Tony Fast photo and video by John Prolly

Tony Fast: We've got a Situation from John Prolly on Vimeo.

my father, killing it

Tuesday

Wednesday

photos by Bum Ariffin

Bootleg Sessions v.4 - The Last Trailer from Ride/Relax Productions on Vimeo.

Let's take a look shall we?

After numerous heated board meetings (I sent you an evite, you didn't respond.  Nice netiquette jerk!), multiple letters to the editor, and two black eyes we've finally reached a consensus and the color for this summer is blue.  In celebration of Blue we've brought in Limited Edition versions of our 612 Crankset, Cecil and Standard pedals, Standard hubsets, and Standard toe straps in both blue and red. 

Once they are sold through they are gone forever (or until the color of the summer is once again blue), so get them while they last.

LE Blue 612 Track Crankset 165mm



* you should know that the blue 612 crankset came out a lighter blue than the rest of the components.  That's just how it goes sometimes with ano, different materials or even different batches yield differences in outcome 

Cecil LE Blue

Standard LE Blue

Standard LE Hubset Blue 32h fixed/free

LE Standard Toe Straps Blue & Red

*A thing to remember about all of our toe straps:  we switched to a thicker, stronger, higher quality leather, and new buckles this January. 
Way better quality, same price.  Because we care about you and want you to be both happy and successful.

kisses,
AC

another short one.. from swoo on Vimeo.

Hey folks,

Just wanted to let you know that we decided to make a few changes to the Nature Boy fork for production. The old crown just didn't offer enough mud clearance so we changed it. 

The fork crown that will be coming on your new best friend is this hott little number:

Allow me to illustrate

*apologies for showing all sorts of forks in all sorts of colors

old crown on the left, new on the right

if you look closely you'll see that not only is the new fork crown wider, but the tangs on the inside of the leg are shorter as well.  Both give added clearance.

Old crown with 32c tire on 24mm wide rim


actual measurement

New crown with same wheel and tire

actual measurement

This my friends is a positive change all the way around, unless of course you hate flat crowns, then it is a compromise. 

We have also made a change to the placement of the fender mounts: they were on the backside of the fork which was doable but a pain in the ass and are now on the outside of the leg like so.

This is way more user friendly and we feel still much better looking than a traditional eyelet.

Nature Boy frames will be here in July and completes in August.  

 All of us over here who have a proto NB have been loving them and think you'll be equally enamored once you finally get your hands on one.  I've been using mine for commuting, dirt paths, and most recently a 100 mile gravel race.  The bike sprints well, soaks up bumps as you'd expect a high quality steel bike to do, and fits like a glove.  I'm super into this thing, and super into looking at dirty pictures of it.

so dirty

*that's the old fork in the photo above.  I had a 38c tire in there and packed it full of mud and rubbed a bunch of paint off the inside of the fork. This confirmed that a change was necessary.

come out and watch or play

Bootleg Sessions v.4 HD Fixed Gear DVD teaser from Ride/Relax Productions on Vimeo.

This is so rad, of course there are rules as this law was originally written for motorcyclists and not bicycles.

Here is the info from bikemn.org

Unchanging Red Light Law

On April 16th the Governor signed a bill that included bicycles in the Unchanging Red Light Law. However, it is not legal for bicyclists to run red lights!!! If you choose to enter or cross an intersection against a red light you have an affirmative defense with the police or court if necessary (they can dismiss or not charge you) if you:
1. Stop!
2. Wait!
3. Determine the light is not going to change.
4. Look both ways and yield to the traffic with the green light!

the exact language is as follows: Minnesota Statutes - 169.06 SIGNS, SIGNALS, MARKINGS.
Subd. 4.Obedience to traffic-control signal or flagger; presumptions. (a) The driver of any vehicle shall obey the instructions of any official traffic-control device applicable thereto placed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, unless otherwise directed by a traffic or police officer, subject to the exceptions granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle in this chapter.
(b) No provision of this chapter for which official traffic-control devices are required shall be enforced against an alleged violator if at the time and place of the alleged violation an official device is not in proper position and sufficiently legible to be seen by an ordinarily observant person. Whenever a particular section does not state that official traffic-control devices are required, such section shall be effective even though no devices are erected or in place.
(c) Whenever official traffic-control devices are placed in position approximately conforming to the requirements of this chapter, such devices shall be presumed to have been so placed by the official act or direction of lawful authority, unless the contrary shall be established by competent evidence.
(d) Any official traffic-control device placed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and purporting to conform to the lawful requirements pertaining to such devices shall be presumed to comply with the requirements of this chapter, unless the contrary shall be established by competent evidence.
(e) A flagger in a designated work zone may stop vehicles and hold vehicles in place until it is safe for the vehicles to proceed. A person operating a motor vehicle that has been stopped by a flagger in a designated work zone may proceed after stopping only on instruction by the flagger.

