Friday, December 31, 2010

The first rant of 2011!

Many of you have probably seen this picture. It's of a custom bike built (I believe in 2004) for the Houston Rockets' Yao Ming (get better, bro).

It's a fairly famous image used to illustrate very large custom bicycles, and every time I see it, it pisses me off. For what it's worth, I have nothing against Gunnar - from everything I hear, they make great bikes. But I think they blew a great opportunity here:

-Undersized tubing (everywhere, on the entire frame and the fork as well) - that thing will be a total noodle with a 280# rider. I mean, this is *custom*. You can order any size of 4130 tubing you want from many different places - get the man a 2.5" diameter downtube and big fat stuff everywhere else too. Biggest seatpost you can find (or make one), etc, etc. If I ended up with a frame under 10 pounds, I'd be worried it was underbuilt.

-Hilariously, Gunnar actually BRAGS about how underbuilt the bike is - it is apparently "only 27 pounds!". Um, great. That's like me throwing a leg over a 13.5 pound mountain bike with a 7/8" downtube. Nice that it's light, I guess, but I'm thinking the ride will leave something to be desired.

-Chainstays insanely too short - the poor guy is going to be sitting well behind the rear axle. Good luck climbing anything steep. On the other hand, I guess it will manual well (and inadvertently, probably) should Yao choose to attempt such a maneuver. It is not hard to bend some custom stays, guys. Off the top of my head, I'd say they're at least 200mm too short.

-1 1/8" steerer? Please. 1.5 stuff is readily available (and was in 2004, too), or heck, do a custom headset and go for 2" or bigger. Yao and the Rockets were undoubtedly not going to blink at spending $500 on a headset.

-Wimpy QR hubs and dropouts. This is like a bad joke. I'm 5'11" tall, 150 pounds, and get angry about having to ride a QR suspension fork rather than a through axle. At the time rear through axles were confined to DH bikes, but that's ok - Yao would have been just fine on a 12mmx150mm (or 165mm) rear hub and 20mm front.

-A setback (appears to maybe even be 27.2) seatpost? Why, in god's name, do you want to use a post with a bunch of setback? We're talking about a HUGE dude here, and adding all that leverage to the head of the post is not going to prolong it's life. It's not hard to slack back the seat tube angle a few degrees and use a straight post.

-You could easily make an argument for 36" wheels here. Yao is perhaps one of the only people on earth for whom a 50 pound 36er would not be overkill. Of course, those are *really* a niche item, and the tire selection (at least then) was a big fat one, so I can see how you'd stick with 29".

Obviously Yao probably rides the bike on the street (if at all) and this was likely a publicity stunt more than anything (I could certainly be wrong). But if you're doing something with this kind of exposure, why not go all out and do it right? Go nuts on every part of the bike to make it work the best it can for the customer, don't just throw something together with a really long seat tube, toptube, and head tube that is otherwise exactly what you'd build for someone half his size.

Sneak peak


No idea yet exactly when these will be available, but late spring is a safe estimate, I think. Thanks to Jeff at Alchemist for the hard design work (in conjunction with Fuentes and I, of course).

Info on costs, preordering, etc will be forthcoming at some point. We tried to keep it pretty simple, hopefully folks like it.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Play to your strengths


I had no problem installing some nice Paul dropouts on Bob's old Kona so that he could happily singlespeed on it.

Then we had to get it packed into Bob's, um, BOB. Clearly, 3 dimensional object packing is not one of our strong suits (and Bob's a construction/building guy, so he doesn't have an excuse either). Rats-nest making seems to be, however.

Looks like the party is over...


After the driest/warmest fall on record in Boulder (Jake and I rode Heil yesterday and it was bone dry) it looks like winter is finally here for real.

Doh.

