Milltown Cycles

Personal bikes up on the block.

2012-01-29T07:42:00.002-06:00

To make room for many upcoming project this spring I am selling a few personal bikes. Rest assured all is well, and the things that are coming are stellar!

First up, my orange Mukluk. I really like this bike, but an opportunity came up and this one's got to go to take advantage of it. $2750 as pictured on our blog with Revelate frame bag, gas tank, and seat bag.

Second, my Salsa Casseroll. $1850 as pictured on our blog last summer save for the bags. Killer bike, 21lbs and a ripper. This is getting replaced by an amazing Ti Fargo Kanza machine.

Third, our tandem. $3300 with the White Brother's fork, $2800 with a rigid steel fork. Bars and seat posts/seat are negotiable on this one.

As I said, all for good reasons. Please email with any questions.

Shop Party.

2012-01-26T14:35:00.000-06:00

We're going to have a party Saturday February 4th. Things will get going at about 4pm, and will go until we decided to stop. We'll have some food, some beverages, and a bonfire. Past that bring yourself, your friends, your family, and your bikes. We'll take it from there!

Tuesday Night Ride Photos.

2012-01-25T13:16:00.000-06:00

Last night's shop ride was great. Nine of us met in front of Goodbye Blue Monday in Northfield. We planned on riding snowmobile trails for the first time this season. These photos really represent my first attempt at night photography with the new camera. I'm still learning, so bear with me there!

The night was a near perfect mid twenty degrees. The air was clear under overcast skies, and there was very little wind. It was a perfect night for a fat bike ride. Cold enough for the snow to be soft and light, warm enough to be bearable with very light clothes.

This is the back road through Sechler Park along side of Malt-O-Meals rail yard. To the right of the posts in the photo is the multi-use trail that serves as a snowmobile trail in the winter. Aside from a few foot prints we had the fresh snow to ourselves.

The 4-5 inches of snow on the trails was shockingly untouched by snowmobiles! Lots of churning along going on. It was a bit of a slog breaking trail most of the way. It was huge fun!

The hill across from Menard's in Northfield is challenging regardless of conditions. With the soft snow it was darn near impassible. Most of us could start and stop our way up towards the top, but the top pitch proved to me too slippery for any of us. We had a heck of a laugh at the top discussing various techniques for how the hill could have been climbed, what equipment would have helped, and dreaming of what the downhill would be like. We may ride this route backwards next Tuesday just to find out!

Coated fat tires in the yellow glow of the Tavern's security lights. After a ride of nearly nine miles we were all looking forward to some refreshment!

We passed around a few pitchers of good beer, a few plates of nachos, and stories for the next hour or so. It was a great night.

Thanks to all of you who joined us for the ride! It's awesome to finally have enough snow to want to ride local trails around here. So long as warm weather stays away we will be riding in Northfield again next week. We hope to see you folks there!

Now the real work can begin.

2012-01-23T09:38:00.000-06:00

We finally got our 1950 Chevy shop truck down to my father's garage. Now the real work can begin to get the engine running properly. The brakes all need a good going through, and then we'll be driving! Just getting it here is a big step. Things can happen pretty quickly now. We're stoked.

Hot Ride Ti.

2012-01-21T08:36:00.000-06:00

I love how these wheels look on this bike. Totally hot rod. Happy Saturday everyone.

This is a totally kick butt bike.

Phil Wood Hub Sale.

2012-01-20T06:12:00.000-06:00

Good Morning all. I have a few Phil Wood hubs that I had intended on using. That project has taken a different direction, and I no longer need the hubs. These are available now for a killer price.

The disc geared, 100mm QR/135mm QR set is a new, not laced pair. $415 shipped to the Con US.

The single speed, 135mm QR, disc rear is a single hub, lightly used in excellent shape. $110 shipped Con US.

Custom Bike Build: Mike's Ti Mukluk.

2012-01-19T07:11:00.003-06:00

Concept

We began talking to Mike about a Titanium Mukluk earlier this winter. Like many other people, Mike bought a Salsa Mukluk from us last year. After riding that bike all year in conditions ranging from actual snowy winter, to gravel spring, to mtb trails in the summer, Mike was looking to take his fat bike experience up a notch. This bike certainly does that!

Build

This build starts with Salsa's phenomenal titanium Mukluk frame. This frame is lighter, and rides smoother than it's alloy counterparts. It comes stock with Salsa Alternator dropouts. This lets the user change chainstay length to match their riding style, and allows the bike to be run as a single speed if desired. This frame is paired with a White Brothers Snowpack carbon fork which further refines the ride and cuts weight.

The drivetrain on this bike is a 2x10, Sram X9 set up. Mike wanted trigger shifters which are paired with Sram's X9 rear derailleur and Shimano XT 10 spd double front derailleur. These are quality components at reasonable prices. They offer a lot of performance for the money, and they look great to boot.

White was chosen as the color for this build. The theme is based on the limited edition Surly powder coated Rolling Darryl rims with white rimstrips. The theme is carried through with white cable housing and a white X9 rear derailleur.

E13's excellent fat bike cranks combined with a Salsa Ring Dinger make for a great looking focal point for the drivetrain. Big and black with sharp lines, these cranks look great against the Ti frame and white accessories. The black XT double front derailleur works great with 2x10 or 2x9 set ups on these bikes.

Overall I consider this bike a complete success. It represents some of the highest potential performance a fat bike can get, while being visually very appealing. As pictured here it weighs in at 32lbs even. Not bad all considering the standard weight Surly tubes that are in there. With light tubes, (that are coming, currently out of stock,) this bike will easily be in the low 31 lbs range.

This bike is simply gorgeous, and will serve Mike very well for years to come.

Custom Wheel Build: Ron's PC'd Rolling Darryl Build.

2012-01-18T10:44:00.000-06:00

Ron approached us last week looking for a new wheelset for his recently acquired Ti Mukluk. We had the red set of limited edition powder coated Surly Rolling Darryl rims in stock. Working with those as the start of the project we set about getting them laced up. Black Salsa Mukluk hubs were chosen for their great value for the dollar. The color scheme was chosen to highlight the rim color as the focus of the bike. It should compliment the subtle graphics of the Ti frame really well.

As this wheelset is going to be used for light trail/mtb use and Ron is a smooth rider we went with ultra light DT Swiss Revolution butted spokes connected to black brass nipples. The bright stainless color plays very well with the black nipples and black rim strips against the bright red rims. I really like the look of these.

These wheels have a classic car, hot rod look to them. They should pair really well with Ron's existing parts. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished project.

Have a great day folks.

Custom Wheel Build: Light Weight/Bomber Chris King Set Up

2012-01-09T08:55:00.000-06:00

Han came to us recently looking for a new set of mtb wheels for his mountain bike. He was looking for something that would spin up well, have very fast engagement, and would feel solid and confident in corners and tech sections. The wheelset we came up with should easily fulfill all of those desires.

Based on Chris King ISO disc hubs in red, a 15mm QR front hub paired with a 10mm Fun Bolt rear add quite a bit of stiffness as opposed to their QR counterparts. Both of these options add a little weight over the standard QR hubs, but weight at the very center of the wheel will never be noticed. Chris King hubs in general aren't exactly svelte as these things go. What they offer in terms of durability, serviceability, and initial quality easily out weigh that minor issue.

These wheels were laced with Sapim's industry leading CX Ray spokes. These have an excellent reputation for being very light and resilient. They build up amazingly well, and look great. Red DT Swiss hex head Prolock alloy nipples carry the red theme through to the white Stan's Arch rims. These rims are the standard for tough XC rims that take a beating at a very reasonable weight.

10mm Fun Bolts, they look as good as they work.

15mm front on the ISO through bolt hub shell. Big bearings, big hub flanges, sturdy attachment. It's the epitome of lightweight bomber.

This is about as good as it gets for this type of use. The hubs will never wear out, and they look as good as they'll perform. They'll offer an excellent mix of every day use reliability, at near racing wheel weight. The attachment points will offer very solid purchase, and these will certainly pick up the performance of the bike they're meant for.

1950 Chevy Shop Truck Update

2012-01-08T19:32:00.000-06:00

Today marked a high point in our restoration of our 1950 Chevy truck. Working with my father and grandfather this afternoon we were able to free the three stuck wheels. The truck had been stored for some time with the emergency brake left on. The cables that operated the e brake were stuck in place, and the brake pads were stuck on. After removing three wheels and applying heat with a torches we were able free all the stuck brake drums.

We've had the truck running for a few weeks now. After replacing a faulty fuel pump and adding a modern inline fuel filter it runs quite well. The brakes are still in need of work, the master cylinder needs to be rebuilt in order for them to work properly. Regardless of this fact, I couldn't stop myself from driving the truck with all wheels now free!

I putted around the nearby soy bean field until the fuel filter clogged. With the local Napa store closed, we left the truck where it stopped. I'll swing out tomorrow morning and change the filter out to get it back where it belongs.

Next we'll tackle the brakes and it'll be safe to drive around town. That done and it'll be on to body work and things like belts, hoses, and engine work. I'm excited to get to work on these finer parts. With any luck I'll meet my goal of driving this to QBP's Frostbike show in late February!

Triple D Race Ready.

2012-01-07T07:49:00.002-06:00

The Triple D Winter Race is coming up in just over a week. I can't say that I'm terribly prepared physically, but at least my bike and gear set up is ready. For those who don't know about this race it's a blast. It's comprised of bike, ski, and a running event. There are various distances for the running events, but we've concerned with the bike event specifically. It's set at 100k, and has proven to be a very hard race to a moderate ride depending on conditions.

Lance Andre talks about the race in specific here. http://tripledrace.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-is-triple-d.html

We're going down with our merry troop. We had a blast last year, and despite the lack of snow we're really looking forward to the event. We hope you can join us for the event. It should be a great time. Registration is still open for all catagories.

Check that out here. http://tripledrace.blogspot.com/2010/11/triple-d-registration.html

My bike set up is pretty much as it has been of late. With conditions going to likely be nearly snow less and possibly wet and muddy, I decided that Big Fat Larry's were not necessary. I've set the bike up with the recently released 45 North Hüsker Dü's. They look and ride great. I think they'll be a perfect tire for the mixed conditions likely to be encountered on the route. I may drop a bag or two depending on what extra clothing or food I decide to bring. I got it figured that a seat bag probably won't slow me down too much though.

These tires on the Rolling Darryl rims are a nice fit. We've set these up on the 65mm Marge Lites, which they look perfect on. If I had a set of wheels built with those on them I'd probably run those on this race, as they are over 200gms lighter per rim.

I really like these tires. I was impressed when I rode them this fall, and I'm really looking forward to actually putting real miles on them!

Whether this race goes well for me or not, I know the weekend itself and the event should be a blast. We hope many of you can join us in what promises to be a great time.

Custom Wheel Build: Go Fast, Go Easy Puglsey Wheels

2012-01-06T08:38:00.000-06:00

Derek contacted us this fall looking for a set of all around light weight wheels for his Puglsey. He wanted something that would be lighter than the stock wheel set up, built with hubs that rolled much freer. These wheels were to be used as year round wheels, mixing snow/winter/light mtb'ing for uses.

We started this build as we often do. White Industry hubs in their SS Eno, and geared MI6 were used on this build. They are classically elegant, and offer a huge amount of performance for the dollar. Up front the SS hub will have a freewheel on it for a safety wheel swap capability. The hub will be converted to QR as soon as the adapters arrive.

Out back the venerable White MI6 hub provides a super smooth freehub mechanism along with quite reliability. Oh yeah, it's looks really nice too!

These wheels are laced to Surly's new 65mm wide Marge Lite Rims. There will be no float lost over Derek's stock Large Marge wheelset, but these will be 2 full lbs lighter! Sapim Lazer spokes combined with brass nipples further reduce the spun weight, while not sacrificing much in the way of strength. The silver/silver/silver color combination against the blackness of the rim and bright blue rim strip looks amazing.

This set up is a ready to rock Pugsley performance wheeset. They cost under $700 as pictured, and weight a hair of 1200 grams per as pictured. Wheels and tires are everything on fat bikes. A set up like this easily take the performance of a Pugsley up a notch in a huge way. We have these rims in stock now, as well as the new 45 North Hüsker Dü tires. Give us a shout if these are something you're interested in!

Thank you.

2012-01-01T10:54:00.000-06:00

I would like to take a bit of time to thank all of our friend's and customers for a phenomenal year in 2011. Curtis and I are truly grateful for your friendship, business, and for all of the good times we've shared this year. We held more rides this year than we ever have, and they were attended in greater numbers than they have been in year's past. We were able to makeover nearly the whole shop last year, making our business space much more refined and bright. 2011 brought us our best sales year ever, thank you for your patronage. These and so many others made this last year special. Thank you all for helping to make our year great.

Along with all of the good, this year it was a year of tragedy. Curtis and I lost three good friends this year. They are sorely missed. I would sincerely like to thank all of you who helped both Curtis and I through these times of struggle, I can't thank you enough.

Looking forward, 2012 is full of life and promise. We are looking forward to many new opportunities both personal and professional. There are many exciting things yet to come in the way of new products, new renovations to the shop, along with new rides and experiences to be had. Mindful of things past and places been, we invite you to continue the ride along with us.

Thank you all again, and here's to a great new year!

New Bike Rack

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Our second of an eventual three main bike display racks came in yesterday. It will allow for 10 more bikes to be on the floor, all in a much more usable, presentable package. In addition to normal bike storage, this rack is custom made to allow the display of fat bikes with their ultra wide tires. The improvement in the shop is already noticeable. The third rack to arrive in two weeks.

When we're done up front we will be completely remodeling our rear shop area. All of this will lead us into spring being much more organized and efficient. I can't wait.

New Toys, and More Mukluk 2's.

2011-12-29T10:04:00.001-06:00

Today should be a great day at the shop. We're expecting the arrival of one of two new bike display racks from Rudy Rack. These will serve to complete our sales for redo we started last spring. The new racks will provide space on the floor for 15 more bikes. They will also greatly streamline our kids bike and BMX bike sections. We had some of these racks custom made to fit fat bikes, which are notoriously hard to display well.

We are also expecting a few more Mukluk 2's for stock. We were able to get a XS, S, and XL complete bikes for stock. These will go quick, don't hesitate to get one if you're interested!

We're also expecting our first shipment of Surly's new Marge Light fat bike rims. These are way light, and should be a near perfect summer/light winter rim. I'm planning on setting my Pofahl fat bike up with these. We've been looking forward to these for some time now. Stop in and check them out, they'll be here this afternoon.

And now, some Monty Python.

Have a great day!

Tuesday Night Ride.

