(Soon to be) NEW BIKE DAY! Niner Jet9 RDO

I'd guess there will come a day when I tire of building these bikes, but I have no idea when that will be.  The Jet9 RDO has been a huge hit since the day it was introduced, which has led to incredibly long wait times.  Frames like this one, in licorice, are in such high demand that some people are left waiting an entire season to get one.

Come to us, we'll not only help you get your grubby mitts on one, we'll build it for you.  Trust me, you don't want to build it yourself.  The frame is beautifully designed, but the internal cable routing leaves much to be desired during the build.  Once the bike is built though, look out.  She screams.

Keep an eye out for this one once we build it.  I'm guessing sub-24lbs for a full-suspension XL 29er, but it depends heavily on tire choice....

Welcome aboard, Lauren!

Everyone here at Iron Cycles is absolutely thrilled to welcome Lauren to the team.  She had made a number of trips to the shop in the past, we were lucky enough to fit her to a custom bike, and had a hand in completing a project she was also involved with, all before she joined our team.

Now that Lauren is a part of the team, she's going to have a hand in a number of things we do around the shop.  From repairs to customer assistance, the blog, and product testing, Lauren has a big role.

She took a few minutes to write a little something to introduce herself, expect to be reading a lot more from her in the future.  Now, Lauren:

I got this new gig at Iron Cycles that I’m pretty pumped about, and now I guess this is a hello to all of the internet devotees of the shop. My descent into full blown cycling addiction has been gradual but consistent. I have ridden my bike everywhere since I can remember, and a few years ago I got a little tired of not being able to tune the machine on which I relied so much. So, naturally, I thought I might try my hand at being a professional mechanic (sink or swim, right?). 3 years later, by the goodwill of many skilled and patient people, I can turn a wrench and am fully involved in all things bikes. Which brings me to all of you, I suppose. I’ll be doing a little bit of everything here at Iron, still fixing flats behind the counter, but I’m particularly excited about finding a use for my English degree and writing little bits for the blog. It will mostly be me talking about things I think are pretty cool and demoing sweet bikes, but I’ll have a necessary inclination towards things that are out there for lady cyclists (because I’m small and most man-things don’t really work for me). I want my reviews to be various, especially actual bikes and components. I find that there aren’t a lot of resources out there for ladies to chat shop so I won’t hesitate to share my own builds and throw a little bike nerd in with (hopefully) insightful reviews on cycling in general. Happy to be here, more later.

This is What Spoiled Looks Like

Riding around these parts just doesn't get much better.  Roll from my house and I'm at the Des Plaines River Trail in 20 minutes.  Ride gravel north as long as I want.  Repeat.

Yesterday's weather was beautiful.  The trails were wide open.  Welcome back summer.

New Review: Surly Cross-Check Custom Single Speed

This one just rolled across my desk from Henry, one of our team riders.  We had the pleasure of recently building this piece up for him, and we think it turned out pretty awesome.  Read on:

Last spring I was looking for a singlespeed bike for some basic commuting.  Nothing too crazy, but nothing too plain either.  I wanted a bike that would be reliable and strong enough to take a beating on the pothole-laden Chicago streets, but still fun to ride and with some personality.  Although I looked at a few complete bike options, I was pretty much set on a Surly Cross-Check.  While it looked great and would be a perfect candidate to build up single speed, it also has semi-horizontal dropouts and thus can be built as a geared bike, whether for commuting, touring or even cyclocross racing.  Flexibility in the future was just an added plus for this already awesome bike.

I spoke with the guys at Iron Cycles and set a time to pick out components.  This was the first bike where I’d be picking essentially everything for the build, so Steven and I sat down at the shop to discuss options.  For anyone who has not done this, I highly recommend it at least once.  The simplicity of a single speed bike also makes it both easy and overwhelming to select parts.  This is because there are a limited number of items you need to buy for the build, but each part has nearly unlimited options from which to choose.
 
The end results were follows: an All City crank and chainring (which looked slick in black, with etched silver logos), a basic flat handlebar with dirtbike grips, and mini-V brakes.  One area I did spend some extra dough was the wheels, as I picked a set of electric blue Velocity deep V rims, with black spokes and hubs, wrapped in 25mm Conti Gatorskins.  Rarely would a chip of glass or stray nails would cut through these reinforced tires, so they seemed a good choice for worry-free riding.

Two weeks later everything was at the shop.  My wrenching skills are approximately limited to picking up an allen wrench to adjust a seat post, so I opted to have the new Surly built at Iron Cycles.  That said, I did want the opportunity to learn, so while Ben built the bike up he patiently explained everything he did.  I picked up a good deal and found that while the beauty of a single speed (or fixed gear) bike is its simplicity, there is still a fair amount of prep work and skill associated with building any bike.  I helped here and there with a few small tasks (though it depends who you ask – I may have slowed the process down) and after maybe 3 hours we were finished.  I took the bike home and was pretty excited to get to ride it the next day!

Fast forward just over a year to today.  I’ve not had a day riding the Surly that I don’t absolutely love it.  It has been completely maintenance-free, other than just lubing the chain and keeping the bike clean.  If I could go back to build this bike again I wouldn’t change a thing.  It’s my first steel bike and while I will stick with other frame materials for racing, there is something about the steel ride that has character and as I’d heard, kind of a soul.  As a rider you are not totally insulated from road vibrations, but they are dampened and the result is a comfortable yet solid ride feel.  The sensation of being connected to the road through your bike is definitely present with the Cross-Check.  I highly recommend considering this particular Surly if you’re in the market for a bike that is fun to ride, reliable, friendly to your wallet and flexible enough to be built up in several different ways.

