Here’s something fun and useful. I love when I get to get all math-y… A long time ago (2006), I put a blurb up on my wiki. It was a re-post from long ago that I had posted onto a skateboarding message board, probably back in 1998 or so. My web site, wiki, and now … Read more
I build bikes, I tune bikes, and I ride bikes. I design them to work just right and then I ride them and find out if they really do. As a constructor, I’m ensuring that what’s on the paper matches what gets painted but most importantly, that what get’s painted isn’t going to get somebody … Read more
There are a few legends in the cycling world. For geeks like me and for the shredders, Hadley is up near the top of the list. Mike Hadley has been making hubs for a long time. You could make an argument that they are the best hubs ever made. You could also make an argument … Read more
I had some old Independent 101 mm skate trucks laying around and a set of wheels collecting dust. I figured I’d put them to work. An Indy 101 mm truck is very narrow. Typically, you’d be using side set wheels in a modern context to make these work for anything but a child’s board. I … Read more
I hate calling these things bash rings. The only bike of mine that really has a bash ring is my full on DH bike. That lands ring first on rocks. For the rest of my bikes I like to think of them as guide rings. They keep the chain from falling off the big ring … Read more
The San Francisco Bay Area is an incredible place to be a bicycle rider. There are so many incredible places to ride road and dirt in pretty much any direction coming out of San Francicso. You can do some sweet road rides directly out of the city or ride killer singeltrack in Marin. Some rides … Read more
Here’s one of my favorite new bike setups. Skinny multi-speed mountain bike cranks. XX1 cranks with two chainrings and a guide ring. This setup is going on my Firefly 29er Hardtail and I just did it on my Anthem 27.5. I’ll have just 7mm of clearance from the fat Ti chainstays. Sick! Enough, I hope. I’ve been a Shimano guy … Read more
I’ve got a real problem with hipsters. They completely lack authenticity but they are also compelled to blaze this into everyone’s faces and with such arrogance hidden beneath faux irony. Everything they do seems to be for show and they suck the life out of anything that was once cool. Then, when the corpse of the … Read more
***This bike was updated: See here*** I broke. I needed a faster bike. I got my ass handed to me at Annadel State Park a few weeks ago by a couple guys on tight FS 29ers. I was on my heavy Butcher. Proabably the worst tool for the job of XC dash and run. 26″ wheels … Read more
Ever have a buddy destroy a fancy carbon frame in a crash for something as silly as the handlebars smashing the top tube. It’s an epidemic. Fuck that. For the past few years I’ve been struggling with fit on my mountain bikes. Even with my own designed bikes, I know where I want the grips to … Read more
These went live today. So cool. It’s been interesting watching all of this unfold. A year or so ago, I designed a pair of titanium road dropouts for Firefly Bicycles. They turned out pretty good. Everyone was really stoked on how they looked and worked within the bike. Recently, Jamie contacted me about a pair … Read more
The long term update. Three years ago, I put together a new Santa Cruz Butcher APP bike. I was looking for a super tough, cheap, simple play bike that I could do anything with. That turned out to be quite the learning curve for setting up longer travel trail bikes. The way that I initially put … Read more
There are right ways of doing a job and wrong. People talk about this a lot but somehow few really stick to it. Recently, while trying to solve some gearing issues, I ordered a custom chainring from Warhawk Industries. I wanted to get a 32t and 34t ring in 80BCD. I ordered the part with 2.5 … Read more
I’m a Shimano fan. Some things about Shimano just can’t be argued; they make the best brakes, pedals, and cranks….PERIOD. I’m also a big fan of RockShox forks, Truvativ stems, posts, and bars. My big problem is that lately I’ve been buying SRAM cranks. Sorry, I do love Shimano cranks. Many years ago, Shimano introduced … Read more
My new (to me) Yamaha Majesty scooter had an issue. The gearing was way too tall for it. It kept the bike feeling pretty mild. Something many people like in a scooter but not something I do. I want every bit of the bike working. This gearing was so tall it left a lot on … Read more
This Saturday was the annual Biketoberfest party in Fairfax. Typically everything you see is as expected. This year was a bit different as there were some serious klunkers and folk surrounding the Koski tent. Pretty insane stuff. Many things I hadn’t seen.
