the few, but very encouraging comments from yesterday. Thanks to all who took the time and effort to replay. I appreciate it very much! Look for a new "Bike Shop Tales" next Tuesday.

When It Becomes "Just Another Bike"

<===Breezer's 2011 Jetstream Comp

Seems like everybody is coming out of the woodwork this year and saying that they will, or are introducing a 29"er. Kind of reminds me of 2007 again! The thing is, this time it is different.

In 2006 there only were a handful of companies doing 29"ers. Surly was still selling a lot of Karate Monkeys, custom builders were still making a lot of Karate Monkey knock-offs, and everyone was waiting to see when single speed, do-it-all bikes would stop being introduced in favor of some full suspension and hard tail specific bikes. Then during 2006 and on into 2007 a lot of companies started selling 29"ers that hadn't before. It was a welcomed thing, and helped elevate the "niche" to a full on "sub-category" of mountain biking. 29"ers were not going to fade away!

Now in 2010 we have seen companies that swore they would never, ever do a 29"er introduce one, (Yeti), and companies we thought would never, ever do one make some, (Canfield), to seeing more and more companies expanding their lines and introducing their first 29"ers in some other cases. So what's up? Why all the fuss?

It seems that the market is feeling that 29"er mountain bikes are primed for expansion, and are the "hottest category" in mountain bikes right now. Expansion seems imminent- In Europe, where 29"ers are just starting to crawl out from under the rocks there, to marketing numbers that point to big wheel mountain bike sales that are increasing, while others stay stagnant, or are in decline, it seems that now it is time to......well, to excrete or get off the crapper, to put it bluntly.

What is going to start happening is that with all the choices coming down the pike, the average aficionado of  big wheeled-ness is going to start glazing over while the younginz just coming up are not going to differentiate between the two sizes of wheels so much. It will all combine to make 29"ers "just mountain bikes" as we move forward from this point. Some will have big wheels and do this and that well while others will have smaller wheels and do that and this well. It'll be just like the choices between 100mm of travel or 120mm of travel. Big, fat tires, or faster skinnier ones. Jumping in the air bikes, or XC race weapons. Big wheels or small ones. See what I mean?

It always has been "just another bike", and I've always said so, but it really will be down the line as time goes by.

Note:In regards to the "Bike Shop Tales" it looks as though I will pick that back up due to the few, but very encouraging comments from yesterday. Thanks to all who took the time and effort to replay. I appreciate it very much! Look for a new "Bike Shop Tales" next Tuesday.

Bike Shop Tales: Where Have You Been?

Hey! it's Tuesday and this is the day I usually post "Bike Shop Tales" posts. If you are a regular reader, you've noticed that I haven't been doing any of those stories since May. Things got off track, and actually, I completely forgot about "Bike Shop Tales" altogether!

I was reminded of all of this by my old friend, "Ears", who called me up yesterday and actually asked me about starting this all up again. (Yes Dude! I mentioned you on the blog. Chill out! It'll be okay!) I contemplated all of that he said, which was very complementary and encouraging. (Thanks, bro!)

But I need to hear from more of you. Is this something that anyone else out there actually finds interesting? Let me know by posting a comment in the comment section. I will gauge the interest I see from the comments that are generated here and let ya'all know my verdict on Wednesday. (Yes! One day to vote!)

Here's my personal feelings on the matter, if anyone needs something to go on here: First of all, there is a wealth of awesome material that I could comment on, tell stories from, and describe to all of you from my past work at "Advantage Cyclery" The only thing is, a lot of it would embarrass, offend, or otherwise tweak off a lot of local folks that I still see and that read this blog. (You know who you all are, I'm betting!) That makes telling stories here about those days difficult, and in some cases, impossible.

Some things are better left unsaid, in other words! (Maybe a lot of things!)

So, it wouldn't break my heart to let it go, but if there are enough votes in favor of doing this again, I'll continue. Make sense?

 Okay, so let me have your feedback, please. Thanks!

Bike Shop Tales: Where Have You Been?

Hey! it's Tuesday and this is the day I usually post "Bike Shop Tales" posts. If you are a regular reader, you've noticed that I haven't been doing any of those stories since May. Things got off track, and actually, I completely forgot about "Bike Shop Tales" altogether!

I was reminded of all of this by my old friend, "Ears", who called me up yesterday and actually asked me about starting this all up again. (Yes Dude! I mentioned you on the blog. Chill out! It'll be okay!) I contemplated all of that he said, which was very complementary and encouraging. (Thanks, bro!)

But I need to hear from more of you. Is this something that anyone else out there actually finds interesting? Let me know by posting a comment in the comment section. I will gauge the interest I see from the comments that are generated here and let ya'all know my verdict on Wednesday. (Yes! One day to vote!)

Here's my personal feelings on the matter, if anyone needs something to go on here: First of all, there is a wealth of awesome material that I could comment on, tell stories from, and describe to all of you from my past work at "Advantage Cyclery" The only thing is, a lot of it would embarrass, offend, or otherwise tweak off a lot of local folks that I still see and that read this blog. (You know who you all are, I'm betting!) That makes telling stories here about those days difficult, and in some cases, impossible.

Some things are better left unsaid, in other words! (Maybe a lot of things!)

So, it wouldn't break my heart to let it go, but if there are enough votes in favor of doing this again, I'll continue. Make sense?

 Okay, so let me have your feedback, please. Thanks!