AndrewMajor profile

Thanks! Yeah, Claire is growing like a weed so I'm suspecting we'll be having the 20" conversation sooner than I'd like. 

At least daddy got stuck with a good machine! Thanks to that triple-dad-old-man-strength your kids have helped you develop I bet it's the equivalent of a ~25lb bike for a single man.

This made my day; thank you.

Yeah, been looking at different armour options. Thinking maybe just some soccer shin pads?!

Ha! Gotta introduce a little bit of foreplay into those bike nerd conversations! 

Was talking to a guy on transit one day about my commuter and it was about five minutes before I realized his "Gianté" wasn't an obscure French road brand I'd never heard of...

I’m a hybrid - always ride with a pack (jacket depending on season, phone, multitool, chin bar). Water on the bike.

On days when I’m not carrying the camera I could easily get that stuff in a hip pack but I haven’t found one I like for me. Currently trying a Camelbak vest.

Anyways, I’m fully in the different strokes for different strokes camp.

...

Fred - thanks, I had a good laugh re. the Cam comment. Everything on that list is something that was really said to me out in the wild.

I own the longest (relative to rider size), slackest rigid single speed I’ve ever heard of - basically a giant kid’s bike - so I’d guess I’ve spent as much time nerding out about this as anyone?

Just like the gearing, HTA is always going to be a compromise. At the pump track and around town it’s perfect. Down the steeper hills on the demo forest road we ride (no cars) I’d take a degree or two. A Works 1-1/8” -1 headset would fit.

Based on my experience, a fatter front tire would relax the wobble without compromising the slow speed handling, and it’s definitely an upgrade will be doing. Plenty of rim width and fork clearance to fit a 2.25”. 

...

As an aside, we’re lucky to have some decent separated bicycle infrastructure in North Van. Claire and I ride a lot of places together on a Trailer-Bike but there’s no way I’d have her on her own bike on the streets around here. Most drivers won’t give an inch or a second and it’s too much to be watching when also learning to ride. 

There’s a reason that the bike racks at a lot of local schools are empty despite that fact that tonnes of kids ride here.

If I could have gotten away with it I would have reposted the first look with a paragraph about upgrades and a comment that Claire LOVES. this bike. She’s four.

Conversation (~) in week two of testing: 

C: “Papa, do you have to give back the brown bike?” (Chameleon)

A: “Yes, as soon as I’m done the test.”

C: “Why?”

A: “It’s not my bike, I just borrowed it for awhile to write about it.”

C: “Hmmm. If you don’t give it back does someone come take it?”

A: “...”

C: “I’m not giving back my test bike.”

...

Claire’s very cautious by nature and (of course) doesn’t remember how many hours over two sizes of runbike it took to get up to ripping the pump track. She figured out riding a pedal bike quick but as I said, the pump track has been a hell of a transition (two different pedal bikes).

We’re almost there (I’m still doing a lot of running along for random stalls) and I’m really excited for when it clicks.

I’d definitely look into a taller rider bar, especially for pumping, if the stock fit is at all questionable for you. 

I’m positive you guys will be stoked! Enjoy.

Huh, I always figure N = number you have. Have never thought about it.

Cheers Reini!

I think SKS Race Blade XL Road fenders (cut down) would be the ticket. I zip-tie mine on instead of using the included rubber bands. 

For a rack, TUBUS makes some awesome clamp-on rack-mounts that I used to mount the rack for my Trailer-Bike on an MTB frame without braze-ons. The problem with racks on kid's bikes is clearance for your legs vs. the rack. A handlebar bag is too much weight on the steering so it's backpack or frame-bag as I see it. 

The Clairebarian just stashes (all the) things in my pack when we go for a ride. How many doudous (stuffed animals) does one four-year-old need on a 6km bike ride? N+1.

Ha. Touché! 

I actually haven’t needed to open it once on a ride since I took my multi-tool out. Which puts into perspective how much just-in-case stuff I carry.

Howdy folks,

If anyone came across one of those fancy-pants Ford Chip-Key-Fob things on Fromme today please PM me or e-mail me to major(dot)andrew(dot)r(at)gmail(dot)com.

