0 Bike Shop Horrors Blog Articles..

Was just catching up looking through some blogs I follow and two article in a row has something in common. Horror stories of bike parts mauling and slop jobs done on bike. The first with switching brake for cable housing would be like walking into a 7-11 for a pack of condom and only realize later back home it actually contains sausage skins instead of latex. When you walk back the cashier can actually tell you "Same same can use one...just a casing only mah!" I really hope the mech that did that came from some old school "experience" where such swapping (not advised but) can sort of work back in the days of 5-6 speed cassettes and friction shifters and not out of convenience because the shop was out of shifter cables.

Yes, having been around long enough, I do remember there was a time where so long as a bike can move, its good enough. Singapore has come a long way in the last 30 years but there are still some that are left behind doing things the same way they did years ago. Wouldn't say its a waste of time, there's a whole pool of tips and tricks especially when it comes to doing up older bikes that can be learned. But with newer bikes, its better to wave a hello and move on to some other places for fixing things up.

The second horrror story on the Cannondale lefty, even just reading made me go "WTF!"
Had actually witness something similar years ago in a local bike shop seeing how some Chris King headset was being knocked out with a screwdriver and mallet. The bloody thing fell out off with a loud ping on the ground. The repair stand actually toppled and I was near enough to stretch out and catch the whole stand + bike contraption....wonder where the owner was then!

The owner/mech nonchalantly remarked to me as if nothing has happened as I put the stand back upright, "Oh CK headsets are frigging tough". The look I gave him was one of disbelief at his attitude but he must have mistaken it for not believing what he just said and dropped the lower cups and bearings onto the ground to prove his point. Well to keep it short, paid for what I went to the shop for and was out in 45 secs.. Never ever went back there again, even if their inner tubes were a couple of bucks cheaper than anywhere else.

Glad I took the plunge to venture into bike maintenance and on those occasions where special tools or simply tools I dont have are needed, I only go back to trusted bike shops.

Detail: Bike Shop Horrors Blog Articles..

0 Just Riding...

I would profess to be just as much a bike junkie as any other proud ones out there. My quiver might not spot a 20K rig or choked full with the fastest and baddest arrows but I waste no moment living and breathing everything biking.

For some of us, its nothing more than exercise. Some mixed it in with the passion of building aesthetically pleasing bikes and those like me that uses it as a form of "healthy" escape, de-stressing or whatchawannacallit.

Some simply ride.

For me mountain biking has become more than just a matter of riding. Solo rides prepares me for what lies ahead...everything. Not just the immediate hundred meter of trails or nailing the jump and whip into a turn. Learning and absorbing as the scenary whizzes by. Pedal powered motion, gulping down lungfuls of fresh air to clear the mind. It is a way to compose myself for the day's path ahead. Reflecting on what just gone by, trying to take in a lesson or two and trying to make light of one's own follies along the way.

Staying off the negative path. 
Ever rode with people that are perpetually on an ego trip. The "must win" in whatever they think they are exceling in? If they can't ride something...then that section or trail must be "stupid" or not "worthwhile". Well sometimes things are. When trails arent built with a clear focus, it may lack flow but more often than not, it's a rider's lack that impedes what could otherwise be an enjoyable session.

Does it mean u just give up and curse under your breath. NO. Why would you want to spoil your ride with a train of negative thoughts. If a trail that was never designated but was ridden out over time by countless other riders...what makes that a "stupid" trail other than one not having the proper equipments and skills?

People come and go in our lives. I rather let them go if they start effusing such negativities all the time when riding around me while only bragging about their bravado on things they are capable off.

There are certain sections in the local trails I ride regularly that is really bad due to a variety of reasons, even though they are purpose built but looking at erosion and other factors surrounding the area, I can't really fault the people that did it up that way....an uphill rock garden filled with shaky pieces of rock.

To curse and swear under the breath each time I'm there trying to climb especially in the slippery wet of the monsoon season on my long travel bike? NO. Rather, countless hours were spent trying different setups to try and nail it. 

Sometimes no matter what you do, nothing really works but still there will be lessons to be gleaned from the experience. If you fail a 100 times, each time trying something a little different means discovering a 100 ways why it doesn't work.

