Ol' Trouble

A few months of solid go hard and abuse took its toll, this old Azonic dirt jump machine was taken out of commission for a broken spoke mid summer. The rear wheel is definitely the weak link with this build, so I'm not suprised at this point. 

Healing a pulled muscle, along with a holiday vacation, and a weird world = turning wrenches and miniature painting. Replaced the spoke on the rear wheel, and trued both of them up.  My current obsession with moto bars and bmx grips continues to make its way onto all my builds.

I've always wanted to do a red, purple, and white build, so parts from like 4 spare bikes that have kicked around for years have come together in a cosmic clusterfuck of go hard. I think she shall be known as the Royale from here out. Consequently I would like to build a new rear wheel with a purple Hope Trials hub, but stuff. Things. Is it worth it? Thats a lot of bread.

Maxxis DTH skinwalls. 26x2.2 or something. We will see how long these tires last on this build, but I don't have much confidence. They were purchased for my classy Trek 800 (RIP), so they are light and so smooth, but I can see absolutely shredding the thin sidewalls while running high pressures and launching onto and off of things.

You may recognize these from my faithful Trek 800 (RIP).

Replaced bars with a spare set I had and flipped the stem. Don't wease my juice buddy. That's my style. Fresh cables. Trek 800 died so the Royale may be more rad. Old set of Paul levers. Classy. Yes, I have a spare purple ano stem laying around, but I didn't like the reach.

 

In the depths of my wintertime boredom I will switch out the chainring, I'm just not into all that nonsense right now.

A prior version of the build.

I am pretty certain this bike is the reason the cops around town try to discourage my riding in the local parks. Killed it! So Ive got that goin' for me. But seriously, I smashed this beast around town for months in the spring, and I'm still terrified at some of the lines I was hitting at that point.

I got these stickers in the mail the other day from S&M bikes. I've been eyeing them up for a while, and figured $15 for some stickers that could sell out at any time is worth it. One is on the 1x1, one is on the Lowside. The alien smoking a fattie is reserved for something special.

Before we go, here's a current jam for you. Some New Wave of British Heavy Metal, gentlepeople? Unironically, I'd recommend it for fans of Spinal Tap. Which means I still can't take it seriously. But its fuckin' wicked. I guess Manowar and Saxon may be somewhat fair comparisons, but again, I can't take that shit seriously. Also, in one Reincarnate tune they describe flying high as an albatross. The majestic... albatross. The Brits are a strange bunch.

The Dirtbag Steed

So a few years ago Surly, a most excellent bicycle manufacturer of weird and uncommon bikes of all sorts, retired the frame that launched the company, the 1x1. I was kinda bummed about this, and I do actually regret not getting a pretty pretty princess pepto pink 3rd gen frame. Regardless, I've had the same orange 1x1 for a lot of years, and it's such a terrific bike.

A 1x1. I assure you, I will make all the words about it later. 

So Surly took a couple years, then mashed the 1x1 up with another model, the Instigator. This birthed the Nexus 6 of 26" singlespeed, fuckin' a steel frames. They created...

The Lowside. 

 

And it was... well, not really good. I have been having a lot of teething problems. 

I bought this toward the end of the first production year, because I didn't expect it would make it to a second. I normally would have preferred to start from a frame only, but the wheels are Boost 26+. Super common, right? If you are not a bike person, they are not common. I figured it would be worth it to just buy a complete bike for those wheels alone, and then have extra parts. 

I was not impressed with the stock build, and I think Surly remedied that with later releases. Suprisingly I won't bitch about it now, but I think the wheels and headset are the only pieces left stock. I'm cool with the dropper routing, but really, Surly? A deraileur hangar? I rather would have had proper braze ons for the dropper than violate the sanctity of my singlespeed rage. No gears. No mercy. 

This bike has the great distinction of flat out rocking me twice already. It definitely draws you out and encourages you to push the limits. Or she may just hate me. Much like that dude from the Led Zeppelin albums, I flew too close to the sun, then choked on my own vomit. Hah. Nah, I mean Icarus, and yes, I plummeted back to Earth. 

Victim of a bitched landing. I liked these saddles. A clever bike dork may have noticed a significantly toasted version of this on that arrrrnge 1x1 up top. 

They aren't great stories, which is often the case with the bad crashes. I'm usually festive and jovial about the harsh reality of  embracing sweet lady dirt, but these really hurt. I actually took a day off work for the second one. 

First time I dedicated too late and biffed the landing on a tabletop. I think if I hadn't hesitated I would have been fine. The other one I was just making my second run of the day on a short little section I've ridden at least a hundred times and just went too hard too fast. Brutal. But crashing is cool, and I hear chicks dig scars. 

So a quick breakdown on parts and setup:

Cockpit: 

Deity bars and stem. Cut down about 20mm on each side. High rise, and there is not a lot of stack. It feels perfect after I cut the bars. I tore up my pinkie knuckles more than once with those wide bars. 

Demolition grips in purple swirl. I didn't really ride these til today, and til now I thought the circular pattern may be annoying. Wrong. Way comfy, sick colors, and circa 2003 Hatebreed graphics. Into it. Bmx grips win. Like rawdoggin' your bars without those clamps getting in the way of the feel. 

Paul levers. Smooth. Pretty. My first purple part of the build. 

Drivetrain:

Raceface Atlas cranks. I guess these have a aluminum spindle. I put my trust in steel. 30mm bottom bracket. At least it is threaded.

Blackspire 32t ring. Narrow wide. Thumbs down for singlespeeding, but it's a search to find proper rings these days. 

20t steel Surly cog. Crom. 

Those Deity pedals look snazzy but I'll destroy the hell out of them by October. Kmc chain. I don't know why there are other brands. 

Brakes, dropper, whatever:

Spoon saddle. Poor 66sick seat. It lived such a short life. Fortunately I got it on closeout. 

Fox Transfer dropper in Kashima coat. Raises pinkie high. I may be a dirtbag, but my girls get the best. 

Brakes are mechanical. TRP Spyke with Hope rotors. More bling. 

Maxxis tires. DHR and DHF 26+. The good stuff with light casing, tear protection, 3 tire compounds. Whatever else Maxxis made up to sound more better. The wheels are no name hubs with Alex rims. I'll build a fancy set someday,  but that is expensive. 

Brought to you by Rocky Ridge park in York,PA and Houses of the Holy.