tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90617669361432402852024-03-13T16:54:37.058-07:00I'm a LumberjackDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-57294434388039755782014-08-29T18:08:00.003-07:002014-08-29T18:08:34.510-07:00Long term Alfine 11 Review - I took that shit off my bikeMan. I ran that hub for a long time. And in a way it was great. But in another way it really sucked. I just didn't realize it.<br />
<br />
It started a few months ago. I pulled it off and set my bike up singlespeed. But fuck me if I'm going to push a singlespeed around Vancouver. So back on it went.<br />
<br />
Then I rode to work and left my bike there overnight. And came in the next day to find a giant puddle of Alfine oil under my bike.<br />
<br />
That lead to a bit of a hunt and I finally just decided to buy one of those Sunrace bolt on derailleur hangars and be done with it. Now? Man. Now, this bike just hauls ass all over the place. Honestly. It's just so much faster and easier than with that Alfine 11 pig holding me back.<br />
<br />
I know. I read about drag within internally geared hubs and I wrote it off. I ignored it. I thought that it couldn't possibly be that big of a deal. But it is. Those hubs are boat anchors.<br />
<br />
So. There you have it. Alfine 11:<br />
1) A bit of a pain in the ass to set up the first time.<br />
2) Drags.<br />
3) Leaks.<br />
4) But looks pretty cool.<br />
5) And it's kind of awesome to be able to shift whenever you want.<br />
<br />
Oh. I should mention. I had a belt drive too, which was probably a tiny bit of the extra drag. But not much.<br />
<br />
Internally geared hubs are not our salvation. Thank god I didn't put an effort into setting up a hardtail for the trails with one. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-56483339600211705302014-08-29T17:57:00.000-07:002014-08-29T18:03:42.053-07:00Wheel Paths<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Talking about wheel path is probably not where we should
start.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But I feel good about this topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy enough for anybody to understand,
but there’s some technical info in here that even the internet suspension gurus
are probably going to be interested in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And we’re definitely going to start busting some heads.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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We start here because wheel path has got to be the biggest topic of bullshit ever
created by bicycle suspension marketers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Talk to some people and you will be convinced you’d be winning world cup
DH’s if you could just get the optimum wheel path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rearward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Vertical”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope the guy who
thought of “near vertical” is a millionaire because of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully, this seems to be slowly
changing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/us/news/344">Santa Cruz</a> has been setting
people straight for years, and even <a href="http://www.pinkbike.com/news/specialized-demo-2015-troy-brosnan-tech.html">Specialized</a> is coming around to telling
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Single Pivots</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re going to start by looking at the simplest bikes to
understand, single pivots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody needs
to be told that the wheel path on a single pivot is an arc centered at the
pivot point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You learned it in elementary school or college
or something, depending on whether or not you were schooled in the British Columbia public education system.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--H1HWSE_R2Q/VAEc2EnjNUI/AAAAAAAACf8/r0kx8UqCLEA/s1600/Wheel%2BPath%2B-%2BSingle%2BPivots%2B-%2BLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--H1HWSE_R2Q/VAEc2EnjNUI/AAAAAAAACf8/r0kx8UqCLEA/s1600/Wheel%2BPath%2B-%2BSingle%2BPivots%2B-%2BLarge.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here we have 8 theoretical 6 inch travel bikes, with 8
different theoretical pivot locations and 8 corresponding theoretical wheel
paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s zoom in (I’ve also sketched
in a 32 tooth middle ring and a 20 tooth cog for perspective).</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nFARjIOwHTk/VAEc9G2jFYI/AAAAAAAACgE/b5YKigGtvB4/s1600/Wheel%2BPath%2B-%2BSingle%2BPivots%2B-%2BCrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nFARjIOwHTk/VAEc9G2jFYI/AAAAAAAACgE/b5YKigGtvB4/s1600/Wheel%2BPath%2B-%2BSingle%2BPivots%2B-%2BCrop.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From here, we can start to see some patterns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pivots 1 and 2 are our high pivot
locations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice that swingarm length
doesn’t have much impact at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
pivots offer the most rearward swinging arcs, which is theoretically what
everybody wants, and why we get bikes like this:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.ghost-bikes.com/uploads/tx_ghbikes/MY12_DH9000_black-blue-green.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ghost-bikes.com/uploads/tx_ghbikes/MY12_DH9000_black-blue-green.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.sicklines.com/news-images/2011_zerode_g-1_bike1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.sicklines.com/news-images/2011_zerode_g-1_bike1.jpg" height="216" width="320" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pivots 3 and 4 correspond with a medium pivot, roughly in
line with a middle chainring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
again, swingarm length has little input.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The path looks pretty damn close to "near vertical" to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pivots 5 and 6 are extremely low, 6 being concentrically
around the bottom bracket and 5 at some imaginary point directly in front of
the bottom bracket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re starting to
see some spread due to swingarm length and a some forward arc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We notice that a shorter swingarm leads to
more forward arc.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Taking things to an extreme, we have 7 and 8, way below the
bottom bracket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We get a lot of spread
due to swingarm length and start to see some extreme forward arc.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So great, Dave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
showed us a bunch of single pivot wheel paths, many of them in impossible
locations for bikes that don’t exist. So let’s start to overlay some real bikes over this
diagram (shown in red).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll start with
the Santa Cruz Bronson.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U9292WCx-Eg/VAEd-RnS0aI/AAAAAAAACgQ/_9yxukNZQ2Y/s1600/Bronson%2Bclose%2Bup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U9292WCx-Eg/VAEd-RnS0aI/AAAAAAAACgQ/_9yxukNZQ2Y/s1600/Bronson%2Bclose%2Bup.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which pretty much overlays our single pivot 3 and 4
examples.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then the Ghost.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j60YneCg7wQ/VAEeDUOKe1I/AAAAAAAACgY/gg-hHBpDKGM/s1600/Ghost%2BClose%2Bup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j60YneCg7wQ/VAEeDUOKe1I/AAAAAAAACgY/gg-hHBpDKGM/s1600/Ghost%2BClose%2Bup.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which pretty much overlays our single pivot 3 and 4
examples.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the Heckler.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5JV5cGGoN2c/VAEeH5ZCu5I/AAAAAAAACgg/S1XyopFU0fs/s1600/Heckler%2Bclose%2Bup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5JV5cGGoN2c/VAEeH5ZCu5I/AAAAAAAACgg/S1XyopFU0fs/s1600/Heckler%2Bclose%2Bup.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which....ahhh...pretty much overlays our single pivot 3 and
4 examples.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Three totally different bikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three totally similar wheel paths.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s throw them all on one diagram, just for kicks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not even going to bother labelling them,
because there’s no point.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sfo4K4N5SCw/VAEgfuoVgrI/AAAAAAAACgs/ajDpy5o-dUY/s1600/All%2BBikes%2BWheel%2BPath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sfo4K4N5SCw/VAEgfuoVgrI/AAAAAAAACgs/ajDpy5o-dUY/s1600/All%2BBikes%2BWheel%2BPath.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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They all look so similar, I should probably come to the
conclusion that I’ve doing something wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, they’re way more similar than even I expected, causing me to go
back and double check everything yet again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But there isn’t a mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is what wheel paths look like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the
fanciest bikes with “complex” wheel paths are really only deviating a few
millimeters here and there from simple arcs (and there are reasons for this that we will talk about later...oh...nice teaser Dave!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s other things going on...but dramatically different wheel paths
are not one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially in
shorter travel lengths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those diagrams
they’re showing on their website?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gross exaggerations
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<br /></div>
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And you shouldn’t worry about wheel path.</div>
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<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-66034817819323220422013-12-10T17:09:00.002-08:002013-12-10T17:22:01.978-08:00Classic Article #1<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll put "classic" in quotation marks...but there's a couple of NSMB stories that seem to have been scrubbed from the Interwebs that I kind of miss. Reproduced here in its shameful entirety. Some shots by me, some by Margus. Man...this is some real Web 1.0 shit. Just really terrible. I'm going to own it though. Original publish date is sometime in late 2003 I think. Wow. 10 Years.</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-style: normal;">Confessions of a Delirious Mind</span></b></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-style: normal;">(Behind the Scenes of a
“Professional” Film Shoot)</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">This isn’t really a story about a
ride. This is more a story about doing
something different. It’s about getting
off your ass and seizing opportunities presented to you. Too often we sit around and live for
tomorrow. We stick with a job that we
don’t like. We save our vacation days
for the big trip next year. This is
sad. Anyhow, I was presented with an
opportunity that would have been really easy to dismiss. There were about 50 reasons to say ‘no’ to
this ride. Even after I said ‘yes’ I
wasn’t sure that it was even going to be fun.
All I knew was that this was one of those things that won’t come around
very often. It was one of those things
that, good or bad, I would always remember.
So here it goes.</span></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">It began as an afternoon of dirt
jumping. As of 3:30 in the afternoon, we were supposed to meet
up at six for an evening session. By
five the plan had changed drastically.
So, rather than heading out riding, I saddled up my ball glove and
headed for a slo-pitch/ass-kiss session to talk my boss into giving me the next
day off. He did, so I was off.</span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">
I guess it wasn’t that simple. Doing
anything with Cory and Ambrose is a sketchy proposition. Throw Margus into the mix and you may as well
be planning a trip to the zoo with a Kindergarten class after slipping half of
them sleeping pills and the other half speed.
