Welcome to the world of MASH

Never seen Lance riding fixed, without a helmet,in gym shoes? Sometimes you just have to loosen up.


http://www.mashsf.com/index.php

Sunday riding out in the sticks

IT was good to have met up with Russ-cle and Jailbird to ride today. We were all kinda tired and recovering from being sick with the Virus of 2009. Russ-cle was on his reliable Surly Crosscheck, Jailbird on his Steamroller (44x14!!!)and I rode some Bridgestone 5oo frame that CB sold me rolling 44x18(old and feeble gearing). We rode out to kirkland and back with about 40 miles in our legs. It was great to ride with other people and for once I did not have to talk to myself.
We arrived home and had some tasty espressos before we got on with our Sunday routines.
The Fam and I booked it out to Dupage County for some Pizza and wine at the Brother in laws. It was great to hang out and see my old pals D-dog and STrangelife. It turned out to be a good day after all.
Tomorrow starts what I hope will be another great week at the bikeshop. If you haven't gotten a chance to check out the Salsas come on out!

best to all,

Ari

The Swindonians

more Swindonian Addiction,


I listen to these guys over and over again. Anybody with some info about them?

ari

The Swindonians

It reminds me of being in Liverpool in the early 80's.


Ari

Happy Spring to all!..............

Tuesday afterwork riding

Getting the lights on.

Russ-cle and I left work around 6:30 and then out of nowhere a ride developed. The weather was nice and we had a tailwind that just enticed us to keep going north. We ended up at Aldrich and then headed east to meet brickville rd and then home. It was a great 20 mile ride and while we were putting lights on the bikes we heard the coyotes cry out in the woods. The evening was great and we were happy to be on our bikes and not freezing for once. Pizza and some stouts calmed the thirst and hunger.

Happy St. Pats to all you irish people out there.

Ari

Rick Hunter Cycles

Rick Hunter in Indianopolis

photo credit Strangelife

As you all know we picked up Salsa Cycles at North Central Cyclery. They are outstanding bikes and I personally ride The Chili Con Crosso and now the incredible Fargo. I am also in the works of creating an ultimate gravel bike starting off with the "La Cruz" Frame. The man above, Rick Hunter , is responsible for putting together a custom fork for the bike. Don't worry, the La Cruz does come with the fork but I bought a leftover frame alone.

The Rick Hunter fork will have custom drawn tubing, come with the spectacular Super Crown and have disc mounts for the brake. Rick Hunter makes outstanding steel frames, stems, and forks. He has been a custom cycle builder for a very long time and has raced extensively. I was fortunate to meet him at NAHBS and he is a really cool guy.

At North Central Cyclery we do have the expertise to outfit your custom frame that you have ordered. We can spec out the bike, chase and face all interfaces and then build it up for the ultimate ride.

Check out Rick Hunter on the right.

Ari

Rack n Roll custom Trans Iowa Rack

Lugged Cromoly and Stainless rack

Less than 10"x10" for the platform.

Powder Coated for a durable finish.

Order up from Rack n Roll.

Daniel over in Pa. designed and custom crafted this outstanding rack to fit my Gunnar Crosshairs.

He has also attached two mounts for bottle cages and two mounts for lights. Being able to carry 4 botttles of water will mean that I will ditch the camelbak. Last year I enjoyed having the camelbak but at the same time I feel like one does not have the ability to gauge how much water one drinks. Also all the stuff in the compartments of the camelbak are out of access unless you stop the bike, unstrap the dang thing and then rummage thru the pockets. Due to many crashes in my lifetime of cross, mtb and roadriding I am losing mobility in my shoulders. Reaching back into pockets is becoming harder and harder and that is why I want stuff in front of me. With 4 bottles, the rack, Epic Designs Fuel Tank I think this year will be a bit easier.

Ride,

Ari

Meet Kent

http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/


then get out and ride.

Ari

Tranny Training

The "5" Mariachis

Russ-Cle on the GWT at night

Last night on the Trail.


