Bike Intelligencer » mountain bike

Not a mountain biker disrupts Redmond Derby Days

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:17:36 +0000

BikeHugger has a post on an unfortunate crash involving a rogue bike rider at the Redmond Derby Days criterium last weekend. The comments queue sheds a bit of light, particularly the posts by an injured rider, but this thing needs to be sorted out. (Another blog post calls the rider a kid who “just wanted to have fun.”)

First off, I’d suggest a shift in nomenclature. This guy is not a mountain biker, he’s a bike rider who either doesn’t know what he’s doing or is conducting some kind of joke.

What he is riding is not a mountain bike, either. It’s a shitbike. It says Huffy on the head tube and even if that is not authentic (a joke), its components are from the 1980s. I’m not exaggerating. Thumb shifters haven’t been around for two decades. I cannot identify the caliper brakeset but it looks pretty antediluvian too. The stem even looks to have a 1-inch, threaded headset. Sheesh…when did those things exit the biking landscape? This thing is a mountain bike the way a tape deck is an iPod.

I’m a former roadie and current mountain biker and am well aware of misconceptions on both sides of the fence. To get a factual airing of the incident, it will help to avoid snap terminology.

Someone needs to track down the rider in question and find out what he was up to. And then ask race organizers how it was allowed to happen.

We’ll try to keep you posted on further details…

Salsa Stem Recall: Breakage Warning

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:48:01 +0000

For full list click on photo

You hate to see this from a trusted, respected brand. Salsa in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling Taiwan-made stems, the failure one of which resulted in a broken wrist. Three reports of breakage were investigated.

Sold aftermarket and on Salsa bikes

CromotoStem has the full list of affected stems. About 8,600 units were produced.

The second mountain bike I owned, one of those Rockhopper hardtails with the tan elastomer forks, had a bad set of bars that I snapped right off coming down a slope. Fortunately I was able, one-handed, to maintain control of the bike. I took the bars back to Elliott Bay Bicycles, where Bill Davidson examined them and said they were the result of a bad casting. Specialized replaced the bars but I also wrote a letter advocating a recall. Within a few months the whole batch got recalled.

Although I’ve suffered a lot of breakage over the years, mostly on frames, that was by far the scariest. It disturbs me that Salsa quality control did not catch these stems, but such is the state of global manufacturing these days.

Today's Ride: Burke-Gilman to University of Washington

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:29:07 +0000

After a disastrously downpourish morning the sun came out this afternoon. By late day things were drying out considerably. I had to be at a 6:30 p.m. seminar at the University of Washington, so I decided to pop over from Fremont on the Burke-Gilman Trail. The 18-mile paved trail follows former railroad tracks around Seattle out north to Bothell and is a major commuter route for cyclists.

To connect to the trail I climb from home up to Phinney Ave. N., circle around the Woodland Park Zoo and then drop down Fremont Ave. N. to the canal. From there it’s a straight shot to the University campus and Kane Hall, where the seminar was to be held. It wasn’t much of a ride, although I tooled around in Fremont for a bit and then did some stair drops on campus just for fun. I’m testing a new night light as well and wanted to try a variety of venues.

After the seminar I wheeled through Ravenna Park, which gets pretty dark in places, then back along 65th to Green Lake and home. I cut through lower Woodland Park, which is absolutely black at night, really stretching out the light’s capabilities. More to come on that front.

I meant to say that on yesterday’s ride I ran into Seattle’s primo cycle-everywhere, Shannon Markley, outside of Whole Foods on Roosevelt Ave. N. Shannon had been caught in that day’s gusher and was still complaining of wet feet. Otherwise she’s well prepared, having waterproof (not just water resistant) top and pants. Shannon goes absolutely everywhere by bike, day or night, and knows all the tricks. It was great seeing her and comparing notes.

Tomorrow snow is forecast. I don’t mind, a little snow can’t keep the Bike Intelligencer from its rounds.

Scaling Tiger Mountain in the white stuff

Today's Ride: U District Loop

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:23:20 +0000

Rain still threatening today after torrential a.m. dump, so I played cautious and did U District/Ravenna loop. Lots of variations here but I typically dart through Lower Woodland, up N. 45th St. through Wallingford, over I-5 and then cut up Brooklyn or University Avenue to Ravenna, dink around on the bike lane back to Green Lake and then home, often climbing the hill to Phinney Ave. N. for the workout. There are legs through Ravenna Park, through the UW campus to University Village (the Apple store a favorite hangout), and so on.

I stopped by my LBS, the Downhill Zone, today to chat with Adam and Darren. I’ve been going to the shop since they got started 10 years ago, and never had a bad experience. I’ve bought so many bikes there that I like to joke with Darren I should get a card like they have at the coffeehouses, you know, buy 9 lattes get one free. I’d be close to my freebie by now.

Windy but dry so it wasn’t all that bad a ride. On the uphill I passed another dude on a mountain bike, a commuter no less, with pannier hanging from one side. I thought I was the only one crazy enough to ride up this hill, I told him. He said he was perfectly sane, he just lived at the top!