David's Double Cross Disc

Evan, 

Heres a couple shots the day I finished her, and one on a single track near my house.

She’s built off your DC Disc 50 frame with your fork, running gear consist of full Sram Rival, w/ a Simano Ultegra cassette & chain for smoother transition thru the gears.  

I used your Hellyer pedal, I like the style and weight and I didn’t want a clip in on this bike. The stopping power comes from TRP Spyre SLC 140/160. Although their recent recall I haven’t experienced any issues with them, and I like them better then any other brake thus far.  

Cockpit is full Thomson Elite for stem & post and the bars are their MTB Carbon. Chris King head set & BB. Specialized Phenom Saddle & Rocca locking grips.  

All this rolls effortlessly on Stan's ZTR Iron Cross wheels with Continental Speed Ride 700x42’s.   

Coming off Salsa frames for years I must admit Im far more impressed with this set up then any other bike I’ve owned. 

Kindest Regards.

Dave S.

Rhode Island

Andrew's 26" B-Side

Evan,

I saw your post on the 26" wheeled B-side.

I have been running 26” wheels exclusively on my B-side for over a year  In fact I purchased it with that intent.  I have the 13.5” model.

I have outfitted my bike with many of my favorite vintage components, and a few updated ones:  Rock Shox Revelation 90-135 coil spring fork.  9 speed XT drivetrain with compact 5 bolt cranks, 44/32/20 chain rings, XT rear derailleurs,  XT 12x34 cassette, Dura Ace shifters with Paul’s Thumbies mounts.  Avid BB7 brakes.  Mavic wheels with WTB Mutano-Raptor 2.5/Nano-Raptor 2.1 tires.  30 degree sweep handlebar with Ergon grips.  Cane Creek Thud Buster ST post.  

I have been riding MTBs since the late 70’s.   I have been through more bikes than I care to count. The B-side geometry is a perfect fit for me.  But even more than that, I can honestly say it is the best all around MTB I have ever ridden.  Then again, I also rather fond on my Soma Groove and ES as well.

Andrew Will

Finn's Saga

Hey friends at SOMA, 

I recently had a ridiculous experience getting lost in the Cascades of Southern Oregon, on top of a mountain whose name I still do not know. Some erroneous maps and a wonky GPS sent my traveling companion and I off into a maze of "paved roads" which turned out to be long abandoned forest service paths, paved with nothing more than 4 inches of dust and scree.

I was riding a Saga, and rolling 2 inch tires and 40 pounds of gear, and it was only near the top of the Nameless Mountain that I had to get off my bike and push. The road eventually got so bad that we had to take our panniers off, and portage bikes and gear up the mountain separately - at the summit, we found a gravel road, and radioed out for water and an accurate map. 

My point is that I'm really fucking impressed how far I got up the mountain on what is not strictly a mountain bike. I thought you'd like a photo of the bike, who is named Sisyphus, and the absurd amount of dust it had accumulated by the time I'd hauled it up to the summit. 

Thanks for being rad (and local),

Finn Black, San Francisco

Chris P's Wolverine

Here is a picture of another Wolverine build. Might be posting up a quick initial write up of the frame soon. If you wanted that. Think there needs to be more info on this frame because people need to know how awesome it is.  

As someone has said "ya done good kid."

Mahalo

NYC Trip Post #3

Still got some more NYC pics to share with you. Try to keep up.

The Kinfolk shop was way bigger than I expected.

In addition to handmade bicycles they also sell collectables and apparel.

They had some lovely vintage Japanese film cameras on display.

Check out the Sugino 75 disc wheel on that thing!

The (kin)folks were nice enough to let me climb up to the loft where they have a studio space.

Behind the shop there's a bar with some super trippy interior design elements.

They way it's laid out kind of reminds me of a big bee hive.

I wasn't able to check it out at night, but I imagine it's a pretty neat spot.

After grabbing a sandwich at the Kinfolk Cafe  next door, I headed back towards the Williamsburg Bridge.

Couldn't pass up the opportunity for some more gratuitous product photography.

The East River make a pretty sweet backdrop, wouldn't you say?

Along the way I spotted this bitchin pump track. If it'd been open I would have tried it out on the Grand Randonneur, but since I was dropping her off at 718 Cyclery at the end of the day I figured I probably better not try climbing the fence.

My last stop was Chari and Co. back in Manhattan.

Their shop is small, but packed deep with all kinds of track gear.

They build up some mighty fine looking wheels.

They also cater to your artistic needs.

The folks there were super friendly and even gave me a Chari 5 Panel cap to take home. 

Whaddup haters! Mine has bees on it. 

Well, that's all folks! Thanks to all the friendly New Yorkers we met for showing us what's good. Visiting your city was a real treat. Can't wait to see you next time!

26" Soma B-side w/ Dirty Wizards

Did you know you can run 26" wheels on the Soma B-side?

Yes, those are the Surly Dirt Wizard tires. Now you know.

NYC Trip Post #2

Remember when I was going to post more pictures from our NYC trip. We'll here they are.

The 2nd day was all about visiting shops, so I drug myself out of bed and hopped on the bike.

Took a quick spin around the neighborhood to beat back the jetlag.

My first stop of the day was 718 Cyclery, which was conveniently right down the street from the hotel.

This shop is really great. They clearly have an appreciation for classic bicycles, a fact that becomes apparent as soon as you look around the space.

I hung around for a bit an chatted with the folks working the morning shift before heading out to my next destination.

Amazeballs view of Manhattan along the bike path.

Cruising around Brooklyn I happened upon quite a few little shops, but I only had time to peak in the window.

The Papillionaire Cycles shop  is a smart looking city bike boutique in Red Hood. They weren't open when I stopped by, but they had some cute step through bikes on display in their window.

I learned later that they're actually based out of Australia, but they're now doing some business stateside as well.

All kinds of classic Brooklyn Chewing Gum kit in this shop window.

Around lunch time I stopped in to the Red Lantern Cafe and Bike Shop.

Inside they've got a cafe with plenty of bicycle flavored art up on the walls and ceiling.

Even though I was still on west coast time, my bicycle sightseeing necessitated a refuel. Killer Paninis.

Heading north into Williamsburg I spotted the Brooklyn Bike Doctor shop and poked my head in. I was glad that I did, because they have a lot of neat stuff in stock including an original Seaweed Green Soma Delancey frameset.

I was told this custom Bike Friday collapsable tandem belongs to the owner.

I was super pumped to visit the next shop on my route. King Kog has been a fixture in the track bike world for years, and just recently opened a new location in Oakland.

I've got to make sure I pick up one of their new jerseys next time I stop by.

This shop totally lives up to the hype, and there were a ton of gorgeous bikes and parts to check out.

OG BMW trick track bike sporting Panasonic skinwalls.

So many Keirin frames you'd swear you're in Japan.

As I was admiring the Kinfolk track bikes on the floor, I learned they had just opened a new location nearby, so I knew I had to check it out. Tune in next week for more bike porn.