2011-12-27T08:34:00.000-06:00

We will be having our Tuesday Night ride leaving from the shop at 7pm tonight. All signs of snow have gone, any mtb would do fine on the trails as they are. We hope to see you tonight, have a great day.

Snow remembered.

2011-12-21T10:28:00.000-06:00

A reminder of what trails look liked last weekend with even a little snow. I want more snow, now please.

Custom Bike Build: Mike Pofahl's Pofahl.

2011-12-20T17:49:00.000-06:00

Mike Pofahl stopped by last weekend with his new drop bar fat bike. It's construction is similar to the bike he made me last year. This bike is truly a stunner. This bike will eventually have a Pofahl fork and matching custom stem once the position is dialed.

Full internal cable routing to the rear is gorgeous. Smooth fillet brazing is complimented by the classy gray paint.

Another angle. Love the head tube reinforcing rings.

Paragon Machine Works dropouts are super clean looking. These are the same dropouts that I have on my bike. I love the aesthetic.

This is another great bike from Mike. I love how it turned out, and he loves the ride with the fat wheels! I'll throw some photos up of the updated build when he gets the fork and stem made.

Tuesday Night Ride

2011-12-19T12:35:00.000-06:00

Warmer temps have all but decimated our snow locally. That said, it's opened up a lot of trails again for non fat bikers. We will plan on riding in Faribault, leaving from the shop tomorrow night at about 7pm.

We hope you can join us, the riding has been great lately.

Sunday Mukluk Ride

2011-12-18T10:49:00.000-06:00

Awesome ride with friends. A perfect way to start the day. Have a great weekend folks.

Mukluk Morning.

2011-12-17T10:07:00.000-06:00

Perfect way to start the day.

They have landed.

2011-12-16T07:46:00.000-06:00

Surly's long awaited Moonlanders have arrived and are in stock. These bikes are as big as they get, and the tires are larger than life.

These are the whole reason this bike exists. Surly's Big Fat Larry's on Surly's Clownshoe rims simply dwarf all other rim and tire combinations out there. This whole bike exists to be able to fit this combination while allowing for full drive train use. The clearance around these tires is also huge. There's nearly three quarters of an inch of room around all contact points between the tire and frame.

Surly calls this color Space. It's easy to see why. There's so much metal flake here it's nuts! I love it, and it fits the bike perfectly.

In addition to the 100mm bottom bracket, Surly uses a special version of their cranks on this bike. The spindle is wider than on a standard Mr Whirly cranks. The rings are also offset to insure the chain clears the tire and rim. Lots of bolts down there! Again, the color of the bikes is just awesome.

The Moonlander comes standard with Avid brakes and levers, along with excellent thumb shifters. There's almost nothing I would changes on the build of these. They just come out of the box done.

We have several of these fine bikes in stock for purchase. Stop in and check out the latest in fat bike arrivals .

Custom Bike Build: El Mariachi SS

2011-12-15T15:44:00.000-06:00

This bike speaks for itself. High quality parts, hand built wheels, 23lbs, reasonably priced, and no waiting. It's a single speed for single speeders. $2199.99.

Salsa, Avid, Cane Creek, White Industries, Whiskey and Stan's round out the big name parts on this bike. It's all good, and it works great.

Simple and elegant.

This is a bike Curtis and I would build for ourselves. I think it's easy to see why. Come check it out today!

Fat-Bike.com Shop Write Up.

2011-12-14T12:09:00.000-06:00

Fat-Bike.com is a site run by Gary Lake dedicated to all things fat bike. It's a great resource and community.

Check it out.

http://fat-bike.com/2011/12/shop-profile-milltown-cycles-expose/

A few liberties were taken by the articles author, infamous suburban bad boy Soupboy. It's pretty much spot on though.

Custom Bike Build: Mark's Ti Mukluk

2011-12-13T13:04:00.000-06:00

Mark approached us late this summer wanting a go fast Ti Mukluk. He owns a standard Mukluk, liked the handling, but wanted a lighter bike built with top shelf parts. After careful deliberation Mark decided to keep his current bike and go ahead with this build. We decided to add Big Fat Larry's to his current Mukluk for full float capability.

Concept

This bike was to be built with excellent parts throughout. The goal was to build a bike with very light wheels shod with 3.8" tires, a killer drive train, good brakes, and top shelf contact points. The sum of all these parts is impressive to say the least. This bike flat out kills it.

Build

Any build starts with a frameset of course. Here a medium Salsa Mukluk Ti is mated to a White Brother's carbon fork. A Sotte Voce Kind headset rounds out one of the nicest framesets you can put together.

Handlebar set up is also visible in this photo. A Truvativ Stylo stem holds a Salsa Promoto Carbon handlebar. Shifting is handled by Shimano Dura Ace shifters and Paul Thumbie mounts. Brakes are Avid's excellent XO hydraulics.

Up front a Shimano XT double derailleur looks and works great with The e13 fat bike crank and e13, 32t-22t stock rings. I love the brushed titanium finish against these sharply machined black parts.

Ti Mukluks use a cable saddle on the seat tube instead of a cable stop. The cable housing runs full length down to the derailleur itself. This is really clean looking, and works great.

No step.

One of the crowning pieces of this build is a gorgeous Brooks B17 ti. These are nearly half a pound lighter than a standard B17, and they are just gorgeous. I have one of these on my Potts single speed, it's the most comfortable saddle I've ever used. It's the perfect saddle to top this wonderful build.

This is certainly the nicest fat bike we've had leave the shop. It's built with high quality, sensible parts. The frame should last darn near forever, and the ride quality is pure velvet. Even with the Brooks and inexpensive flat pedals this bike weighs in at 30lbs, 11oz. Not too shabby at all.

A new titanium arrival.

2011-12-10T06:48:00.001-06:00

We received a good customer's Steve Potts titanium road frame yesterday. It's gorgeous. Steve's bikes have a quiet, understated quality to them that simply exudes class. This will be built up next week with a set of top notch components. We will have a build write up on that when it's complete. For now I'll leave you with this.

Have a great weekend all.

Another Salsa Frameset Package

2011-12-09T06:44:00.000-06:00

Not long ago we offered a Salsa El Mariachi frame package with a Cane Creek 40 and a Whiskey carbon fork. These looked great, and were really well received. We've decided to offer this set up with Salsa's alloy Mamasita frameset as well.

The Mamasita is a great bike from Salsa. It's a very light, stiff frame that manages to not beat the rider up. Lipstick red coloring with bright graphic logos really jump out and grab you. Combined with the gloss Whiskey fork it makes for an amazing looking package.

This package is for offer at the same price as the El Mariachi set up, $975. For those wondering, as photoed below the total weight with headset is 5.4 lbs! This is with an uncut steer tube! Talk about sexy go-fast.

Bang for the buck this is a lot of bike for the money. Built any number of ways this would be a great bike.

Titanium Mukluks Have Arrived.

2011-12-08T13:43:00.000-06:00

Salsa's long awaited titanium Mukluks have finally arrived at the shop. It goes without saying that these are beautiful things. I love the brushed Ti look. The subtle media blasted finish on the Salsa logo is a wonderful compliment.

Geometry wise these are basically the same as standard Mukluks. All parts will swap over easily, so if you have a current bike you'd like to upgrade that can be done quite simply.

Ti Mukluks feature Salsa's excellent Alternator dropouts. These allow for dead simple chain tensioning for use as a single speed, or chain stay length adjustment on geared use. The bikes are shipped with the SS dropout installed. They come with the geared dropout as well.

Welds are top notch on these US built frames. The seat tube cluster is particularly photogenic.

These represent the pinnacle of fat bikes currently available. It simply doesn't get any better than this. For those wondering, there is a hugely noticeable difference in ride quality between these and the standard alloy Mukluks. These offer a light, springy feel that the alloy Muks simply don't offer. It is noticeable even taking into account the low tire pressures. These are hands down as good as it gets.

Mukluk Ti frames come standard with Salsa's Enabler fork and a Pewter Salsa seat clamp. Price on these is $2099.99. We have medium and large frames available in the store. Other's are order able on request.

Fat Bike Maiden Voyage.

2011-12-07T12:00:00.001-06:00

Last night was my first real ride on my new Mukluk. Temps plunged from a balmy 23 degrees at lunch time to around 6 degrees come 7pm. Adding to the temps the night seemed abnormally dark for some reason. Although this was likely psychological, Curtis and I were having a bit of trouble getting excited to ride. As the time neared ride time we were both in street clothes BS'ing about this and that. Neither of us were looking out the back door with much longing.

At a quarter to seven Evan walked in, sealing the deal. The ride was on. We suited up quick and started down the parking lot. Immediately the chilly temps were forgotten. All of us had proper clothing and bar mitts; I was actually over dressed for most of the ride. We received 3-4"s of fresh snow over the weekend. With cold temps since then, the snow was in great shape.

We bombed along the twisty technical singletrack along the river to start. This trail gets a fair amount of walking traffic. It was a bit bumpy from all the footprints, but was decently packed which allowed for good uphill traction and higher speeds. I love this section of trail. It's recently be updated with two new bridges over ravines, and some really nice bench cut trail sections finished with found stones. It's even prettier in the winter, and parts are quite a technical challenge on a fat bike in slippery snow!

Once through the singletrack the trails open up onto snowmobile and mixed use trails in River Bend. These are doubletrack width and are for the most part groomed. They are open to walking as well as skiing, though there were no real ski tracks to speak of yet. Going was a little harder here due to the groomer, the snow was a harsh fluffy sort of thing. The tires were clearly working harder to push through it. Untracked sections of new snow were a quiet joy to cruise along through. These sections were my favorite. The tires just floated along quietly and smoothly. Downhill trails leading to the river bottoms were a blast. I opened up the bike and just let the tires run. The river is just starting to ice up, and was gorgeous in the moonlight.

Once through the main loop of the Nature Center we headed back to the shop. Running again through the singletrack I chose to take the much hillier uphill line. This was quite a technical challenge. The trick was trying to balance uphill traction, side hill slides, and downhill braking controlled slides. There's no shame in saying I walked a fair bit of it. I think this will be a great challenge for me this year.

Back at the shop we all discussed how relatively hard it was to get going, and how grateful we were for having made it out. For me riding with people on scheduled rides is by far the best motivator for winter riding. This time of riding lends itself to having people with you. There's a sense of camaraderie involved when laughing with each other when you fall. Congratulating each other for cleaning some tough section feels way better than smiling to yourself. Most important though it having someone with you to give you that little push. Someone to help get you out there. Someone to tell you to provide encouragement on the ride, to tell you to try that section of trail. It's people that make rides like this great.

A big thanks is due to Evan for giving Curtis and I a needed push last night. It was a fabulous ride, thanks for joining us!

Fat Tuesday Ride, 12/6/12

2011-12-03T05:31:00.000-06:00

This coming Tuesday we will be riding from the shop at 7pm. We will be riding mtb's and fat bikes in River Bend Nature Center. The riding should be great, especially if this weekend's promised snow comes through!

We hope you can join us, have a great weekend!

Eriksen Sweetposts

2011-12-02T13:25:00.000-06:00

These fine seatposts from Eriksen are back in stock. We have the 27.2mm and 30.9mm in stock in 400mm lengths. Both are of the set back variety. These are in stock with black and red hardware. Other lengths and colors are easily ordered to suit your fancies.

These are great pieces that add comfort and style to any bike. They are not inexpensive, but are simply gorgeous.

Revelate Stickers.

2011-12-01T10:58:00.000-06:00

They make great head badges.

We've got a few of these in the shop. Stop in and pick up your's today. Hug the bunny!

Custom Bike Build: My Mukluk.

2011-11-30T13:01:00.000-06:00

My Salsa Mukluk is finally finished. I've been planning to get a Mukluk for a long time now. This time last year I had a blue frame coming in for myself. I ended up selling my frame to a local customer. He's quite happy with it. That prompted my to have Mr Pofahl build up my current drop bar fat bike. I've been quite happy with that!

When this year's Mukluk 2's rolled out I again had a frame and fork come in for myself. Once again I sold that due to high demand. This left me in a bit of an interesting position. I wanted a Mukluk and had all the parts to build it. Blue's a perfectly good Mukluk color, but there are now a bunch of those out there. A solution to this was easily found at my local powder coating shop!

Shazam! One non-standard Mukluk.

The color is a very bright orange with a gold metal flake clear coat. It looks amazing in person, and it harder than heck to photograph. The contrast against the all black components and the black Revelate bags is awesome.

Drivetrain set up on this bike is a 2x8 with a 10spd Sram set up. The shifters are Sram TT style bar ends with Paul Thumbie thumb shifter mounts. I really like this set up so far. Shifting is great and the range of the 15t-36t cassette seems really good. The brakes are Avid XO hydraulic discs. Bar is a Salsa Promoto Carbon with a Salsa Promoto Ti stem. Grips are my favorite, Dimension cork.

Little 140mm rotor, big black Salsa hub, little DT Swiss spokes, big 36t cassette cog!

Big Fat Larry's on 80mm drilled Rolling Darryl rims should be about optimal for all around winter conditions.

I love how this bike turned out. I look forward to bombing around on it, snow or no snow! It's time to rip it up!

Black Friday Sale and Festivities!

2011-11-23T05:53:00.001-06:00

We're planning on having a good time on Black Friday! Here are some items that we are featuring on sale.

Cygo-Lite Turbo Mini 330 Lights regularly $104.99, on sale for $84.99! Curtis and I have been using these for a while now and are really impressed. These are great little lights for a phenomenal price.

Buy any graphic bike jersey...

...and get 50% off any Bontrager Race bike jersey!

Polar insulated water bottles are on sale for $7.99, from $11.99!

T Shirts from All City, Surly, Salsa, and others, all $5 off!

15% off in stock headsets Cane Creek and Chris King, plus 50% off headset installation!

These and other items will be on sale Friday only! Stop in and see what's new for winter, and save big on select items.

In addition to having items on sale, Curtis will be leaving a mountain bike ride in River Bend Nature at 12pm noon. We're planning on having a little bonfire out back, and we'll have coffee and some treats available all day. Skip the malls and join us this Black Friday for a little more relaxed shopping experience! You'll be glad you did.

Revelated Mukluk

2011-11-22T13:54:00.000-06:00

To match our decked out Pugsley, here's a winter bomber ready Mukluk! Full bag set up from Revelate Designs and set up with a decent set of optimized bar mitts this is ready to rock.

These bikes look great with all that black nylon. Here's to winter, it's just around the corner!

2011-11-19T06:41:00.004-06:00

Park Point, Duluth. Next time I return here it'll the beach will be frozen and I'll be on a fat bike.

Happy Saturday folks. Have a great weekend.

