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I’ve mentioned my wicked-kick butt Diamondback Wildwood Tandem on here more than a few times. When we first raced it back in the fall of 2010, it had some humble beginnings and it needed so many upgrades in order to make it somewhat worthy for off-road use.

The first of many upgrades it received was a suspension fork, but even that fork needed some help. Leaking oil and air, it was due to have it serviced. I had scoured the Internet and called a few shops to see if I could find someone to perform the needed service on the fork. But I ended up ordering the service kit for about $11 and went to work in my garage. Within an hour, the fork was good as new.

The next major upgrade was its drive train. It came with an 24speed set up and the rear cassette was a MegaRange with a 34t. Though the 34t helped in climbing, I just couldn’t find a happy medium when I was pedaling, it was either too high or too low. I decided to slap on the 36t cassette that I purchased from a recent review I wrote about.

I then mated the new 9speed cassette with a set of LX shifter pods that I bought off ebay. You’ll also notice that I’m now running a set of Avid brake levers. More on that later. Mind you, prior to my upgrades, the bike had an 8speed Rapidfire shifter/levers.

Check out my new set of Shimano MX pedals with alloy body, got those from a swap meet for $5!

Here’s why I mentioned the Avid brake levers, its to match the front Avid BB5 disc brake caliper, and yes that’s a Dirty Dog MTB Web Rotor (Thanks Nick DeBeer!).

The Ergon GC3 grips are awesome for comfort and added leverage. One thing I learned with the tandem, the wider the Captain’s bar is, the easier it is to handle the bike especially when you’re riding through technical terrain. That 30″ silver bar, got that at a swap meet as well for $5!

One of my goals with the 2Fast4U tandem was to ride up a trail called Cholla and down Rockit in Aliso Woods, Ca. My daughter and I accomplished that today. Though our climb up to Cholla had some breaks in between, our time down Rockit was a blast! Aleah did a great job as my Stoker and lucky for me, she didn’t fall off!

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I’ve received a few requests from our readers asking how to cut a steerer tube and install a star nut. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get this video together until now. I realized that I had an old fork that I could use for the video and I decided to go for it.

For starters, you’ll need one of these, it’s a pipe cutter. You can find them at any hardware store for about $15. To install a star nut, you’ll need a special tool that can be purchased from Pricepoint.com. It normally sells for $15, but right now they are on sale for $11.98.

Make sure you watch the video and learn how to do this yourself because a shop could charge you as much as $75 to cut the steerer, install a star nut and install the fork.

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Get yourself one of these, its a cable luber (looooober). I found this sucker at a local motorcycle shop for $11. All you do is remove your housing from your derailleur, slide the cable so it’s not sticking out. Place the luber onto the end of the housing, tighten it down.

Then insert the red straw of your favorite aerosol lube, and fire away! The rubber grommet creates a seal and forces the lube into the housing. After applying the lube, reverse the process and reinstall your cable/housing and go for a ride. Nothing feels better than a smooth shifter!

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Here’s something that I learned from Priscilla. Anytime she goes to some sort of day spa, they serve water with cucumber. I didn’t think anything of it until she made some for the kids and I at home. The cucumber reacts with the water and gives it this magical flavor that is utterly refreshing! So I had this idea, why not add a few slices of it to my water bottle the next time I ride.

This actually works out pretty well if you’re using tap water instead of bottled. Why? Well most city water has a pretty harsh taste due to all the stuff they put into it. But the cucumber helps make it taste better. The flavor isn’t so powerful where that’s all you taste when chugging, but its a slight hint that makes it go down easier. So if you’re daring, give cucumbers a chance,

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Over the weekend I had the opportunity to test out my new 9 speed 36t Shimano cassette. The trail was Turnbull Canyon in Southern California which includes a 2 mile climb to the top down to a trail called the 7th Avenue Loop, then back up again to the top with steep switchbacks that we had to work our way through and down again through another trail called A-Line.

Below you’ll see the sprocket sizing used for the Shimano 36t cassette. On my original SRAM cassette, the cogs were:11,13,15,17,20,23,26,30,34. Notice that the cog sizes on the 36t are bigger than the SRAM 34t. Believe it or not, it makes a difference. Let me explain…

I’m no engineer or mathematician, but try to follow my logic. With the 36t, I’m using bigger cogs. The jump isn’t drastically different from the 34t, in fact they both have the same jump in cog size, from 1 to 4, depending on which gear you’re on. However, the larger cog sizes on the 36t make climbing easier. So for example, if you’re climbing a steep section that you normally would use a 34t cog on, this task would be much simpler on the 36t, not sure what the whole gear ratio is, but basically the bigger the gear in the back, the easier to pedal. It makes sense that the larger cog would provide greater ease while climbing.

But at what cost? Truth be told, I’m not much of a climber, and with the 36t cassette, you are riding slower due to the bigger cogs. I really didn’t care if I was riding slower, all I knew was I making a large percentage of the climbs that I’d normally have a hard time on with the 34t cassette. So what’s the verdict when it comes to the 36t? First of all its not for everyone. The cassette was intended for 29er riders to help get their ginormous wheels over the climbs. But it can certainly apply to 26er riders with 9 speed drive trains. Secondly, if you’re a weight weenie, don’t bother. The larger cassette does weigh like a brick compared to the SRAM 34t.

One more thing, there’s no need to swap out your whole drive train and shifters to the new fandangled 10speed groupo just so you can benefit from the 36t. I simply swapped out my rear cassette with the old one and went for a ride. There was no further adjusting with the rear derailleur needed.

Here I am grinding up the 2 mile climb. It’s tough, but the 36t made it a bit easier.

With all that said, I’m totally happy with the 9 speed 36t set up on my 26er mountain bike. It kinda made climbing a bit more fun. Forgot to mention that you can pick up your own 36t cassette from Jenson USA for $40.

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