The Kid Is Pleased

Yeah, I finished the build of Lunchbox’s “new” bike.  Well, I guess it is new since I never rode it.  When I got the replacement, I brought it home and it sat in the garage until I could figure out what I wanted to do.  Since I knew I was eventually getting a new geared frame (and I spend all of my time on the single speed anyway), I called him up on the way home and asked if he wanted me to build his bike.  He was really happy that I offered, even though it meant that I wouldn’t have a geared bike to ride for a while.

It didn’t take long to put together, and he is super stoked about it.

I have to admit that he looks good on it, and he’s not as picky as I am anyway.  He rode it around the neighborhood, and immediately liked the new size.  It just fit him better, he said.

I made sure to add all of his accessories, like his Lizard Skins chainstay protector:

And he’s still gonna be Awesome:

And his trademark, the hamburger bell:

And as a bonus, I gave him my red Cane Creek 110 headset:

Even though I had a bad experience with the whole frame replacement issue, I still enjoyed building this bike.  He’s not all caught up in the little things when it comes to manufacturers and such; he just loves to ride his bike.  I love putting them together too.

Now, I have a pile of this:

What am I gonna put that stuff on?

Only time will tell.

In other news, tomorrow is a big day.  It’s time once again for the annual Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day. 

This event is happening all over the world, and we’re gonna be a part of it.  With sponsors REI and Trips For Kids teaming up with the Tarheel Trailblazers and the Dirt Divas, it’s sure to be another great year to get kids out in the woods to ride.

If you’re local, come on out and join us at Colonel Francis Beatty Park in Matthews at 8:00 a.m.  If you’re reading this from somewhere far away, then check out your local club or the IMBA website to find a ride near you.

My kid is happy, especially since he gets to ride his new bike on the trail for the first time.

I’ll be here Monday with a full recap.

I Should Be Happy

Remember when I broke my geared frame a while back?

Well, I ended up getting a warranty replacement.  Normally I would’ve mentioned that by now, but I really didn’t feel like talking about it.  I’m not really that excited, and I’ll tell you why.

The company (I won’t mention any names because you can figure out who I’m talking about) has a lifetime warranty on their frames, and since I’ve gone through the warranty process before I knew they would take care of me.  Well, they sorta did, and I got a new bike out of it.

The frame is the same size, make, model, and color, but it is from 2008 (the first year they produced that model.)  Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal, but something was missing when they made the frame that year.

Notice anything?

Or should I say lack of anything?

Although it is an extra large (22”) frame, there isn’t a place to mount a water bottle cage on the seat tube.  Every model from 2009 to the present has two bottle cage mounts, including the 2011 model I was riding.  Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal, but I kinda need two water bottles when I ride.  Plus, since the frame I broke had two, I wanted at least an equal replacement.  So yeah, I think it kinda sucks.

That 2008 must be all they had in stock in my size, and normally I should be happy to have received a replacement at all.  However, the new model years are already showing up on the scene (with two bottle cage mounts like any other bike in that size.)  Also, it looks like they’ve finally addressed the issue of cracking frames at the seat tube/top tube junction.

I’ve broken three of their frames in the same place, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one.  So, I’m thinking that maybe they should’ve sent me the newer model, you know, with its reinforced frame and two bottle cage mounts.  That would’ve made me happy, but it’s too little too late.

I didn’t plan on keeping it anyway.

I’m switching my geared ride to another brand soon, so the plan was to get the cracked frame warrantied and give it to Lunchbox.  He’s a growing boy, and at 6’3” and 220 pounds he needs to move up from a large frame.  He’s pretty happy to be getting a new bike, even if it only has one bottle cage mount.  We can take care of that with a little aftermarket fix anyway.

This post wasn’t supposed to be a bash-fest, because I did have something good to say about the shop I went through for the warranty replacement.  They were helpful, had a quick turnaround time, and charged me a great price for labor.  It wasn’t all good though, because I noticed something when I started to take apart the bike to build it up for my kid.  I had trouble getting one of the bottom bracket cups off, and I couldn’t figure out why. 

When I looked inside, I found the problem.

