Lances front end

A sneak peek at lances ibis

Connected by DROID on Verizon Wireless

sawdust gulch is dry

the overworked toyota

on a van down by the river

happy to be affiliated with this band of merry cyclists ! Good luck Mules, the 2011 race season is upon us.

let's shuttle

dirt / paved / both

We're really excited about the new arrivals of a few different models from the folks over at Salsa. Some of their bikes are just perfect options for those that like to keep pedaling when the asphalt ends. In my opinion, perfect road bikes for the Bitterroot Valley. Come in and see the Vaya, Casseroll, and Ti La Cruz first hand. Take one for a spin too if you'd like.

the Vaya and Casseroll

ride buddy

old darby road again yesterday, this time with the gracious presence of my wife. I consider myself one lucky fella to have a wife that shares the similar passion of pedaling a bicycle. With kids, jobs, and the many other activities that we devote ourselves to it's almost a rarity when we actually get to pedal together. However yesterday, those planets were perfectly aligned. 

Speed Wagon

SPEEDWAGON CLASSIC
Saturday, April 2, 2011
12:00 noon
Polson, MT – Sicz Homestead
(37938 Mission Vista Dr – 6 mi SW of town)
Course: 53 miles - mixed pavement and dirt
- $10 donation requested -

Matt Seeley's ride/race up in Polson. Good stuff.

spring ?

spring = dirt roads & Old Darby Rd is really nice right now.

Clif bar sale

SAVE ... SAVE... SAVE ... special order your box(es) of Clif Bar Products. $17 per box for original Clif Bars flavors, and the flavorful favorite Mojo bars. For the entire month of March, while supplies last.

Winter Snow Race

Dave Byers race is coming up in a week and a half. Get your snow bike and join'em.

check here for the details

snowin'

again. Big thanks to the City of Hamilton for this mornings entertainment.

a couple images

Here's a couple of photos from the trip to minneapolis.....once again, good times were had by all. This first picture was taken from the second floor at QBP, obviously space is in abundance here. This one photo really doesn't scratch the surface of the space this building entails. It's a big building and it's run razor sharp. A testiment to the folks that work here.

seen at frostbike....a big dummy hauling around an ice auger. My guess is the person that owns it used it for a test pilot before lighting the bonfire as seen in photo number three.

First time i've ever experienced such a large bonfire on the surface of a frozen pond, but when in Sota' do as the Sotian's do.

and this final photo shows the beginning of the storm that kept me in Minneapolis for one extra day.

tired

Go ahead and give me shit, it's 9:30pm here and i'm already in my room for the night. No late shin-nan-iganns are going to be happening for me. One tired fella right now and i'm headed for bed. Good day though even though i missed out on breakfast. It started off with a decent advocacy seminar, then off to Salsa's Cycles slideshow highlighting a few adventures that they've recently been on and then a few rounds of questions and answers afterward. Salsa sure has alot of really exciting products out right now....and adventure seems to be the theme. Looking forward to seeing their entire line tomorrow at the EXPO.

Dinner was good. Dessert was good too. The professional comedian from Seattle that performed afterward was even better. These QBP folks sure pull out all the stops.



tomorrow...EXPO, pugsley race and i hear the folks at Peacock Grove are having a party afterward. So tonite i rest, tomorrow should be sweet.

frostbike

I arrived in Minneapolis yesterday and was greeted with some fantastic 50 degree weather. A little different than last years knarly cold bone chill that Brian and i survived. Day one here was pretty good and consisted of a meet and greet with bike shops from all over the country and QBP staff. Well, i didn't really meet too much and found myself amongst some familiar faces from montana. Alex from Missoula Bicycle Works, Dave and Kevin from Hellgate Cyclery, and Robert from Big Sky. I did cross paths with Steve Flagg, and told him how much we appreciated the letter he sent to IMBA advocating for snow bike useage in Yellowstone. We chatted briefly about that whole scenario and how incredibly stupid YNP's reaction to snow bikes has been. Also got to say hello to Scott Fitzgerald the infamous major of Victor Idaho and owner of Fitzgerald's bike shop in Jackson Hole.....he's here with wife, young son and service manager. Scott's another person who has been very active with the entire snow bike access. Check out his article here

Nothing too exciting though.....just lots of beer, food, and good conversation and then it was lights out on day one and falling to sleep with the drone of ESPN Sportscenter all night. dun-nun-nunt


Today should be interesting.....get to see my pal Mark and his side kick, stuffin muffin who both live here. Not sure what's up with the nick name and i'm too afraid to ask, if i gain a little courage to find out i'll be sure to report back. Not too sure what the day will bring either but i'm hoping for Mayslacks Roast Beef and a cold pitcher to wash the horseradish sauce down. Wish me luck.


over and out.

rb jersey

shop clothing........we've got some short sleeve, long sleeve and shorts here in both girls and boys cuts. Made by Black Bottom. Short sleeve jerseys and shorts run $65 and long sleeve jerseys run $90.

that sure is one purdy Ventana

Here's a prime example of a finely dressed El Ciclon. This one here belongs to Jean, which was in the shop for a few updates recently. Winter is the perfect time to introduce big changes and Jean certainly raised the bar for the rest of you folks out there in blogdom. Jean added a classic-multi position Gravity Dropper seatpost, from those fine folks up in Polson and then upgraded the cranks and brakes to lighter options to offset the weight penalty of the seatpost. The brakes are Formula R1's and the crankset is a Truvativ Noir. Bike weighs 28.9 #



Beautiful bike Jean. Thanks for bringing it in and letting us work on it !

manitou marketing 101

gotta love it when a gun case comes with a new suspension fork. God bless those folks over at Manitou......they must know the folks in their targeted market awefully well. Gun yielding mountain biker radicals. HHmmmm, i wonder if my 30-06 would fit ?

oh yeah, almost forgot....Manitou Dorado Pro 29er w/ 180mm of travel. Woot-woot.

early ride

early AM ride on frozen solid, crunchy dirt. Squint your eyes real hard....just left of the dirt road at ten o'clock is a small herd of elk. They didn't quite know what to make of me. Warily suspicious of this intrusion they were....so i tip toed past them and tried not to stop and oogle to much.

it was a good ride and a fantastic start to the day.

night light

Fat Bike snow ride last night with Bill and Norman under the glare of last nights full moon. Incredible evening, temps in the upper teens and snow conditions were near perfect. Honestly, it doesn't get much better than this.....does it ?? Long live winter.

