I’m starting to get my pre-trip tweak on.

The reality is beginning to settle in that I have to pack every thing I own, and either store it or drag it across country. In 2 weeks. Exciting times for sure.

Some of the stuff I posted last week has found a new home. The Gozarian will be relocating to Australia, and my old singlespeed wheels will roll once more in PA. There have been many nibbles on the Trundleraptor, so that will be sure to go soon. I had debated selling off some of my tools, and I decided that I am going to get rid of one of my truing stands.

You too could own a pice of B29 history with one of my Park TS-2 truing stands. It includes the mounting base, wheel extenders for 29″ wheels, axle adapters for all the various axle types and a rotor truing gauge. All this for $200.

And don’t forget that tomorrow is the METAL show. Tune in on the web here. The playlist is just about done.

I told you there would be more. These are just a couple of stragglers I couldn’t round up in time for yesterday’s post.

First up are a set of I9 singlespeed wheels. You may recognize these as the wheels I built up for Kermit when I went to SSWC09 in Durango. These are great wheels.

They are laced to Arch rims with DT Aerolite spokes and alloy nipples in. Looking for $400. They are high mileage, well traveled wheels, but they are in excellent shape, and I think these might be the quickest wheels I’ve ever built up. These spin up so fast it’s mind boggling. I think it has to do with the spokes in conjunction with my mass, but one thing is for certain, they have earned me the title of best “coaster”.

Then I have this 17.5″ Trek Superfly frame.

The direct mount for the front derailleur is broken, but I bet it can be epoxied. Or run it as a 1x? and not even bother with it. Looking to get $200 for it, pretty darn reasonable, and if it were a larger frame and I was sticking around, I’d probably keep it and build up a winter dirt road cruiser.

Schwalbe 700x35c tubular tires.

I don’t even know why I have these. Actually I do. Anyone remember BikeCX? These are the tires that used to retail for $150 each. Now I’d like $50 for the set. It’s the older Racing Ralph pattern, and they are tubular, meaning you have to glue them on to the rim. My experience with tubulars has not been good., but some people swear by them. The last time I mounted up a set, it took me 2 days, and I glued my fingers to my hair. Not pretty.

Oh yeah, I said there was an announcement to be made. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow, because it has nothing to do with bikes, and I can’t figure out how to segue into it. But it will be worth tuning in to

OK, so if you were reading yesterday, you will know that today’s post features a bunch of stuff that I am getting rid of. For money. All the charity stuff is gone, but I can assure you that the prices are tantalizing, you know I like nice things… Some of this stuff I will be sorry to see go, other stuff can be replaced. But for now, it makes the most sense to let it make someone else happy being used, rather than making me unhappy and broke by sitting dormant.

The Trundleraptor

Shocked? Well, they say last in is first out, and this is true. This bike is fun as fun can be on snow, and has definitely saved my mental bacon, but where I am headed, this bike is unnecessary. Know I’ve been geeking out on it’s replacement…

Build spec is: 20″ Pugsley frame + fork, DT370.Surly hubs laced to Rolling Darryl 85mm rims with DT Super Comp spokes, alloy nips, Nate knobby tires, Surly Mr Whirly cranks with xtra wide spindle to clear those huge tires, WTB Vigo saddle, Thomson seatpost and stem, Easton EC70 bar, SRAM X9 shifter and derailleur, Avid Elixir CR brakes. Oh, and a very rare Chis King purple headset. It’s sort of a maximized Pugs, and I’d like $1500 for it. Would like to sell it locally as shipping this beast would be a small fortune.

The Gozarian

Yup, seeing as how all the cool places I used to travel to ride are going to be within a day’s drive, I won’t need this frame any more.

$650 – worth it for the S&S couplers alone. Plus you can run a belt on it if you are so inclined. The frame is a large Niner SIR9, modified to be single speed only.

SRAM XX 2×10 group

$1200 OBRO and you can tell me what size rotors (180/160/140) to send with it. Brakes are the World Cup model. Crank is the BB30 version, cassette is the 11-36t, and includes a new in box BB30 bearing set up. Very, very low miles on this group.

Rock Shox Reba SL

Enduro seals, fresh rebuild and oil. 159mm or ~ 6,1/4″ steerer. $200

Formula  Oro Pro brakes

No rotors, used but twice. These are good stoppers and are perfect for riders with smaller hands. They didn’t work for me ergonomically, so they got stashed in a corner a long time ago and forgotten about. $150, remember – no rotors.