If I had sat on the fence whining away refusing to believe that it can be ridden with a 160mm front travel bike or get duped into believing that gnarly rooty trails is simply too "worthless" to ride.... then those riding pictures to form a picture book for the grandkids wouldn't be materializing.

Pushing the limits. Within reasons of course. From personal experience, I do feel that what is difficult today may seem like child's play....after riding something bigger, harder say on a biking trip to some place new.

Breakout--- Ass off the saddle, feet to the pedals. Crank on!

Detail: Just Riding...

0 To Clear or Not To Clear

Dear Pussy Off-Roaders

SHIFT your body weight to clear an obstacle. Not SHIFT the obstacles and sit your ass on the saddle to breeze through. 

Otherwise please stick to these. You are free to run through any plethora of dare devil off road riding skills in the mind while pedaling in these smooth tarmac haven.

Kindly leave whatever little rooty, rock strewn trails left with fallen trees to those of us who actually choose to ride some real offroad terrain.

I recently witnessed a group of your pussy brothers shifting away what some of us would consider no more than pebbles. To avoid putting a foot down in this picnic-like atmosphere smacked in the middle of the trail, I lofted off an adjacent root in a stupid move on my overweight bike. In the process have totally missed the said pebbles.

The wind must be blowing in the right direction cos I caught a line "those rocks are too slippery, its unrideable..." with an accompanying foul stench of pussiness in the air as I passed this little "safety council" doing trail work without a bloody clue.


I pedaled as fast as I could to get away from this overpowering stench and glittering array of ultra bling bikes. All with 6" of travel or more front and back, rocking titanium coils on RC4s with uber expensive frames no less, only to roll my eyes in aghast just moments later.

My little sacred saga sapling, one so rare nowadays that I spotted growing, was HACKED away. I always stopped by this spot to take a look at its growth and marvel at the thoughts that one day it would be a big fine tree, dropping all its ruby red seeds that will beautify the forest floor.

Why Why Why
...and then I spotted the reason behind such inconceivable inconsiderateness. Just below the part before it was hacked off...it was chipped. Putting my bar to it, no doubt that it was a victim before its beheading to our savage marauding ever longer handlebars. I can imagine after getting caught and thrown over the bar, one of your pussy brothers, feeling indignant,  must have pulled out his weeny Swiss knife and hack poor little Saga down in his broiling fury.


We chose to ride
We chose to use ridiculously proportioned components but without the needed Lambada skills to negotiate our way through.
We will hurt these silent forest guardians but they will survive. Not if u behead and deny them a fighting chance though.
Our Trails exist because of these guradians. Otherwise any man made trail is just another Teletubbie Hill


Yes we all want uninteerupted flow in the trails but please don't watch too much MTB vids. Let's get real.

Detail: To Clear or Not To Clear

0 To Clear or Not to Clear II

"Is it me or my imagination", was what came to mind when i saw how baby ass-smooth the trails have gotten in the last couple of months. It wasn't all that long ago when I first wrote about all the indiscriminate clearing taking place on the limited trails we have on this less than ideal mountainless island for riding.

Now even the few remaining sections that requires a little more skills during approach are being flattened out. I don't even have to warn newbies "Don't get your wheel caught between the protruding roots after the first root drop..." anymore. No there is nothing to warn anyone about.. Zero, zilch.... go home and ride down the bloody staircase of HDB flats... there is more challenge in that than all our local trails put together.

The familiar nail it or be be nailed by the narrow 6inch gap after the root drop towards 2nd Stream is GONE! No need to master going down left, right or center. Just shoot straight through and I bet in another month of two-- some clueless blip will find that even the root drop is too much and fashion a dirt ramp to roll down! So much for riding.

Can't be more pissed when looking at all of these and more when I stumbled on a "new trail" later in another part on another trail... seems like a pretty long one too as I did not get to finish "bashing" through. Lots of fallen trees but distinctly a trail for sure, one that has not seen much human activities too! Just some work needed to go back on quieter days and clear out the fallen logs. But no, for now I guess its better not to divulge where this is. Would really love to share but given this is also in some 'no go zone" and all the dumber than dumb forest elves smoothing everything in their path, such finds are better left to those in the know for now...

Detail: To Clear or Not to Clear II