(pics stolen from Bill M)

ENVE Composites

building wheels with carbon rims......ENVE

this particular set was built for a certain long travel twenty-nine incher. 20mm front, 12 X 142 rear. Sapim CX Ray spokes, Edge/Enve 29" AM carbon rims. Budget.....completely thrown out the window. Wheelset builds start at $2300 and go straight out through the roof from there.

we also sell their line up of bars, stems, and posts. Send email, call or come on in to find out more.

home made snow trike

Debrito's home made snow-trike. Self studded rear tire, a modified frame with two headtubes welded in place and old ski's zip tied on to the front wheels. Garage engineer. Love it.

snowbike melodrama in Yellowstone Park

As told in the Billings Gazette: Click here

Great History lesson

The 25th Infantry Buffalo Soldiers

mountain biking ?? Missoula to St Louis, that's a long distance. 1900 Miles to be exact.

night ride

Skalkaho hwy night ride photo taken at the gate after Chris and I rode this past week. Groomed for snowmobiles in the winter, the packed snow makes great terrain for the large volume tires of the Pugsley and Mukluk. See Skalkaho Falls iced over, ride to the top of the pass. Try it on a bicycle.

Mukluk

The Mukluk, my second snow bike and can say this thing handles amazing. By sheer luck i left the steerer tube full length so that i can see where the stem position needed to be. Just happens to be that at full height placement of the stem/bars your body weight can be distributed almost entirely to the rear wheel and the interesting thing that happens in soft snow is that the front wheel stays more stable and rudders less, increasing the pilots ability to keep a straight line. A huge difference in control. I swapped bikes and jumped on my older Pugsley just to see if i was dreaming, and then onto a newer pugsley too. Both handlebars cut so that bars are level with saddle....neither steered as well as the hyper-tall controls of the mukluk. A winner.....and by luck too. Overall.....the Mukluk is a fantastically designed bike and the folks over at Salsa hit a home run with their first ever snow bike. Job well done fellas.





Mukluks start in at $1700 at can be dressed to accomodate just about any budget. Give us a call if you forsee a snowbike in your future. The Mukluk is as good of an option as any.

Jeans new Salsa

Here's a few photographs of Jeans beautiful new Salsa Ti Mariachi. Did i mention we are an authorized Salsa Dealer ?? Yessir-indeed, take a look here to view their entire line of adventure minded bicycles.

couple ways to keep spinnin' during these winter months

Lemond Revolution stationary trainer. $495

Surly Pugsley - $1395

The Surly gets my vote !

jus' in time for the holidays

Here's a super sweet little ride built up just in time for the holidays. Surprise the sweetie in your life by bringing her home a new commuter-mixte style bike for christmas. You'll be glad you did. We've got this Soma Buena Vista bike for $1000 or if you're looking for the budget option, we also have 3 Schwinn mixte framesets (frame/fork/headset) for $75 each. Then build it how you like'um.

Shane's Ibis HD

a prime example of a finely dressed Ibis HD

i'm a Chromag-num kinda fella

gotta admit that i have an addiction for the chromag goodies. Do you too ? If so, we've got your vice.

yer 2010 Chicken Crit Champeeens

welp, here we are...your undisputed champs

In a closely contested womens race defending champ, Cassie 'what happened to the boots' Buhl held off a hard charging Jen 'apple pucker' West who finished 2nd, and rounding out the podium spot was some crazy uninvited chick who made a mess of the barn. We managed to koup  her back up and she lays a pretty mean egg. 

in the mens race we had another repeat champion with Donny 'no dab' Reamer taking home the gold, followed by a second place tie with that classy beer spraying Timmy Buhl and good pal Chris who had the course down better than any (if only he could drink faster he may have won). Rounding out the 3rd place spot was rookie crit rider Sean Macnee who nailed down a consistant run.

congrats to all the racers !!

taking home a new bike

photo by: tomrobertsonphoto.com

Lisa Curry from Bozeman MT. takes home the brand new 2011 Raleigh RX 1.0.....congratulations on a fantastic ride at Rolling Thunder this past Sat. in Missoula. And thanks to Raleigh Rob for helping us put together a kick ass prize for the womens elite winner.

Chicken Crit 2010

Critical mistakes will be made.....please help us with the procedure of making them. October 22nd at 6pm. Customer appreciation and stupidity awareness day.

Rolling Thunder Cyclocross

Coming this saturday, easily the best cross venue in the state..... come on out to see how the fast men and women do it while under the lights of the American Legion baseball field, plus see the reaction of the elite womens winner as she wins the kick ass Raleigh RX 1.0 cross bike donated by Raleigh & Red Barn Bicycles. For more race information go to the montanacyclocross.com website.

mark it on the calender

 Oct 22nd.....6th annual Chicken Crit / Customer appreciation party ! Poster coming soon. 6pm bring a dish and we'll provide the rest.