The Angry Owner

Some sort of awards show is on. And here I am paying bills and doing the shop’s book keeping while enjoying a frosty cool road soda.
Then I saw this and had to share.

And then let me share this from Pugfest

Damn, those are some hard looking mother fuckers. I’ll bet those are the kind of guys who have razors in their boots.
Or maybe they just like riding snow bikes. Big thanks to the Mountain Trails Foundation and to Park City Television.

What were you doing last night?

Almost as entertaining, Kim and I drove to Provo to watch the University of Michigan mens Lacrosse team stomp BYU. Nice to see the kids giving it their all.
Here are some photos from our foreign correspondent at the Cyclocross World Champs.
First, take in the eastern europeans.

then the germans

the french

Sven

and fans

Swiss Fans

And with that, it is also my duty to inform you that I did not make the lottery selection for Leadville 2010. Don’t cry. And dont’ bitch, I know Ken personally and I entered the lottery just like everybody else….and didn’t get picked like most everybody else. On that note, I also did not get selected for Ride the Rockies, which is a super cool tour type ride. Once again, no bitching! I could go down with ‘industry people’, but no. Homie don’t play that. There is a chance I may just go to Durango for that time to ride…but also, I may just stay here, chip away at the business loan, and ride.
On the other end of the spectrum, with the help of both Satan, and team Evil, I have been ‘approved’ for RAGBRAI 2010. Yippie. I’ve wanted to do that event since about 1999 when my attorney, track cycling coach, and fellow employee Joe, wore his 1986 RAGBRAI jersey and said “You have have to do this ride. Promise me you’ll do this ride. You’ll see, heh, heh, heh.”.

So much to post about before I make pancakes and go off to custom bike land.
Thanks to an old friend, who sent me a link on dumpster diving. An activity which I routinely took part in during my time in Ann Arbor.
Two great things you’ll love about dumpster diving….other than the fact that it is the greatest way to recycle…and it shows how little the youngsters care about grandmother earth…..is the fact that-
1. I made enough money dumpster diving each year to pay for all my college and dental school books/cousepacks/notes/etc.
And you thought I made it all by working for $4/hr as a bike mechanic.
2. You’ll never know what you’ll find…Each spring in Ann Arbor, they have…or had…the naked mile. In the most hippie sense of the term, if you’ve ever ‘made it’ in terms of a protest, a gathering, a love in, or whatever….this was an event that ‘made it’. Here is the naked mile in a nutshell. Its about 5000 of your buddies that you see at parties, on campus, etc…except for 5 minutes before the start, you all strip down and hang out in the nude. There is absolutely nothing sexual at all about the experience. If you were to close your eyes for that moment, you’d hear the sounds of a cocktail party – or friends hanging out – and that it beautiful. It is a testament that human culture can be civilized and beautiful. The thing that is super annoying, is that the crowd that lines the streets all have cameras…trying to capture (insert hot model name here) as he/she runs down the street. It does not happen and I”m sad to say that if my foggy memory serves me right, I stopped running my junior or senior year because of the danger of being arrested.
Anyway, dumpster diving one year, I found a photograph of myself running in the naked mile in a dumpster. I still have it. Maybe I’ll put it up at the shop.
On to cycling things. Paris Nice coverage starts on VS tomorrow at 3pm. I’ll be at the No Name watching cycling while everybody else watches March Fucking Madness.
In business news, I met with our accountants yesterday and Horray! the bike shop made money in 2009. 10 cents! Just kidding. Actually, I have to pay about $12,000 in taxes because we bought a car, and paid$50,000 toward a business loan last year. Thats cool. I’m down. Thats why I”m going to work in 45 min.
And work is good. Its busy. So busy I’m running out of note pads…

Some very nice bikes rolling out of the shop…like this ‘his and hers’ Moots…so nice.

Yes, its a moots fest at the shop these day. And I’d have it no other way.

