bicycles can save the world

Specialized

Thought this sticker was hilarious given the Volagi/Specialized hooplah. Not my bike,but can appreciate the sentiment. I also think it’s funny that people who will talk your ear off about buying local, small,artisan,handcrafted,‘hate Starbucks because they are big’blah blah blah will also openly rep the big S like it ain’t no thang. FWIW I’d ride an Enduro or an FSR of some sort if it was free.

In the end all this boycott talk will have zero change on their bottom line given the short term memory of consumers these days (anybody remember the old ‘boycott Burton cuz you can’t patent fun’movement?),but it’s nice to see a small minority keep the dream alive. Guy is lucky he didn’t use red stickers for that,would have likely been sent a C&D by big S.

Chris Akrigg:Step by Step

I love this guy’s riding,and that fall….just ouch. Definitely not the usual mouth gaping vids he puts out,but glad to see Chris is back on the bike!

VIDEO:Ultramontane

These are probably the most enjoyable and moody MTB flicks I’ve seen…ever.

Shit Cyclists Say

Not to be left out of the ‘shit XXX says’meme,People for bikes is throwing their hat in the ring. I actually think this is funnier than the ‘Shit Mountain Bikers Say‘vid,but than again I tend to find the cliche yuppy roadie guys portrayed here funny to begin with.

I’m not sure if the ‘shit XX says’meme is dead yet,but it’s worth noting I just saw a ‘shit people who made shit XXX says videos say’vid,so I’m thinking it’s about to go JoePa on us (ordinarily I’d call ‘too soon’on myself,but a guy who ignored what he ignored doesn’t get the same respect others would)

Shit Mountain Bikers Say

NSMB goes metoo up in your meme. You’ve likely seen this on 100 blogs now,let’s make it 101 and call it a Friday! Have a good weekend everyone,hope you get some epic brown pow!

HOW TO:SRAM X-series Shifter Cable Swap

I’m currently rolling a low-end build (Rockhopper Comp 29er) as it was a cheap way to get back on the bike after my old MTB was used in one of those ‘guy who doesn’t know you borrows it long-term and without asking and oh yeah I’m borrowing your TV and shit rent to own without paying rent’scams. Had started to rebuild it as a sort-of-cross hack bike,but have now vetoed that build and am reverting back to OEM so I can sell her to fund a more lustworthy ride. As part of that process am giving her a lube/oil/filter/cable change so the next owner is good to go. As I know a lot of people don’t know how to swap out the cables on their shifters or are afraid they have to disassemble them to get at the cables I figured I’d throw a quick how to up. This process >>should<< be the same for everything X9 and below,but as the bike industry is keen on changing things every year ~~to suck money from the sheeple~~ on their quest for perfection you can look at SRAM’s service manuals if this doesn’t look like it’ll work for your shifters.

Anyways,a good % of you are going to chuckle at this being a how-to,but it’s one of those things that sometimes you just think is going to be far worse than it is,involving cracking open the shifter body and weeding your way through springs and widgets and whatnots,but it’s not like that and if it enables someone to save some money and wrench on their own bike a bit more confidently I’m stoked.

Step 1: Put your bike in your bike stand. If you don’t have a bike stand and are still using a wall,2x4s,or some other rigged method of keeping your bike upright for wrenching punch yourself in the nuts (or female equivalent for you ladies out there reading),stop reading and go buy a GOOD one right now –seriously don’t cheap out here,what’s an extra $50 amortized over the 10+ year life of a good repair stand? I went from an old hand me down POS Blackburn to a Spin Doctor Pro G3,pretty much night and day in stability,ability to have the bike at a decent working level (I’m 6’4 so that’s a nice back saving addition),etc. etc. Seriously,just do it and you’ll thank me.

Step 2: Shift into gear 1 (front) or your highest rear gear (8-10) depending on which cable you’re replacing. Remove or cut the cable from the derailleur side. Next,look just behind the backside of your triggers for either a small,uncovered hole or a small screw that is covering the hole. If there’s a small screw,remove it,otherwise proceed to step 3.

Step 3: Push on the cut end of the cable so that it comes out through the newly (or permanently) uncovered hole in shifter. If you’re having trouble getting it out give it a twist while pushing and it should come out.

