Kona Tanuki

Well I didn't really see this happening but it did. And now I have it with me in Fernie. Really diggin this departure from my typically cycling style.

Some sweet 90s downhill MTB racing

Well worth a watch.

Thanks to Black Mountain Cycles for posting the link.

Odyssey Straddle Rod

Until recently, I never even knew these things existed. The straddle rod replaces your straddle cable and cable hanger with some nice shiney bits of aluminum and steel. They allow fine tuning of your cantilever brakes and compensate for cable stretch. While I do think that you can get away from much of the issues associated with Canti-brakes if your initial installation and setup is done properly, these straddle rods do give an extra little bit of precision in setting up your brakes. On top of that, they look cool. Everyone likes hanging a little bling (or at least some interesting parts) on their bikes right? I’ll be re-building my pink S/S bike and these bad boys will help dress it up a bit, while keeping with the “old school mtb S/S” theme (no carbon fiber). Think a totally rad mountain bike from the early 90s. yeah

The pink bike was a bike that I found at the local recycling yard. I’ve ridden it enough to know that it is a capable, comfortable machine. Tange 5 double butted tubing, tig welded joints and made in Japan. Geometry is pretty relaxed and stable. Most importantly, the size is large and this bike fits me well. It’s just what I want in a low-cost highly capable S/S mountain bike.