Yesterday, Thursday, marked the last day of the school year. As a creature of routine and weekday majordomo, summer vacation is always a weird time of year for me. Sitting, waiting for Claire, a couple of hundred meters from the school, separated by houses and trees, I listened as the entire neighbourhood was overtaken by the din of a few hundred kids counting down.
Five!
Four!
Three!
Two!
One!
*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeePPPPPPPPPP*
A cheer went up that was both joyful and berserk, and within a few heartbeats, Claire and a throng of kids exited the normally lightly used alternate entryway. The whole event was the manic meat in a strange-day sandwich.
Earlier in the morning, I had picked my way down Dale’s Trail with my friend Penny. Both of us riding her latest amazing rock-armouring endeavour for the first time. Proof, I suppose, that my foot is less of an anchor on my life these days as I return to riding more aggressive terrain and find myself asking around for work.
Later in the evening, I maturely {yes, this is me patting myself on the back} walked away from a ‘conversation’ with a local restauranter who was actively defending the fact that their customer had parked on the sidewalk. It’s a shitty restaurant anyway, so there’s no point in leaving a bad review or threatening to end my non-existent patronage, but, I mean, qu’ils mangent de la brioche much?
[Aside]
I’m certainly no oracle, but it’s impossible not to be cynically prescient about all things city when businesses are defending their customers’ parking on the sidewalk. In the bigger picture, I fear this is just the harbinger of an ongoing evolution that already includes ‘U-Turns always have the right-of-way’ and ‘Anywhere is a parking spot with my four-ways blinking.’
I’m not saying never scofflaw. And, let’s be honest, on the North Shore at least, a lot of folks treat the risk of a vehicular fine – cellphones, stop signs, excessive speed, etc. – as a ticket to doing what they want. And will do so until said penalties are tied to a significant multiplier that takes into consideration wealth and potential harm. For easy calculation, I’d suggest vehicle value and GVW. But, ending this digression, don’t drive on the sidewalk seems like Horseless Carriage 101.
[/Aside]
Yeah, so. TGIF. And yes, there are some things I’m stoked about this week. I was going to save numero uno for next week, when the frame is back in my hot little hands. But, it’s going to be a couple more weeks now until The Clairebarian’s return to riding, and there’s a bunch of other stuff going on, so might as well make s’mores while the stoke is burning, or something.
A WZRDly ATB Rebirth
Nina has a beautiful Chromag Sakura. From the last generation of Squamish-built bikes with 1-1/8″ headtubes and solid 135x10mm dropouts. *GASP* no replaceable hanger even. In the relative world of Chromag frames, it’s a lightweight and, having ridden one my size, they really do pedal with a certain beauty and grace. Albeit, with geometry that’s a closer match to today’s gravel rigs.
It’s been hanging out in our little bike room for years, as Nina’s had a couple more modern mountain bikes since, but it’s always been much too special to part with. Not a museum piece, mind you, bicycles are made to be ridden, wheels rolling until their eventual exhaustion, there was always some plan or another for the sweet Sakura.
With Nina’s bicycle commute changing to involve more gravel next year, it’s the perfect moment to rebirth the Chromag as an ATB – all terrain bike, any type (of) bike, another typical bicycle – with rack and fender mounts. The second such project, after my Waltworks V1, that we’ve asked WZRD Em to take on.
I can’t wait to press in a headset and start figuring out what parts don’t transfer across from her Surly {AHHHhhhhhahahahaha}. Actually, I can’t wait to see the frame in person. But for now, I’ll share the photos Em sent. Beauty work, as always.
{Above photos: Emma @ WZRD.Bikes}
Since Nina’s bike went under the torch, I’ve noticed quite a few older-geo mountain bikes and frames in beautiful condition. Some with rim brakes, some with disc brakes, and even some with both. A rare off-road Ken Legge, a Chromag Samurai, a Brodie Sovereign, a Dekerf-built Rocky Mountain, a Dekerf-built Dekerf. A collection of classic Kona frames and bikes, and more than a few made-in-Vancouver Rocky Mountains.
Most of them, the sort of too-fresh classic bikes folks would hang on their wall {blech}, all of them way over-priced in terms of modern mountain biking, and every one of them a more-than-fair value as a complete, or frame-only, ATB project.
It’s a good thing I am limited by space and funds, or my fleet of ATB-converted, beautifully riding, classic rigs with single-speed or 1×9 CUES U4000 conversions would be epic.
ATB’ing to Dream
As an infrequent visitor over these nearly twenty years, the pending closure of Dream Cycle is affecting me more than I ever would have guessed. It’s one of the last local examples of the sort of bike shop I grew up loving. Lots of wood, lots of tools, the smell of rubber, work stands in plain view as all conversations happen while wrenches are turning.
The person quoting your repair, or your fresh custom rig, or your esoteric special order part, or building your wheel is likely one and the same. Or there’s a small team of folks doing their best impression of Championship Vinyl.
I had a lovely pedal over to Darren’s shop this week. The temperature was perfect, traffic was light, all the other cyclists I met were friendly, and the tree-canopied and traffic-controlled streets of the greater Commercial Drive neighbourhood are a perfect example of how city cycling can be.
I made it over in a fairly fantastic time – that foot is coming along – and had a lovely cortado at Moja. A taste of North Vancouver, on the other side of the ocean. Then I strolled with my bike to Dream to pick up a special order and chat with Darren.
Anywho, if you’re Vancouver adjacent and have never been in, there’s great food, coffee, beer, etc. on Commercial Drive, so stopping by to check out the shop before Darren locks the door for the last time at the end of July is a multi-purpose trip. If you can’t ride from home, you can always ride from somewhere less busy!