All of this stuff is good stuff that needs a good home. I take Paypal or ca$hmoney. If anything here tickles your fancy, please let me know and I can arrange to have it in your hands as expeditiously as possible.

And if this ins’t enough stuff, I’ll probably find more to post tomorrow, along with another announcement that is completely not bike related.

 

 

I am touched by the overwhelming amount of support via orders I received Friday and Saturday. Until my recent slash and burn tactics, all this stuff had been sitting in storage getting dusty. I’ve been feeling a lot like a haggard survivor in the Walking Dead lately, and getting rid of this inventory has given me some more bullets so I can live to fight another day. For that, I am extremely grateful. Thanks to everyone.

staying one step ahead...

I’m gonna level with y’all. I was dead certain that I was rapidly approaching the end. I have a hard time not doing things. It makes me crazy. Unless otherwise focusing on things like spokelengths, various hub/rim combos, tire pressure, sag, blah blah blah blah blah, my mind becomes a centrifuge that will keep spinning until it accelerates to the point where it breaks and flies off into an unpredicted direction. It could put someone’s eye out.

It’s not like I haven’t been looking for work. Nothing awesome has turned up yet, but the feelers are out there. I’ve had some interviews, some rejections, and lots of no replies. And you know what? I’ve been here before. In fact, it was about 7 years ago I was in the very same predicament: jobless, broke, and no options looking good. The landscape has changed, but the game is the same. Maybe some of the parameters might be better, or worse, depending on how you look at them, but I’ve been here before. And I lived to tell the tale.

Bike29 was just a simple idea that became so much more than I knew what to do with sometimes. Occasionally it got out of hand. It’s run me into the ground more than once, that’s for sure. But every time it’s done that, I’ve been able to walk out of the smoking crater. This last time was very hard, because everything was a stake.  Guess it still is. But dammit, I feel myself getting up. Maybe not as quickly, and definitely a lot more banged up than I have ever been, I’m getting up just the same.

To be continued…

 

It has been a month since I handed the keys to the retail shop back to my landlords. Sadly, not much has happened, with the one exception of a quick trip out to my old stomping grounds in San Diego. That was a nice break.

The weather here of course made my threat of riding bikes almost impossible, and my quick trip has reduced the number of rides to a mere handful. Normally, I have Off-tober, but seeing as I wasn’t bound to occupy the shop, I thought I’d enjoy some of that freedom before the next thing presents itself. Oh well… The online store has managed to do a pretty decent business, despite me not really playing with it. And I still have a pretty decent inventory of stuff left over, and now it is time for some deals to be made.

If you head on over to the Bike29 Sale page, you will see some rather crazy deals. So take a look, tell a friend, get a bargain, so I don’t have to resort to doing something like this:

 

The Strip, Las Vegas, NV

On with the show. The Sands Convention Center, one of the most wretched hives of scum and villainy, and also free beer and tequila if you know where to look.

As I said before, I had sat out the last few Interbikes, I’m not really a fan of being cooped up indoors, breathing conditioned air with a bunch of people milling about and touching everything. I’m not a germophobe by any means, I just have little patience for annoying and deliberate gawking in artificial environments. There are also the constant interruptions when you are talking with people, the butt-ins, the “hey, real quicks…”. I find that to be especially annoying, and completely counterproductive. Especially because I have such a short attention span and I am likely to forget what I might have been talking about. I’m of the firm belief that if you are going to discuss serious business with someone, you give them 100% of your attention, and the hi-5s with passers by should wait until said business is concluded. Just an observation, and a bit of a rant. This happens all the time.

The purpose of my visit was very focused, I had a couple of “important” meetings that I had scheduled, and those took place away from the isles and potential interruptions. This ain’t my first rodeo… they were productive, and I came away from them feeling like it was a good thing I had made the plane ride. This left me with a lot of well organized free time to mill about and gawk.

Unfortunately, my point and shoot camera has decided that it is going to take mostly lousy pictures from now on. Most likely a result from being jammed in my jersey pockets on hot sweaty rides over the last few summers. It has outlasted all the others I’ve owned, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. The flash does send up a puff of smoke when it is used, which is rather exciting.

want

Up first is this new crabon bike from Ellsworth. This bike fits in the trail category, along with bikes like the Santa Cruz Tallboy LTC, and the new Niner RIP RDO.

hey, isn't that Mike Maggs?

