New bike ride notes…

I know how to build a bike so that it’s ready to ride right out of the shop door.  I worked for a mountain bike race team in the mid-90s and know what it takes to build a bike or work on a bike and promptly send it out for a race with the confidence […]

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Meet Your Maker post ride report…

Last Sunday, about 50+ folks showed up in Mill Valley for the Meet Your Maker Tour cross ride up Mt. Tam and beyond.  It’s not really fair to call it a cross ride, although a cross bike does work best for this type of ride.  In addition to the plentiful cross bikes in attendance, there […]

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Meet Your Maker…

This coming Sunday the Meet Your Maker Tour comes to Marin for a ride up the flanks of Mt. Tam and across to the Marin Headlands.  Thirty-seven miles of the best dirt road riding around.  Perfect for a Black Mountain Cycles monster cross bike, just saying.   The Meet Your Maker Tour is made up of […]

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It’s like my birthday…

…except I bought my present myself.  I mean why leave it to someone else to get you something you don’t want.  Only you know what you really want.  And I really wanted a new bike.  With new parts.  Well, almost all new parts.  (ed:  like my birthday, but not actually.) Several months ago, when Cameron […]

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One more with all the parts…

The light blue looks even better built up.  Something to think about.  Do I need to build a new bike?  Hmmm… (What’s playing:  The Black Keys I’ll Be Your Man)

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Frame updates…

Dang.  Been a while since the last post.  Too much going on.  Thought a frame update would be an ideal way to start a Saturday.  New road frames arrived this past Tuesday.  Colors are orange and light blue.  I always dig the orange color, but the new light blue is pretty smoking hot.  It turned […]

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Know your bike…

How well do you know your bike.  If you spend hours and hours on it, it should be like your best friend, your life partner, your third arm.  In other words, you should know it pretty damn well.  Close your eyes, do you see the spot on the head tube where the paint is worn […]

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DIY thread cleaner…

A nice tap makes quick work of cleaning a bunged bottle boss.  However, there are times when trying to fit a tap handle with tap attached into a tight space just doesn’t work.  And there are plenty of times as I’m prepping frames and want to clean the paint out of bosses (especially those on […]

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New road frames on the way…

Within the next couple of days, the new run of road frames will be on the water headed here from Taiwan.  It should be roughly 3 weeks before they show up here and become available to ship out.  I got a photo from Taiwan of the light blue and I am psyched at how it […]

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Time is running out…

Time is running out to get yourself a custom color cross frame.  As per this post, I am offering the chance to get a cross frame painted in any of the past colors I have done if you want something different than the green or gray that will make up the bulk of this new […]

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Custom cross frame colors…

The current batch of cross frames is just about sold out.  I’ve got a couple 65cm frames in orange and gray and a few 56cm and 59cm frames in orange.  I place a new order about a month ago for more cross frames.  There are a couple of minor changes to this next run:  increased […]

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Shop frog…

Yes, you read that right.  Some shops have shop dogs.  I have a shop frog.  A Pacific Tree Frog, or Pacific Chorus Frog to be precise.  He (and I know it’s a he because only the hes croak) showed up early last fall.  I walked into the bathroom and there he was at eye level […]

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