Passion Trail Bikes, Belmont, CA - specialists in quality bike service and custom-built mountain bikes

Rodney "White Socks" Johnson, RIP

Patty — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:39:00 +0000

Today we learned that Rodney Johnson lost his life to pancreatic cancer, and we are feeling just a profound sense of sadness. Rodney was a good man. The kind of quiet and unassuming guy some people might ignore as being a bit too dorky; not nearly hip or “in” enough. But if you ever got the chance to get to know Rodney, you would silently shrink, and feel like such an idiot for judging a book by its cover.

Rodney Johnson

Rodney was a quiet, gentle, man. A giant in deed if not power output or outward appearance. A completely modest person, he never talked much about his contributions to our sport, but there can be no denying that he was the right guy in the right place at the right time. Several times.

You see, Rodney, Mr. “White Socks” Johnson, helped create the International Mountain Bicycling Association in 1988. He sat on the very first IMBA board of directors, and helped file the articles of incorporation and establish its non-profit status and bylaws. He helped create the “Six Rules of the Trail” which still stand today as an excellent code of ethics for mountain bikers.

He was one of the founders of ROMP, our local mountain bike advocacy organization, which combined with five other California clubs to create IMBA.

And he was also one of the founders of Mere Mortals, too. The club whose motto is “Our fast is everyone else’s slow.” Rodney fit right in. His longstanding battle with chronic fatigue syndrome pulled him off the bike for many years. It wasn’t until just recently that he got back on the bike and renewed his love for the sport at a more relaxed pace.

In the picture above, you can see his cotton shirt, signature tall white socks, and happy attitude in a Lee McCormack clinic, working on his skills just like everyone else. Rodney was proof that you didn’t have to look like a way cool dude to have a great time on a bike.

Tailwinds and downhills now for you, Rodney. You will be missed.

Female Friday Fandango - month 2

PeterD — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:20:00 +0000

Had another women-only ride and party last week. About 25 women came for the ride (and a few more for the festivities only). All cooking, drink-making, etc. was performed by men (especially, master chef Jay).

So, this came in early, to escape attention, and when out late. There were no leftovers. Handmade Tiramisu by Jay.

“Slower riders to the left of me, faster riders to right of me…” As you might imagine, most people clumped near the middle.

One way to mix four different colors. Rather nicely I think.

Jay and his sous chef, Michael. They were putting the finishing touches on hors d’oeuvres as the first of the riders began to return.

Becky, Valerie, Kat, Stacey, and some mysterious stranger on the lounge couch.

Here are our guests, enjoying the cooking. And our cook, enjoying the guests.

We had little islands of humanity just about anywhere we could put them. This was in the middle of the sales floor.

Charles works his one trick at the bar, a fresh lime margarita. Popular enough that no one asked for any other mixed drink, and good thing. We don’t know what he would have done. Notice the tester on top of the toaster.

Before dinner, evidently. Margaritas and wine in hand, lots of good cheer, standing room only.

Build of the Month - Ibis Mojo

PeterD — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:10:00 +0000

After many high speed assaults on the Canyon, the Demo, and Downieville, this customer upgraded his old Enduro, swapping out the Maverick DUC-32 fork for a Fox Van 36, triple crankset for a double with bash ring, etc. We did all that, and he is stoked at the results. What do to with the old parts? Didn’t take more than a moment to suggest building a light weight bike around them.

We started with an Ibis Mojo Classic frame, keeping with the long travel, light weight theme of the fork. The older black anodized finish on the DUC didn’t look its best, and the early Maverick graphics were difficult to match with the new shine and carbon on the frame, so we turned it over to Spectrum Powderworks for the full aesthetic treatment. They shot the fork with a slightly metallic silver, and redid the current Maverick graphic in a complementary black with black carbon treatment. The fork internals got our FNR tune and stack, some fresh oil, and a new set of wipers.

