#2 is imminent...

Some of you are already aware of this, but we're expecting a daughter sometime around June 19th.

I am struggling to get a little ahead but Sarah is understandably not feeling awesome or excited about doing lots of housework so it's been only moderately successful.

Anticipate slower email responses, less frames/week for a month or two, and general new-baby shenanigans. You will also probably have to look at baby pictures on the blog. You've been warned!

Apropos of nothing, here's the day Marco wrecked every part of his bike that has moving parts.

$5 to fill up your bag...

... at the Kimball Jct. library book sale!! This is just a *fraction* of what I scored.

Yes, I am a regular dork too, not just a bike dork

Picnic in der Schweiz

Thanks to Redcoat for the photo. WW tandem PLUS chariot FTW! I think that beats my human powered vehicle length record from pulling Bean in the cargo bike.

Freeride Hardtail Part Deux

Thanks to Steve for the photo. He is apparently shredding so much gnar that he has destroyed some Maxxis DHR and DHF tires on this rig! Wow. That is either some extreme speed, extremely poor choice of lines, living in Albuquerque, land of rocks, or all of the above.

What, no photoshopped bird of prey?

Paul's bike and cultural learnings for make benefit glorious nation of Waltveria

Paul brought us a Korean housewarming gift - toilet paper and laundry detergent are in fact traditional in Korea. Check out the background here. Yes, we plan on long life and prosperity, many thanks Paul!

And I took another photo (probably not enough to satisfy some) of the bike complete with curved-blade Knardfork (lacking Knard) and cut down brake lines. So pro. Dirty chain-wiping sock in background? Also pro.

The downside of living in Park City...

...is that companies that make stupid crap think you are rich. And they think their _13 pounds_ of catalog should be accompanied by their "commitment to the environment", so apparently they think we're exceptionally gullible, too.

Note to Restoration Hardware: framebuilders married to postdocs are not rich. We will not be buying any of your $15,000 outdoor couches.

Fotos from Jackson

He also did a little writeup here.

Where's the bagel?

Longer brake lines might be nice.

S-bends

Aaah! Dirt!

Tierranet are morons - waltworks.com is down until Monday

I don't know what is going on there but they can't seem to figure out how to bill a credit card. But never fear, the craptacular front page will be back up and "running" on Monday.

Stan's Valor Wheels - available soon

I rarely post about the latest snazzy part but this is quicker and easier than digging around to find everyone that has emailed me over the last year or so about these wheels.

Stan's now has the Valor wheels. They are not in stock but are being built to fill backorders and *should* be available in early June for manufacturers (ie me). If you are interested in these I am happy to put you on the list for a set.

5/19 edit: Please email me for pricing, my previous post was in violation of the Notubes MAP policy.

They are only available to me as a SET, sorry, no front or rear only, and only to WW frame customers, please do not ask about wheels (or any other parts!) if you are not a customer.

I should note that while I really like Stan's products and have/ride a lot of their stuff, I have no direct experience with these wheels so I can't offer any specific recommendations on appropriate use or quality/value. I would guess they're great, but that's just me speculating.

After I spent all that time...

BST

...saying that nobody wanted 29+ fat-front bikes... local SLC guy Paul wanted one. Here it is, as yet undecaled, on the maiden voyage. Of course, he didn't actually mount the 3" front tire yet, either, so that giant fork clearance probably looks silly from a different angle. And refusing to cut your steerer tube seems to be a theme around here.

Geometry for the bored:
-69.5 HTA (with the Knard - it's probably almost a degree steeper with that skinny tire in the pic) and 55mm offset fork (yup, Jones-style) for 85mm trail and 637mm front center.
-Non-suspension-corrected with curvy skinny blades that Paul calls "probably the most compliant fork I've ever ridden"
-42cm chainstays and 305mm BB height.
-Plenty of room for a big 2.3-2.4 tire in the rear, room for anything Knard sized or smaller in front.
-Curvy everywhere.
-A (!!!) Niner EBB. Yes, I actually found an EBB I like. I still like sliders/rockers/etc better but as of now, I will build you a single/non-tandem frame with an EBB as long as it's a Niner one. Thanks to the Niner folks for coming up with a design for an EBB that sucks less!

Random Friday for-sale

Stuff I ordered and got the wrong thing or customers changed their minds about:

-XX1 175mm cranks. No ring, no BB. Installed but never ridden - dude needed 170s, doh. $200. Happy to add in a chainring if you need one as well for a few more bucks.

-Red King I7 headset (fits 44mm head tube, for tapered steerer fork). Brand new. $120 or $100 for current frame owners/waitlisters/new orders.

Time to quit for the day?

Step 1: Cut a hole in a box Carefully measure where you want to put a boss to mount your fender.
Step 2: Carefully drill a hole for said boss.
Step 3: Realize you drilled the hole in the wrong side of the bridge.
Step 4: Throw bridge at the wall Pack it up for the afternoon and go ride through the snow to get the Bean.

Tom!

Another one with not-the-shortest-possible chainstays. Slack and kinda short is the new black? And camo green is the new pink. Or something. Edit: and a photo from Laura to go with. Shoreline in bloom!

650b! 27.5!

Tyler's bike, photo courtesy of Tyler. Short, slack, 27.5. Geometry update later if Bean leaves me alone long enough to do it.

Eggs on sale!