4/20 edit

TURNT UP

Cinco De Mayo BBQ

A few weeks ago, on Cinco De Mayo, the Bike Coopers choose to celebrate a beautiful day and throw a little BBQ with their hard earned tip moneys. All the usual suspects showed.

We took a traditional ride along the coast...and we nearly lost Stas. 

Thankfully, we have awesome volunteers. 

Coop Photo Sesh

The Coop's resident photog, Steve, has been taking some killer images recently. You can find more of his work here.

Fresh from the Transition Factory

Wonder what it could be....

Crappy Cam Photos of New TR250 Build

Transition TR250

'11 Fox 36 Talas

RC4 w/ Boost Valve

Hope Pro 2's to Mavic 819s

Avid Elixer CRs

Sram X-9 shifting

Thompson Stem/Seatpost

Hope headset/BB/Seatpostcollar

E13 SRS Chainguide

Saint Cranks

Sunline Bars

Xpedo Pedals

Transition Saddle

Softail

Over spring break I had the true pleasure of riding my uncles "mountain bike." This interesting piece of mountain biking history was given to him by none other than Jim Sullivan (a nominee for induction into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame). While you may laugh at the appearance of this bike - I went out for a ride with Jimmy and he can jam on a softtail.

The suspension stem worked surprisingly well at diminishing small bumps but hindered my bunny hopping abilities and of course the "rear suspension" only works when you're sitting down. Altogether an interesting experience....

New Core Member Bike: Black Market Mob

I recently came across the holy grail of craigslist finds - a ridiculously inexpensive complete black market mob. The bike had its share of problems but with the right set of friends, spare parts, and a few hours of work - it has been transformed.

The the most important changes I made were replacing the Hayes 9 brakes with Avid Juicy 7s, selling the original Argyle 409 and spending the proceeds on a new '11 Xfusion Velvet, and purchasing a nutted rear axle.

The new XFusion fork I installed three days ago is absolutely incredible. It has that same buttery smooth feeling that makes you think you're riding a Fox but with the added satisfaction of knowing you paid literally hundreds less. Furthermore, the fork is over a pound lighter than my Argyle was. Without the extra weight in the front the bike is more balanced overall. The thing just pops, turns, jumps, and manuals if you hold on. Definitely a great investment. XFusion is based locally and the guys are all supercool in person so I'm glad we're a dealer now.

Finally, I'd like to thank Transition. Switching from a 20mm to a 15mm thru axle fork requires a different hub spacing. The 15 mm shares the conventional 100 mm spacing with traditional qr's while the 20mm standard requires a 110 mm hub. All it took was a simple phone call and the boys at Tranny shipped me out new flanges for my hub on the cheap to make my OG v1 revolution wheelset compatible with my new fork.

Sneak Preview: Transition TR250 Build

Caution: you may see things differently after watching this video.

A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Raw is the only way to describe Chris Akrig's riding style. He's the only rider I would pit in a game of BMX against Danny MacAskill.

Cellphone Pics of the Newest Tango.

Jeff calls his latest creation the "the jeffe." The bike weighs upwards of 30+ lbs and is intended for all mountain use. After a brief fling with a half steel/half carbon fully the former core member is returning to his hardtail roots. This custom built frame has several unique features such as beautiful lugging, chainstays made from fork blades, triple triangle styling, and foam lock on grips. Its a beautiful beastly thing.

New Internet Addiction

I should be studying for a calculus midterm in a few hours but I stumbled across this game - Canvas Rider - today and its been nothing but a distraction. Players can submit and create their own tracks as well as session these tracks on either a dh or bmx bike. Of course I would highly suggest wearing a helmet when performing similar stunts in real life...

Test Ride Kit

A set of nine hardy, stylish, saddles arrived at the Bike Coop today. The majority will soon be mounted on the various bikes in the shops fleet for your testing purposes. The single speed of doom with the shimmed bmx stem and bars now sports a lightweight silverado and the resident chameleon traded its Brooks for a vigo. So if your butt has been unhappy in its current relationship then perhaps you should come down to the bike coop and test out some alternatives.

High End Mtn Bike Hub Showdown

In two years riding downhill I’ve blown through two rear hubs. Each time I’ve replaced the hub with same hub – a deore xt. You just can’t beat the price at around forty dollars new (or free o’clock if you rebuild one). The harsh reality is that while excellent hubs for commuter bikes they don’t stand up to the rigors of downhilling and dirt jumping. As a result I’ve decided to buy something nice and enjoy improved performance and longevity. Through the Bike Coop I can purchase some of the best hubs on the market including Dt Swiss, Hadley, Hope, Industry Nine, Shimano, and White Industries.

After hours of research I’ve decided my dream wheel set would consist of Hadley hubs laced to Dt rims. I spent a lot of time on various websites and forums like mtbr and ridemonkey to read about people’s experiences and opinions. Perhaps the best review I read on the subject I found here at Dropmachine.com. If you have an opinion on the subject feel free to come by the shop or drop in on at a meeting.

P.S. The True Precision Stealths sound really interesting.