Started the march night session and I have been lucky to have found Russ-cle to join in on the fun. He is my new workmate at NCC and he is a real good riding partner. Yesterday night we joined up at 9 pm and rode the GWT (Great western trail). It was really doughy since it had received 3 " of rain the night before. We had a stiff wind, with rain and snow mixed in for fun. We rode all the way out to route 47 via the I.C. Trail and then looped back . We were out for about 3 hours and that meant soaked to the bone, cold and hungry.

Tonight we met up again and rode for about 2 hours in a windy night with gusts up to 50 mph. we were getting blown off the trail and it was another night of just hard work. No easy riding for us people living in the northern part of ther U.S.

The wife picked up some Kalamazoo Stouts and paired with some pizza I had the perfect dinner. My legs are sore to the bone and tomorrow I will be out there again.

good night,

ARi

More photos added to the NAHBS link

More photos courtesy of Papi Chulo

Ari

Link to more photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20897064@N02/sets/72157614729194328/

Salsa Fargo, first impressions

Salsa cyles Fargo size 22"

I was lucky enough to go to Frostbike this year and meet all the guys from Salsa Cycles and ask some pretty specific questions about a lot of their bikes. I was most interested in the Fargo since it was supposed to be a new genre of bikes for this coming season. The Fargo is a 29" wheeled touring bike. It has all the mounts imaginable to carry racks front and rear, pump peg and 6 waterbottles. The tubing is nicely welded Salsa Cromoly which is butted at the necessary places. The bike has a compact frame look which offers tons of stanover height.

I bought the size 22" since that coincides with my 22" Gunnar Ruffian 29er. I left the steerer long and am still playing around with the stem height and so forth. This bike, according to the person who conceived and designed it, is built around the concept of riding the drops as the main position. I copied my On One Mary position on to the Fargo and as I rode away on it it felt perfect. After 10 miles I moved the seat back a cm. and I was dialed in.

I bought this bike complete, which is something I have not done in 15 years. The list of components is impressive and I will ride the stuff stock until it wears. I like the Deore Xt cranks, Deore XT front and rear derailleurs, also how Salsa did not cheat and stuck a Deore XT cassette on their rear hub. The bike also comes stock with bb-7's from avid and oh I forgot: Deore XT hubs.

Rubber is WTB Vulpine in 29x2.1 with a smooth center that is delish on road and gravel. STem, bars,seatpost, seat, tape and rims are all Salsa. 9spd barends hang of the end of the bars. I rode the bike for 1.5 hours this morning but will do an extended ride tonight with lights and all. I am excited about this machine and I think it will be a long summer with it and yes we do carry them at North Central Cyclery.

Ari

Ari and Mark S. at Frostbike

good times with Mark

Update on Ira Ryan Porteur

I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a pair of Gilles Berthoud Fenders. I ordered them in 700x5o. The installation was long and tricky but at the end they came out perfect. I had to make an indent were the front derailleur is to accomodate its swing. The rear one also goes screwed into the seaststay bridge from underneath into a threaded hole. The ANT fork crown has a tab where the fender also bolts into from underneath. Overall I like the look of the Stainless fenders and I hope to install more of these on customers bikes. Notice the extra long front and also how it extends. Gilles designed it like that to keep bags from getting sprayed. The extra lengthe will also keep my feet and Bottom Bracket drier. I also updated the seatpost with a Thomson. I will next update to Paul brakes. So far this bike has been magical and I enjoy every mile on it.

Ari

North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show Feb-Mar 09

Bilenky

Ricardo and Maggie were kind enough to invite us to carpool with them down to Indianapolis, Indiana for the show. The drive was really boring and we amused ourselves with the Fireworks barns, ads for Adult Stores and the "now you are in Hell signs" from various religious groups.

I had never been to the big Indiana city and felt really lost and out of place. For some reason Minneapolis was more bearable.

The Bike show was outrageous and at first we just did a quick loop. After another quick loop just to get an idea of who was there we started to hit each booth. The builders were kind and open for questions both smart and dumb. I spoke with Sacha White from Vanilla Cycles, Ahearne, Deda people, and Rick Hunter.

I was amazed at the amount of work they had put into their machines and I could not help but thank them and shake their hand. I could have spent all three days there and gotten an overload of bike geekdom but in the end I was satified and we headed home.

Below is a link to some photos posted on my flickr account.

Check them out.

Ari

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20897064@N02/sets/72157614729194328/