Frostbike Frenzy

Over the weekend Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) opened their headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota to an onslaught of bike shop employees anxious to see what both in-house and outside vendors had to offer for the upcoming cycling season.  For most of us, it was a chance to get our hands on some of the latest and greatest that we will be able to stock in our shops and service departments this year.  Lucky for you, I brought my camera and here are some of my favorite things from the show: 

Campagnolo Record 11 Speed Electronic

First thing Saturday morning, I found myself in the front row of the Campagnolo demonstration and hands on for their brand new Record 11 Speed, and my pictures just don't seem to do it justice.  I enjoyed the hands on-time because I know that if I'm really, really, lucky our shop will get to install one or two systems tops this year.  

This initial year is going to be a very limited run of parts, so if this is in your price range, be prepared to order early, or wait for a long time.  The good news for you is that Freewheel is certified to work on this stuff.  

Surly, Surly, Surly.

One fun thing with a brand like Surly is that they make bikes that are made to be ridden, customized and personalized in just about any way that you can think of.  While some other brands, showed off stock bikes that I could easily see online, Surly took the occasion to show off some of the stuff that their employees have Frankensteined together.  My favorite was the "Fat Bike Lite" that they were showing off.  A 1x1 Frame, Moonlander Fork, with Large Marge Lite Wheels and Schwalbe Big Betty Tires.  This one really had my gears turning for a winter bike build for next year.     

Another eye catcher from Surly was their Ultra New Hub.  So what has actually changed from the New Hub?  A lot.  While we love Surly products, their previous hub design left a lot to be desired.  Anything other than a perfectly adjust hub could result in some quickly worn bearings which needed replacement.  With the Ultra New Hub, the entire axle system has been revamped and gets two-thumbs up from the service department!  For the consumer the big bonus is that it can be either quick release or bolt on without changing the axle.  For the cherry on top of the chocolate sundae, current Surly hubs and be upgrade simply by purchasing a new axle set.

Speed Round:

Salsa: No need to rub your eyes, what you see in the picture is exactly what you think it is, a full-suspension fat bike.  Unfortunately this isn't yet a reality, just a prototype from Salsa, but with as polished as this was, you can bet that this will be coming soon.......

   

45 North: Speaking of fat tire bikes, 45 North showed off a studded fat tire, of course is was frozen into a real block of ice... not sure how much of that was left by Sunday...

Problem Solvers: Having regrets about that track frame?  Wishing that you could shift gears like all the cool kids?  Problem Solvers has your back.  This chain tensioner with a derailleur hanger will turn that Nature Boy into a hill-climber in no time.

If there's a way to do it wrong...

I just attended the Park Tool Tech Summit in Minneapolis followed by a day of training from Shimano. The Park Tool Tech Summit is a two day hands on training seminar for bike shop mechanics. We are taught by the best mechanics (not sales reps) from manufacturer's like Shimano, Sram, Mavic, Park Tool, FSA, Cane Creek, Campagnolo, Fox, and of course Park Tool.

Throughout these three days I was constantly reminded of a saying that goes something like, "If there's a way to do it wrong, someone will do it." I kept seeing things get put back together wrong and kept hearing the instructors warn us that if we don't do X then Y will happen. Y was always something bad, like "You will break this expensive carbon spoke." Or "The chain will fail during use."

In the Mavic class I saw a Carbone spoke re-installed using the wrong lacing pattern. I did see a new Mavic free hub design which looked much better than there old ones.

But the scariest thing was the R-Sys wheel design. You see, the spokes are a solid carbon rod. They don't flex or bend. So Mavic put a spoke retainer ring inside of the hub so that the spokes don't get pushed back into the hub under heavy loads. The only problem is that you can't true the wheel unless you remove the axle and take out this ring. Oh yeah, when you take out this ring you will probably ruin it so you'll want to make sure that you have a replacement ring before you start. The Mavic techs told us about someone that was not aware of this ring and broke a spoke while trying to true a wheel.

