Friday WTF: S Cool Unicycle

   Check out this adjustable unicycle:

   Shop Cool. Shop S Cool. 

Give me a break, it's been a long week. 

Friday WTF: Road Shifter Hacks

   While putting together a post on road group differences, I came across some really wacky configurations - and here they are! Unconventional road shifting set ups...

Mtn shifter on a Space Saver

Grip shift on the stem

Grip shift on the... somewhere

   Whatever keeps your gears turning!

Now That is a Cool Cargo Bike

I don't know who Kenney Stantorp is, but this bike was on his Facebook page with no other information.

Mystery bike

   Google reverse image search returned no results either! It treated it like some kind of scooter.

   It looks like a whole lot of custom work for an imitation Bullitt. I'd like to know if it's a hacked up Bullitt welded to some other frame parts, or a complete custom job.

   I do like how the steering linkage goes above the headset. This way the head shock works without any steering problems. On a normal fork, you could attach the steering rod to the fork upper, which moves with the frame, like this:

Linkage connection

 The mystery bike has to go above the headset since it's a headshock. Well designed! Full suspension cargo bikes aren't entirely unheard of, here are a couple examples:

Fully custom

   Even one that started out as a Bullitt:

Modified Bullitt

   What a time to be alive.

Fat Bike: First Impressions

   Merry Christmas to Me:

Marshal Mesa

Spring Brook

   Got a new (used) Salsa fat bike over the break. I had been looking at a few options for a fat bike, and this one came up on Craigslist and I jumped on it. After a few rides, here are my take aways from the wonderful world of biking in the snow:

• It was much louder than I expected. The crunchy snow and big tires meant I couldn't hear much going on around me.
• It didn't float over crusty snow like I expected, marketing be damned. I haven't tried it in powder yet.
• It was really fun to rail corners. The large, aggressive tires provide a lot of traction
• The front tire tracks funny, especially if you let it wander. It took deliberate effort to get it back on the trail.
• I ended up stopping kind of a lot to change layering and keep my body temp regular. Mostly removing a second pair of gloves and skull cap. 
• It was pretty cold, so I was using snow boots and flat pedals. 

   I have been riding my cx bike in the winter a lot, so had a pretty good handle on what to wear. Notables include: Thin gloves under mittens; Thin skull cap under snowboarding helmet; Gators over winter boots. I'm really excited to try it out after a fresh snow! 

   Natalie also got a new set of wheels - and it's been a long time coming. She'd test ridden a couple bikes with various components, but none felt as good as this one. This is a Specialized Crux Expert. It has 11 speed and HY/RD disc brakes. This bike is really sweet. Light, stiff, just a perfect ride!

Natalie's new whip

   Now we need some snow to melt so she can get out and ride it!

Chain Whips and You

   For a long time, chain whips have been designed like this:

Park Tool chain whip

   You use this to get a good hold on your cassette so you can loosen the lock ring. Without this handy tool, getting your cassette off is downright impossible. Park Tool has come out with a new design for the tool:

Park Tool chain whip pliers

   With this design you don't have to wrap the chain manually, you can just grab ahold of your cassette and go.

In action!

   I know what you're thinking - how much time does this really save? Well, probably not much, but if you're looking for the cleanest way to work on your cassette, this is it. If you're looking for the biggest hassle when working on your cassette, check out the home made jobs below:

From a cut up crank arm

Some pipe and chain

Copper pipe and chain

   Truly necessity is the mother of invention!

Friday WTF: Bike Spikes

An Alternative to studded tires, Bike Spikes are a tire chain like device for riding in slippery conditions.

Spikes!

There are a couple really neat features of this design:

• Easy on / off. Great for snowing on the way in, dry on the way home
• Light weight. Plastic is forgiving, light and (hopefully) inexpensive
• Reflective: neat reflective strips making you more visible in these short winter days

   The studs look pretty good, although not a lot on the sides of the tire.

Close up

   And as I said, reflective! Great thinking! 

Reflective strip

   Apparently there is some turnbuckle style closure to tighten them onto your bike. Check out blessthisstuff for more pictures.

GJ MTB Report!

   With all the snow we have in Boulder now, I like to think back to a time when it was warm and sunny and dry and mountain bikes were all the rage. This August I had a chance to get three full days of mountain biking in. It started with a day in Fraiser with a group of about 6 guys from work. 

Day 1: Fraiser Trails - We rode many trails in the Fraiser valley and it was very fun! I had mostly ridden these in races and it was neat to see them again. 

 Map and elev

   We only got lost a couple times, one minor mechanical with Jason's bike, nothing too terrible. And afterwards we were rewarded with some tasty lunch and beers. 

Taking a break to discuss how lost we were

   Riding in a group like this is so great, everyone was riding well and challenging each other and giving grief when you made a mistake. Rides like this are why we mountain bike!

Fraiser Trails Strava

Distance: 27.4 mi

Elev: 2,563'

Time: 2h 28m

Day 2: Lunch Loop, Grand Junction -  After staying in Fraiser, Bill and I drove to GJ where we rode the Tabaguache trails. I haven't ridden these trails since I lived in Junction years ago, and they were challenging! It was the shortest ride in distance, but the most technical by far. 

 Map and elev

   We rode one trail called Gunny Loop that I had never been on. It was pretty great, but this whole area had me wishing I had more travel, and wondering how I did all this on a hard tail a decade ago. 

Coming down 

  This was a hot ride! The temp was about 93. Afterwards we went to Edge Water Brewery for a well deserved beer.

Lunch Loop Strava
Distance: 13 mi

Elev: 1,721'

Time: 2h

Day 3: Kokopelli's Trail - The last day of the weekend 'o riding, 

 Map and elev

   These trails have not changed as much since I last rode them - still fast, flowy, and beautiful. We got an early start to beat the heat on Horse Thief Loop, complete with the gnarliest downhill of the weekend. 

The drop into Horsethief

   Once down into the valley, we rode along the edge of a cliff that overlooked the Colorado River. We even saw a few raft groups camped out.

Overlooking the CO River

   Riding that close to the edge was unnerving. It wasn't hard, but you couldn't help think about falling off and rolling over the edge. It was controlled riding all around. 

   This was the most serene riding. Fraiser was bar banging, hooping and hollering. Tabaguache was hot and technical. Mary's Loop was just the right mix of technical and fun. A+ #1.

Strava
Distance: 22.0 mi

Elev: 2,319

Time: 2h 27min

   After the biking we went to the new Grand Junction BMX track to check out the Race mentioned in this post.  It was really cool to see how my old home track has changed. The new track is top notch. 

Starting Hill

   The action doesn't stop there! On the drive back we had a little engine explosion in Bill's SUV. 

Hanging out with the tow truck

   And Bri came to rescue us!

   An adventure filled weekend!