"Tiny Dancer" Bike Check

Here's my final "bike check." I'm getting a new bike soon, so here's the final version of my rig. Not much has changed over the years..tires are probably the biggest difference from when I first set the bike up.

Damn near 5 years old..Yikes! I'd say my bike is set-up fast and loose.


My bike is covered in all kinds of sweet prototype decals. Like this woodgrain set.


I've got a few nice parts on it. Thomson stem. Can't go wrong there.


Profile Madera Rear Hub. I drilled/cut down/chamfered the axle. That's my "mod."


Disobey Face.


My brake lever is pretty sweet. I "rawed" the end of it with my finger.


Oh yeah! Bikes and Dogs and Dirt.


A little street ridin'.


Frame: Fall Guy.
Fork: Sherman Jumper. Stiffened with a shim-on-spring.
Grips: Odyssey Gary Young
Bar: Truvativ DH. 2" rise x 28" wide. (new bars hopefully soon!!!)
Stem: Thomson X4
Brake Lever: Avid
Rear Brake: ?
Cable: Odyssey Linear.
Headset: Chris King
Seat: Odyssey Junior
Seatpost: Thomson
Seatpost Clamp: Yes
F.Wheel: Atomlab Wheel
R.Wheel: Madera Dexter Hub / Atomlab rim 12t driver. LSD
F.Tire: Primo Dirt Monster
R.Tire: Intense Microknobby
Chain: Yes.
Sprocket: Profile Imperial 28t
Cranks: Profile Madera 175
Pedals: DMR

Posting 2 Ninja videos in 2 days? Ninja Terminator.

Who's Talkin' Nau?

An absence of fresh riding photos or anything to say bike related.

Well, hold that. Thanks to everyone who decided to get a Fall Guy from this first batch. Those went fast.

We've got another batch that should be ready to go at the end of this month, so if you are thinkin' about it, and you read this blog, you know what to do. Send me a deposit and color choice. Ride a Fall Guy to work, and it'll pay for itself by 2012. Or I'll eat my hat.

Speaking of bike sales..we still have a Dukes of Chazzard Orange Howie without a home.

What else...we are making a small run of Supernauts. Crazy to imagine this, but each one had a home until know. Unfortunately one of those homes has encountered some unexpected medical expenses, and now a Supernaut is available.

Enough sales pitches. On to Random Thoughts.

"HIGH CLASS, if you ain't rollin, bypass
If you ain't holdin, I dash yo.."

Nau Clothing. Nau out of business as of last Friday.

Over 60 people will lose their (probably good paying) jobs. I've been on the sharp end of that stick. It sucks.

Incredibly, Nau donated nearly $225k to good causes in it's short life.

Nau blames “.. the current highly risk-aversive capital market, we simply could not raise the necessary funds to continue to move forward.”

I don't understand their failure. There's nothing radical or original about their business model.

Connecting the dots on some cultural trends People With Money pay attention to and sourcing out of China is hardly original.

That's a fairly well traveled and successful path.

As far as clothing companies go, American Apparel is far better at smashing "business paradigms" than Nau. And taking far greater risks.

What's wrong with taking a page from the the small scale entrepreneurs and artists they associated themselves with on their website? Start small.

I'll readily admit my understanding of business is in it's infancy, but who knew Goods would out live Nau?

Why does this Ninja movie look more like showdown between Portland hipsters? Don't bother with why. Just enjoy this clip.



-L

Dialed-In

Freeride is a strange term. I really don't know what it means..it's an "everything and nothing" label.

For riders like P Funk, Freeride is all about the the B's: Bowed-Legs, Back-Wheel- Landings, and his favorite pro rider, Bobby Bourdin. Or was that Bender?

For myself...? I like riding XC, and doing some jumps along the way. I ride a light bike, with clipless pedals, and the crotch pad in my shorts is the only "armour" I wear.

Anyway, Post Canyon has a lot to offer. You can pedal around all day, ride some stunts, or not, shuttle, or not, and just have a fun day on your bike. I guess it's mostly considered a "Freeride" area, but it can accomodate a huge variety of riding styles and abilites. Take a couple minutes and fill out this survey if you ride here.

Now for some dialed set-ups:

Billy, dialed.


Kent's bike is still in customs, but it's dialed.


-L

Tonic Owners Club

You've seen Nathan's riding here before. I'm really looking forward to seeing him ride at our jam.


NICE! Sweet table.


We put gyro tabs on Quebec Fred's bike, and judging by this photo..they work! What's up with those two having a cell phone session while the sun is out and there's a park to ride? Probably talking to eachother.


-L

99 Problems....

Billy at Thrashbike. To quote Team Robot: Billy's got 99 problems, but a ditch ain't one.


-L

Photos of bikes and riders!

The Baaron on concrete. PFunk and the Baaron escaped some not-so-nice weather a couple week-ends ago with a little road trip to Yreka. Nice riding.


PFunk and I did some street riding last Friday. The cool thing about having your own bike company is that a tuck over a little hip still gets you a free bike. That you eventually pay for.


A table over the same hip. Street riding is fun.


Any interest in these? This is a rare Mavic XY 24" rim. It's a race rim that's long been out of production, but I've got a source for a decent supply of them. Good choice for your "Ulitmate Fall Guy Build."


Abbitt sent in this photo of this bike. Now, how about some riding buddy?


Hey Olympics! Jumping out of pool is cooler than jumping into one! Inman ad for Lotek. Damn.


-L

Tonic Fab Reduces Trade Deficit!

As of Febuary 2008, our trade deficit with China sat at about 38 Billion USD.

We recently shipped a Howie to China. This means Tonic has put a dent in that figure somewhere on the order of 0.000000001842%!! First round is on us America!

A Howie somewhere in China..



Looch..


The pain in his knee became enough to go see a doctor. Turns out he rode both the Fluidride race, and Thrash Bike with a broken knee-cap!! He'll be out for a few weeks..which means he'll be healed up for our Jam. Weather has been pushing this back..

If you answer "Who's got the 10 1/2?" with "Best Black Flag Album" you might enjoy this chart I saw on HTATBL...


I heard this guy just moved around here. Andrew Burke. I saw this at Foyer Clothing. Pretty cool reel if you've got a few minutes.


-L