I’ve always wanted a tandem bike, especially for mountain biking purposes. Not that I could ever afford one, but DaVinci Tandems offers a boat load of off road tandems, heck one of them is even a full suspension model, called the Symbiosis.

Here’s the specs:

Frame Material Easton Elite aluminum main triangle, Cromoly rear triangle.
Fork White Brother Tandem Fork
Shock Fox Float AVA RL
Rear Deraileur Sram / Grip Shift ESP 9.0
Front Deraileur Campagnolo Triple
Shifters 8sp Grip Shift ESP 9.0
Brakes Avid Juicy 203mm Rotors front and rear
Front Bars Bontrager Race Modified 580mm & Race Lite Bar Ends
Rear Bars Profile Stoker
Front Stem Titec Big Al - Front Loading/Quick Change
Rear Stem Control Tech Adjustable Stoker
Cranks da Vinci Designs Billet Machined (wide choice of lengths)
Chain Sachs/Sram
Rear Cogs Shimano XTR 12-32
Driving Gears Shimano Hyperglide 12-18-24-30 Equivalent to 24-36-48-60
Eccentrics da Vinci Designs CNC Machined
Front Hub White Industries High Flange Disc Brake
Rear Hub White Industries Disc Brake Tandem 145mm
Rims da Vinci Designs V-22
Tires Your Choice - Kevlar Bead
Seatposts Thomsom Elite 29.8mm
Saddles Avocet O2 Men’s and/or Women’s
Retail Price $7500

Popularity: 2% [?]

When you’re out on the trails you’ll see a variety of clothing style people choose to ride with. Personally, I don’t like the flashy jerseys, matching socks and tights. If anything, I’ll wear a pair of bibs underneath some shorts I bought at the thrift store and I’ll be sporting a cheap $6 wicking shirt from Wally World. Heck some times I’ll just wear a cotton Tee with it all.

But I know there are some folks that love to coordinate their outfits to their bikes as well as the color scheme. Some guys I know really hate the whole color coordination. In fact, one of my buddies would go out of his way to make sure he wore colors that clashed, you know, like purple socks, orange jersey, red shorts and green helmet.

Photo courtesy of Gorctrails.com

So I’m curious to know what people are wearing when they ride? Do you wear tights, bibs, baggies, jerseys, t-shirts, jeans, clubbing clothes?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Price $649.95

Here’s the specs:

Race Face Atlas X-Type Crankset and Bottom Bracket, 175mm length. 44/32/22.
Versatile XC/All Mountain ATLAS. Light enough for tough climbs, strong enough for descents. Single track XC one day, light Freeride the next. Aluminum alloy construction offers fatigue resistance. Forged and fully CNC machined. Medium walled, heat-treated cromoly spindle.
• X-Type External Bottom Bracket System
• Light NiCrMo Spindle.
Weight: 955 grams (175mm w/ triple rings and BB)

SRAM X-9 9-Speed Trigger Shifters
9-Speed trigger shifter set with Impulse 1:1® Actuation Ratio for precise indexing and control.
• Integrated clamp design indicator
• Alloy body with composite lower cover, Stainless steel hardware and Alloy with Nylon pad Push Lever
• Teflon coated cables, Straight Shot cable replacement, Alloy barrel adjuster and alloy push lever bolt
Weight: approx. 262 grams per pair

SRAM X-9 Rear Derailleur, Long Cage
High performance, super durable 9-Speed rear derailleur with SRAM X0 styling. Compatible with SRAM 1:1 shifters (triggers and twisters).
Features:
• Forged alloy cage assembly, Alloy B-knuckle, Stamped inner link, Sealed cartridge bearing pulleys
Weight: 255g

SRAM X7 Front Derailleur
Smooth shifting, Super stiff, wide pivot design, 9 Speed.
• Chrome Plated Steel Cage
• Forged Alloy Clamp
• All clamp sizes 34.9, 31.8 and 26.8 (with included Adaptor)
• Can be used for both Top and Bottom Pull Cable Routing

SRAM ‘06 PG-990 9-Speed Mountain Cassette
Choice of 11-32 or 11-34 gear ratio
Anodized alloy lock ring and alloy spider. Blast Chrome plated finish.

SRAM Mountain Chain
PC-991

* Avid ‘06 Juicy 5 Hydraulic Disc Brake kits w/ 185mm Rotors & levers
• Pre-Bled.
• Front and Rear: Includes Caliper, Rotor, Lever, Hydraulic Brake Line, Mounting Hardware.
*Front Brake System with 185mm rotor includes adapter for International Standard mount

Get it at Greenfish!