I didnt get any good pictures of the RIP RDO, thank you camera. So you’ll have to go here to see them. It’s a neat looking bike for sure. And I’m sure anyone glued to Facebook or MTBR last week has seen and read up on it already.

There wasn’t much in the way of awesome new tires out there. I, like The Dickness, feel that anything named for viral video sensation that was over long ago, lacks long term relevance in the market place. Besides, when the tire company in question actually has such tires in stock, it will be 18 months from now, making them even less relevant.
The only cool thing I saw was this:

white walls!

The white compound is supposed to provide a more supple ride. Whatever, it looks cool and I want them.

There are some new 29er suspension fork choices out there now.

"we'll never make 29er suspension forks!" oh, wait...

improving, updating and expanding

Then there was this. I really want one, just like this one. Anyone want to hook me up? It’s a damn good thing it was bolted to the ground…

double want

There were quite a few 650B bikes out there. They looked cool too, but reports coming back from the on dirt demo from trusted sources say that they either rode like 29ers or 26ers, begging the question, do we really need another wheel size?

Intense Tracer 275

The overall vibe of the show seemed pretty subdued to me, almost sleepy. There wasn’t much going on that had people buzzing. I think it might be time for the Marzocchi girls to come back…
Many of the regular players weren’t at the show, instead choosing to hawk their wares at the Outdoor Demo. Interbike is pretty expensive for an exhibitor, I imagine that hard choices have to be made as to which eggs are going into which basket, especially in this uncertain economy. I mean, you could literally do 5 or 6 events in a targeted environment, reach more consumers and have better results for the same cost of being stuck indoors at Interbike along with most of your competitors. There’s a reason why there is a Trek World.

That being said, I don’t regret going at all. It was great to catch up with friends, old and new, and making sure to enjoy some of the local “real”, off Strip flavor really made the trip for me. Vegas is no longer my least favorite place on the planet.

Some may remember that my WFO experiment began way back in October of last year. The experiment began as Weapon X, with the goal to create a baddass trail bike that could take on our tight and twisty New England trails. It was born from my experiences with my previous WFO which was aptly named Honey Badger, due to its cantankerous nature. It just didn’t give a shit.

As I’ve spent most of my time this year on Weapon X, I found that my experiment was excelling at some things, and falling short elsewhere. This is all part of the game, and improvements and refinements were made along the way. Without my incessant tinkering I would not have made all the changes to this bike that have drastically improved the way it performs.

First and foremost, I found that the stock Rock Shox Monarch rear shock, while a very capable unit, was not living up to my expectations. It is quite tuneable, but the spring rate is linear, meaning it feels pretty much the same throughout it’s range of motion.  I’ve been riding full suspension bikes since ’96, and I’ve always used the rear shock to do a lot of the work for me (it’s why its there). My riding style is biased towards the rear of the bike, and I expect the rear shock to load up and provide some pop when coming out of a bump or exiting a turn. The Monarch was just not getting it done. I ‘d have to run so much air pressure that the bike would ride too harshly over rough terrain.

time to start the reactor

Enter the DHX air, which has a nice bottom out resistance setting. That’s the little extra dodad that sticks out of the shock like Quato. I can now run the shock  soft enough where it literally flutters over the bumps without worrying about blowing through all the travel. In other words, it ramps up quite nicely, and it delivers the sort of performance I expect out of a bike like this.

squeeze here...

...stop here

Also new, are the new 4 piston Avid XO Trail brakes. I only have a couple of rides in on them, so they haven’t developed full power yet, but I can say that lever feel is consistent with other Avid brakes I own, and hauling my ass to a stop on anything is a mere 1 finger effort, even when the old XO brakes might take 2. Looking forward to full power.

Plus I got to build up a new set of wheels for the bike that are more along the lines of my style. The old wheels are already on their way to their new home. While cleaning them up, I checked them over to make sure they were still good etc… Still round and straight after a few seasons of abuse, just in case you were wondering why I use the I9 wheels….

electroviolet

engagement, stiffness, a Jedi craves these things

Stan’s had just released their Flow EX rim, which has a 3mm wider inner width than the standard Flow. What does this mean?

wide

I measured the Hans Dampf as a legit 2.3 on the old Flow (measured at the casing).

MOAR WIDE!