Plans change. People yell. It gets ugly sometimes. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">The plan was to film a six-hour night-ride epic
that flowed into the following morning.
The footage was to be used in Pist-N-Broke’s next video,<i> Back in the Saddle Again</i>. This was rather ambitious, especially
considering the dysfunctional nature or our group. Still, something about it was intriguing. I knew that it would beat the piss out of me
and I’d be miserable for much of the time.
I knew that Cory would yell a lot and Margus would probably get us lost. But I also knew it would be a hell of a lot
more exciting than another Thursday at work.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fndEoNaVNGc/Uqe2OjlHP1I/AAAAAAAACag/9QwVUkn5sl8/s1600/681_8194+-+Cropped.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fndEoNaVNGc/Uqe2OjlHP1I/AAAAAAAACag/9QwVUkn5sl8/s1600/681_8194+-+Cropped.JPG" height="284" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">If you think they look tired now, you should smell them
later. Actually, even now they smell
pretty bad. - Cory Leclerc and Margus Riga</span></i></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">So off we headed. Two cars.
Four people. One in the
morning. We were on the bikes at
three. I was dead by six. The novelty of the star-soaked night and a
larger than life Mars quickly wore off.
I guess that any time you start out for what you know will be at least a
four hour climb, you can kind of figure that you won’t be feeling all that
great within a short period of time.
Still, I wasn’t prepared for this.
What started as a ‘ride’ quickly developed into a hike-a-bike. Well, for me anyhow. My legs felt like shit by four. I was hungry by five. I felt like crawling into a ditch by
six. Between six and 6:30 I probably made about 200 feet
of progress (seriously). I stopped every
few feet and snapped pictures as the Sun started to rise. I’d like to say it was the scenery that kept
me riveted in place but I was seriously doubting my ability to complete this
ride and remembering why I didn’t really do much in the way of cross-country
anymore. But I’d driven a few hours,
climbed for three and taken the day off work so quitting and sitting in the car
wasn’t something I was about to do.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rsxaBbic7SI/Uqe8oBwKFPI/AAAAAAAACbs/dc488Y_rIMg/s1600/Sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rsxaBbic7SI/Uqe8oBwKFPI/AAAAAAAACbs/dc488Y_rIMg/s1600/Sunrise.jpg" height="169" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">At about the time that my spirit was
cracking the sun was rising and I caught my first glimpse of the peak. With the sun shining and my objective in
sight, I was a new man. My baby steps
turned into that of a half-grown chimp.
I focused my mind on chicks and booze and amazingly dragged my
beer-fattened ass to the top. I arrived
to one of the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed. Four-and-a-half hours of climbing and I can
honestly say it was worth it and I’d barely had the opportunity to plop my
dumper on my bike seat. I was happy and
we hadn’t even started going down.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Spirits are crushed easier with snow on the ground. –
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">There’s no way to describe the feeling of
being surrounded by snow-capped peaks bathed in early morning light on a amazingly
warm August morning, all the while scarfing down the most fantastic tasting
burrito you’ve ever wrapped your mouth around.
As I was the last to hobble my carcass to the top, the rest was
short-lived. The filmer/photographer
types were eager to make use of the lighting, so off we trekked across the
alpine.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">It was probably another hour or two until
we reached ‘down’. The first few hundred
meters of trail were incredibly sketchy.
I used muscles that I never knew existed just trying to keep my bike
pointed in a straight line. It was a
little worrisome thinking that all of that climbing would be a gigantic waste
as I would be unable to ride faster than a walking pace once we hit the trails. After a short period of time it became easier
as I could finally stop thinking about things and just ride. I guess it helped that we soon stumbled upon
some of the flowiest, fun to ride trails I’ve ever had the pleasure of
experiencing. It was also becoming
painfully obvious that the estimated two hours down was a little far-fetched.</span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQkjL-fyWlk/Uqe9I-1B5JI/AAAAAAAACb8/w21e3RBkLMw/s1600/The+Payoff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQkjL-fyWlk/Uqe9I-1B5JI/AAAAAAAACb8/w21e3RBkLMw/s1600/The+Payoff.jpg" height="117" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Filming Excitement! –
Ambrose Weingart and Margus Riga</span></i></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AkXvhz1ExBU/Uqe9UPt4P-I/AAAAAAAACcE/matNeTOKFRM/s1600/Payoff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AkXvhz1ExBU/Uqe9UPt4P-I/AAAAAAAACcE/matNeTOKFRM/s1600/Payoff.jpg" height="142" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Payoff? – Cory
Leclerc </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">As we rolled on we left the alpine and
entered some beautiful forest/meadows.
We soon figured out that stopping and resting wasn’t a good idea as any
conversation quickly turned into an argument.
Take away somebody’s food and sleep and force them to ride their bike a
long ways and things can turn nasty. If
you ever do something like this make sure it’s with people who don’t hold
grudges. So, we stopped stopping, we
stopped arguing and we continued riding.
We had about an hour more of meadowy forests with fast, gentle
singletrack. From there it popped into
the woods, got a little more technical and a lot more turny. That lasted for a while, and with an hour of
trail left everybody agreed that they’d seen enough singletrack for one
day. We put the cameras away and focused
on getting our asses back to the cars.
We popped out at the bottom and
“Five-Minute” Margus assured us it was a quick climb to the road and then
5-10 minutes to the bottom. If the next
hour of riding had required up rather than down I would have killed him. Seriously.
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easily in the best shape of us all. So it
probably would have just resulted in a stern glare and maybe a bit of a
lecture. We finally rolled up to the
cars and there it was. 1:30pm. Ten-and-a-half hours on a bike. Stupid.
Just absolutely stupid.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4J6Em74hSqA/Uqe9o2i-4UI/AAAAAAAACcM/QiRkJnQSpiA/s1600/nsmb+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4J6Em74hSqA/Uqe9o2i-4UI/AAAAAAAACcM/QiRkJnQSpiA/s1600/nsmb+5.jpg" height="320" width="204" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <i><span lang="EN-US">The Payoff. - Cory Leclerc and Dave Tolnai (photo – Margus Riga)</span></i></span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">But that wasn’t it. Imagine driving 2 hours in the heat and
traffic and then getting to Vancouver
for rush hour after staying up all night and being on your bike far longer than
you ever have in your life. My actions
bordered on delirious and at one point I was yelling at a vanload of
construction workers who tried to force their way in front of me. I survived and rolled into bed at about the
time I would normally be getting home from work.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Honestly – huck this, huck that, stunt
here, skinny there is fine, but nothing can beat a nice stretch of downhill
singletrack. Sometimes I fear we’ve lost
the meaning of what took us out riding in the first place and we’ve misplaced
the concept of a trail. Six hours of
downhill through peaks and beside glacial lakes was enough to remind me that
there is way more to riding than is shown in the average video. Fair enough, I was riding a 9-inch travel
bike with an 8-inch fork with only a middle ring, so I can’t really claim to be
too much of a purist. But I could easily
have been enjoying myself just as much on ... well... maybe on something with
five and five.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">My whole point is that people are too
wrapped up in their day-to-day lives.
