It Takes a Village to Build a Mountain Bike | Carytown Bicycle Co.

Everyone?s heard the analogy ?It takes a village to raise a child?. The same could be said about building bikes. As?I?ve?graduated into a more proficient mountain biker,?I?ve?become more and more selective about the componentry and performance factors I look for in bikes. Switching from a hard-tail to a full suspension bike seemed like the next logical step for me, but it was a big evolution.

I began riding two years ago on a single speed fully rigid 29er. From there, I added a suspension fork, and disc brakes; and my world changed. For awhile, I was done. It was all the bike I needed.? I learned, and grew as a rider, and eventually stepped up to a geared 29er, with hydraulic disc brakes; my world changed again. I was still having problems though, cornering was my white whale, and after more than two loops on the JRPS, my lower back would be screaming. This is where the village came in.

I approached Braden, and a couple of the other guys at the shop about riding a full squish bike. Some of our mechanics, and Braden himself have scalpels that they seem to love; but I knew almost immediately I?d be doing something a little different. Since I had never ridden a full suspension bike on trail before, I was anxious to get a feel for it. Braden generously loaned me his scalpel, and after one loop of the trails, my faith in full suspension was confirmed, and I knew I?d be building a new bike soon.

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After narrowing my options down to two frames, I again polled the entire shop, and decided to go with a Salsa Spearfish. I liked everything about the bike, and the village elders seemed to agree. However, there were many noticeable differences that would need to remedied between old bike and new. First, I would be going from a 1? headtube to a tapered one. I?d also be going from a standard bottom bracket to a BB30. Since this was a frame swap, I was trying to preserve as much of my original gruppo as possible, but, as to be expected, there were some differences. As well, I?d be switching from a large frame to a medium, to compensate for the difference in geometry. Again, the village came to my rescue. I polled everyone in the shop, and finally settled on where to spend my money. It was a group decision essentially that I was better off spending less money on my headset, and more on the crank.? It was a good decision, shaving a ton of weight, and providing me with a stiff, high end platform.

When the bike arrived, I was super stoked, and got to the shop as soon as possible to start building. The guys had been sending me goofy pictures of the frame all day, and I was definitely ready to ride it as soon as possible.? The problem was, I had never fully installed a BB30 crank before, and was a bit nervous about messing up my new bike. Luckily, the guys in the shop came through again, and as we shared a six pack, I was given a lesson in proper crank installation, and how to adjust a frame suspension.? A few hours later, it was done.

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The best part about riding a mountain bike with no brakes is that you have no excuses.? And, unfortunately, during our calculations and scheming, we forgot to take into consideration that a new frame, and frame size, would require different hoses for my hydraulic brakes. Again, I was left to the mercy of the shop?s wisdom, having bled brakes only a few times, and never having had shortened hoses.? I was in over my head.

Originally, I had intended to simply swap over my Avid Elixirs to the new bike. When I ran this by the village however, I received a different reaction. I swear I saw pitchforks and torches. Apparently, this was unacceptable. Money was tight on the project however, and I was unsure about spending more on a new brake set. I was outvoted. Braden insisted that I run a set of SLX instead. He was right. My world changed again, and for what seemed like the first time ever, I knew what modulation meant. With some help from his mechanical expertise (read: Braden finished building my bike because he?s good at bikes) I was up and running the next day.

??????????????? The Salsa Spearfish is a monster of a bike. The suspension absorbed everything the JRPS could throw at my battered kidneys, and, my new narrower wheelbase gave me the cornering abilities of a 26. As well, the bike shifted smoothly, fit better than my old frame, and weighed significantly less. As I was finishing up my first ride, and ticking through all the benefits of my new setup, it dawned on me how little I had put into the bike. It really had been a community effort to build me a sweet setup that fit me specifically as a rider. It had also been incredibly easy to do. By laying out my needs to the shop, they had responded with accurate and custom tailored recommendations, and the results showed immediately. Since getting a bit more comfortable on the bike,?I?ve?been putting up record numbers on my Strava account, and conquering sections of the trail that used to throw me every time. None of it could have been achieved without the help of everyone else at the shop. In the end, results in cycling require individual effort. It?s not a team sport. However, with proper backing, insurmountable walls are often reduced to minor hurdles.

Source: http://carytownbicyclecompany.com/2012/10/it-takes-a-village-to-build-a-mountain-bike/

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