Bicycle

I had a great time this weekend at the SuperPro JMP/Oakland CX race. It might be my only cross race this season so it was nice not to be racing around in a junkyard parking lot. This was such a nice location. This was the first bike race (ever?) in the Joaquin Miller Park. We didn’t … Read more

I went to the Access 4 Bikes member appreciation party yesterday hosted by City Cycle in Corte Madera. A nice event with lots of beer and great tacos. Plenty of talk about singletrack and who’s keeping bikes off them. Here are some photos that I took. Just snapping folks. I got a little demotivated when I … Read more

On a recent build, I used the new SRAM GX 1×11 drivetrain. It’s cheap and seems fairly solid. It’s not super light but it gives me a chance to use a proper 1×11 configuration in a situation that it could be an asset. I used a KMC X11L chain. I’ve been using KMC chains for … Read more

I went and hung out at the DFL race in Bayshore last night. Dirty cross racing in a toxic hell hole of a place. The Bayshore Train Yard is not a safe place for man or beast. Lots of flat tires on the course during the race and a few spills in the main corner but … Read more

Urban bikes are odd things. They have to do very particular things for each particular user. Grocery getters to cross town commuters. Fashion victims to bomb squads. They take on rolls like we all to, generally categorizable but highly individual. I ride all over the bay area while commuting but mainly through San Francisco. I like … Read more

***9/4/2015*** Parts sold by Nova Supply have been corrected and no longer have this problem. I probably should have posted this back in mid April when I found this. I was giving some folks time to react. Time ran out today. The Allotec C-43-1 142×12 DT modular dropouts are being used by more and more people … Read more

I’m a pretty dumb guy. Really. I learn new things every day that make me step back and say, “Dam Pete! You’re a dumb mutherfucker! You should have seen that long ago. It’s obvious.” I get kinda down sometimes. I feel like I’ll never catch up to what’s going on. I have to try and … Read more

I’ve been riding mountain bikes since about 1990. Before that I had spent a year or so as a bicycle messenger and before that a skateboarder (both in Boston). Mountain bikes were pretty mangy before the 90’s. They slowly evoved until the big advancement leap started around 2010. In 1990, I was hired at Fat … Read more

Recently, I got some military tape, embroidered nameplate material (militarynames.com) for some fun stuff. Some velcro name tape was for my two bags that have 6″ velcro locations & some simple sew-on name tape for other items. The sew-on tape is very cheap so I could get a few of them for very little. Here, … Read more

The second annual Tamarancho Endor Flow Trail Chainless race is in the books. The race is a part of Bike Monkey’s Tamarancho Dirt Classic weekend. Last year’s race was super fun, amazing, challenging, and a thrill. It was the first legal gravity race in Marin County since the last Repack race in 1984. Major props! This … Read more

***Warning: This post involves me spewing hatred*** Fashion is a terrible thing sometimes. Some people want to own bikes like you get from yard sales or from the dump and claim it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. It seems to be a thing and people will pay a lot of money to … Read more

My bag that I use for commuting has been getting a bit of love lately. A few months ago, it got new and improved zippers. Last night, it got an inner lock holster. It’s nearing the end of it’s life so I’m getting more inclined to experiment with it. I do a lot  of bike … Read more

Two years ago, the Endor Flow trail at Camp Tamarancho was finished and heralded one of the biggest changes in mountain biking for our area that I’ve seen. In the two years following the ribbon cutting, local riders and riders around the country have been demanding simple to ride, smooth trail free of any rocks, … Read more

I have a love/hate relationship with making bicycle mechanical tools. I love that I’m making something that works great but I hate the fact that it’s necessary. I buy plenty of tools that are ‘supposed to do simple jobs well….and don’t. The Park Tool #827 1.5″ crown race installation adapter for the CRS-15 is a … Read more

The seven p’s. It’s good to keep them in mind as you do anything. I almost got caught off guard. I was getting ready to put a new bike together with a frame I designed and made. Once a finished frame goes to paint and with enough time to get a QBP order placed and received before the … Read more

Setting up brakes on bicycles can sometimes be an exercise in utter frustration. Several factors contribute to setup issues. People will reuse poorly worn pads, use bent rotors, over fill resoviors and just mismatch parts. One issue most overlooked is the geometry of the caliper mount. Some people do take the time to machine the … Read more

The time finally came (again) to have a big trail bike. This happens every now and then. The pendulum is always swinging. Sometimes you want to ride the 29er hardtail and sometimes the DH bike. Often, you want something in the middle…but what is that? After 14 months on the Anthem 27.5 (mod), I wanted … Read more

A while ago I posted about drilling holes in aluminum frames to add stealth routing for dropper seatposts where they didn’t exist. Folks were so concerned. How dare he? What gives him the right? Bike frames just can’t handle this!?!! Well, I’m at it again. Carbon! So fuck y’all. The recent acquisition of a cheap Chinese … Read more

I can’t remember what year it was. 2006 maybe? I had been building my own bike frames for a short time. A change was coming and something new was eking it’s way into the light. A tire size between 26″ and 29″. The 650b. Kirk Pacenti was pushing this new thing. Obviously, the wheel size … Read more

I needed to do something about my shop air situation. I have a nice air compressor out in the garage but I’m not in the mood to have it in my basement where I do 95% of my work. I’m a little starved for space and the big compressor gets in the way. This is about … Read more

We all think we are so smart. We dream of a new bike and spend weeks getting the parts together or shopping competing models. We are convinced that we know just how the bike should be. We want to crush down every hill, win every climb, and outlast everyone on the ride. We ‘know’ the … Read more

Sometimes, you need to bring some heavy artillery with you out on a ride. A day out riding horrendous trail at high speed warrants this. There’s a new breed of big trail bikes this year and they are quite a bit different than the big bikes of the past. Bikes of old were heavy, pedaled … Read more

Nothing is a more fragile thing than the ego of the teenage boy. Sadly, in cycling, most men fall into the mode of that fragile little boy. These men tell stories that involve a huge amount of imagination. The goal, protect the ego. This is a photo of Joe Breeze. He’s not using his imagination. This … Read more