Friday, October 28, 2011

Quick picture for Steven

All I have to say is that S&S couplers AND sliding dropouts makes for a heavy frame - but at least you can keep your wallet a little fatter when you fly with your bike.

As usual, geometry breakdown:
-Geared or SS
-71* HT, 73.5* ST, 12.2" BB
-Built for 80mm travel or (not pictured) a rigid fork
-Taper-ready
-425-445mm chainstays (adjustable with the sliders)
-Plenty of clearance for any XC-ish tire (ie, 2.4 or smaller will fit)

This is an all-around XC setup for Steven's upcoming trip to Guam, and then to wherever his travels take him after that.

Also, quick announcement: Garro and Dicky won the pop quiz. But it does not seem like either of them wants the fine, fine sleeveless jersey... should I do some modeling to change their minds?

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

1am Pop Quiz!


Sarah is working late, and so am I. At this rate we'll both be vampires by spring...

Quiz: What did I have to do to my bike to get home from the climbing gym tonight?

Hint: I did it within 100 feet of the police station, and if I'd been seen, I probably would have gotten in a bit of trouble.

Hint2: I'm a pretty big dirtbag.

First correct answer wins a free pair of socks or a metro-tacular sleeveless Waltworks jersey (worn a few times but nice and clean. I swear.)

We lose

Councilman Appelbaum pretty much summed it up:

Councilman Matt Appelbaum went a step further and said he doesn't want any human access to the property.

"It's not that mountain bikes are the problem," he said. "It's anything that's the problem."


I do not even know where to begin calling out the hypocrisy in Mr. Appelbaum's statements, but I'm almost too angry about the whole process to write coherently, so I'll say this: vote for the BMA/BOA endorsements for City Council.

I expect that a lot of people will throw up their hands at this point and just start poaching trails. I cannot say I blame them, though I don't condone it. CC has made an enemy out of every reasonable mountain biker in Boulder.

Friday, October 21, 2011

From the BMA - City Council Meeting + FREE BEER

City Council Considers Bike Trails On Anemone Hill

This is our last and best opportunity for a close-to-town trail accessible by bike so you can ride to your ride. It would also provide an opportunity to connect a single track loop on Anemone Hill to the trails at Betasso Preserve. We have an opportunity to create an excellent trail experience for EVERYONE, hikers, trail runners, and dog walkers included.

BMA needs YOU and YOUR friends to show up to support BMA's ask Council to approve the OSBT loop trail and the connector:

City Council Chambers
Broadway and Canyon
Tuesday, October 25 at 6pm

If you cannot show up,email your thoughts to city council (click here).
BMA has some talking points below.
The main point you should convey =
ask Council to approve both the OSBT loop trail and the connector.

City Council We need to thank the City Council for making OSMP take a second look at Anenome Hill and ask that they create a professionally designed, sustainable and fun trail system in this area that will work for hikers, runners, cyclists and equestrians. We need to be positive, logical and thoughtful to these volunteer leaders of our community. It was Council that kept the hope of access in the West TSA alive by instructing OSMP to hire a professional trail designer to do their own evaluation of the area.
What you should know:

OSBT map The Open Space Board of Trustees has approved 4 to 1 a professionally designed loop trail that will

* Manage User Conflict: Separate no-bike trail segments are available for dog walkers, kids, and the elderly who may get spooked by bikes. Directional use is explicitly called for by OSBT. These are the right things to do.
* Protect the Resource: OSBT explicitly calls for on-trail use for everyone on Anenome Hill. Social Trails in the area will be reclaimed and restored. Neighboring property to the north and the south have no human access to provide refugia for the same critters that *could* be affected by a trail on Anemone Hill. We support these environmental values of our open space lands.
* Provide a Positive Recreation Experience: The OSBT recommended loop provides a 45 minute loop ride through a forest for bikes who have no place else to go w/o getting in a car or riding on paths and roads for long distances. It provides alternate routes for hikers, equestrians, and others. It has beautiful views of the city and the continental divide. This trail will be a valuable recreational asset for the citizens of Boulder.

Sounds perfect, right? Sadly, there's a catch.

Staff recommendation OSMP Staff recommended ONLY a connector trail to Four Mile Canyon only and doesn't want the OSBT approved loop at all. They want Council to approve a loop loaded up with switchbacks that would exclude bikes from the user mix. There's plenty of reasons to believe this is a BAD idea.

* The Four Mile Connector would coincide with the OSMP switchback loop trail for about 25% of it's length. Bikes, hikers and equestrians going both directions on this trail segment would be a user conflict nightmare.
* The link trail would serve stronger, faster, long-distance riders, but not the families of Boulder or the quick after work ride that keeps us all sane after a hard day in a cubicle.
* Perceived crowding and bike on bike user conflict will be significant on the connector.... you'll see everyone on your way out and once again on your way back. This will reduce the quality of the recreation experience significantly.