Somehow, the “shop” bent the cup and it wouldn’t turn.  I’m really not even sure how the hell they got it in there.  So, since I couldn’t get the cup off, it looks like Lunchbox will inherit my crankset too.  I’ll have to get a new one.  Bastards.

So, this whole breaking my frame thing has been shitty.  Couple that with other things I’ve experienced over the last few years and it’s easy to see why I’m jumping ship.

At least my kid is happy, and that’s all that counts.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get some build pics up of his "new" bike.

Six Hours Of What?

With no more Sunday races, I thought I would have lots of free time for a while.  It looks like this weekend is filling up fast though.  After chatting with D-Wayne da udda night, we put together a plan for…

The Last Annual Unofficial Unsanctioned, semi-Alcohol-fueled Six Hours of Poplar Tent

Wait, what?

Since my post about our local gem Poplar Tent closing soon, it seems like mountain bikers all over North Carolina are up arms.  While we can’t do anything about the closing of that wonderful trail, we can get together to send it off in style.  D-Wayne came up with the idea to invite a shitload of folks from all over to ride there, and basically making it a big ol’ shindig complete with riding, drinking, and shit talking.  The festivities will start at 10:00 a.m. Sunday (or whenever everyone shows up), and we will ride until we get bored, hurt, or extremely tired.  Pretty much anyone is invited, so you should come out too.   

While we still have another month to ride it before it goes away forever, we’d like to go ahead and get this party started right.  I plan to ride there as much as possible over the next month, but having a shitload of people show up to ride it this weekend would make losing it a little bit easier.  I don’t plan on having an easy ride though, because I’m bringing my new bike. 

Yes, my new single speed machine.

I have jumped ship over to Niner for my single speed adventures now, and I’m so glad I did.  This bike rides so much better than anything I’ve been on, and I just can’t seem to put it down.  It wasn’t easy to get last year’s model in my size, so I have to throw out some thank yous and such.

First, I called up George to see if there was a chance I could find a last year’s One9 in the Raw variety.  There seemed to be plenty of them available in Kermit Green, but I don’t swing that way.  He worked with the local rep and they located a Raw one in that was tucked away inside some top secret underground bunker out in California.  I guess you figured out by now that I picked it up when I went to Vermont last month, but I’ve somehow managed to keep it quiet until now (unless you’re local, because a lot of the locals have seen it already.)

Anyway, I built it up the day after I got back, and I’ve been riding the shit outta it ever since.  I don’t have a name for it yet, but I have an idea.  It will have something to do with my favorite movie, and that’s all I will say right now. 

Well, I’ll give you one more hint:

"It’s fast, and it will make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.  She’s fast enough for you old man."

So, big thanks to Bike29 and Niner for hooking me up with a real single speed (and biggest thanks to George for putting up with my needy ass.)  Y’all have no idea how much I dig this thing.

With all that outta the way, I have to get to the most important event of the day.  My son, Lunchbox, has a birthday today.  He’s made it sixteen years on this planet.  I’m shocked at how fast the time goes.  It seems like just yesterday that he was out on the trail with me on his sixteen inch wheeled bike pedaling his ass off to keep up with us grown ups.  I’m proud of the man he is becoming, even though he’s making me feel really old right now. 

Tonight, we celebrate.

Tomorrow morning I’m meeting up with the Dirty Party Cycle at one of our local trails to ride the shit outta my new bike.  We plan on doing multiple laps at the Whitewater Center, drink multiple beers, and rest up for the Poplar Tent fiasco the very next day.

Shit, I’m tired already.


Oh yeah, Monday is a holiday.  That means I won't be here until next Tuesday.

Try Before You Buy

I was asked recently to help with a demo here in the Charlotte area. You know, since I live here and all that. I figured that since the date, time, and location are all set, I should probably start letting people know. What am I talking about? Well, there’s a new kid on the block making some killer carbon bicycles.




Yup, Foundry Cycles, where they believe that “a bike is a tool, not a trophy.”

There are three bikes in the Foundry lineup, starting with the Auger:



(Also available in a disc brake version.)