I can’t believe how many folks I know in the Vancouver lower mainland who’ve never pedaled Vancouver’s traffic-calmed bicycle infrastructure. If you hate traffic, safe{r} bike routes are the best. Even if you don’t use them yourself, if it encourages other folks to make some trips on two wheels, that’s fewer folks conspiring to create gridlock for your car.
One {Mountain} Bike Life
While my Will’s Arcturian frame is receiving some elective surgery, I’m experiencing a one-mountain-biked-ness that I’ve not known in quite a few years. Oh, sure, now and then a rig will be down for maintenance, but this sense of going mountain biking, taking the mountain bike, is quite freeing.
I haven’t been rigid-forking with other folks much, unless they’re also in 50,000:1 Club, but I only had a couple of moments where I attempted to ride the Freeride BMX down ArctuHawk lines. A truly capable rigid mountain bike is still a rigid mountain bike.
I wouldn’t have reached for my Banshee Enigma today if it weren’t my only mountain bike rig for the moment. The forking forgiveness of my 170mm Durolux makes a big difference. But I felt great on the climb and then feathering those so-light Dominion four-piston brakes down some surprisingly slick root sections.
There will be lots to talk about {write about} when my Chromag is back in the bike room. But while F!rst L!ght Thomas works his magic, I am enjoying the grab-and-go, my only mountain bike is a rigid one-speed mountain bike life.
Kleversack Is Back!
But the sack came back, after many days. The sack came back, they thought it was a goner. But Kleversack came back; it just couldn’t stay away. Away, away*.
The Clairebarian is still loving her modified Kleversack, with the waist straps significantly shortened by Gramma. In terms of our project to have other folks try it, it’s ongoing with mixed results. Folks, like Crash Test Kevin, who despise hip packs also despise the long MEC bag. Folks who like hip packs tend to like this uniquely proportioned pack.
I continue to hold out hope that they’ll make a Kleverpack that combines all the mountain points, the roll-top and pocket-flap weatherproofiness, a full-face-friendly cut, and the durable materials to make my ultimate riding pack.
*{Don’t worry, 1893 is WAY outside of our one-decade rule for Larry Talker Tunes. There’s no Harry S. Miller waiting for you below.}
Anywho*, the Kleversack has been out of stock for quite a while, but has returned in an agate colourway that is definitely ready to match your classic Tilley hat or transport your copy of The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. It’s a cycling safari!
Okay, so jokes aside, the colour is growing on me, even if I do wonder about how it would look after a winter of wet rides. I know, I know, modern textiles. Either way, if you’re one of the folks thinking that a Kleversack may be the ultimate hip pack for your riding needs, they’re back in stock if you want to try one on. And if the fit & features are for you, but not the colour, be sure to pass that feedback on.
*{As I type this, The Clairebarian is telling me she loves the new colour and also seriously questioning my use of the word ‘Anywho’ at the start of the above paragraph. Everyone’s a critic?}
{Above photo: MEC Kleversack}
My Latest P321 G3 Wheel Build
I like Stan’s rims, but in this case the choice of an MK4 Flow was some reverse engineered cost-cutting craftiness. I needed to upsize one of my MX wheelsets to a 29″ rear for single-speeding Will’s Arctuhawk, and cutting out the Project 321 G3 made the most sense.
Firstly, I already had accurate hub dimensions without having to take the wheel out of rotation to measure. Then, through some trial and error, I used those dimensions and the {extra} spoke lengths I already own to see what rim ERDs would work for me.
With the significantly offset MK4 I could use the same length of spokes for both sides, and I happened to have 32x spokes of said length in silver to match my front wheel. A-maze-ing!
I haven’t built thousands of wheels, like the best wrenches I know, but I’m getting better {faster} all the time, and I’m really stoked on how nicely, with only the most minor corrections at the end, this one came together. Thanks to Nice Guy Geoff and Brixton Jim for all their patience in helping me chase perfection. Praise to Pope Jimmy for lending me his wheel-building bibles {that I still haven’t finished}.
A Stupen{ny}dous Rock Drain
The first thing you notice about Penny’s new corner on Dale’s Trail is probably not that the suspended rock armouring is designed to drain a nearly perpetually wet section of trail, protecting this work and everything further down from being converted into a waterway. But it’s pretty darn cool.
It also takes into consideration the various ways, high and low, that riders typically enter this corner, and it’s surprisingly smooth no matter what line I take. I am looking forward to riding it faster next time I’m on Dale’s. The trail is running very well right now. I mean, as are most trails, thanks to the moisture we’ve had, but Dale’s was particularly fun this week.
{Above photo: Penny}
And that’s a wrap on this week’s SBTISAOAF. Check in on Sunday for the final hit in my DVO Onyx 38 D1 SL review. Healing vibes to Claire, who is being stoic about her downtime. The whole family is looking forward to Cumberlandworx this year, even if none of us has taken a step forward in health or fitness compared to our last island adventure.
Larry Talker Tunes
I was thinking we needed some Vancouver tunes for this week’s Model-T music, and it turns out that Destroyer put out a new album, Dan’s Boogie, in March of this year.
The lead vocalist, Dan Bejar, once described the the band in very Terry Walker terms, and I think it’s fair to say that you have to listen to the album multiple times to really pull anything from it: “In our own special way we’re tearing shit apart, you just have to listen very carefully.“
It’s hard to pick one song, I like the album in order end-to-end. But if you’re only going to invest four & 1/2 minutes then try out song five, Bologna. It has a sort of Bond, James Bond, 007 feel to it. Oh, and I’ve tried the album both ways. For me, it definitely goes best with a rainy day.
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