Droopin'

I've been using a dropper post (excuse me, drooper) for the last few years.  Three, I think.

The problem is, I only have one and I have three mountain bikes.  It's difficult to go back and forth between drooper and non-drooper bikes, so I usually end up taking The Executor on rides where it's sorta overkill most of the time.  It's a big bike built for stuff like The Pisgah, but the drooper post makes it fun for local stuff too.  Well, I don't have to worry anymore, because now I haz solution...

I picked this up back at CycloFest from the crankbrothers booth (they support me, you know) and I hadn't had a chance to figure out what to do with it.  Busy with the move, settling into the new house, etc. it became a low priority.  Now things are sorta "normal" again, so I decided to put it on one of my bikes.

I know some of you don't care much for crankbrothers, but I do.  They have been good to me, and more importantly, I haven't had any issues using their stuff (pedals mostly.)  The drooper thing was different though, because they failed miserably when they tried it in the past.  They will be the first to admit that too.

The highline drooper post (they use a lot of lower case on their website) was redesigned from the ground up, making it totally different from what they've done before.  Servicing is easy (Number One Bike Mechanic The Gentle Ginger said he was impressed), and it's simplicity leads to function without much chance for failure.

While a little pricey (like most droopers), it's cheaper than the one I'm currently using and hopefully will hold up a lot better.  I've had a few issues with that one, including a warranty replacement.  That company has good customer service too, I suppose.

Anyway, it was time to install it.  Since I wanted to put it on a bike that would see the most rugged testing environments, it was an easy decision to replace the one I'm using now.  If you are elite I probably offended you.  Who gives a shit.

So, what was in the box?

    A drooper post.  Duh.

They also included all the hardware, a cable, housing, etc. and a set of instructions that would make Ikea proud...

Instead of trying to decipher that nonsense, I headed to the CB website and found a whole bunch of links to videos.  I skimmed through the installation one and figured I'd seen enough.  If you want to watch it though, here it is:

It was actually pretty useful though, especially the part about measuring the cable housing and all that.  Anyway, I didn't take pictures every step of the way like I had intended.  Actually I only took two.

One of the cable housing coming out of the bike frame:

Stealth routing.  Rad.  My other one didn't have that.  Not their fault though.

The other photo I took during the installation was of the lever, which is pretty damn awesome:

Way more comfortable than other droopers out there.  I dig it.

Total install time?  Maybe about 20 minutes.  I tested it out quite a bit too, since I have plenty of big ass rocks all over my yard from whence to drop.  Actuation is quite nice and very smooth...

and dat lever tho.  Nice.

Cheers to crankbrothers for making me all giddy about drooping again.

Yes, I'm a product whore.  But I'm loyal.  You don't find that much among bike folks these days.

Oh, and since I'm such a whore, here's another video to get you all excited about the highline:

Oh, and before you ask...

I'm not selling or giving away the drooper I took off.  It's still decent, and I haz plans for it.

Race Weekend

Saturday is the biggest event of the year:

After selling out in a matter of minutes, a lot of people were left out.  Not me.  I got in pretty quick, so it looks like this weekend I’ll be “racing” with over three hundred of my closest cycling friends.  Even if I didn’t feel like racing anymore, this would be the one event that I would keep doing.  It’s just that fun.  I’m never ready for it, but that doesn’t matter.  The trails are some of the most fun around for sure.  I get to ride around for six hours and suffer a little, have some socializing with good people, and walk away feeling like I did something sorta productive.

I can’t wait.  For realz.

In other news, I guess I could mention something about my supporters.  I’m back for a third season with Honey Stinger.  I dig their stuff for sure, and no doubt I’d be using it regardless of whether or not they supported me.  Since they do, I get to have yummy goodness sent right to my door.

That should get me through the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek.

Next up, is a brand new supporter.  I’ve been using their pedals for years, but now it’s official.

Pipe down, Dicky. 

Yeah, crankbrothers is on board with me this season.  Don’t ask me why, because I sure didn’t ask them.  I break a lot of shit, and I’ve seemed to break theirs a little less frequently than others.  Their customer service takes a bad rap, but I haven’t had an issue really.  Since I was already in the market for some new pedals, I had them send me some.

