Some Bicycle Things I’m Stoked About On A Friday, May 22nd, 2026.
Claire and I were hanging out with our friend Penny on the Good Sir Martin climb today. Well, actually, we were just taking a long pause on our ascent to enjoy a nice bit of shade and an amazing cross breeze. Another rider passed through, and in our brief exchange of pleasantries, she mentioned that it was “sneaky hot” and that’s been at the front of my mind since. It was a beautifully brief but perfectly precise description of the weather.
We were on our way up to ride Dale’s Trail for Claire’s first time. She was fully prepared to walk a few features, I was preparing myself for some of the stuff she would probably ride, and we were randomly talking about her only time riding Squamish. Back when she was on 20″ wheels. In 2021. A fond memory:
Andrew, aged 64 since I was 16: “Claire, what did we ride in Squamish?“
Claire, aged 7: “YOUR MOM!”
So many amazing trails, so little time? Generally, when we ride elsewhere, we head east and add in a visit with Gramma or some Mario Kart with Uncle Crash Test. But I have promised that we’ll make a trip up to Squish this summer, on a weekday, when it’s not too hot, and preferably after there’s been some recent precipitation. I’m thinking some combination of trails including Somewhere Over There, which Claire will love, but I’m open to purple-to-black trail suggestions.
{Photo: MEATengines}
{Photo: Crash Test Kevin}
On the subject of plans, if you’re North Vancouver adjacent, own a one-speed mountain bike, would be keen on a mixed-ability ride with other folks who also ride one-speed mountain bikes, and aren’t on my old Single Speed Sunday e-mail list, please check in. Claire and I are planning an S³ ride in June.
Also, on the subject of plans, we’ll be on course at next week’s NSMBA Fiver on Seymour so be sure to say hello if you’re racing or riding. Fivers have a fun vibe and kick back funds to the local trails, and sponsors are all known for putting on a great spread afterwards. I mean, beats scrolling the news on a Thursday evening?
{Photos: MEATengines}
PMW Is Saved!
Or, well, at least their designs will live on. This is great news for folks building frames, and folks who own frames with Paragon parts, and just generally as a little bit of sunshine in a hard year for the bicycle industry. I don’t know anything about Firsthand Framebuilding beyond the fact that they clearly have big dreams and I love that. Here’s the release:
“Paragon Machine Works, a longstanding manufacturer of bicycle framebuilding components and tools, has sold the entirety of its intellectual property to Firsthand Framebuilding, a framebuilding supply and education company based in Portland, Oregon. The sale includes 100% of Paragon’s design and copyright property, its brand name and trademark assets, as well as all of the associated tooling required to manufacture Paragon’s vast catalog of supplies.
Firsthand Framebuilding is a current Paragon dealer and the North American distributor for Reynolds steel/titanium bicycle frame tubing. Set to launch a much-anticipated framebuilding school in Portland this fall, Firsthand Framebuilding was founded as a resource for framebuilding education and a supplier of best-in-class tools and equipment associated with the trade. The alignment between Paragon and Firsthand helped facilitate this agreement.“
{Photo: Firsthand Framebuilding}
Trail Builders
Failing consistently to achieve one of my stated goals, I don’t spend nearly enough words on MEATengines sharing the deep thanks I feel for the folks that truly drive the activity of mountain bicycling. That is, of course, the trail builders who build the trails we ride and, therefore, the true underlying culture of mountain bicycling. I’m so stoked about all the fresh work we’re seeing on the North Shore, and in our infrequent sojourns abroad, and we’re so thankful for the hours of labour that go into those rolling seconds of “WOW!” Thank you, folks!
We certainly don’t consider ourselves ‘builders’ but I try to take Claire into the woods to do our ‘forest chores’. You know what they say: no dig, just ride! Wait. Uh. Anywho, we spent a few hours on Wednesday raking and the next day Claire was pretty certain her arms were going to fall off. It’s funny how digging on trails and grinding up them are so similar. On the face it just sounds like work, but in the moment that hard won progress is an amazing feeling.
Our goal between now and hockey season is to be out for a few hours every-other-week at minimum. I’m sharing it here for some accountability. After all, if we make time to ride we can probably also make time to dig.