BMA believes we should combine the OSBT Loop with the Four Mile Connector...this is why:

* Cyclists are a responsible user group - in 2011 alone we've contributed over 2400 hours in volunteer bike patrolling and 2000 volunteer hours doing trail work. We've proven mountain bikers can help make this opportunity successful.
* We know how to manage our own user group - and providing the diversity of experiences people are looking for through both the OSBT loop and the Four Mile Connector provides the greatest value to our community for the least impact on other trail users and the environment.
* These trails link in to our existing multi-modal transportation network (e.g., the Boulder Creek Path), allowing us to ride to our ride, be it short or long.
* There are some 100 miles of hiker-only trail available in the West TSA - we're only asking for a handful of miles to accomplish these important objectives.
* Both trails are critical for our long term vision of a "peaks-to-plains" trail that allows you to go from Nederland to Boulder by bicycle. Right now city open space forms a brick wall that forces us onto roads when we want a long distance adventure.
* Having both trails serves the families, children, and casual riders of Boulder as well as the uber-atheletes of Boulder.
o The OSBT loop provides an excellent recreation experience for people who live in Boulder and don't want to get into their cars and drive to a trail head.
o Stronger riders will be less likely to do laps. If they've got the time and energy, they can take the connector to Betasso for a longer and more remote trail experience.
o This area is bordered to the north by Sunshine Canyon and to the south by Boulder Canyon... no temptation for cyclists to ride where they shouldn't.
o This trail sits next to the core of Boulder. Whether it be from your front door or from your office downtown, cyclists will warm up on the way to the trailhead (no driving to the trailhead!) and get that 45 to 90 minute experience that is missing from the trail offerings in Boulder now

The OSBT loop with the Four Mile Connector provides the greatest management flexibility and the best trail experience for all users. It reduces or eliminates user conflict by providing hiker-only trail segments, the possibility of directional travel for bikes, and a connection to leverage this access into Betasso Preserve, thus dispersing use. The entire trail system is 8.2 miles, approximately 6 miles would form a shared-use loop and connector trail, the rest would be hiker-only.


Staff's switchback loop (they call it the "ridge loop") is a poor user experience for everyone. Two way bike traffic on 25% of this trail will increase perceived crowding and user conflict on the trail. Switchbacks are always a management nightmare because of "cutting" caused predominantly by hikers and because of conflict caused by limited sightlines between different user groups. OSMP has repeatedly denied or threatened to reduce bike access because of user conflict concerns, so let's not engineer user conflict into the system!


SEE YOU THERE!

ALSO (this is Walt) if you want all the brews you want (be reasonable!) ON ME before the meeting, we'll meet up at 4:30 at the Mountain Sun downtown. If you're interested, drop me an email or post a comment. If I don't hear from anyone, I'll just hope to see you at the meeting!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Jon's Frame or... Trogdor the Burninator!

First, if you're somehow not familiar with him, educate yourself on Trogdor.

How is this relevant? Well, really, it's not. But if I had built this bike for myself (and, trust me, I wish my legs were shorter, or Jon's were longer, so that I could just steal it from him) I would name it Trogdor. It's crazy, it's over the top, and it's arguably gone way beyond any semblance of good judgement.

Here were the goals for this bike:
-29" wheels
-Shortest possible chainstays
-Ability to run a bashguard and 1x9 or 1x10 drivetrain (no front derailleur)
-Slack/stable steering geometry
-Good standover

Well, I think we got there (apologies for the Craigslist-quality photo - it's dark. I'll try to get a better one in the morning.) Small painting in the background is by my good friend Chris (drop him a line and have him paint your favorite mountain!)
-27" standover. Excessive? Probably. But great for, like, throwing tricks, or, um, unplanned dismounts on off-camber terrain. Not that I'm suggesting anything like that would happen.
-400mm effective chainstay length. Yes, that's right. 15.75" It will be a wheelie/manual machine, so much so that it's arguable that it'll be hard to keep the front wheel down when going uphill.
-83mm BB shell for 56mm chainline and clearance for a big 2.4-ish tire.
-Offset dropouts (5mm to the driveside) and 135mm spacing for a straight chainline and no-dish rear wheel.
-69 degree head tube angle, set up for a tapered steerer, 100mm travel fork. Throw a 120mm fork on there and go to 68 HTA if needed.

