Some bikes can stop a whole show. At Interbike 2018, the annual US bicycle trade show, that’s exactly what this one did. Over and over you’d hear, “Did you see the Wonder Woman bike?”, “Did you…?” No other bike got more attention. It was an amazing piece of work by Nick Lee Airbrushing. The quality … Read moreWonder Woman

It was time to really test the Bird of Prey on dirt and in a more aggressive urban sense. Just a few mountain bike rides on it. Hopefully another few before it gets road tires for getting to work. Enough time for a general fit and gearing. 36t gear and 10-50 gearing to keep it … Read moreBird of Prey flat bar

The PVD Red Baron has long been the king of all the klunkers. Krunker. The dankest and rawest bitch in town. The bike isn’t a rehashing of old aesthetics. It’s a real modern ‘low’ performance bike. It flys down trail and feels good doing it. The original build was intended as an experiment on what … Read moreKrunk

Ok. The winner is the winner and second place is the first loser. We learned that a long time ago. Have you looked any deeper into your race results? Were you actually “mid-pack”? A top rider? Shitty? Sure, you can see what order you came in but knowing more about the race isn’t often discussed. … Read moreHow to understand race results

On August 1, 1981, a brand new cable station, MTV, aired the first of many music videos in it’s programming. They were to be the first 24/7 music television station. They weren’t the first to air music videos to homes but they were the first that claimed to be all about music and their accompanying video … Read moreKeep it radio

The general rule in the machine shop is to never make when you can buy. With some exceptions, you’re usually doing yourself a huge disservice by choosing to make something that is otherwise available commercially at reasonable prices. There are some exceptions to this but often you’ll end up spending more money than it would … Read moreNever make when you can buy

I’m not a big fan of the recent trend of tooled axles in all bikes. It has a place, but most of the time it’s a nuisance. They look clean. They are slightly lighter. But that’s really not everything when it comes to the use value of a bicycle. In real use most road going … Read moreIn defense of quick releases.

Now that I’m back from my Whistler trip and ready to replace the brutalized rim of the rear wheel on my bike, I’m looking into the spoke lengths needed to do the job. The Chromag BA30 rim has a nipple stagger of about 5.2mm, 2.6mm to either side. This threw a wrench into my usual … Read moreStaggered rim drilling

Here’s the question: Do you need a downhill bike? In other words, have enduro bikes progressed to the point of usurping their larger brothers? About fifteen years ago, if you were going to ride at a properly set up bike in a park like Whistler or Northstar, you’d have to be on a real downhill … Read moreWhat is this that we’ve become?

There’s an issue that the modern bicycle mechanic needs to address; When working with flat mount calipers and centerlock rotors and 12mm axles, a MTB large spline lockring can’t be used as they cause interference with the caliper or brackets with many front forks and adapters. The more streamline type are used. Instead of the … Read moreFlat Mount Centerlock Issues

In my RockShox Super Deluxe RT w/Remote Trunnion shock (205 x 60mm. Trunnion/8×30) in my 2018 Kona Process 153 29 DL/AL, I felt I needed more compression damping. I’d constantly blow through all my travel when big trail riding. That left nothing in reserve for DH riding. With a trip to Whistler coming up and … Read moreSuper Deluxe Re-valve

It has been a little slow posting here in PVD land. Not because nothing has been going on. Exactly the opposite. So much that my head is spinning. A new bike. All-road 3.0. This bike has been the largest scale bike project that I’ve done in a while. So many details to be designed, engineered, … Read more2018 PVD Bird of Prey

Warning! The dimensions that I present here still need final testing. There may be some configurations that are challenged. This is true in the current market and the problems that exist now do carry through to what I’m proposing.  I’ve been doing a ton of work with disc brake standards lately. For my own new … Read moreDisc brake mounting systems

Here’s another post in the never ending saga of the new FM140 mount I’ve been working on. I decided to go with a special variant to work better with SRAM calipers. SRAM calipers are shifted about 0.3mm outboard. Along with some manufacturing and tooling tolerances as well as paint and clear coat, the 1.omm slot … Read morePVD FM140 Variant