Step 4: It’s all downhill from here. Insert new cable through the hole the old one just came out of,feed through your housing and back to your derailleur,and tune as usual. Note that it may be a pain in the R’s to get the cable back through the barrel adjuster. Some people remove them for feeding through,I found I was able to feed the cable through by just playing with it for a second. BOOM! You’re done,pat yourself on the back and assume the victory pose

Transition Bandit 29er

Just saw this today courtesy of the NSMB feature, can you say HAWT?! Besides being in a color I’m still a sucker for,energy drink/slimer from Ghostbusters green (and yes,I know a lot of haters will say that color is played out) it’s a 9er that doesn’t look like it’d be boat like. Oh yeah,and MADE IN THE USA right here in the PNW –that don’t happen everyday these days. Going to have to find a demo locally and check it out. Note to the Transition guys,release it in that TR250 purple. While it’s not Husky purple it’s close enough,and since Jake Locker is from your hometown it’s kind of like your God-given duty to represent.

I would make sweet,sweet lust to this bike,and even cuddle after. Click pic to go to their site and read up

This color needs to happen on the B29

29er zealots will stand up and applaud this photo,26er zealots will say it's photchopped

3:00 into this video there’s a sneak peek of the Transition 69er

Transition Bikes can be e-stalked in all the usual ways - twitter,book o’faces,or old school homegrown html

Quotable

Remove the paint and stickers from 10 carbon fibre road bikes,priced between $3000 and $10,000,and very few riders would be able to put the bikes in order of price.

-briztreadley.com

2012 Yeti Demo Tour

I’ve been geeking hard on Yetis lately. I’m not sure why. Well,that’s a lie,in the early-90s when I was rollin’Raleigh Chill/MT-500s/whatever new frame they sent when I broke another Technium lug (remember that? Magnesium lugs + aluminum tubing = megafail apparently) I,like most everyone else,was dreaming about fully Ringle’d out Yetis (or e-stay Alpinestars,or stadium rock neon Kleins with 3-way neon paint jobs). Even though I know that Yetis are no longer made in the USA (but are still priced like they are –DAMN YOU INFLATION),the Yeti bike to me is that girl in high school you always wanted to bang but never had the balls to try with and now that you’re in you’re mid-30s you want to step to her just to shut that nagging voice in the back of your head up. I’m assuming I’m not the only person with that voice,but if so let’s retract that last statement and just skip to the next paragraph.

Anyways,Yeti demo tour. Saw over on empty beer that they announced some dates for their demo tour. I know everybody and their mom wants to try a SB-66 and SB-95 so posting here so you can plan your sick days accordingly.

Bike available:
SB66A
SB95
ASR-5C
575
Big Top
ASR-C
and SB66 Carbon once it’s ready

3.2.12-3.4.12
Moab,UT
Thaw Festival
10AM-4PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Poison Spider Bicycles
Moab Bike Shop | Bicycle Rentals &Service | Shop Online

3.10.12-3.11.12
Grapevine,TX
Location:TBA
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Mad Duck Cyclery
Grapevine Texas’Premier Yeti,Orbea,Moots &Colnago Bicycle Dealer

3.17.12-3.18.12
Austin,TX
Location:TBA
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
University Cyclery
Austin Bike Shops | University Cyclery | Austin TX

4.21.12
Morrison,CO
Red Rocks
9AM-3PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Wheat Ridge Cyclery
Wheat Ridge Cyclery

4.27.12-4.28.12
Fruita,CO
Fruita Fat Tire Festival
9AM-6PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Fruita Fat Tire Festival
fruitamountainbike.com

5.5.12
Boulder,CO
Location:TBA
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Sports Garage
SPORTS GARAGE CYCLING | Boulder,CO

5.20.12
Lakewood,CO
Green Mountain
12PM-4PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Single Track Factory
Single Track Factory | Denver,CO

6.2.12
Denver,CO
Deer Creek
11AM-3PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Single Track Factory
Single Track Factory | Denver,CO

6.20.12
Lakewood,CO
Green Mountain
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Bike Source
BikeSource Denver

8.17.12-8.19.12
Oakridge,OR
Mountain Bike Oregon
Time:TBA
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles.com
Mountain Bike Oregon
A Three-Day Mountain Biker’s Dream Vacation! | Mountain Bike Oregon

10.5.12-10.7.12
Moab,UT
OuterBike
9AM-5PM
Brian / yetidemo@yeticycles,com
OuterBike
Outerbike –Home

I rode the SB-66 last year in Targhee and it was fun. I don’t have enough experience on high end bikes to compare it to so I won’t bore you with my thoughts on it,but I’ll leave you with one tidbit –those XT brakes are like on/off switches,so be careful.

If you already like the Yeti (and who doesn’t?) and your local dealer doesn’t carry them,you can always hit up the good peeps at Huck’n'Roll. They’ve currently got the 575 Race as well as a few ASR5 builds (alloy and carbon) on screaming deals.

Shaun Palmer Interview

You like to snowboard and you like to mountain bike,right? Welp,so does Palmer,and he’s get legend status in both of them.