Too focused on tomorrow. Hell,
I’m 26 and I’m trapped in the life of an old person. I’m more bitter than Michael Jackson trapped in
an old-folks home for the weekend. I’m
focused on rent and car payments and being sober for work in the morning. Even in our tiny little cycling world
everybody is focused on the right bikes, the right clothes and the biggest gap
on the newest trail. It’s all
bullshit. Sometimes it feels good to
take a step back, fuck the consequences and live for the moment. Do something you wouldn’t normally do. I did and I experienced one of the coolest,
stupidest days I will ever remember.</span></span></div>
Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-10506054006756468242013-12-10T16:41:00.001-08:002013-12-10T16:41:12.329-08:00Updates - Ghost, Crank Brothers, Etc.Got a few new articles up. First, a <a href="http://www.nsmb.com/2013-ghost-cagua-6550-650b/">preview of a Ghost test bike</a>. Next, a summary of my trip to view wheels down in <a href="http://www.nsmb.com/2014-crank-brothers-cobalt-iodine-opium-wheels/">Laguna with Crank Brothers</a>. Nothing more to add that isn't already there. Final Ghost review should be up soon.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-57022200530836195472013-10-02T18:42:00.003-07:002013-10-02T21:21:54.138-07:00Suspension Design - Santa Cruz Heckler Vs. Ghost Cagua, Part 2Okay. I promised a second post where I focused on wheel path an other suspension attributes. I think these diagrams are very telling. We'll start with the Heckler, because it's pretty straight forward.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nMT7lysnYqY/UkzI973moxI/AAAAAAAACLM/nNuz-txMcxA/s1600/Heckler+Travel+Diagram1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nMT7lysnYqY/UkzI973moxI/AAAAAAAACLM/nNuz-txMcxA/s1600/Heckler+Travel+Diagram1.jpg" height="189" width="320" /></a></div>
As you can see, pretty simple. Sorry for the shitty diagram. This is just a screen shot from Autocad, where I build my simple little suspension models that I use to build the graphs that were shown in Part 1.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, what we can learn from this diagram...not much, really. Other than that the rear axle follows a simple path laid out by the main pivot. Let's move on to the Ghost Cagua.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W2nw2DWvWC8/UkzJekE9UsI/AAAAAAAACLU/VXlenSClsc4/s1600/Cagua+Travel+Diagram1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W2nw2DWvWC8/UkzJekE9UsI/AAAAAAAACLU/VXlenSClsc4/s1600/Cagua+Travel+Diagram1.jpg" height="140" width="320" /></a></div>
This is a little bit more complicated as it includes instant center. The instant center (IC) is the point that the rear wheel rotates around. For the Heckler, that point is simply the main pivot. On the Ghost, where the rear wheel path is dictated by the shock linkage and the swingarm, this is not so simple. You can see, the IC starts out way in front of the bike, and gradually moves down towards the bottom bracket, near the end of travel. What does this mean? Nothing, really. Weagle will probably talk to you for hours about IC, but in my mind, it's an end, not a means. What's really important is what happens with your chain growth. Yes, IC will have an impact on your braking characteristics...but there's so many other important factors in braking that override the effect you IC would have, why bother? I anticipate contradiction.<br />
<br />
So let's look at the wheel path of these two bikes. Remember that they are vastly different suspension designs. Let's look at them side by side.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tn0auRLYFO8/Ukzw1LsUuVI/AAAAAAAACMI/6UFjFgq7vww/s1600/Wheel+Path+Diagram1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tn0auRLYFO8/Ukzw1LsUuVI/AAAAAAAACMI/6UFjFgq7vww/s1600/Wheel+Path+Diagram1.jpg" height="170" width="320" /></a></div>
Look pretty similar, no? Let's overlay them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h9kGqxPxA10/UkzLQfZQaPI/AAAAAAAACLw/Z5LCGNdw7Qo/s1600/Wheel+Path+Overlay1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h9kGqxPxA10/UkzLQfZQaPI/AAAAAAAACLw/Z5LCGNdw7Qo/s1600/Wheel+Path+Overlay1.jpg" height="116" width="320" /></a></div>
That's what I thought. I'm not even sure which is which. Does it really matter though? Two vastly different suspension designs, pretty much identical wheel paths.<br />
<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-31904014030988319292013-09-09T22:11:00.000-07:002013-10-02T11:14:08.741-07:00Suspension Design - Santa Cruz Heckler vs. Ghost CaguaI've been lucky enough to have some test bikes at my disposal. And not just a week or whatever...A couple of months with each. And while each bike is profoundly similar (6x6 travel, 650b, etc.) they are also remarkably different (<a href="http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/heckler/">American</a> vs. <a href="http://www.ghost-bikes.com/za/bikes-2012/bike-details/cagua/">German</a>, Single Pivot vs. Pseudo Horst Link, etc.).<br />
<br />
As I have had both of these bikes for some time, I've managed to plot out both of their suspension characteristics (somewhat). I will follow this up with some wheel path diagrams from my Autocad plots. Feel free to fire away with questions in the comments.<br />
<br />
There's one major disclaimer. All of these graphs are based off of Spreadsheets that I created. All of the data for those spreadsheets comes from simple pivot diagrams that I created in Autocad. All of the measurements used to create those diagrams were me with a tape measure. They're pretty close...and an 1/16th of an inch here and there won't make "that" much difference, but there will be some minor discrepancies.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Chainstay Growth vs. Wheel Travel</b><br />
<br />
We will start with an easy one, chainstay growth vs. wheel travel. Weagle<a href="http://www.dw-link.com/home.html"> looooooves to talk about instant centers</a> and....shit...what's his other one? Oh ya. Anti-squat. It goes on and on. To me, it's a lot simpler than that. Cyclists push down on the pedals when they pedal. This is a downward force (you're essentially jumping on your pedal a bit, right?). The easiest way to counteract that is to build a bit of chain growth into your system (I stress a bit). That force will counteract the force you are putting into your pedals. This is important in about the first 33% of travel. Once beyond 50%, you are most likely not pedaling, and all chain growth does at this point is cause pedal kickback. See how similar the two bikes are with respect to chain growth. The Cagua does not bob at all, so I think they have it nailed. The Heckler has great pedaling characteristics too though.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G3BUpUL5w8U/Ui6pVp7jdoI/AAAAAAAACKk/ZIvnJA1-MGo/s1600/Chainstay+Growth.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G3BUpUL5w8U/Ui6pVp7jdoI/AAAAAAAACKk/ZIvnJA1-MGo/s320/Chainstay+Growth.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b> Shock Travel vs. Vertical Wheel Travel</b><br />
<br />
<br />
This graph doesn't really tell us much. But we will use it for other things later.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nB77a7vy2i4/Ui6peTU2WtI/AAAAAAAACKs/-OGzIwFqC6g/s1600/Shock+vs+Wheel.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nB77a7vy2i4/Ui6peTU2WtI/AAAAAAAACKs/-OGzIwFqC6g/s320/Shock+vs+Wheel.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Leverage Ratio</b><br />
<br />
Here's where it gets a bit
weird. Leverage ratio. This is simply the travel at the wheel, divided
by the travel at the shock. Which, if you look at the above graph, is the inverse slope of the graph. Simple really. Except...We talk about
rising rate and falling rate bikes. Rising rate implies that you
require more force at the end of travel to compress a similar distance
as earlier in travel. (i.e. 100 pounds compresses an inch of travel
early in the travel, but it takes 150 pounds to compress an inch later
in travel). Falling rate implies the opposite. However, look at the
graph:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fQrPK2D8LcE/Ui6pjVbanMI/AAAAAAAACK0/HrpqE4SndkU/s1600/Leverage.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fQrPK2D8LcE/Ui6pjVbanMI/AAAAAAAACK0/HrpqE4SndkU/s320/Leverage.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
The Heckler leverage
ratio is increasing as we get further into travel, but this is a falling
rate bicycle. What's going on? Well, we talk about leverage ratio
relative to the rear wheel (i.e. the Heckler has a roughly 2.2 leverage
ratio - so the wheel moves 2.2 inches for every inch of the shock).
But when we talk rising rate, we're actually talking about the leverage
ratio at the shock. We'll see that later.<br />
<br />
So from this
graph we learn that the leverage ratios for these two bikes do the
opposite as one another (one goes up, one goes down) and we learn that
the Santa Cruz has a slightly lower leverage ratio (which explains why
the travel is a bit less than the Cagua with the same travel shock,
among other things). These are both very, very simple leverage ratios.
If you talk to the designers at Santa Cruz, they love to talk about how
they change the rate throughout the travel on their VPP bikes. Falling then rising, or
whatever suits the style of bike.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Inverse Leverage Ratio</b><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9061766936143240285" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9061766936143240285" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9061766936143240285" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9061766936143240285" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
Here's the graph that really tells us what we need to know about the bike. The inverse leverage ratio is the slope of the Shock Travel vs. Wheel Travel graph. I've compressed the axis of this graph so things really show up.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZotJXIBAKXA/Ui6ppjLJeeI/AAAAAAAACK8/YcSoM-vKamM/s1600/Inverse+Leverage.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZotJXIBAKXA/Ui6ppjLJeeI/AAAAAAAACK8/YcSoM-vKamM/s320/Inverse+Leverage.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
So this is where a falling rate bike shows that it is falling rate and a rising rate bike shows that it is rising rate. Santa Cruz counters this by putting a relatively low volume air shock on the bike. I'm assuming Ghost has a bit more volume in their shock...but couple an air shock with a rising rate and you're not going to bottom this bike very easily.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Other Things</b><br />
<br />
In my opinion, you can tell a lot about a bike from these simple graphs. Not everything, but a lot. What we haven't talked about is braking...wheel path...instant centers (Weagle's fave) and many other things. I hope to have more bikes up and more info to follow. At some point.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-30736975777696433902013-08-20T13:12:00.000-07:002013-08-22T08:47:25.815-07:00Joyride Slopestyle 2013Didn't think this would end up getting used, but <a href="http://www.nsmb.com/the-other-side-of-the-fence/">here it is</a>...<br />
<br />
I actually wrote two intros for this. The happier version is up first, the long ass bitter intro following the actual story.<br />
<br />
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<b>Late to the Party – A tardy look at the 2013 Red Bull
Joyride Spectacle</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Asdf-tXLVkM/UhPKrFzWznI/AAAAAAAAB84/dXu5ZZEECx0/s1600/Photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Asdf-tXLVkM/UhPKrFzWznI/AAAAAAAAB84/dXu5ZZEECx0/s320/Photo+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>The true meaning of Crankworx. Awesome corporate logo placement.</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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What’s going on?
Where are we? Who does a triple
whip over bus length gaps? How do these
guys bounce back after hitting the ground so hard? Why are there rocks on the
side of the course? Is this what it
feels like to be old, baffled by the pace at which things are passing you
by? Why so many questions? Why so many cameras? Why bananas?
Why tuck? Where did all of these
people come from? Do they all ride
bikes? Who drinks all this Red Bull anyhow? What is that taste?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g19oc3f41jM/UhPK0orzFxI/AAAAAAAAB9A/_Pssf4sKZHg/s1600/360+Over+Crowd.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g19oc3f41jM/UhPK0orzFxI/AAAAAAAAB9A/_Pssf4sKZHg/s320/360+Over+Crowd.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Remember a few years ago, when
you would watch the Slopestyle, and there’d be a few things on course and you’d
find yourself thinking “Yeah…I could hit that”?
