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.

 

 

It’s amazing how little effort it takes to fuel the stoke.

I’ve spent the last couple of days in my storage unit, after spending entirely way too long trying to print out shipping labels at my kitchen table. What was I doing? Putting labels on boxes. Being busy never felt so good. Even if my efforts took 5 times as long due to an “IT” issue.

the first carload

I also made a bit more room in ye old “warehouse” by passing on a couple of items that I had built for the shop: my old workbench and my craptable. I call it a craptable, but really it’s where the bench vise, bench grinder and several hundred steerer tube ends used to live. It’s a sturdy little sucker. I was able to bequeath these items to my good buddy Joe (of Joe’s Trail), who also helped me stuff boxes. Without his help, I would still probably be there shipping orders in the snow.

hazy shade of winter

Oh, yeah, it has snowed. Several inches fell up high, and we’ve had a dusting to 1″ on the valley floors which means that winter will very soon be upon us. That didn’t stop me from getting in a ride in the Loops. While many of the locals were out hiking the snow capped mountains in search of their first ski turns of the season, Seamy and I had the woods to ourselves.

snowy singletrack

keepin it METAL

Now I don’t know if the ambient air temperature had anything to do with it (28°!) but I had a real hard time getting my bike to move. I felt weak like kitten, a far cry from the strong like bull I felt on my last ride. It probably had more to do with the fact that my last ride was well over a week ago. Or maybe I need a lighter bike…

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:

 

It’s what those big wheels were always about.

But what happens when that big old wheel grinds to a halt? What if all the bumps and hollows in the trail have been so numerous and severe and relentless that the wheel eventually rolls to a stop? It takes a little effort before it can roll again.

I’ve always tried to keep this blog fairly light, upbeat and pertinent to all things 29er, so lately, I haven’t had much to talk about. That isn’t to say that there is nothing going on, in fact, my life is quite the buzzing center of excitement. Only it’s not the sort of thing you’d really want to read about.

I’ve been off the bike for a while. A rather long while. I’ve ridden my bike more in February than I have July and August combined. I’m in the ugly process of divorce. It takes a lot out of you. I’m also in the process of running a bike shop all by myself, a webstore, trying to be a good parent and maybe having a tiny bit of a social life. On top of all that, there were the house guests, and let us not forget SSUSA. I’m le tired.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I am injured as well. Not so much injured as incapacitated. Long story short, I had a pretty severe allergic reaction to a prescription med that rendered me practically immobile and reduced me to a crying pile of shit. Not kidding – I had to switch cars with Mandy because I couldn’t drive stick, just so I could go to work and writhe in pain behind my desk. A whole ‘nuther round of drugs later, and I might actually be able to ride my bike on Friday. Friday is my birthday. I’ll be 41. This getting old shit is becoming scary.

So I’m really trying to pull it together here. The big wheel is gonna turn again. I’m in good spirits, and even though I have hoisted the FOR SALE sign up, I’m still very stoked about the future of B29. We’re going places, so…

 

Not even a joke.

Bike 29 has been my entire life for the last 6.5 years. I started out with an idea, and somehow built my little mini-empire with the help of some great friends and a ton of hard work. Just goes to show you what is possible when you put your mind to it.

Change is good, and I think the ship will swiftly sail to new adventures with a new captain. I’ve taken it as far as I can go, and it’s time for me to step down.

So if you are considering getting into the bicycle industry, or are looking to expand your portfolio, I’ll be taking SERIOUS enquiries.

Until then, it’s business as usual.

Have a great weekend!

You know the saying “out with the old, in with the new” that normally pops up this time of year? Well I will be playing along. It’s really easy to get burdened down hanging on to things that you think you need, but really don’t. Having a bike shop and being kind of a pack rat, I have developed a habit of keeping things longer than I need to “just in case” I should need it later. And subsequently I have a lot of things that I don’t need. A lot of the stuff I have hung on to is pretty much junk, so I will be recycling through that stuff.

jettisoning the garbage before making the jump to hyperspace

Some  of the other stuff I have is more valuable. Like my Salsa La Cruz.

