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The last time we talked about the full suspension tandem, we were still figuring out the final details on what it’s going to take to build this tandem. I headed over to Nick D’s shop and we did some measuring and some cutting.

One of the things Nick D wanted to do was measure our 2Fast4U tandem and improve on it’s geometry on the new tandem.

Not sure what this tool is called, but it some how measures the angles of things. So far the old tandem is sitting at 71 degrees. We want the new tandem to sit at 69 degrees. Don’t ask me how, but Nick D has it all figured out.

This is what we call our Pink Prints. This has a photo of the old tandem with measurements. One thing Nick and I remember from racing with it was the Stoker cockpit was a bit too cramped. Adding at least 2 inches to the rear would solve that problem.

The following morning, we went for a ride. All that thinking makes my head hurt. Here’s a photo of Doc Thunda fixing Nick D’s busted chain. I would have helped but I didn’t want to get dirty.

After the ride, we went to the metal shop to get some tubing for the tandem and for the jig that Nick will build.

Here’s what I call the “Felt so wrong but oh so good” moment. Nick D, started cutting the frames. There’s just something naughty about cutting a perfectly good working frame…but it felt good to cut them. It was like a hot knife through butter.

Here’s the aftermath…OH THE HORROR!

Now that the frames are cut, we wanted to get an idea on how it would look. Check it out!

The next step would be to create the jig, mount the frames and start fitting the tubes. We’re pretty excited to do this project and I have to say, out of all our builds, this one takes the cake!

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Good question, perhaps you can give us some tips! Haha. I’m just messing. But something exciting is about to happen for MtnBikeRiders.com. You may recall that we were in the process of building our own tandem mountain bike to do super cool stuff with like eating tacos and drinking diet sodas while riding down a gnarly hill. This weekend will be the start of this project, and it should be pretty epic to say the least. Hmm. I like that word…EPIC.

Our Fabricator Extraordinaire, Nick D sent me some thoughts on how to build this monster, here’s what he had to say:

Yeah, I already have some ideas how I want to lay it out.

One thing I need to do is have you take a picture of your old tandem from a side view. Then i need to measure all of the angles and lengths. After that we will want to sit on the old tandem and see where we want more room, angle changes, and any other modifications.

I.E. Front Bottom Bracket to Rear Bottom Bracket, Front seat post to rear seat post, head set angle,

At that point we will have some type of schematic to work from for our new one. That way I know which exact angles work and how far to separate everything. Then I will make a jig that has the exact length of our bottom brackets that we want which will lock both sections together. After that you just connect the points with tubes and call it a day.

So here is the order of operations:

1. Take pictures of old Tandem

2. Measure old Tandem

6. Cut old frames and prep for welding

7. Set all angles and lengths up

8. Weld all joints

9. Add accessory pieces of flair

12. Our main reason for building this tandem.Race and look cooler than everyone else.

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Check it out kids, I took some old grips that I was about to throw away and used them for something else on the bike.

Filet it down the middle.

Cut the ends off.

You can now wrap it around your chain stay and zip tie it for the perfect fit. Since you have 2 grips, go ahead and install both to protect the length of your chain stay.

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Yesterday during my lunch ride I decided to take Burt ReynoldSS out for it’s maiden voyage. I was pretty excited about since it’s been a while since I’ve ridden a single speed.

But during my climbs the chain was skipping. Ugh…I thought I had addressed that issue by placing the rear cog further out and spacing my tensioner with a set of washers. However, if you look at this photo below the tensioner is pushing the chain in and when under load, it will cause it to skip.

With this in mind, I’ve got two choices. 1, I can tray and mess with the chain line by putting the front ring inside of the crank arm and align the rear cog a few spaces back to see if the chain can fall within the roller from the tensioner. The other option would be 2, that’s to get a new tensioner that allows some adjustment on the roller.

Getting a new one seems to be the best option, probably the easiest. But you know me, I’ll find a way to make what I have work and my last resort would be purchasing a new tensioner.

Another issue I found was the stem height. Not a big deal, just have to move it down a bit since it felt really high. It made it difficult to climb when the bars feel like they are up to my chest and it makes it tough to gain leverage.

