Always good to have an old friend back

“Hey bud, you by this bike, it make your dick look big” 

Dong from the Denver Spoke

Truer words have never been spoken. This happens to all of us. We start looking at a frame that somebody has suggested and we get all gimble locked and BAM!!! We just spend 1500 bucks on a new frame and fork. Uh honey, dont be angry but.......

I had this same issue back in July. I truly wanted a new cross bike for the upcoming season. My Primus Mootry was built back in 2006. The geometry was great, the ride is amazing and Joe is local. But the old grey battleship was looking a bit tired, paint was chipped, it seemed to weigh a ton and everybody else was riding a new bike so why shouldn't I. So the search began.

I have always wanted a Ridley but there sizing and high BB just did not work for me, I've got really short legs. I refuse to ride anything from any of the big bike companies on principal. The Yeti would have looked great with all the rest of the Yeti's I own but again, the weight thing played tricks on my mind. So searching ebay, I found the Bailey Miniluv.

The Miniluv seemed to have it all. Carbon frame with aluminum lugs. Weight under 3 lbs. Closeout price which the wife liked. Geometry that was close to the PM and when reviewed by CXMagazine in issue 6 and they really liked it. Found some other reviews and everyone had high praise. This all might be too good to be true. After speaking with them over a course of a week via email, I was ready to pull the trigger and they were sold out of my size. DAMN IT!!!

At this point, I sent Joe an email about doing some rehab work on the old girl. I decided that I wanted to run a double chainring this year. The bike was purpose built with a single ring. After a quick back and forth, Joe could fit me in. Made the trek up to Longmont and told Joe what I wanted to do. He was like “Sure, piece of cake. Give me a week”.

Where the Master does his work

This is where the surgery was completed

About week later my bike was all set. He cut off the welded cable stops and ground them down smooth. Replaced them with a triple stop that is riveted on. He added a brake cable stop to the frame instead of the seatpost mounted stop that I was using. Added the cable stop on the back of the seat tube and then drilled the hole for the cable pulley. All this was done for the low low price of 45 bucks. So now comes paint. Again, Joe was like you can use my guys. Joe pulled up all kinds of paint and decal combos and a decision was made. Dropped it off at the painters and told Joe to call me when it was done. Start to finish was 2 ½ weeks.

The old girl looks like a new filly at this point. Shiny new paint, fresh decals from Victory Graphix and I have my new bike.

Joe has done bikes for both Brian and Buzzsaw over the past couple of years. Brian's was a huge undertaking figuring it was a 63cm cross bike. Buzzsaw added a front der cable stop to his after it was built. Joe does amazing work and can handle all issues that come to him. If you are looking for a new bike do yourself a favor and give him a call.

Custom built bikes don't really cost an arm and leg like they used to. Turn around time might be a couple of months but you love your bike and want the best. As far as FMVC is concerned, Joe is the best.