Another one bites the dust.

Ladies and Gentleman, I am very pleased to introduce the one and only Geoff K, GBK or KGB as I like to refer to him as. Geoff joins in on all the fun, one because he wants a challenge and two figures he can add some thing to the blog-o-sphere... We'll see.

KGB knows stuff, a lot of stuff so it is really any coincidence that his initials are what they are. Be careful, he's probably got stuff on you!

In all seriousness, Geoff is a great guy; knowledgeable, funny [I mean, we all have our moments =)], and rides... A LOT. Oh, did I mention he rides primary only single speeds and rigid off-road[as seen in this stellar pictures to the right]. He's like Mr. 24 in that he lays down the hurt. Not only will he be joining us in the commuting challenge, I will now name him our official race/tech/hurt train correspondent.

Enough said, it's great to have another join us.

update on the ferrous.

Here's some pictures of the Ferrous so far. Hopefully by this time next week there will be a few more goodies on it.
The bling...


And a little love from B. Now to see if I dig the Egg-beater pedals cause if I do I think I'll be getting these.

Switchblade G2

In what can only be said as awesome. Gary Fisher was brought into the shop today just to hang out and chat a bit with us lowly shop rats. The one regret that I had from last night was that I hadn't gotten Fisher to sign the Ferrous. I know, mildly cheesy but come on, you'd probably do the same thing if given the chance.

So over the course of conversation, I was able to get him to sign the bike [pictures to follow]. As he was looking over the bike we talked about a few things and then looked at the Switchblade fork I've got on it and asked if it was with the offset. I jumped. Almost instantly, said no but asked if the rumors were true. He smiled and said he wants it to be. Then our rep chimed in that the Switchblade fork should be out sometime this fall!

Amazing.

That excites me, this day has just gotten awesome. Fisher was a great guy who was super easy to talk to as we went from European Child carriers [don't ask how that started =)] to Cyclecross racing to frame geometry. Just great and if you couldn't tell, I'm still excited.

Fisher.

So the day finally came. Fisher was here. Yes, that Fisher. The first and last name of mountain biking Gary Fisher. I didn't get to spend the whole night at the shop because of my commitment at the Hill but from what I was able to hear and listen to, it was a great night. [Sorry for the artsy pictures. I have this thing where I struggle with taking 'normal' pictures because they seem boring.]

The Bicyclist

Just stumbled onto this little through the gang over at Urban Velo, not only a great magazine have you. This is a little online mini-series that is actually pretty addicting, but maybe that's because I'm a shop rat. I'd definitely say after watching the first 5 episodes you'll probably be hooked. Here's the trailer the series, The Bicyclist.



Maybe the best line so far for me came in Episode 15...

Conrad_ What do you say about dinner?
Stevie_ Oh, I'm busy...
Conrad_ Busy?
Stevie_ Busy.
Conrad_ Doing what?
Stevie_ None of your business, go home.
Conrad_ I thought I was home.
Stevie_ You know... you know, you're not my boyfriend and... and... even if you were you wouldn't know what I was doing every single minute of the day... you know? I'm not some dairy from Wisconsin. I'm from Oregon, we're independent women... you, you just wouldn't know. just wouldn't, you don't know me. I'm my own person. Ok? You got that? [Walks away]
Conrad_ [Confused, Baffled] I'm sorry, it was the beer talking [Holds up almost full glass]
Steve_ [Turning in frustration] Yeah? Well tell the beer to shut up! [Walks away]
Conrad_ [To glass of beer] Dude, you pissed her off. [Pause...slight smile] I can't stay mad at you [Takes a drink]

St. Louie Bike Fed.

Here's a video I was turned onto by Commute by Bike. It's by the St. Louis Bicycle Federation. Good idea, mildly cheesy ad.

crank it up.

Tuesdays equal Day off... Which I have no complaints about other than the fact that no one else I know is free on Tuesdays during the day, so often I'm flying solo. Today will consist of shoveling the blast of winter that we got last night, haircut, and then heading into the shop at some point to mess around with the Salsa Size-o-Matic on the Ferrous so I know what Thomson stem to order to go along with the ever so sweet Surly Torsion Bar.

