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2009, first season in Whistler I ordered a new giant glory to replace a broken frame in the lead up to Crankworx, 2 hours of it being in my hands I managed to destroy it… So when you’re young, stupid, in a hurry, and never used certain bike tools before always double check the removal tool in against the headset cup, and always check that one of the prongs didn’t slip through the steerer tube hole into the downtube then proceed to beat the shit out of it because your friend told you it’s not moving hit it harder, until...

Speaking of tubeless explosions, I once drove five hours to an XC race that started at 7:30 am the next morning in Echo, Oregon (near the middle of nowhere). I needed (read: wanted) to switch tires to something faster rolling for the race, but from 8 until 11 pm the night before the race, for the life of me, I could not get the front tire to seat. This process included driving from gas station to gas station looking for a car tire air compressor that put out enough cubic feet per minute to seat the tire, to no avail...

Here's a great one from back in the day when we were running 10 speed 11-36 cassettes with those tiny Zee short cage derailleurs. When you're running such a short derailleur cage, it's extra important to nail chain length when installing a new chain, because the cage is too short to pick up any extra slack. It was easy to have a loose and dangling chain in the 11 tooth cog, and easy to have too tight of a chain in the 36. So on the morning of a big ride, I replace an old chain in a hurry on...

Not quite the same as above, but I had an Intense SS frame with the bolt on dropouts that used two extra-long chainring bolts to hold them on. Those dropouts would creak worse than anything you can imagine, sounded like the whole rear end were going to implode every hard pedal stroke. I tried everything and finally found if I coated the bolts with powdered graphite I could get 3-4 days before the sound would return. On that same bike I needed to remove one of the lower pivot bolts/axles. It had a small grub screw that helped keep it...

Tore my entire bike apart chasing a creak after checking the usual suspects. Tried everything and still couldn’t find the solution. The fix? Loosening the air can of the shock, lightly greasing the threads, and problem solved! Also had a similar instance where the UDH was not fully seated forward when tightened and would make a creaking sound when putting power through the pedals.

I have forgotten my bike on a ride once. I feel your pain and shame.

Worked with a guy who had spent near an hour trying to adjust a front derailleur. He was a prideful sort and wasn't keen on people offering help. Finally asked me to take a look at it, I flip the cable to the other side of the pinch bolt, check the shifting and tension, and returned to my work bench without saying a word.

A few years ago, I had a DH tire that was impossible to get on the rim. I busted out 3 metal Pedros levers. Got the son of a bitch on. Could only find 2 levers. Oh well, the garage owns it now. Added some sealant through the valve stem, gave the wheel a spin to spread the sealant, found the lever. Somehow made it into my tire when the bead popped on. Almost gave up biking when I realized I had to take the tire off and re-mount it again.

Oh hey! I had the same thing happen to me too except I got lucky that it got caught between the mud guard and the dust wiper so my stanchion survived

I have become the neighborhood bike mechanic for our cul de sac. Its been fun teaching the kids how to work on their bikes and also making sure they are not riding around on death traps. Seriously if there is a neighbor kid rolling around on a bike go make sure his quick release skewers/bolts are tight on their wheels. Anyways last night I had a kids bike up on the stand and was running through their gears trying to get it to shift into the hardest gear. I had the cable tension set right, limit screws set correctly, hanger...

I got some new tires, inserts, tape, and sealant. Kryptotals, which ended up being some of the tightest beads I’ve ever tried to put on. Front went on well. Back broke two tire levers. The second broke as the tire went on, so I had to crack it open to get the lever piece out. Got some sealant in, and tried pumping it up. And tried again, and again and again and again. I couldn’t get it to seat. Let it sit in the sun, used some soapy water, everything. Finally, finally the bead was seated and it held air...

last year i had a slight clicking noise on my old sb150 while pedaling up and it drove me crazy, cranks were greased so i thought it must be that PF BB and i just let it be since the bearings still ran smoothly. then in september i switched to a new sb160 frame and on the first ride that clicking was back… turns out it was the pedal thread that needed cleaning and some grease.

first ever Night EDR in La Thuille. get those french lines dialed since it'll be dark! La Thuile – Valle d’Aosta to Host First-Ever UCI World Cup Night Race The Italian venue will put on a WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series debut to remember with the UCI Enduro World Cup concluding with a first-ever golden hour final stage. https://ucimtbworldseries.com/news/la-thuile-valle-daosta-to-host-first…

the focus was all Xc and DH, Enduro is like it didn't even happen, unreal

Perfect description, Butch! I remember getting on the lift after crashing off the big ledge up top, and my vision starting to go blurry from a concussion. Not sure how I got back down. Also remember crashing out of both my shoes in the yardsale! Mt Snow was rugged! The camping scene for the event, down the road at Haystack, was pretty wild as well…

How about "Camera CHASES Flat Tire" in the finish corral? @Red Number 3 So forced to read "Insanely Long Team Name" work?