And last but not least, the race across the sky will be showing in PC on Mar 18th. I got the call yesterday. Basically I said ‘Oh yeah, I’ve seen that movie. Our shop showed it at Sundance” After taking the wind out of their sails, I offered to buy them beer at the showing and told them that we had a packed house and that the town would really appreciate the showing.

It matters…or maybe it doesn’t. The Handbuilt Bike show has happened. Moots was there…IF were there. And they were buried under tons and tons of bearded, flannel shirt wearing, dickie’s pant clad, work boots that lace up to you knee sporting, only drink microbrew, underappreciated tradesmen….much like myself.
Only I was not there, nor would I bother you with my underappreciated awesomeness……or facial hair that shows how ‘extreme’ I am.

And thats cool. Supporting handbuilt bikes is really, really important but lets not drown in our own “super low key, but totally rad-ness”. I mean, its super laid back that the show had no title sponsor for a while. Thats cool, maybe I’ll just stop cutting paychecks and see how long it takes for my business to go under. It was even rumored that the show would tank…then all of a sudden Shimano throws in some cash and gets the nod. And some people were pissed. And by some people, it was the folks who wanted free entry to the show, wanted to drool all over the sweet bikes, and then have no plans of supporting the frame builders and no plans of buying a custom bike. Thats cool…I get people like that every day at the shop. Kim tells them to Fuck Off! Anyway, Shimano is great. They make great things, provide jobs to my friends and their families, and still that was not good enough for the underappreciated handbuilt bike show attendee drinking their fucking $9 soy latte. I dunno? Is Omish beard and cycling cap glued to your head the new black. Ask Mr Bilenky!

Steve, after all has been making bikes for 30 years and is booked out a year. I’m only booked out until May.
Thats cool. Jesus fucking christ…I wear the MLPS Mafia outfit to church and dental meetings.

or Single Speed World Champs

On to more important business. Today I got to speak with Ted, who is the founder of the company that makes Zero Gravity Brakes(Ciamillo Cycling) – the lightest and strongest brakes you can buy. He has put together a program that supports independent bicycle shops called the Elite 50. And yes, Dharma Wheels is in the elite 50…#48 of 50. Rather than sell his absolutely awesome brakes to mail order places….or even large industry distributors, he has elected to hand pick 50 custom shops to go through in the US. And just to tell you how popular and incredible they are. I’ve already sold two sets of brakes the first 1/2 day that the account was activated. Are they that good? Take a look…

Thats the ‘yang’ that keeps me going. Excellent customers AND excellent industry people.

First and foremost, the classics are here…
Looks like a short sleeve day in Ghent.

You can watch it right now HERE.
I”m watching it right now european style….in my bathrobe, smoking a cigarette and drinking wine while swearing in Flemmish.
And if that doesn’t get you excited, check out what Chris from Knolly sent me.
THIS
AND THIS
Big thanks to the fags at Pinkbike for a great photoshoot. I can’t even figure out my own camera.
What I can figure out is this. Big thanks to Stevil for the newest addition to our control panel.

The Handbuilt bike show is happening. Props to Mike, who found me this old school logo….

And finally, Pugsleyfest will be today. So that means I should go out and ski, since the only thing that will get a workout after the 11:00 hour is my mouth and my liver.

Tim said March will be here in a week. He’s right. The Tour of Oman is being shown Sunday, and the classics start Saturday. We’ll be having pugsleyfest,and then I’ll be getting a bike fit that day.
Today was a good, long day at the shop. We had a bit of custom service that had a perfect result. So let me share it with you. This is a local person’s bike, so I won’t get too personal.
Anyway, a nice fella has a Hammerschmidt that needs to be installed. They are cool, I’d really like to put one on my DH bike. No chain problems, and you can shift under load…or while coasting. No dropped chains or chainsuck….I actually did a product review HERE.
So lets start at the beginning…with an XTR crankset and Bottom Bracket. And no, I don’t normally show repairs on the internet, but the odds of you folks having the $1000 in tools it takes to do this is slim to none.