At the Shimano clinic we learned about OE chain pins and the power tool used to install them.

It looks like this.

Yep, that's a chain pin installation tool. It's used by bike manufacturer's to install chains on their bikes. It's much faster than the hand tools that we use. The problem that this presents is that they have to use a "special connecting pin" made specifically for manufacturer's, it's no the same as the "special connecting pin" that we are used to. That special chain pin cannot be installed correctly with a hand tool. But unfortunately some chains get shipped to shops and sold to customers with that OE chain pin part way installed. If we install it with our hand tools the chain is likely to break.

We serviced a Cane Creek Double Barrel air canister. It was super simple to do. But if you look at the schraeder valve it looks like it's pointed the wrong way. I asked if the air canister could be installed the other way. I was told that it was possible but that it air would leak out.

By the way, Can Creek has there SHIS together when it comes to headsets.

FSA seems to be all about bottom brackets and bottom bracket adaptors. But we noticed that one of their press fit bottom brackets can be installed backwards.

Notice that they put an arrow next to the L and the R. That's to make sure you press the correct side into the frame. FSA showed us how to fully disassemble their cartridge bearings for a complete service. They made us promise not to tell anyone else how to do it because they were afraid that someone would do it wrong and blame them.

In the Park Tool clinic Thad and I tapped a head tube. I'll give you a couple seconds to think about that one. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi.

The Park Tool class covered a lot of frame prep like facing and chasing. Well, Thad and I have done all that so we were kinda bored. It started out as a joke to see if Calvin Jones would notice us putting a bottom bracket tap into a head tube. He noticed but his reaction was not what we expected. You could see by the look that he got on his face that he was thinking, thinking about press fit diameters and nominal thread descriptions. Then a light went off, IT WOULD WORK!

Calvin told me that I could have the old frame after the summit was over so that I could try to tap the head tube. Thad must not have been paying attention because during the next lab section he started tapping the head tube. As Calvin walked by he was amused and somewhat disappointed because he still needed that frame for three more classes the next day. But again he got excited. The threads were perfect. He soon got to work trying to find a bottom bracket bearing that we could install that a fork would fit through. Of course FSA had a 30mm I.D. out board bottom bracket bearing. We spend the rest of the summit joking around about this new headset standard.

I've been a bike mechanic since 1996 and this is the first year that I have felt that parts manufacturer's have forgotten the saying, "If there is a way to do it wrong, someone will do it." So many of these wrong ways to install things could have been prevented with a little forethought. So just a heads up, make sure you read the instructions before you start working on something, even if it's a simple wheel true.

Give blood: ice racing!

Despite the fact that we're having the wimpiest Minnesota "winter" I've ever seen, 2012 turned out to be another good year for the growing trend of ice bike racing. I first tried my hand at homemade studded tires two years ago for the City of Lakes Loppet and decided to give it another try this year. I learned some valuable lessons last time, namely don't skimp on studs. So this time around I had to visit several local hardware stores to come up with enough #8 x 3/8" and #8 x 1/2" pan-head sheet metal screws to get the job done. The pile you see in the top photo is nowhere near the final total I wound up using (I lost count, but I think I had 350-400 studs in the front tire alone).

I also improved my construction process this time, using a 2x4 on end to support the tire while predrilling the lugs from the outside. This serves two purposes: it makes it easier to find the lug from the inside of the tire when installing screws (they're installed with the points facing out) and (this one is conjectural) it reduces the chance of a lug splitting when a screw is installed.

By the time I was done both ends of the 2x4 looked like they had a bad case of termites. And of course the tool end of the screws isn't as pointy as the business end, but you still have to line the tire with something to protect the inner tube. This year I cut up some old inner tubes and held them in place on the inside of the tire with duct tape.

And after several hours of very tedious work, I finally had a bristling set of race tires. Here's a close-up of the front...

...and here's the rear. And yes, my race bike is equipped with V-brakes. Anyone remember those? Something about V-brakes on an old, beat-up Surly 1x1 makes me smile.

