getting a few things done around the office

A winter of slow days is not good, but a few slow days in Spring are always welcome. I've been spending the last few days getting some work done. Fun stuff, too.

I got Jefe's wheel rebuilt. It's 8 speed Campy Record on a Mavic XCP33 rim. Talk about a super solid road wheel. The wheel was having some detensioning issues so we rebuilt it for him.


Another fun project was the rear wheel for Doug's new Turner Sultan that should be in this week. A Hope Pro II with a Stan's Flow (their widest) 29er rim will make a great 29er all mountain wheel. The Stan's rim allows for easy tubeless, too. Just some yellow Stan's rim tape and a valve stem are all it takes. Pretty light considering, too. Only 1070g.



Lastly, I got a chance to work on another personal steed. My '99 Bianchi cross bike still had the '97 Veloce headset that I had installed back in the day. After 12 years of abuse, total neglect and zero service, the races had become severely pitted. Indexed steering wasn't that great, but I held off replacing the headset until I could find something that was a good "fit" for the bike. Luckily, this week, a very good condition vintage 1" Suntour XC Pro Greaseguard headset walked into the shop. It's now on the Bianchi and working great.

Just got back from a little hike at Hall Ranch with the kiddos. I have full confidence that (without any extra moisture) we'll be riding on Tues. See you Tues at 5:30!

Stan's Rims in White!

Stan's/No Tubes will be distributing a very limited edition white version of it's popular rims soon. Stan's says, "Due to the overwhelming interest, we have ordered a production run of ZTR Olympic 26", ZTR 355 26", ZTR Flow 26", ZTR 355 29" and ZTR Arch 29" in the same white powder coat finish. We are expecting the rims to ship to us any day now which will put them here sometime around the end of April."

Turner Sultan update

Mountain Bike Action magazine finally got hold of the 2009 DW Link Turner Sultan for a review. Check it out here. To say they liked this do it all 29er is an understatement. Tree just got his and Doug's will be here next week. Next delivery is late April/May ish.

(Photo courtesy of MBA)

With respect to Turner using journal bearings (bushings) over cartridge ball bearings, MBA says, "There must be truth to Turner's bushing tale because his customers are among the roughest of the cross-country/all-mountain set--and none of the one's we've met are whiners."

love it!

shop time

Thank goodness for the snow I guess. It's given me a bit of time to catch up. For those from far away, we got 12+ inches of snow today. Good thing, too, as it's been super dry up in these here hills. Talking tinderbox style just looking at the trees and brush. As it snowed today, you could hear the sucking sounds coming from the ground as the soil sucked in the much needed moisture. This was a wet one today and it's still coming down. Snow is not just good for the trails and the dirt. The other beautiful thing about snow is that folks aren't riding, so I got a rare chance to spend some quality time on my own steed. The Fox Float 140rlc on the Tracer was in desperate need of love. Serious love. I can't say I've been super happy with the seal life of the original Fox either - they haven't lived up to my expectations. This fork was put into service in late June of '08. Since then, it's seen use averaging about 3 times per week in various locations, temperatures and conditions and now the seals were on their last legs. Am I expecting too much for fork seals to last longer than 10 months?

Sometimes when you're working on your own bike, you'll find that it's easier when a tasty beverage is nearby. In this case, a very, very tasty beverage (Thanks Mike!).

A lot of riders ask me how will they know when it's time to replace the seals on their fork. Well, when they start to look like this, it's time. This is the damper side, so it's good that not much oil has leaked out. Significant oil loss on the right fork leg will affect damper performance.