I”ll take this opportunity to show you and laugh with you how high tech bicycle shops have become. We use computers…

and pda phones…or whatever the fuck you call them….

But more important than computers, Al Gore’s internet….or the google, is a bottom bracket chasing tool.

Because you get shit like this all the time

Now that the BB glides in with just a greasy hand, the ISCG mount has to be faced, and in this case the main pivot bolt as well to allow for flush mounting. And if that isn’t enough, the whole shell had to be shortened to accommodate the tolerance of the Hammershmidt.

After a little trial and error with spacers, everything lines up nicely…

Wouldn’t you agree?

There were a fair amount of bikes on cars yesterday, some work to do at the shop, and it feels like the buzz of cycling is in the air. Can’t decide if I’ll ski today or go for a snow ride….maybe both just to cover all the bases. Maybe I’ll just go to work. Anyway, we have a summer trip schedule almost set in stone. We’ll update the team as we figure shit out.
What we have figured out is that there will be a Pugsley fest on Saturday at high noon for snow bike and non snow bike people alike to celebrate cycling in the winter. There will be plenty of parking at the Ice Rink, so you won’t get a note like this….

We have a new product review, and I’d especially like to thank Chris for the guest editorial on the Larry snow tire that can be found HERE.
In Mafia news, I’d like to extend a big wet willie to Daniel Cheever, seen here taking a break from his demanding figure skating commitments for the Norwegian National Team to model Ted Nugents “intensity in 10 cities” stage suit.

and here he is in the throws of competition.

Anyway, Dan, who’s nickname after 27 beers is Staniel Montgomery Beaver, got really fucked up one night and left/had his bike taken somewhere. The details are hazy at best, and really at this point, unimportant. The joyous fact, my friends, is that the pink Surly Pepto-Dismal has been found.

Ah, the 1×1 with the Evil sticker and the One fucking speed sticker, V brake only – I think Chris P has my Mafia 1 x 1….maybe it’ll turn up at a bike swap too? We used to be kings….a thousand years ago.
And if you need proof, Troy Rarick sent me this this image from the Mafia’s take over of the 2005 Fruita Fat Tire Festival. You will see all the rockstars there…including myself as Ted Nugent.

Oh my, that was fun.

Lots going on for this update. On Thursday and Friday, our staff attended the Utah Dental Show.

Let me set the record straight. The show is kinda fun because there are a lot of 70 year old retired Utah dentists that I seem to have a lot in common with and whos company I enjoy. We end up spending a little money, and there are seminars about how to be ‘better’. And whats funny about that is so many other dentists there are looking for the magic bullet. The band aid for their practices. I go in looking for the process. There was some good information exchanged. It was a net gain.
We all get to eat at the red iguana for lunch one of the days….

By the end, we are ready for a dive bar for a Salt Lake appreciation toast…

Thats the pose that Mrs. Dr. Evil struck when “Fade to Black” came on. She maintained it for the entire song. Its impressive.
So anyway, at the show, I see lots of dentists who just go through the motion. At Interbike, I see lots of people who just go through the motions.
For those of you not familiar with ‘going through the motions’, this is what I mean…..

Thats awesome. I really fucking hate reporters and news in general. No integrity. Speaking of integrity, I’d like to thank the captain for posting me up on our team site here…it was last weekend, so you’ll have to scroll down to see me. Go out and buy some evil shit. Tell the captain that I sent you and that you absolutely hate his fucking guts!
Study club was fun Thursday night. We’ve established some ideas for trips. There will be a St. George trip 3rd weekend in march, a trip to Steamboat Springs, RAGBRAI, Ride the Rockies, and maybe the firecracker in Brek. I’ll look up all those dates after 14 beers this evening and plan it all out.
Many of our bike fabricators are gearing up for the Handbuilt Bike Show.
Someone other than me is still riding to an fro in PC this winter….

This is from a bike NOT in pc.