We moved the rest of the front end over to the new frame, carbon Easton bar, Maverick stem, custom stem spacer, and the front wheel. We then built up a matching Mavic 819 with USA Ti spokes for the rear end, this time with an XTR centerlock hub. We continued going Shimano throughout the rest of the brakes by spec’ing XT Servo Wave calipers and levers, an XT front derailer and cassette, and an XTR chain to ensure maximum life out of these parts. We did deviate from Shimano in the appropriate places, though, by installing a set of X9 trigger shifters and the old SRAM XO rear derailer off the Enduro.

The Specialized Eskar tires went on without tubes, and it rolled out of here under a Thomson seatpost and a WTB saddle. The rider reports its just superfast, with sports car like handling compared to the Russian tank approach of the Enduro.

Oh, it’s a 27 pound sports car, with 6” travel up front and 5.5” in the back…

More photos follow the build list:

Highlights from the Build List
Frame	Ibis Mojo Large Carbon
Fork	Maverick DUC-32, custom powder coated
Headset	Cane Creek IS-8
Brake Levers	Shimano XT M775
Stem	Maverick
Front Brake	XT M775 7” ISO
Rear Brake	XT M775 6” CL
Grips	Oury Lock Ons
Shifters	SRAM X9 Triggers
Front Derailer	Shimano XT M7761
Rear Derailer	SRAM X0
Cassette	Shimano XT 11 – 34
Crank	Shimano XTR M-960
Tires	Specialized S-Works Eskar 2.3
Rim Strips	Stan’s Sealant

Mountains, Milestones

Patty — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:46:00 +0000

John off to Climb Denali

Tomorrow John leaves for a little hike up in Alaska. Our resident mountaineer got an opportunity recently to join up with a group and attempt the summit of Denali again; this time he hopes to make the peak. Word is that good weather up there is very unpredictable and luck plays a huge role in whether climbers can find a safe window of opportunity for reaching the top.

Photo of Denali, viewed from the north, from wikipedia

For those of you who were able to attend John’s presentation on summiting Mt Everest, you’ll know that his chances of bagging this peak are pretty good. We are going to keep our fingers crossed that his trip will be successful and that he will stay safe on the climb.

Varius websites have a lot of information on Denali, so if you’re looking for some good web surfing about something other than the election, I recommend sinking some time into the subject over a cup of coffee. Tidbits I’ve learned include that the base of Denali is only 2,000 feet in elevation, with the peak at 20,320, giving the mountain over 18,000 feet of vertical rise, about 6,000 feet more than Mt. Everest. Our Bay Area peaks, which range in height from 2,417 (Sierra Morena) 3,849 (Mt. Diablo) to 4,360 (Mt. Hamilton), wouldn’t even reach the snowline in the picture above.

Sterling slayed his 2nd year at SJSU

Boy genius Sterling will be returning to full-time wrenching for the summer, and we are psyched. He’s a lot of fun to have around, and we are trying our best to resist making him the butt of all shop jokes. We’re hoping our customers will help keep his mind occupied with tough questions about materials, leverage, pressure and other ME subjects so he goes back to school in the fall smarter than he left.

Daniel is getting hitched

You’ve probably met Daniel by now; he’s the charming guy up in front behind all the Chris King components. Turns out we’re not the only ones who find him charming. He’s smitten his sweetie Sarah sufficiently to set a date, and he will be out later this month on a short honeymoon following a modest little knot tying ceremony. We think they are a great couple and know they will have a wonderful future together.

Reba turns 4

The little brown dog with the fetch fetish no longer has an excuse for acting like a puppy. Amazingly, this month she’ll have managed to achieve four full trips around the sun without getting tired yet. Whew. We’re exhausted though.

Tonight I Straggle

Charles — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:07:00 +0000

We have a bunch of rides on Wednesdays that leave Passion, and each of these has its own theme. Last week we had a Fat Bottomed Girl Ride, a Drinking Ride, a Big Bike Ride, and the Frisky Ride. This week will be similar, but different. I will have at least as much trouble tonight as usual, getting my butt out the door on time, so I will lead a Straggler’s Ride at 6:45. Anyone else that has trouble making the earlier rides is welcome to join me. This ride will certainly leave after the other rides tonight, and may even leave on time, but call if you’re running late and I will procras… uh, make arrangements. Our route has yet to be determined, but I’ll get around to it.