And by the time they look like this, it's long overdue. Fortunately, this blown seal is on the spring side. All of the oil in the left leg is there to provide stiction prevention and to lube the seal. What you do want to be careful about, though, is that the seal keeps grit out of the fork. Once a seal gets really shot, your bushings will die and you're in for much more major surgery than seal replacement.
I like ABI/Enduro seals. Here's why. The original Fox seal is on the left. It's a combo seal/dustwiper that sits on top of a foam ring. The foam ring saturates with oil to help lube the seal and stanchion.
The Enduro (blue) has dust wiper, then a foam wiper, then the real seal. The dust wiper geeps the gunk out, then the foam wiper aids in the prevention of dust/grit getting to the main seal. Finally, the main seal keeps the bad out and the oil in.
Done! I like the blue dust wipers of the Enduros, too. Off the bat, the Enduros have just a tad more friction, but it's a 3 part seal that fits super tight. They break in after a few rides and last much longer than the stock Fox seals.
Finally got er back together and looking sharp.
I've got another project for tomorrow if it doesn't get too busy. This is one I've been putting off for a long, long time, too. Wish me luck...

Tuesday Ride

Yep, we're ridin' tonight! 5:30 at the bike shop.

We busted out a little Hall Ranch action last night. Braaap! good ride, guys.

a classic

Got this bike in recently for a tuneup. A 1984 Trek 850. Lugged Prestige tubing, 5 speed friction Shimano Deerhead. What could be more tricked out?

Oh, and it's a great day because the Tamale Lady from Loveland just stoped by. woot!

Guest beer for Friday Happy Hour

For all of the Friday peeps... Not only do we have our usual array of Oskar beers (sorry no Gordo or Fidy), we have a special guest beer.

FYIPA from the Mountain Sun! Thanks Nate for bringing it by. :)

Intense Spider 2 update!

The 4.5"/5" adjustable Intense Spider 2 is ready to roll. The first few orders are shipping from Intense this week!

Tuesday Nights are good

Since there were no strong feelings one way or another tonight, for the 2nd week in a row we tried our hand at fate. We spun the wheel of rides to see our destiny unfold in front of us.


Picture Rock was the command. We followed.


Tonight was also Tree's virgin break in ride on his new xl Turner Sultan 29er. Sweet. I could tell he was only putting out a mere percentage of output over the rough stuff with those big wheels and full squish. At least 20% more efficent thru this than his Flux. :)And here's vid of one of my favorite sections on Picture Rock. I've taken a few stills and posted them on the blog already, but none exemplify the flow of the section really well. Here's Chad in the corner doing it up.



Thanks for coming out all. Twas a great Tuesday. I enjoyed the corned beef and cabbage at Oskars, too!

Doug and I just got back from a little session at Picture Rock. Up PR, left on the jerky Turkey, right on Ponderosa, right back onto Wild Turkey and back PR. It was good, to say the least.

There's fun flowy curves

and cool land formations. Good views, too.


Anyone up for another Tuesday Ride? 5:30 at the bike shop and we'll ride from there. Anyone feel strongly like one ride over another, or should we take our chances with the wheel of rides?

I laugh at your little 29" wheels

Friend of the shop Marcus stopped by today to show off his new ride. This wasn't a maiden voyage, but it's still wet behind the ears. He was all smiles, too. Marcus and Tiny had started at Heil South, ridden to Lyons and were heading back after saying hi.

Here's Tiny...




It's hard to tell in the picture, but Marcus is a tall dude. Tiny is a custom Waltworks frame with big ol' 36" wheels. I got to spin around the parking lot on it. Wow. Smooth. Maybe next time Marcus will let me take it up to Hall :)

It's not often that we can ride above 8000' in March. strange patterns in the snow.
I turned my bag into an external frame backpack today.

Tuesday Ride!

We've got a Tuesday Ride coming up. First DST Tues of the year, too. woohoo! 5:30 at the bike shop and we'll spin the wheel of rides. We've got 2 parks and 3 trailheads to choose from.

old blue and the man

Wow, it's been an adventure filled night. Old blue has been parked at the casa for a whiled now. I hadn't started it since that night ride in the North Boulder snow a few weeks ago. I must've left the dash light on because it wouldn't start. No problem, I figured I'd just put the Jeep in front of it and jump it. Nope. The battery was so dead that, even hooked up to the Jeep, it wouldn't wing over. Finally, after letting the truck sit charging with the Jeep running for a bit, I got Blue to start.