Those thoughts are funny. You
wouldn’t drop that. Yannick Granieri
lays down the official first drop trick – Some sort of 360 variation.</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-559qD2b5Jx4/UhPLAHrydiI/AAAAAAAAB9I/YTQDBO8uwmc/s1600/Photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-559qD2b5Jx4/UhPLAHrydiI/AAAAAAAAB9I/YTQDBO8uwmc/s320/Photo+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Don’t worry about that guy conked out on the
landing of this drop, Gully. You’re up
next! On a side note…who didn’t take a photo of Gully standing on
this drop? People really like Gully.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1w2q7mqfYVw/UhPLGsDDJRI/AAAAAAAAB9Q/eKvPpJRCN5Q/s1600/Flip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1w2q7mqfYVw/UhPLGsDDJRI/AAAAAAAAB9Q/eKvPpJRCN5Q/s320/Flip.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>I have no idea who this is…I think I caught
somebodies flash though…Take enough shots and you get lucky sometimes. Lucky meaning you happen to catch somebodies
flash…not like…oh whatever.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kka3r1mGcD4/UhPLOqoWuuI/AAAAAAAAB9Y/J5qFh8xliPs/s1600/Photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="80" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kka3r1mGcD4/UhPLOqoWuuI/AAAAAAAAB9Y/J5qFh8xliPs/s320/Photo+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Somebody, somewhere high up in Crankworx owns
stock in a Thunder Stick manufacturer I’ll bet.</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7tph1pkfKJA/UhPLX8L5RUI/AAAAAAAAB9g/xLL4IWZgHXI/s1600/Whip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7tph1pkfKJA/UhPLX8L5RUI/AAAAAAAAB9g/xLL4IWZgHXI/s320/Whip.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Not bad for a 19 Year Old. Anton Thelander introduces himself to
Whistler, gets a prize.</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HVHa6G4-ps0/UhPLmGJYq6I/AAAAAAAAB9o/7iWaLk9-JPc/s1600/Photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HVHa6G4-ps0/UhPLmGJYq6I/AAAAAAAAB9o/7iWaLk9-JPc/s320/Photo+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Has a spectator ever died at a slopestyle? I’ll put some money down on this guy being
the first at some point in the future.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JfqvII95fFs/UhPLtL2ZaNI/AAAAAAAAB9w/tttiZEW3Uj8/s1600/Soderstrom+whip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JfqvII95fFs/UhPLtL2ZaNI/AAAAAAAAB9w/tttiZEW3Uj8/s320/Soderstrom+whip.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>This was not the triple whip that
Martin Soderstrom did off the same jump later on in the evening. But we can pretend that it was.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Photo 6 TBD</div>
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<i>Once again, I brought a knife to a gun fight. What you can’t see is that in addition to the
3 DSLR’s hanging on his shoulder, he also has a sweet Leica hanging around his
neck. Me, well I couldn’t even get my
own decent shot of the guy.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xlGL-LoaD6g/UhPMArhKe_I/AAAAAAAAB94/pjI_HYRvdGU/s1600/Photo+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xlGL-LoaD6g/UhPMArhKe_I/AAAAAAAAB94/pjI_HYRvdGU/s320/Photo+7.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Where do you get this many banana suits?</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D722CZkDvVg/UhPMHZo-MjI/AAAAAAAAB-A/P3pelQw-tPU/s1600/360+Copter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D722CZkDvVg/UhPMHZo-MjI/AAAAAAAAB-A/P3pelQw-tPU/s320/360+Copter.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>And you get a helicopter! And you get a helicopter! And you GET A HELICOPTER!</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rCPi6PcJaNI/UhPMNi5xFdI/AAAAAAAAB-I/thOSxra254A/s1600/Photo+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rCPi6PcJaNI/UhPMNi5xFdI/AAAAAAAAB-I/thOSxra254A/s320/Photo+8.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Dude. I’m
serious. Just table your bike a bit and
drop your one hand casually do the side.
It’ll kill!</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uXAgCEa2qYI/UhPMUAV1Z3I/AAAAAAAAB-Q/fab2RVDcZVw/s1600/Berrecloth+360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uXAgCEa2qYI/UhPMUAV1Z3I/AAAAAAAAB-Q/fab2RVDcZVw/s320/Berrecloth+360.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Or you could just lay down a big
old 360…Yah…That’s way better, actually.</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1VQV5bDZa6k/UhPMbV8idSI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/0vObiaCG5nY/s1600/Photo+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1VQV5bDZa6k/UhPMbV8idSI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/0vObiaCG5nY/s320/Photo+9.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>You know things are big time when Sal Masakela is
on the scene.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cBu9yLxMyjQ/UhPMi6YQhxI/AAAAAAAAB-g/s5DngxXM3fo/s1600/Genon+Whip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cBu9yLxMyjQ/UhPMi6YQhxI/AAAAAAAAB-g/s5DngxXM3fo/s320/Genon+Whip.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>This photo was taken moments before
Thomas Genon rocketed off the side of the landing over a field of
boulders. These guys are tough.</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mr6QjmPJ33k/UhPMrEGeK_I/AAAAAAAAB-o/gE4r34l4FvE/s1600/Big+Whip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mr6QjmPJ33k/UhPMrEGeK_I/AAAAAAAAB-o/gE4r34l4FvE/s320/Big+Whip.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>He was more successful here.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hi0H-fmtxR0/UhPMyrVmRrI/AAAAAAAAB-w/g-Z8KUnEIic/s1600/Photo+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hi0H-fmtxR0/UhPMyrVmRrI/AAAAAAAAB-w/g-Z8KUnEIic/s320/Photo+10.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Everybody wants a piece of the champ. I realize that I have not included any action
shots of Mr. Semenuk in this piece. I
felt that enough have been shown already.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R-CqBFW5bWI/UhPM4VIXWMI/AAAAAAAAB-4/IUG1mt9yopU/s1600/Semenuk+Whip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R-CqBFW5bWI/UhPM4VIXWMI/AAAAAAAAB-4/IUG1mt9yopU/s320/Semenuk+Whip.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Okay.
Fine. One action shot of Semenuk. Ya. I
know. Pretty much the same shot as the
one of Soderstrom. Angles are tougher to
come by when you’re on the outside of the fence looking in.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Okay. One more bonus photo. Just because I like it. Wouldn't have included it in the story though.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-onPOjz2HtbE/UhPNDGTM4BI/AAAAAAAAB_A/DL1vk08mLus/s1600/Over+the+Crowd.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="114" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-onPOjz2HtbE/UhPNDGTM4BI/AAAAAAAAB_A/DL1vk08mLus/s320/Over+the+Crowd.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And now the super bitter intro. Tangential too. And long.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>An extremely bitter, cynical and slightly delusional take on
the cycling event known as the Joyride Slopestyle of 2013</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I used to looooooooove underage drinking. I mean, really love it. Lucky for me, I was very young when I first
went to University, so there was plenty of opportunities for me to participate
in this favourite of pastimes. We’d
underage drink in our rooms. We’d
underage drink at the bars. We’d
underage drink all over the place. Heck,
I don’t know what I would have done in University if it wasn’t for all of that
underage drinking. Gone to class or
studied or something like that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had the sweetest fake ID back then. The first one was actually my friends fake ID
that he had made for him on a class trip to New York City. The photo looked nothing like me and the
lamination was paper thin. It was called
a “United States Identification Card” or something like that. The only thing that salvaged it was that it
had fingerprints on the back. Everybody
assumed it was legit because it had fingerprints on the back.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
When another friend of mine turned 19, I took over his fake
ID. It was from a knuckle dragging mouth
breather that we had both gone to high school with. I think he turned 20 before we
graduated. That was a gen-you-wine
British Columbia Drivers License and that got me in anywhere. Heck, I was doing beer runs for my brothers
25-year-old friends with that thing.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oddly, the most difficult place to underage drink was at our
Vanier Park Residence dances that happened every couple of months. See, they only let residents in to these
dances. While “Dave Tolnai” was a
resident of good old Place Vanier, “Mark Smith” was not. They would not let that bum in. It made things difficult.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was coming up on the stupid Halloween dance, and everybody
was going (that’s another favourite pastime of University students, doing what
everybody else is doing). The situation
looked bleak. But lucky for me, I was a
University student and there was alcohol involved, so my brain dug deep and had
a solution within a few minutes. Everybody
was allowed one guest! All I had to do
was get my friend to put “Mark Smith” on the guest list, I’d flash my fake ID
and we were golden.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The night of the dance came and I got ready, content with my
ingenious solution. We underage drank
some pre-drinks in our room and were off to the dance. Even better, when we got there, a guy I knew
from first year who was now a Residence Advisor was working the door (we’ll
call him “Jeff”). It was all coming up
Millhouse.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Dave....what is
this?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No man. I’m not
Dave. It’s ‘Mark’! I’m ‘Mark’!
