Sports Garage!!

From the 'Small World' Files...

-
I've blogged before about the year and a half that I worked in Boulder Colorado at a small bike shop called the Sports Garage. The shop is much different now. Although located at the same address, they now sell complete bikes and high dollar frame sets, rather than focus on race tunes and parts and service. Sports Garage was a great time in my bike shop days, and I miss the fellas and the fun...but not the snow!

-

From my file cabinet here in the office... ahh, good times...

-

-

Today, my bike shop experience consists more of what weird stuff I bring home from fleabay, and what I do with it in the privacy of my own shop. Poking around the ol' flea here a few days ago, looking for "GT -BMX" (that would be GT bicycles, no BMX stuff please) I found this steel tubed GT frame from the early 1990s, listed by a seller from Southern California. Forlorn and beaten. The bike clearly has had a full life, and now waits haplessly for the next abuser...poor thing.

-

-

-

-
-
Beat to hell, and stripped of it's junk and left to sell on auction for cheap, the only thing remaining on the bike even remotely able to imply the story of what the machine has been through or the experiences it's shared with the myriad of owners over the years who've thrown a leg over it, is the lonely sticker on the down tube. I'd recognize that sticker anywhere...

-

"Sports Garage"

-

More spray paint and bicycles...

From the RB, photos of titanium Fat Chances and Amsterdam street scribbling.

-

-

photo by Defiant.

Sell a spoke?

Ebay Auction Question & Answer - Don't you love it when folks try to sell the stupidest stuff? A spoke! ONE SPOKE?! The banter that ensues is as you would imagine...priceless. The RB guys found this little exchange...
-
-

Q: Is the spoke formed by Advanced Balfers extrusion or is it die-cast using the Pauling Exclusion principle? I need a spoke just like this to complete my downhill rig, but it must be a properly extruded one. Thanks.

-

A: To be honest i not sure but i don't think it is as I'm sure it would say if it was that good

-
-

Q: Hello, I am very interested in your spoke but I live in Guatemala where there has been a national spoke shortage for many years - can you please tell me what your shipping costs will be. If the spoke proves suitable, the Guatemalan Government would be interested in purchasing approx 175,000 spokes - can you fulfil that order?

-

A: Are you for real? I'm not a shop, I'm sure any shop could order that many if you wanted

-

-

Q: Has the spoke suffered from any chaffing and if so has the bell end been polished?

-

A: No its in as new condition

-

-

Q: Hi. Can you tell me if the spoke is 304 grade stainless or 306 grade ? Also, do you have any data on its Charpy Impact strength ? Many thanks.

-

A: Hi to be honest I have no idea about these things you just asked, as the spoke has no markings

-

-

Q: hi I'm very interested in your spoke but need to know is it stainless, chrome plated, nickel plated or plain old steel alloy? thanks Paul

-

A: To be honest I'm not sure it has a coating on it so is shinny, most likely to be chrome or nickel i think.

-

-

Q: Interested in your spoke...is it suitable to go on a Singlespeed?

-

A: I assume so just depends if its the right length, that's the only thing that matters with a spoke if its the right length to fit between you hub and rim, also depending on the spoke pattern in your wheel

-

-

Q: do you have any other spokes? would you combine postage?

-

A: I just put one on to start with to see if it would sell, then i was going to put a few more on if it does sell, in which case I'll probably allow combined postage

-

-

Q: Could you confirm if it is for a front wheel or rear wheel? It could be just the thing for my mountain bike wheel. Thanks.

-

A: It depends on your hub and rim types you just have to measure the length of your existing spoke to see if its the right length, as they do come in different lengths.

-

-

Q: has this spoke ever been pressure washed?

-

A: no it hasn't

-

-

Q: Does the spoke have a name, if so will it be upset if it gets sold? Thanks Nick

-

A: NO i haven't named it, I'm sure it will be happy to be used as it hasn't been used yet-

-

-

Q: Hi, do you know whether the spoke is of JIS or ISO bend dimension?

-

A: Hi, To be honest I have no ideal I'm not sure what the difference is.

-

-

Q: Hi, Was looking at the spoke but I can't tell if it is double or single butted. I have single butted spokes on mine but am looking to upgrade, do you have more? Do you have the weight of the spoke?