I had loded Blue up to take a bunch of household recycling down to town. Recycling is conveniantly located next to the Police Station in Lyons. When I got to recycling, I left the truck running because I wanted the battery to keep charging. I had already dumped the can's bottles, etc, and I was putting the cardboard in the container. The cardboard container has a slot that is only 6" or so tall so you have to flatten the cardboard to get it in. I had a handfull of boxes so I stomped them down to flat (I know, lazy, but I didn't have a knife) to get them in. As I'm walking out from behind the container to get to the truck, I hear, "Hey There! What are you doing? Stop!" I look up and a Boulder County Sheriff is hurrying over to me with his flashlight beam square in my eyes. I was so befuddled I didn't know what to say, so I spat out an "Excuuuuse me?!" He repeated himself, asking what I was doing there at night. I replied, "Recycling cardboard, sir. Is that permissible at the recyling station here?" "Uh, mmmm, you weren't dumpster diving?" "No sir, these are recyling containers," thinking that they were painted green with big white letters saying ECOCYCLE on the side for a reason. The cop then had to walk up to the side of the container to verify that, yes, there was crushed boxes of cardboard in there.

He, of course, did not apologize but said, "Well, they just transferred me here." I tried to make conversation to make him feel like not so much a complete tool so I asked where he was from. "A different district." Oh. Well, sorry to bug you officer dickhead. I'll just be on my done with recycling way.

What a tool. Anyway, got down to the bikeshop to do a little work and things were good. I decided against my better judgement to turn off the truck. After I was ready to go home, I hopped in the truck and it wouldn't even click over. At least I had a few bikes to choose from for the short ride home :)

Guess I'll be buying a battery soon for Blue. Can't wait to take it on another recycling adventure.

helping out the scouts

A few weeks back, I helped out a local Webelos troop earn their badges for bicycle maintenance. It was an interesting experience helping six 8 year old kids how to change a tire. I got a thank you today. Made my day. It's good to get positive feedback now and again. Thanks guys:)

Colorado Can Cup, Grass Polo Tourney

This weekend in Lyons, CO...will you be here? Free Breggo breakfast, Awards & after party at Oskar Blues. More details at the Oskar Blues Brews & Bikes Blog.

Intense Spider 2 update

I just got the following from Intense:

Dear Intense Dealer or Distributor,

The first batch of the new Spider 2 frames are in heat treat and will be heading off to powdercoat today! The more time we spend on this new bike, the more we like it. We recently built one up with a 140 mm for and 2.35 tires. It rides like a mini Tracer. The same frame with a 120 mm fork and 2.0 tires makes a great xc race bike. Its the lowest priced Intense and its still 100% made in the USA.

get ready...

Dave Chase...TV Star

Check out Death March Dave playing a starring role in THIS piece of Oskar Blues video.

short one today

Wow, today sure turned nicer as the day went on. It was pretty chilly this morning and throughout the early part of the day. I got out after closing the shop expecting a relatively chilly ride with decreasing temps. Boy, was I wrong. I had to shed a layer quickly as the sun came out and things warmed up. I forced myself up the rock garden. I was feeling out of shape as I made a double dab run up thru the rocks. I was fortunate enough to run into the one and only Marty C from the Daily Camera. Hadn't seen her in a bit and it was good to catch up. One loop up top and I was out of town. I came down Antelope for a change. It was fun to hit the swoopy and twisty singletrack descent. Antelope is a little closer to home, too, so that meant less road time on the way back to the casa.

Any blog readers out there getting tired of this pic? I'm not tired of taking it yet. I love this view of Steamboat Mountain and Beach Hill.

Tuesday Ride? How about a re run at N. Boulder off of Neva Road. It should be a little different undertaking than was our last visit. This will be our last 100% lit Tuesday Niter for the season. Daylight savings is 3/8 so we'll start meeting at the shop at 5:30 from 3/9 on. Gotta maximize daylight!