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The reason why I came up with the name Burt Reynolds is simply this…the Redline D600 color scheme totally reminded me of the Trans Am in the movie Smokey and the Bandit.

Ya I know we just announced a new tandem bike project on the site, but this one is something I needed to get done to start training for the upcoming Winter Series XC Races.

Here’s what I mean by color scheme. Gold and Black! Here you see the Redline D600 converted to a Single Speed that I’ve dubbed as Burt Reynolds.

Upgraded the cock pit to a Shimano PRO carbon bar and a new Sunline 50mm stem for my short arms.

I used the existing 8 speed chain to save on money. No need to spend more when I can use the stock parts.

Installed a Surly 21t cog and it’s working great with the new 32t chain ring up front.

If you didn’t know, I love pink. But I think I may look for gold grips and possibly a gold chain…you know make it more like Bandit.

Originally the Redline D600 weighed over 33lbs. But after swapping out the fork(the heaviest part of the bike), cock pit and stripping off all the shifters derailleurs and cranks. I got this baby down to 26lbs (with pedals). I still need a few things like chain ring bolts which should be here by Tuesday and probably a new tensioner. I just don’t like how the one I have is working. Besides, I’m missing a bolt on it.

Ya I know that there are full suspension 29ers that weigh this much, but for what I paid in parts to do this conversion, $40, I think I can live with a 26lbs single speed 29er…

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A few months ago Team Racer Nick D. and I participated in a XC mountain bike race with the TwoFast4U tandem. But after lap 1, we broke it. Nick and I were pretty bummed about what happened because we were having such a great time racing the tandem. Mind you, it’s not easy, but it sure is fun. After the race Nick had this great idea about building our own tandem…yes building our own tandem. All we needed was a pair of donor frames and Nick can fabricate a complete bike out of them. Not sure if you knew this. Nick was a former racer car builder. He was on the cover of various magazines with his creations and we figured if his work is good enough for cars that go fast, it should be good enough for 2 guys riding down a hill at 25mph. Just to keep this compliant and stuff, “do not try this at home and MtnBikeRiders.com and the individuals involved in this project take full responsibility for any damages, injury or death caused by fabricating our own tandem.”

Let’s start off with our first donor frame. This is the Airborne Skyhawk.

These beautiful seat and chain stays will be cut off.

The other half of this project will consist of the now defunct Woodstock 707 Full Suspension Frame.

I’m not really sure how Nick will make all this work, but I totally trust in his craftsmanship and I have confidence that he will make these two frames into a beautiful piece of art. I figured some new tubing will be required and some measurin’ and cutting will happen.

Now let’s get to the name of the project…”Double Banger.” Well don’t immediately take your minds to the gutter. Nope! Have you ever heard of the term 4 banger or 8 banger? People describe how many cylinders their cars have by saying the # of cylinders and the word banger after it. Banger comes from the fact that an internal combustion engine has explosion or a BANG during it’s cycle. When you ride a bicycle, you are the engine of the beautiful machine. Since there’s 2 of us on the tandem, then it made sense to call us Double Banger.

Here’s a mock up of the Double Banger. Rather than grey, we’ve talked about getting it powder coated in hot pink!

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After racing Super D this past winter at Southridge, I knew I needed to started working toward a bigger travel, slacker bike. I had ridden the Santa Cruz Butcher at the last year when SC’s demo fleet came through town, and had thoroughly enjoyed that bike. I started keeping an eye out online for used frames, and eventually I had success! This started the several month long process of bike building and part hunting. Now that I had the new frame, I put up ads to sell my Giant Trance to help fund the new build. I pulled all the upgrades I had made to the trance off that bike and swapped them over to the new frame, brakes, bars, grips, saddle, & dropper post.

BTW- I apologize for the quality of all the pictures in advance, as they are all from my cell phone as this build came together in free moments here and there and random late nights.

Frame and existing parts.