The weekly rides are outlined in the weekly email, which you can subscribe to here… list

The weekly email from yesterday has been posted here: newsletter

And all the rides start here: Passion

Charles

National Trails Day June 7th at Waterdog

Patty — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:35:00 +0000

Hey all you trail lovin’ people!

National Trails Day is the one day every year where communities across America celebrate their trails! This year we are planning a (work)PARTY at Waterdog Park in Belmont on Saturday, June 7th. Won’t you please join us???

Our goal is to provide some care and trimming of the amazing singletrack trails in this multi-use park. The plan is to leave the digging tools out of the equation and just work on brushing out the trails, which despite our dry spring are getting rapidly overgrown! We’d like to make sure people can see around the turns, can ride or walk without getting scratched on the bushes, and can find places to pass safely and cordially.

One of our kind neighborhood volunteers sprayed the poison oak earlier this spring, so most of our work will be PO free! The work will be easy, fun and rewarding, and appropriate for well-behaved and well-supervised kids.

We will work on trimming back sagebrush, coyote brush, scotch broom, blackberries, etc, then gathering up the trimmings and pushing them over the edge and tucking them under the bushes to compost. Depending on the size of the turnout we may ask volunteers to bring tools from the garden shed to supplement our supplies of rakes, loppers, hedge trimmers and shears.

Details:

Date: Saturday June 7th, 2008
Start time: 9:30am
End time: 12:30pm
Volunteers needed: at least 20
Hospitality: Coffee and bagels in the morning, free BBQ and beers (hopped and rooty styles) afterwards
Swag: two $50 gift certificates to Passion Trail Bikes will be raffled off to volunteers during the BBQ
Ride or Hike: After the BBQ volunteers will be able to enjoy a fun ride or hike on the trails in Waterdog Park.
More info: call Patty Ciesla at Passion Trail Bikes 650-620-9798 or email her at patty AT passiontrailbikes.com if you have questions.

Download a printer friendly flyer here.

Hope to see you there!

Crank Brothers Cobalt Wheelset

PeterD — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Got our first set of Crank Brother Cobalt wheels in. Pretty cool looking.

I think we got 2 sets in the door, but one has been sold already. Come check out the remaining one while it is here.

One of the first thing that caught my eyes was the way the spokes are totally straight, and can be adjusted in the center. Crank Brothers says that “the nipples are long, and the spokes are short” – I’ve never seen nipples that are the same length as the spokes before. But it moves the weight away from the outside of the wheel (where it is bad), and makes the wheel easier to true.

24 spoke, tubeless only, disc only. 682 grams front, 852 grams rear.

Comes with a funky two stage quick release skewer, which increases clamping force.

Can’t wait to see what they are like on the trails.

Pacifica Ride Report

PeterD — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:39:00 +0000

Here is a ride report from Jay, who did a ride with Charles and some others this past Monday up in Pacifica.
(note – if you click on a picture, you will see a higher resolution version of that picture)

When you have no meetings, a boss out of town, some time off to burn, a new downhill bike, and a case of the Mondays, there’s only one thing to do – Go out to the coast and ride! The blooming spring colors, ocean views and quality of people couldn’t have been better today. Also, Tom and Charles had matching shoes, which somehow is less controversial than when Sterling and I show up in matching socks. Anyway…

We started off with a nice climb with what used to be the old Highway 1:

Looking back towards the town of Pacifica	Here’s a nice view. Ahem.
Enough of the breezy, rolling cliffside views, let’s find the quickest way down	Artsy shot of new bike. Ocean is on the other side
Oops, fog is rolling in, we’d better go	Daryl discovering
Charles in a technical section	Tom contemplating. (Tomtemplating?):

Down at the bottom, there’s a large stand of Eucalyptus. Lots of dirt jumps, step ups, drops and stunts.

Nica catching air	Daryl on a steep roll in
Hey look a teepee!	School was out at that point, so locals ~20 years my junior showed us how it’s done
I was subsequently inspired	Charles ‘made’ me go back and do it again, as I got a little too much air on that last one. Backing up a bit.

