Titani-yummm!

This just in...
I received our first batch of Lynskey Pro 29 frames today. All productivity in the shop ground to a halt the moment I opened the box, and we all held out breaths as the first frame was carefully removed from it's packaging.


oooooohhhh!

Amazingly beautiful.
The first one I grabbed was a small, satin finished frame, weighing in at 3.39lbs, with the Paragon style dropouts (both drive side types are included). The second was a beautiful brushed finish, size large, that came in at 3.59. I imagine that the medium will arrive at 3.49. Very respectable indeed.

The brushed finish does come at an upcharage though, but in my book is worth it. I'm a shop monkey at heart, and I got the satin finish printed up in no time at all. The brushed finish seems to resist grubby hand prints, and has some sort of a machine like hue to it.

Both finishes come with die cut decals, which are available in a variety of colors to match any build. If you want to go all the way, you can have your graphics laser etched. If you are a techno dork like I am, this is worth the extra coin. I had one of these in the shop last week that was finished in this way, and I was immediately smitten.

matte finish behind the brushed

run it a single speed

or geared!

This is no doubt a very versatile frame.

Rolling with the Squadron

Mother's Day.
Three guys, out in the woods. The spouses had first dibs on the singletrack for the day, and fortunately, they were kind enough to leave some scraps for us.
Trail conditions were awesome. Dry as dry can be.

Nat, JayPro and myself headed up Perry Hill for some great riding today. Nat logged some flight time on my RIP, while Jay and I spent some time fine tuning our Jet 9s.


While the shop continues to be very busy, I did manage to get out for a ride last week, and I actually rode my RIP. I had a great time riding it. With any luck, I'll be able to spend a bit more time on trail, and now that both bikes are set up just the way I like them, I ought to be able to get a good comparison between the two. They are very different bikes.


I thoroughly enjoyed my Jet today. However, I took some time pre-ride, and swapped the Conti Mountain King tires for the Schwalbe Racing Ralph (2.4s). I think that I will go back to the Contis when it is a little colder and wetter, but for now, I am enjoying the high volume and very round profile of the Schwalbe much more. The tire swap was a good move. Cornering is very predictable, rolling resistance is lower, and I dropped .5 lbs in overall weight.

It was nice to let the Jet loose on some familiar, yet rugged terrain. I maintain that it is a quicker bike than the RIP. While not as sure footed at times in certain scenarios, it more than makes up for in maneuverability. You can change your mind at any point and switch lines at will. It outclasses the RIP in it's ability to climb technical sections with ease. We made the climb to the top of Joe's in no time at all.

I remain steadfast in my thinking that the Jet is a race bike. There have been some folks out there on the interweb that have complained about the weight of this frame, but I built Jay's bike at a respectably raceable 24.6lb (with pedals and bottle cage folks - real weights here). Take weight out of the equation, and what you have is a bike that can outclimb, out corner and straight up out perform the competition. The rest is up to the rider...

Lack of Posting = Too Much Work!

As some of you may have noticed, it's been a while since I posted. Over a week!

The shop has hit ludicrous speed. Repairs and sales are way up, and I mean WAY up. The new location has already proven itself as a good move, and continues to perform in a way I couldn't have imagined.
In addition to our screaming retail business, Bike 29 continues to gain momentum. Last week I filled our Outback wagon with packages just to go to the post office. That's a lot of boxes.
The weather has not been the best for riding, so we've been keeping our head down and grinding on.

Here are some important updates.

Schwalbe Racing Ralphs are in stock in both sizes.
Niner Jet 9s continue to arrive, but I am almost sold out of my entire order, not just the ones I brought in early.
09 Fox F29s are here, update soon.
Several sets of I9 wheels have arrived, with more on the way. Call for details.

Bike 29 is proud to announce the addition of Lynskey to our catalog. The Lynskeys are the family that originally brought you beautiful titanium frames under the name of Litespeed. While what happened to Litespeed was truly tragic, and out of the Lynskey family's hands, they pulled themselves up by their boot straps and rose from the ashes under the Lynskey Performance Designs name.

And guess what?
They have a 29er that will blow your socks off.
Look for more on that very soon.

Product Review - Twin 6 Messenger Bag

I have a lot of messenger bars. I seem to attract them the way that light attracts moths.
I have several examples of Timbuktu, Patagonia, Crumpler and more, and most of them do get used fairly regularly. In current use, is my T6 Sack, which is a large basic Crumpler back with some very cool graphics. I scored this pack from my friends at Twin Six when I was out in Minneapolis for QBP's Frost Bike.

It is a no frills pack, it has one large main compartment with 3 pockets, a flat zippered front compartment. There are pockets on both sides that easily fit water bottles. Anyone who has seen a Crumpler Bag knows how well they are built.

I've been using this bag for hauling my laptop, a change of clothes and some shoes back and forth to the shop whenever possible. The rising cost of gas sucks, and frankly, I'd much rather spend my money on something more fun. I've not had to fill my car up in over 2 weeks.
Riding a bike is far much more enjoyable too. I've been towing the boy to daycare in his trailer, so I'm using it as an opportunity to spend some time outside with the kiddo, and get a bike ride in too.