The other fun part of this project was rigging up my Bikes at Work trailer to haul my race bike. Not like it was terribly involved--most of the work is done by a Saris fork mount which does a great job of holding the bike in place. I have to wrap the front wheel in a towel (not shown) to keep it from chewing the heck out of everything else while I'm towing. Which brings me to my safety message: it's a rare interaction with ice-racing tires that doesn't involve bloodshed; those babies are sharp!

Which is, of course, the point. With the number of studs I had in these tires, I had incredible grab even on pure ice-rink conditions. I could come screaming into a sharp corner, stick out my inside foot and get off the saddle towards the inside, and pretty much lay the bike down to horizontal without losing control. Though that technique requires building up a good head of steam into every corner, which would require that I be in a little better race fitness than I actually am, but even with both feet on the pedals I could lean the bike over pretty well. I was able to make plenty of outside-of-the-corner passes around riders who were tiptoeing around the track on their factory studded tires.

Altogether it was another fun project, and I highly recommend giving it a shot. Just be prepared to set aside a couple weekend afternoons and have your work gloves handy!

[Edit, Feb 14, 2012--Here are a couple shots of me trying to lean it over on a frozen lake in northern Minnesota on a subzero day. The ice was so hard because of the low temps that I couldn't really pitch it in, but you get the idea...]

Line Up!! Amp Research Service Kits Are Back In Stock!!

Get your rebuilds done while they last. These kits tend to go fast.

How do I tell if my fork/shock needs service?

This is like asking a dentist how often you should brush your teeth. Most suspension manufacturers recommend having your components serviced once a year, minimum. For most people that's enough to ensure your fork/shock has a long life of solid performance.

Ruined fork stanchion. Don't wait this long!

But if you're the kind of person who waits until something is broken before you have it serviced, here's what to look for:

1) Does the fork/shock hold air? Rapid air loss is a sign that your air piston seals are damaged or worn. Or worse, that the metal sliding surfaces which those seals contact are damaged. Time to have it worked on.

2) Do your external adjustments make any difference? Turn your rebound adjuster all the way one direction, compress the fork and watch the speed of the rebound stroke. Now turn the adjuster all the way the other direction and do the same. There should be a noticeable difference. Try the same thing with your lockout or platform adjuster (see below for more on lockout issues). If you don't see a difference, either oil is sneaking past damaged seals or has broken down to the point where it can't do its job.

Scratched rebound shaft

3) Does it make any unusual noises? Grinding, clunking and slurping sounds are signs that you're way overdue for service. This is like waiting for your car to start smoking before you change the oil. In a rear shock, swishing or slurping (or in some cases squeaking or barking) means that the damper oil is cavitated (full of emulsified air), in which case it needs to be overhauled.

4) Does the lockout work? On some forks the first sign something is wrong is that the lockout gets soft or won't engage until part way into the travel. This is because of oil loss or degradation and is a good indication that the fork needs service.

5) Are you still getting full travel? If your damper seals or shafts get so worn out that oil is leaking out of the damper into the lowers, it will eventually be so full of oil that it can't compress all the way. This can feel like a metal-on-metal bottom-out. Typically this means your rebound shaft is scratched and needs to be replaced. In this case you should go back in time and have it serviced earlier. Or just have it serviced and expect to need to replace some parts.

So if your suspension is acting/sounding funny OR it's been over a year since your last service OR you've been riding at Cuyuna, give Shockspital a call or email and we'll figure out what you need.

Old forks and old bikes, when is when and riding in snow...

This is what a terminal illness looks like for a suspension fork.