-

A: Hi, it's a standard single butted spoke, i weighed them together and it's about 7 grams. I do have a few more not sure how many.

-

-

Q: Hello I am VERY interested in your mountain bike spoke, as it has come from an expensive bike like mine. I just broke a spoke but I need to check: does the spoke nipple have the unusual reverse shim method of attaching to the rim? I would imagine it does since your bike is a good one. thanks Skully

-

A: Hi, It just came from a new wheel not from my expensive bike. Its a standard shape spoke and NO special way of attaching to the rim it's just held by screwing on the nipple.

-

-

Q: I was wondering what year the spoke is? many thanks.

-

A: Not sure what year it is must be a least a few years old

The TREK Y bike...Why again?

*Bleah* Trek 'Y' bikes...

...truly only good for one thing...

Klein as the advancement of the breed

This is Ritchey Mountain Bike number one. Ritchey was credited, along with a few other quirky, pot puffing weirdos, for creating the modern, purpose-built mountain bike.
-

-
Ritchey, simple, no frills, purposeful. Done, Done and Done. Ritchey was the model for 10 years of mass produced copy-cat steel-bike construction logic that churned out clones like the Specialized Stumpjumper, Fisher Hoo-Koo-E-Koo and Diamond Back Axis, shown below in 1990 garb... *yawn*
-

-

OK Pessimists...while Diamond Back, and many many other manufacturers were regurgitating the Ritchey molded copies, Klein was creating the Top Gun, later to be renamed Rascal, (after I guess Tom Cruise jumped up on a couch on "Oprah" and whined enough)... There were, of course, other companies making aluminum large tubed bikes, as Klein's failed lawsuit for patent infringement would prove, but to many, the Klein brand epitomized the lightweight hand built aluminum race frame.
-

-

Here's a good comparison to never, never forget, as you hover over your keyboards longing for a logical attack to project toward the Klein faithful, ultimately revealing your inability to recognize the continued value in the brand...

-

...At a time when Klein was making the Top Gun...second pic...Diamond Back was introducing this Axis, their top bike at the time, and by no means an inexpensive bike. These horizontal top tube steel frames were everywhere...Specialized, Ritchey, Salsa...etc. From custom to mass produced, this was the standard. Then there was Top Gun. There's a pretty obvious difference... I'm not saying it's better, that's up to you, and subject for another debate. What I am saying, is that Top Gun had more in common with modern bikes of today than any Axis or Stumpjumper, or even Ritchey of the time could ever claim.

-

When Klein came along the product was a very real and very progressive alternative; a bike that holds up well in performance even today.

Klein - Value vs Perception

There are many consumer items in modern American society which get branded with the sometime not so complimentary reputation of 'Poseur'. Typically these are brands and products have a specialized niche market, something which calls for engineering and product development up and above the ordinary, something which has a specific purpose or focus, and of course all of these somethings add up to the thing being bloody expensive in the first place.
-
We also know that rich people buy the stuff that costs a bunch, and in many cases just because they can, or feel that they have to, or they're supposed to, or that they are just plain entitled. We see it every day. Hell, MTV Cribs is a perfect example...new-money stars that bought a house with a fancy kitchen and high dollar cars because that's what they are supposed to do. Some MTV performers buy bling watches when I doubt they can tell time! It's a cultural checklist...make a million, check...buy a Ferrari, check...Breitling watch, check. Yet they know that they'll never develop the skills to properly enjoy the car, and that they'll never become a pilot to utilize the watch, and that their Sub Zero fridge and Viking stove will sit, unused, while the "Wang's House of Chinese" delivery guy gets a daily workout.
-
In the bike world, there are many such brands, and in the retro bike world, there are two which fit the bill more than any other... Klein and Fat Chance. Unfortunately, what gets lost in translation from well engineered, specific purpose product into Glam Bling, is that the bikes are pretty darn good in the first place...
-
This Klein Adroit for example, from about 1994 I'd guess, is even by today's standards, some 15 years after rolling out of Klein's factory in Chehalis Washington, quite comparable to a modern bike, and could very easily be sent out to do battle on a cross country trail today. It always was a very capable bike, but now, it's capable and Poseur...because, clearly, it was originally owned by some fat cat that rode it around the block a few times and then hung it in the garage over his BMW. It's the Klein that suffers in reputation from the rich dude having more dough than brains... and that's not quite fair. It's the Ferrari, the Rolex...that suffer the stigma, rather than the fat-cat balding lawyer. So, in my view, the 'Poseur' title lands on him...NOT on the bike. (pic ganked from Retrobike)
-
-
Here's a typical modern hard tail mountain bike, from a European manufacturer, (again a pic ganked from RB.) Cotic is a quality frame supplier, good stuff, but not much being done to change the world. They don't need to do too much though...because despite their reputations as Seinfeld decor, companies like Klein and Fat Chance, (and component makers like Shimano, starting with the XTR M900 line) have already done an amazing job of defining the cross country mountain bike. Today's bling bikes, like this Cotic, are tomorrow's garage queens, not because the Cotic can't cut the mustard, but because the owner, more often than not, doesn't really care for mustard in the first place, and therefore is unlikely to ever open the jar.

