Yes Ladies and Gents this is the month for moustaches! MtnBikeRiders are paying tribute to the hair that grows on your upper lip.

With that said, Moe and I will be providing weekly updates on how growing our stache’s are changing our lives in ways of getting more luvin’ from our better half, enhancing our riding skills and overall quality of life just by growing some facial hair.

But first and foremost, I’d like to recognize some of the greatest men in the world that have sported a stache.

In no specific order…
1. Einstein

2.Burt Reynolds

3.Gene Shalit

4.Tom Selleck

I’ve already started to grow mine, but having some Asiany blood in me, my upper lip has a harder time growing hair than my back…

We’ll be doing weekly updates on how well the stache’s are growing and how its changing our lives so stick around, I’m sure it will get interesting…

Oh by the way, if you’re some one like Jeremy that only gets 2 long hairs on his upper lip to grow. Feel free to print out this photo below and glue it to your face, that way you don’t feel left out!

Popularity: 6% [?]

This morning we went on a ride with a few friends, Arnie and Art. Moe showed up looking all slim since he’s been dropping some weight. But unfortunately Art and Moe did the extended version of the ride which meant I didn’t get pictures of them.

So what I do have is a pretty scene with some of the growth on our trails. Not sure what they’re called, but these pretty yellow flowers were everywhere.

Here’s Arnie coming down the trail.

I was sportin’ my new Yellow PricePoint.com jersey. I wanted to play, “where’s RL?” so I hid behind some of the yellow flowers. If I wasn’t wearing my red helmet, I would have blended in nicely. Heck my whole bike was with me too….dang, I’m like a Ninja!

We made sure that we took it easy on today’s ride since Priscilla has a big race tomorrow. It was a prefect day in Cali, the sun was bright, cool breeze and overall a great ride.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Being the O.G. that I am…oh for the gueros out there, click here to find out what it means. I’ve ridden with hydraulic, mechanical and V-brakes in various bikes that I’ve owned. But none of disc brakes systems have really wowed me. I’ve always loved V-brakes

For one, its cheaper to replace the pads. Cost of some decent pads are no more than $10. Disc pads can cost as much as $20 for a set. No risk of having brake failure due to air bubbles in the lines. Plus, you can buy a whole set of front and back Vbrakes with levers and cables for the cost of one hydraulic caliper/lever. It also weighs far less and last but not least, its not the norm.

That’s right, not everyone runs v-brakes anymore. Some have graduated to the hydros or mechs, and that’s totally fine with me. There’s nothing wrong with being a bit different in how you roll.

When I built up the Sette Reken, I had a choice between mech disc brakes or v-brakes. I went with simplicity and one of my goals for the bike was to make sure that it weighed in at a decent poundage. So the V’s gave me great stopping power as well as style and lightweight hardware.

What do you think? Are you OG like me and dig the V’s or do you like Disc Brakes?

Popularity: 10% [?]

We’ve all been there and some of are still in this situation…a junky bike. For the most part, some of us that got into mountain biking for the first time didn’t drop $1k on a new ride. Nope, we opted for cheaper versions that cost between $60 (WalMart) to $250 (entry level bike at the LBS). Since these bikes weren’t really made for the abuse that mountain biking dishes out, we put up with the heavy, ghost shifting, and untrue wheels that these bikes often have.

What you didn’t realize is the sport actually growing on you. You see other riders on the trail with high tech gadgets like hydraulic brakes, wireless computers, heart rate monitors….full suspension…oooh. So with your eyes being opened to a whole new field of possibilities in riding, you then start saving up for a nice bike.

During the saving up process, you still ride your beater bike as much as you can. But once you get your new ride, you become extremely grateful for all the great doo-hickies your bike has. Such as brakes that work, gears that shift only when you want them too and that great squishy feeling of your new suspension.

Junky, beater bikes aren’t necessarily a bad thing. They’re great for helping you gain an appreciation for nice bikes. Plus they are perfect for people that are barely getting into the sport. Cuz’ we all know that newbies tend to crash more in their first few rides. I know I did! Heck I remember for the longest time, I was eating it every single ride I would go on. It wasn’t until finally started to learn how to handle my bike, read the terrain and become a smarter rider that I stopped crashing. So for you guys that are riding bikes that are less desirable, just keep riding them until things break and start saving up for a nicer ride!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Some people call this a diagonal bunny hop, or a sideways bunny hop. Our friend Scott Tauzin who has shown us how to do a regular bunny hop, is now demonstrating how to do a fancier style of bunny hopping that can be useful to to jump over logs, poop, ruts, sidewalks and old people.

Enjoy!

Popularity: 12% [?]

I was just realized that men call their spandex cycling shorts…”spandex” and women will call them “tights.”

…and I think I know why!

Check this out, if you’re a dude, wearing tights/spandex is emasculating already. So men will look for ways to make the item sound less lady like and more manly. It’s kinda like calling Knickers, Capris…

When we think of tights/spandex we think of ballet people such as The Nut Cracker…horrible title.

We also think of Richard Simmons or some sort of dance like activity like modern dance. If you’re old enough to remember, it probably will bring thoughts of the TV show…”FAME!”

Once in a while you’ll hear men them “lycra.” But that’s just as bad since that’s just as gay as the previous name. It’s terrible men have to wear ballerina clothing just to ride their bikes, so I’m proposing a new name to spandex/lycra/tights….the new name will be!

“Chones”…thats right Chones. It’s pronounced “ch-o-(short O sound)-Nehs” It’s the same thing as what folks that speak Mexican call underwear. Yah you might as well call it underwear since its as tight as one and your package is there for the whole world to see. Besides, the Urban Dictionary describes Chones as: “nuts, nutsack, nadsack, nads, jewels, balls, scrotum, ball bag, bollocks…”It’s practically the same thing!

So with the new name, Chones…it already has a masculine sound to it. Say it with me…Chones…Doesn’t that sound WAY better than “spandex, lycra or tights?”….Chones….

Popularity: 8% [?]

Loyal reader Joe “Hard Charger” recently contacted me about his newest Full Suspension Single Speed Project. He told me that he used the Yess Pro tensioner like the one I used for my FS/SS. Here’s the finished results:
Intense Tracer

Yess Pro Tensioner

Man this thing looks sharp…

Popularity: 10% [?]

Last night was the world premiere of Knight Rider…man it was bad ass! Anyhow, I couldn’t help talk about how much I loved shows like The A-Team, CHiP’s, Hardcastle and McCormick, Duke’s of Hazard, and the like. Well that got me remembering about all the different 80’s bicycle related commercials that I would see while watching my favorite shows. So here’s a few that I found…

Team Murray

Murray Street Machine

Max Skate bike…I actually have one of these in my garage!

Some Schwinn commercial…

Popularity: 5% [?]

Popularity: 10% [?]

It’s Valentine’s Day and the Thursday Tech Tip crew will be spending time with their loved ones. We suggest you do the same. If you’re single and alone, well sorry. But go for a ride or work on your bikes! If you need help, just check out our other Tech Tips and have a blast!

Popularity: 6% [?]