See. Right there. ‘Mark’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Dave...man....I can’t let you in with this.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flummoxed! All that
hard work, down the drain. I couldn’t
really hold it against Jeff though. He
was just doing his job. Luckily, as
stated above, we were University students and we were talking about
alcohol. This was nothing but a minor
hiccup.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All the students deemed okay to drink were given a stamp on
their hand. That stamp only showed up
under black light. I grabbed my friend
and we went and found somebody who had a black light in their room (what
University student doesn’t have a friend with a black light in their room?). We looked at the stamp and I drew it out on
my own hand in yellow highlighter. Back
to the dance, flash the hand, I’m in and drinking. No worries.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So we’re barely two drinks in and I feel a tap on my
shoulder. It’s Jeff. My “friend” the
advisor. Congratulating me on beating
the system? Giving me a friendly
wink-and-a-nudge with a no-hard-feelings?
No. Throwing my ass out. That power tripping juice monkey was going
out of his way to throw my ass out of the beer garden! I mean...what the hell? It’s one thing to not let somebody through
when you’re surrounded by your peers and some schmuck is trying to pass off a
fake ID in a well lit hallway...but to go out of your way to track him down
once he’s gamed the system and is quietly throwing back a few pops in a
darkened room? That’s a dick move. He quickly became one of my least favourite
people ever and I made his life difficult for the rest of the year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So congratulations Crankworx. You’re the steroid using, authority seeking,
fun killing jerk of the Slopestyle circuit.
Why you gotta make life so difficult on us poor media? Why you gotta go so far out of your way to
crush the ambitions of us poor 99 percenters on the wrong side of the fence?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You compete in this years Deep Summer Challenge? No?
Other sided of the fence!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You get a shot on the cover of Bike magazine? Oh, you did.
This year? No? Other side of the fence!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You the girlfriend of one of our prized 1 percenters? No?
Other side of the fence!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Oh, what’s this? You
set foot on our precious slopestyle course?
You don’t have a yellow wrist band, just an officially issued media
pass? Back in the cage, minion!” (it was
an admittedly large cage, running pretty much the length of the course, up and
down both sides. But still a cage.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well excuuuuuuuuuse me, Crankworx, for trying to share your
event with the mountain bike community.
Sorry for trying to buy my kids an ice cream cone every once in a
while. What are they going to eat for
dinner tonight, anyhow, Crankworx? Corn
Flakes? Who’s going to pay for the
scurvy medication? You,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Crankworx? Cause I sure am not.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What? You came here to read about bikes? Fine.</div>
Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-44307264746363924932013-06-18T14:18:00.003-07:002013-12-10T16:39:28.461-08:00Heckler 650bWorking on a review of the new Heckler 650b for NSMB. Preview can be <a href="http://www.nsmb.com/2013-santa-cruz-heckler-650b/">seen here</a>.<br />
<br />
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To be honest, this is a sweet little bike. Especially when you consider the price. I never imagined that something built with such "budget" parts would give me so much pleasure.<br />
<br />
As well, this bike is just so simple. I'm always puzzled when newbies and people with zero mechanical talent buy extremely complicated bikes. Ya, that's what bike shops are for. But after seeing what many of these bikes look like after a few months, I think simple bikes are great for the majority of people. Full review will be up in a few weeks. I'll post an update then.<br />
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<a href="http://www.nsmb.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Rear-End.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.nsmb.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Rear-End.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Update - <a href="http://www.nsmb.com/2014-santa-cruz-heckler-reviewed/">Final review up here</a>. I think I went way, way too easy on the fork. As well, went and nailed a bonus shot, hopefully for the Santa Cruz Catalogue...<br />
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<br />
Update Update - Hey. <a href="http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/heckler">They used the shot</a>. Haven't seen it in the catalog yet, but apparently it is there.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uI1BciNx_G0/Uqe0JhAk7UI/AAAAAAAACaQ/fGczrMGZhNM/s1600/Santa+Cruz+Screen+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uI1BciNx_G0/Uqe0JhAk7UI/AAAAAAAACaQ/fGczrMGZhNM/s1600/Santa+Cruz+Screen+Shot.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-53555046597660778172013-01-30T14:27:00.002-08:002013-01-30T14:27:23.808-08:00This is the greatest invention in the history of cycling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/PubPedal_install.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/PubPedal_install.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
I don't ride with clipless pedals any longer. But I'm thinking of putting a pair on my City bike now, <a href="http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/01/30/pedal-in-your-sneakers-with-egg-beater-transforming-pub-pedals/">thanks to these</a>. Just super amazing.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-5904553912965585632013-01-09T18:41:00.001-08:002013-01-09T18:41:24.548-08:00New Bike For ChristmasThis was my latest project. I managed to put it together in secret for Andrea. There's a few things left to do to it, but it's more or less finished.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QlS6aqMzPyc/UO4p2n9d5jI/AAAAAAAABqU/SEGJBIkUcGA/s1600/IMG_0064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QlS6aqMzPyc/UO4p2n9d5jI/AAAAAAAABqU/SEGJBIkUcGA/s320/IMG_0064.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's meant to be a fixed gear, so the tire clearances are really tight. I managed to track down a 120mm Sturmey-Archer 8 speed hub. It was really easy to set up (far easier than an Alfine) but the gearing is a bit weird and will take some work. Your highest gear is 1 to 1, and then you have a series of overdrive gears above that. So I need a smaller chainring.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-30868353942314144192012-07-24T17:44:00.001-07:002012-07-24T17:44:22.107-07:00Brooks Saddle Review Follow-upA quick follow-up to my <a href="http://nsmb.com/5408-i-put-a-brooks-saddle-on-my-mountain-bike/">Brooks Saddle review that went up on NSMB today</a>.<br />
<br />
I really got sick of bloody gashes in my thigh, so a week or so back I took the dremel to the unholy tabs shown in this photo.<br />
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It worked out pretty well. I was able to get rid of them with only minimal damage to the underside edge of the leather. The tabs were more or less level with the leather. I finished it off with some <a href="http://sugru.com/">Sugru</a>, and now I have nice, soft little bumpers to cushion my tender thighs.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wSv_CfbiwPQ/UA9BBRhco6I/AAAAAAAABPI/Cts1vs2E2c4/s1600/IMG_7904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wSv_CfbiwPQ/UA9BBRhco6I/AAAAAAAABPI/Cts1vs2E2c4/s320/IMG_7904.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-9719283639881547802012-05-03T17:38:00.001-07:002012-05-03T17:38:31.630-07:00Lumberjack - Fighting for Justice<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';">Who doesn't love a
good police auction? Honestly, everybody has dreams of the big score
from the police auction. The high end bicycles sold for a song. The
drug vehicles pimped out and given away as a door prize. It's the
American Dream.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';">So,
I saw a story on the news yesterday about the police auction. I
thought that there must be a few gem bicycles hidden amongst the rubble.
So I went and took a look at the auction listing. Indeed, there was
one diamond in the rough. A bicycle so special that it just popped off
the page:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';">"WHITE LUMBERJACK RENTED MULE </span><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';">1 SPEED</span><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"> MOUNTAIN BIKE"</span>
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';">Now,
flash backwards to a few years ago. A customer of mine e-mailed me
looking for some documentation to present to his insurance company. For
his stolen White Lumberjack Rented Mule Bicycle. Indeed, the 1st ever
Lumberjack Rented Mule Bicycle sold to an outsider. I remember that
day. It was a sad day. A prime piece of hand-made, high-end bicycle
forced into a hard life in the stolen bicycle trade.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';">Anyhow.
