This bike was several months from concept to completion, mostly due to laziness on my part. Now that it’s done, I have to say it’s the kind of rig that makes me wonder why I have three other bikes at all. Granted, the full suspension mountain bike isn’t going anywhere…but the carbon road bike, and steel mixte commuter should be shaking in their boots right now. Continue Reading →
For the fourth year in a row, the Oregon Stampede brought fools and heroes, myself and Mike from the shop among them, to North Central Oregon for another foray into seldom traveled territories. I decided on Tuesday to go for it, and Mike made his mind up late Friday afternoon. Neither of us had put any kind of training in, aside from a steady diet of canned beer and fried foods, but we’re veterans now and we knew what we were getting ourselves into. To us, the Stampede is more about finishing than it is about finishing well. And finish we did. Continue Reading →
Our friends over at the Mt. Hood National Forest are having a work party tomorrow starting at 9am. The meet up is at Little John Sno Park on the east side of our favorite mountain, Mt. Hood.
It’s a great chance to give back to the land that gives us so much, and you’ll be able to shred on your efforts when the work is done.
If you want to make a full day of it, head on to Hood River after the work party/ride time. Dirty Fingers is hosting a party with live music and beer. All beer sales benefit the 44Trails association and future trail expansion in the area.
We hope you’ll make it out! Give us a ring at the shop if you have any questions about what’s going on.
In addition to some great exhibitions of international work, one by Dutch sculptor Folkert de Jong, and the other featuring Islamic ceramics, the Portland Art Museums’s newest show, Cyclepedia: Iconic Bicycle Design, has a bit more of a local flair. Opening on June 8th, Cyclepedia brings 40 or so notable and noteworthy bikes from the collection of Vienna-based designer and collector Michael Embacher to be exhibited in the U.S. for the first time. Many might remember a few of these bikes from the beautifully presented book by the same name, and lucky for us in Portland, it’s now time to be able to see some of these historic and often genre-bending creations.
In addition to the featured bikes from Embacher’s collection, the works of a large number of local builders will also be featuring in the hallways to add to the array of bikes on display. It looks like there will also be a whole range of events happening in July in conjunction with the exhibition, featuring among other things, a pump track for participants to ride.
We’re excited about the exhibition, and it certainly seems like an excellent way to spend an afternoon. So check it out, and while you’re there be sure to check out the rest of the Portland Art Museum’s collection (some of my favorite pieces being housed in the lower level room devoted to the graphic arts – featuring prints by Goya, Kerry James Marshall, and Kathe Kollowitz among others).
In our shop, space is something we don’t have a whole lot of. We stock our shelves with accessories and parts that we like ourselves, as well as items that we think work for our customers. Our walls are filled with racks, panniers, lights, and tools that are tried and true. But every once in a while we step out on a limb and bring something new into the shop to see how it does.
And that brings us to the PDW Takeout Basket. This rack has a few nice features that sets it apart from other front racks commonly available. Most front racks bolt to mounts on the fork of your bike and these types of racks are generally made to hold panniers and larger loads. The Takeout basket is a small rack that mounts to your handlebars aided by a small brace that butts up to the stem. It’s a simple solution for a small rack.
At $120, it’s not the cheapest solution, but it also comes with a waterproof bag which extends it’s versatility. I picked one of these up a couple of weeks ago, and have used it for daily commuting as well as short tours. It easily holds a six-pack of beer, my camping kit, or groceries for the night. It’s a stylish addition to my Honky Tonk that I’ll be using for years to come!
If you’re interested in the Takeout, stop by the shop and ask us about it. A couple of us are using them now and we love to geek out on things like this!
The changing of seasons makes living in the Pacific Northwest a special place. This past winter I spent a good portion of time planning some springtime tours around parts of Oregon, and thanks to the Oregon Scenic Bikeways, there are plenty of options to choose from. Spring is an amazing time to explore the region by bike, since the birds and flowers are in abundance and the temps are pretty mild. With that in mind, a couple of friends and I headed out last weekend to John Day to ride the Old West Scenic Bikeway.
One of the best thing about these types of adventures is that you don’t need too much time to make them happen. For this short tour, we planned on three days of riding, each of which was about 50-60 miles total. We camped all three nights, but could have easily stayed in one of the bed+breakfasts or motels found in the small towns the route passes through.
We carried all of our camping gear with us, but had we chosen the motel option, could have traveled much lighter. The people we met were gracious and eager to welcome new travelers to their part of Oregon. The eastern portion of our state relies on agriculture and small bits of tourism to get by, and we were excited to be a part of it and soak it all in.
If you’re interested in touring, I recommend checking out the Travel Oregon site or stopping by the shop for some inspiration. A good number of us get really excited about trips like these and are happy to help you find the right bike and gear to make it happen. It’s fairly easy to get into, and as fun as you want it to be. With summer around the corner, now is the time to plan some extended bike fun.
See you out there!
This is the second post in the Honky Tonk Roundup series. The first post can be viewed here!
It’s probably pretty obvious that we love the Honky Tonk. At $975, the stock model is a great value. But if you’re like us, you might like to customize things a bit to make it uniquely yours. That’s where the frameset comes in handy.
We’re nearing the end of April and it seems that the notorious Bear Springs Trap XC race has crept up on us once again. I was prepared to write something about how Bear Springs is one tough day in the saddle, yet easily one of the best races worth doing for mountain bikers out there, but the description from the Oregon XC Series put it much better than I could have.
“Some decades ago Paul Thomasberg Jim Thornton, and Petr Kakes designed a course that made racers cry after 50+ miles. Paul’s computer was miscalibrated by 40% and the first year PRO winner was out there for 4 1/2 hrs. The ones who didn’t cry got lost. Actually they may have cried too – we just don’t know it.
OK let’s get serious. BST has lot to offer but the name Trap was used for a reason. The Bear Springs area has it’s beauty, you just need to look at it instead of the wheel in front of you. Since we use portions of the OHV area we do have lot of intersections to deal with. Once you get of the moto trails the challenge will start. The race is known for it’s difficulty as well as for snow on the course whenever mother nature decides to send it in late March and April. As usually Petr and his crew will be there on time to remove the cyclocross sections of the course and welcome you at the finish with the Pilsner Urquell.”
So there you have it. We love Bear Springs Trap. So much so that it’s one of the few mountain bike events that we sponsor each year. You can find the flier and pertinent info for the race here, and if you have any questions about the event itself you can email skibowlbikerace@frontier.com or feel free to give us a call.
By this point, if you’ve followed our blog or been around the shop for the past few months, you’ve likely heard rumors and maybe seen a spy photo of Kona’s titanium Rove frame. We may have been responsible for spilling their first factory sneak peak to the whole world before Kona had the time to put together a press release of their own. It was an accident we swear… And we assure you that all of this mumbling has been with the best intentions – we’re just really excited about this frame. Continue Reading →