Things have been changing a lot with modern mountain bike specifications. Dropper posts, long front centers, cable routing, and 142mm rear spacing to name just a few things. When it comes to dropper posts, it’s settled that internal or ‘stealth’ routing is the standard and preferred way of doing things. Bike frames that are just a year or two … Read more
I’m not easily impressed when it comes to seeing bikes out in the wild. I’m not saying that there aren’t a lot of people doing great things, but when you’ve been looking closely at the finer points of cycle design and fabrication for close to 25 years it takes something special to stand out. This … Read more
The Light Cycles in the movie TRON have always been an inspiration to me as a cyclist, motorcyclist, and a skateboarder. Who among us hasn’t dreamed of hammering out a few fast laps on one of those things? Such a connection, so ripping! Cycle after cycle. Around and around… just like in a cyclocross race. Here’s the … Read more
We often hear about the search for the vehicle of the future. Americans like to believe that it’s an electric car and that we are still years away. It’s not that. It’s not even a car. It’s the lowly scooter and it’s been very available around the world for over 60 years. The truth is the … Read more
The PVD Warp Drive Engin. Named for the source of the speed and advantage of the NCC-1701 Starship Enterprise. Literally, built for speed. Faster than light speed. Drew at Engin Cycles is making me a couple of bikes. This is the first. It’s a hardtail Enduro style bike. 27.5″ wheels, a stealth dropper, low, slack, and … Read more
This is a brand new (one week old) Cunningham road bike (#E5GH). Utterly amazing. While Charlie Cunningham had done a small run (5-10) of road bikes back in ancient times, this is just one of two road bikes build since, the other being Charlie’s personal road bike. Cunningham’s are a probably one of the most … Read more
This Sunday I rode the MCBC Locust ride. A fully legal and friendly ride done at a quick pace. It’s not a race but folks like to see where they stack up. This was the second in a series of three rides. This route was Loma Alta, Big Rock, 680, and White Hill. The first … Read more
…. or non-consensual product testing. (Note: I am currently in communication with Shimano regarding this issue.) The new Shadow+ clutch system is an incredible addition to an already incredible 10-speed drivetrain (Dyna-Sys). Originally, the 10-speed offroad shifting was better than any other off road system they’d produced to date. Light, precise shifts with the most rare of … Read more
I’m a known hater. I love some things though and one of those things is skateboards. Riding them specifically. Because of that, I really don’t like stupid gimmick skateboards like the 4 foot longboards or toy plastic novelty decks that have become all the rage lately. The pain inside me that occurs when seeing people riding … Read more
In the last post, I updated the spring and bottoming function in the Boxxer on my DH bike. I rode it after and it was very much improved. Now, I’ve be swapped out the damping fluid and lubing the seals. OEM production rarely provides very good seal lubrication. Lubing the seals with the right lube … Read more
After my first real weekend riding the new Glory at Northstar, I obviously had some tuning to do. The 2013 Boxxer Team/R2C2 fork was the main focus. I was only getting about 165mm of 200mm of travel out of it and only sagging the fork about 25%. Rockshox does provide a tuning guide and a service manual, … Read more
I live in a fantastic part of the country. We get a lot of passionate people using a lot of cool hardware in front of everyone. Here are three that I’ve come across in the past week. I saw this Morgan 3 on Bryant St. in SF while picking up some parts from SMP Machine. … Read more
This is a post long overdue. Way back in 2001, I was in San Francisco and Oakland visiting for a west coast marriage reception for my new wife and I (a long since dissolved affair). I had needed to move back to Massachusetts to pick up the pieces of the family business after my father … Read more
2013 Giant Glory. A real DH bike. 8″ of rear wheel travel front and rear. Perfect for complete trail annihilation. Every mountain biker should get out chairlifting on a real DH bike at least once a season. More if possible. Downhill riding is one of the best ways of improving your trail riding/Enduro skills. I’m … Read more