techie pics

this evening i was in the garage catchin' up on stuff, listening to a new Tom Wait's 3-disc set, and putting the hurt on a pack of Mirror Pond Pale Ale. i'd tried to wash the schmegma off the fixie after its traverse of the Rockies in a show storm, stuck on the roof. temps were cold enough tonight to have the hoses and bibs outside all froze up. HOT water in a bucket, dish soap, and a down jacket and i had the tall crust off, but the suds were frozen in place. the water on the concrete was a bit slick too... had to take the garden hose into the bathtub for a hot soak to get the ice out, then hook it to the water heater and plumb it out to the driveway to finish the job. once rinsed and in the garage, i closed the door and cranked up the heat - nice. drying off the fixed gear bike, a.k.a. "Harlan" and possibly to become known as "the Bullish Dude bike," i detected a bit of lateral wamble in the cranks. hmm, funny looking cones on the bb, but let's go fer it. i spread a towel below the bike stand (learned my lesson with the loose bearings in the headset), disected the bb and found 22 loose ball bearings pasted in what looked like 20+ year old grease and a mild pit on the nondrive side of the spindle's cone... spent some time thinking about this, listened to ol' Wait's lecture on "Army Ants" and decided to give McGuiness a call. haven't talked at him in a while, and hey, i had some beta for him...the pics are of some contemporary WTB Dirt Drops. McG of Calavera Cycles is going to help me fit them to my Coconino trail touring rig for less techy rides. he's cookin' up a steel and brass brazed stem to fit to the oversized bar, with just right rise and reach. can't wait to see what he's done, and mainly, to ride the Hell outta it! i'm slowly warming to dd's, definately aided by time on the fixed gear townie with it's Midge bars, and appreciate the variety of positions. when it comes to just plain trail riding, it'll be a while before i'm as comfortable as with some 2" Protaper risers and Oury's. ahh, trail riding...

pumpkin time. happy dreams, readers. it's tomorrow and i have to be up early to partake in the last day ever that the Deux Gros Nez will be open. more on that later!

Japhy rider

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12/05/06 Update...
Sean sent me this mid-fab pic of the stem. Way cool! Thanks for the shot, Sean, and the great work. Can't wait to build it up and get gone.

as ever, thanks for watching.

J. rider

ps- I spent some time lookin' at the pics and dig vid of the farewell adeau, Duex party. that was nuts. I didn't feel "normal" again till Sunday, just lookin' at the pictures pulls stuff from the margins of memory... ragin' fiddles, lotsa beer, a hunerd or more peeps (?), bag pipes, Mexican wrestler masks?! closing after 21 years in business, what else would you expect? hope to get some kinda something together soon and post it for your viewing pleasure. till then, fly that freak flag.

pss- Sean McG will be MFEM-side tomorrow for some early winter night riding - Peavine style. can't wait to show him our homegrown 1-track. too cold to see scorpions out there, but should be fun under the full moon.

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01/30/07 - Update, Calavera stem installed and tested, it Rocks!!!

these pics don't do it justice, but the fillet brazed oversized clamp double pinch bolts and skull detail are all excellent. thanks Sean McG, lookin' forward to doing more riding with you and spinning my touring rig all over tarnation.