Time to start really making use of that track membership, I guess.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Coupler picture, holiday updates

Just a quick shot of what a coupled Paragon slider dropout (belt-drive ready) looks like after the powdercoat (the dropout and the coupler are both stainless, btw, so the mating surfaces don't need or get any powdercoat). It's a pretty simple/clean look - if you're on the fence about getting a belt setup, you can do this and leave your options open. Weighs about 20g, isn't particularly visible unless you're looking for it, won't make noise or change the ride of the bike.

Oh, and there's no extra charge.

Holiday blog updates and work will be sporadic, in case you didn't already figure that out. I'll be back on a full work/blog schedule starting after the new year. Hope everyone is having a great holiday!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Random Holiday Recipe: Thai Pumpkin Soup

Tired of eating bland holiday food? Want to make a dish that looks appropriate (ie, liquid, warm, orange-ish) but packs a wallop?

Yes, I know, it's now too late for the holidays. But maybe you need a way to get rid of an extra can of pumpkin. This also works for that.

Here you go. From my battered, ridiculously titled (and of unknown origin) Pumpkin: A Super Food for All 12 Months of the Year cookbook:

Thai Pumpkin Soup

1 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped up
1 tsp ground ginger
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 tbsp Mae Ploy green curry paste
pinch of dried thyme
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt

Melt the butter and fry up the onion until it's nice and soft. Add all the rest of the ingredients, blend everything in the blender until it's nice and smooth, and warm up until it's the temperature you want. Boom! Done.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Need a last-second present?

The perfect gift for your significant other who is a climber (or just someone who likes to look at hot, half-naked guys - Cornacchia, you'd love it!) - it's funny AND sexy (no joke, either, I laughed my ass off at most of the pictures, and everyone in it is pretty much a top professional athlete - and looks the part)! Only $3 - which goes to the Access Fund.

Check it out here: 2011 Men of Routesetting Calendar

It's a digital download, meaning that you'll have to print it out yourself. But that's not hard to do.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Old Skool

I blew up our "Professional" Kitchenaid after 3 years. Replaced the brushes, disassembled and checked everything, no dice. Called Kitchen Aid. They pretty much shut me down on warranty or reasonably-priced repair. Not cool for a $300+ item, in my book - the proposed repair would have cost as much as a new mixer, with no warranty on that work either.

So long story short, I googled "Kitchenaid sucks". Try it and see what you find...



Sarah and I did a bunch of research, and discovered that in the late 70s Kitchenaid was a division of Hobart - which makes industrial equipment, and welders, and all kinds of great stuff, all in the USA. Then Hobart sold the name to Whirlpool/GE, and the quality went downhill fast.

Long story short, the vintage mixers from the Hobart days all still work great - and are hard/expensive to find. We got a smoking deal on this one - only $215. And it's 35 years old!

But it's a Hobart, so hopefully it'll last another 35. We'll see.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Pre-holiday Garage Sale

Didn't get what you wanted for Decemberween?

Well, I won't be actually be able to ship any of this crap until next week, probably, what with the holiday, but here you go:

-PUSHed Fox RP23 from 3 years ago. Holds air well, everything works great, no oil leaks or problems. Gotta get me one that has the controls on the same side so I don't have to risk crushing my finger against the seat tube every time I adjust something. 7 7/8" (200mm) x 2.25 stroke. $200 including shipping.

-Set of Avid BB-7 mechanical disc brakes (mtn) with 160mm rotors. SOLD to Raoul.

-SRAM Apex road cranks. Brand new, in the box. 170mm length, compact (34-50) chainrings, includes a GXP English bottom bracket (also brand new). $75 shipped.

-Hutchinson "Equinox" road tires. 700x23, brand new, black/red. $25 for the pair, shipped.

-SLX E-type front derailleur. Brand new, still in the box. Ended up with this when Nowork and I ordered the wrong one (this is the high cage version intended for triples) and then BTI wouldn't take it back. $20 shipped.

Email me with questions or offers.

