I don’t know about you, but I like Summer. I like the heat. I like to feel warm. I have a hard time motivating when it’s cold. Yeah, I know cold is a relative term. Just a few weeks ago, we had the mother of all heat waves here. It got up near 110 degrees. […]
Filed under: Black Mountain Cycles frames
After a lengthy wait to get frames through customs and delivered, the new order of road frames arrived yesterday. I’d been out of stock in the 54cm and 56cm frames for a while – and just within the past 2 weeks, the 58cm frame. All are back in plentiful stock now including a new […]
Filed under: Black Mountain Cycles frames, Things
Been a while and I wanted to dive into what’s going on in the shop. Specifically, what’s going on with frames – new and old. First the old, which is kinda new. More road frames are on the water. You know, the road frames that don’t have a name and were reviewed by Bicycling Magazine. […]
Filed under: 650B, Black Mountain Cycles frames
Instead of a full blog post about the 2017 version of the Eroica event held in Paso Robles, CA, here’s a link to a story about the event I wrote for Handbuilt Bicycle Guide. Check out the full story. And if you didn’t go, put it on your calendar for next year. It’s a super […]
Filed under: People, Places, Rides, Things, Vintage Bikes
Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild” has to be one of the most used songs by people promoting adventure. All you have to say is “Get your motor runnin’” and your mind immediately goes to the open road. “Head out on the highway” – you’re not going to find anything sitting at home. “Lookin’ for adventure” […]
Filed under: Bikes for sale, Black Mountain Cycles frames, Things
As a self-identified roadie, handlebar bags were the furthest from my mind on pretty much any bike that wasn’t a dedicated touring bike. I mean, you can pack enough calories in a jersey pocket to sustain you for 3-4 hours. And the look of a bag dangling off your bars, ghastly! Some gels, bars, scone from […]
Filed under: Things I like
With 2017, the shop is entering its 10th year. Ten years! Dang, that went by fast. It’s reported that only about 1/2 of all small businesses will reach a 5-year anniversary and only about 1/3 survive 10 years. Not playing with favorable odds from the get-go. But here it is and it’s time to reevaluate […]
Filed under: Shop stuff
The day couldn’t have been worse. From the day I learned the new Monster Cross frames had arrived in the port of Oakland, I started monitoring the weather forecasts. This winter has been a wet one in Marin Co. Really wet. When I got the confirmation that the frames were to be delivered last Wednesday, […]
Filed under: Black Mountain Cycles frames, Things
First, holiday schedule: Regular hours on Friday. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Back in the shop on Tuesday. Second, more Monster Cross frames are on the water. These frames are exactly the same as the V5 frame, so even though it’s the 6th run of frames, I’m still calling them V5 frames. Maybe V5.2. I’ll […]
Filed under: Black Mountain Cycles frames
“What is fascinating is the way it has been folded. You don’t even know how it had been folded. But when I saw this, I’m sure that the owner of the bike was a passionate cyclist.” – Richard Leon That quote comes from a video/story done by CyclingTips.com, a website I discovered following writer James […]
Filed under: Industry commentary, People Places Things
While I do get questions about just how big a tire can be stuffed into the monster cross frame, I don’t get the same question about the road frames. Last week, however, I asked that question. I designed the road frame to fit a Jack Brown 33mm tire. At the time, 10 years ago or […]
Filed under: Black Mountain Cycles frames
When I set out designing the Monster Cross frames 9 years ago, the tire I designed it around was the Panaracer Firecross 700×45. At the time, it was the biggest “cross” tire available. There were some that had short product cycles, like WTB’s MutanoRaptor 44, but the FireCross 45 had an actual knob-to-knob measurement of […]
Filed under: Things