And this is a bike in MN…

Alrighty, go out there and ride….

Then pose like Big Jonny

The most important news….show up to “Bible Study” tomorrow at the shop. Hear opinions…mostly my own….on what rules/what sucks. I may let other people talk. Use the back door. 5:15. We have the dental show tomorrow to contend with.
I may show up in costume tomorrow…

You can too. Maybe you can ride in with a friend. Ahh, days of hazing yore from the pitch.

As many of you know, I’m know for getting tattoos at the dental convention…when it runs in conjunction with the SLC Tattoo convention. Maybe I”ll get Liz Hatch this year?

Or maybe I’ll save up for the leather U lock holder, to match your Land Rover and Orvis outfit. This is even too much for the custom shop.

Well, tomorrow is sure to be a party….all of your friends will be there…

Thats a play on words from Jan Wenners Rolling Stone…’all the news that fits’.
First, some updates for the shop. becasue it took me so long to write up.

February Events….
Thursday, Feb 18, 5:15-6 at the Shop – Use the back door….Study Club…or Bible Study. A chance to meet with other team members, our fit expert Tim, our mechanics and me to talk cycling. This is your chance to talk about the products you are thinking about for the season, ask about what fellow team people are riding, talk about trips and destinations, compare notes…..and brag about your bike…or maybe how fast you think you are. We will try and do this once a month. Please, come with all of your cycling questions – no question too big or small. This is a chance to learn about cycling and hear stories about what has worked….and what has not worked from your fellow riders. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge in our team – this is a chance to test the waters and learn without making mistakes along the way.
Saturday, Feb 27th, High Noon, Ice Rink Parking Lot….PugsleyFest February. I think KSL is going to be there at11:30, so if you want to see yourself on the news, show up early. We are planning on a ride, so bring your bike if you want. Snow bike or Mountain bike. If your lucky, maybe one of the pugsley crew will let you test ride one of their bikes. No more than a 2 hr ride. Moderate pace. Snow or Shine…or Shined Up. BYOB.

Shop news…
Thanks to those who have picked up their kits. PLEASE, for the rest of you, come on in and pick up your kits in a timely fashion.

The reorder process – If you would like to order more team stuff, and I don’t blame you because it looks great, and the material is incredible, here is the process. Unless we get a HUGE amount of requests, the reorder is planned for the Fall. If you would like more items for you and/or your wife/husband, contact me or Kim with your request, we’ll take payment and you will be added to the list. To give you a ballpark, items are going to be about $80 each…shorts, bib shorts, jerseys, long sleeve.
I can tell you all right now that the hot item that everybody wishes they either ordered or wants to order is the $115 thermal Jacket. I’ve been seeing them around the nordic center and they are awesome. I’m going to buy another one because they are so awesome.

Is your bike ready? Things are VERY busy at the shop. I have only a couple of sales spots left for those of you who desire a new bike for this season – so don’t procrastinate. We are planning on getting in demo Turner 29ers, Titus full Carbon racer X’s and Rockstars (their 29er). If you need shoes, clothing, helmets or other accessories, let me know and we’ll do a private sales meeting to make you look good.

Get a Fit – Tim from Mountain Velo is ready to fit you. Contact him http://www.mountainvelo.com/

Dharma Wheels has partnered with Endurance Cycle service to handle your service needs. Its booked out pretty far at the shop, so if you need your bike in a timely fashion, contact ChrisP http://www.endurancecycleservice.com/

We are planning a trip schedule for this summer which may include a trip to the Moots factory in Steamboat, the Fruita Fat Tire Festival, Ride the Rockies, a trip to Vernal….etc. I’ll keep you posted,

Sad news from Flagstaff. http://azdailysun.com/news/article_06cb402c-6000-51a7-9438-99a55b3f7227.html

On a happier note, and a week behind…StuporBowl photos are up…
like this one of Zito

the rest HERE.

In rad photo news, check this out…
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and this…

and, most impressively, this…