Some Bicycle Things I’m Stoked About On A Friday, July 10th, 2026
Imagine, and I mean really take a moment to imagine, biting into a delicious BC blueberry. Yum. But, surprise, in front of the blueberry flavour there’s the initial sweet hit of amazing ripe strawberry. Then, your palate puckers into the perfect tartness of a handful of huckleberries. I’d never even heard of haskaps, the Lonicera caerulea, the circumpolar honeyberry, and wow, something was missing from my life. And, somehow they’re even better frozen!
Living on the same {low-rise multi-family building} street for a couple of decades, I’ve cyclically known a fair few of my neighbours and almost none of my neighbours. And sure, it doesn’t help that I’m almost as bad with faces as I am with names*. These days there are a few stalwarts who live in our building, plus Barkley the ironically silent dog, plus various folks we know well enough to wave to, and then there are Severin, Jono, and the fam, who live across the street. In my dad-decade of part-time gigs, I’ve worked a few stints at MEC {on the cash, night stock, in the shop}, and it’s through some overlapping hours, years ago, “stoking the fires of the members’ desires“** that I know Jono and Sev.
[Aside] Say what you will about Mountain Equipment Co-op & Mountain Equipment Company, in my experience, at the store level of both entities, they have an amazing track record of hiring awesome people. I’ve met some of the kindest and brightest {in all the ways} folks I know making a few flecks of pyrite over minimum wage to wear a name tag. Shoutout to ‘Staffanie’ for the best laugh I’ve had in the last decade.[/Aside]
Where was I? Oh, right, it’s Jono’s fault I’m fully a fiend for haskaps, so I figure a proper PPP shoutout is in order. For you North Vancouver adjacent folks with a hankering for the freshest-fresh that small {and smaller} producers in the Fraser Valley have to offer, but limited time to drive out to the ‘wack, shoutout Sev’s small Shore enterprise, Locally Fed. She sources valley products direct from the farmers, bakers, and makers, and distributes them every Tuesday from 4-6pm at 1400 Sutherland Avenue.
I mean, like most things buying & selling, it all comes down to the big reveal in my all-time favourite movie, Layer Cake. I probably don’t need to say more.
*{I’m so freakin’ sorry I didn’t recognize you today Nima! The dad-fog is real. Also, dude on the RAD Chromag hardtail on Ned’s yesterday, I swear I was just distracted by group-ride dynamics, but also, I spent the next hour drawing a blank. That’s twice now! Next time remind me your name! The Clairebarian says your bike is awesome though – consolation prize!}
**{This is the greatest EVER Terry Walker AKA Model-T AKA Larry Talker quotable. Dating back to Mountain Equipment Co-op in the 90s?!}
{All photos by Andrew unless noted.}
{Photo: Wikipedia}
I spent a lot of time pedaling bikes this week. That’s the single thing I’m the most stoked about. More miles on the combination of my SRT {Steve’s Ruined Talbot} and my Omnium ATB-Long but also on my hardtail as well. Highlights? Claire turning around on the Good Sir Martin climb and asking everyone on the Sensual Cycles ‘Chill’ Ride if the pace was good for them because, and I quote, “it’s good for me.” Oof; I swear she learns that from her mom. Also, today on my way home from running errands I stopped in for a chat with Gerard & Chaz at Cove Bikes.
I hear local folks grumping that there are no ‘old school’ bike shops around and everywhere thinks they’re the GAP and/or Louis-V but that’s a couple of wood-bench beauties and if you add Young-Dan {shout out, also, to Old-Dan} and the team at On Top Bike Shop there are plenty of options where the wrenching is rock solid and you’re not paying for bougie shop accoutrements.
{Art: Cy Whitling}
Pinner Machine Shop +18mm (x) +0.1mm headset cup
Single-speeding, as I’ve noted endlessly, ruins everything. You’ve been warned. And, for the record, in our local terrain it’s the winching as much as the plummeting that does it. Standing and pulling hard on a wide bar while pushing pedals is a lot different than sitting and spinning up those climbs. The only Kona Honzo ST frame I’ve broken, it was the top tube that cracked. Climbing to death.
Anywho, bought used and well ridden, and then abused by yours truly, my beloved ArctuHawk Voyager has suffered a booboo that I’ve been through before, multiple times, with other frames. Yes, “NO!,“, The dreaded ovalized headtube. To be beyond clear, this thing was acquired well used, has been over-forked, single-speeded, and ridden hard, and I’m not feeling like it owes me anything*. The challenge in writing about earned endings for products, and the same was true for my truculent Waltworks V2 & V2.5, is being certain to convey that responsibility lies with time and the agent of chaos {the rider} not the manufacturer. Besides, I have a plan.
When my 56mm lower cup pushed out so, so easily {no hammering required} I was already in the process of replacing it with my +18mm Pinner Machine Shop ‘Heads Up’ cup, maintaining my Will’s Arcturian’s geometry while moving to a shorter travel fork. The Pinner cup has a longer skirt so it did legitimately press-in, with a headset press, but still not with the bite that I’d like. But the good news is that Pinner Pete makes frame-saving +0.1mm headset cups. They’re not inexpensive, but they offer a massive potential value compared to replacing {or repairing} a frame.