For you road types they have the Ratchet:



And finally, the mountain bike tool. It’s called the Router:



Dirt Rag did a pretty awesome review of the Router, by the way. Check it out here


These bikes look pretty slick, even though they don’t have flashy paint schemes and graphics out the wazoo. The design is simple and to the point, and they look like they are a blast to ride. Do you wanna try one? Well, if you are close to Charlotte you can check out the demo.


Oh yeah, you want details. Here ya go:

Renaissance Park
1536 West Tyvola Road
Charlotte, NC 28210

Thursday, March 1st

3:00 p.m. until dark.


I’m not sure how many bikes, which sizes, etc. will be available, but you should come out anyway to learn a little bit about the Foundry brand. Jason Grantz, brand manager and Foundry Foreman, will be on site to answer any and all questions. He told me that this will be like a meet and greet, with some rides thrown in.



You’ll even get to hang out with me. Why would you want to miss that?


Before you ask, no, I don’t ride for Foundry (although they are looking for people.) I’m just helping a good friend spread the word about a cool new bike brand. If you want to learn more, go to the website or check out their Facepage.


Oh yeah, make sure you come to the demo.

I Just Don't Get It

I love bikes. You know that. I ride most any type of pedal-powered devices: mountain bikes, road bikes, and unicycles. There's one kind of riding that I just can't seem to get into...cyclocross.


For those of you that don't know, cyclocross is a little different. The race course are short, and can consist of pavement, trails, grass, and mud. Riders do multiple laps and have to dismount and jump over obstacles while they navigate the course. The bikes are a little different too. They resemble road bikes, but with their cantilever brakes and knobby tires, they seem to be suited for this type of riding. Here is an example of a cyclocross bike:





Yes, of course I used a picture of a Diamondback bike.



It is very spectator friendly, and I've been to quite a few races just to watch. I just don't see why they do it though. I know a lot of my cycling friends ride cyclocross (CX.) I've talked to some of you, and I still don't get it. Sure, it's great way to train, and riding more when it gets cold outside is probably not a bad thing. One of my biggest issues as a Clydesdale is the fact that in the offseason I tend to ride less and drink more beer. Maybe CX wouldn't be such a bad idea.


I'll probably attend a few local CX races when I find out about them to cheer on my cycling pals. I mean, who the hell wouldn't want to miss something like this?





Wait a minute...that was funny. I love to have horrendous crashes, and it looks like the possibility is high in CX. It would be good for the blog. You don't actually need to have a specific bike for this kind of racing. I hear that you can use a mountain bike. Shit. What am I doing? Did I just talk myself into actually trying this crazy stuff? I know D-Wayne would probably try to convince me to do it. Damn it.

Demo Daze

I had a lot of bike stuff going on over the weekend, so I guess I can work my way backwards. Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of attending a bike demo, put on by Niner Bikes and our local shop The Cycle Path. There were lots of bikes to try.



Mark was busy setting up bikes:



While Mike from Niner was making fun of Mark for his bike mechanic skills:



They had a pretty good turnout, and when I got there about half of the bikes were out on the trail.



I started looking around, thinking maybe that I should try one out for myself.





I finally found something, the Rip9.



Since I ride a hardtail big wheel bike now, I wanted to try a squishy bike. Yeah, I still have a squishy bike of my own, but it has little bitty wheels. This was my chance to see if I would like a big boy bike, in the comfy version. Mike started setting the bike up for me.



I hopped on and took a ride. It felt weird at first. The rear end of the bike was kinda all over the place, but I soon figured out why. Since I normally ride a hardtail, I stand up a lot. That didn’t mix well with a full suspension bike, so I had to learn to stay on the saddle. Once I did that I was fine…and fast.



Oh, I did pedal. That thing could climb so well, and I had fun sitting down on the descents. Other than the suicide squirrels out there, my ride was trouble free. I really liked the full suspension thing, so maybe there’s one in my future. Stay tuned.

I hung around for a while, and saw something cool on the Niner trailer. Check it:



Man, those new Bike29 stickers are everywhere. I wonder how that one got there?


I don't have a whole lot of time today, so this is all you get. I have to get to work a little earlier. I'll be back, of course.