Custom Bike Build: Califonia Bound El Mariachi

2011-11-18T05:50:00.000-06:00

We finished the build today on a stunner of an El Mariachi. This one's headed for sunny California. James took advantage of our Salsa El Mariachi/Whiskey fork frameset deal as the basis for a heck of a single speed.

James wanted a light weight, durable, comfortable, and elegant single speed. I think we hit the mark completely.

James sent us some used, but still gorgeous, first Gen XTR cranks for this build. Matched to a titanium Race Face BB and a classy Salsa ring it's a heck of a combo. Latest generation XT pedals really look great next to the vintage cranks.

Thomson seat post and stem play very well with Salsa's Bend 2 bars and Ergon grips. Clean looking and super comfy, this is a great set up.

The lines on this bike are great. White Industry/Stan's wheels, great drive train parts, and serviceable, reliable components make this a winner. It is built with darn near forever components, and should ride like a dream.

Thanks again James, happy trails!

Duluth Cruise Photos

2011-11-17T13:52:00.000-06:00

I got a chance to ride this weekend in Duluth, MN. I love Duluth. I love the water, the scenery, the hills, and the people. Duluth just has a great feel to it. It's a relaxed town with lots of access to the outdoors as well and has a thriving art community. There are a lot of bikers, hikers, canoeists, skiers and all sorts of outdoors people. It's my kind of place for all kinds of reasons.

One of my favorite types of riding is the town cruise. There is nothing quite like bombing around town. I love casually picking my way through downtown, into residential areas. My Duluth ride started up on the hill just west of Hermantown. The roads up there are almost all dead smooth, fresh pavement. The new Challenge tires at 70psi just floated along. Heading down the hill I made my way to Skyline Parkway, a gorgeous curving road that winds along above the lower part of the city. I love this road.

Pedestrian bridge heading down to Canal Park and the lake.

Fair weather on a beautiful bike makes for a happy me.

Bike path under Interstate 35. Nice lines and light.

Love this shot. The lake is simply gorgeous. I really enjoy spending time down by the water.

This is an actual street in the middle of Duluth. It's rough as a cob, narrow as any gravel around here, and a blast to ride on. The big tires made this totally do ride able. I would have been cringing on the 23c tires I had on this. Riding a sub 18 lb bike both up and down these hills is a dream. It handles great, goes up hill like a goat, and still maintains a high level of comfort and control.

Saw this guy on my way through town. Big ole deer for sure. Looks like a nice 8 pointer. I hope I can see one like this next weekend!

For those of you who have never been to Duluth I highly recommend a trip up. The town itself offers a ton of recreational opportunities, and the riding of all types is stellar. I can't wait until I can go back. Next time we make it up there it'll likely be snowy, and I'll have my Mukluk with. That will open all sorts of new riding possibilities as well!

Revelate Designs Frame bags, Gas Tanks, Mountain Feed Bags, and Viscacha seat bags.

2011-11-16T14:42:00.000-06:00

We now have the full line of Revelate gear in stock in the shop. We have frame bags for Mukluk's and Pugsley's in stock in most sizes along with Tangle bags of all sizes. The new products in stock are the Pug bags, Gas Tanks, and we've restocked Mountain Feed Bags. All of these items work great by themselves, or are impressive when paired as the whole. Though these look great on any bike, a well equipped fat bike is a beautiful thing.

Surly/Revelate branding on the Pugsley/Moonlander bags is great. I love this logo.

The Viscacha seat bags are truly one of my favorite things ever. I move mine between many bikes. When the need arises for a bag that can hold large or awkward objects, or when I don't know fully the need, this is the bag I go to. Between the super rigid mounting to the seat post and the excellent compression straps anything in these bags is held quite securely.

All bags are sewn in a black fabric with red highlighted threads. As a whole they match quite well and would match any color bike well.

For easy access to cameras, food, phone, or anything else the combination of a Gas Tank and Mountain Feed Bag is a great set up. These are easily transferable to any kind of bike and any style of riding.

All of the front bags utilize high visibility fabric as liner fabrics. They all feature nearly waterproof outer fabrics, sealed seams, and water resistant YKK zippers. They are all made in the US and rival the best quality bags I've ever seen. Quality and fit are excellent throughout the line.

We are very excited to finally be able to offer these products for sale in the shop. I've used Eric's Revelate products for quite a while now. They are some of the best purchases for cycling I've ever made. Stop in today or give us a call to discuss your options and questions. As an official Revelate dealer, we're here to help in any way we can. We'd love to help get you set up with these fine products!

Tuesday night ride: Murphy Hanrehan in the dark.

2011-11-15T09:53:00.000-06:00

Tonight we'll be meeting at Murphy Hanrehan park in Savage for a night mountain bike ride. Lots of guys will be on fat bikes, some will not be on fat bikes. All are welcome regardless of ability level. Curtis will be leading a group of faster riders on the expert loop. I'll be leading a group of slower riders on the beginner and intermediate loop.

This goes without saying, but you will need lights for this ride. 7pm through the woods is mighty dark!

We hope to see you there. Have a great day!

Challenge Parigi Roubaix Tires.

2011-11-11T14:34:00.000-06:00

I like big tires. For any type of riding a larger tire of similar weight will allow for lower pressure, lower rolling resistance, more comfort, and better traction. When I consider how I ride road bikes, (leisurely, casual, social group or solo rides,) big tires are just as applicable. My modern Trek Madone is an amazing bike. It's efficient, comfortable, stable, and it handles better than any other road bike I've ridden. All of this was with 23c, high quality tires ridden at 90 psi.

As good as this all was, the lure of a bigger tire was calling. Enter the Challenge Parigi-Roubaix. These tires are big, 29.5mm wide on Hed Belgium series rims. They are light, 306gms on my scale. They offer 260tpi casings, near full wrap tread, and feature a fine file tread pattern. They look classic and modern at the same time. I love them.

Classic herringbone tread with a nice looking hat patch make these tires really stand out. It's worth noting that while they fit really well in the Madone, they did not fit in under the Sram Force brakes. swapping to Shimano Ultegra's easily cleared the tires. They in fact offered more clearance then the frame and fork.

Fit front and rear on these is a legitimate 3-4mm at full pressure. I have no worries about running them in this bike. The tread pattern looks sticky as all get out. I can't wait to get some real time on these this weekend.

I'm heading up to Duluth this weekend with Meg. I plan on giving these a good workout simply bumming around town and heading up the shore. The mix of super uphill climbs and mixed condition downhills combined with some nice relaxed road riding should make for a perfect trial run!

Pumpkin Hill Video.

2011-11-10T07:58:00.000-06:00

Red and Blue Salsa Fat Bike Hubs.

2011-11-09T07:56:00.001-06:00

Salsa's fat bike hub sets are now available for aftermarket purchase. These come with color matched skewers and offer a great base to build fat bike wheels with. They are Salsa's higher end, quad sealed bearing hubs and feature alloy axles and rebuild able free hub bodies. These would be a great place to start a build from, or would make for a great beginning for a second winter or summer wheel set for your Fatback or Mukluk.

Milltown Cycles Fall Gravel Tour: Henderson Holler Part 1.

2011-11-08T12:47:00.000-06:00

Sunday's Henderson Holler was a blast. It was an incredibly windy day, 20-30 mph near constant wind, with a weather advisory to match! As such we shortened the route from 46 miles to a total of about 30 miles. The tree below shows the wind. All the branches are nearly straight out!

Our crew started with just six of us, (Jerry's out front.) We eventually were caught up by a seventh rider who started a bit behind us. After the first few miles the clouds cleared off and we rode under sunny skies for the rest of the day.

Lots of farm work still being undertaken. Yellow jacketed riders flanked by tank-like tractor tracks.

A huge thanks is owed to our fearless leader Jim for all of his work putting these wonderful routes together. It's a pleasure to work with him to bring these events to fruition! Looking good in Molteni jersey on his Fargo.

Lots of great barns were seen on this route. The woods behind this one are a county park. It is positioned right on the river, and offers legal camping. Given the seclusion I can't imagine it's very busy. We may start and end this ride here next time. I'd love to get some before and after camping in combination with these rides!

We found a "nature trail" in Henderson that needed exploring. It turned out to be a short hike a bike section leading to yet more camping sites within the city limits. While not great riding, it was a welcome way to get to know the area a bit better.

We took a little break at the campground on top. Out of the wind and in the sun was a great place to be. The whole day was ridden at a casual, conversational pace. It was a great ride.

That's all for now. Part 2, from Henderson on, will go up later this week. Happy Tuesday all!

Milltown Cycles Fall Gravel Tour: Henderson Holler.

2011-11-05T10:33:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow will be the third ride of our Fall Gravel Tour. We will meet at the parking lot in front of the Corner Drug Health Mart in Le Sueur for a 12 o'clock ride time just as before. The address is below, and the parking lot is large enough not to be missed.

204 Valley Green Square , Le Sueur, MN 56058

This ride is again around 46 miles. This map my ride map is approximate, but small changes have been made.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/16763559

These cues are correct and have been checked. The course will be marked as it has been before.

2011 Henderson Holler

Start at Parking Lot at the southwest corner of Bridge St. and S. 2nd St.

Left on Bridge St. (West)

Right on 333rd Ave. (Co. Rd. 18)

Right on 324th St.

Keep following 324th through several corners

Left on 316th St.

Right on Rush River Rd.

Right on 300th St.

Turns North and becomes S. 9th St. (Henderson)

Right on Minnesota St.

Left on S. 6th St.

Left on Main St. (MN 19)

Right on Fort Rd.

Right on 331st Ave.

Left on 270th St.

Left on 351st Ave.

Right on 276th St.

Right on 371st Ave.

371st bears right and becomes 361st Ave.

After some twist and turns 361st turns North and becomes Co. 12 (paved)

Right on Jessenland Rd. (Co. 27) (paved)

At “T”, follow Jessenland Rd. to the Right (South)

After the big descent, Left on Co. Rd. 6 (paved)

Right on Co. Rd. 5 (paved), across the MN River into Blakeley

In Blakeley, Right on Co. Rd. 1 (Union Trail) (paved)

Up the hill, then Right on 250th St. W. (paved)

Becomes gravel (Chatfield Dr.)

Left on Salisbury Hill Rd (Climb to Top and Turn around come back down)

Left on Chatfield - Becomes Henderson Station Road

Follow Henderson Station Rd. around to the left

Just before the bridge...

Take Hard Right on Pumpkin Hill Road (very steep)

Follow Pumpkin Hill Road to US 169

Cross over 169 and follow Cambria Road on the other side.

Right on Forest Prairie Road (paved)

Left on St. Thomas Rd. (paved)

Hard Right on Myrick Rd. (gravel) Big descent

Follow all the way down into Le Sueur

Left on Hazel

Right on Division

Left on Commerce (MN 112)

Bear to the right as Commerce Splits, follow Main St.

Left on Bridge St.

Back to Parking Lot

Done!

We hope to see many of you there!

****A word about tomorrow's ride, bring lights front and rear! With Daylight's savings time in effect tomorrow, it will be getting near dusk if not sundown depending on when people finish tomorrow. Sunset is supposed to be at 5:30, so come prepared and be smart. A flashing front and rear light are suggested.****

Enve Carbon Road Fork.

2011-11-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

Parts are slowly coming in for a Steve Potts road bike build. One of the biggest ones came in today. Enve Composites makes the nicest carbon stuff around, period. The fit and finish, overall quality, and performance are just first rate. Their fork is a perfect pairing for a Potts road bike.

We went with their 2.0 version for this build. At 375 grams it's frighteningly light, but still quite stiff. Their 1.0 model is even lighter, and is stiffer than this fork. The softer ride quality is what we were looking for. The weight is still very light, and the matte finish will match the Potts' matte finish very well.

The overall appearance of the fork is quite trim. The fork lists a max tire size of up to 32mm actual measurement, something I really like as well. A quality tire in 27-28mm would be perfect in here in my opinion.

The bold graphics manage to be understated. I really like how they look. It's just enough without being gaudy.

Enve forks molded carbon dropouts. The legs are seamlessly connected, the whole fork looks like it flows together.

This will be attached to the frame using this black Chris King Sotte Voce headset. It should make for a stunning frame set that will last a very long time.

45North Hüsker Dü Fat Bike Tire

2011-11-03T08:47:00.000-05:00

David of 45North was kind enough to lend us a prototype Hüsker Dü tire to check out. I've actually had the pleasure of riding this tire in the sandy MN river bottoms. I loved it. It rolls noticeably faster than a Larry, and corners quite well. Oddly enough from a company who's job is designing winter specific parts, I think this will likely be the best fat bike tire for general mtb use in summer.

Bold, modern graphics really make these tires stand out. This shot really shows the large side knobs well. These corner extremely well. They are not as aggressive as the Surly Nates, which may be a good thing. You can also see the squared off, blocky mid knobs above the side knobs. The ramped center knobs are visible at the top of the tire.

Profile wise this tire is flatter than a Larry on the same rim. It's casing shape is similar to the Surly Endomorph. This is on a 82mm Rolling Darryl rim. I expect the tire to be more round shaped on a 65mm rim such as the new Surly Marge Lite or classic Large Marge.

My overall ride impression of these was great. They roll like crazy, corner well, and wade through sand with aplomb. I am excited to get these in the shop. They will be my go to summer tire for my soon to be lighter Pofahl. They will be really fun to try in winter of course as well.

Due date on these is right after Thanksgiving. We will be getting 5 or 6 sets in stock as soon as they are available.

Big plans.

2011-11-02T08:23:00.000-05:00

Hand drawn, chili stained, long time coming plans. This winter is going to be fun. This will be the first of many big projects happening before spring. I can't wait.

New shop tool.

2011-11-01T12:04:00.000-05:00

I love new tools. We received our Park headset reaming and facing tools for over sized head tubes last week. These are some of the most expensive tools in the shop. They allow head tubes to be cut parallel and reamed out to proper spec. It's a joy to use such nice tools, especially new ones right out of the box. 44mm head tubes are rapidly becoming near standard. This tool will likely get as much or more use in the future than our standard inch and an eighth set up.

Green El Mariachi gets the treatment. Pretty.

Curtis's Homie Rig.

2011-10-29T11:12:00.000-05:00

Surly's Fall Color Tour, (aka Homie Fest,) is happening today. Curtis will be representing the shop on his newly single-speed-ified Pugsley. Having this shod with Nates around is not helping me on the SS fatty front. Man I want one. Looking good.

Planning the next build.

2011-10-28T09:09:00.000-05:00

I mentioned on Facebook yesterday that I am going to be building a new Fargo for next year. This is a from scratch build, something I've not done in a while. My goal with this bike is to build a fairly lightweight, durable, and primarily comfortable bike with quality components. I am pretty open as to what to use for wheels and drive train. A lot of the bike is already set. It will be built around a set of Salsa Woodchipper bars. This means the bike will have to have Avid Road BB7's for brakes, and road shifters of some kind. What shifters I use will be a function of which drive train I go with.