Finally - she rides


This bike has been under construction, in one form or another, for at least 6 months now. And as you'll see, it's still not done. But after finally giving up my long-time full suspension companion (she's being shipped to my brother in Las Cruces as we speak) I needed to finish this project up so that I'd have a squishy bike to ride when necessary (ie, when I'm feeling old and slow, which is often).

I've mentioned some things about this frame before, but here's a recap for those who are interested:
-It's 6" rear travel (or about 150mm) and currently 120mm front travel. I'm hoping that at some point Fox makes a 140 or 150mm 29er fork, but for now, that's the setup.
-The Ventana chainstay assembly will probably be replaced with a 12mm maxle setup (built by me) at some point next year, but I am low on time lately and wanted to get up and running, so I just ordered this one from Sherwood. I'll find another use for it down the road.
-Angles are 69 (or 68 with a 140 fork) head tube and 73 (effective) seat tube.
-43.5cm chainstays, 14" BB height, 23.2" effective toptube. Yes, I am built like a T-rex. I'm running a 110 stem for "XC mode" but would probably use a 100 or 90 for riding the lifts.
-Tapered steerer, 15mm through axle, blah blah blah. It's wicked stiff.
-Tubing is Supertherm for top/down tubes (32 and 38mm, respectively), .035" 4130 seat tube. Head tube is heat treated 4130.
-Current weight (set up as a 1x9) is 27#, albeit using a really light XC rear wheel that I wouldn't want to ride on chunky stuff at speed. Figure with really beefy wheels/tires and a serious chainguide that you'd end up close to 30#, and with XC wheels and the 1x setup that it could get down to 25# or so without too much trouble.
-A rocker swap and flip of the Talas travel adjust on the fork changes it from a 5/6" trail/freeride bike to a 4/5" XC bike with a 13.2" BB and a 70 degree HTA. Pretty neat!
-Parts are nothing particularly special:
LX cranks and King BB
Cane Creek XX44 headset
Thomson stem/post
High rise Monkeylite bar
Elixir 5 brakes (love those)
XT cassette, some old chain that was on the floor of the shop.
The world's most beat saddle (which was actually the first aftermarket bike part I EVER purchased, back in 1999)

The frame still needs an ISCG mount (probably never for a Hammerschmidt, but for an actual DH chainguide), as well as an integrated mount for the MRP 1x guide (which I love). I need to get it powdercoated eventually, and I also need to get a different rear shock - this RP23 has the air valve on the wrong side of the shock, so you either can't access the valve, or can't access the switch to change modes. In fact, I will be selling this one off - watch for it tomorrow in my holiday garage
sale, if you need a nice shock at a cheap price.
-I need a bigger chainring, but this old 32t was the only one I had in decent enough shape to use. I ran a 38 (along with a 7-speed 14-34 cassette) all year last year and loved it. Might use a 36t this time, but the 32t is way too small.

So how does she ride? Well, I have a grand total of about 3 miles of actual dirt riding on it, so the honest answer is I have no idea, but early signs are that I'll love this bike - it has everything my old trusty DHL-crushed bike did, with more travel and more reliable parts. And yes, if you're in Boulder and want to borrow it, you're more than welcome to, as long as I'm not riding it.

Edit: Got in a few more singletrack miles (mostly smooth mellow stuff, but also a little bit of chunder-tech, and I think this video sums up my feelings pretty well. Even without doing any real suspension setup work or all the proper tires/parts, I was going stupid fast on the link trail - it felt like a DH bike, which is what I wanted, and once you crank down the Talas and flip the RP23, it feels like a decent XC bike on the uphill and flat stuff, too. DOUBLE RAINBOW!!!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

We win

Eric's road/tour/cross thing



Amalgamations of many bike types here. Eric cannot be trusted to stay on the pavement, so there's lots of tire clearance, disc brake tabs, rack/fender mounts, and all the usual bells/whistles. Nothing like taking a brand new bike out in the rotten leaves, mud, and snow!