Popularity: 2% [?]

I went to Wally World earlier this morning to get a plumbing snake and toothpaste. I decided to check out their bikes and take a few shots while I was there.

The Schwinn Sidewinder 2.6 FS.

This is the full suspension Next Power Climber! This one retails for about $75. Look how messed up the assembly job is on this bike. The handle bars are twisted back.

Another full suspension mountain bike.

They even had some kids bikes that were made to look like motorcycles. I actually like this one. Man what I would have given to get one of these when I was kid…Check out the front disc brake.

This one kinda reminds me of a female version of the Ibex B27 bike.

There’s a Schwinn mountain bike. This one was about $99.

Check out this little boy’s bike that looks like a downhiller.

What sucks about these bikes is that they are poorly assembled by “bike mechanics and assemblers.” The price point is so deceiving, a consumer not educated in the ways of a bike may think that $75 for a full suspension bike is a great deal. But in reality once you take these bikes out on the trails, wheels get bent, gears mis-shift and they are super heavy!

Popularity: 2% [?]

I went with some of my buddies to Chino Hills State Park for a ride this weekend. We did a 16 mile loop that included a mixture of fire road and singletrack.

One of my good friends got to try mountain biking for the first time (he rode about 12 of the 16 miles, go Keith!). And although I was a bit apprehensive about taking him on this loop as his first, he ended up doing very well. I was able to borrow an Ibex Ignition for his first ride.

Ibex Ignition

The weather made the ride very interesting. The sun was out, but it hadn’t reached all the parts of the trail yet. As we rode South Rim, a rolling fireroad that runs east-west along the southern portion of Telegraph Canyon, we rode into and out of a fog bank that wasn’t completely burned off by the sun yet. The high points of the rolling trail would be hot because of the sun but the low points were cool because of the fog.

The fog also limited visibility at times but it had a side benefit of keeping us cooler during a steep climb that I previously did hike-a-bike on.

Lastly, the weather also contributed to a very surreal feeling (at least for me). There is one point, where there are usually sweeping vistas of Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills and the city of Orange. But this time, when we go to that point, all we could see was an impenetrable fog that seem to have made everything disappear.

Sorry no pictures of this ride. My camera is on the fritz. I hope to get it fixed asap.

Popularity: 2% [?]

One of the problems I’ve had when needing to work on the KMX is the fact that I can’t really place it on a workstand to do any type of maintenance. I’ve tried working on the KMX while its on the ground, on its side, or upside down. But all that takes a toll on my back and knees.

So I grabbed my saw horses and placed the KMX Kart(s) on them and it works just great!

The KMX ST Class on my saw horses.

Popularity: 2% [?]

This past Sunday night, the Weather Channel had a show about Mountain Biking and Moab, Utah. I missed it, but they have it online! Click here.

The one episode is split into four parts (each commercial break ends a segment) on the web. Check it out. There are some great interviews of mountain biking greats such as Hans Rey, Gary Fisher and many others. And Moab is stunningly beautiful, even at 400 pixels wide.

Thanks Between2Wheels for posting this great find.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Priscilla’s commuter bike, a Giant Cypress, had some annoying brake squealing when she would try to stop. If you’re having the same issues with your V Brakes, just follow these easy steps to get rid of that irritating noise.

Notice how the pads are mounted evenly. Well, that’s the problem…

First step is to loosen the mounting nuts on the pad. Then angle your pads so the front of the brake pad touches the rim first.

Here’s a better angle. Having your pads angled like the photo will get rid of the noise right away.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Exclusively at MtnBikeRiders.com, you can demo an Internet brand bike. Some folks are affraid to purchase a bike online because they don’t know if they’ll like it or not. They want to test the bikes, see how it feels and how it rides. Now here’s your chance…..

You’ll have a a choice of 3 brands, the Fezzari Alta Peak, the Ibex B27 (B-Series) and the Woodstock 707.

Only thing is, you have to ride a Medium Bike. Yeah we’re short people here, so if you’re over 5′10″ these bikes might be too small for ya.

If you are interested in test riding these bikes and will be in the North Orange County, Ca. Area. Drop me line and we can coordinate a time and place for you to try either bike out.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Jeremy, Moe came by to my home to have some pizza and beer. We discussed some of our plans for the Sea Otter Festival as well as some ideas for future ventures.

Great things are about to hit the fan in the next few months. Don’t worry, we’ll keep everyone posted!

Popularity: 2% [?]