The family that bikes together...well, has FUN together! It's that time in our kids lives when we want to start looping them in to our passion...riding in the woods on fat tires. Problem is, the state of (really) small mountain bikes is a difficult one. It's not a very big market and rightfully the manufacturers mitigate their risk by not producing a ton of options. Buying off the shelf bikes for kids who are 'tweeners' (too big and advanced for off the shelf bikes and too small for 'adult' sized bikes) is really difficult but we were determined to get it done right for them. I want to ensure my kids could really 'feel' and control the bikes...so that meant careful choosing of frame and parts alike. WIth the help of Boulder Cycle Sport and some of my great friends and long-time industry honches, we were able to source and build up the following for the youngsters:

• Kinesis 'label-less' frames - 14" for 26" wheels
• Carver ridged carbon fiber front forks
• WTB wheels (tubeless)
• Shimano SLX group set
• 60mm stems & flat bars
• Old seat posts lying around
• Kenda rubber
• ESI grips ('suspension'...yes, these boys will learn tire pressure before suspension use)
• Cane Creek headset

Bikes came in about 17lbs and I can still move into lighter territory, but that will be the fun part. Some porn...

Click to read more ...

Yup. Nice work Za Dubba:

Back in effect! The Boulder Cycle Sport CX team is back again to bring the orange and back to a cross course near you. Clinics, comRADery and F U N are what's in store. Click on the image above to learn more. 

Double HUP!

Cyclocross season is rapidly approaching and we are getting ready for the best season yet!  

The mission of the Boulder Cycle Sport Cyclocross Team is to create a fun and competitive cyclocross team, open to all ability levels. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a first time racer, we will provide an opportunity to take your skills to the next level. Those who have no ambitions of racing, but are looking for a fun social cycling group to be a part of are encouraged to join our growing cyclocross community, too!

Click the image above to learn more about the 2011 BCS CX Team. See you in the mud. Hup!

My good bud and master’s racing compatriot Michael Robson assembled a great article on VeloNews walking through us all through his experiences with various sealed cable systems, their merits, installation tips, etc. I highly recommend having a look-see at his write up as the weather is quickly changing and before we all know it we’ll be knee deep in the good stuff: mud. You best hope you have great shifting performance before then!

The Boulder Cycle Sport Ambassadors Team has some great sponsors including Gore who have us all on their new RideOn Sealed Low Friction Brake and Shifting Cable System. I wanted to walk you through this system and some of the installation ‘upgrades’ we have done to ensure optimal performance in the worst of conditions.

For those of you that do not have the time, skills or some of the equipment involved (and are local to Boulder area), Boulder Cycle Sport has the installation of this system completely dialed. Contact BCS for details and pricing. I opted to walk you through in photos of how one of Boulder Cycle Sport’s finest mechanics, Steve ‘Shelpy’ Shelp, dialed in my Ridley X-Night with this new cable system.

The new Gore RideOn sealed system includes almost everything you’ll need…except for the heat-shrinkable seals which will be talked about below. The system’s marquee features are its continual sealing along the entire length of the cable, making the action silky smooth (frictionless) as well as the GRUB™ Seals to prevent virtually anything from contaminating the sealing and degrading the cables performance.

A heat gun and heat shrink tubing (which can be picked up at most good hardware stores) was used in Boulder Cycle Sport’s installation as an ‘additional’ method of sealing insurance.

Shelpy is drilling out the cable stops so that he may run one continuous piece of housing from the top tube straight through to the derailleur. Note: when this is done, you will be using more of the housing than is provided with the RideOn kit. We used an additional piece of housing from another non-RideOn kit for the front derailleur…literally boring it out so that it would accommodate the thicker width of the sealed housing of the RideOn cables. Be advised.

Another view of Shelpy’s handiwork…carefully boring out the stops.

Shelpy’s den. Cleaner than a surgeons operating room.

The finished result. A super tight cockpit.

Note the heat shrunk wrappers right at the beginning of the ferrules to prevent any possibility of dirt entering the ‘system’. 

You can see the front brake cable exit the stop and it’s 'sealed ‘casing’ extending all the way to the base of the hanger…where a grub seal has been placed to prevent any contamination.

Another view of the heat shrunk wrapping at all stops.

The cable ends are topped with RideOn’s own stops to protect from fraying and elongating the life of the cable itself.

Shelpy’s handiwork included thoughtful touches like the zip tie you see here to ensure the cable end does not flop around. This will also allow me enough cable should I re-position the Avid brake arms to their ‘wide’ position.

A view of the fully sealed front derailleur cable around the spindle, its grub seal and cable end.

The rear brake where you can see the sealed housing and grub seal in tandem.

A view of the continuous cable Shelpy installed straight through the bored out cable stops.

A close up of how this stop looks with the cable running through it.

Finally, the rear derailleur with the sealed cable poking out...completely sealed from end to end (Note: grub seal has been placed at the exit of the cable since taking this pic.)

All fancy with a press release...

BOULDER CYCLE SPORT'S DEDICATION TO CYCLOCROSS CONTINUES...

JOIN THE BOULDER CYCLE SPORT ‘CROSS TEAM!

It’s NEVER too late to think ‘cross and that’s the way we like it within the ranks of the Orange and Black of Boulder Cycle Sport!