As with all of my bike builds, I am going to start with wheels. All wheels start off with picking the right hubs. I'm weighing a lot of things for these, but I know I want a few things. First off I want these to roll. These wheels need to just disappear under me. When I turn the bike down hill I want to to run away from me. This means more to me than sheer engagement, as the majority of the time I'll ride this on gravel and longer, easier mtb rides. Secondly, I want these to be pretty. I plan on having this bike for a very long time. I want the hubs to last as long as the frame will. Realistically every hub I am considering should do that, and they are from the usual suspects. Chris King, White Industries, Phil Wood, and DT Swiss are all options as I'm concerned. Thirdly, I want hubs that have easy to service free hubs. All of those above meet these criteria to varying degrees. Now the decision rests on weighing those.

These are in the shop now, along with a set of Chris King and DT Swiss hubs. It's nice to have these on hand to play with and help make the decision.

New cold weather head ware.

2011-10-27T09:48:00.005-05:00

It's that time of the year. Heads and ears are cold, and soon faces and necks will need to be protected. We recently got in two head ware pieces that everyone should own. The first is a brimmed cap from Bontrager. This has really nice flat sewn seams throughout. They fit well, look nice, and the construction is great. The ear flaps can be flipped up, and is a slightly thicker material than the main head piece. These are going to be great for running around town, longer rides, or just wearing around a cold bike shop!

The flap portion of the hat is really nice. You can see the thicker bottom seam in this photograph. It cups the back of your head really well. This should seal things up nicely. Reflective section on the back is a nice touch, though I don't know how visible it's going to be under a helmet.

The other piece we received is a really nice balaclava from Bontrager. This is something everyone should own. Not biking specific, I'll be using this as my basic layering piece for everything this winter. Sharing similar construction to the cap above, this features flat sewn seams throughout.

The biggest selling point of this balaclava is the portion of the mask that covers your face. Rather than being part of the larger construction, it is attached towards the back of the mask. This allows you to adjust how much of your face is covered without stretching or pulling on the rest of the mask. For those of you who have for years fought with that problem this is a godsend.

Shown below is the face mask portion pulled down over my chin. Notice how the main seam of the upper part follows the brow line down under the chin.

Below the face mask is dropped completely under my chin. In this position the mask is loose and in no way pulls on your neck, chin, or anywhere else. This is unlike any other balaclava I've used. It feels great. I can't wait to use it this winter!

These are just two of the new winter and cold weather accessories we've gotten in over the last week. Stop in and get ready for the coming cold!

Limited Edition Surly Rolling Darryls.

2011-10-26T10:14:00.000-05:00

Surly released a very limited edition color run of powder coated drilled Rolling Darryls this week. They are available in White, Red, and bright Green. They look great, and would make a great start to any serious fat bike build. We only have one set of each of these. Give us a call if you'd like to talk about options on these for upgrading a current bike, or for building up a new wheel set.

The ride is a bright lipstick shouty color. It's intense, and would add a huge pop factor to the right bike. I'm thinking on a white Pugsley these would be look amazing.

The white is more versatile. It would work well on just about any color of bike. Whether on a blue Mukluk, a Curry Squirt Pugsley, or even a original Barney Purple Sizzurple, these would look great on almost anything.

The third color is totally Surly craziness. They call it Kawasaki Green, and it is all that load and more. I've often said that small parts can lead to whole bike builds. This rim could easily lead to a build of a super cool bike.

Give us a call if you have an interest in any of these. We'd love to help you set up a gorgeous set of wheels, or to build a bike around these for you.

Milltown Cycles Fall Gravel Tour: Rawland Ride Recap

2011-10-25T14:12:00.000-05:00

We had a great ride on Sunday. The weather cooperated with just a few sprinkles felt during the afternoon. About 25 people showed up for the 12 noon roll out. Folks from as far away as Brookings, SD and Fargo, ND made the trek down for the ride, thanks guys! With a group start, people were free to ride the course at whatever pace they liked. We marked all of the corners with signage, cue sheets were provided as a back up, but I don't think any one needed them.

Lots of smiling faces on the roll out. The weather was really nice at the start. Rain the night before really helped keep the dust down as well.

Rolling hills outside of Dennison and near hero gravel conditions kept the smiles going.

I love this shot. Plenty of farm activity was happening all around the course. Several people commented on how they thought it really added to the feel of the ride. I couldn't agree more.

Many thanks for all the hours of work Jim put in on this and all of our Fall Gravel Tour rides. He is the guy responsible for these routes, much of the cue sheet work, and the maps. This is taken on top of one of my favorite hills heading towards Cannon Falls.

One of two fat bikes on the ride, Justus was riding this gorgeous Fatback.

He made me wish I was on my Pofhal, the hills made me glad I was on my Casseroll!

The other fat biker on the route was quite the inspiration. He recently turned 60 and decided to start riding. This was the first year he's seriously ridden. It was impressive to say the least! Photo headed up possibly my favorite road ever, Shady Lane Trail in Sogn Valley.

On top of the bluff, Shady Lane flattens out and winds along through fields and woods. Only a lane wide, this road makes you feel like you're riding in the middle of no where.

A couple of Fargos headed towards County Nine.

After crossing County Nine the route swings south west and starts to head back. This barn next on 330th street is a favorite of many riders. It over looks a gorgeous little valley with oaks, cattle, and a spring fed stream.

Eventually we made our way to Boe Trail, the second Minimum Maintenance road on the course. This was horribly washed out last fall and has not been repaired. It is impassible by car for obvious reasons, but made for a killer highlight section on the back side of the course. The line on the far right was about a foot ride, and was ride able for those who felt inclined. Kevin rips it below on his great looking orange Salsa!

The home made road closed sign on Boe was a bit understated perhaps!

Despite the threatening skies we stayed dry for majority of the ride. There were small drops occasionally, but the weather really cooperated for us. The skies coming back into Dennsion were pretty amazing.

I had a wonderful time last Sunday. Thank you to all who came and helped make the ride great. We look forward to the next ride in a few weeks. Take care all.

Milltown Cycles Fall Gravel Tour: Rawland Route Cues

2011-10-22T23:06:00.000-05:00

Here are the cues for tomorrow's ride leaving from Dennison at12 pm.

These will be available at the start, and the route will be physically marked as well.

We hope to see many of you there!

Starting in Dennison take a Right on Goodhue

Right on 110th turns back into Goodhue

Right on 350th

Stay left on 10th Ave

Right on 342nd

Right on MN 56

Left on 345th

Right on High Prairie Trail

Left on 30th Ave

Right on 345th

This turns left (north) and becomes 35th Ave.

Right on 330th which becomes Stanton Trail.

Right on Oxford Mill Road.

Brief Rest Stop at the Mill.

Right on Co. Rd. 24

Left on Warsaw Trail

Past 53rd Ave Warsaw Trail goes left (east)

Warsaw Trail veers south then left to Co. 14 Blvd.

Right on County 14.

Left on Shady Lane Trail

Right on Co. 9 Blvd.

Rest Stop at Urland Lutheran Church?

Left on 70th Ave.

Right on 387th St.

Left on 63rd Ave.

Becomes (Left on) 395th St.

Right on 63rd Ave.

Right on 400th St.

At Barn, right on Co. 49 Blvd.

Cross Co. 14

Continue (west) on Co. 49 Blvd

Left on Bow Trail

Right on Co. 44 Blvd.

Left on Bow Trail (minimum maint.)

Right on Co. 14 Blvd.

Right on 430th St.

Right on 20th Ave.

Left on 410th St.

Right on Lamb Ave.

Right on Co. Rd. 9 back to Dennison

Salsa El Mariachi Frameset Package

2011-10-22T09:01:00.000-05:00

We like Salsa's El Mariachi. It's reasonably light, rides well, looks great, and is reasonably priced. We like Whisky's new Carbon 29er fork. It's also reasonably light, rides well, looks great, and is reasonably priced. We also really Cane Creek 40 headsets. They are reasonably light, work well, look great, and are reasonably priced.

Seeing a trend here? All stuff we like, and all stuff that works. All of these seemed like they'd go really well as a package together. Turns out they do!

Here's the deal, $975 for frame, fork, and headset. (Pictured stem not included, but it a fine choice!) These are in stock in most sizes, and we have forks in both gloss and matte finish available. The 19" frame set below is assembled and ready to be shipped out. Compared to many other option out there that's a steal.

Cane Creek's Inset upper headset paired with an external 1.5" matches up well aesthetically with the El Mar's giant 44mm head tube. This is what allows the use of tapered steer tube rigid and suspension forks.

I really like the green on this bike. The accent bright green really makes the color pop. Overall it's an understated color though.

For use as a single speed tensioner, or to dial in the ride characteristics of a geared bike, Salsa's Alternator dropouts are my favorite dropout ever. Clean and simple, they work very well, and look great. This bike would be gorgeous set up as a rigid single speed or geared gravel and mtb rocket.

This package cuts a mean figure. As seen in Mike's bike featured in yesterday's post, these can be built into incredible things! Give us a call and let us help you onto one of these fine steeds today!

A reminder of our Fall Gravel Tour ride tomorrow. We'll meet in Dennison MN at 12pm for a roll out start. The weather looks to be ideal, we hope you all can join us!

Custom Bike Build: Mike's Salsa El Mariachi.

2011-10-21T12:45:00.000-05:00

Theme.

Mike contacted us with the idea of building a no holds barred, go fast 29er single speed. The primary purpose of the bike would be racing in local events, and generally ripping up single track. The bike would be built around high end parts, with particular attention spent on the wheels. Mike had a list of parts he specifically wanted to use. We added our two cents, ordered things up, and waited for them to arrive.

Build.

Salsa's El Mariachi fit the bill for the frame we were looking for. Mike likes steel bikes. We wanted to be able to use any current 29er fork, which the Mariachi's 44mm head tube allows for. Salsa's Alternator swinger drop outs are the best single speed tension system I've used. They are really easy to use, and allow for dead easy chain tensioning. It's a heck of a platform to build any 29er!

Mike chose to go with the blue El Mariachi frame. To compliment this Mango Chris King products were used through out the bike. These are top notch parts, and should all easily last the lifetime of the bike. The orange color really pops against the subdued blue of the frame. The overall appearance is stunning.

This bike was going to be rigid, and Whisky's new tapered steer tube carbon fork was an obvious choice. Light, comfortable, and quite stiff, this will make for a very positive feeling front end. Attached to the frame with King's tapered steer tube headset the orange color choice is obviously a good decision.

While the 44mm head tube is visually large compared to the smaller steel frame tubing, the bigger lower headset cup and wide carbon fork really blend together well. The minimal geared cable stops are visible in this picture, but are really not noticeable when looking at the bike en mass. I like Whisky's use of subtle graphics, and the matte finish of the fork is really nice.

The wheels on this bike are the ones featured in yesterday's blog post. These are as good as 29er wheels get. We went with Continental Race King 29er tires set up tubeless. These are my favorite all around tires for Midwest mtb riding. The fact that the Conti logo orange matches almost exactly it an added bonus.

For the crank we went with Shimano's standard XT crank with Salsa Ring and guard. The XT crank is our choice for durability, light weight, stiffness, and all around performance for the dollar. The black with black rings looks great on here. The orange CK bottom bracket doesn't hurt either.

This is one of the most beautiful bikes we've ever built. It offers an amazing amount of performance for a relatively low cost. To put if in comparison, this bike costs just over what the entry level US built Trek Madone does this year. That's with arguably the best mtb wheels you can possibly get, along with many other hugely nice performing parts. As pictured here it weighs in at 20.6 lbs!

I love how this one turned out, I'd love to take it home myself. Look for this to be ripping it down in Iowa at races soon. It'll be that blue blur passing on the left!

Custom Wheel Build: Sexy Carbon.

2011-10-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

These are headed down to a lucky guy in Iowa. Built with stunning Mango Chris King single speed hubs laced to Enve's gorgeous 29er tubeless rims, these are as good as it gets. I love the color of these hubs. The fit and finish of any of the King products is simply second to none.

Salsa skewers and black Ashima rotors round out the build.

Not bad eh?

2011-10-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

Gnat posted awhile ago that he likes to find one image from a ride or event that speaks to the overall feel, emotion, or sense of what it was about. This image does that for me from Sunday's Haymaker.

Motor.

Salsa Mukluk 2

2011-10-13T15:50:00.000-05:00

Salsa's Mukluk 2's have arrived. These are an great looking bike. They share the same frame and fork as the 2011 Mukluk 3, but are anodized for corrosion resistance. The frames end up being a bit lighter as a result too. The forks get what Salsa calls an ED coating, a dip applied finish that coats the inside of the tubing as well for corrosion resistance. At first look these are stunning. They just look fast and mean.

The black with red highlights really jumps out at you. The matte finish of the frame and fork match the Salsa and Surly components really well. The overall appearance of the package is awesome.

I love the trees on the fork legs. This is the same graphic as on the blue, but the contrast of bright red on black makes it pop more. Even out of focus, the red bits around the bike really draw your eye around.

Love these.

The Mukluk 2 is speced with go fast e13 cranks. Though the spec on these bikes is with a triple in the front, we remove the 44t big ring and add a Salsa Ring Dinger instead. Fat bikes should be doubles, enough said. We will or course add the 44t ring back on on request. Honestly it's like a third nipple on these bikes though, it's just not needed and gets in the way.

Custom WTB Pure V saddles with red Salsa accents are a nice touch. I love this saddle as well. These and the WTC Silverado's are available aftermarket in Salsa trim as well. We will have these on the wall for sale very soon.

The big money upgrades on the Muk 2's are the much lighter drilled Surly Rolling Darryl rims shod with120tpi Surly Larry and Endomorph tires. Most of the Muk 2's weight savings over the Muk 3 is here. It is a noticeable difference while riding.

Overall these are great bikes. They look good, offer a great performance upgrade, and are quite reasonably priced. These are to be considered limited edition, as they are made in much smaller quantities than the Mukluk 3's. We have 3, 17" bikes in stock for sale, and one 19" bike in stock for sale. These are likely all we will be able to get, (in these sizes,) for the near future. If you are interesting in one don't hesitate!

Salsa Christmas.

2011-10-12T10:32:00.000-05:00

The brown Santa came and delivered our biggest Salsa order to date today. Salsa Frame Bags , Mukluk 2's, and a few El Mariachi Frames came in today.

Folding bead Surly Big Fat Larry's are also now in stock!

Better photos and details to follow. I'll leave you with this for now. Have a great day!