That's the bike. I immediately e-mailed the customer and he got in
touch with the police and the 1st ever Lumberjack Rented Mule Bicycle
sold to an outsider is coming home. I'm curious to hear what sort of
mishmash of parts ended up mounted in place of his custom build. I
would imagine that the Chris King headset that I so lovingly pressed
into place is probably going to be missing. Although, maybe not? Does
the average bicycle thief possess the technology to swap headsets?</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: 'PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif';">It's
all just so very crazy and weird. And I think I might take the long
way home tonight and swing by the preview and see what other gems I
might discover. My skateboard that was stolen from my house in the 7th
grade when my sister threw a party? Andrea's ipod that was jacked from
her glove compartment? I'm feeling lucky.</span></span></div>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-57884678382474143452011-10-12T19:22:00.000-07:002012-07-24T17:52:50.385-07:00Alfine 11 - Short Term Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iSxjiaRaFtA/TpZI2-DNQhI/AAAAAAAAA9E/pSgNHv48oP0/s1600/IMG_4680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
I have put some solid time in on the Alfine 11 gear. The only that I can't really comment on would be the long term durability, but I will definitely follow up on that if there are any problems. What follows are my impressions of my Shimano Alfine 11 set up with a Gates Carbon Drive 50 tooth/24 tooth centertrack belt drive.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<b><u>Initial Impressions</u></b><br />
<br />
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In a few words...I'd call it "not good". This stuff is really expensive. It trickled in to distributors in bits and bobs. There was little to no information on the Shimano North America Website. Nobody knew anything about it. I had to go to a separate distributor to get the mandatory parts kit (why wouldn't it come with all the parts that you need?) and even that didn't come with all the parts I needed (proper no-turn washers). Much of this will go away over the next few months, but I wasn't left with a great impression.<br />
<br />
As well, the actual parts weren't that impressive. The hub showed up in a box that had soaked in it's own juices...which left me wondering about the hub seals. And the shifter was nowhere near the quality that the price implied. It feels especially terrible when you shift it while it is uninstalled. Still...I wasn't about to send it back.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Wheel Building/Assembly</u></b><br />
<br />
This is only the 2nd wheel that I've ever built and it didn't seem to be any more difficult than a normal wheel. But there are a few strange points. First, the wheel would only spin one way in my truing stand. Perhaps this was just because of the plastic spacer that held all the seals in place? I didn't try it with the spacer removed...which just sort of came to me now. But when spun the wrong way, the hub would back itself out of the truing stand.<br />
<br />
Next, you should try to line up the oil fill port with a gap in the spokes. I missed it by one spoke but it wasn't super obvious until I had the wheel completely laced. I'm sure this will be easier for somebody with wheelbuilding experience but it wasn't for me.<br />
<br />
Once you have the wheel built, the cog is a giant pain-in-the-ass to get on. It's held in place by a dinky little split washer that is tough to get on and tough to get off. Throw in the Gates Carbon Drive rear cog, which seeems to be a bit thicker, and it's even harder. This just does not seem like a great way to hold a cog in place. As well, the Nexus/Alfine system only engages three little indents. I don't foresee durability problems, but it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either.<br />
<br />
Next, you have the no-turn washers. Not only do you have to buy an aftermarket parts kit to make this work...you also have to buy separate no-turn washers if you have anything other than a vertical dropout set-up (these no-turns come in the parts kit). And then if you want to install chain tugs, you have another problem. I was lucky enough to have access to a machinist at work, who was nice enough to cut some threads in to the no-turn washer to allow me to use it as my chain tug. Why couldn't Shimano have thought of that?<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pB4vAQZrs6I/TpZJItwfHtI/AAAAAAAAA9k/oGcbnr2cijQ/s1600/IMG_4670.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pB4vAQZrs6I/TpZJItwfHtI/AAAAAAAAA9k/oGcbnr2cijQ/s320/IMG_4670.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
The shifter comes with about a mile of cable/housing. It has a fixed metal ferrule on the hub side, so you have to completely unthread the cable in order to shorten the housing from the shifter side. There's a rubber boot on the hub end of the cable that I could not thread my cable back through. So I just left it off.<br />
<br />
The final issue is bike specific. But there isn't much clearance back there. The arm with the cable stop on it digs into my chainstay. And the cable comes very, very close to rubbing on the Gates Carbon Drive cog. In fact, when I first installed it, it did rub. I had to pull it off and flip it around to it's lower-profile position. This removes some of your ability to play with chainline. You'll have to make all of your adjustments at the crank. You can see in the below photos just how close that cable is to the cog.<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Jy8RJWTZdk/TpZI6MO2Q6I/AAAAAAAAA9M/_XqzKymNtVU/s1600/IMG_4679.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Jy8RJWTZdk/TpZI6MO2Q6I/AAAAAAAAA9M/_XqzKymNtVU/s320/IMG_4679.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
Disc set-up is relatively painless. I've avoided the shimano splined disc system as I'm not found of the restrictions and overly expensive replacement discs. But there's no option with Alfine. It's actually pretty slick. I probably wouldn't use it if I didn't have to, but I'm no longer going to completely avoid it.<br />
<br />
Once everything is mounted and located properly, cable set-up is a breeze. Shift the shifter to the #6 spot (which is nicely marked on the shifter) and adjust your cable tension until the two yellow marks line up. So simple.<br />
<br />
Most people are probably buying this gear already installed on a bicycle, but for anybody that isn't, be prepared for some installation hassles. I've assembled dozens and dozens of bicycles from the ground up and this is easily the most I've ever monkeyed around.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Riding Performance</u></b><br />
<br />
I've never ridden with an internally geared hub before and I'd imagine some of these benefits aren't specific to the Alfine 11. How does the thing actually ride. Well, even with some dramatic flaws, it's still pretty amazing. I didn't really realize how amazing until I rode my standard derailleured mountain bike after a few weeks of only riding the City Bike...but more on that later.<br />
<br />
First, this thing is nearly soundless. Couple it with the Gates Carbon Drive and it is a remarkably silent ride. With fenders on, there's some slight clacking, but other than that you cannot here this bike. There's some minor clicking when you backpedal the hub, but nothing while coasting. Totally silent.<br />
<br />
I'll talk a bit here about gear ratios. As I mentioned above, I'm running a 50 tooth ring and a 24 tooth cog. 24 is the only Nexus/Alfine size offereed by Gates. I thought the 50 tooth might be too small, but the next largest one is 55. Shimano doesn't recommend using a ratio lower than 1.9. For what it's worth, this 50/24 set-up is just about perfect for a 700c commuter bike. I spend the majority of my time in the 6-7-8 slots. Steep hills can generally be done in the 2-3 slot. And I've yet to spin it out in the 11 slot. However...I haven't used a front derailleur in 7-8 years, so I'm not really all that used to pedalling quickly down paved hills.<br />
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On to the shifting. Shifts are pretty much instantaneous, with some serious qualifications. Normal operation will see the shift happen as soon as you hit your shift lever. Under load, things change. Downshifting under load is generally pretty good. I've gotten a few strange metallic grinding noises, but nothing too bad. Upshifting under load is a different story. If you're used to a derailleur set-up, you may have to re-think how you ride. A bit. Not much.<br />
<br />
"How so?" you say. Well, think about how you normally shift your bike. When I shift (I'm talking about rear derailleur, I don't ride with front derailleurs any more) I slightly ease up on my pedal stroke as the chain moves through the cogs. This is something I don't even think about. This is something that new cyclists find really difficult to grasp. This is something that is hard to explain in words. But you probably know what I'm talking about. If you use this technique with the Alfine set-up, sometimes it will shift, sometimes it won't. It seems worst in the 5-6-7 slot. Better everywhere else. But upshifting around that range requires you to almost completely back off your pedal stroke. Once you get used to it, you can actually shift the lever, keep pedalling, and then complete the shift a half block later when you decide that it's the right time. It's very strange. Once you get used to it and anticipate it, it's not so bad. It would be better if it acted the same way across the whole range.<br />
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The shifter itself feels a lot better once it is on the bike. It's still not great and for such an expensive shifter I would expect it to feel much nicer than this. The wholesale cost rivals XT, but the lever feel isn't close. As well...Why didn't they just make it Alfine 10 and let you use whatever Shimano shifter you'd like? I'm sure they could have figured out a way to make the cable pull of the two systems line up. <br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-htfl4LwdGk0/TpZJP4lD9LI/AAAAAAAAA9s/erSTCvnJ2mQ/s1600/IMG_4336-2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-htfl4LwdGk0/TpZJP4lD9LI/AAAAAAAAA9s/erSTCvnJ2mQ/s320/IMG_4336-2.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Jy8RJWTZdk/TpZI6MO2Q6I/AAAAAAAAA9M/_XqzKymNtVU/s1600/IMG_4679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iSxjiaRaFtA/TpZI2-DNQhI/AAAAAAAAA9E/pSgNHv48oP0/s1600/IMG_4680.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iSxjiaRaFtA/TpZI2-DNQhI/AAAAAAAAA9E/pSgNHv48oP0/s320/IMG_4680.JPG" width="320" /></a> <br />
Other than that, there are a few other quirks. Sometimes, as you push the bike, you'll get about a half a crank stroke worth of pedal forward. And then it will stop. As well, when you pedal the bike on a workstand, it's obvious that there is some drag in the system. But it certainly isn't noticeable while riding. I've hopped back and forth between this bike and my road bike and I don't really notice any differences in efficiency. There probably are some, but they aren't noticeable.<br />
<br />
My final note is that the hub seems to weep a bit. There's sometimes a few drips of oil sitting under the bike when I grab it in the morning. I started parking it with the oil port facing up, but I think the oil is weeping through the seals. It's not horrendous, but it's not great. It's disappointing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Final Thoughts</u></b><br />
<br />
So, I read through this and I think "what a piece of crap". But if you were to ask me in person what I think of this hub I would tell you that it's pretty great. I'm having a hard time reconciling this discrepancy. The only thing that I can think is that the functionality of this internal gear hub is pretty amazing. There's some serious flaws to this system but there is nothing that dramatically detracts from it's everyday use. If you can fight through the set-up headaches and get used to the riding quirks, you're going to be very happy with this hub.<br />
<br />
While I was building this bike, I often thought that it would be pretty bad-ass to build up a mountain bike with this same set-up. After riding it for a while on the streets, I'm not sure if I'm still as excited about this potential project. The shifting hesitation in the mid-range might be too much to overcome. I can't imagine riding a technical North Shore trail and having to think that hard about shifting my bike. The silence and simplicity would be very appealing...but it is a project that might have to wait.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Update - July 24, 2012</b><br />
I bought a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rohloff-Speedhub-Oil-Change-Kit/dp/B001GSKUUU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343177544&sr=8-1&keywords=rohloff+service+kit">Rohloff Service Kit</a> and the proper Shimano oil and I'm finally going to service this hub. <a href="http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=53344.0">This lady has insane details on this process on her recumbent</a>. Worth checking out if you are going to service. I still haven't decided if I will use the Rohloff cleaner and oil that came with my kit (that was 1/2 the price of the Shimano kit that doesn't include oil).<br />
<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-24012717256891359032011-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:002011-10-06T14:20:14.671-07:00This is why I make bikes<a href="http://boingboing.net/2011/10/06/surgeons-hobby-creating-cigar-box-guitars.html">"Once you switch from making something because you feel like it to doing it because you have to it takes away from it."</a><br />
<br />
Nobody seems to get that.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-18743760782894082962011-08-24T11:58:00.001-07:002011-08-24T16:38:43.582-07:00City Bike Prototype is CompleteThis has been the most difficult bike build that I've ever done. The first ever Lumberjack was easier than this. I guess that's why you prototype.