--

Geometry, frame proportion, drive train technology, materials...in many cases bikes today survive from and quite frankly parasite off of, advancements made nearly 20 years ago..Today's bikes are not making the strides that we will be talking about as defining characteristics in another 15 years. Yet, Cotic benefits today as being 'modern' while Klein takes it on the chin as being 'poseur'. In 20 years the loop will close, full circle, and the untapped engineering goodness of bikes like the Cotic Soul, will be disregarded wholesale and what will remain is some vague misguided ethos that "Cotic is Poseur"
-

Klein and Fat, much like brands Seven and IF today, get a bad rap because they are expensive, and therefore those folks with loads of cash tend to buy them as their first 'real' bike...surely an expensive experiment and ultimately a mistake when they realize that they don't much like cycling after all! This happened a lot (and still does...) and the result is that these expensive machines can be found hanging dusty and essentially unused in the garages of Doctors and Lawyers across the US, and all over the world it seems.

-
It's not Klein's fault.

-
It's not Fat's fault.

-
It wont be Seven's or IF's fault either. For some odd reason, rich fools buy expensive kit even when they know they'll never use it. Sub Zero refridgerators, Viking ranges, Porsches, Rolex Subs, etc. Same thing...

-
It's not Porsche's fault.

-
It's not Rolex's fault.

-

This is not a question about whether anyone NEEDS a $5k watch, or an $80K, 180 mph car, or a $4k bicycle. This is a debate about whether or not somebody who would never want to know the time in two time zones while 200 feet under water should buy a Rolex. It's a question about the driver who would never commute on the Autobahn at 150mph buying a Porsche. It's a question about the handmade NORBA style bicycle that would never do more than put a fat man around in his gated community. Ultimately it's a statement, about how that under utilized Rolex is no less a quality timepiece, about how that Porsche is no less an exemplary sports car, and about how that Klein is no less a fine example of bicycle engineering.

-

Klein, Rolex, et al...All these things are great products, somewhat tarnished in reputation by the image portrayed for them by rich folks who have more money than brains and buy big because they think they need to and not because they have to.

-
Don't let the reputation of Klein as a pretty, under appreciated, and over hyped product cloud your judgement. Kleins are exactly what they were designed to be...fast, light, well made, no nonsense race bikes from the heyday of the USA mountain bike industry. If you don't have one, and you truly would deploy a lightweight race ready mountain bike on the trail, then get one, and stop trying to convince yourselves that you don't need it just because the last guy never had the balls or brains to use it himself.

It continues...

Yokota Yosemite Comp

Matt and Orange

When I got my blue EWR, the fellas at EWR were only offering the re-released frames in reflective white and Bengal orange. I can't stand orange, and I've already got a white EWR, so I paid a small sucker fee to have the new frame powder coated blue (good thing too, now that I've got an orange EWR to boot!). My buddy, Matt in the ATL, thinks for some reason that orange is a good idea, so he opted for one of the standard colors.

A local shop had SDG Ventura saddles in an orange color that matched the RAL code for the EWR powder coat color perfectly, so I picked up a few (4!) of those and gave them to my orange-bike hugging friends, Matt included. My friend Paul has one on his orange OWB as well.

