On Friday last week, it finally happened. My camera was knocked out of my hand and was sent into the ground with all force. Parts flew. My brand new frame and my best lens, the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Mk I (not the Mk II). It was a worst case scenario. The shock was staggering. I couldn’t believe it. … Read more
I got a new camera chassis this weekend so Ronen and I did some shots on Saturday. A nice little trail in Marin. Great for photo practice. I got a Canon 7D Mark II. It’s supposed to be amazing and it seems that way. I need to get a lot better at taking photos to … Read more
I went to the Access 4 Bikes member appreciation party yesterday hosted by City Cycle in Corte Madera. A nice event with lots of beer and great tacos. Plenty of talk about singletrack and who’s keeping bikes off them. Here are some photos that I took. Just snapping folks. I got a little demotivated when I … Read more
My current phone, the Samsung Galaxy S6 (SM-G920V) has an incredible camera in it. It’s currently on of the best! With the recent update to Android version 5.1.1 (Lollipop, Verizon) I am able to produce RAW image files. My preferred camera app is Camera FV-5, it gives me full control over my imaging. Mobile adjustments … Read more
On a recent build, I used the new SRAM GX 1×11 drivetrain. It’s cheap and seems fairly solid. It’s not super light but it gives me a chance to use a proper 1×11 configuration in a situation that it could be an asset. I used a KMC X11L chain. I’ve been using KMC chains for … Read more
I went and hung out at the DFL race in Bayshore last night. Dirty cross racing in a toxic hell hole of a place. The Bayshore Train Yard is not a safe place for man or beast. Lots of flat tires on the course during the race and a few spills in the main corner but … Read more
Urban bikes are odd things. They have to do very particular things for each particular user. Grocery getters to cross town commuters. Fashion victims to bomb squads. They take on rolls like we all to, generally categorizable but highly individual. I ride all over the bay area while commuting but mainly through San Francisco. I like … Read more
***9/4/2015*** Parts sold by Nova Supply have been corrected and no longer have this problem. I probably should have posted this back in mid April when I found this. I was giving some folks time to react. Time ran out today. The Allotec C-43-1 142×12 DT modular dropouts are being used by more and more people … Read more
I’m a pretty dumb guy. Really. I learn new things every day that make me step back and say, “Dam Pete! You’re a dumb mutherfucker! You should have seen that long ago. It’s obvious.” I get kinda down sometimes. I feel like I’ll never catch up to what’s going on. I have to try and … Read more
I’d been playing with my MDT LSS Remington 700 chassis for a bit. It’s a bit underdeveloped but it does function well without a lot of needless clutter. There are a number of changes I’d love to make to the design of the chassis: The reduced scale of a special .223 chassis that would use … Read more
I did some work on finding a better scope position for my 223 bolt rifle. The scope was a bit far away from my cheek weld position. I brought it back about an inch and a half. It’s so much nicer now. Very relaxed and comfortable setting up with no straining or struggling. The base … Read more
I’ve been riding mountain bikes since about 1990. Before that I had spent a year or so as a bicycle messenger and before that a skateboarder (both in Boston). Mountain bikes were pretty mangy before the 90’s. They slowly evoved until the big advancement leap started around 2010. In 1990, I was hired at Fat … Read more
I finally got to making some progress with the space gun. I’ve been busy and distracted and all mixed up. It also took a long time to get the right tools together to feel confident starting the business of destroying this rifle and build it back better. I needed to cut the barrel down from … Read more
Poor Maggie. She’s been through a war. Last night the dogs and I were out for a walk. Maggie tends to bring up the rear because she is so slow and old. She’s often about a third of a block behind Annie and I. At around 7:30, she got stuck under the wheel of a … Read more
Recently, I got some military tape, embroidered nameplate material (militarynames.com) for some fun stuff. Some velcro name tape was for my two bags that have 6″ velcro locations & some simple sew-on name tape for other items. The sew-on tape is very cheap so I could get a few of them for very little. Here, … Read more
The second annual Tamarancho Endor Flow Trail Chainless race is in the books. The race is a part of Bike Monkey’s Tamarancho Dirt Classic weekend. Last year’s race was super fun, amazing, challenging, and a thrill. It was the first legal gravity race in Marin County since the last Repack race in 1984. Major props! This … Read more
Years ago, at an early Maker Faire in San Mateo, I was lucky enough to see and touch an early test mule and prototype for what is now the Lit Motors C1 vehicle. It was so cool. It had gyros and batteries and computers and sensors. It balanced on it’s own and corrected itself when … Read more
***Warning: This post involves me spewing hatred*** Fashion is a terrible thing sometimes. Some people want to own bikes like you get from yard sales or from the dump and claim it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. It seems to be a thing and people will pay a lot of money to … Read more
I have some serious motorcycle lust right now. The new 2015 Yamaha YZF-R3 has arrived and it looks fantastic! I want to love this bike. I want to ride it at redline all day. I want to take 30 pounds off it and tune it for hard sport. Somebody just give me one!!! As the … Read more
Two years ago, the Endor Flow trail at Camp Tamarancho was finished and heralded one of the biggest changes in mountain biking for our area that I’ve seen. In the two years following the ribbon cutting, local riders and riders around the country have been demanding simple to ride, smooth trail free of any rocks, … Read more
I have a love/hate relationship with making bicycle mechanical tools. I love that I’m making something that works great but I hate the fact that it’s necessary. I buy plenty of tools that are ‘supposed to do simple jobs well….and don’t. The Park Tool #827 1.5″ crown race installation adapter for the CRS-15 is a … Read more
The seven p’s. It’s good to keep them in mind as you do anything. I almost got caught off guard. I was getting ready to put a new bike together with a frame I designed and made. Once a finished frame goes to paint and with enough time to get a QBP order placed and received before the … Read more
I cruise various bicycle frame builder message boards and the frame builder’s Facebook page. I haven’t had any interest in posting there in a while but I did a lot in the past. The topics that get brought up are often topics that have been covered over and over so there isn’t much to offer in terms … Read more
Setting up brakes on bicycles can sometimes be an exercise in utter frustration. Several factors contribute to setup issues. People will reuse poorly worn pads, use bent rotors, over fill resoviors and just mismatch parts. One issue most overlooked is the geometry of the caliper mount. Some people do take the time to machine the … Read more
The time finally came (again) to have a big trail bike. This happens every now and then. The pendulum is always swinging. Sometimes you want to ride the 29er hardtail and sometimes the DH bike. Often, you want something in the middle…but what is that? After 14 months on the Anthem 27.5 (mod), I wanted … Read more
A while ago I posted about drilling holes in aluminum frames to add stealth routing for dropper seatposts where they didn’t exist. Folks were so concerned. How dare he? What gives him the right? Bike frames just can’t handle this!?!! Well, I’m at it again. Carbon! So fuck y’all. The recent acquisition of a cheap Chinese … Read more
I can’t remember what year it was. 2006 maybe? I had been building my own bike frames for a short time. A change was coming and something new was eking it’s way into the light. A tire size between 26″ and 29″. The 650b. Kirk Pacenti was pushing this new thing. Obviously, the wheel size … Read more
I haven’t put much focus on shooting rifle in a while. My wrist has healed enough so that I can ride mountain bikes properly again and after some truly tragic incidents, ammunition costs had skyrocketed. My preferred cartridge, 22LR had shot up from $0.06 to $0.40 per round (if it could even be found). It’s … Read more
I was lent this rifle by a friend. I wanted to take it apart and look at it’s guts first hand. It’s nice when others can lend you their toys. Something that people forget in the internet age is that reading about machines or watching on youtube is very different from actually working with them … Read more