The Haymaker Recap

2011-10-11T13:33:00.001-05:00

Sunday was our Haymaker ride out of Red Wing MN. We had about 20 riders and a gorgeous 80 degree day. The course for this ride is hilly to say the least. It's a quite challenging 43-something mile long course. The hills vary from lung searing, short and steeps to long, winding, leg burners. The roads are quite dry following unseasonably warm temps and no rain to speak of. The dusty, slippery conditions made for hard hills and technical descents.

The ride started off on a hill, a long hill. One rider described it as one of the most demoralizing starts to a ride he'd ridden. While I don't feel it was quite so bad as that, there's not arguing it set the tone for the ride to follow. The group is mostly together at this point, although you can see a group of riders starting to move off the front. We stayed within several minutes of each other throughout the ride, but the guys at the front were some seriously strong folks. I felt good just to be staying up at their "casual" pace.

Jim and Curtis at the beginning of the ride. A huge thanks to Curtis. We were up way too late, and quite early putting on the finishing touches to the route and marking the course. It was a fair bit of set up, but totally worth it day of. Rolling valleys and undulating crops were hallmarks of this route. It was truly gorgeous out there, I can't wait to go back.

I love this shot of a rider headed up what looked to be a wall of a hill. This came after a section of flat, valley bottom road. We could see it coming for a few miles, and it looked just awesome. It brought out cries of "look at that thing!" and "oh man," more than once. A great hill.

Of many in the area, this is the one minimum maintenance road the course took. This hill is also on the Ragnarok route, as several were throughout the day. Apparently this spring at the Ragnarok there was still snow at the top! The below shot gives you a good idea of what the hill looks like elevation wise. It's made up of hugely chunky gravel, rocks really. There are three big ruts across the whole thing. It's as technical of an uphill as I know of on gravel. I can't say I cleaned it, but I did ride all the way to the top after a bobble.

Here's a link to a video a William shot of his ride of this hill!

William had a gorgeous lugged Mercier equipped with classic Campagnolo parts. He wins my favorite bike of the ride award hands down! Here he is at the top of the hill above, presumably with camera rolling.

Messieurs Herman, Strachen, and Oney on the tail end of the ride. They are on a Salsa Vaya, a Salsa La Cruz, and a Surly Cross Check respectively.

After heading through a few more valleys, and at about mile 35 of the ride we stopped at a nice country church for water and a regroup. The breeze was cool as we sat in the shady grass in front of the church. All hard parts of the ride were over. We cruised back into town on some nice rolling gravel to finish off the day.

Thanks again to all who came out and made this day special. We had a heck of a good time. Our next ride will be on October 23rd, on the classic Rawland Route in Dennison. This is our classic fall ride on stunning roads in and around Sogn Valley. We hope to see many of you there!

Haymaker Ride Update

2011-10-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

So, funny thing about the cue sheets we told you all to print off and bring....

Turns out they are horribly incorrect in a lot of ways. The map is correct, but the cues don't match up to them. In some cases they even say to turn right when you should go left.

I will have cue sheets for everyone tomorrow at the start of the ride, and I will have physical signs at every turn.

Thank you in advance for coming. The route is stunning, and the weather is going to be great.

A reminder that this is an unsupported ride. The route is challenging, and it will be hot tomorrow. Be prepared and bring extra food and water. There is no close food stops, nor is there water readily available on the course.

We'll see you tomorrow. Until then goodnight.

Fall's here, are your feet ready?

2011-10-08T08:53:00.001-05:00

Fall's chill is here. With cool mornings, pleasant afternoons, and chilly evenings it's time to start thinking about warmer clothing. The time for normal talk of base layers, laying elements, and outer wear has arrived. The arguments around the shop about what balaclava or hat is best have started. Clothing that once sat dormant in large warehouses is starting to appear on store shelves. In the spirit of all of that, I suggest you look at your feet.

If you're like most people, the most over under appreciated articles of clothing in your wardrobe are your socks. Socks should be your best friends. They keep your feet warm, keep them from getting blisters, and are seriously overlooked style opportunities. This time of the year it's time to think about big socks. Tall socks to keep you warm and cover those pesky shoe/boot/tight overlap areas. Thicker socks, particularly wool ones, add warmth to drafty cycling shoes on chilly morning. They also offer unique fashion opportunities. What's better than a hot pink sock peaking out from a pair of nice dress shoes and slacks? Along those lines, here are some of our current favorites and must haves in the highly competitive world of sock wear.

(From left to right.) Sock Guy makes killer socks. These are two of the colors of their over the calf length socks. Curtis and I love these. They are like wearing half a pair of long johns. I find these to be perfect companions for knickers in early fall weather, as well as awesome base layers for colder weather. They also rock with shorts, just saying. In the middle a are Sock Guy's new "I'm With Awesome" socks, 'nuf said, buy 'em! Rounding out the end are some socks from Salsa. These are over ankle height, and are really nice wool blends. They are nice to wear any time and wash up really soft.

Conservative sock wearers fear not, there are plenty of options for you as well! These are three of the wool blend socks from Surly. These fit the bill of just great socks to own. Offered in all sizes, these neutral colored socks work with just about anything, and don't scream look at me. Like most Surly products, they will provide years of good service with nary a thought.

These are just some of the many sock options we stock in the shop. They are all great little ways to keep your feet, husbands/wives, and or significant others happy. A comfy pair of feet will do wonders to starting your day off right, and these are great ways to make that happen. Come check 'em out.

My new road steed.

2011-10-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

It's been years since I had a Trek Madone. My last Madone was quite a bike. It was Campagnolo Record equipped, and had a set of quite nice carbon wheels. Since then I've diversified my riding stable quite a bit. My bikes range from geared fat bikes, to single speed mtb and road bikes, to gravel grinders in single speed and geared flavors. In the monetary sense, that one bike has turned into many, and I am better for it.

All that said, there's something to the sounds and feel of road biking. The hum of the tires, the whistle of the spokes, and the mechanical whir of the chain running over the gears; all those things are different on a road bike. A high end road bike is entirely a different animal than my other bikes. It's a thoroughbred. A bike designed with a single purpose in mind, to carry you as fast and as efficiently as possible on tarmac. I miss that feeling.

This bike has it. It is a 2012 Trek 5.5 Madone. This is there standard H2 frame fit, meaning all of the angles and dimensions are the same as Trek's true racing geometry bike. This bike features a taller head tube than those bikes making for a more real world seating position. This is not to say it's truly upright, it's still a performance fit by all means. I find it to be a great balance between go fast and comfort.

This bike features Sram's Force drive train and brakes. The combination of a 50-34 up front with a 11-28 out back is just about perfect for how I ride. I like to spin more than mash, and the lower and wider gear ratio of this set up is really nice.

This bike is even more solid feeling than my older Madone. A lot of that is due to the massive head tube and tapered steer tube on the fork. Even at speeds over 40 miles an hour it feels rock solid and effortless. There's not a sketchy bit here. I love the color of this bike as well.

Trek's somewhat unique no cut integrated seat post offers greater stiffness and comfort at a lower weight than other integrated seatpost/mast set ups. Unlike many other companies, Trek offers four different seat masts in both 5 mm and 20 mm offsets. Fit is easily achieved, and resale value is preserved. As a bonus it looks really cool.

Overall I am impressed with this bike. It is solid feeling seated and standing under hard pressure. It is confidence inspiring both in corners and descents, and floats up hills. While providing edge of your seat performance it doesn't beat you up. In short is it exactly what you expect a bike like this to be. It's just good.

Whisky Parts Co No. 7 Carbon Tapered 29er Fork

2011-10-06T10:19:00.001-05:00

Looking for a new go fast carbon fork for your tapered head tube Salsa or Trek 29er? Whisky's new tapered steer tube carbon forks have arrived and are in stock now. Don't have a tapered steer tube compatible 29er? These would make an excellent fork to pair with any of the Salsa 29er frame sets, a Foundry carbon 29er, or a Trek rig. For example, this fork paired with a Salsa Mamasita frameset and a Cane Creek headset would be under $1000! That's a killer value in a race ready 29er fuselage.

The forks are designed to work with 80-100 mm suspension corrected 29ers. They are 470mm long, and have a 39mm rake. Weight on these even with a long, uncut steer tube is a paltry 650 grams!

Despite being an honest pound lighter than most lightweight steel 29er forks these things are seriously beefy. Due in large part to their tapered steer tubes and large crown sections, these forks track very precisely regardless of their weight.

Two finish options are available, smooth matte, or high gloss. Both look great, but having the option to choose which you prefer is nice. Understated graphics don't shout out at you and add to the overall classiness and clean lines. The tapered steer tube and big fork legs match up perfectly to tapered or 44mm head tubes taht are now almost standard on higher end 29er mountain bikes.

These forks sell for a reasonable $345, and are in stock in both finish options now. We are excited to bring in more Whisky products as they become available. Look for updates and product info as well get them.

'Nother shirt just in.

2011-10-05T12:05:00.000-05:00

This just popped in off the truck as I posted the last blog. This is the best one yet, Surly's new Whimcycle shirt. I love this. Men's and Women's available.

Have a great day all. Enjoy it.

New t shirts in stock now!

2011-10-05T12:03:00.000-05:00

We've been adding new logo t shirts to our inventory for a while now. Here's a few shots of the latest ones to come in. These are photos of the men's shirts, (the thought of Curtis or I in women's shirts is not pretty.) There are women's available in many of these shirts.

First up is a Mirraco shirt from Trek. I think this one speaks for itself. I really like it. Strong graphic and fits many types of rider styles. Across the board this is a good shirt.

Civia has some great designers in house. This is one of their new ones I really like. Available in Men's and Women's shirts in this soft green on green, this is a classy shirt.

Bad Picture, good shirt, (sorry.) This is Salsa's new Squadron T. It's a bright red on dark black. The photo is washed out and I didn't catch it. Great looking shirt, this is available in black in Men's, or in a Red shirt with black logo in Women's.

I really like Surly's new baseball style long sleeve T. It fits well and looks great. These are available in Men's only. We have standard Black Surly logo t's in Men's and Women's.

I really like Surly's new Lost in Analog shirt. Classic design, and really clean looking. These are in stock in Men's. We do not have Women's of these in stock, but they are available.

With Mukluk season rapidly approaching, Salsa's long sleeve Mukluk T is quite appropriate. I like the graphic on these a lot. The color is quite nice with a pair of Carharts as well!

Surly released their Gasmask T recently as well. These are available in Men's and Women's in Red and Green. We have most sizes and colors in stock of these. Deer season is approaching. These would make great camp wear!

Bontrager ringed vintage T's are also in stock and great looking. These are really classic looking. The washed gray is quite nice, and they are really soft. Men's are available in these only.

Come in and check out these stylish new shirts. If you're not local to us, shipping is quite cheap. All short sleeve shirts are $20, long sleeves are $25. Let us help you spice up that wardrobe in no time.

Fatbike Sunday Cruise

2011-10-04T14:45:00.000-05:00

Saturday brought with it perfect fall weather. Our friends Wally and George drove up from Illinois for a weekend of fat bikes and messing around. Wally purchased a custom Mukluk from us about two weeks ago and George was coming to the shop to pick up his custom built Mukluk build. Just finished on Friday, his bike's first voyage would be pristine fall dirt right in our own backyard.

Other than color of components, both bikes are built nearly the same. They both feature Salsa hubs laced to Surly Rolling Darryl rims shod with Surly Big Fat Larry tires. They are set up with 2x7 XT drive trains using Paul Thumbies and Shimano Bar end shifters. Both use Salsa's new 23 degree Bend Bars, Cane Creek headsets, and Thomson seat posts. Without the use of ultra light parts, or things like titanium of carbon fiber both of these sit at between 32 and 33 lbs. Not bad for full out fatties with 4.7" tires. Both of these cost in the neighborhood of $2600, making them quite nice for the money spent.

After putzing around Saturday getting used to the bikes, we headed out Sunday morning for a nice 10 or so mile ride. We were joined by my good friend Mark, who rode our demo Mukluk for the first time on the trails. The route would be out typical one through River Bend Nature Center. The colors are starting to turn really nicely, and the trails are in near perfect shape.

The Straight River bluffs were gorgeous in early morning long light.

My trust Pofahl was a perfect bike this morning. I am planning some big changes for this bike as the season comes into winter and spring. They should make this an even better bike for ripping trails like this!

I recently got a new Panasonic LX5 camera, (thank you again sir,) and I've been playing around with it trying to figure it all out. Motion shots are really fun and are something my old camera sucked at. I'll definitely be working on this technique, I love it.

The morning crew on the back single track. This is my favorite trail in River Bend. The drop to the right is quite large, and the views are gorgeous looking down through the trees.

We had a great morning in the woods. The bikes worked great. The fat tires ate up the conditions ranging from foot deep sand, dry river/creek bottoms, slippery wet fallen leaves, to hard pack. The trail conditions and fall setting were perfect, and the company was great. Thanks for coming up gentleman. Here's to many happy miles on your new bikes!

A quick reminder that we will be riding gravel tonight leaving from Goodbye Blue Monday in Northfield at 7 pm.

Milltown Cycles Fall Gravel Tour

2011-09-29T11:18:00.000-05:00

Plans have been finalized for three fall gravel tours this year. They will be 45-50 miles in length, self supported, group rides. Bring water and food for yourself, know your ability level, and bring adequate maps or GPS type devices. We will mark the courses well, and maps and cues can be printed off using links below. We will not provide maps or cues at the start. You can ride the routes as fast or slow as you like. It should be a good time for riders of any skill level.

The basis for these rides is centered around the idea of having fall cycling events that are not races. Good roads, good routes, good people. It's as simple as that. All you have to do is show up, ride your bike, and have a great time!

Each of these rides will show riders unique areas of southern MN riding and terrain. They are all moderate distances, long enough that you'll know you went for a ride but not long enough to kill you. The rides will all start at 12 noon and they are all on Sundays. This should give anyone in the metro and south metro area time to go to church, sleep in or whatever and still make the start time easily.

The Haymaker.

The first ride is call the Haymaker. It will be on Sunday, October 9th, and will start at noon in Red Wing. We will meet at the Mississipi National Golf Course off of Highway 63. Parking will either be in the lot if they are okay with it, or along the road leading to the course parking lot. We'll be there early and will be conspicuous. The link to the course map and profile is below. We will not have course maps available, you'll want to print your own in whatever format you'd like. This will be the method for all three rides.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/34066338

The Rawland Route.

The second route is on the traditional course of the Rawland Fall Tour. This ride will be held on Sunday, October 23rd. This is the route we've done in years past. It is a glorious tour of Sogn Valley. There are great views, hills to die for, and a bunch of classic churches. Again, this is a self supported ride, and will be marked on course as to the route. Bring maps and cues from the link below if you'd like them. We will have obvious markers out on the course for directions. We will meet and start from the town of Dennison MN. It is a tiny town. Find a place to park, (not at the gas station,) and look for a bunch of folks in lycra.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/22711588

The Henderson Holler.

