The Hairy Kay

Darrell was enjoying his Mountain Goat Route 29 single speed so much, he had pretty much quit riding his full suspension Trek. Talk turned to taking the Trek apart and using it as a parts donor for a Whiskeytown Racer. Darrell liked the sound of that so we started designing the frame. Since he already had a single speed, we decided to add the ability to use the gearing on this frame even though it may spend much of its life in ss mode. While the frame was in line to be made, we started to discuss color options. Darrell went to the local GM dealership and got the paint code for the Cadillac Mary Kay pink to match the pink King headset and pink WTB Rocket saddle.

The first race of the local winter short track race was last Sunday and D raced the Route 29 which was apparently way under-geared. The track is just a relatively flat mile loop and at racing speeds, the stock gearing wasn't cutting it. Instead of changing the Route 29 gearing, we decided to build up the WTR and leave it nekkid. The gearing is currently is a 38x16 which is pretty stout. We'll see how it works on Sunday. Since the frame has to be wiped down and oiled pretty frequently to prevent rust, I have a feeling we'll be seeing paint on it pretty soon!

Freecyclin'

We've been cleaning up around the shop some and there always seems to be some stuff that you really can't find a use for but it is too "good" to toss out........you know exactly what I am talking about! This meant that it just sat there for another round until you finally get tired enough of seeing it that you give it the ole' heave-ho. A couple of years ago, my sister told me about freecycle.org and we have used it ever since. There seems to be local groups pretty much everywhere so check the web site to find them in your area. Once you get signed up, send an email with what you are looking to get rid of and your inbox will fill up pretty quickly. We just posted an old office chair and had 10 interested people within an hour. About a 1/2 hour after responding, someone was at the door and wheeling the chair away. Seems like a better alternative to filling up our landfills.

On the Mountain Goat front, Darrell's Harry K frame plus a second spec frame have shipped and should be arriving in the near future. It will be nice to welcome a couple of new Goats to the herd.

Get a Grip

We are always on the lookout for "old" mountain bike parts that are still marketable today. The obvious parts are the typical wear parts on the bikes. Parts such as tires, seats and grips wear out with normal use. Many of the parts that are available today don't look "right" on the older bikes. Black wall tires ruin the look of the pre-1990's bikes since they didn't become available until the early 1990's. We worked with Panaracer to remake the classic Timbuk II tire from the original molds. Now there is a classic skin wall tire that you can use with confidence on your bike while maintining the period correct look of the bike. We are down to our last 2 dozen of these at http://www.firstflightbikes.com/TimbukTire.htm

Another problem area can be grips. The Grab On MTN1 was one of the earliest grips made for mountain bikes. The original grips used a 46lb density foam and had a nice firm feel to them. Grab On still has the grip in production but has changed to an 18-20lb foam which is much softer and will wear much quicker. They changed due to a large price increase in the raw materials. The denser foam is right at twice as expensive as the less dense foam. We called Grab On and they agreed to make us a batch using the nicer foam which are now for sale @ http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/PartsForSalePages/bar_stem.html#Tape

You can still find the lighter duty ones for about $10 and these are $15 but it is worth the difference for the feel and durability.

MOMBAT'n

Wow, it's been cold here that past couple of days: 12 when I woke up yesterday and 11 this morning.

I've been trying to update the format of the www.mombat.org web site into something a little nicer looking. It's a pretty big project so it will take awhile to update all of it but I have to start somewhere. The "top level" pages are all done and I'll start working on the lower level pages as time allows. If you get a chance, check it out and let me know what you think.

Goat frames update

Jeremy Sycip called yesterday to update the status of the latest frame for Darrell. He asked if it was supposed to have the Salsa drop outs on it since that is what he had put on the frame. On the 26" wheel bikes, the Salsa drop out is stock so I told him we were good.......until wES came in the next day and told me we were supposed to have sliders on it, uh-oh. Quick call to Jeremy with the bad news and now Darrell is first in line for his new new frame. I guess the silver lining would be an extra Goat frame for stock! If anyone has been thinking about a frame and didn't want to wait, this could be a good opportunity. 19" frame for 26" wheels, 100mm fork and disc brakes. The only deviation from stock is the top tube from the 21" frame with a 19" seat tube. We told Jeremy to surprise us with the color so not sure what it will be. He did mention an Azure blue as a possibility but we'll see. wES wanted to get it painted up in Mary Kay pink to mess with Darrell. That is the color of his frame and it would have been cool to see the look on his face when we pulled out the frame with the "wrong" drop outs after a 6 month wait! Then we could pull out the "correct" frame but then Darrell would no longer be the only one with a Mary Kay colored Goat. Maybe we could get some of the make-up sellers to turn in their Cadillacs on a new bike?? Maybe if gas his $4 a gallon again?

Ride a bike, earn money for cycling groups

Still learning all of the details of the program but it looks like a nice setup. Sign up, choose your cause, ride your bike, submit your mileage and earn money for your cause. I chose IMBA since I think they do some great work but there are a couple of other very worthy causes (Bikes Belong, Rails to Trails..) Check it out at http://www.plus3network.com/

On a more vintage related note, we did order the Grab On MTN-1 grips which should be here in a couple of weeks.