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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
Warning! Some of the information below has been superseded by new information. I’ve been doing a ton of work with disc brake standards lately. For my own new bike and because recent proposed “standards” needed correction. This post is intended to pass on what I’ve come up with and communicate to the industry a path … Read more
Warning! Some of the information below has been superseded by new information. 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 … Read more
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 more
Warning! Some of the information below has been superseded by new information. 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 … Read more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 aesthetic. No decals. no logos. No marks. Why? Because … Read more
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 more
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 more
I came across this design in my hard drive this weekend. Back in 2004, I was elbow deep in suspension nerding. I was riding my sportbikes hard and tearing through tires. I probably had my forks apart twice a month for a year or so. The rear shock also. I was learning a lot. Of … Read more
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 more
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 more
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 more
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 more
I’ve hated the look of the cheap Chinese carbon rigid fork that the F-35 had put on it. Nothing against carbon forks, I love them. They really are the best, light and flex just right (when done right). I just couldn’t stand the garbage looks. It was a cheap placeholder fork. It’s nice to grab … Read more
Dang. Back in early December of 2016, Drew (@engin) was all excited. He had been using his CNC milling machine since 2014 to make dropouts and he was looking to branch out. This was some seriously cool news. Drew is “all about the process” and this is some pretty real process. It’s proven to be … Read more
Supersonics. (or maybe Stetsasonics?) In 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first human to exceed the speed of sound: Mach 1.06 (700 mph). He was piloting a Bell XS-1 #1 jet named “Glamorous Glennis”, in honor of his wife. Both names are now part of history. (btw, he made this flight with two broken ribs) Yeager … Read more