Next I found a used Fox fork. It was a bit of a drive to go get, but worth the savings. Note: This is just a reminder to ALWAYS measure twice, and here is why. I got the headset installed and when to install the stem and found I was 5mm short on the steerer tube. The steerer tube did not even pass the centerline of the stem bolt. Not really enough pot to clamp on to. Now, I had not cut the steerer tube, but I had just tried to install it in the state I received it. I had only eyeballed the length when I purchased the headset which came in two varieties, standard and low rise which left about a 5-10mm difference between the two. “What’s 5mm?” I thought, plus that one’s cheaper. Well, it turns out it is the difference between a safely installed stem and, well, a not so much safely installed stem.

Fork, headset & bar installed.

I ordered the wheels new, which was pretty much the only part major part I was not able to find used. Good thing I ordered them early, as they took almost twice as long as expected, 6-8 weeks. But it was worth it! They looked good, and ride even better! For extra stiffness I went with the 10mm axle in the rear, instead of the standard 9m skewer.

Wheels: starting to look like a bike.

The last parts I needed to complete the build at this point was the drive-train. I knew I wanted to but 2×10 on, but had found exactly what I wanted yet. I had been talking with several other friends trying to make a final decision on what I wanted to use for the build when I got a, “Hey, I’ve a whole extra drive-train sitting on the shelf at home available.” It was an offer I could not refuse.

Drivetrain installed: itching to be ridden.

I was finally wrapping up the build and couldn’t wait to get out and ride it. I have neglected to mention, but the same time as I was finishing this build my SS ended up with a cracked frame and was sent out for warranty replacement. Now the pressure was really on to finish the build so I could get out and ride. I had gotten wheels, rotors and cranks on so I was able to finally sit on the bike and get a feel for it for how it was coming along. I scheduled a ride with a friend for the next day and all I had left was to install and tune the derailleurs. The night before the ride I ended up having to work late and had just enough time to run to the LBS for the final part I had forgotten. I did not have the end caps for the derailleur housing! Without these the derailleurs were useless. I literally showed pulled up at 7.00 at night at closing to the closest shop to my house. The lights were off, but I stepped in anyway, and caught them just closing up. Doesn’t get much closer than that.

Final weight.

Here is the info on the build.

Build Spec:
Frame: Large Santa Cruz Butcher w/ Rockshox Vivid Air
Fork: Fox 36 Float RLC 160mm
Dropper Post: Rockshox Reverb
Drivetrain: Sram XO/X9
Wheels: Industry 9 Enduro Hubs w/ Stan Flows
Brakes: Shimano XT 180/160
Bars: Raceface Atlas
Grips: Ergon GA-1
Tires: F-2.3 Specialized Clutch Control R- 2.3 Specialized Butcher Control
Final Weight: 31lb 13oz

Happy to be in the dirt @ Aliso Woods.

One thing I found out after the first ride is that I had incorrectly installed the stem. For some reason, I thought I had a zero rise stem, and I had just pulled it from the previous bike without much inspection. Well, evidently, it is a 5 degree rise and flipping it around made a huge difference in the feeling, mainly on the climbs. It took me several rides to dial in the suspension to a comfortable place, but now the Butcher is nothing but fun…. on the way down of course. I won’t be entering any XC races or hill climb contests on this bike, but I’ll get to the top eventually. The slacker head angle has given me increased confidence on the descents and am able to attack them much stronger than before. I have a Big Bear trip scheduled in a few weeks, and will give the Butcher a good weekend long workout. In the meantime, I have had plenty of fun tearing up the local trails on my new all-mountain build.

Maiden Voyage on the Luge.

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Recently my daughter and I were out for a ride and I noticed that she has completely out grown her 24″ Giant MTX 250. So that led me to start searching for a new bike for her. At first I thought about buying her a frame then building it up with parts that I had laying around. But I came across this bike, it’s a Giant Boulder, with a 12.5″ frame. 21 Speed, and weighed like a tank at 34lbs! The great thing about this bike was the price, $90.

Once I got it, I started stripping off the parts and swapping them for the lighter groupo that I have in my garage. One of my first things to tackle was the drive train and wheels. I went with Shimano Deore 9 speed and Vuelta XRP wheelset as well as WTB Weirwolves and Kenda Karma tires.