In addition to making someone’s day the owner will definitely beer you for the effort.

Thanks,

Posted by: Brocklanders

No one has a right to these trails, we are guests. The more these things resemble motorbikes, the further we move away from it being mountainbiking to it being a motorsport. Then who knows where it all ends up. Will we lose trail access? I guess it's up to the land managers.

My post was un-necessarily cheeky & sardonic because that's how I deal with sh*t - apologies. I have the same concerns as you, as do many people. I've already seen throttle actuated pedelecs on Seymour for example.

What is most surprising to me, that I tried to capture, is the cultural shift (adoption & acceptance) from the first big dump of snow to this spring. I feel like Rip Van Winkle. I have a number of friends and acquaintances who have gone from extolling the virtues of the self-propelled mountain bike and the local culture to explaining why their unique needs justify* an offroad pedelec.

I'm just really hoping they don't f*** it up for the rest of us. Access, keeping experienced trail builders, relationships with other users - there's a lot potentially at stake to be able to punch out a longer and faster after work lap and it definitely needs to be talked about.

*I chose 'justify' because most these folks I know seem guilty about the choice.

Posted by: tashi

BREAKING NEWS: Mountain moped company employee thinks it would be best if mountain mopeds are allowed on non-motorized trails.

In other surprising news, the sun rose in the east this morning and human activity has environmental impact. Groundbreaking.

If you go back and read the 'MrSimmons' (note air quotes) post it's a pretty standard trolling recipe.  A pinch of sanctimony, a very (very) light dusting of non-fiction, dump in some ad hominem attack, stir in heaps of false equivalency, a bit of fatalism, more ad hominem, and then, in conclusion, just sprinkle of nihilism. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I just assumed it's an anonymous poster with a provocatively chosen user name. I'd be really surprised if MrSimmons is actually Mr. Simmons. For one, Wade is fully aware that people really do "[give] a shit" about both access and the culture of mountain biking. Two, I don't think he'd comment if he didn't have anything intelligent, constructive, or at least experiential to say. 

There's also no advantage to any e~bike brand, or their representatives, to pop their heads up right now. The hard work and marketing are done, the silence from land managers is deafening, and people are buying the machines - lots of them. Now's the time for them to be engaging with dealers to make sure that when the e~bike curious customer is coming in their brands are well positioned compared to the competition - there's a lot more differentiation in the market than just comparing frames with Eagle components hung on them.

I hate being the harbinger, but anyone here who hasn't noticed the massive archetypal shift this Spring on Fromme and Seymour isn't riding their bikes enough. Sorry. You can't ride up No Quarter on the weekend without being chased by someone's kitchen appliance at some point - WHIRRRRR WHIRrrrrrrr whirrrrRRRRR.

The cat is out of the bag and it's f***ing everywhere. And the thing about cats f***ing is that they multiply exponentially. And there's nothing that's going to slow down that momentum and no enforceable rule or guideline that's going to make things the way they were even a couple of years ago. Anyone thinking of e-mailing their local trail association who wants to know what they can do about it - they can advocate for uni-directional trails and clear signage before there's a serious accident now that trails like Asian Adonis are two-way-possible for more than a tiny minority of riders. That's it. Sorry again.

"But it's a different activity, they should advocate for their own access," you say. Within less than ten years half the board and builders with the NSMBA, and probably every other trail association - even WORCA - will ride offroad more with electric motor assist then solely under their own steam. Sorry.

Recently, Wade Simmons told me that in ten years half the bikes I regularly see on North Shore trails will be Pedelecs. I think he 's wrong. I think it'll be five years. There is a dam holding back purchases right now as the joiners wait for Pedelecs to be mainstream enough. And as my friend Alex says, "taking the easy way out has always been mainstream." The Dam breaks this year. More sorries.