<br />
<br />I'm very happy with how this turned out. Not ecstatic. But very happy, and all the little nitpicks that make me less than ecstatic will be hammered out in the production version. The big things are there. I'm happy with the concept. I'm happy with the general arrangement. I'm happy with the colours. I'm extremely happy with how it rides. But the production bike will need to be cleaner. Better cable routing. Sliding dropouts. Etc. Just a bit better.
<br />
<br />I'll also follow up with some impressions of some of the gear on this bike. Brooks saddle and grips. Alfine 11. Gates Carbon Drive. North Road style handlebar. Etc. Anyhow, take a look at the photos.
<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kU0VJOpQG_8/TlVKqVihPEI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/2TsqWzf4zqQ/s1600/IMG_4381.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644499799175674946" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kU0VJOpQG_8/TlVKqVihPEI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/2TsqWzf4zqQ/s320/IMG_4381.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUaal98lLYM/TlVKw4h5_EI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/h2mJYA1moCo/s1600/IMG_4391.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644499911647558722" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUaal98lLYM/TlVKw4h5_EI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/h2mJYA1moCo/s320/IMG_4391.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DhVd4jLfxhg/TlWLYmITmII/AAAAAAAAA9A/6lMHABdHj3s/s1600/IMG_4336.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DhVd4jLfxhg/TlWLYmITmII/AAAAAAAAA9A/6lMHABdHj3s/s320/IMG_4336.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644570962647292034" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nc3xTz74BY4/TlVK6yESEoI/AAAAAAAAA8o/21JKgUjAEsY/s1600/IMG_4341.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644500081711387266" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nc3xTz74BY4/TlVK6yESEoI/AAAAAAAAA8o/21JKgUjAEsY/s320/IMG_4341.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xRFoZRd8IdE/TlVK1-N6UlI/AAAAAAAAA8g/yL-CqWEfUB8/s1600/IMG_4331.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644499999073653330" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xRFoZRd8IdE/TlVK1-N6UlI/AAAAAAAAA8g/yL-CqWEfUB8/s320/IMG_4331.JPG" border="0" /></a>Here is a photo of the rolling chassis. I was super excited at this point as the bike was so clean. I think I can recapture most of this with some better cable routing. Internal? Maybe.
<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qipBfrDvsg4/TlVLgqTIjwI/AAAAAAAAA84/1d8bf_Qft_k/s1600/IMG_4007.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644500732461223682" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qipBfrDvsg4/TlVLgqTIjwI/AAAAAAAAA84/1d8bf_Qft_k/s320/IMG_4007.JPG" border="0" /></a>
<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-40983039800333230552011-05-31T10:18:00.001-07:002011-05-31T10:20:19.866-07:00Custom Bike BuildingWow.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2295798/">Slate has a story about custom building your own bicycle</a>. I often thought that this might be a direction that I would head in...custom building customer bikes. It's so hard to get the right accounts set up in Canada though. Much easier in the US.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-90512227550178337522011-05-18T15:27:00.000-07:002011-05-18T15:31:06.617-07:00Bixi is in Trouble!The Montreal Bixi system is so fantastic. I've also used a similar system in Paris, but the bikes were nowhere near as good as in Montreal. The Bixi takes away so many excuses to not ride a bike. It's cheap. You don't have to worry about your bike getting stolen. You don't have to worry about maintenance.<br /><br />My only worry about a similar system coming to Vancouver is:<br />- You'd have a hard time keeping a stock of them at the top of hills<br />- The rain might make things difficult<br />- Our helmet laws make it difficult to hop on/hop off<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec/montreals-bixi-pedals-hard-for-more-funds-from-the-city/article2025949/">Hopefully financial problems in Montreal</a> don't derail the whole thing. And hopefully Vancouver is smart enough to purchase designs already in place in Montreal.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-33642066932499999412011-03-14T15:34:00.000-07:002011-03-14T16:06:04.254-07:00Race Face RIPI was hoping there'd be some more news up today before I commented on this. But there isn't. So prepare to get weepy. For me to get weepy. Probably not you.<br /><br />I remember the first time I ever layed eyes on a Race Face component. It must have been 1993 or therabouts. I was young and impressionable and I somehow found myself hanging out with my friends older brother and his good friend, Chris Sheppard. Chris was a Kamloops XC god at the time and to find myself hanging out with him at a bike shop, looking at new parts was kind of surreal. I remember standing around with him, looking at these new cranks. He was blown away by them and it became another one of those things that I just never imagined would be on my bike.<br /><br />The first Race Face part I ever owned was a pair of Gold Turbine LP cranks. We had ridden our bikes downtown from UBC and we got about halfway there and my crankarm fell off. I had an 8mm so I screwed it back on and then it fell off again. Sugino square taper cranks weren't made for the North Shore.<br /><br />We rolled in to Simons and I started trying to figure out how to make a new set of cranks work on my tight budget. I asked Simon if he had any cranks and he showed me a set of gold Race Face Turbine LP's that he had pulled off a bike that the new owner didn't want. I had a brown Rocky Mountain Equipe at the time. The prospect of throwing a set of gold Race Face LP's on there just blew my mind. "One hundred and twenty-five dollars." I gave him the money before he could change his mind. I think those cranks are still rolling strong on my old Stiffee that I sold to my friend Dan. I miss those cranks.<br /><br />97/98 rolled around and I had to explain why I had nothing but Race Face parts on my bike when I started my co-op job at Syncros. Man, those guys just did not get it. Here we were, at the epicenter of the mountain biking universe of the moment and they just couldn't see it going on. They sponsored XC teams. They were totally isolated from other bike companies in the city. They laughed when I suggested flowing some parts to some of those crazy, upstart "freeriders" that were all around them. They were bankrupt 8 months after my Co-op term ended.<br /><br />But that was just the craziest time in Vancouver for biking. Every week there was some new trail. Some new stunt. The energy on each mountain was thick. Vancouver was making the bikes that mattered, the parts that mattered, the trails that mattered, the riders that mattered. Everything. And then it slowly began to fall apart.<br /><br />Syncros. Gone. Dekerf. Not really relevant in the era of full suspension. Brodie. Cheapened. Rocky Mountain. Let's not talk about that. Race Face. Race Face was still there.<br /><br />My only bad memory of Race Face was applying for an engineering job there a few years after that. My friend was marketing manager there at the time and it just seemed perfect for me. I've never approached something so confidently. I sent him my resume and cover letter. I started drawing up ideas for the interview. I learned 3d modelling in my spare time. It just seemed totally inconceivable that I wouldn't get that job. And I didn't even get an interview.<br /><br />A few years after that, I was building my first hardtail and I needed parts for it. I dropped Race Face a line and one of the marketing guys helped me out. Diabolus had just come out and there was no real middle ground between the XC stuff and Diabolus. I ended up with the heaviest hardtail you could ever imagine (Marzocchi 66...Diabolus...insanely heavy Syncros wheels). I still have all of the Diabolus stuff running somewhere on one bike or another.<br /><br />A few years after that, I'd gone in to production on the Rented Mule. I got an e-mail out of the blue from one of the Race Face Sales guys with an OEM price list and an invitation to start ordering parts. Jesus Christ did that ever help me out. It knocked a couple hundred bucks off each part and bailed me out of a few last minute parts problems. I really did start to plan all of my parts builds outwards from the Race Face parts. Yes, the headsets weren't all that great. The seatposts were a bit awkward (shit...that reminds me...I have a broken one that I was going to try to warranty) and the chainguides were a bit ugly. But the cranks, stems and handlebars were all a rock solid start to a well spec'd bike.<br /><br />I completed my last Race Face order two weeks ago. I received the parts last Wednesday. I was e-mailing the sales guys on Thursday looking for a couple of bolts that I couldn't find. He was going to throw them in an envelope for me until I found them an hour later. It couldn't have been more than an hour after that conversation that it all got shut down. It just seemed so baffling to me. I honestly looked at my watch to see if it was April 1st when I saw the announcement. It was inconceivable. Just like not getting an interview for that Engineering job.<br /><br />Nobody seems to know what went wrong at this point and time. Everybody had an opinion. My only comment was that as I looked through their last price list, I couldn't believe how much shit there was. So many crank options. Bar options. Colours. Grips. Chainrings. Stems. Some of it at prices that I couldn't imagine. But so, so much overlap. Perhaps that's the way you have to do things in this day and age but it took me an hour to sort through everything and make sure I had all my numbers right, just to order a couple of cranks, a chainring, some grips and a few other miscellaneous parts.<br /><br />Vancouver has slowly lost it's position as the place to be for mountain biking. Trails are disappearing. Companies are disappearing. We exploded on to the scene and now we're left with Norco and a few small little companies here and there. I was a teenager when it first started to blow up. Everything seems pretty awesome when you're that age. Whatever it is, this Race Face thing depresses the hell out of me.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-42071773575418897882011-01-03T14:34:00.000-08:002011-01-03T14:35:53.364-08:00Ask NickI'm getting pretty fed up with the state of Mountain Bike websites these days. I stumbled across <a href="http://velonews.competitor.com/tag/ask-nick">this series </a>on Velonews and we need something like this for mountain bikes.