I like big tires. I picked up 40g per wheel on this upgrade, which isn’t enough to get me in a fuss, considering I had spent a few weeks on 1100g tires.

The bike has been evolving from experiment to result, and it has taken on a whole new personality. I sort of felt like it might be time to give the bike a real name, as it has certainly earned it’s worth, and a permanent spot in my stable. Much in the same way Logan started as an experimental Weapon X, he became known as the Wolverine, I’ve given my Weapon X a new handle.

sweeten the ride

This, is Black Sunshine.

 

After fiddling around with the stock Monarch shock on Weapon X for a few months now, I have come to the conclusion that I need a different rear shock. I’ve never been able to find a good setting that works for me, it’s a good shock, but I need a little something different for my riding style. I find myself in need of something that ramps up more, something that tightens up as I drive the back end of the bike over bumps or through turns. Had I not previously owned a WFO equipped with a DHX Air, I wouldn’t know what I was looking for.

As chance would have it, Commander Cody hand delivered a brand new DHX rear shock.

many Bothans died to bring me this shock

Actually, a friend had ordered one, but found out the hard way that it didn’t clear his frame. I hadn’t really been planning on upgrading the rear shock so soon, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. The shock was the right size, and a quick (actually not quick, more like 20 minutes on hold) phone call to Fox, assured me that the shock would be appropriately valved for a WFO.

I’m looking forward to trying this bad boy out.

I love each and every one of my bikes, but I really only ever ride one at a time. I’ve tried riding multiple bikes at once, and I almost ended up in stitches. In light of my attrition to “competitive” cycling this season, I’ve been thinking more about about what I need, vs what I want. Thankfully I’m not in the position of having to “get by” with what I have, I have an amazing arsenal of bikes at my disposal.

No, I’m in the process of pairing down. There is nothing worse than to be riding one bike, and thinking that you’d be having so much more fun on another. This little demon has been inside my head for the last few years, and it’s time for him to stop. I have to admit, this whole crabon availability nonsense has given me pause to reflect  my own personal bike needs. I’ve had “more fun” on my WFO than any other bike this season. Granted we’re just getting going, but I don’t see that changing much. The RDO is a hoot to ride, but it isnt exactly what I’m looking for in a bike. That isnt to say it’s not worthy, because it very much is. I have no problem riding a 24lb bike with top shelf components on it. It moves like they do.

But my 32 lb slugger with 5 lbs of tires does too.

But maybe my problem lies in that I am topped out with the RDO, there is not really anywhere to improve it. My inner bike nerd needs room for tweaks and obsessing. Maybe that is why I appear to enjoy riding the WFO more. And I have all sorts of tweaks planned for that bike over the summer, which I’ll begin talking about tomorrow.

You know exactly the ones I’m talking about. The kind where you wake up in a foul mood and very little goes right. And it’s raining cats and dogs. And I’m writing out all the bills for the end of the month. Meh. At least I can pay them.

Air 9 RDO

After reaping the joys of business ownership, I set about the task of building JayPro’s new hardtail, a Niner Air 9 RDO. It sure is a svelte looking frame.

cramped rear caliper mount

It wasn’t smooth sailing though, the aesthetically pleasing yet impossible to reach with any kind of a tool rear brake mount had me cursing up a storm for about an hour while trying to line it up properly. I had to do a line swap too, as this new design runs a lot more line under the down tube. I eventually outsmarted it, but only just.

do the cables and BB fit? yes, but barely

I knew I was going to fight a pitched battle with the internal cable routing too, so I took a minute. I ate, so I wouldn’t fly into a low blood sugar rage, then I made a plan and stuck to it. With only a few miscues, I had successfully run the cables in relatively short order. This design uses full housing from shifter to derailleur, which is easier to instal than the cables on the A9C, but not optimized for ease of use.

And now I’m going to say my piece on internal cable routing now. BAD IDEA. Changing cables still requires the removal of the crank and BB, which is time consuming, and a huge pain in the ass. I’m not sure if whoever was in charge of this feature has ever had to replace a cable in a parking lot, or in the pits at some race, but it sure as hell is not race day convenient. That and the location of the rear brake are the only two problems I have with this bike.

fast AND light

It is otherwise a beautiful machine, weighing in at just 20.5lbs as you see it here. Despite my little mechanical niggles, I think this will be a very capable race rig, provided you bring it to the start line ready to go. It’s stiff, light, and is sure to strike fear into the hearts of those that line up against it.