  A lot of forks come through the door here and as far as I know Shockspital repairs more older forks than anyone. The hard question is always "Is it worth saving?".
  For as long as Shockspital has been around I have maintained that it doesn't cost anything to find out if it is saveable so when a fork comes in, especially an older one we look to answer this question first.
  With older forks we do try and give special consideration to special situations. Exceptional bikes that were born to early to purchase replacement forks for now are a common problem.
  Bontrager and Klien are two big exceptions we have to work with. A 1997 Judy is not a fork worth the $125 to $200 it takes to rebuild it but if you have an old Racelite or Attitude it might be worth to you. (I would recommend a thorough and honest look at the bike before you decide to make the investment). So we maintain parts and tools to work on this older stuff.
  But do not count on the rebuild service to save your bacon if your stanchions look like this. Old or new forks are vulnerable to this kind of wear if you don't maintain them. Whether its a new Fox or a Halson Inversion you have to keep the stanchions clean. This is a bigger deal than ever during winter riding. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
1. Water, aluminum, steel and magnesium are just four things that can be found in your fork most of the time, but winter riding can add salt! Then you have all the ingredients to make a low voltage batter that will grow corrosion inside your fork quicker than grass through a goose.
2. Dirt and mud and the grit they contain are easily wiped off during most riding. Your fork is prepaired to handle these elements . But when you add snow and ice this fine particulate matter is not as easily wiped away. The dirt that is the finest is the most damaging and snow and ice can keep this packed on your stanchions for an entire ride.
3. Oil viscosity changes in the cold weather. Thus the now colder and thicker oil applies more resistance to everything inside the fork including its self. The pistons in your damper are meeting more resistance than normal because of the higher viscosity oil; this will change your damping and in the case of some older Manitous and Rockshox it could actually snap the piston off your damper shaft. (most oils don't have enough viscosity change to do this anymore).
4. Lubricating oils don't move as freely in your fork so your bushing stay dryer and wear faster as well as increasing wear on your stanchions.
5. And lastly, as everything in your fork gets cooler; all the rubber gets harder. Worse case scenario is your Pace fork might collapse totally as the seal gets to rigid to seal air or your Fox might puke its guts out of the upper seal and all over your disc brake (yuck!).
  This doesn't mean don't ride suspension in the winter, this stuff is made to be broken; its the price of admission. We aren't knitting scarves here. BUT you will have to take better care during the season.

• Keep your mountain bike off the streets (that's where the salt is). Salt is hard to beat and contamination is minute and invisible till things go south.
• Wipe your fork with a soft rag when you are done (before and after your bike thaws).
• Fork oil is a mess but an ideal lubricant for your wiper seals before and after a ride (a little triflow works well also). This will keep your seals from stiffening up and sticking to the stanchions while riding. Just wetting the seal with a gooey rag is enough.
• Replenish your air pressures often. Just like in a car tire, temperature changes will affect your pressure. (coils hand the cold WAY better).
• Some forks, older Manitous and cheaper Rockshox  Dukes and Psylos (non lock out XC models) will live longer staying home below freezing.
• Your Bontrager Racelite and its 96 Judy SL should not be let out in anything less than a perfect spring day.

Hopes this helps,
B Rose

Wanna See The Unicorn Dust

Inside of a lefty.

The Lefty and what's so right about it!

  People ask me what I think about the Lefty all the time. It is probably the best suspension fork ever made in my mind with one major weakness; It needs to be maintained. And when I say it needs to be maintained I mean that in all caps, IT NEEDS TO BE MAINTAINED!
  The Lefty is race equipment. Its not like other forks that have different levels or cheaper models. All Cannondale Lefty forks are expensive to buy and repair. You can ignore and abuse most telescoping forks for a while but the Lefty will not tolerate it.
  I see people convert leftys for 29ers and Fat bikes a lot lately, so many of these forks have been sourced on Ebay that people really don't know what they cost and they never see an owners manual for them. So here are some things to know:

Big T finishing off a full Lefty service.

1. If your Lefty has been submerged; you need to rebuild it.
2. If you have ridden your lefty in bad weather for a while; you should have to boot lifted up and have the fork cleaned up. Any dirt could cost you a water bottler full of cash to repair.
3. You should rebuild your cartridge one a year.
4. If your boot is ripped replace it immediately! A TORN BOOK WILL KILL YOUR LEFTY.