Flat mount has been the topic of the week in PVD land. I can’t wait until this is over. The flat mount specification was released a few years ago and had everyone pulling out their hair. It is a fine system but it was specified so poorly and in such a confusing way that it … Read moreClearing up FM140

What’s old is new again. Circa 1997. The Hayes 22mm caliper mount. Believe it or not, this is what changed mountain bike braking forever and truly brought disc brakes to every day mountain bikes. Back in ’97 or ’98, I bought a bike with these brakes on it. I was the first in my crew … Read moreFlat Mount MTB

I started this project last fall and I’m finally getting it done. I’m trying to clear the counters in the shop and I’m hoping to stay on track. I like to use my PVD StepDown brake mount on frames and forks. After welding, some calibration of the mount is good to do. This will help. … Read moreThis sucked.

Making the rounds this last week was a photo of a 4.5kg “mountain bicycle”. It can’t possibly function, but I’m sure few realize that. Last week someone I know was bragging to me about how amazingly light their bike was (although, they get a pass, being pro AF). I’ve been planning to get around to … Read moreThe McNamara Fallacy and bikes

You know what comes in very handy and costs a boatload of cash? Hurricane Components Fork Ups. Why? They have a patent. #6036069. So you pay dearly for what they do. Even on the Ebay they are expensive. Most recent cyclists my not know how hard it was to load a bike onto a car … Read moreFork Up Reworks

A stuck seat post used to be a very common problem in the world bicycles. There were many steel road bikes and aluminum posts in that era that would never move and galvanic corrosion welded the two parts together. Over time, road bikes became primarily made of aluminum or carbon fiber and assembly life became a … Read moreStuck Seat Posts

I was thinking about kids bikes this week. There were some discussions of 26″ hardtail design and another on building a kid bike. It sent me off. It’s a good mind experiment. How to design a bike that has no reference? Imagine trying to ride a bike like this? Sadly, that’s what most kids have … Read moreKids bikes

This is a big deal for me. For years, I’ve been looking for a way to mark my bikes. The careful observer may have noticed that close to none of my bicycles have had any identifying marks on them other than the fingerprints of my design ascetic. No decals. no logos. No marks. Why? Because … Read moreData Plates

Windy got a new bike. It’s a medium 2018 Whyte S-150 S. The decision to get this bike was based primary on the modern geometry and, in this case, the ability to switch from 29″ to 27.5+ wheels. While the ability to use the big tires wouldn’t normally be a thing where we live, our … Read moreWindy’s Whyte S-150 S

A while back, I made some head tube extensions for twenty-six inch bikes as travel was getting longer and super-d still existed. Race bike setups were getting very strange. That was 2010. Today, I’m making them again. This time, for the new Whyte S-150 that we’re setting up for Windy. The bike rides very low … Read moreTwentysevenplustwentyfive

I’m working with a REVELATION RC A1 (2018+), 150mm. Changing travel to 160mm. Simple enough. I ordered the part: “11.4018.026.034 Air Shaft DebonAir – PIKE B1/Revelation (35MM) (160mm 29/27)” as specified in the SRAM 2018 parts book: The problem? The replacement doesn’t match the stock part. The head height is very different The head is riveted … Read more2018 Revelation RC A1 travel change issues

I think it’s fitting that this is taking the place of my annual NAHBS post. This post is about idiots making decisions, marketing of garbage, and what happens on a ride when something that is supposed to work, doesn’t. Sounds like everything NAHBS is about. You know what bullshit engineering is? It’s bullshit. It’s not … Read moreBullshit “engineering”

I love the SRAM GXP and spider system. I’ve been using it for years and it has produced a great deal of value for me. I have a trouble free bottom bracket and axle interface that works just as well in a press fit application as threaded. I can change spiders for 1x, 2x, 3x … Read moreGXP is so awesome

I just built a fancy new fork for my hybrid. I certainly wasn’t going to build around the now dead 100mm spacing that many fools still cling to. I, correctly, made the fork to 110mm. Sadly, folks who build forks for the commercial market haven’t realized that 110mm is much better than 100mm spacing when … Read moreSo much BOOST