Yesterday I did get a little some thing for the rig. I didn't plan on getting this until later because I was still weighing options but it was a deal I couldn't refuse. It's the Race Face X-type Deus XC Crankset. I've already taken off the rings and replaced it with a 32T Rocket Chainring. It's smooth, real smooth. Pictures of the bike to come.

The chainrings/bolts I took off are for sale also... $50 [includes shipping]... 44/32/22 4-bolt. Interested? Email me, adamlorenz@gmail.com

Depending on the road conditions, I've decided I just might take one of my fixies out. We'll see, they both still have slicks on them.

the dream...

The dream bike has begun...

It all started with the ever so sweet Devo Blue Ferrous 29er Frame and the Bontrager Switchblade Carbon Fork... I've now added a Salsa Lip Lock, Eccentric Bottom Bracket, Thomson Elite 410 Seatpost and ever so comfortable [and I'm being serious] Brooks B17 Honey Saddle.

It's going to be a slow build but I'm already excited to ride it.

Fisher to Men...

So this is kind of a big deal. You should check it out. Meet the man, the myth, the legend.The shops website will soon be updated and hopefully carry with it more details about this really sweet event coming at the end of the month.

sweet and sour...

Holy you cow! Bottke is still alive and from the looks of it is either God-like or an extra in The Invisible. But it's good to have him back, if only for his second post.

So I've stumbled onto a few things that are pretty cool and one pretty bad thing. Fortunately for you, there's videos!

The Sweets.

There is a new bike I've begun. Let's just say, it'll be a very slow build because this will be my dream bike. No regrets on this one. Pictures soon to follow.

I've started to frequent a few new sites, one of them being mysinglespeed.com. There I landed on this video preview for macaframa. It looks to be in the spirit of some BMX videos but there is just some thing smooth about this. Watch. Enjoy.




The Sour.

I was told about this story from KGB. You might remember him from a post or two and his willingness to 'reenact' certain abuses of bicycle parts. Check out the article from Velonews. Check out the video of the Attack of the abominable snow [plow] man at Jeff's blog. Looks like this Jeff and I share a mutual friend.


I'm looking forward to figuring out what this years challenge will be. Unfortunately it's taken longer than I'd hope but at the same time, weather here in Michigan has made it very difficult to do anything besides indoor riding but I've got the weekend free, so I might pull one of the fixies out at take her for a spin.

If you're in the Grand Rapids area on Sunday March 2nd there is going to be the Grand Rapids Bicycle Film Festival from 1-5 at Wealthy St. Theather. Here's a listing of the film schedule:

1: 15 PM _ Team Rwanda - The trailer features the team training in Rwanda and competing in the Cape Epic Mountain Bike Race in South Africa.
1:25 PM _ Mashers Media Presents: BMX Crashes
1:30 PM _ Singletrack Minds - Documentary of MTB origins & the hiker/biker struggle to coexist in Marin County, CA
2:00 PM _ Mashers Media Presents: Tailwinds Cyclocross Series
2:15 PM _ Griped Films Presents: 24 Solo -One man's quest for a 7th World Title
3:30 PM _ Intermission
3:40 PM _ Pedal - A fast paced documentary about surviving in the streets of NYC as a bicycle messenger by Peter Sutherland.
4:35 pm _ Mashers Media presents: Iceman Bike Race

I'm Alive!

Hello to anyone who still reads this. Adam and I are trying to get this back going and are working on another bike related challenge idea. Winter is getting lamer by the day, and we keep getting little 2 day teasers of warmer temps. There isn't really much to talk about this time of year so here are a few pictures and a raised glass to springtime and long rides!

Adam hounded me for a long time for his bike pictures, but now all the glory goes to me. His rolling turd is PUNK!

I have a godlike presence on the bike.  

Adios Amigos! Stay Warm!