Right now you have friends who are walking back all the venom they've ever spewed about Pedelecs. The machines are already accepted for commuting and all the Armageddon and catastrophe predicted hasn't really occurred (just endless anecdotes about assholes riding way too fast on shared resources). We're well beyond the early adoption stage with mountain Pedelecs and people are buying them right now who were looking to join a lynch mob last year. Yes, Dave Norona called it - wrap your head around that. Yeah, sorry.

North Shore shops will sell 100+ offroad Pedelecs this year. Next year it will be thrice that at least. Being an asshole to one person on a Pedelec is like killing one spider in your kitchen. It would probably be better for everyone if you just let it go. If not this year, then definitely next year, every time you walk into a local shop there'll be a 50/50 chance that someone who works there will bring up Pedelecs unsolicited. Sorry.

It's not doom-and-gloom, it's the reality. You can quit and do something else with all the free time and money you'll suddenly have. You can join and be one in a sea of e~mea culpas. Or, you can just keep pedaling your person-powered-bike in the woods with or without your like-minded friends. Sorry.

If you can't stop thinking about it on the trails then I'd recommend single speeding and harder tech-gnar descents. There's no capacity for bicycle philosophizing when you're eating your own lungs climbing No Quarter and trying to survive down Boundary...

Sorry,

Posted by: DanL

Did I miss an episode or have you done a strip down of the one up dropper?

I haven’t had a OneUp post for testing; not something I’ve been inside.

I run the, coil spring, e13 TRS+ 170mm on both my personal bikes. Awesome remote and 100% mechanical with nothing that can really fail (like anything it does get sloppy and require new key ways). An adjustable wrench, strap wrench, and Shimano cassette tool are all that’s needed besides hex keys for a full rebuild.

I recommend pre-stretching the coil spring and a bit of Slickoleum under the seal head for best performance.

Gentlepeople,

The entrance to 7th Secret smells like the un-serviced port-a-pisser at a week long asparagus growers convention in August. 

In other words, its f*cking disgusting. 

Obviously there’s a need to answer nature’s calling in nature but let’s spread it out it a bit please. 

It is not hard to jump in the bushes at the 6th or ride up around the 7th and as an added benefit to a piss-smell-free trailhead you won’t flash unsuspecting fellow trail users your sweaty junk. 

Please ask your friends to urinate sociably when urinating socially.

Thanks,

Lots of service only shops open(ing).

Bicyclehub (Dave) and Wheelthing (Jeff) are both service only bike shops in North Van. There’s also Essential (Jaclyn and Jessica) which does repair and rentals but doesn’t sell bikes. There’s also Inside Line in Calgary and I know of a few other service only and service primary shops starting up in BC and Alberta.

Actually, I should include Darren at Dream Cycle on that list. He sells custom builds but it’s a service primary shop and he’s been on Commercial for more than a decade.

Here's another one: Bootleg Bikes in Kimberly BC. Jody has a great reputation as a tech (and for customer service) coming out of Winnipeg and Canmore.

Lots of service only shops open(ing).

Bicyclehub (Dave) and Wheelthing (Jeff) are both service only bike shops in North Van. There’s also Essential (Jaclyn and Jessica) which does repair and rentals but doesn’t sell bikes. There’s also Inside Line in Calgary and I know of a few other service only and service primary shops starting up in BC and Alberta.

Actually, I should include Darren at Dream Cycle on that list. He sells custom builds but it’s a service primary shop and he’s been on Commercial for more than a decade.

...

That said, online (and previously mail order) bikes have been a reality forever. I’ve never worked in a shop that wasn’t happy to charge a fair price to build a bike out of a box or install a part bought elsewhere and I’ve been around a while.

It’s a problem when folks show up with incompatible parts and expect a shop to trade them, and it takes longer (and therefore costs more) than most people expect to do a pro job building (or rebuilding) a bike out of a box. There’s also a queue for service from April-ish through early September.

Aside from being realistic about those factors I can’t fathom where the issues being brought up derive from. In my experiences - and again I’ve worked for a few shops and with a lot of them - that’s good paying work anywhere people are charging money to turn wrenches on bikes.

Sherry @ Sateen. 20th & Lonsdale.

http://sateenalterations.com