The Candy pedals went on the “race” bike, Darth  Maul:

And I figured since I had the opportunity I would try the Mallet pedals on my Enduro™ Bike, The Executor.

I haven’t ridden the Executor yet, but that will change next week.  I’m already familiar with the Candys, so it’s like nothing has changed.  Well, nothing except that they are shinier and newer.

I don’t know why they do it, but I’m thankful for my supporters. 

And yeah, this weekend is gonna be so rad.

Just Hanging Around

After spending Saturday building a bike and most of Sunday working, I thought that it might be time to get my shit together.  I started off by working on a bike that I hardly even ride…TK-421.  That’s my geared bike (the white Niner Air9) in case you can’t remember. I gave it a bath, removed and regreased parts as necessary, and finally got around to changing out the seat.

I had been running a WTB Valcon for the last year or so, and I finally figured out that I don’t like it.  It’s not very comfortable, and the weiner slot didn’t serve any real purpose.  So, I put it on my road bike (which gets ridden even less than TK-421).

The WTB Silverado that I took off of the road bike is my favorite seat, mostly because that’s what I run on the Falcon. 

The Falcon is the SS bike.  Pay attention.

Anyway, who knows when the hell I might ride either of those bikes again, but when I do I’m sure I’ll notice a difference.  Having a familiar seat on TK-421 will be nice, and having an uncomfortable seat on the road bike will suck.  Riding a road bike sucks anyway, so it fits.  The Falcon got some love too, but I didn’t think you needed to see another photo of a freshly washed bicycle.

In other news, I’m considering a change in my brand of pedals.  I’ve been a big fan of Crankbrothers for a while now, but having to replace those frilly little brass cleats more than once a season is starting to get on my nerves.

I know I’m pretty rough on shit, but I’ve never had to change the cleats out when I rode Shimano pedals.  I’m not even sure why I switched, although it was probably because Dicky told me not to.  One of these days I might listen to him.

But hey, at least they have great customer service, right?  (Where the hell is the damn sarcasm button?)

Come on, Internets, tell me what I should do.

  

I still have a ton a shit to talk about, but I’ll hold off for now.  We did a group ride last night, I have another endurance race this Sunday, and there are so many other things going on that I can’t even keep up.

And that, my friends, is why I write this crap every day. 

Just so I can remember.

I Couldn’t Wait

So I bought some new pedals. Despite the fact that I broke a pedal at my last race, I’m still sticking with crankbrothers. I’ve been riding them for years, so I can’t change now.


But, why did I buy new pedals? Well, I sent my broken ones out for warranty service, and I heard back from the folks at crankbrothers and they will indeed honor the warranty. The problem is, the pedals won’t be back in time for this weekend’s race. So, I picked up another set to use in the meantime. I guess it won’t hurt to have an extra set hanging around just in case.



Installing new pedals is pretty easy, so I won’t waste your time showing you how I did it. They are the same style I’ve been riding (eggbeaters), so there won’t be an adjustment period at all. I’ve said it before, I don’t like change.


In other news, I guess you can say I’ve been training. Lugging a 65 pound Rottweiler up and down the stairs every day is helping me with my strength training, but it’s also wearing me out. Yes, my dog is getting better, but I still don’t trust her walking up and down the stairs. She may never be able to walk those stairs again, so I don’t mind carrying her around. She walks pretty well now around the rest of the house and the yard, but I don’t want her to get injured any further.


I’ve been riding a little bit too. The single speed has been my weapon of choice when I’m not racing, and I think it may be helping out. I’m able to sprint up steep climbs, and my recovery time from hard efforts is getting shorter. I’m nowhere near “in-season” shape yet, but I’m getting there. I’m guessing that by the time summer gets here, I’ll be good to go.


I think I’ll cut it off here for the day. With the race season in full swing I should have more to talk about, but I guess that isn’t the case. You really shouldn’t expect that much outta me anyway.


What the hell do you want, a picture of Dicky dressed as a unicorn?




Yeah, you can’t unsee that shit either.