Tag: bikes

Weekend List

Another busy weekend gone, and I am tired, sitting on the couch thinking I should head to bed. First though, a blog post. Friday night I went out to a friends birthday parts at the Guild. Lots of fun, good drinks, lots of people I know, and great music.

 

Saturday I put up some shelving in Elliot’s room. This is something that has been on my list to do for a while now, and it felt good to get it crossed off.

After doing a bit of running around looking for bike rack supplies (more on that in a bit), Elliot and I went for a little ride at the dump. This was only the second time I had ever taken him there, so he was understandably tentative. He was getting off his bike at one point, slipped, and banged his knee on a rock, hard enough to draw blood. He continued on like a trooper though.

Saturday night was dinner at a friends place.

 

Sunday morning I was out for a long ride.

 

Sunday afternoon I set out to build a new bike rack. I saw some instructions on Lifehacker a while ago, and I wanted to build one. One run to Home Depot, a bit of mental figuring out, and voila! It works pretty sweet. For my road bike. It is too low for my mountain bike, but one I raise everything up three inches it will be perfect. Not bad for a weekend project.

I even had a helper for part of my project.

Crack Bullit

Last weekend I took the Bullit out for a spin. Heart needed a run, and with my Chameleon having a crack in it, I tend to mtb with the Bullit more. As I was taking the Bullit off the wall I was dismayed to find a crack in the rear swing arm.

Two bikes, two cracks, not enough money for something new. This is a bad situation.

I still went for a ride, but I took it easy and checked the cracked area frequently. Nothing changed over the ride of course.

While riding though I contemplated what I really want in a new bike. I came to the conclusion that I don’t need a replacement Bullit. I love my bike, I have ridden it hard, we have been many places together, done a few races together, and I will be sad to no longer have it, but I just don’t need such a beefy bike.

I’m eyeing up the all mountain bikes. A long term goal of mine is to do the BC Bike Race. A hardtail would be out of the question for the BC Bike Race, and a pure xc rig doesn’t suit my riding likes all that well. An All mountain really does suit me best, allowing me to ride up hill, but still tackle everything I put in front of it on the downhill.

So I put out the call on Twitter for bikes to look into. I got quite a few good suggestions including the Banshee Rune, http://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain/all-mountain/range/Norco Range, Norco Shinobi, Giant Reign, Devinci Dixon, and the Rocky Mountain Slayer. I also pinged Knolly about their Chilcotin, but that is way out of my price range.

I have a lot of research in front of me.

This past Saturday I was out on a road ride with a buddy and decided to stop in at Straight Up Cycles to get my cleats adjusted (I was having some knee problems). While I was there I noticed that they have a Dixon on sale right now. Could this be fate? I don’t know, but on Tuesday I am going to take it out got a little spin to see how it feels and how well it fits me. Add in to the mix is that next weekend I head to Hornby Island.

What am I to do?

Well, the first thing to do is call Santa Cruz to see what they can do for me. Next is to test ride the Dixon. Then we go from there.

LOTD – Bikes Stunning

This post is all about bikes. It is a bunch of links to cool/interesting bikes I have found on the net.


This advanced looking bike features an onboard computer that collects data about how you ride, in order to help you ride better.
via Gizmodo


This wooden frame biek simply looks gorgeous. I can’t imagine the longevity of the frame though. Headtubes on metal bikes oval over time. Wood is pretty soft in comparison. Still, it is a stunning looking bike.
via BoingBoing

Now for the city dwellers, come a couple interesting ideas.


This folding bike looks extremely simply to use. Arrive at your destination, fold it up, wheel it around. Nice.
via BoigBoing


This bike has a locking mechanism built into it. Ride up to the bike rack and snap it in. No reason to carry an extra lock.
via Gizmodo


This looks like a fun stroller/bike combo unit. Looks like a stable way to carry a couple kids to daycare, or to the park … once they have their helmets on.
via Gizmodo


This looks like oit would be a blast to ride off road. At our local trails we have some excellent fireroads this thing would rip on. Not so sure about the trails though.
via BoingBoing