{Photo: MEATengines}
IMBY Climb / #1FG
This week, The Clairebarian pedaled up Stephen Seagull’s IMBY Climb for the first time. And, I really do mean she pedaled up it. Sure, she used some third-gear on her #1FG rig, but so did I. This time, and every time. It’s funny, IMBY has been around so long that it feels like it’s always been there. And yet, I still remember my first time riding it. Almost every corner is a proper challenge and to quote Claire “it’s hard to restart!” The stats {111m elevation gain or 921m distance} really don’t do it justice.
What’s particularly nifty, to me, is that my first-ever ride up IMBY was also on my single-speed. I’ve done it a few times on a many-geared bike, but as with the following ‘Therapy’ series of climb trails, it’s a neat shared #1FG experience. Claire was exhausted after but she’s hungry to go back and, despite having ready access to a multi-speed rig, she’d rather ride her one-speed, and that’s pretty cool.
My grom’s shared love of great climbing trails like No Quarter, R&R, Kerry’d Away, Big Trouble in Little Chainring, and now the combination of IMBY, Physiotherapy, Shock Therapy, and Psycho Therapy, is a joy. And I’m stoked that she hates to love single-speeding up IMBY as much as I do.
Grom Grit, Grom Growth
I’m fond of saying that the second child is much like the rear tire of a mountain bike. You know, as long as it mostly follows behind the first it can be skidding side to side and bouncing off stuff and no one is too worried about it. On the other hand, when it does take the lead, well, look out.
My rear tire, I mean, younger brother, Crash Test Kevin {CTK} went hurtling straight over my head this week when he texted the masthead photo for this week’s SBTISAOAF straight to my mom with zero context. Thanks, Crash Test. Thanks a lot. I don’t mess with Gramma, so I was back on my heels when I received a message from her about the photo Claire she had received, checking in to be certain that the kid was making good decisions. Yeah mom, she’s collected, calm, considerate. Know your limit, ride within it. Right?
Truth told, I’m not entirely ready for the amount of progression that’s happening right now. But I watch the kid ride and, while sh*t certainly happens in the forest as in life, she’s as in control as any rider I know. Smooth is fast and smooth is also smooth. I’m not entirely certain where my grom grows from here, but I’m trying my best to trust the experience and stoked to be along for the ride.
{Photos: Crash Test Kevin}
{Photo: Penny Deck}
The Greatest Frame Finish Ever
Misspent Summers absolutely nailed it with the finish on their Marin Quake. It stands out, but it’s also stand-up. Sharing history and shouting out a long time supporter. I’m so stoked about this and can only imagine the potential for brands to layer nostalgia under a glossy clearcoat. Absolutely worthy of a trip over to their Instagram account and, of course, they have a cool site and make cool ‘zines rooted in a shared history at Dirt Mag, so it’s always worth a trip there to see what’s new as well.
{Photos: Misspent Summers}
Climbmax
I’ve been riding quite a bit lately. Mostly with my grom. I mean, I know that second bit is obvious. This is MEATengines, no promises on the frequency or filling of the content we’re baking for the tens of readers out there. And, I’m stoked on quite a bit of stuff going on in the world of mountain bicycles, and 50,000:1 club, right now. I cleared through most of the back log of About a Single Speed submissions and then received a few more, thank you. I’m stoked to see how many weeks in a row we can muster.
This week you’ll see some long overdue review updates. Next week, too. Claire and I are overdue to overhaul a couple of well abused Project 321 hubs (G2, G2.5, and G3) so we’ll see that. I have plenty of hours on my re-axled PNW Loam pedals and will talk about those vs. the Wolf Tooth and Outlier pedals I’ve also recently run on my Will’s Chromag.
Thanks for reading,
Andrew
Larry Talker Tunes: By Andrew
I didn’t know that ‘Math Rock’ was my thing, but the song Utzp is totally my jam and the rest of the Quebec band Angine de Poitrine’s album, Vol.II, is growing on me from there. The following song Yor Zarad goes, and so does the track Sherpa.
This was not an accidental discovery on my part, but rather something that Marty Shortt, of Solaris Mini-Stapler fame, sent me with the following description: “This may be a little left field. I’ve just picked up the album on Bandcamp so some processing to do but on initial listen it’s great. Kinda like King Gizz x Battles x Primus.”
Anywho, here’s the link to Vol.II for folks that want to give it a listen on YouTube, and also the link to Angine de Poitrine Vol.II on bandcamp for folks that would like to purchase the album.
Enjoy!
{Photo: Angine de Poitrine}
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