Category: <span>Maintenance</span>

With help from Penn Cycle’s Michael Weiss, Trek replaces my X-Caliber frame
Published December 12, 2015 by

With help from Penn Cycle’s Michael Weiss, Trek replaces my X-Caliber frame

A few months ago I noticed two small cracks developing at the top of the seat tube on the frame of my 2011 Trek X-Caliber 29’er. It gradually got to the point where seat post wouldn’t stay up. A couple of my fellow riders suggested that I check with my local Trek dealer since the Trek Care bike warranty covers “Frames for the lifetime of the original owner.”

I bought the bike from Penn Cycle (see my June 2011 blog post for the story).  And although we have two Trek dealers here in Rice County (Mike’s Bikes in Northfield, Milltown Sports in Faribault) that I regularly patronize, I knew that Penn Cycle would have my original purchase info in their database.

 

Read MoreWith help from Penn Cycle’s Michael Weiss, Trek replaces my X-Caliber frame

Dealers Maintenance People

Michael Weiss Penn Cycle Trek Bikes X-Caliber

Wider bars and shorter stem make my XC 29’er hardtail into an all-mountain bike. Kind of.
Published April 19, 2015 by

Wider bars and shorter stem make my XC 29’er hardtail into an all-mountain bike. Kind of.

My Trek Gary Fisher X-Cal 29'er with wider bars and shorter stemMy 2011 Trek Gary Fisher X-Cal 29’er hardtail is going to have to do duty as an all-mountain bike this year because A) I’d like to ride one or more gravity enduros; and B) I can’t afford full squish yet.

So this past week, I upgraded to a:

(I’m somewhat less than mechanically-inclined so I needed a little rescuing from Stew Moyer & Ryan Hutchinson at Mike’s Bikes.)

Read MoreWider bars and shorter stem make my XC 29’er hardtail into an all-mountain bike. Kind of.

Maintenance

all-mountain Cane Creek Forty headset Mike's Bicycle Shop RaceFace Ride stem Ryan Hutchinson Salsa Whammy flat bar Stew Moyer

Published May 31, 2014 by

Park Tool School at Erik’s Bike Shop: basic bicycle maintenance from JJ and Brad

When I signed up to take IMBA’s Level 1 ICP course a few weeks back, I noticed that one of four Level 1 prerequisites was:

Ability to perform basic trail side repairs (flat tires, broken chains, and shifting adjustments)

I’m not bad at fixing my flat tires but I’ve got zero experience with broken chains. And it takes me forever to properly adjust my derailleurs.

Park-Tool_banner

So I decided to register for the Park Tool School novice bike maintenance class offered by Erik’s Bike & Board (one of six different courses available), as I’d heard good things about it from my buddy Curt Benson here in Northfield who took it last year. (He’s been generously loaning me his Park Tool shop repair stand and tool kit.) 

Read MorePark Tool School at Erik’s Bike Shop: basic bicycle maintenance from JJ and Brad

Maintenance

Brad Cole Erik's Bike Shop JJ Robb Park Tool Park Tool School

Young guys sweep MORC’s 2013 annual awards: Chance, Adam, Colin, Mike
Published November 18, 2013 by

Young guys sweep MORC’s 2013 annual awards: Chance, Adam, Colin, Mike

Maintenance People Trail work

Adam Buck annual awards Chance Glasford Colin VanDerHyde Mike Mullany MORC

Published March 1, 2013 by

Distributing a little dirt in Cuyuna’s Yawkey unit

The trails in Cuyuna’s Yawkey Unit are about as good as it gets: reasonably hard-packed, just wide enough, and fun. Haul Road trail is truly amazing, almost as fast as riding on dirt. And you really can get some speed on Bobsled. Wheeeeeeee.

John Schaubach John Schaubach20130301_104004
However, there are a just a handful of spots on Yawkey’s south-facing trails where there’s a little bit of ice from snow melt so this morning, Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew (CLMTBC) member John Schaubach and I rode around and put dirt on them.  That’ll make things a little less tricky  for tonight’s s Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout group ride.

Tom Osborne, Dave Taylor, John SchaubachJohn SchaubachJohn Schaubach, Griff Wigley
What a gorgeous day.

Maintenance

Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout Dave Taylor John Schaubach Tom Osborne Yawkey Unit

Published October 14, 2011 by

Photo album: scenes from a bottom bracket tune-up

I brought my X-Caliber down to Milltown Cycles today so Ben Witt could service the bottom bracket. I took some photos while he worked on it.

See the album of 10 photos (large slideshow, recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Dealers Maintenance Photo album

Ben Witt Milltown Cycles mountain biking