  Tyson and I are always willing to talk to you about your lefty and we service quite a few of them. This is the time of year that a Lefty might not be the best choice for an everyday rider but if you take care to maintain it you and your lefty will be ok.
  We also service all Leftys and Headshoks . Stop by Shockspital.com if you would like to send in your lefty for service.

Cannondale, Cannondale, Cannondale!

Our life of making your lives easier just got easier. Shockspital has always worked on Cannondale suspension components. Over the years we have managed to scrape together a decent collection of spare parts and o-rings for all the Leftys and Headshoks that you send us. Sometimes another shop will discover a big pile of Headshok parts in the back of their parts room and send it to us because they know we'll use it.

But as of this week, Shockspital is officially a Cannondale small parts dealer. This means that we now have direct access to the parts that we need to keep your Lefty/Headshok working like new and to get your Cannondale MTB back on the trail quicker.

So add Cannondale to the list of suspension companies (Manitou, RockShox) who are helping us provide the best service we can to you, the customer. And add Shockspital to the list of people who are breathing a sigh of relief. Man, was I tired of hand-knitting replacement Lefty boots...

No Winter Overhauls on Groundhog Day

Our annual Winter Overhaul Special ends when this month ends, pretty much at the same time. In other words, if the phone rings on February 1, and a customer says "I've been preparing for the family Groundhog Day feast (little varmints are elusive this time of year) and I haven't had time to bring my bike in," we'll say "Yuck," and "Sorry."

Once that corpulent rodent drags his sedentary self out into the daylight to inspect for his shadow, we consider it spring regardless of the outcome. Our Winter Overhaul is still drastically reduced right now, so if your rig needs some work, this is the time to get it done. Don't let a bloated rat get in the way of optimal bike performance!

Question: What kinds of things happen to my bike during a Winter Overhaul?

Answer: Good question! Read all about it here.

Free pickup and delivery. Yep, we'll come to your house, get your bike, spirit it off to our wokrshop, let our helper elves do magical thingies to it, and bring it back all sparkling precious, ready for spring to spring.

Right now, there is barely any wait involved. We can promise no such thing after the groundhog has emerged.



Save the money toward some sweet rear window louvers for your '86 Camaro.

Manitou Absolute+ Tuning Awesomeness

A while back I was assigned to guinea-pig around on a demo Manitou fork. Was I a bit concerned, you ask? More than a bit, I reply! I had ridden, observed, and worked on recent iterations of Manitou forks, and they had been gabbage for a while. They hit their nadir in about 2004, which is about when I gave up and became a fan of another company's suspension offerings.

These new forks, I was assured, are completely different. They feature the Mars air-assisted coil spring (of which I was suspicious), a brand new damper (of which I was suspicious), a new crown casting which would be stronger than the previous one (of which I was suspicious), and a brand new feature: custom tuning (of which I was more than suspicious).

Then along came the Tower Pro into my life. I rode around with it, and it was nice. I put a 17 degree stem on the bike, flipped it, slammed it, and rode it around some more. Magical things began to happen: with the Absolute+ damping system and its subtle-to-pronounced platform settings, the bike felt lively and quick. The front wheel stayed planted in corners. The platform kept it from diving, and it is adjustable with the little red dial on top of the right leg.

But the real magic comes when you get done with a ride and say, "Meh. The fork didn't feel good today, and the little red dial wasn't doing it for me." With the Absolute+ damper, we can totally change what your fork feels like.

POWER TO THE SHOCK TUNERS!!!

Because Manitou has put the power in our hands to make your suspension what you want it to be, if you can describe what you want, we can make it happen. If you want lots of high-speed damping for big hits at speed, we can do that. If you want a solid platform for race day that opens up to linear-rate travel, we can do that. If you want progressive, non-bottoming travel for dirt jumping, we can do that. If you want maximum versatility because you have no idea what you're getting yourself into, we can do that!