Oury introduced colored grips a few years back also, and orange was on the menu for that too, so Matt's go some of those things on the EWR...but what he doesn't have is an orange stem. Not just any orange stem, but a nice Race Face System stem, powder coated from Race Face in the same RAL code as his EWR. This one is a 110mm 5 degree stem, so it should work out well for him and his Orange-Julius beast.

I'll bring it up to Tsali with me at the end of the month and we'll pimp out that big orange bastard even more!

To spray or not to spray

There's a huge debate going on in the Retrobike world. Not a very passionate debate, really, but definitely an active debate. Sort of an undercurrent debate. A subconscious debate. Like a plate tectonics kind of thing, drifting around below the surface. The issue is, if you've got a vintage frame, and it's been through the proverbial ringer, do you strip it and send it on out for a respray?
-
Some folks feel that vintage bikes need to be preserved in or returned to some sort of showroom condition and then coddled and polished with a cotton diaper like a fine Italian sports car. Hell, some vintage bikes cost as much as Italian sports cars, so I see the logic! On the other hand some folks feel like, especially in the case of bikes which share a long history with their owners, that the scratches and chips of wear are a nice road map reminder of the excitement that a bike and rider share. Opinions vary here, and I'm not out to crusade for one side or the other, but I think for some bikes, especially bikes which symbolize sort of a rough house demeanor, and not a glitzy NORBA racer image, that paint should really be considered the protective layer only, and the chips and dings of use are like wrinkle lines on the face of a wise old man. The wear visible in the aged human face is a reflection of witnessing the start and close of many days. Why strip that away? Would Hemingway get a face lift?

My white EWR falls into the rough house category. It isn't light, no NORBA racer worth his salt would want to hang a number plate on the old bulletproof heavy pig, but the thing is a ball to ride, and its peppered with scratches, touch up paint, and even a few dents. I dig it, and I am doing everything I can to not respray my white EWR. Besides, I don't want to lose this little guy...
-

-
Look at those character lines! And that bad-a$$ comb-over! Yeah!

-

-

Ready for action! I dream of the day that I've achieved station in life where I feel confident enough in my own skin that I can strut with a side-by-side in my boxers. Papa almost begs you to try to repaint a fine, battle-worn machine like the EWR...

-

-
One step toward that spray both and it's a roundhouse to oblivion for you, pal! Truth be told, when alone in the house, I DO strike this pose in my boxers...
-

-

So, on bikes which symbolize speed and efficiency, like a steel Serotta or Fat or IF or what have you, then I'd spray it. But if you have a bike that's built for pure business, then the 'wrinkles' tell others, and remind you, what bikes are really for... As I'm sure Hemingway would have mused, if given the topic... "Never shellac the deck of the Pilar after the catch is on ice, and the pictures of the battle are on the wall, because you'll just have to do it all over again, and at some point people will think you're too old to do that crap anymore and you'll be left to stand in front of a mirror in your boxers and lace-ups." Or something to that effect, obviously his sentences would be much shorter.

Tech Lite...still Americana Machina...

...or just another Asian knock off?

-

Back in the day, when my college buddy Pete and I would sit around stuffing our faces with Guava Town Burritos and flipping through the Bike Pro Catalog, times were simpler. We didn't have any money, so there wasn't a lot of decision making to be made with regard to making an actual purchase from Bike Pro...Guava Town we could afford.

-

Back then, one of my favorite untouchable bike parts was the Technogen Tech Lite brake levers. Everyone knew about, or knew someone who had, or actually had, Paul levers, or the Kooka junk, or Graftons or what have you...but nobody had the Tech Lites. They were my dream levers when Altek was still looking for a distributor and nobody knew who the hell they were, and I always wanted a blue pair for the original Klein Rascal that I sold in 1993.

-

I've had two other pairs of Tech Lites...an early silver pair and a black pair. The Silvers were in great shape, but they were used, and the blacks were NOS. Neither set was blue. So I sold them both (for a profit, thank you very much!) and continued my search for blue.