"the" Cruz

It’s a size 55, with a 1st gen SRAM Force/XX group. It’s got compact cranks 50/34, and a 10spd 11-32t MTN cassette, BB7 disc brakes, freshly rebuilt King/Crest wheels with Super Comp spokes, King headset and BB, Easton carbon seatpost, and all the other usual nice bits that I trick my bikes out with. Tires are new 40c Kenda Happy Mediums set up tubeless.

I’ve ridden this bike less than 5 times in the last 12 months, and I have other bikes that I ride a whole lot more, which puts it in the superfluous category. It needs a home, and I know that someone will love this bike. I’m asking $1800, but will entertain any serious offer.

I also have a lot of other random stuff that I plan on getting up on the shop site, mostly old inventory that needs to go away. Stuff like Oakley glasses, Sidi and Lake shoes and other random items I no longer carry. I’ll post the links up when it goes live, just in case you might find anything you need. It’s all in the name of making B29 a lighter leaner machine.

Now I just gotta work on that belly…

OK, this is going to be hard for me, but I have to give up a couple of bikes that I really like. I have come to terms with the fact that the funnest of our local riding is pretty much over until the snow melts next year, But I have some other devious plans in the works, but they all take money, so off to market they go.

I’ve already posted one up before, had a buyer for it, who ultimately welched on me after about 3 weeks, during which time I could have sold it 3 times over. So here we go again.

This is a large 2009 Milk Dud ano Niner WFO, and it comes with the following:

Stock FSA headset, Thomson X4 stem, Easton Monkey Lite bars, Ergon GE1 grips, Marzocchi 44 tapered fork, XT direct mount front derailleur, Truvative Noir cranks (36-22), GXP BB, XO rear deraillieur, PG990 11-34 cassette, PC991CS chain, X9 trigger shifters, Avid Elixir CR brakes (185/160 rotors). Newly rebuilt Crank Bros Joplin post w/ remote, WTB Devo saddle, WTB Dissent tires (practically brand new) I9 classic hubs (also practically brand new) laced to Stan’s Flow rims with DT Comp spokes.

The frame is 135mm rear spacing, but has the DHX Air rear shock and Maxle rear drop out. super fun to ride, but has been collecting dust lately.

Price is $2500

Next

This one draws a tear to my eye, but:

Large 2009 Niner RIP9, full ano black.

Fox RL120 Fit fork, Cane Creek 110 headset, Thomson X4 stem, Ergon GE1 grips, Race Face Next SL carbon bars, Avid Elixir Mag CR brakes (185/185 rotors), Race Face Next SL cranks set as a double(36-22), King BB, PG990 11-34t cassette, PC991CS chain, Easton EC90 seatpost, WTB Devo saddle, XO triggers and rear derailleur, XTR front deraillieur. Wheels are I9s with I9 spokes laced to Stan’s Flow rims, with Panaracer Rampage tires. This bike also has the Maxle rear axle on it.

All this can be yours for $3000.

And finally

My beloved Salsa Primero

It’s a 49 cm frame (or 56 actual), full SRAM Force group with a Black Box ceramic BB, compact gearing, 50-34 front, 11-28 rear. Easton EC70 seatpost, WTB Devo saddle, EA 70 handlebars, Thomson X2 road stem, Fizik bar tape. The fork is an Alpha Q full carbon jobbie, King headset, and the wheels are Kings laced to Mavic CXP33 rims.

The bike is smooth and responsive, and weighs just a bit over 17 lbs. Not bad for steel eh? It probably has less than 600 miles on it, which is a shame. Someone else needs to love this bike appropriately.

$1700 takes it.

It pains me to let these guys go, but go they must. Feel free to contact me if you have a serious interest, and need additional info or pictures. I will ship the bikes anywhere in the continental US for the prices listed.

I have tons of other random little stuff too, but I’ll be putting that up on the ‘Bay. That is a good weekend project I can do while we hide from the weather, which is supposed to be absolute shite. Our first Nor’Easter is knockin on the door!