It was yesterday though, when the bag really proved it's worth. I was charged with picking up dinner. I didn't have the car, so I grabbed my biggest bag, the T6 Sack. Well. We had some of the ingredients at home, but still needed a few things. We were going to have burritos.
I was able to fit 4 limes, an orange, a lemon, a loaf of bread, a big flat of chicken, a bag of rice and a 12 pack of beer. Not bad eh?

The loaded pack was heavy, but fit snugly to my back with the help of the stabilizer strap. It was also pretty comfy too, despite having huge box of beer in it. I managed to get it all back to the shop safely, without crushing the bread even.


I'm not sure, but I think that if pushed, I might even be able to get 2 12 packs in there!
I give this bag 3 thumbs up (if I had 3). One for top notch construction, one for the excellent graphics, and one for being able to haul the beer home.
Cheers!

JET 9, First Flight

Thanks to planetary alignment, good planning or just plain dumb luck, I was able to take flight on my Jet 9 tonight. My regular test loop is dry and riding very well right now. I ride every single one of my bikes on this loop, and I know it like the back of my hand. This is what makes it the best proving ground.

The Jet, well, this is some sort of awesome.


My initial impressions are that this bike delivers. It is quick!

I put a lot of new components on this bike. The brand new brakes aren't yet up to the task of slowing my 230lb carcass down fresh from the box, which made for some exciting cornering. Nonetheless, the bike was able to go where pointed despite my subconscious efforts to attempt low earth orbit.

I forgot about "taking it easy" many times, and often pushed it way over the line. When you are having fun, you just have to run with it. I made some tricky sections my first attempt tonight that often take me weeks to work up the gumption to even try.

This is the first bike I've built in a long time where the bars have been lower than the seat. It threw me at first, but this bike was originally marketed to be a "race" bike. I sort of have it built up as one, with the exception of the wheels. I built identical wheels to my RIP, knowing that I was going to wail the crap out of this bike right out of the gate.

My Fox fork was riding extremely saggy tonight, but that was entirely my fault. Over the winter I had the fork Push'd, totally re-valved and dialed in just for me and my ham fisted riding style. Tonight I felt the need to let some air out of it Fortunately, I remember it's Push'd settings, so I'll be fixing that IMMEDIATELY.

There are a lot of NEW (for me) parts on the bike; Ergon grips, narrow EC90 SL bars, and the rubber, Continental's Mountain King 2.4. What a weird tire! More on this in an upcoming post. I really like this tire, but not in a way that I can easily talk about at the moment.

It's very hard for me to be precise about my initial thoughts on this bike. It's not often that I am stymied when trying to find fault in something. Sure there are things that I wish may have been different with this bike, but wow, it I like it! It's impressive to be able to throw down on a brand new bike, the same way one might on a bike they may have had for years.

bling!

Internet Free Zone

Not by choice either.
So much of the work I do goes on after store hours, and since the internet has decided not to work at my home, I'm forced to reduce my work load slightly. Apparently, I'll be waiting until they can get a technician over to sort it out. What is even more annoying, is that my Crackberry has also decided to stop receiving emails, so I am in true radio silence.
Stupid technology...

So the Gravel Grinder was a huge success, we have a great post on the Five Hills Bikes blog with pictures, and a video of the descent down Loomis Hill that someone was brave enough to film one handed. Next year, we'll have more room. We had to turn away a bunch of folks, which was a huge shame, but we had planned for a certain number. A huge thanks goes out to all of our sponsors.

I've been building Jets and shipping them out furiously. What an amesome bike. I should be able to get mine dirty this weekend, if I can ever get caught up in here!

The Plane has Landed

After what seems like FOREVER, I finally have my Jet 9.

I'm not even going to talk about what it took to get these 10 frames here, but rest assured, they are here. Everyone that pre-ordered the Jet before 1.31.08, will get their frame before the rest of America. I just need a chance to do final QC before getting them packed up and on their way again. They will leave on Monday.

All I have to say is WOW!


What a beautiful machine. Everything is well thought out and executed to perfection. Typical of Niner. I had a really hard time deciding between the Kermit frame and the ano black, but I eventually chose black. I already have a Kermit, and he has been very good to me. I plan on holding on to my original Kermit for a long time, so it's best not to piss him off. In fact, Kermit gets the nod for the big ride this Sunday.


The Jet is a different beast. For my personal ride, I chose to bling out on the lightweight components, yet go with a beefier wheelset. I'm a trail rat, not a racer, but I wanted something I could duel with at Catamount if I needed to. With my "stock" set up, the bike rolls at 27.6lbs (with pedals and bottle cage). A full 2 pounds less than my RIP. It's set up with a "PUSHed" Fox fork, and an all mountain double (on a sweet set of cranks arms too!). I have a feeling that there are a great many things to be learned about this Jet...


An absolutely gorgeous beast this is.
I have a handful of medium and large frames that don't have homes on this run, but I have another 10 coming. I have a small amount of small and XL frames unspoken for.

Want one?

Call!!