Are there drawbacks? Sure. Honestly, I'm still not sure if the chainline will allow smooth shifting at the very high and very low range on the cassette (Shimano designs their mountain bike components for ~425mm chainstays). The frame isn't particularly light (it'll probably just barely break 5 pounds when the powdercoat is on), and some folks wouldn't like the wider q-factor on the cranks necessitated by the 83mm BB shell. Oh, and you need a freeride crank to fit, as well as a rear wheel that's been built or re-dished to fit the offset dropouts.

But for burninating the peasants in their thatched... er, I mean ripping it up on the singletrack, this might be just right. And only Jon will ever know, since the thing is too darn small for me to steal from him.

Picture of the housing guide was just because it looked nice, and I usually don't get them to look quite that perfect. The darn things are way thin/light/lacking in thermal mass, so they want to instantly turn into a little ball of molten metal if you throw just a little bit too much heat at them.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Mountain bike trails on Anemone Hill - time to get involved!

Background info: Anemone Hill is just south of Mt. Sanitas. The ridge runs all the way to 4mile Canyon to the West, and would allow access to Betasso, Logan Mill, Sugarloaf, Gold Hill, Switzerland trail. Good stuff. The Boulder Open Space Board of Trustees recently voted to recommend a trail there, and now it's up to us to make sure the city council makes it happen.

Some background:

Daily Camera article about a less-awesome staff proposal (but still more awesome than nothing)

Boulder Mountainbike Alliance info.

So, what can you do?

1. Come down to the BMA Membership party tonight! Join up and get some schwag, renew your existing membership (or join for the first time), and drink beer with other mountain bikers. TONIGHT, 6pm, at Full Cycle on Pearl.

2. Come make your voice heard and your presence felt at the October 25th City Council meeting where this will be discussed. It's at 6pm, at the Municipal building, 1777 Broadway. If you're interested in meeting up beforehand for a drink at the Mountain Sun, you can join me for that (beer on me if you come to the meeting!) too around 5pm.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Sunday Rant: Sponsorships

Wu and Todd and I went for a nice ride this morning and among the varied subjects that came up was sponsorship - we've both gotten some hilarious sponsorship proposals due to the fact that we own (incredibly small) bike companies.

So, here's my rant.

-Sponsorships are about selling bikes. You might be pretty fast, you might think you're pretty cool, but can you sell bikes? Do you go to a race, get on the podium, and go straight home, in order to rest so that you can train more? If so, you might be a good rider to sponsor - in about a decade, assuming you start winning World Cups or something where someone other than your bros will notice what bike you're riding. On the other hand, if you're a lady who is SLOW AS DIRT who is at the trail building day, has a cool and interesting blog or website, hangs out with all the other racers at the BBQ, can and will put down a cold one if it's handed to you at the top of Kebler, and stick around after your race is over to cheer for the juniors and talk to their parents - you might actually sell a bike. Speed is frosting on the cake, but honestly, fast people are a dime a dozen. Bike racers tend to be pretty one-dimensional - your job is to be the one that stands out even if you're not winning the race.

-Figure out if you actually want to represent a product before you ask for it. I've been sponsored by a ton of companies in the past (and, um, zero now) and I honestly can't even remember what products I used or whether I even ever tried to promote their stuff. I know (because I was one) the neo-pros are mostly just looking for free schwag - from *anyone* - your job if you're looking for a sponsorship is to convince me that you actually like my company. Form letters are NOT a good way to do this!

-Don't ask for the moon. I can't and won't pay all your entry fees or buy you plane tickets. If you deserved those things, you'd already have been offered them by a company orders of magnitude bigger than mine.

-Remember that every 19 year old with a mountain bike (including yours truly) has dreamed of being world champion. You probably won't be. Racing is a blast, but if you let it become your only focus in life, you'll be sorry when you're 35 and turning a wrench so you can pay your share of the rent.

-Be nice. I see "pros" yell at hikers, cut the trail, refuse to yield to other riders, poach illegal stuff in full view of the general public, and generally act like spoiled children. Remember, if your job is to sell bikes, that 45 year old out for his only bike ride of the week, who just had to jump into the bushes to dodge you, is now a lost sale. Stop and say hi on the trail. Yield. Tell the fat lady how cute her hideous pug is. Pick up Gu wrappers. Smile all the time. There are plenty of places far from the madding crowd where you can get your shred on. Marshall Mesa isn't one of them.

I often offer this deal to people seeking a sponsorship: Pay me full price, up front, for a custom frame. For every person who you refer that orders a bike, I'll give you $100 back. Not one person has ever taken me up on it - which I think speaks volumes about the mindset of many "sponsored" riders.

