Lynskey Cooper - XS with SRAM Force/Rival mix

Here's a sweet "little" build.  An x-small Lynskey Cooper with a nice SRAM mix of components, HED Bastogne wheels, Vittoria EVO CX clinchers, and a Salsa cockpit.

This one was built up for a rider at roughly 5' even, with the intent of beginning the journey into road riding.

Titanium frame, Alpha-Q carbon fork, 700c wheels on this x-small.  Normally on a bike this size we'd really lean toward a 650c, but if you already have wheels and want to make it work, we can.

Beautiful decals are easy to replace.  One of the great aspects of Ti and Lysnkey's finish specifically is that we can take care of it in-house.  We have a few tricks to handle scratches, though you'd really need to do some damage to leave a mark on your Ti frame.  We can also order replacement decal kits in a number of colors to customize the frame.

Lynskey uses a beautiful head badge on all of their bikes.  It's also available as a key chain, a nice touch for the cyclist in your life who has "everything".

SRAM Force, a bit of an unsung hero of the SRAM lineup.  The vast majority of the performance of Red at a much more affordable price.

Re-build: PowerTap SL+ Disc to Stan's NoTubes Crest 29

This is my personal rear wheel.  The original only lasted a couple of weeks, all due to my impatience.  I made it less than 10 minutes into a trail ride when I hit a piece of glass and cut a roughly 9mm slice in the tire.  When it didn't seal I decided to ride it back to the car flat.  That's when I clipped a rock and dented my rim.

It's held up well with a tube, actually.  But I strongly prefer tubeless, especially with a Stan's rim.  So I ordered a new Crest rim, and re-laced it.  About an hour later I was ready to roll with power on my mountain bike.

The PowerTap SL+ is laced 3x/3x to a NoTubes Crest 29 rim with black DT Swiss Revolution spokes and black DT Swiss ProLoc brass nipples.  The wheel is set up tubeless with Stan's Yellow Tape and ZTR valve.  Tire is a Maxxis Aspen 29x2.1.

New Build: Velocity A23 rims to Dura-Ace 7900 hubs

So classic.  Silver Velocity A23 rims, silver Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 hubs, DT Swiss Competition spokes, silver brass nipples.  2x front, 3x rear.

The rims continue to impress, they tension up really well, the tension is routinely very even, the rims come out of the box incredibly straight.  The weight is right, the price is right, there are color choices.

Next wheel build, strongly consider the A23.

Follow up: 2012 Giro Privateer Mountain Shoes

Another ride in, and another happy rider.  The Privateer continues to impress.

Looks like we may stock these in the near future, though most likely in black instead of white....you know, for the masses.  Not everyone is fancy enough for white mountain shoes, it takes a certain kind of lad.

2012 Niner EMD9 - 400 miles in

This bike has seen a solid number of miles over the last few weeks.  Commuting miles, plenty of trail miles, lots of gravel.

I love this thing.  Sure, carbon sexiness is still calling my name and really trying to draw me in, but until then I'm sold.  And I'll always hold a place for this alloy EMD9.

First Rides: 2012 Giro Privateer Mountain Shoes

Fearless product tester and team rider Matt McDowell hits us with his first impressions of the Giro Privateer:

I think first and foremost should be the overall comfort of the shoe.  As someone who has had consistent shoe problems, the Giro's stand shoulders above the competition.  Out of the box they're definitely snug but not in a debilitating kind of way.  From the first moment you slip them on they do feel like an old pair of sneakers.  The only caveat I would add is that folks should invest in the insoles offered by Giro to shore up any arch issues they may have.  

The second feature that I love is the ratcheting system.  It's simply the nicest shoe ratchet I've used.  I've used the shoes on both short trail rides and a couple of longer rides.  Pushing 3 hours in the shoe did begin to elicit some hot spots, this could be due to the plastic outsole (as opposed to carbon), but overall I think these shoes are a perfect younger brother to the Giro Gauge.  

For the price point I don't think you can beat them plus they're white, that alone is a selling point.   At this point I don't see myself wearing anything other than Giro shoes.  

More as it comes in, but if these are anything like my Giro Gauge, they're only getting better!

Independent Fabrication SSR - Rapha-inspired

Does it get any classier?  IF SSR, black/pink/raw Rapha-inspired paint, Lightweight wheels, SR11.  Grabbed this one from 34x18 blog.