Wheels may be one of my favorite things on a bike. Wheels are the main connection to how a bike feels and rides. Wheels and tires are the point of contact between the bike and the road. So, why would you want to ride on anything but a set of wheels that makes the riding […]
Filed under: Uncategorized
It’s been almost 8 years so I figured it was time to put together some artwork for a Black Mountain Cycles jersey/shorts. A big shot of thanks to Ken Prosser of Kenji Designs for taking my chicken scratch sketches and putting them to something that looks damn fine, if I do say so myself. I’m […]
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I have been completely derelict (first person to identify Daryl Licht’s* real name wins a Black Mountain Cycles t-shirt and water bottle of your choice) in posting here. Not for lack of stuff to blog about, but lack of time and energy. Well, here goes a flurry of blog posts starting with some rides. Starting […]
Filed under: Rides
A lever is an ancient tool that allows one to exert more force on a subject. A brake lever allows the user to, with a light touch, stop a couple hundred pounds of rolling mass to a stop with only modest effort. Position the lever incorrectly and the operator won’t be able to take advantage […]
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Four years to the day tomorrow, I blogged about Joe’s road bike after building it for you. Four years ago, Joe was 76. After 4 years and thousands of miles and a joint replacement or two, Joe couldn’t swing his leg over his bike to ride. He came in looking for a new bike with […]
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Long before Enduro™ was a thing, there was a company named Enduro selling bearings. Good bearings. One of my favorite jobs to perform on a bike is replace old, worn out bearings in hubs and bottom brackets. The difference is immediate. There’s nothing quite like transforming a dried out, crusty bearing that barely spins and […]
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Yesterday, I put up the post about the Actos Machine tandem build focused more on the drivetrain. Besides the R601/R603 cranks, it got new Ultegra 6700 shifters and derailleurs and an XT 11-32 cassette. The shifters were installed on a set of Ritchey WCS carbon bars. The Ritchey WCS stem was fit to a quill […]
Filed under: What's in the stand, Working on bikes
Only a couple years in the making, this Actros Machine titanium tandem made by Merlin co-founder, Gary Helfrich, is owned by a local resident. I’m guessing it was made around 1990 and had most of the original parts on it when I brought it into the shop a couple years ago. The task was to […]
Filed under: What's in the stand, Working on bikes
Yes, another Steve Potts made frame. This time under the Wilderness Trail Bikes badge as a revered Phoenix. It’s pretty much known that the Phoenix is one of the best riding mountain bike frames on the trails. It’s always been my goal to make a frame I design disappear beneath the rider. A frame that […]
Filed under: What's in the stand
The Silver Salmon moniker was applied to 40 titanium road frames Steve Potts made in 2000 to raise money for local water conservation. There were also 40 steel mountain bike frames made tastefully named Steelhead. This Silver Salmon is owned by a local guy who continues to ride, a lot, into his 70s – tandem, […]
Filed under: What's in the stand
Here’s a quick “what’s in the stand” post. More on each of these later. The tandem is worthy of an entire book based on everything that went into its rebuild. Soon. I promise. For now, these. Cunningham/Potts DIA Potts Silver Salmon road bike WTB Phoenix resto-mod Gary Helfrich/Actos tandem rebuild. (What’s playing: KWMR Barbarian Beach […]
Filed under: What's in the stand
For the longest time, I had no idea what MUSA meant. I’d only seen it associated with some Rivendell items. I thought it was simply a brand name. When I had the first run of USA made frames made, I got an email from someone who asked about the MUSA frames. (lightbulb moment). MUSA – […]
Filed under: US Made Cross Frame