*{Dear Chromag Fanbois – always dudes – please do not send me hate mail. I also think they make great stuff. My family owns a pile of it. I would absolutely buy a Primer Voyager as my next #1FG rig. Please note the part where I said “To be beyond clear, this thing was acquired well used, has been over-forked, single-speeded, and ridden hard, and I’m not feeling like it owes me anything“. That fact you “have <<X>> Chromag bike” and “you’re super shrederrific at bikes and have never had an issue” is both totally awesome {totally, awesome} and irrelevant to the fact my head tube is ovalized. Oh, yeah? Well, I hope that bear grabs you in the crotch too!}
Bill the Builder
It’s easy to forget how we arrived where we’re at unless if we’re reminded regularly. Already well hooked on mountain biking, the first trail I rode of note, by which I mean the first trail I mentioned with reverence, perhaps {definitely} even some terror, is called, well, Elevator. And the second, also on Burke Mtn, is called Vic’s {LiveLikeVic}. But the third! The third is called Krazy Karpenter. And the kindly lunatic who built Krazy Karpenter shredded on a super-rare Kona Score Ti hardtail with the original plus tire {24×3″} out back on the first proper mullet I remember seeing in action {26″ up front}.
Anywho, Krazy Karpenter {the trail and the persona} was built by Bill the Builder and he happened by the shop today. Chatting with Bill always sends me down Nostalgia Avenue {it’s like Memory Lane but it’s traffic calmed for bicycles} and I wanted to take a sec to say thanks for one of the trails that informed my passion for mountain biking. I hope you heal up fast and we’ll see you in the woods soon.
Dingle Deluxe
First up, cheers to folks who reminded me that they’d sent in About a Single Speed entries that I’d misplaced. Sorry. There’s a lot of e-mails in ye olde MEATengines inbox, so if I owe you one and you haven’t heard from me in a while, I appreciate the heya. I’m spending a fair few hours these days elbows deep in Slickoleum and fork oil, or riding with Claire, and I miss stuff.
On that note, I had a fair few inquiries about our first Dingle Speed entry, specifically around Jesse’s no-wheel-removal two-ratio setup. For the gear-curious, Jesse is running 32×18 and 28×22 and the equal tooth count keeps the chain tension consistent enough that there’s no adjustment needed to the sliding dropouts between those gears. He cannot, Jesse confirms, change gears without stopping but with the chain run fairly loose {narrow-wide rings} he can manually change gears without removing the back wheel:
“It’s also important to derail and rerail it cog first to avoid binding. If you have to push hard to get it off or on, you’re either doing it wrong or it’s too tight. I found out the hard way that even if you have everything set up perfectly, it is still possible to bend your chain.“
Anywho, more than anything I’m stoked about how many people are stoked about having an up gear and a down gear, or a ride-to-the-ride and then ride gear, or whatever. Okay, circumstance states that single-speeding isn’t for you, but maybe somewhere between #1FG and 13-speed two-battery double-sized derailleur & remote setups there’s a perfect compromise. It could be a friction-shifted 7-speed custom-cassette with a manual granny bail out, or, maybe, a dingle-deluxe? Either way, I’m almost as stoked on alt-drivetrains as on alt-bars.
{Photo: Jesse Einstein}
My ZimmerBuilt Bag
I’ve mentioned my Ohio-made ZimmerBuilt backpack previously, but after two months of use I wanted to plug Chris Zimmer’s handywork again. It’s super light, I wish all ‘mountain bike specific’ backpacks had similarly padded straps, and it’s proven comfy with some decent loadouts for local laps, including carrying snacks, layers, and two sets of timing equipment at the last NSMBA Fiver race that Claire and I volunteered at.
The giant external stuff pockets are great for holding my laundry {changing out super-sweaty gloves or jersey/T}, a wet weatherproof layer, that I don’t want saturating the rest of my stuff, when it stops raining or the temperature increases, and generally the packs proven svelte and limitless for my application. It’s going to take a fair few rides to amortize the cost of it, but the construction quality and features from this one-man-brand are top notch for an end product that’s fairly price competitive with mass-made industry stalwarts.
At some point I’ll post a more exclusive write-up, because I’m stoked about the pack and I can, but for now, suffice it to say that, despite not being cut for bike riding, I’m as stoked about this bag as anything I’ve bought for biking in years. Also, the cellphone pocket is perfect. They Zimmer packs are not inexpensive, so like most things bicycle I’m creating value by using it a ton.
If you’ve looked around at all the bike industry has to offer and there’s not a pack for you, I’m confident that future-Andrew is going to agree that past-Andrew’s ZimmerBuilt buy was a good one.
{Photo: Penny Deck}
Climbmax
Insert jokes about how I should just call it SBTISAOAS, but I did have most of this ready before I fell asleep on my laptop Friday! Lots going on these days and I’ve been wrenching more than expected. That said, every shop I’ve talked to this week is unseasonably slow in the service department so if you do have a pressing need, there may be a little lull happening at your favourite service location. Win-win.
Lots of almost-ready writing to go live over next couple of weeks and then we’ll basically be into the start of Cumberlandworx. Summer is rolling by quickly. With no school and no hockey for The Clairebarian I’ve really been enjoying how little driving I’ve been doing. A pedaling Mandrew is a happy Mandrew.
Larry Talker Tunes: By Andrew
If I ask my family one more time “Who is this?” when Goldie Boutilier comes on the stereo… I’d never heard of her but there’s something about that slightly-crunchy “Retro-Cinematic” Canadiana sound that grabs my attention every time.
The whole Goldie Boutlier Presents… Goldie Montana album holds me captive. Favourite song? Who Are You Gonna Worship Now is bold. Terrible Things is haunting. At The End Of The War is beautiful. The whole album is worthy of a couple of spins!
{Photo: Goldie Boutilier}
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