And what age delineates adulthood?
about 8 years for dolphins
5 Likes
But I wanted some hydro drop bar disc brakes. Pickin’s were slim. There were no integrated-shifter hydro drop bar levers, only cable-actuated remote setups.
Top left is someone else’s hack of Hope mtb levers with homemade drilled cable pinch bolts and crosstop lever mounts hacked up to be housing stops at the edge of the bar tape.
Top right is (I think) an older Hope semi-factory system.
Bottom left and middle right is more recent hope.
Bottom right small pic is Santana tandem system which had the master cylinder mounted to a down tube shifter boss.
Bottom right corner is Magura.
Not pictured: older AMP cable-hydro caliper.
this was before the more recent Hope V-Twin, TRP Parabox, TRP Hylex, 324 Labs adapter for Formula, etc.
I REALLY wanted to get a set of Shimano hydraulic MTB dual-control levers and hack/adapt them to drop bars but at the time they weren’t yet castoff cheap.
Instead I experimented with a set of Hayes 9 brakes, mounted a stub tube in the nomal lever clamp, drilled for housing, and drilled/tapped the lever blade for a cable pinch bolt. Mounted it all to a canti housing stop hanging off the steerer on my Rawland. I did not shorten the hose.
It’s almost dumb how well it worked. Like really, really good. Way better than the BB7s that had been on there.
16 Likes
I think Chris Kostman is the underbiking guy.
Need address for subscription to Jimmythefly Quarterly Reader ASAP
13 Likes
I remember this, and while questioning the aesthetics, greatly admiring the funtionality
1 Like
In 2010 I asked Rob for a race bike but with 650B tires and I got the 650B English in 2011.
I remember I was in a bike shop and the bike was in the stand and some dude came in, didn’t realize it was mine, and started to make fun of it. I HAVE THE LAST LAUGH NOW THOUGH DUDE
12 Likes
and that man? a young jan heine
16 Likes
Great tales…
Where did the term “monstercross” fit in here (if at all)?
2 Likes
Weren’t those 29ers re-fitted with drop bars?
1 Like
Not sure it was that simple.
I attempted one on my Cross Check (sensu stricto) but only briefly. Was not willing to put up the money for not terrible voluminous tires.
1 Like
i snuck 55mm tires into a crosscheck frame, worked if you kept them under 10psi. it sucked a lot!
4 Likes
don’t let the “monstercross news” guy hear you say that or he’ll show up at your door ready to educate you about his lord and savior, matt chester
4 Likes
Pretty much any derp bar bike with >40mm knobbies was a monstercross. Had a cross check with a 1x8 and some fire cross (622x45) knobbies on it that I think qualified, though the knobs would rub on out of the saddle efforts…
Sometimes the phrase “26 inch monster cross” floats through my brain and I laugh out loud
9 Likes
This. I was chasing this dragon for a while then overnight every halfway decent carbon “gravel bike” started clearing 45s.
4 Likes
I think about one of these like “eh, 26 inches isn’t that large really” which I guess makes me a crucifix size queen
2 Likes
The whole gravel trend made 622x45s a dime a dozen, and the bikes got a lot better to ride than ye olde cross cheque.
1 Like
i was in high school riding fixies circa 2012 and my first alleycat was a daytime one in DAVIS, CA OF ALL PLACES run by the one and only @oogens. i think he gave my friend and i a chipotle gift card for our DFL as a pity gift.
but i had this bike in 2013. still have it, more or less set up the same way. not sure what tires were on here at the time but I definitely ran some 700 x 35mm Schwalbe Kojaks that were all the rage thanks to @JUGE_FREDD and others. was looking for a bike that felt fastish on the road but could hit some dirt trails from time to time. this late 80’s bianchi volpe does it so, so well. geometry was decent too.
7 Likes
monstercross fucking sucked, i think there’s a reason no one who ever in history built up a monstercross bike ever raced it more than like 3 times
4 Likes