The third ride in the series is the Henderson Holler. This ride will take place on Sunday, November 6th. It starts in Le Sueur MN and strolls north through Henderson. This will be a premarked, self supported group ride. We will have obvious markers out on the course for directions. Starting point for this ride will be in Le Sueur near the river, and will determined shortly. We will be updating info here and on our Facebook Events Page.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/16763559

We hope you can join us for one, two, or three of these rides. They promise to be really great days on the bike. We'll see you there.

Tuesday Night Ride

2011-09-26T14:19:00.002-05:00

With fall's chilly weather here, it's perfect weather for a longer gravel ride. Tomorrow night we'll be meeting in Northfield at 7pm in front of Blue Monday for a night gravel ride. We will be doing two loops, first a hilly 25 mile loop, then back through Northfield and the start of a flat 20 mile loop. Those of you with time constraints can simply ride the first loop then head home. Those looking for a longer ride can do both loops for a 9:30-10pm finish. We will likely go out for some refreshing beverages afterward.

Bring lights front and rear if you plan on coming. We shouldn't need much to actually see, but you'll want enough of a light to be seen.

Hope to see you there. It should be a great ride!

Moonlander Photos via Singletrack

2011-09-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

http://www.singletrackworld.com/2011/09/eurobike-surly-and-salsa/

Too cool.

Winter can't come soon enough.

This week's gravel.

2011-09-02T08:02:00.000-05:00

This week I've gotten some killer rides in out and around Valley Grove and just north east of Northfield towards Cannon Falls. Some rides I've been solo, others have been with Jerry of Monkey See, Monkey Read in Northfield. With the exception of a few spots of crazy sketchy fresh gravel, the roads are in great shape. Things have been dry for a while so dust is a bit of an issue if the wind is down.

Jerry and I got out on a fine little ride this past weekend. We headed out towards Cannon Falls under lightly overcast skies. High Plains Trail is one of my favorite roads in the area, and it didn't disappoint. The road is aptly named. It winds along one of the little plateaus between Northfield and Cannon Falls, but is mostly flat. It's pretty little field country and it's really quiet. The day started out quite chilly. 52 degrees had me in wool and knickers and Jerry in long sleeves.

In the middle of the valley just over the hills from the Carleton Windmill we were chased by a legitimately three legged blue healer. It was surprisingly fast. Good dog.

Did I mention it has been dry lately? I love the fine dust build up on the brakes, particularly the straddle wire and hanger. The cable has it's own thickness of dust on it, and it's actually built up to a point. The dust on the hanger is also similarly layered. I am making short work of getting this bike filthy. It's fun.

Jerry had to break away at about 9am. I lazily headed home to discover I had locked myself out of the house. Rather than wake up my lovely waking wife I decided to head out for another 25 miles or so. I headed out for some hills and some hang out time at Valley Grove Church. The roads up here are just about dead white gravel. It's great looking and super fast.

There is a great little road that runs along the upper rim of the valley. Looking down at the idyllic hay bales make me really want to live out here. Who wouldn't want to wake up to this every morning? I love it out here.

The subtle clouds over the rolling corn fields were really cool. There's a huge tree down in the center of the fields. I'm sure it was impressive looking in it's day.

It's hard to beat Valley Grove for picturesque country church scenery. There are a whole bunch of churches in the area. Might be a good theme for a ride someday.

With that it's been a great week of riding. Mr and Mrs Guitar Ted will be making there way up here this weekend. I very much look forward to riding with both of them. It should make for more great photos and a bunch of saddle time.

Happy Friday all, have a safe and happy weekend.

Mukluks and 4.7" tires.

2011-09-01T08:33:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of talk lately online and in our shop about fitting the new 4.7" Big Fat Larry. The new tires will easily fit into the fork on any rim currently made. The rear presents a few challenges.

We have found a currently available solution that will allow the use of the larger tires on stock 2011 and stock 2012 Mukluks with little modification. The 2011's are a plug and play, as they come with ISIS bb's, the 2012's require the purchase of a ISIS bb and crank arm set.

There is a crank made by Origin 8 that allows the use of the larger tires on 80mm rims in the rear of a standard alloy Mukluk with some drive train modification. It's offset is almost assuredly less than the MWOD, (Mr Whirly Offset Double crank,) but is a much less expensive and the Q factor is almost an inch narrower. We have these cranks in stock now.

Interestingly enough, this crank was introduced in 2009! Guitar Ted even reviewed it! (Photo credit to Guitar Ted, 2009.)

Up front one BB spacer should be installed on the drive side of the FSA bb. On the rear one cog needs to be removed and replaced with a spacer behind the largest cog of the cassette spacing the gears slightly outside of their normal position. This results in 2-3mm of clearance between the chain and tire in the low gear position. Removing 2 gears would allow for more comfortable clearance. I have run my bike with similar clearances all year now with no issues though.Once this is done chain line in even the 22/34 stock set up, or 22/36t set us is quite good. You still retain most of the gears in the rear. We have tried this with a FSA Platinum BB, I have not yet tried with with the Truvativ BB.

I have not tried these with 100mm rims as I do not have any here. I suspect it will allow for the use of at least 6 gears in the rear, as the chain has a fair amount of clearance with 7-8 cogs installed with 80mm rims. On the 2012 Mukluks you'll of course need a ISIS splined BB, and 22t and 32t cogs if you wish.This is of course all doable with a MWOD, these are just available now, are less expensive, and will require less changes to stock Mukluks to make this work.

So to sum up, modification and some careful mechanical adjustment are required, but it'll work well once dialed.

We are also playing with the new tires on both Mukluks and Pugsleys. Curtis has been running the Black Floyd's on his Pug for several days now. Curtis's impression of them so far is that they roll very well on pavement. When leaning into corners they do tend to pull into the apex, meaning a little counter steering is required. Anyone who has ridden motorcycles will feel immediately at home with the feeling. This tendency is reduced at higher pressures, but that of course makes the ride harsher. As far as looks go these are to die for. I can't wait to see the cruiser customs that will surely sport these things. I don't see these are really having a purpose other than being really really cool. Any fat biker worth their salt will want a pair of these!

We've also installed Nate's on our 17" Mukluk demo bike and have been ripping things up with them. They really roll better than you think, and the traction is simply other worldly. It feel a bit like my old 1x1 with Large Marge's and Nokian Gazzoladdi's installed. That bike would simply plow through, over, and on top of anything you pointed them at. These tires feel like that, but are so much more.

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They rumble on the road something fierce, but are quite quiet on dirt. Offroad they just grip beyond belief. I am continually trying to find stuff to push their limits, and I've not come close to finding that yet. These are a tire that truly changes things. Think Larry's on crack. It won't be a good winter tire, it's just too aggressive for that. I think for summer, early spring and wet fall these will be amazing. They will really push the limits of where we can ride now. The knobs, it's all about the knobs.

Big Fat Larry's are next on the list to test out. I'll hold specific judgement on these until I have some more time on them, but these are cool. They are bigger by far, and are much lighter than the 27tpi Larry or Endomorph tires. That's right, I said they are lighter than the 27tpi tires. Ones we've weighed have been 150-200gms lighter! That's a big weight savings for two tires of nearly a pound, while being larger. These are going to be really really cool.

All for now. I'll update as soon as possible on all of these topics.

Friday Casseroll Gravel

2011-08-31T11:25:00.000-05:00

I've been riding my Salsa Casseroll a ton lately. Starting late last week with Jason in the Umore Park area, through the weekend out near Valley Grove Church, and into this week out near Stanton MN it's been a great bike to get out on. The longer I ride this bike the more I like it. It's efficient, comfortable, and it fits me perfectly. I think this should be a serious contender for anyone looking for a CX type gravel bike.

During these rides I've been taking photos, something I've not done nearly enough of lately. It feels great to get out and ride with friends, and I'm loving taking photos again. While we missed first light in favor of a little more conversation in comfy chairs, Friday's morning ride with Jason was stunning. This is on one of my favorite roads in Umore next to a gorgeous wheat field.

Morning dew on thistle flowers in warm sunlight.

Jason's Casseroll sports a mix of modern parts and vintage Mafac canti's. His bike is gorgeous. I love the team socks as well. Continental Speed CX tires in 42c make another appearance!

Both of us have been really busy lately, which has made getting out for these rides difficult at best. It was a great morning for a heck of a nice ride with a good friend. Thanks for the ride sir, see you in September.

Mukluks and a Gogo

2011-08-25T12:36:00.000-05:00

Just a short one today. We've got a lot of fun new products coming in over the next few days. Here's the start!

Salsa Mukluk 3's are in stock in all sizes save XL and are ready to go! Our 17" and 13" Mukluk demo bikes are also now available for check out and test rides.

We also now have a Gogo LE from Nemo in for stock. These are super cool, ultra light one person shelter options. Weighing very little with a crazy small pack size these things kick butt. The Gogo series utilizes Nemo's AirSupported Technology to eliminate the need for poles while increasing weather resistance and support. It's a hell of a cool set up for light bike packing or back packing adventures.

So, fun stuff today, more stuff tomorrow and the next. We're having fun, stop by and check it all out! Have a great day!

Custom Bicycle Build: All City Nature Boy

2011-08-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

Theme

I love single speed bikes. There is just something in the uncluttered simplicity offered by a bicycle with one gear and brakes. When there's a hill you pedal harder. On flats you spin as efficiently as you can. Down hill you go as fast as you can spin, and as quick as your abilities allow. The aesthetic appeal of a dedicated single speed is also hard to ignore. There are fewer cables hanging around, no dangly derailleur bits hanging off anywhere. Simply put, it is a bicycle, uncluttered and not complicated.

The All City Nature Boy appealed to me for these and other reasons. I wanted to build up a single speed cyclocross/gravel/mess around town bike. I wanted a bike that felt like my Potts in terms of simplicity and clean lines. I was looking for a bike that was a bit less than true race quick. The Nature Boy fits all of these requirements.

Build

I like svelte bikes. Not necessarily light bikes as commonly thought of, but bikes that feel light under foot. Sure handling, nimble, and easy to spin up to speed. Part of that comes from a solid frame and fork with well designed geometry, but components factor into that as well. This bike is a mix of light wheels, big tires, old parts, new parts, comfort and performance. I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Geometry wise this bike could have been built for me. It has a 565mm effective top tube with a traditional longer seat tube. This makes for a bigger open triangle for shouldering when CX racing. It fits my size foot, long legged frame perfectly. The head tube on this bike is taller than say Surly's Cross check by quite a bit. This works really well for me, and yet isn't so tall as to be too high for most folks. The bottom bracket is lower on this bike than true race bikes, keeping the ride stable and reducing the feeling of being on top of the bike.

A nice head badge and crowned fork really class this bike up a lot. TRP mini v-brakes handle stopping nicely. They are easy to set up, and offer nice modulation and power. I like the aesthetic of the straight arms on this build. I think the clean cable runs and fit and finish compliment the overall feel of the build. Both the fork and the frame have plenty of clearance for the Continental Cyclocross Speed 42c tires I prefer.

Old Race Face I Beam road cranks really add a further touch of class to the bike. I found these used a while ago and have been waiting for a project to use them on. I love the unique look of them, and the offer a very narrow q factor which feels great. Gearing on this bike is 42-20. It is hard to get up the hardest hill around here, and spins nicely on the flats.

I used a 20t White Trials Freewheel on this bike because I had it laying around. I love the way these sound, and the engagement is nice even on the road. Stand up and crank and they wheels are instantly there. It feels great on fast ride on this bike. The All City Hennepin Bridge drop outs with built in tensioning screws work and look great. The wheels on this bike are built around Paul Components bolt on, high flange hubs. The roll forever and look amazing. The wheels are laced with DT's ultralight Revolution spokes in a three cross pattern to some 440 gm Bontrager CX rims with black brass nipples. They are light and plenty stiff. Combined with these tires they spin up and roll like a dream.

The color of this bike is listed as "Blackened Blue." It is a black paint with a blue and purple metallic clear over the top. It is quite hard to photograph well, but looks stunning in person.

To get the brake cable out of the way for shouldering All City chose to run the cable through the top tube. I've had this done on custom bikes for myself in the past and I'm a huge fan of it. It's clean and works very well. The little lugs around entrance and exit holes are a classic touch.

This is a great bike. It's stable, stiff, and lively feeling. The components really match the intended use of the bike, and it's a blast to ride. From around town bombing to gravel to single track this bike has proven to be a hell of a lot of fun. I look forward to riding it for a long time to come.

I'll leave you with my favorite photo of this bike, and of any bike, I've seen in a long time. It was taken by my good friend John Ebling on one of our town ride around Northfield. Lit by bike light. I love it. Have a good one.

Custom Bicycle Build: Go Fast Salsa Casseroll

2011-08-23T18:15:00.000-05:00

Theme

So a few weeks ago I decided to look at take a stab at another bike project. I had recently completed an All City Nature Boy and decided I wanted a geared counterpart to that excellent bike. I really like the way the All City rides, and it fit me out of the box just great. I like the lower bottom bracket, taller head tube, and relaxed head angle compared to modern racing cyclocross bikes. Looking for those qualities brought me to somewhat unlikely conclusion, I wanted a Salsa Casseroll.

The Casseroll is likely the least heralded of Salsa's models. It's color is understated, it's complete build parts spec is classically simple and not shouty, and frankly it looks a bit like a softy. Now, if you're a guy or gal looking for a neo-classical sport tourer/commuter, this is perfect. If you're looking for a slightly aggressive, yet stable gravel road bike it's probably not going to spring into your head as an option. Seeing potential beyond the easy going complete build, I wanted to build a bike that would show another side of this bike.

Build

Here it is. I like it, a lot. I had most of the parts of the build already including kick but White Industries hubs laced to Hed rims with ultralight Sapim spokes, and a Ultegra 10 speed drivetrain with bar end shifters. I added a cockpit and seatpost from Salsa, a carbon fork from Bontrager, and superb brakes from Avid.

These tires kick ass, period. For hard, dry gravel I've yet to use better. They roll like crazy, are affordable at $26.99 per, they have reflective sidewalls which I love, and they look great. If they have a failing it's that when they break loose in corners they slide out really quickly. Keeping that in mind, these are great. Paired with the crazy fast wheels these make this bike feel like a road bike on tar. Avid's Ultimate cantilever brakes are worth the price of admission. They are hands down the best canti brakes I've used.

