Make It a Double

    Whew, so much has gone on since the last time i posted. let's see if i can make the long bad story short and the good stuff fun.

    first up, i took a bad fall on may 31st, that landed me in the hospital for a week and home on disability for 6 weeks in a back brace 24/7. i fracture all 5 lower vertebrates in my back. i'm much better, but i'm still ache. 2hrs is the longest ride i have taken and i was in agony from it, so right now an hour is what i can do.

    now the good news. my wife is pregnant!! very exciting news, our firsts, the twin boys are due to arrive in the beginning of december. yes, i did write, twins and yes they are boys. i'm pretty excited about that and i can't wait to buy them bikes, i already got my eye on something at the bike shop.

    life has been good lately, i know it can sneak up on you and make it bad but the wifey is feeling good, as expected and there is more food in the house now. while sitting at home for 6 weeks, i have looked around and saw all the things i neglected over the summer, in order to go riding instead of doing the things i should have done. well now, i'm making other jobs a priority. all the things i neglected are getting done and that includes some biking issues.

    i finally convert my 1991 Klein Rascal into a single speed. i will take pics this weekend to show you. it's pretty light, i kept the xt levers and SE scott peterson brakes on their for a bit but are removing them soon. i guess i'm a weight weenie, i want the bike lighter, like my 5.5 pound turner frame (why did i think i could make a 5spot light). anyway, i'm replacing the brakes with avid single digit 7's and brake levers and i need to find a 5 bolt bash guard. anyone know of any?

ride for me!
happy trails
~dirty bert

Taco Bash Guard

    i got this bash guard on my bike from Dark Cycles, called Black Guard. i gotta say it's pretty phat looking and it does its purpose well. it makes me look better in my non-graceful way of clearing logs.

    I just found this on E-Thirteen Taco Bashguard. for 45 bucks you get a quarter of what you really need in a bash guard. i like the idea, plain and simple and definitely puts its self in the ranks of "why didn't i think of that."

happy trails
~dirty bert

Spring Bike Deals!

    i ask myself, is it really spring? it's nothing like last year, where we jump from a very short spring into summer. although yesterday was very warm, i think a high of 85, we haven't hit the 90's just yet. i'm thankful because i got 2 many outside projects to worry about that.

    i found a cool site to do price comparisons called, Spadout. i only search for mountain biking stuff that's on sale but there are other options as well. for example, i found Time ATAC Cleats, for $14.99! so basically you can buy 2 sets of them for the price of one at a bike shop but then again there's the waiting factor and shipping cost.

    another site, i stumbled along is Bike 29, a 29er site for those dedicated to big wheels. i like looking at the shop section, dreaming of what i would buy if i had the loot.

    i like Twin Six jerseys and t-shirt designs. i like the arygle jerseys. although i vow not to wear bike jerseys, i'd wear them if it was a loose performance, coolmax, shirt, maybe 3/4 length design.

    tasty thursday deal, even though it's friday (thank god), is this 6-pack of GU for $5.50. this offer expires today!

get out there and ride!
~dirty bert

Riding with Dark Cycles

    I noticed this company, Dark Cycles about a year ago, when someone posted ther bash guard on MTBR.

Here's a close up of what my bash guard looks like.

    The bash guard i got is called Black Guard. Up close it looks SWEET and the CNC engraving is well done. I had never had a bash guard on a bike but it makes a world of a difference for me to get up and over a log pile. No more, chainring digging or scraping over a log. It's makes me into a better rider or less sloppy looking as I cross over the logs.

    As I roamed around thier website I noticed they have a DH bike called, Scarab DH. A cro-moly steel frameset with 8.5" of rear travel and a frame weight (incl. shock) of 11.8 lbs. I'm no DH guy but this bike looks pretty menacing and with 8.5" of travel, it sounds like it has more travel then my civic.

    They also have a hard tail bike called, Supernova. What stood out the most from the picture of the bike was the CNC engraving of the flame dropouts! I gotta say that's pretty phat and original on their part.

    If yer looking for a bash guard, I'd recommend Dark Cycles, Black Guard. You will have to give up yer large chainring but I didn't mind because I rarely used it, so it wasn't a big lose for me. I bought mine at Red Barn Bicycles. Chad was the guy I emailed and eventually call and ordered from. You can email Chad at sales@RedBarnBicycles.com. I'd say mention me when you order but I doubt he'd remember me, since it was so long ago.

happy bashing!
~dirty bert