night ride

headed out for a little solo ride tonite, i've been meaning to head up toward Sleeping Child Hotsprings since the snowpack on the road has really good coverage, actually has for quite some time but honestly i've been spending too much time on the skis the past couple of weeks to take much notice. Tonite was the perfect evening for a nightride as a heatwave of 25d and the lack of wind actually made the night temps outside seem fairly decent. Dress attire was down to just a long sleeve jersey and a windbreaker instead of having to add the typical third layer. The snowpack and ice covered roads made ideal conditions for the new Nokian 29" studded tires (29 X 2.1) and this was the first real test that i've managed to put them through.

I gotta admit that it was actually alot of fun riding the ice tonite instead of the typical puckering action that takes place. The carbide studs and decent footprint made the difficulty of ice/snow disappear. Even locking up the rear brake on the stuff seemed completely controllable.

The quiet roads were the ideal place to clear my head after a very busy and exciting day of watching my three kids play with all of their new gifts from Santa. And also the perfect place to help rid myself of the second and third helpings of Christmas dinner. Not sure if i made grounds on todays calorie intake or not, and as i sit here sipping on coffee tainted with a smidgeon of Irish Cream, head cleared and kids grabbing my ankles for me to come back to play more games i can honestly say it was successfully another purdy darn good christmas.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the fellas out in the Barn ! We really appreciate having the core of friends and customers that we have, you folks really contributed to making this past year fantastic!

sooooo, Here's to 2008 !

Titus Demo's

Just thought i'd throw out on the blog that i had a couple of Titus demo bikes up for a pretty darn decent deal. Both are 29er RX100's. The first is a complete medium sized RX100 with Kit 2 (click on link to see the full build). The other is a RX100 29er frame only and in size large (both with Fox Rp23 rear shock). Contact me at the shop for the details in full.

DU Bushing tool

Any gal or fella that's been riding around on full suspension bicycles for any length of time knows that the weak point in any suspension linkage is typically the shock bushing. Thankfully my pal Vince has created a very simple DU Bushing tool that removes the old one and presses in the new with use of a vise or mallet and it sells for less than $25. It's a tool that belongs in every mountain bikers toolbox. Drop me an e-mail at chad@redbarnbicycles.com to reserve yours.

EXOgrid

We had an eventful day at the shop yesterday as our Titus order finally arrived containing some of their more enticing and exciting creations. Titanium constructed tubes that are laser etched to show off the inner composite molding, otherwise known as Exogrid. Looks stunning and i'm jealous that i don't have one.

Mountain:

Road:

Gunnar Rocktour

Here's a few pictures of the recently completed Gunnar Rocktour which was built up for backroads/dirt road touring. We built this beauty up with Shimano 9spd bar end shifters, Shimano brake levers running the Avid BB7 Road calipers, Shimano XT crankset, cassette, f.derailleur and a smoking hot XTR shadow on the rear. The wheelset is a handbuilt set of DT 7.1d rims laced to Dt-Swiss 340 hubs using Dt Swiss Comp spokes and brass nipples. Tires are 700 X 44 WTB Mutanoraptors. Stem and seatpost are both Thomson. The handlebar option, which is always the most fun part of the bike to choose is a set of the new tiawanese made WTB dirt drops. The saddle is the ultra comfy B17 Brooks which should be standard equipment for touring bikes. Pedals are MKS touring and we've mounted a set of the Bruce Gordon ti. toeclips just for the sake of it.

single digit temps

That's right, it's 9deg outside and i'm heading up the pass for a day of skiing and who else do we run into ? Yessir our good pal Rick was pushing hard on those pedals to get the Pugsley up the pass. Looking good buddy....pedaling damn well for a fella that had a complete spiral fracture of his lower leg this past summer. Damn guy even had a smile on his face i could have sworn that he was enjoying himself ! Nice. Talked to him later on that evening and he said it was awefully cold coming back down.....he may have even lost that grin, who knows.

Felco Cable Cutters

Just like any other bicycle mechanic i certainly have a sweet spot for fine tools. And me........i've always lusted after Felco's line of bicycle tools but never really had the extra dough to splurge (or maybe i've always been too cheap). I mean...tools are tools and they cost lots of money to keep up with the normal wear and tear around here. Personally i've always thought that the Shimano cable cutters were about as good as they came and certainly a fine tool. Well....i finally caved in after a week worth of listening to Aaron complain about the cutters hanging from his side of the shop. And just like any good employeer would do, i handed down my faithful Shimano cutters to him and purchased a new set for myself : )





And let me say....i've only had these for ONE day but the difference in cutting quality on both stainless cables and housing is ssooooooo noticeable. It was butter smooth and certainly WORTH the extra coin. So if you're after a new set of cutters look no further than the swiss made Felco's IF you can swallow the cost.

in the stand

Nina's late 70's Ideor in for a full overhaul, new cables and housing and also some new rubber. Pretty cool bike with vintage dura-ace/campy components, some funky lug work with plated drop outs. I'll post some finished pics when we finish her up tomorrow.

  

 

opening day

Aaron must have sensed that i needed a fix, one of the outside all day types......because first thing this morninging he booted me out of the shop for the day and i tore outta there with skis in hand and headed to where the snow was.   It was opening day out at Lost Trail and the snow was pretty darn nice so i made a full day of it. 

thanks aaron ! & see you tomorrow folks !

Gary's new ElCiclon

26.5 pounds of Ventana goodness.

Gary wanted a lighter weight 5" travel trail bike so we opted for the new Shimano XTR kit with hydraulic brakes and 180/160 rotors. Thomson stem/post, some of our hand built wheels using Dt-Swiss 4.2d rims laced to XTR hubs and Dt Swiss Supercomp spokes and aluminum nipps. The front fork is the new Fox Talas RLC and the rear is a Fox RP23...a very nice match indeed.

Gary.....we had a bit too much snow to properly take her on its inaugural ride so i'll turn the bike over to you and you can tell us how she rides. Enjoy buddy !

RB Flyer

Felt makes some killer cruisers and lately i've been tinkering around with one of those Felt blank frames, actually i think they call it their canvas frame. I'm calling it my Red Barn Flyer, perfect for those around town rides with the kids, bar hopping, or letting B. George use it as a pickup magnet, a magnet on the seat and one on the handlebars turning a one seater into a threesome. Yours any time to ride B.G. .... well, just as long as you don't stack it up against a bunch of other bikes and make a nasty scratch on it !