I've set the bike up with a compact, compact crank with 34-44t rings. The rear end is an Ultegra 11-28t cassette. This set up really works well for the roads I ride. It's high enough that I can't run it out on flat ground, and it's low enough to climb up the hills of Sogn Valley if I do my part. Paired with Shimano bar end shifters shifting is flawless.

Salsa Cowbell 2 Bars are far and away my favorite drop bars I've used. They look great, and feel better. These are tightly double wrapped to increase the girth a bit for my XL sized hands. Sram's 500 levers are really very good as well. Salsa's Promoto Ti stem holds everything together.

Salsa's new carbon 2 bolt seatpost works well, looks good, and matches the build very well indeed. I am not super pleased that it is only offered in a 5mm offset version, but it that works for you it's a great post for the money.

This is another very versatile bike from Salsa. With the addition of the cantilever brakes, this bike has much more capability than it's complete build would suggest. I really like the bike for the purpose I've set it up for. It's stiff, comfortable, stable, and it looks great. Stop in and check it out if you are interested, or give us a call if you'd like more info on this bike, a frameset, or a complete.

Thanks for playing, have a great night.

Early Morning Gravel.

2011-08-17T12:36:00.000-05:00

Go out for some early morning gravel today. I needed it. The ride offered a couple of firsts, the first real hard ride on my new Salsa Casseroll, and the first ride of the season in wool and knickers. It was a crisp 61 deg day, with a light breeze out of the west. The gravel surface for most of the route was just on the wet side of dry. It was just enough to keep dust down but maintain a nice tacky feel, non dragging feel.

These wheels just roll. I'm growing more fond of the Casseroll the more I ride it. Shod in these tires on these wheels it eats up roads. They spin up hills with little effort and roll forever. The Continental Speed CX tires in 42c are as close to a perfect local gravel tire as I've used.

Long shadow morning light is awesome.

Creek with a hint of moon reflection just north west of Nerstand. Beautiful blue in color, my crappy camera doesn't even come close to capturing it to it's fullest.

Rolling hills sheltered by giant cottonwood trees.

A little movement shot to get the feel of the morning. The Avid Ultimate brakes on this bike are far and away the nicest cantilever brakes I've used. Easy to set up, really stiff and smooth, they have both really good power and modulation.

Bad photo quality, straight into the sun, but I like it. Kind of a cool quality to it.

This morning was as close to a perfect ride as I've had in a long time. I'm going to try and get out again tonight to double it up, try and cash in on my thankful good graces today. Have a great day folks, get out there and ride.

Custom Bicycle Build: Mark's Titanium Vaya

2011-08-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

Concept

Last week we completed another gorgeous Salsa Cycles Vaya Ti for a customer. Mark came to us looking for a fast gravel road bike with light touring potential. He wanted something quicker, more nimble, lighter, and more comfortable than the Surly Long Haul Trucker he's been riding for gravel currently. The LHT is a great take on a classic touring bike. It's low, long, stable and stiff. It's great for full out, long days in the saddle, loaded down touring. Unloaded it's a bit sluggish and heavy for the use. Nimble is not a word most would use to describe the bike, it's not what it's made for. As his needs have changed, the venerable Trucker wasn't quite cutting it for him any more.

Salsa's Ti Vaya fit the bill exactly for what he was looking for. It's a light, lively frame with a lower bottom bracket for stability and angles steep enough to keep the ride quick. It has a full compliment of braze-ons that will accommodate any rack he could want. Mark chose to build the bike with high quality components through out. His goals here were much the same as our last Ti Vaya build. The components for both of these bikes were selected with a mind towards longevity, performance, beauty, and sustainable US manufacturing processes.

Build

This build is almost identical to the other Mark's Vaya. We chose to go with a full Chris King group on this bike, albeit in green this time. Combined with the ti frame and steel fork, the most expensive parts of this build should last almost indefinitely.

Drivetrain components for this bike are Sram's awesome performance for the dollar X9 group. Set up with a 42-28 front, and a 11-32t rear this bike is geared for real world use. It has a high enough gear for road riding with 35c tires, and has a low enough gear for any hill locally. The green BB peaking through the chainrings is a nice touch I think.

Braking is handled once again by Avid's Road BB7's with Ashima rotors. These are the new black rotors, which contrast nicely to the brushed ti frame. Green Salsa Flip Lock skewers round out the green bits.

This bike really ahs some racy lines. A vintage Selle Italia Flite Ti and non offset Thomson seatpost provide a comfortable position for Mark. These paired with the sloping top tube add to the rakish lines.

Up front Salsa's fabulous Cowbell handlebars are set up with Sram's brake levers and their barend shifters. The tires on this bike are Schwalbe Marathon Supreme touring tires. The wheels are built with Chris King hubs laced to DT Swiss trekking rims with Sapim spokes.

The green with hints of red accents really make this bike pop, subtly of course.

This is a stunning bike. It should provide our customer everything he was looking for. It should be an out of the box performer, and should last as long as anything. When it comes time to replace parts it'll just be a drivetrain and wheel relace and he'll be off and running for another decade. Well chosen sir, this is a great bike!

Custom Wheel Build, Sean's Chris King 29er Wheels.

2011-07-15T15:44:00.000-05:00

We built these wheels up for Sean Friday. He came to us looking for a high end, bullet proof mountain bike wheelset. Sean is a bigger guy who rides fairly aggressively through technical bike trails across the Midwest. He chose to go with Chris King disc hubs for their reliability, aesthetics, ruggedness, and resale value.

DT's super tough Alpine spokes were our choice for these. These have a thicker section at the spoke head for durability, but are butted in the center to keep weight down. They fit very snug in the spoke holes, and build noticeably stiffer wheels than conventional butted spokes. These are the same type of spoke as Sapim's Force spokes, which I've also used with excellent results. DT's Prolock brass nipples add another component of durability and serviceability to these wheels.

We shod these wheels with Schwalbe's new Knobby Nic tubeless 29er tires in the 2.35" size. As with all high end Schwalbe tires the construction on these is top notch. They are fairly expensive, but the ride reports are very good, and they are a pleasure to set up tubeless. They should be a nice tire for ripping trails such as the Camba systemin northern WI, Cuyuna up north in Crosby MN, and Lebanon Hills locally.

Sean chose to go with a bolt on rear hub using King's Fun Bolts to keep the rear end in line. While necessitating the carrying of a 8mm wrench for flat changes, they do work very well to provide solid mounting. No QR also means a bit more aesthetically pleasing rear end as far as I am concerned.

A big King 20mm front will keep the fork tracking very well. The bearings are also much larger in this hub than a standard King, which will benefit bearing life considerably. This hub is also available in a 15mm thru axle version for Fox compatibility.

The Knobby Nic's are indeed knobby. The aggressive knobs really look the part, and the sticky rubber feels great under thumb. I'm excited to hear Sean's ride report on them, but they really look quite good.

These wheels really set the gold standard for tubeless mountain wheels today. It's hard to find nicer hubs in terms of performance and longevity, and Stan's No Tubes rims are the current standard to which others are judged. They should provide years of carefree service for Sean, all while looking to die for.

Ben's 29er wheels. Affordable go fast upgrade.

2011-07-14T08:53:00.003-05:00

People who have spent any time reading this blog know that I'm all about wheels. A wheel upgrade will make more of a noticeable difference than any other part on your bike. Ben bought an entry level 29er from us last fall and was looking to get into some nicer wheels to perk things up. He rides standard trails at moderate paces. He was looking for smoother rolling hubs, wider rims for increased tire volume, and in general strength and stiffness upgrades. Sram's excellent X9 disc hubs laced to Stan's Flow tubeless rims with DT butted spokes fulfilled all of these requests.

Ben's bike uses mechanical disc brakes. In addition to the wheels, we added a set of Ashima brake rotors to perk up the brake performance. These rotors sell for under $20, and vastly improve braking with Shimano, Hayes, and Avid mechanical brakes. They are available and in stock now in White, Red, Black or stainless. The red looks really good on these wheels, and will look great on Ben's red Fisher.

This is a really great looking set up. It will be spin up faster, roll easier, and work better than his current set up. Aesthetically they will really set the bike apart, and functionally they will be a huge improvement.

This set up as pictured costs right around $400 and offers a great performance value for the dollar. I know Ben will be quite happy with these.

Happy Friday all. Have a good one.

Fatter Fat Bikes.

2011-07-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

By now you're probably hear about this from the Surly Blog or other places. They are going to introduce a new fat bike this year, as well as a larger 4.5" Larry tire and wider 100mm Clown Shoe rims ala the Rolling Darryl.

From The Surly Blog.

"...Moonlander is designed to work with our new Clown Shoe rims (100mm singlewall!), Big Fat Larry tires (4.5” Larry tread!), and Mr. Whirly Offset Double crank (a whole other story!). The very wide rims and very large tires, as you might expect, make for amazing traction, floatation, and minimal ground impact. The frame’s 28mm offset and the Whirly Offset Double crank allow room for such big rubber without chain rub. You’ll also be pleased to know that the fork (symmetrical blades, no offset) operates using a 135mm hub but unlike the Pug fork will use a front disc caliper adapter. The rear dropouts are the same as the Pug. And –stay calm-- we’ll have rims strips to fit these rims in a candy cane of colors, including good ol' black...."

This is well come news for all of us fat bikers. Whether or not you are in the market for these wider tires/rims, or even a newer, fatter Surly, this means more choice. More choice means more acceptance, acceptance means more innovation, innovations means more products, more price points, and likely more people on fat bikes.

For those of us who have been around long enough to see the development, standardization, and acceptance of 29ers by the general riding public, this all sounds familiar.

I will be following this story and these products as closely as I can, and I'll update here with any additional information I can. With a Pugsley in stock, 6 Mukluks in various configurations on the way, and of course Moonlanders when they are available, this is going to be a hell of a year for fat bikes here at Milltown.

I can't wait.

Custom Bicycle Build: Mark's Pofahl Single Speed Road Bike

2011-07-12T13:23:00.000-05:00

We finished up Mark's gorgeous single speed road bike last Saturday. We fit Mark for the bike here and designed the geometry to suit his needs. Mike Pofahl followed through with gorgeous construction and appropriate tubing choices.

Concept

This bike started with the idea of a classically designed steel single speed road bike. It would have traditional performance road geometry, clearance for 28c road tires, and it was to be painted school bus yellow to match my 1988 vintage Pofahl drop bar mountain bike. After fitting Mark to his current road bike, we used that as a basis for this built. All designed and plugged in to Bike CAD, here's what we ended up with.

The bike features a slightly sloping top tube, fairly short chain stays, and a slightly lower bottom bracket to match the larger 28c tires. All in all it's a pretty standard road bike with a few retro twists. The frame, fork, and custom stem were all going to be fillet brazed.

Here's the finished product. The stem is flipped to the positive on the real bike, but the rest is just as pictured above. The fit and finish are spot on, as is the original design. To quote Mark when he came back from a 20 minute test ride, "It's perfect." Hard to sum it up better than that.

Build Kit

The parts used for this build are a mix of new and used parts. The foundation of the build lies in the White Industry hubs and freewheel. Especially on a single speed, these are critical components. We laced White Eno single speed hubs to Hed Belgium rims with standard butted spokes and brass nipples. Along with their classic look, these wheels should provide years of untouched good service.

The rear drop outs are from Paul Components. These feature built in, finger operated chain tensioners. They are classically designed, and functionally perfect. I love the length of adjustment these provide as well as the ease of chain tensioning. They are a perfect choice for this build.

Up front the bike wears a Pofahl stem to match the gorgeous fillet brazed, unicrown fork. The headset is a subtle Cane Creek 100 in black. It's one of my favorites, the no logo look matches well with the clean classic build. Really clean fillets and head tube enforcing lugs round out the front end of the bike. The fork is cut long for fine tuning of fit. It will be cut a second time once Mark arrives at a happy spot.

On of the key components of this bike is the tire selection. These are Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tires in 28c. These are impressive tires to say the least. They are among the highest performance road tires made, and are really, really light. Mounted on Hed rims these measure out to be an actual 31mm at 90psi! It's hard to fully describe how big these are. I love them. They are enough to make a guy consider new road bike possibilities for sure. As light as they are, and as high quality as they are, imagine what these would ride like on a pair of Hed Ardennes or a similar really light set up!

The tires really fill up the fork and brake nicely. More than a little gunsmithing was required to modify these brakes to clear the tires. A set of vintage single pivot Campagnolo or Suntour brakes with non aero levers would look superb on this set up while providing perfect clearance for the tires. The adjusting barrel on the brake is tightened all the way up to prevent the bike from rolling for these pictures.

The hourglass seat stays are one of the finer points of Mike's construction of this bike. They just flow to the drop outs. Super clean, the thin tubing further accentuates the considerable girth of the big Schwalbes.

I love the profile of this bike. It's one of those that definitely just look right. It is poised and composed as a modern bike, but elegantly constructed with classic looking parts. I think we really achieved exactly what we set out to with this build.

We wish Mark many happy miles on his new bike. It was a pleasure to work on this from start to finish. I couldn't be happier with the result.

2011-06-27T21:08:00.001-05:00

We will have our shop ride Tuesday night at Lebanon Hills in Eagan at 7pm. Hope you can join us!

Hitting the rocks.

2011-06-15T09:51:00.000-05:00

Curtis and I are around bikes a lot. We work on bikes, ride bike, think about bikes probably more than is healthy sometimes. It probably doesn't surprise many of you that some time away from bikes is more than needed from time to time.

Last Monday Curtis and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather to go rock climbing with Mike Pofahl. Mike is an accomplished custom bike builder, and also has been climbing in all forms for decades now. While Curtis and I are new to the sport seriously, we've climbed off an on since Boy Scouts years ago.

Curtis getting after it.

Mike running the ropes.

Me up the wall.

Needless to say we had a great time. It's a totally different kind of work out than riding a bike. It's kind of a quiet, contemplative type of physical labor. I thoroughly enjoy it, and can't wait to get out again. A huge thanks to Mike for his expertise, time and guidance.

Happy Wednesday all. Take care.

Tuesday Update.

2011-06-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

All-City Nature Boy.

As any usual start to our weeks, today has all sorts of stuff going on. We are expecting a few All-City Nature Boy's and are excited about them. One is a complete bike for a customer, and one will be built up from a frame as a demo bike for the shop. We have one of each color coming in. These promise to be great bikes, and reviews have been really positive so far.

The build spec on these bikes is basic but quite nice out of the box. The hubs and headset are cartridge bearing jobs from Cane Creek and All-City respectively. FSA square taper cranks and a bunch of other nice looking parts round out the build.

These are really good looking, affordable bikes that ride well. They offer a lot of classic styling in an attainable package, and they come built with parts that will last a long time. I am looking forward to having these around the shop, as well as the other fine offerings from All-City.