Of course, this review wouldn’t be complete without a huge thank you and shout out to Ben, Steven, Brandon and Chase at Iron Cycles for the help, guidance and answering all my pain in the butt questions while building the Cross-Check.  You couldn’t find a better place to bring your bike or begin your search for a new ride, so look these guys up if you’re in the market or need any repair, fit or general bike advice.

NEW BIKE DAY! Lynskey Helix with Ultegra 6700

We never tire of building these bikes.  Lynskey is one of those companies that can be so easy to deal with, or so tough.  Depending on their current work load and schedule, you can sometimes get your bike in 2 weeks.  Other times though, if you catch them at the wrong time, it can be 12 weeks.

Luckily this time around, we called at the right time.  This large Helix was ordered as a part of their special for a complete bike with Shimano Ultegra 6700 for about $5000 a mere 16 days ago!  This frame had been produced and was waiting for it's brushed finish and white decals then it was ready to roll.

Lynskey has a whole pitch on the Helix tubing and it's advantages.  I'll divert to their expertise on the actual tubing, but after spending more than a year on one I can tell you it's super stiff but retains the magical Ti ride.  It's extremely compliant on rough roads but still very snappy.  It doesn't have the low-speed, high-torque sprint of an oversized carbon bike, and it's slightly heavier, but since I rarely race on the road those qualities all sit fine with me.

Nice touches on the bike, like this brake bridge, are something many custom builders are known for.  Lynskey doesn't stop there, though....

They also use these beautiful Ti dropouts with the Lynskey clover and bullets ending the stays.

The Lynskey headtube badge is also available separately as a key chain for the Lynskey-lover in your life.  It's a nice touch as a gift as well to remind someone how much they love their bike.

Welds are top-notch as always from Lynskey.  I always expect to find something less with their pricing level, but they continue to impress.

Decal application is always perfect from the factory.  I've had to install a few replacement decals over the years, and it's shockingly difficult.  The decals are terribly thin and fragile until applied.

ENVE fork is always a staple on a new custom build.  I was happy to see Felt placing ENVE forks on their high-end framesets such as the F1x as well.

Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset makes for a killer training and racing wheel.  Not the more aero, but incredibly durable!

Shifting that's head and shoulders above all else, Shimano hollow front chainrings are the best in the business.  Until you've used it, you just can't know.

In Paint: Independent Fabrication Ti Factory Lightweight

We have a little sneak peek of a very big project: an IF TiFLW project that's coming together nicely.  She's in paint as I write, and should be making her way to Chicago before we know it.

It'll be dressed appropriately with all sorts of nice bits, the details will follow.  Until then, check out the frame in progress.

The Weekend Office

This weekend was sweet.  Saturday was a nice day at the shop, steady and smooth.  Everyone working, but under control.  Not so busy that we can't really take care of people the way we want to, yet busy enough to keep us from standing around.

Then came Sunday.  With expected temperatures in the high-90's and a lot of miles to log on the trails, I stocked up with a ton of fluids.  My bike was set to only carry two bottles, but I had two more Iron Cycles bottles as well as 1 liter of water and 32oz of Gatorade in my car.

I set out with Derrick who was riding his new Niner Jet9 RDO.  This was only his second or third ride on it, and having a new baby at home his training has been limited, but once the trails get twisty that dude is fast.  He's been raving about the Jet9 RDO and how fast it is in rough stuff, but watching him carve was impressive.

Within a couple of miles I knew I couldn't take his lines.  My Air9 RDO is sick-fast, but it won't eat up the bumps the same way his Jet9 RDO will, so I have to duck and weave a lot more where Derrick can just point and shoot.

We ran into Ted Burger and David Pilotto about 20 minutes in and did some miles with them.  Cemetary Loop and heading North-East with those guys was a blast.

After we had knocked out an hour, we shot back to the car for more fluid.  We ran into one of Derrick's friends who gave us a nice tour of some new trails I haven't seen before, then we hit Swallow Cliffs.  8 miles of gravel with a few nice climbs.  We hammered those, rode a few more miles, then it was time for Derrick to depart.

Back to the cars and we have over 3 hours done.  I make my way over to Speedway for a refill on water and Gatorade as well as some Gummy-Savers.  I'm feeling not so bad, and head back to the trails.  Another 12-14 miles and it's time to get off the trails.  I start to really feel it on the climbs and catch a glimpse of some goosebumps.  Not good.  Too much heat, and even though I have gotten about 120-140 oz o fluids in, I'm not sure I have gotten enough.

Just shy of 60 total miles, 50 of it on single-track, and I'm cashed.  Here's the cockpit that was staring at me for about 5 hours:

I'm loving this Air9 RDO.  Coming off of the EMD9, the bottom bracket stiffness doesn't seem like a huge jump, but front-end stiffness is noticeably better.  The frame is also significantly lighter, something like 550g lighter (1780g for the EMD9, 1230g for the Air9 RDO, both weights include all hardware).

A real nice, in-depth review is coming sooner rather than later on the Air9 RDO, stay tuned....