For my demo fork, I felt that the stock platform was too firm and that the high-speed damping was preventing me from getting full travel. It felt a bit harsh in anything but the wide-open setting. I'm more of an XC guy than a trail guy, so I wanted the fork to be super linear whether the platform is on or off. Once I break that threshold, I needs me my travel.

So I shopped their handy super-secret tuning catalog, looking for something that would suit my needs. I found this setting and decided to give it a try:



But the platform was way too light! It broke free at 50 lbs of force, which is fine for smooth riding, but when I was cranking up a hill, I easily overwhelmed it. Maybe for an 80 lb. junior racer, but not for a 180 lb. cannonball.

I figured I would need more than double that to be truly happy in life. By my specious calculations (involving some serious rounding) on the back of a random receipt, I discovered that I could get around 115-120 pounds by changing the platform shim from 1.5mm to 2.0mm.


Fan-doodly-tastic! Now to actually make it happen!


This is the red dial of fun. I will eventually get the optional MILO handlebar remote kit so that all this fun is accessible without getting my hand tangled up in my shift cables on rough trails.

Whoa, Nelly! Can you say "options paralysis?" This is the Absolute+ tuning kit. We have one at each location.

Thankfully, the stout yeomen from Hayes/Manitou/Answer/Sun/Ringle/Wheelsmith provided us with the super-secret tuning manual that features a color-coded cheat sheet. "Yes, but what if I'm colorblind?" Well, be sure and ask someone you trust before you leave the house if you pick out your own clothes.


Once you pull the compression damper, that 13 mm nut is the only thing holding it together!


OK, there's your entire compression damping assembly. Mine is pretty simple because I don't need a lot of high-speed damping. Otherwise there would be more shims in the stack, and they would be different sizes according to their function.


These two items are the only ones that matter for our purposes. The one on the left is called a clamp shim and comes in two different sizes that make a huge difference in the breakaway rate and feel of your platform. A bigger clamp shim means a more pronounced sense of break-away on your platform. The one on the right is the platform shim itself, and its thickness determines how much actual force is needed to overcome the lockout.

Confusing? It makes total sense when you feel the difference.



There you is. Now, into the fork you goes, mister .2mm shim! I'll leave everything else the same this time around.


And... slap it back together. I topped off the oil at the factory-specified height (with Motorex oil, of course!). Must not lose the detent BB's. They're little fellas.

Voila! It's a totally different fork now. Just honching around the shop demonstrated that I should be able to gorilla-climb without overwhelming the lockout, but the lower settings are pretty much the same as the middle settings with the previous shim stack. And the compression rate will stay nice and linear, just like I want it. It should be perfect! If not, I'm the guinea pig, so I'll try again!

So how will 115.3 pounds of lockout work for me? I'll find out tomorrow morning.

Real World Suspenion Tuning

Whoa! This could be the future of rear sus.

...This is the true story... of a room full of suspension tuners... picked to learn in a classroom...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real...SRAM TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, 2011 TunerPalooza.

Dbl D and a tool I just gotta have!

Many years ago I went to the RockShox compound in Colorado Springs learn about their forks and stuff. It was a different time in suspension. The Pure system was king. Names like Duke and Psylo were the hot topics of the day. Hippie Tech and the Angry Asian were the big tuners at the time and PUSH was about to happen in California. There was change in the air.

We spoke of Nitrogen! Unheard of.

Back then the education I got at Rock Shox was pretty wide open, I don't think anyone told my tutors not to tell me everything. For the last decade things have been different for sure. At best training from the factory was based on eye candy, sales pitch, free lunch, swag and then a trip home. You tended to feel a little dirty and guilty when it was all done; after a shower and some introspection you went back to the shop and figured out how to fix things on your own.

Well, what I am calling "TunerPalooza" was definitely a different beast entirely! Rock Shox spilt out all the pixie dust and unicorn oil for us to see. Illicit secrets were confessed and dirty laundry was aired and we all spoke freely (I did hold back a little as I have learned people look at me funny when I don't).