Check out their full line of bikes are their website, www.allcitycycles.com.

Tuesday Night Ride.

We plan to ride at Murphy Hanrehan mtb park in Savage tonight if the weather holds. We will plan on being there at 7pm, leaving to ride shortly afterward. We will update you on weather. If it's raining we will not be going of course.

Have a great day, we'll talk to you soon!

Back in gear and ready to move forward.

2011-06-08T11:36:00.000-05:00

So, long time no blog post. I am sorry about that.

This year has brought with it some of the biggest personal struggles I've ever had to deal with. The last few weeks have been yet another chapter in that story. All I can say along those lines is that things have stabilized, things are settling down, and we are getting back to some semblance or normalcy again.

That said, it's back to regular posting as of today. Thanks for your patience and concern, have a great day.

Tuesday Night Ride

2011-05-24T12:11:00.000-05:00

There s a chance of showers tonight, but for now the trails are dry and we plan to ride tonight.

We will be leaving the shop at 7pm. People will start showing up from 6-6:30 to get ready.

Hope to see all who can make it here tonight. Have a great day.

Eriksen Sweetposts are in stock.

2011-05-10T12:18:00.000-05:00

Eriksen titanium Sweetposts have arrived at the shop. These are built in Colorado out of titanium just as Eriksen custom frames are. The construction and design is top notch, and they are beautiful to look at.

Available in 27.2mm and 30.9mm sizes, these come in many lengths and offer a choice of anodized colors for seat rail clamps. The welds are gorgeous, and the bead blasted finish with polished logo is quite handsome.

We have several of these in stock for purchase, or can have any of them made to suit in a week or two.

These make a perfect addition to any nice bike. They are light weight, and offer a large comfort increase over traditional posts. Stop in and check these out for yourself, they are quite something.

Custom Bicycle Build: Jim's Surly Troll

2011-05-06T10:04:00.000-05:00

This is the second Surly Troll we've built this spring for a guy named Jim. Both of them are some of our favorite people here at Milltown, and the bikes are built right in line with parts and ideals we really like.

Theme.

Jim wanted us to build him a bike very similar to his Big Dummy. As with many of our frame up builds, this one starts with a great frame, the Troll, and great wheels. Jim wanted an balanced seating position, durable yet light drive train parts, and an orange Brooks saddle. All things easily done, and a heck of a package deal. The bike will serve a few duties, from Jim's intro into mtb riding, to gravel and commuting. It will round out his stable of his beloved, (formerly mine,) Surly Big Dummy, and a knobbie tired Steamroller very well!

Build.

The wheels in this case are build around DT's mid-level 370 hubs. These are the same hubs that we built Matt's race wheels with a few weeks ago, and I am just as happy with them on this set. They roll really well, they come with a normal steel cassette friendly freehub body, and the pawls work and sound great when riding. We built these a little stouter than those wheels, starting with DT's medium weight XR 480 rims. These are nice and wide at 28mm, and support tires very well. They weigh right around 480gms, (clever name,) and they built up great. The spokes we used are those Sapim Force butted spokes I like so much. This combo should roll forever, and require very little maintenence. They are show with Bontrager XDX 2.1" tires, some of my all time favorites for mixed condition mtb riding locally.

Lots of sensible parts round out the cockpit and controls. Ergon grips and a Surly Open bar provide a lot of stable comfort. Brakes from Avid and Paul Thumbie shifters make for a great looking, wonderful performing set up. This is the same set up as Jim's Dummy so transitioning from bike to bike will be quite easy.

The drivetrain is a mix of Shimano Hone and SLX parts. These blend weight, price and performance really well. They will be serviceable for years, and look great against the orange color of the bike. The red and white decals on the hubs and rims really make the bike pop.

This is a great bike. We are excited to get Jim out mountain biking with us, and we're happy to have been able to get him a bike that should suit his needs really well. Stop by next Tuesday night if you'd like to see this bike in action!

Custom Wheel Build, Nathan's Edge/Industry Nine SS Wheels.

2011-05-05T14:24:00.000-05:00

These wheels are for a good friend of mine. He found a set of Edge AM 29er rims for a killer deal, and wanted us to build him a single speed wheel set with them. These rims are nothing short of amazing. They are 29mm wide, weigh 450 gms a piece, are as near to perfect round as you can get. Edge, (now called Enve,) makes these by hand in the US, and the quality is unmatched by any other carbon rims I know of. The stiffness of these rims is almost unfathomable, with strength to match. Edge/Enve claim you can ride these with no weight limit for over 10 years, and I believe it.

Industry Nine is a wheel and hub manufacturer from Ashville, North Carolina. All of their products are made in house and are top notch. They easily match hubs from Chris King and White Industries in quality. Available in a wide range of products in many colors. These are their mountain single speed disc hubs. They build into very strong wheels, and offer near instant pedal engagement. In the time it takes for the chain to go taught, the wheel is engaged and moves forward. In every way these match the rims and make for about as nice of a wheel set as you can build.

The Edge carbon rims are so stiff and strong that ultralight Sapim spokes can be used, even for a larger rider. This shot shows the huge 66mm flange on the rear hub. It's a beautiful thing.

These really are stunning wheels. They offer as much performance as you can get out of current technology. The debate will always be there as to whether wheels this expensive are worth it or not. At close to $2200, these are just about as expensive as you can get as well. I think in the end it's like anything else in this sport. It probably won't make you faster, but if it makes the experience better and you can afford it, why not. While I'd love to have a pair of these rims for my Potts, although I'm not sure about the affording it part.

For more info on Industry Nine products, see their website at www.industrynine.net

Product information on current Enve Composites products is available at www.envecomposites.com

Bontrager shoes in stock!

2011-05-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

We've been looking forward to stocking bike shoes for a long time. I'm happy to report that shoes from Bontrager are now in stock and ready to try on! Along with an expansion into more cycling clothing this year, this marks yet another need of local cyclists we are now able to fulfill.

We have entry level and nicer pedals to match these as well. Stop in and check out some shoes to get started, or ask us about nicer options for a great upgrade on your current bike!

2011-05-03T08:27:00.003-05:00

We will have out Tuesday night ride tonight in River Bend Nature Center in Faribault. We will leave at 7 pm from our back parking lot.

Hope you can make it. Have a great day!

Edit: We will be riding mountain bikes, not the gravel rides that we have been. The trials are ridable on CX tires, but fatter is easier to ride there right now.

Custom Bicycle Build: Mark's Titanium Vaya Sport Tourer

2011-05-02T08:15:00.001-05:00

Theme.

Mark and I have been talking for some time about building him a touring bike. The primer for this bike was to build a versatile, modern, well manner bicycle. This bike will be used for gravel road riding, day trip and multi-day touring, and eventually a cross country trip in a few years. The bike needed to be built with robust enough parts to handle a well selected touring load, while not being ponderously heavy when riding unloaded.

Salsa's titanium Vaya was selected for the frame set of this bike. The ride quality and fatigue life of titanium lends itself perfectly to a long life of cruising all manner of roads. The geometry of the Vaya is what I would call a near perfect blend of traditional touring bike stability, while keeping the handling lively enough to not put you to sleep when the hammer's down. The fit and finish of these ti Salsa frames is top notch. It's makes a hell of start for a beautiful bike.

Appearance.

This bike in 55cm is beautifully proportioned. The red Chris King color pops off the titanium background. Traditional touches with the bar end shifters, natural color of the bar wrap, and honey Brooks B-17 Special really go well with the modern parts such as disc brakes and the ten speed Sram drivetrain. Looks have every bit as much to do with customer satisfaction as performance on a build like this. This bike looks as good as it will go. The steer tube is left uncut before a final fitting this week.

Build.

This bike puts money where it matters most in terms of components. Starting with with gorgeous ti frame and steel fork this bike is built for the long haul, (pun intended.) All parts that roll do so on fully rebuild-able Chris King bearings. The wheels will roll, the cranks will spin, and the headset will turn almost forever. In addition to performing really well, all of these parts are just gorgeous. The wheels and tires those previously discussed here.

Beautiful Ti welds are complimented by the mirror smooth finish on the Chris King bottom bracket.

The drive train parts on this bike are put together with Sram's X9 group. I really like these parts. They perform at nearly as high of a level as Sram's more expensive XO and XX lines at a fraction of the cost. They are durable, shift really well, look good, and are competitive in terms of weight to Shimano XT level parts. Paired with Sram bar end shifters, this should be a very durable set up.

A semi-traditional bend handle bar from Bontrager is held in place by Salsa's gorgeous Promoto Ti stem. The Red King headset really pops on either end of the taller head tube, and matches Sram's shifter color very well.

I love the lines on this bike. It just looks right. I like everything about it. It's a near perfect build for Mark's intended use, and a great example of how we like to build bikes. This bike has a killer frame and wheels, completed with solid, good looking dependable parts. I wouldn't change a thing if I built it for myself.

Happy Monday all. Have a great week.

Help Wanted

2011-04-29T09:34:00.001-05:00

Curtis and I are looking for a coworker. We are looking to hire a part time, 20-40 hours a week, mechanic/sales person for seasonal work. Our requirements are pretty simple. Fist off, you need to be mechanically inclined. You don't need to be a bike mechnic right now, (although that would help,) but we need to be able to train you to work on bikes. If you are not comfortable with mechanical tasks, this job isn't for you.

Secondly, you need to be a people person. This job entails dealing with the public on many levels. Whether it's dealing with sales on the floor, calling customers in regards to repairs, or participating in group rides, you'll be talking and dealing with people every day. If you're not one to go out of your way to help people, or have trouble approaching people this may not be for you either.

Thirdly, you need to be a biker. This may sound like a no brainer, but it's a big deal to us. Curtis and I live and breath bikes. It's the culture we've built around the shop, and it's the public image we have and deserve. This is a place for bikers, and you should be one in a large way.

This job provides a ton of opportunity to the right person. We offer many insites and contacts with good companies throughout the biking community. We have a personal relationship with many many good customers. We pay wages in line with industry standard, along with discounts on bikes, parts and clothing. We offer flexible scheduling and time off as well. Starting pay based on experience will be $8.50-10 and hour. A low cost apartment above the shop will be available for rent if needed or desired.

If this sounds like a job you'd be interested in give us a call or stop in and pick up an application. Thank you, and have a great Friday.

Bridgestone 500 Town Bomber.

2011-04-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share some photos of a different kind of bike build I finally finished. I acquired an older Bridgestone 500 a while back. The bike was mostly stock, and was in very good shape. The size fits me pretty well actually, but the narrow, deep, terrible old road bars had to go. The bike's tires we also in need of replacement. Other than that, it's in great shape. The components hardly show any signs of wear, and the paint is quite good.

This bike is meant to be a town bomber. The super swept Bontrager bars put me in a really comfy cruiser position. I love this aesthetic and riding position for cruising around town on hot summer nights. Really good looking Bridgestone brakes allow easy clearance for the big 35c Bontrager slicks. I love these tires, it's a pity they aren't made anymore. They make a 32c tire that's pretty close though. Nice tires for about $20.

The Shimano 600 cranks are some of the most aesthetically pleasing, commonly available cranks I've seen. I just love the lines. There's some rub marks on these, but they are in great shape really. The bike has a full Shimano 600 drivetrain. I swapped the original chain to a modern HG-40, which makes shifting much smoother.

With the aggressive stance, this bike just looks fast. The bars sweep back enough to keep the seating position comfortable, and it handles very well. I can't wait for hot humid nights, good friends, and the dark roads around Northfield. Soon enough.

Custom Wheel Build, Mark's Chris King Touring Wheels.

2011-04-20T12:22:00.000-05:00

We've been talking with Mark since last year about building a lifetime worthy touring bike. The idea for the bike build was to build a bike that would be fun unloaded on gravel and back country roads while performing traditional touring duties equally as well. We arrived at the consensus that the Salsa Vaya in titanium would meet his needs best. It has sporty enough touring to cruise gravel with aplomb, while handling the short overnight, and ultimately cross country tours that Mark has planned.

Any great bike starts with a killer frame, (check,) and awesome wheels. This bike will roll on some of the nicest touring wheels you can get. The build starts with deep red colored Chris King disc hubs. These hubs roll really well, and they are as durable as it gets. These are arguably the nicest hubs money can buy, and they'll work very well for the foreseeable future of this bike. They use fully serviceable cartridge bearings throughout. Anything from Chris King is stunning to look at. They are like bike jewelry. These will match a headset and bottom bracket also from King. Combine all of those with a Ti frame and steel fork and the most expensive parts on this bike will last forever.

The wheels are shod with a really cool set of tires from Continental. These are called the Cyclocross Speed. This is the larger 42c version. It features a generous file tread smoother center section with actual side knobs. This is a near perfect tire for dry, smooth gravel. They are big enough to provide ample comfort, and they roll like crazy. These also feature a reflective sidewall, something I am a huge fan of. It provides a large measure of safety and visibility for no weight penalty. These would make an excellent mixed condition touring or commuting tire as well. At $25.99 they are quite reasonable. Big, squishy, go fast. I love 'em!

These wheels are build on DT Swiss's proven TK series touring rims. They are reasonably light for their intended purpose, and the have proven to be very durable under some of our most demanding riders. For spokes we used Sapim's triple butted Force spokes. These have more material down at the spoke elbow. They seat into the hubs very positively, and reinforce the weakest part of the spoke. The spokes weigh almost nothing more than a standard butted spoke, which makes them a no brainer on this kind of wheelset.

This is the start to what promises to be an amazing bike. We just received the frameset from Salsa, and I'll be assembling the bike over the course of the week. I'll have full build photos and a write up when it's complete.
Happy hump day everyone. We hope it's a good one for you.

This guy's got it right.

2011-04-19T10:29:00.000-05:00

I can't say it much better than these folks.

Thanks for the forward Wally.

Eric's Pofahl Tandem Teaser

2011-04-15T08:39:00.001-05:00

Eric has been working with us for a while to aid in the design and build of a new tandem for he and his wife. They are long time tandem riders, and have a 30 plus year old Santana tandem that has served them well. Tandems are what local builder Mike Pofahl really enjoys building. He has built some really gorgeous tandems that I've personally seen, and I'd love to have one for Meg and I some day.

Eric's bike will be a modern touring tandem. It will have clearance for 700 x 50c tires with mud room, and will have just about every braze on imaginable for versatility. There will be many details that will really shine on this bike. I can't wait to get it built and ready to go.

Mike has all of the major work done on the frame and fork. I have the frameset here at the shop to set up with the wheels to fit Eric and Margit for custom stems to match the bike as well. Here's a teaser shot until the bike is ready. It's going to be a stunner. Man I love fillet brazing!

Happy Friday all.