Holy crap!

I said I was going back to four posts a week, didn't I?

I guess that was a lie.

Too much to share lately.

Steve Stickel. The man is detail oriented, meticulous, methodical, brilliant... His packing job alone had me in awe. Who does this kinda thing?

I put most of the bike together last night.

Yes, that is the hacksaw I found in the street a few weeks ago (with a new blade). Yes, cancer still sucks, although my mom is done with her treatment.

I love having the right tool for the job.

Butter.

Everything went together so smoothly. I didn't have to break out my Ryobi power sander or nothing of the sort.

That's tight. Perfect. Wonderful.

My head badge art?

Do you get the reference? Is it lost on you? Are you not a card carrying member of the Metal Militia? Have you never been caught in a mosh? Fjear the gun.

With a 32X19 and a half-link on a brand new PC-1, I'm at 16 5/16" chainstays. Driveway wheelie test was off the hook. Crazy.

Around 9:00PM last night, I was four beers into the build and the only thing really left to do after the wheelie test was trim the brake lines. That was not something I wanted to get into at the moment, so I applied some sponsor'esque type decals and called it a night.

I may have applied one non-sponsor'esque decal as well.

I've had this guy on my last three single speeds thanks to my pal Thad. He likes to know that he's good for something, and he's just a heartbeat away from becoming my new sticker sponsor.

This morning, I woke up at 3:15AM and decided that there was no better time to trim my lines than right the fuck now.

Seriously, this was the best $7.00 I've spent in a long time.


Perfect straight cuts that allowed me to trim the lines, plug in a new olive, and hook it all back up... without bleeding.

The bike is together and ready to roll. The sun is not even close to being up, so I have no full bike shots to share. With a chance of rain today, I don't think it's gonna be special bike day at work either.

Some of you are gonna want to know these factoids, so here you go. Frame weight, with Paragon drops installed and all hardware; 5.04lbs.

Bike as it sits with pedals and cages and stickers and drool; 20.45lbs. A slight gain in frame weight, brakes, and front tire, but a reduction in rotor and rim weight (that's rotating mass, bitch).

So much anticipation. I've been talking to Steve and staring at his frames for three or four years now. This frame is the culmination of everything I've learned to love about 29" wheeled bikes starting with my custom Thylacine (Warwick was the first guy to really explain some things to me that I've carried into every custom frame since ~ MOOTS and Misfit). Oddly enough, Steve was someone that Warwick (who resides down under) held in high regard all those years ago... before I even met Steve in person. Strange how I made a connection with someone two hours from my house VIA Australia.

It's going to the mountains tomorrow, hell or high water. I'll snag some photos before I get it all dirty, I promise.