Edit: Some more pictures and a ride report from Eric at his ride blog.

Friday, December 17, 2010

White Elephant!


I got some seriously weird looks on the 30 minute ride to the party, but it was worth it. Best. White Elephant. Ever.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A... Race Report?!?

Mohawk Matt abandoned Boulder about a year ago to work for Haro bikes in San Diego (which subsequently downsized - if you're looking to hire a savvy bike industry guy, drop me a line and I'll put you in touch with him).

Apparently they race bikes there. Here's his report.

There's a local series out here called "Racers and Chasers" which is
really well run and chill and fun. There are a couple fast guys but
the focus is really on making sure everyone enjoys themselves. They
put on a 50 miler with probably 95% of it on dirt like a half hour
north of downtown. I wanted to see all these trails and Steve and Mike
were signed up and as well as another kid out here that I met so I
figured even though I hadn't been riding much it could still be fun. I
didn't have a car yet and something was going on with Steve's ride
situation there so he picked my bike up the night before and I was
going to ride the motorcycle up. I got super lost twice and showed up
5 or 10 minutes after the race left, which was running a half hour
late anyway. I stripped out of full moto leathers and directly into
spandex, making a great transition from badass (motor) bike racer to
scrawny (pedal) bike racer, stuffing pancakes in my mouth the whole
time. Upon pulling my front wheel out of the car we realized that it
was flat. I pulled it apart while Steve readied a tube and soon we
were on our way. The riding was going well and we were catching people
pretty quick. There was an out and back section that I wasn't aware of
cause I never looked at a course map so rounding a blind corner I was
almost smoked by the 7 leaders all riding in a pack. Shortly after,
riding on a bike path a roadie passed me, had a momentary lapse of
judgement, and tried to take a pavement to dirt 90 degree corner
faster than I would have on a mountain bike. He landed in a pile 3
feet in front of me. Steve and I couldn't figure out what the
dominate emotion should be, shock or humor, but we tried to keep both
off our face as we helped this guy detangle himself from his bike. We
caught Morton and rode with him for a bit but he was on his way to
cracking harder than any of us, including himself, could have
imagined. I eventually pulled away from Steve which blew my mind since
I haven't ridden 50 miles at once since leaving CO. In the last 4
miles of the race the course went straight up and straight back down
like 1800 ft of elevation on a fire road. No breeze and no shade. I
still have my gear setup for when I was in shape - no granny and a
road cassette. I ended up pushing and Steve caught back up when I just
sat down under a scrub bush and ate an apple. Steve finished ahead of
me and Morton, well, he had a rough enough day that he didn't even
come out to Stone Brewing after. So the point is, Waltworks has great
representation out here. Or something.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Wow.

This afternoon, I get a phone call. "____ bike shop in town referred me to you."

Ok, what's up?

"I need a really long seat thing."

Seatpost?

"Yeah. It needs to be 20 inches long."

Quick calculating in head... wow, 500mm? What kind of bike is it, a folder?

"Mountain bike."

?!??!? Really?

"It's a Mongoose. Anyway, it needs a 20 inch seatpost. Maybe longer."

Dude, your bike does not fit. You need a different bike.

"Really?"

Yes.

"No, seriously, I need a 20 inch seatpost...how much would it cost"

...

Monday, December 13, 2010

Quick pic


...now featuring the correct fork (if anyone needs a 29er fork with a VERY short steerer tube, I think Daniel has one available...)

Unfortunately it looks like mountain bike season is over in Switzerland for the year.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Completely random Saturday ramblings

First off, I'm quite pleased with my track session this afternoon. I rode a 9.1 second flying lap (my fastest ever), I managed to do 5 consecutive sub-10 second laps (never done that before), I did a 1:19.6 flying Kilo, and I traded pulls with Clark Sheehan (7-up, USPS, national champ many times on the track) for a while without looking like a total tool or completely blowing up. Not sure Clark was really trying too hard, though!