Custom Mtn Bike Build

People steal bikes. Even crappy bikes. A freshman came through the shop other day and told me a familiar sob story. He didn't have a lot of cash but his $300 mountain bike had recently been jacked and now he had nothing to ride through Wilder. It took two weeks to get all the parts in but I'd bet money this bike is twice as much fun as his previous ride.

If you're in the market for a bike come in and talk with us. We can discuss your needs and budget and build something custom tailored to your needs. Prices start around $150 for a solid commuter.

Parts List
Frame: Rocky Mountain Ridge
Fork: RockShox Tora
Brakes: Avid BB5s
Wheels: Xt Hubs laced to Sun Rims
DriveTrain: 1x8 Shimano Acera

Dia de los Muertos Alley Cat.

We invite you to come out for the fifth annual Dia de los Muertos Alley Cat. It's organized by some of our friends from Ped-X and the Bike Church. This is a 30-ish mile tour of the hilly, lush, foggy, ritzy, and dilapidated neighborhoods and wild lands of Santa Cruz County. Something between an alley cat and a 'cross race and the effing scenic tour. Organized by messengers. Open to everyone. Benefits the local needle exchange and harm reduction projects. Food. Beer. Prizes. Visit the face book page here.
Hope to see you there.
-matt

Traffic Cyclocross Builds

Here are the latest builds from Max and I. Max I and got matching frames except I got mine equipped with S&S couplers. Both of us are short but wanted to have frames that allowed for wide 700c tires.

Although both of us are residing in the Bay Area, we hope to come down and ride through Wilder as much as we can. Max is currently working at the Sports Basement in San Francisco and I'm working at Recycle Bicycle in Berkeley and working as a production intern. Seriously, being an active member of the Bike Coop pretty much guarantees you a job leaving college. This is pretty useful if you're like Max and I, who got degrees in Music and Film.

The frames were built by Traffic Cycle Design. Traffic Cycles is run by Spencer Wright, a former Bike Coop core member, now based in New York. Spencer makes bikes of all shapes and sizes, from monster cargo bikes to elegant belt driven bikes.

Max has a lighter and more modern build with a SRAM Force group set and an Ultegra/Open Pro wheel set.

My set up is a mix of old and new. It features dia comp bar end friction shifters, Sugino Alpina compact cranks and a 105 group set. The shifters and the cranks can be ordered through our distributor Velo Orange.

The Gran Cru brakes and Nitto m12 rack are also from Velo Orange. We currently have a set of the brakes in black at the shop.

The cables on the frames are routed on the top of the bikes to prevent mud and dirt from interfering with shifting. My bike is equipped with cable connectors to allow for quick dismantling.

The bikes have a braze on where you can attach a pulley that allows the use of a bottom pull derailleur. This picture also shows the downtube coupler that can be loosened to take apart the bike in half.

I built the rear wheel using a lacing pattern called three leading three trailing. The Bike Coop is a great place to learn how to build wheels. If you're interested, ask a core member and they can guide you through the process. It's not difficult but, it does require patience. It is definitely worth the investment of time and money as hand built wheels will last you a lot longer than machine built wheels.

If you are interested in building up a bike, let us know what you are interested in and we can hep you out. We have many distributors and can order parts that we don't usually stock. Keep in mind, build up a bike from scratch is usually more expensive than buying a bike complete. The benefit is that you get a better bike with parts you picked out and the satisfaction of putting together a bicycle yourself. We can also order other bike related items such as clothing and bags. I'll save that info for another blog post.

Xtracyle

The Xtracycle is definitely one of the favorite bike modifications here at the coop.

I recently used mine to pick up two donations. It was an interesting ride to say the least.

Busy studying (or not) for finals week

I couldn't get this BMX video to embed properly so just hit the link.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/142681/

Premier Tweed Ride on Sunday, May 30th

In honor of National Bike Month, Santa Cruz bicycle riders are holding what may be the first ever “Tweed Ride”, departing from the in the Windmill cafe (21231E Cliff Dr) Santa Cruz, CA, at 10am, Sun. 5/30/10.

It will include Santa Cruz bicycle riders, in a somewhat loose interpretation of1800's period costume. Think tweed vest, button down cap, straw hats,and billows of white cotton! The 13 mile round trip will begin at approximately 11am, with pre-ride specials and lectures, beginning at10am. At the end, there will be an (invite only) After Party, beginning at 4pm at the Windmill Cafe. Expect killer burgers and suds ...

With the trip being 6.5miles each way, the group should arrive at Wilder Ranch, (near Interpretive Center and Victorians) between 11am and Noon, for a light picnic.Then, we will head back to the Windmill Cafe.

For more info. ArtBikeSantaCruz.com or email Slimm@SlimmBuick.com or call (831) 440-7699 or 252-5430

Traffic Track Bike

This frame showed up one morning at the Coop. It belongs to an ex core member who's off traveling. While he's away the rest of us are perfecting our skids. The frame was hand built by another ex-core member, Spencer Wright, who owns and runs Traffic bikes.