Bonus points for anyone who can 'splain how the image at the top is relevant here. Edit: James figured it out in like 45 seconds. It the Casa Sanchez logo.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

A picture from Matt


Happy Saturday, everyone... as usual, I'll be working while Sarah slaves away on her thesis. Only 2 more weeks of this and I can go back to being married/a normal person. Well, at least as much of a normal person as I ever am, anyway.

Matt forwarded this picture of his bike overlooking San Diego (up in the Mission trails area somewhere?).

Friday, October 14, 2011

MTBR poll - 36er tires


I'm involved in a project to get some "real" tires made for 36ers, and we're assessing interest, so if this is something that interests you (ie, if you are a big weirdo) please click on over and vote:

If you're not an MTBR member (ie, you are a big weirdo with a life) you can just post a comment and let me know how many tires you think you'd buy.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Maintain radio silence!

Y'all may have noticed that the blog is pretty slow recently. There's a reason for that - as some of you know, my wife is a huge nerd (who will probably kill me if she ever finds out I posted a link to that bio from 10 years ago). In any case, she is finishing her PhD dissertation (she studies proteins related to telomeres using NMR, among other things).

Why should you care? Well, because while Sarah is in freak-out mode finishing her PhD, yours truly is in cooking/cleaning/nagging Sarah to actually sleep mode. This leaves limited time blogging after work, and hence you can expect less posting until mid-November (the defense!)

Monday, October 10, 2011

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Interviewed!

I've been interviewed over at Cycloculture, for those who are bored on a Sunday evening.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Congratulations are in order...

...to my good friend and Alchemist head-honcho/errand boy Wu for taking a solid 5th place at 24 hour nats!

...to my sometimes teammate Cameron and long-lost friend Nina for *winning* the mixed duo at the same race! 20 freaking laps!

...to Millertime, for going around the sun 30 times. Keep spinning, dude - it's good for your knees!

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Headshok Part 2

Some of you may remember that, way back when, I used to build frame/fork combos that used the Actiontec suspension systems (a single piston, with the internals inside the steerer/head tube). They weren't the greatest suspension (50-ish mm of not-so-buttery travel) but they did have a big advantage in the customization (any length/rake/style you want!) and weight (~3 pounds) departments.

I stopped building those forks because I had a lot of problems with the bearings (the AT system uses a sort of splined piston with bearings running in the grooves) wearing out their grooves - the forks would develop horrible *angular* play, which was *really* disconcerting. They had to be sent in constantly for rebuilds, and I eventually decided that the hassle was not worth it.

Fast forward a few years and I'm now playing with a slightly different option which I think will work out better - using Cannondale Headshok suspension units with custom lowers to build a custom suspension fork. I did one earlier this year and it went well, but required a lot of extra effort to tear down/cryofit/rebuild the suspension unit. I thought I'd see, with this project (experiment/prototype/dumb idea) if I could build a clamp-on set of lowers that would hold up to serious mountain bike use.



And, to be honest, I think I actually have. The suspension unit here is from an old Fatty Ultra (thanks to Cory for the donated old headshoks that I've been playing with!) which, unfortunately, does not seem to hold air. So for actual testing purposes, I'll need to deal with that. Regardless, I turned down some 1.5 x .120" 4130 on the lathe to make the steerer sleeve (and make a lip for the shock boot to fit over as well), welded a ring into the bottom as a stop, then split it and brazed on 2 beefy M6 pinch bolts. From there, it was just a matter of building a standard (albeit shorter than I'm used to) 29er fork.



I did manage to outsmart myself a couple of times and learned a couple of lessons about welding fork blades to split rings, as well as figuring out that boring out a Paragon hooded dropout does NOT work well for a through axle (after some futzing around, the fork now takes a 9mm QR axle instead, c'est la vie) but the end result is still pretty good - a 1400g suspension fork with 80mm of relatively functional (if I can get it to hold air...) travel.

And of course, you can build around any size wheel you want. 650b? No problem. 24"? Sure! 36er? Just wait!



The downsides, though, are numerous. The fork requires an oversized head tube (a 44mm ID one will work, which is nice) and the axle to crown length is quite ridiculous for 80mm of travel - 520mm or so. That's equivalent to a 120mm travel Fox, for example, and it means that these things are really only practical for very tall people who want something really light without much travel. Pretty limited group, there. And of course, acquiring the headshok unit to begin with can be tricky. So long story short, I'm not really expecting to sell a lot (or any?) of these, even if I decide this one is a worthy fork. But it was a fun project to build when I was sick on a weekend.

Unfortunately, now I need to build myself a frame to actually ride it...

Head's up - my phone is dead

And, not the "forgot to charge it" kind of dead. I'm working on getting a new one, but in the meantime, don't be surprised if I don't answer. Email is the best way to get a hold of me until further notice.

Later today: a more interesting post about custom headshoks!