Ok, so that's boring. Here's something else that you'll regret having wasted time reading when you're on your deathbed: I really like this comic (both XKCD in general and the specific one in the link). Does anyone else out there spend a lot of time trying to figure out where to sit and/or convince other people to sit at parties, or worry about what angle to put couches at to maximize fun conversation for different numbers of people?

I try to talk about this with my friends occasionally, and they start to glaze over after about 10 seconds. So probably not.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Silly picture for Friday


Brad is apparently some kind of attention whore.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Damn you, Brad!

I saw the new Nova 31.8mm plug-in dropouts (I think Everest makes them?) and made the mistake of pointing out to Brad that they'd be perfect for his new 36er fork.

What I didn't realize is that the dropouts are so offset from the back side of the fork blades that no conventional disc tab will work. I futzed with making one from scratch from some 1/4" plate, then eventually decided that the franken-tab was the way to go. That's gotta be the longest I've *ever* worked on a disc tab. Good lord.

A monument to my lack of aesthetic sense, but it'll let Brad stop.

Oh, and for the framebuilders out there, these suckers are inexplicably ~10.5mm axle slots, rather than the standard ~9.5 or so. In this case, that's perfect (Brad's going to be using a 10mm axle) but it would be a bit weird with a standard 9mm setup.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Quick shots for Arne



20mm through axle fork, sliders, set up for belt drive, brake hose routed through the toptube, super beefy for urban assault!

Sorry, Arne, the sweet Kalloy stem is not included...

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Absurdia Part 3: Todd Responds

Todd wrote in via the comments to respond to my post about his cool Black Cat "Swinger" dropouts, and I thought I'd post his verbiage here for everyone who has no life and is reading this instead of working to enjoy. Note that I didn't edit anything here, these are Todd's words.

I think he makes some great points here, but I still feel that, all things being equal, the Paragon sliders make a bit more sense due to their stainlessness and significantly lower price (my cost is about $150 for the Black Cats, and $90 for the Paragons). But both dropouts are made in the USA by really cool guys who live and breath bikes - so you really can't go wrong, and I'm more than happy to build you a bike with either setup.

But enough from me. Here's Todd.

Hey Walt,
Someone hipped me to your critique of my dropouts. Thanks for the feedback. You have some valid points, I’ll see if I can convey to you and your readers the thinking behind the part.
The dropouts are not stainless, they are machined from 5/8” billet 4130 cromoly steel. There are a few reasons why:
Economy. 17/4 stainless, the only stainless worth dealing with for this application, is about the same price as 4130 and is about double the price of 4130 to machine. 17/4 is harder so it takes a long time on the tools. Other stainless will end up having a divot where the clamp bolt does its job on the slot and then you’ll have a hard time adjusting out of that one spot. No good.
Mild steel would also get a divot. It would cheapen the dropouts by about $50 and no one would know until it was too late, so 4130 is the right choice. Most other dropouts if not stainless are mild steel, Paragon included. Not shit talking—for a vertical dropout, it is a great choice.
With 4130, the dropouts are lighter. Having a stronger material allows less material.
I have a batch of very expensive 17/4 dropouts. Right up there with the flanged
Paragons. Fillet brazers can use 50-n for the same effect. Metal to metal contact is not necessary. After the first ride or two, things don’t move around much using powder or wet paint. Probably what you have experienced. I live about ½ mile from the largest body of salt water in the world, in a place renowned for fog (even locally), and don’t have a rust problem on the dropouts. This is a place where 317 stainless steel turns to powder. You can come look at the barrel adjusters on my townie.
Why flanges? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to make them out of plates to silver braze in slotted stays? In a word, “yep.” But, I like flanges. Makes the dropout stiffer in all the right ways without the additional weight from additional thickness. Since I’m the one making the dropouts, I get to call the shots. Moreover I can use a smaller diameter tube with a thinner wall thickness on stays when I use my dropout, since they stiffen things up so nicely. A down side to that? Can’t think of one. The flanges are blocky because they are made for a 500 pound gorilla. If you’re not one, the builder can carve them up to match your aesthetics or body weight. The dropouts are tumbled to remove any burrs. Sorry if your pair didn’t see enough time in the tumbler. If the bevel wasn’t what you like, it may have been perfect for someone else.

