Jay's Bike Check - An Old Schooler In The Land Of 2017

I'm back into flatland..and I'm riding my first bike that was made in the 21st century. It's taken an entire winter of acquiring parts and tweaking to get it completely dialed in. I have a few more small changes to make before it's finished. I get used to parts and the way a bike rides and I don't like changing things once I've got a bike in "the zone". I won't be touching anything until something needs replacing once it's finished.

Every single part on this bike was picked for a purpose and a reason. Not one single piece was used because it was lying on a shelf in the garage or the only one I had. I need it to be perfect for me. One of the best things about getting back into riding at an older age is that I have the patience to dial-in my bike regardless of the time it takes. When I was 16, I was good at working on my ride..but I wanted to ride and get moving as quickly as possible. So my bike was never dialed all the time like it should have been.

I'm going to use this post as sort of a diary to keep track of what transformations it's gone through since it's creation. When I got the frame, it was powdercoated purple like an '87 era GT Performer. Not my style. So I stripped it down to the metal and hit it with a gray I picked out.

I've been building this bike October 2016. I got the frame and fork just before Halloween. I obsessively picked out everything over the winter months and it sits ride-ready at the end of Fedruary 2017.

The Parts List

FRAME – 2011 HOFFMAN STROWLER - CHAINSTAY MODDED FROM 12.8 to 12.4

FORK – ODYSSEY FLATWARE – ZERO OFFSET

BARS – HARO KNEESAVER (THROWING ON KHE FAT BOB BARS SOON)

STEM – BRICKHOUSE 26MM REACH

COMPRESSION CAP – ODYSSEY

CRANKSET – PROFILE 160MM WITH GDH SPINDLE

SPROCKET – PROFILE 20T SPLINE DRIVEN

PEDALS – ODYSSEY TWISTED PC

CHAIN – KMC HALF-LINK

WHEELS – DM30 CASSETTE - 36 SPOKE - 3/8 AXLES - 9T DRIVER

TIRES – HOFFMAN SKIDMARK 1.95 (FRONT AND REAR)

FRONT BRAKE – DEMOLITION VULCAN V2

REAR BRAKE – MISSION REFLEX

BRAKE PADS – ODYSSEY SLIM BY FOUR – CLEAR (FRONT AND REAR)

GRIPS – BLACK OPS MUSHROOM STYLE GRIPS

LEVERS – *FRONT - ODYSSEY MONOLEVER *REAR - ODYSSEY MONOLEVER M2

CABLES – ODYSSEY SLIC - ODYSSEY LINEAR - ODYSSEY M2

DETANGLER – ODYSSEY GYRO GTX

SEAT POST – MACNEIL PIVOTAL ALLOY

SEAT – SHADOW CONSPIRACY PENUMBRA DITCHBURN

SEAT CLAMP – ODYSSEY MR. CLAMPY TOO

PEGS – SANE "SHORT FILTERS" (MY SECOND SET OF CUSTOM PEGS)

MISC - ODYSSEY CABLE KNARPS, ODYSSEY FERRULE CAPS, RIDICULOUS AIR CAPS, ETC. 

WEIGHT - 22.5 POUNDS

The best advice I can give anyone from my years of riding is to absolutely quit paying attention to what other parts people are riding. Pay zero attention to what parts are cool and buy things strictly based on your riding, the geometry and what you need. Don't try to get used to a part you don't really like because it's the cool part to have at the moment. It will only hurt your riding. Cavemen like to say parts, weight, geometry, etc. doesn't make a difference..and they're kind of right. It doesn't make difference. It makes a HUGE difference. I don't like the looks or aesthetics of some of the stuff I'm riding. I don't like the way my bars pushed forward look. However, my riding has jumped leaps and bounds since I tweaked my bike in a way that allows me to ride best. Following the group of herd mentality riders will just hurt you and your riding in the end.

Ride on.

I have keywords. They are - old school bmx flatland haro master bashguard schwinn yo scooter afa hoffman strowler dyno detour d-tour compe street craig grasso st. martin old man