The Monkey Rides Again

After a prolonged absence, the Monkey has been rebuilt to ride again.
It was decommissioned at the end of 06, and it hung in the shop in a place of honor. I felt bad about it's state. I mean, without this bike, I never would have discovered the joy of the big wheels. If I had never discovered 29ers, I probably wouldn't have opened the shop.
Funny how it all works out.


In the process of moving the shop, I found a whole bunch of parts in random boxes that I could use to get the Monkey rideable again. I set it up as a 1x9 with Mary bars and cable disc brakes. I'm going to use it to commute to the new shop, as well as drag the boy to daycare. It's built up with a set of Foundation wheels, shifting coming courtesy of a 10 year old SRAM 9.0SL rear derailleur mated to a new X7 shifter. Also coming out of retirement is a pair of similar vintage SRAM 9.0 brake levers, the ones with the faux carbon print on them. It's pretty cool to have this stuff out getting used again. To keep the vintage theme going, I'm using the first set of Time pedals I ever owned.

I climbed Barnes Hill on the shakedown ride. For the most part the dirt roads are doing well. They had dragged the road smooth today, so it was a little rough going. I imagine that by the time the Gravel Grinder happens, the roads will be fine. Sweet Road on the other hand, is not doing so well. I actually crashed when the front wheel washed into a deep car tire track. Once I picked myself up, I could smell a big animal. It had to be a moose, it kinda smelled like a horse, only really pungent. As I pedalled along, I noticed not one but two distinct moose tracks in the muddy road. Boy, I was getting close, the smell was getting stronger, and those tracks were very fresh.
Alas, no moose sighting for me. I didn't have my camera anyway, but I did come across a couple of people who had actually seen the two moose walking down the road. I must have just missed them. I did see 6 deer though. I also hit 44.7 mph going down Loomis Hill.
More Gravel Grinder updates tomorrow.

Synopsis of Color

One of my most recent projects has been a Vassago Bandesnatch partial build. While it left the building today, it will always stick in my mind as one of the most vibrant builds I have done.

We didn't break the bank, rather, we spent money where it needed to be spent, and left the rest for future upgrades far down the road. We came out with a pretty nice bike with one of the coolest color schemes I've seen in a long time.

While avoiding high dollar drivetrain and brake components, we did manage to embellish a little. One of the beautiful things about the Royale Wheelset, is that you can either blow it up, or go totally stealth. We went big, and carried the theme over the entire bike.






And you know what? It works. My philosophy of bike building is, if you are going to be spending a chunk of your hard earned cash, have fun with it. Sure, all black looks as cool as Darth Vader's suit, but color is good too. Do things you wouldn't normally do. It's not like you are getting 3 brand new multi-grillion dollar bikes every summer.
Mix it up.
Live a little.
Do what makes you happy. We are here to help and expedite, not judge.

Have fun with it. It's a bike. It's made for fun. It's your bike.

Weekend Update

Despite winter's unrelenting grip, it does actually feel slightly spring like. We received at least another foot of wet snow yesterday, but this morning's temperatures are well into the 30s. Once the sun crept over the Worcester Range, it really warmed up. The snow is wet and heavy and melting fast, but the snowbanks are still 3 feet tall and higher. I spent about an hour and a half shoveling already today. Hard work, but it beats having the deck fall off the house under the weight of 2 tons of snow. While I was taking a break out there, enjoying the quiet, I noticed it wasn't so quiet after all. The birds were making a racket. It sounded like spring. Music to my ears.


I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I arrived at the shop and found that Brown Santa had delivered a set of custom Industry 9 Single Speed wheels. I love these wheels. This is the first time I have almost been torn away from my old stand by, the Bike 29 Royale.
This particular wheelset has custom color blue hubs laced to the Stan's Arch rims with silver spokes. A very tricked out package.