Me again,
Set screws (m5, by the way): I get a lot of questions about that. I’ve put an enormous amount of thought into not integrating them.
Economy. One side of the dropout is machined, then a guy with a wrench comes and flips it and the other side is machined. If the guy had to turn it a second time, more money. If the machine had another axis with which to work, it is a more valuable machine, more money. You want 17/4 dropouts with an integrated set screw? Do you have some capital for a batch of 25 pair?
The bosses are easily replaceable should one get stripped: heat it up a bit, pop it off, pop on a new one. If they are sheering from shear (ha!) burlyness (yeah, right) they’re not brazed on well. Hope those people with this trouble you’ve heard from aren’t doing lugs.
I’ve more or less addressed the price thing, but one more point: I’m paying local bike people for their time and experience. It’s not as cheap as someone from Taiwan, or Michigan for that matter. But I like to have bike people around me doing what they love: Making bike things for other bike people. If my customers can drop $50 into that bucket (I don’t make much money on these things, for sure) out of the $3000 they will spend on a new bike, then God bless ‘em.
Lastly, (I’m sure ya’ll are stoked) can’t help you with the howling. I’ve ridden mine, with and without Avids, for 6 years without a howl. Never heard of anyone else with that problem, maybe they’re just not saying… I do always check the alignment of the face of the dropouts when checking alignment of rest of the bike.
Hope I’ve shed a bit of light from this dim bulb.
Cheers,
Todd

Monday, December 06, 2010

Nothing to do with Waltworks...

Rusty recently rode his old beater Lemond to _Rocky Flats Lounge_.

For those not in the know, Rocky Flats was a site where nuclear warheads were manufactured (though the 70s) and then a superfund site. Now it's a wildlife refuge. The bar itself (on the other side of the highway from the nuke plant/animals) is an absolute terrifying dump, and also the place to be if you're a Packers fan/and or pathetic alcoholic who wants to drink next to a lot of buried radioactive waste.

Long story short, I'm guessing he's the first person to ever ride his bike to this place, or at the very least, the first to ride there in order to watch the Packers and drink cheap beer. He sent me proof, too.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Absurdia Pt. 2: Black Cat Swingers

I have not had a lot of time to ride (nor warm weather, though the trails at lower elevations are amazingly still dry) so this post doesn't have much to do how my new singlespeed rides. Instead, it's about the dropouts - which I have gotten a ton of questions on.

If you're too lazy to read my ramblings in full, suffice to say that I think the Paragon sliders, as of now, are a better option. Here's why:

-The Black Cats aren't stainless. This is a pretty big deal to me, since you really need metal to metal contact to keep the dropout from slipping easily. Hence you've gotta leave at least some of the dropout unpainted - and that means (eventually) rust. A big deal to some folks, not such a big deal to others (here in CO, it's not an issue) but a serious downer on a dropout that costs $150/set (for reference, that's 50% more expensive than the Paragons, which aren't cheap).

I assume they're non-stainless to allow easy fillet brazing, but IMO this is a silly way to do things. Fillet pro would work fine if you want the fillet look, or these could be re-done as a plate/tab style dropout and they could be silvered in. Obviously for TIG guys/gals, an identical version in stainless would work fine.

-Set screws aren't integrated to the dropout. If you look closely at the picture, you'll see a small hole in the hood - that's where you're supposed to weld or braze an M4 eyelet to allow the set screws to be used. This is a PITA to do (I've heard of them popping off under load if brazed in, and if you TIG them like I did on my frame, you wreck the threads and have to do a bunch of work to re-tap).