Subd. 9. Affirmative defense relating to unchanging traffic-control signal. (2010 changes underlined)
(a) A person operating a bicycle or motorcycle who violates subdivision 4 by entering or crossing an intersection controlled by a traffic-control signal against a red light has affirmative defense to that charge if the person establishes all of the following conditions:
(1) the bicycle or motorcycle has been brought to a complete stop;
(2) the traffic-control signal continues to show a red light for an unreasonable time;
(3) the traffic-control signal is apparently malfunctioning or, if programmed or engineered to change to a green light only after detecting the approach of a motor vehicle, the signal has apparently failed to detect the arrival of the bicycle or motorcycle; and
(4) no motor vehicle or person is approaching on the street or highway to be crossed or entered or is so far away from the intersection that it does not constitute an immediate hazard.
(b) The affirmative defense in this subdivision applies only to a violation for entering or crossing an intersection controlled by a traffic-control signal against a red light and does not provide a defense to any other civil or criminal action.
EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment (April 16, 2010).

Rode the Nature Boy 100 miles on gravel on Saturday during the Almanzo 100

*note the look of sheer disgust on my face as I contemplate having to climb yet another hill

The race in short was freaking brutal.  Constant climbing (6800 feet), no flat sections, all gravel.  Just freaking brutal.  Easily the toughest day I've ever had on a bike. 

This year was an all new course for the Almanzo and the gnar factor was set to stun. For the first 68 miles I was on it. I found myself able to climb faster than most of the guys on the geared bikes who were spinning up the climbs and I was consistently able to catch people descending. I don't know if I am just a heavy dude with fast wheels or they were scared of letting it fly on the loose surface but time after time I was able to blaze past others on the way down.

The flats however is where I found myself struggling with the limitations of one gear. I hooked up with four coworkers from mile 40 to 68. In the paceline I got spun out and was only able to hang out in the middle or back end where I'd end up yo yo'ing off the back constantly. After several miles of dropping ten feet back and having to chase to catch the wheel, I eventually adopted the tactic of trying to stay in the middle of the paceline which forced me to spin my ass off to keep the line together. It was punishing but I knew I was making good time.

Around 50 miles or so I felt my tank getting low and knew that I needed to eat one of the sandwiches I had in my backpack. The gel's and bars that I was able to munch on while in motion were simply not cutting it anymore. The guys I was riding with had no intention of stopping to feed until the drop bags at 68 miles in so I had a choice: I could either tough it out and stay with this fast group where I was making good time or stop and get some food and risk being stuck out there all alone. I elected to keep on moving and was pretty blown by the time we reached the check point.

I thought that we'd hang out for a half hour or so, but my companions were into dining and dashing so after about 10 minutes they wanted to head out and I decided my best chance of finishing this thing in good time was to stay with them.

The checkpoint was in a river valley and on the way out we had to ride up some seriously steep climbs, I ended up having to walk one of them and my companions were gone, not to be seen until the finish line. I had 32 miles to go and was now on my own, and I was tired.

I don't know what to say about the last miles or so but I was in full on zombie mode just trying to survive, front wheel wandering eyes cast down. The only thing that really kept my spirits up were the townspeople who were chilling in front of their homes and cheering for us as we rode by. Huge thanks to all the folks who came out to support the racers, your claps and noise really make a difference.

I ended up 65th out of somewhere between 300-400 racers with a time of around 7 hours. This was 100 miles on a single speed on the nastiest non mtb terrain I have ever ridden. It was brutal, but I'm very proud to have finished.

Big props to all who rode, all who finished (finishing this thing on any type of bike is a serious accomplishment), and especially all of the MPLS cats who came down. I will definitely do it again, but next year I'm bringing gears.

This little beaut is a genuine home made P-Far

It is being lent to our distributor QBP by one of their employees.  It's pretty cool at first glance, but the details are simply mind blowing.
I can't believe all the crazy engineering and Macguyvering that went into it. 

The man behind this build was frame builder Jeff Patterack from River Falls Wisconsin, and it was built during the 70's.

 
The main frame and rim are tubular steel, the head tube (with internal headset) is made from a water pipe fitting.

The cranks are made from 5/8ths wrenches

carved wood pedals

carved wooden bar and horn

the rubber for the tires is made from garden hose

 
home made leather saddle, and I'm guessing that the seat placement is adjustable via that u bracket

foot peg

This rear wheel is actually a piece of an antique sewing machine, with garden hose mounted for rubber

card from the original shop

All in all it's pretty mind blowing, the level of ingenuity is off the charts

Ricardo sent over some images, I highly suggest you check out his website.  Beautiful photography

2 Medium and 3 Large LE Dropouts in stock at our distributor now.

better act quick if you want one.

Swoo from Toronto shot over this teaser for his summer edit!

teaser#2 from swoo on Vimeo.

Check out this rad photo of Shea by Tim Kainu

Saturday ride with the Robeast.

Bikes, beer, booze, nature.  Stoked to get the bikes dirty.  As always, the bike life is the good life.

It's funny how the world works, just the same as yours

This photo is sick

credit to 247media

We thought that we had gotten in all of the LE Dropouts that were coming.  We were wrong and currently have 7 larges available.  Get em while they last!!

and check out this hot little number from our man Andrew in Canada

I'm back from vacation and trying to get caught up with work so no trip pictures or long posts today.  In the meantime enjoy these shots of Sean and Taylor