Vik's Picks

Singletrack Magazine UK

vik — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:27:29 +0000

Singletrack magazine from the UK published a great article about a 5 day ultralight bikepacking trip through Alberta’s K-country. You can read the article on Aaron Teasdale’s great blog - click here. It’s cool seeing some of our fine backyard appreciated by folks in Europe. Aaron’s photography is stunning and worth a look on it’s own.

Norco Corsa 1 ST

vik — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:13:04 +0000

My girlfriend Sharon was keen on getting a new bike to replace her clunky mountain bike that I converted to a city bike. She isn’t a hardcore cyclist so she just wanted something comfortable to ride around town to collect some groceries, commute to work on and maybe a weekend bike tour. She had a long [...]

Minty Fresh….

vik — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:44:44 +0000

I love a fresh snowfall in the morning…makes me glad I commute by bike! This is the Elbow River pathway in Mission last week after one of our seemingly rare snowfalls! If you’ve been thinking about giving commuting a try I actually think commuting in the winter is nicer [on a lot of days] than in [...]

Fixxer Fail!

vik — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:12:15 +0000

Well I tried the Surly Fixxer out on a MTB wheel with a Shimano XT disc hub and it doesn’t work. I made three trips to see a professional bike mechanic to be sure, but it seems you need to stick to Shimano road hubs to make this work. Lesson learned!

Lezyne RAP 13 Review

vik — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:02:07 +0000

I’ve got a lot of multi-tools. I’m a big believer in the idea that if you have the tools on hand to fix something it won’t break in the first place. I also have a terrible memory so the only way to have the right tools with me is to stash multi-tools in every bike [...]

Surly Larry

vik — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:51:27 +0000

Surly’s got a new 3.7″ uber fat tire for the Pugsley and similar fatbikes. It’s called the Larry! Larry is similar to the Endomorph - both are shown above Endo on the left and Larry on the right. The Larry has some raised arrows pointing forward. It’s supposed to track nice and straight in slippery [...]

Fixing a problem…

vik — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:12:14 +0000

My plan for my Surly 1×1 project bike was to use a Rohloff hub I had built up in a 26″ MTB wheel. It was a cunning way to get a wide range of gears on a frame designed for 1 gear. Unfortunately I’m missing one small, but vital Rohloff part so I can’t make [...]

Installing a Hollowtech II Crank

vik — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:53:52 +0000

I’m going to use a Shimano LX Hollowtech II crank and external BB on my Surly 1×1 project bike. I’m used to square taper BB’s/cranks or splinded BB’s/cranks like ISIS. If you’ve got a Shimano external bearing crank you may be puzzled like me how to install it properly. Luckily Part Tools has the home [...]

Why a Surly 1×1?

vik — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:57:22 +0000

I posted back in Dec about the idea for a bike project using a Surly 1×1 frame. Something along the lines of an uber commuter/errand/touring bike. Well I got in a medium [18"] 1×1 frame this week from Bow Cycle. My goal is to use existing parts and hopefully not have to buy anything other [...]

Studded Endomorph

vik — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:01:01 +0000

Want to ride your Surly Pugsley on ice - then you need studs! Here is a great blog post explaining how you stud an Endomorph. Great winter biking photos also…be careful you might find yourself building up a Pugsley!