-All the work is done by one bolt. The upper "pivot" bolt doesn't do much to keep the dropout from moving at the axle end due to the leverage involved, so really there is just one bolt (plus a set screw) on each side keeping your wheel in place. This has worked fine so far, but I worry that if that bolt came loose and wasn't noticed soon enough, the set screw would get bent/damaged and have to be extracted (giant pain). Again, the non-stainlessness of the dropout is a contributing issue, since the force needed to clamp the dropout in place is very high. That's a lot of torque on one (admittedly, big fat M8) bolt.

On my first two rides, the rear end of the bike came completely loose. I fixed this by using IRL-grade loctite on all the M8 bolts, and it's been fine ever since. So perhaps my concerns are unfounded.

-Finish quality is mediocre. They're ok, and it's not a big deal, but it's lame to have to bevel all the edges and corners yourself with a grinder or a file. It's not that hard or expensive to finish the piece nicely - especially given the price.

So far, my only complaint about actually riding with these dropouts is that they seem to correlate with incredible rear brake howling (yes, they're Avids, so it certainly could be the brake at fault, but the same brakes haven't had this problem for me on other similar bikes with different dropouts). I have heard from (trusted) fellow builder friends that under heavy braking, the wheel can move the brake side dropout *backwards* enough to cause problems, though this isn't something I've experienced.

However, they look cool, they have a nice range of adjustment, and they let me tension the chain - so far, they're doing their job.

With all that said, if I were building a new bike for myself today, I would go back to the Paragons. They are tested, reliable, and don't have any of the problems/issues that the Black Cats do - plus they're actually quite a bit cheaper and equivalent weight.

I'm happy to build with any dropout a customer wants, of course, and my whining here should be taken for what it is - niggling complaints about a very cool product. Black Cat should license the design or have some stainless models made, improve the finish quality, and incorporate a better set screw setup, and I'd be an even happier camper.

Hoodie update

First, I am all out of XL hoodies now - sorry!

On the plus side, however, I did find some more size Large (2) and Medium (2). If you're interested in the $65 hoodie/shirt/pair of socks detail, and one of those sizes would fit you, please drop me a line.

If you've already ordered t-shirt/socks, we can simply add the hoodie to the order, just email me and I'll set it up.

Edit: added an image, some folks didn't remember what they look like.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

John's DH bike - almost there

With apologies to Tropic Thunder, this is a case when going full retard is absolutely justified.

In other words, this is a bike intended for doing things that are basically stupid.



-29" wheels, 6" travel, room for 2.5s.
-Supertherm top/downtubes and a big 44mm head tube for a tapered steerer.
-Nice 44.5cm chainstays/112cm wheelbase.
-Mounts for ISCG/Hammerschmidt and a direct mount front derailleur if needed.
-68 degree HTA
-29.5" standover
-A nice solid 8 pounds, give or take, with the shock (this thing is deliberately overbuilt, it's certainly possible to make a "freeride" or long-travel XC bike much lighter, but we wanted John to be able to fall off cliffs).

She's almost done, I just have to do some cable stops and final checks, then off to the powdercoater in a few days.

The second pic, btw, is of the direct mount FD mount before I brazed it in. The seat tube here is so offset that I have to make the mount in 2 pieces, then braze it all together (and to the frame) with brass. The direct mount jig is just an old piece of aluminum plate with a few holes drilled (and some offset machined in at the bottom bracket). As you can see, it's been used and abused - I'm sure this was a piece of scrap I picked up somewhere, though I don't remember for sure.

T-shirt/socks update

For everyone that has ordered them -

I was surprised by the response to the package deal, and I haven't been able to get my hands on enough boxes to ship everything - so I've ordered some boxes from USPS, which should be here tomorrow or Friday. Everything will ship out then, so look for your stuff mid-week next week.

Sorry for the delay!