On Thursday June 11th, at 7:30 PM, BCS will be hosting our yearly team kickoff and informational meeting. If you have been interested in trying ‘cross, we invite you to come and learn more! The core of this team is about teaching and evangelizing the beauty of this sport…getting YOU excited to participate while having immense amounts of fun, improve your skills and brag to your co-workers come Monday how you frolicked in the mud with your friends all weekend!

Click here to learn more about the informational meeting and we invite you to become part of the Orange-and-Black clad family this year!

Hup hup, buttercups! The leaves may be green now but they will be-a-changin’!

The weather as I mentioned earlier today provided the absolute, most sincerely awesome conditions for racing the 'cross. I swear to you that you had to rub your eyes to ensure you were not in some muddy field in Belgium. The BoulderRacing team put together such a spectacular course, I ended up calling almost all of my best buds methodically to ensure they had raced that day and hear how happy they were (as it was THAT obvious that the course was labored over). Let me talk a little bit about the course first, before the day...

• 1 fallen log dismount
• a triple dismount of sets of logs
• a set of run up double barriers
• a set of hot triple barriers
• deliciously technical wooded sections
• S-turned pavement sections
• and one full-on Belgie style muddy field with ridiculously sick laid out turns ranging from drag strip straights that caused beautiful rooster tails of mud spitting out the back when you got your Sven on to flow-y carving turns that needed you to ensure you fully dialed in your tires before you toed the line.

So to the race. Truthfully, as egotistical as it sounds, I woke up at 5:20 this AM swore to God I was going to win. The fact I've been devoid of quality training, been on the road this week and am spitting vinegar with angst these days only added to my fire. I didn't care who showed up. I just wanted to unleash something because I wanted to. The weather made me smile in a rather sinister way as I just about salivated thinking about the suffering that would take place.

After some hot laps, I dialed in my Dugasts at roughly 35-38 PSI (F/R). It was clearly a low(er) pressure kind of day as the course demanded absolute flow. You had to be upright today and not even necessarily fast all the time on this course...just precise and on TWO WHEELS all the time to keep your advantages in tact throughout the race. Tire pressure is that insurance system.

We lined up in a moderate field. I'd say 35 to 40. The weather was about 39 degrees and misty rain. Perfect. They did call ups...but not for ACA overall, but from Boulder Racing series overall...which I missed the first race of. So I lined up 2nd row specifically choosing Timmy and and told him sternly: "Homes, just drill the start." I gut a definitive "Yup" in response. I didn't know a lot of the dudes being called up and was sketched as the usual suspects in the front know each other so specifically, we are fluid and safe.

In the line up today, I had what I'd never had before...teammates! PLURAL! And this would be a decisive factor today for our placings. Me, Pete Webber and Brian Hludinski. of Boulder Cycle Sport.

"GO!" says the ACA official and we are off. Timmy as promised punched a hole and in 50 meters I went from back 20 to top 4. Perfect. THANK YOU MAN. We got into the woods first and as we were concerned, a guy we'd never seen before comes barreling in and NASCARs with Timmy and trades paint. Classic. We are all typically so fluid that this was tough to stomach. So with Timmy to the side, I literally did a run through the initial technical sections to get past this guy and set up shop to control him and things. By the time we were out of the technical section and on teh pavement, we'd already got a split of the top 10. NASCAR guy is still in the midst as we barrel down into the muddy fields. It's at this moment I give a 'huh'? He slows down considerably so I yell at the guy to 'UP THE PACE!' I come around him and drop the anvil, flow through the barriers and get back onto the pavement with people shouting at me '20 seconds!' I guess I have a gap.

Flowing into Lap 2, Tim, JJ Clark of Spike Shooter, Jeff Wardell of Excel Sports and my team mate Pete Webber bridge up. Pete launches this attack and I smile as I finally get to sit in. I lamely attempt to block....just slow down a bit...and the 3 come by me. We flow and JJ races hard to bridge to the attacking Webber with Timmy and Jeff in tow and I snap and decide I need to conserve.

By the closing minutes I am still feeling good and trying to up the pace to catch Tim and crew. Webber, my bro, has the worlds worst moment and flats and requires a bike change. He was destined for the W I am certain. At about this time, my OTHER team mat (I can;t believe I have team mates!) Brian Hludzinski bridges up. We work hard lap after lap trading tempo on various parts of the course. Throwing it down. We can see that Brian Maslach of Spike Shooter is coming on us like a freight train in the last lap. I make the call and just throw it down and Brian blocks. I come in in 5th about 30-45 seconds behind the top 4 with a sprint shoot out between the Brians behind me.

Awesome race. Just awesome. Truthfully, I was so in the zone of thinking THIS IS CROSS!!! while I was racing I probably could have placed better! HA! It was just so perfect...the weather..the course...teammates in the mix. I felt....well, I felt at home in some weird way. Not i=one slip today. Technically perfect. Maybe every so slightly cleaner through certain sections but sincerely no complaints. Just more power needed to bridge and stay connected.

More race photos are on their way courtesy of Mark Wollcott Photography who was out there with his SLR's firing strobes like machine guns. But my good bud and fellow Valmont Bike Park advocate Zach Lee captured some awesome pics of the course! Enjoy his digital celluloid!

'Cross on...

Check out Dubba's overviews with Neal Rogers on 'cross equipment and technique....sort of a high level re-cap of what we teach on the Wednesday clinics. Speaking of which, I'm not going to be at BCS tomorrow night as I am on the road for work! Call the shop ahead 303.444.BIKE to ensure there is a clinic tomorrow as we have great coaches stepping in when Dubba and I can not make it.