For me it was a great opportunity to connect with old friends and meet some legends of the industry.

With the major suspension companies really taking an "open source" policy with professional tuners and service centers the future is bright. The Shockspitals, Suspension Experts, Garage Works, Dirtlabs and Push' of the world have been tuning, rebuilding and repairing better than anyone for a long time (most have worked for the big three). It will be really beneficial for the companies like SRAM and Manitou that are building a nest in the trust tree for all of the professionals. Performance and Customer service will only improve with policies like this.

FOX is still keeping its secrets; we will see how that works out for them.

If a grenade went off...

Shockspital/Freewheel helped make history this week, taking part in the first-ever gathering of suspension gurus from across the country.

Get a bigger truck!

SRAM Technical University (STU) pulled together a veritable who's-who of suspension service shops at their facility in Colorado Springs for a two-day master class in being awesome. Pick any legend in the MTB suspension service/tuning industry who isn't currently working for one of RockShox's competitors, they were probably there.

And this wasn't your average Chuck & Dave's Comedy Hour kind of STU (okay, yes it was, but...). Instead of the usual pair of instructors--who do fine job on their own--SRAM threw everything they had at us. In the room at any given time were product managers, lead technicians, race mechanics, engineers, marketing staff, the folks behind the technical documentation, you name it. At several points there were as many SRAM/RockShox employees in the room as there were "students." Clearly there was something special going on here.

The group gathers for knowledge absorption

And in many ways what RockShox was doing is unprecedented. Not only had the attendees never all been in the same room together, we had never been treated to such unguarded candor from a major manufacturer before. Typical tech trainings are informative but very by-the-book; we learn the official way of doing things and don't get to see behind the curtain, to hear about the product eccentricities that often we have already discovered for ourselves, but have had to develop our own techniques for dealing with. But at this event we were treated like trusted insiders. RockShox was more interested in knowing how they could make our lives easier as suspension techs rather than getting us to toe the line and promise never to take apart their dampers.

Come in close, kids! Don't want to miss anything...

Our time, as usual, was split between the classroom and the lab. But again where this STU session differed from the norm is that the classroom time was a big group discussion, with equal amounts of information coming from all corners of the room. And in the lab, taking apart Boxxers, Monarchs, Vivids and Reverbs under the tutelage of an impressive team of experts, we got into such detail that the STU instructors were asking questions along with us. We now know things about RockShox rear shocks that are so privileged that I'm not allowed to blog about them! But rest assured that it's information that helps us do our jobs better.

Our friend Luby expertly attends to a Monarch

The best part is that this wasn't a one-time deal. The idea is for this first meeting to develop into a long-term relationship between us and SRAM. This has the potential to benefit everyone involved, not least of whom is you, the customer!

And though the folks from SRAM treated us very, very well, and are clearly very serious about this venture, don't forget that the first company to bring us into their trusted circle was Manitou!

What I did for my Winter Bike Expo!!

  This past weekend was the Winter Bike Expo, and it was a hit! We had seminars on things like Tire Science, Winter Maintenance, The Arrowhead Adveture Race and how to dress for the cold.
  There was food, beer, prizes, racing and beer.
  There were demos of fat tire bikes from Surly and Salsa and lots of sales and specials to help get you out fitted for this winters riding season.

As far as I can tell the Winter Riding Expo was a huge hit! Seminars on Winter riding, tires and Maintenance; as well as the Arrowhead. There was free beer and beer tasting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a good shot of me from the  side. Also in the background is the Midtown Bike Centers service leader and "Too Tall" Tyson of Shockspital fame.

Here is I am in a funny hat; and this little honey is the Beez Knees, literally... really she is!

This is me At the Festival enjoying, all the conferences

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 This is me about to mug these people. Shhhhh, be very very quiet.

Here I am telling a very funny story.

This is a self portrait I took while riding a Moonlander through a crowd of people.