<br /><br />It's all about road bikes, but the insight from a professional mechanic is very intersting and worth checking out.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-26883495531069521162010-07-16T11:55:00.001-07:002010-07-16T11:58:22.978-07:00Steve the Bike is Finished<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TECraTSJMaI/AAAAAAAAAsw/Bd5zXaYhoYQ/s1600/IMG_1354-1.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TECraTSJMaI/AAAAAAAAAsw/Bd5zXaYhoYQ/s320/IMG_1354-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494580013733327266" border="0" /></a>Steve the Bike is more or less complete. New brake levers, brake pads, rear derailleur, fenders, basket...that's about it.<br /><br />I rode it to work yesterday, just to try it out. It's a bit more work than my road bike, but that could just be the lack of seat height for me. It shifts okay, brakes acceptably. I'm pretty happy with it for now. I think Andrea is too.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-66901179701223588592010-07-14T21:53:00.000-07:002010-07-15T09:37:54.367-07:00Vanier Park Dirt Jump Progress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TD6VC2FEeUI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/hXfun1xGvSs/s1600/IMG_5613.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493992471547640130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TD6VC2FEeUI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/hXfun1xGvSs/s320/IMG_5613.JPG" border="0" /></a>I popped by the Vanier Park Dirt Jumps a few nights ago and I just about pooped my pants. All along I've hoped that this becomes a real dirt jump spot. It's definitely looking like this is going to be a great little spot.<br /><br />The big line is definitely a big set that is going to take some skill to get over. The medium set will be a nice little challenge, but the gaps are half filled in so the consequences won't be severe. There isn't much shape to the little set yet. But it truly does look like something for everyone. With a solid pump track this will be amazing.<br /><br />Some shots from the side that aren't that great.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TD6VIiY3I_I/AAAAAAAAAsY/zXefRqs7xI8/s1600/IMG_5619.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493992569341158386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TD6VIiY3I_I/AAAAAAAAAsY/zXefRqs7xI8/s320/IMG_5619.JPG" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TD6VxqZOrZI/AAAAAAAAAso/s3qKZ0LU7B8/s1600/IMG_5618.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493993275864821138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TD6VxqZOrZI/AAAAAAAAAso/s3qKZ0LU7B8/s320/IMG_5618.JPG" border="0" /></a>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-49811922199744207222010-06-22T12:00:00.000-07:002010-06-22T14:44:57.243-07:00New Project BikeThis guys is a bit different and not for me, but this is the next project.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TCEJaBFMCFI/AAAAAAAAAq4/VIUeMVO9YiU/s1600/IMG_1169.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485676163685419090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kX9uVsNiPxA/TCEJaBFMCFI/AAAAAAAAAq4/VIUeMVO9YiU/s320/IMG_1169.JPG" border="0" /></a>It's in pretty great condition but needs some work. New cables. Fenders. Brake levers. Maybe a new rear derailleur. Tires eventually. Maybe wheels. A new basket. I'll probably just do the basics to start off.<br /><br />I wanted to get some new brakes for it and couldn't find anything via the usual routes. I went into Mighty Riders:<br /><br />Me - Hey, I'm looking for some new brakes for this bike.<br /><br />Them - What's wrong with those?<br /><br />Me - Well...these ones don't work. I'm going to replace the levers and cables, but if there is a cheap option I'd like to just replace these.<br /><br />Them - Those will probably work fine if you do all that and change the brake pads. Besides, we don't have anything that will work.<br /><br />Me - Could you order something in?<br /><br />Them - I guess so. I wouldn't really bother though. That thing looks brand new anyway.<br /><br />I like Mighty Riders. It's funny when shops don't seem to be able to get motivated to order something in for you.<br /><br />Anyhow. It says "Peugot", but this will hopefully soon be the newest Lumberjack roaming the streets of Vancouver.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-42150351800024488472010-02-05T10:27:00.000-08:002010-02-05T10:45:38.979-08:00LBJ0001 Becomes a CommuterThe Rented Mule actually builds up quite well as a commuter with 700C wheels. I had one built for a while, but stripped it. I have my prototype frame sitting in the corner, quite literally collecting dust, so I decided to build it into a commuter.<br /><br />I rode the prototype frame for a year or two and it's quite a nice frame. The angles are slacker than the production model. The seat tube is a half inch longer. The gusseting is different. The head tube is not machined. And, most importantly, it has a different set of dropouts. Other than that, it's pretty close to a production model.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I screwed up on the prototype dropouts. One of the holes is .1 inches out from where it should be, causing it to ride a bit high on the disc. I fixed it by running a 7" adapter with an 8" disc and then spacing it up to fit properly with washers. This doesn't work too well though. The caliper constantly came lose and you could see that it was stressed out and causing the holes on to ovalize a bit. I wanted to drill it out to where it should be.<br /><br />Where the hole should be overlaps with where the hole is, so it's a pretty difficult hole to drill. I brought it in to work to use the drill press and asked my riding partner/maintenance supervisor to help me out. He figured we should get one of the millwrights/machinists involved as he would be the best guy to get the job done.<br /><br />My plan involved bolting a disc adaptor to the right spot and then drilling through the whole works to get a hole in the right place. I would have to sacrifice the adaptor, but this seemed like the only way we would get the hole in the right place. Worst case, if it was a bit out, I could clean it up with a file. Well, worst case I could weld in a new dropout and get the frame re-painted.<br /><br />Millwrights, of course, aren't used to dealing with such precision. "We'll just file it out. Here. Gimme." Next thing I knew, my frame was clamped in a vice, one of them was scratching away at the paint to mark out where the adaptor should sit and the other was banging away at things with the file. They wouldn't believe me that it was steel and got a magnet out to prove me wrong. I probably should have just filed it out myself in the first place, but I honestly thought I'd be able to have a cleaner solution with a drill press at my disposal. Anyhow, it's almost there. I will have to clean it up a bit with a file once I get it built.<br /><br />So, the lesson for today...you're always better off doing the job yourself. My paint will survive bit it was hard for me to watch. I should have taken a "before" picture. I'll try to get an "after" up in a few days.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-25162935836471491032009-09-23T10:52:00.000-07:002010-06-28T15:03:11.017-07:00Vanier Park Dirt JumpsWell, the dirt jumps are finally approved. Hopefully we'll be jumping by next summer. Chris wrote up a short <a href="http://vancouverisawesome.com/2009/09/23/official-dirt-jump-track-in-vanier-park/">something for Vancouver is Awesome that summarizes it</a>.<br /><br />Getting involved with this approval process was a new one for me. There's people out there with a lot of dedication...baffling amounts of dedication. I have a lot of respect for that. I have a hard time keeping my interest level high for such a long period of time.<br /><br />As well, I have a solid respect for the Park Board of this city. There were a lot of interesting questions asked and a willingness to move forward on something that I didn't think they would be up for. It gives me a bit of hope that perhaps there are politicians out there willing to listen to what people actually want. Yes. I know. It's only the Park Board. But it's a start. Incidentally, I think we're lucky to have the Park Board that we have.<br /><br />So now the design and construction process begins. There's already people climbing out of the woodwork to have their input (what is Vancouver's Bicycle Advisory Committee?). And they're calling it a "Skills Park", not a "Dirt Jump Park". So hopefully we can all keep our focus on the dirt jumps and get this built right.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9061766936143240285.post-65158181049628052052009-09-08T19:02:00.000-07:002009-09-08T19:51:13.748-07:00Worlds CoverageIt's been interesting to catch coverage of the World Championships down in Canberra, Australia. There's been a bit of bitching that the course is too pedally and not technical enough. But I think the course gives it a good "made for TV" sort of vibe to it. Charging down a steep rooty pitch looks exciting when you know how difficult it is, but is probably too slow for the average person. But everybody can understand hauling ass between giant rocks while boosting off huge jumps. I like it.<br /><br />Anyhow, there's been a bit of a Steve Peat love in leading up to this years race. If you have a few minutes, please <a href="http://nsmb.com/3267-steve-peat/">check out the Freecaster coverage (via NSMB)</a>. Watch Lopes run off the top. Steve Smith at 57:50. May as well watch Kovarik after him. Barel at looks crazy on his tiny bike with no pads at 121:50 and puts on a display of unbridled, small bike handling madness. Mick Hannah at 1:30:45.<br /><br />Then Forward to Steve Peat at 1:36:49. <br /><br />Honestly, the run is great, but the announcing...honestly. Greatest announcing in the history of the world, ever. I think it's Rob Warner, but I'm not 100% sure. It has to be heard to be believed. Go check it out.<br /><br />You may as well hang on for Sam Hill right after. Then Greg Minnaar. Then watch Gee Atherton just for the reaction to Steve finally winning. Ooops. Spoiler.<br /><br />Oh man. That's just so crazy. One of the greatest things I've ever watched. This is what is great about mountain biking.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09020400136261222984noreply@blogger.com0