Pink grips, Jagwire Ripcord derailluer and brake cables/housing.

I’m waiting on a Fox RL fork from a friend and once I get it, the old Spinner will be gone. Oh, did you notice the pink bottle cage? Nice…

Not sure if you can tell, I even went with anodized pink cable cap ends.

Total investment for the bike and parts that I didn’t have was $130. But if you factor in the amount of money I made by selling her old bike, then all I really spent was $60! Oh and if you consider the money I made by fixing bikes in order to afford this endeavor, I actually made $40! So ya…I made $40 on her new bike! Not a bad deal!

Here’s Boo with her new ride. She likes it! But she did mention that shifting was a bit confusing since she’s going from twistgrip to triggers. I’m sure she’ll catch on fast. For Father’s Day I told her that all I want is to go mountain biking with her.

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I’ve got an extra vehicle that is really good on gas that I’d rather use as my main vehicle to take me to and from trails. So rather than spending up to $160 on an aftermarket hitch, I called, Team Racer, Nick DiBlasi to see if he could help me out. Not sure if many of you knew this, but Nick used to be this fancy fabricator that worked on race cars and all that fancy stuff. I figured if he’d built race cars, that he’d know how to make a simple hitch.

Nick and I checking the under carriage to see where he’d mount the hitch.

Hitch receiver and the other pieces eventually to be used on the project.

Oooh sparks!

Nick Tig welding parts.

Not wanting to Mickey Mouse things, Nick insisted on measuring twice and cutting once.

This will be mounting plate that bolts onto the car.

Some of Nick’s artwork. Check out those welds.

Unfortunately, we ran out of time and day light, so part 2 will be coming up in a few weeks. Oh and get this, in exchange for Nick’s handy work, all I had to do was pay for cost of materials and mow his lawn. Yup, mow his lawn.

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Get it? Supdate…Like S as in Single Speed Soma…but since Update doesn’t start with S, I threw it in there. But then it makes it like a double meaning, Sup’ as in “What’s up” but combined with Update becomes Supdate as if I was saying “What’s Up, here’s an update!” Aye…nevermind, if I have to explain it, then it’s not as clever. I’m sure there’s a few of you that said, “Supdate?….wait….OOOOH I get it!!!! haha Supdate…ya…haha…Supdate.”

Anyhow, the other day I was able to take the Soma SS on its first longish ride. The Fullerton Loop is about 11.5 miles and it has a mixture of ups and downs, as well as wall rides, teeter totters, boulders that chase you, darts that shoot out at you while you’re riding away, and some guy name Jones…Indiana was his first name. Ok, you got me, that stuff about wall rides, boulders and such were made up. But wouldn’t it be cool! But I digress, my gearing on the Soma is 32t/20t. I had feared that having such a big cog in the back would make me spin too much on the flats, well it’s true, I was spinning like a hamster on a wheel. However, it was the perfect gearing to ensure that I could clear all the climbs. I did dry heave a few times because I found myself exerting my body in order to keep up with Priscilla and our friend Ben. Then again I recall when I was SSing with a 26er, it was pretty common to get that nauseated when I was working hard.

So far the Soma is doing great! No chain skipping or breaking, and riding on drops was a great experience. My only complaint would be the brake levers I installed. One of my friends donated them to me, I thank him for it. But they are just a tad to small and the reach was too far. You see, my hands are like biscuits with baby carrots as fingers, yes wide and stubby (Moe, don’t even…). This mean that braking was a bit of a task and proved to be difficult especially if you’re going down the trail fast.

I ended up ordering some Tektro XLC brakes from Jenson USA. Funny thing about these brakes, I searched for “Road Bike Brake Levers” and they didn’t show up on the Jenson site. So I Googled it and found a link back to Jenson in turn I purchased them for about $17.

These brake levers are awesome! Not only do my hands fit in them, but they are ergonomic and has 2 reach settings. Not bad for $17!

Here’s a photo of the old lever in comparison to the new.

I’m hoping to get another ride in before the weekend is over. I gotta see if these levers are as awesome as I am hoping them to be. So until next time, I’ll provide you all with another Supdate….get it? Supdate…aye never mind.

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