The Bike Hive

I began working in bikes shops when I was 16 years old.  Through the years  I've had the pleasure of working with people who made a lasting impression on my career.  This series is about me recognizing those people for their contributions to my development.  Since I attempt to keep my writings here specific to cycling,  in this particular series   I'm only including those who influenced my career in the industry. The posts in this series will not be in any particular order of importance.  It normally takes quite a lot of thought and time for me to finish these posts, and I tend to work on more than one at a time.  I'll post each when I feel I've done my best to explain their importance to my professional life.

If you've known me for any length of time, then you've likely heard me talk about DBR bikes and how awesome they were.  For anyone who hasn't heard, here's a quick lesson: DBR stands for Diamond Back Racing.  The bikes were made in the mid-late 90's, the golden age for mountain biking.  This was before there was XC or trail, enduro or free ride.  This is when you just bought a mountain bike.  And when you did, you got an aggressive bike.  A quick handling, scary-to-ride-down-a-hill bike.  Sure, they were uncomfortable, but the were fast.  And fun. Like anything that etches ones memory, these bikes more than define the top of the market, they define the time.  This is when Ned Overend and John Tomac were battling it out every weekend.  When Cadel  Evans was tearing it up on the world mountain bike circuit.  When Tinker Juarez was...well, he's always been awesome.  Anodized colors were the rage and suspension was just gain...

As a professional mechanic and wheel builder, I've always thought that the best wheels are custom wheels that are specifically built for their purpose.  Be it rider's weight, racing, climbing, downhill- each wheel is different based on need.  There's a plethora of rims and hubs available to design and build whatever is needed and even throw in some cool colors to boot. This past winter I built a new set of wheels for my mountain bike.  I built them because I wanted super light wheels but also because they'd look awesome.  The white No Tubes Alpine rims, black double butted spokes, orange nipples, and black American Classic hubs match my Anthem perfectly and weigh just slightly over 1300 grams.   I've ridden my new wheels on the trails a few times and each time come away with a feeling that they make it so much easier to ride. It is easier to wheelie, bunnyhop, and do drop offs, all skills that I enjoy being able to do. My old wheels weren't bad by any m...