Bonus movie of me overshooting a stepup, and landing in the bushes above the landing:

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the pictures and writeup as much as we enjoyed a well deserved day off.

Cost of driving, cost of bikes

PeterD — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Thursday, May 15, 2008, is the 14th annual Bike to Work Day! For those that don’t bike to work, this would be a good day to consider doing that. 511.org has some information related to how to get started, why you’d want to do it, a raffle for those that pledge to ride to work, etc. And there will be energizer stations out at many places where you can grab a bag of goodies, coffee, bagels, etc. (Passion is sponsoring the one at Belmont train station).

Of course, with gas prices what they are, it isn’t hard to understand why you would want to commute by bike.

But, unfortunately, gas prices aren’t the only thing that are increasing…

There have been articles in Bicycle Retailer Magazine recently (like this one) that have been talking about bike industry costs. Here are some quotes:

“It’s not whether prices will go up, but by how much. Somewhere between 12 and 20 percent seems to be the going range. “

and

“One (bike company) executive, for example, said the cost of bringing a container by ocean freight from Europe to the U.S. rose from $2,400 several years ago to more than $6,000 this year. Fuel surcharges on all air and ground freight—UPS, FedEx, DHL and others—have skyrocketed as oil prices spiral well past $100 a barrel.

And that’s on top of price increases for raw materials such as aluminum, steel, carbon fiber and plastic. Further complicating the price structure are inflation, rising wages and pending pension reforms in China, the weakening dollar, the robust euro as well as China’s revaluation of the yuan and reduction of favorable tax treatment for mainland China manufacturers.”

The word we have from our suppliers (both parts and bikes) match this. Even those suppliers like Turner than make their bikes here in the States aren’t immune, as the increased raw material costs are hitting them.

Some prices are going up now, especially for parts. Other products where the supplier does annual pricing won’t see the increase until some time this summer.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But wanted to get this out before sticker shock hits. Seems inflation is here.

Shop rides

PeterD — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:25:00 +0000

There was a recent post on MTBR that covers what the ride is supposed to be about:
I spend a lot of time training and riding with a focused goals. Racing is great but it’s good to recalibrate once in a while. I went to the Passion Trails Wednesday night ride tonight and remembered why I started riding in the first place. Good people, friendly vibes and just a damn good time on a bike.

It was great to hear this.

Did remind me of some things meant to say before the last ride I lead, which I thought I would post here:

Pace – One of the questions we are often asked is what pace the rides go at. That is hard to answer, as these are group rides, so we go the pace of the folks on the ride and have lots of regroups. If you have ridden with any of the others on the ride, you can get a feel from them what pace it will be. The ride description also sometimes gives some information related to the paces. Other than that, about the best we can recommend is come give it a try.
Socialize – These are meant to be social group rides, not training rides. Half the time, the ride leader is deciding on the route to use as he/she rides. And even if they do know their route, they may not say it so as to force everyone to stay as a group. If you go hammer off the front, the ride leader may decide to change the route on you (happened to 2 guys on a ride I lead a few weeks back).
Regroups – We generally regroup at both the El Camino/Ralston and Alameda/Ralston intersections. If you are up front, wait at these until everyone is together before crossing the road. On the trails, we regroup at most trail intersections. Not everyone knows the park, so we want to make sure we all stay together.
Good citizens – We need to ride safely and legally on the road up to the park. Follow the rules (stop at stop signs, etc.) and be careful of the cars. This will keep it safe for you, and will also keep others (drivers, pedestrians, etc.) from thinking cyclists are bad citizens. This also holds true on the trails, where we should yield to others when appropriate.
Control your own destiny – There are some lessons to be learned from the jumps behind Carlmont – just because a trail looks heavily ridden does not mean that you or I could ride it. If something looks difficult for you, feel free to get off and walk that stretch or ask about alternate routes around. There are some challenging parts to Waterdog (and, of course, at the jumps), and we have to leave it to you to decide what you and your gear can handle.