-

Snap to today, and I picked up a set of blues on the fleabay. They are NOS, and they were pretty affordable to boot. They came in today, and they are blue, and they are nice, and I'll use them on the Klein instead of the Real levers I picked up a bit ago...BUT...they look kind of...well... Imported! Like an Asian knock-off. Still nice, but not seemingly as nice as the blacks, and certainly not as nice as the silvers. Lots of mill work marks, unfinished edges, very bright cheap looking blue anodizing no rubber o-rings on the barrel adjusters. Overall just a little suspect.

-

I've heard that some of these defunct boutique brands that aren't around to protect their trademarks actually have folks making cheap knock offs of the unprotected designs in China. Could these Tech Lites actually be Chinese knock-offs? Am I holding Cheng-Star's or Tektro's version of the Tech Lite? Something to ponder...

-

Graffiti and Bikes part deux!

Again, shamelessly ganked from Retrobike...and for those of you who missed part one...

Kooka Cranks - The 'Exploded' View

Everyone has heard me harp and rail against Kooka Components. OK maybe not everyone, but the three of you new people following the blog, and the 4 people patient enough with me to still consider me their friend, and my family, of course, but they have to pay attention... OK, so maybe not so many people have heard me rail against Kooka before! Well, here's you chance to get up to speed. Take notes, there will be at test.

This crank set was on the old fleabay. As you can see, it's all pretty colors and woo! These are actually the second generation cranks, being different than the first generation by way of having a revised bottom bracket spindle mounting interface....in this case on the inside of the non-drive arm where the bottom bracket taper actually presses into the arm was beefed up in order to prevent the non-drive arms from continuing their very unfortunate design characteristic of dividing into two pieces at the bottom bracket spindle unexpectedly. You see, the first generation arms were so poorly conceived that they were the same exact arm side to side, just with a chain ring spider pressed on the drive arm. The drive arm was reinforced enough by the press fit spider to keep from splitting on a diagonal axis along the bottom bracket taper, but the non drive arm, lacking that reinforcement, split there with alarming regularity, almost as if perforated like an Elvis Presley postage stamp! Something had to be done, and hey, Race Face had the I-beam shape figured out, so surely the crack geniuses at Kooka could square it away without completely reinventing the wheel, right? Uhhh...

Moving on...On these second gen models, on both arms, the outside the 'I-beam' profile has been relieved to save weight, I guess to counter the weight gained by beefing up the inner taper area on the non-drive arm...probably in a lame attempt to keep the arm weight the same as the first generation cranks and thereby saving the company money on printing new product literature.




Here you see the backside of the drive arm, with the spider press fit over the bottom bracket taper area. Even with the reinforcement, this picture shows what looks like possible stress discoloration around the tapers. Save your receipt, buyer! The silver set screw on the lower left is a centering screw for the arm and spider assembly, nothing more.



This picture shows the beefed up non drive side arm taper area, about 2 mils or so thicker than the drive side, again because there's no spider on this arm to hold the taper area together and keep it from grenading into a billion little pieces. These arms proved to be marginally stronger than the first generation arms, but still feeble in comparison to Race Face Turbines. Also remember that the first generation arms were available in Cross Country style, 385gms with no rings, hogged out so much that the arms were almost too flexy to ride unless you were an 85lb girl, and 405gm Downhill style...Downhill! HA! Still, ANY improvement over first gen arms was welcome! The third gen arms went to a forged material rather than straight billet stock, and they were even more improved, but the bar had already been set so low that there wasn't anywhere to go but up, and by then the word was out and time was short for the little parts shop from Carson City.



The lesson here, with Kooka and with many boutique parts manufacturers from back in the day, is that there are many factors that go into manufacturing bike parts. Kooka believed somehow that their skill with a CNC mill and lathe meant that they didn't need to actually stress model any of their parts before release to the public, and that was surely their downfall. Were they pretty? You bet! Were they safe? Not on your life!

I remember when I first got my 385gm first gen cranks from Kooka, after meeting the fellas out in Vegas at Interbike. I put the arms on the Klein Rascal, and motored out in the parking lot. Something didn't feel quite right from the very start, as I could stand on the pedals, with the arms parallel to the ground, and bounce, and the cranks would flex so much that I could get the pedals to twist toward the ground about 15 degrees. I called Kooka right away and said there's no way these arms are safe, and they replied quite confidently that they'd never seen anything like what I was reporting in any of their product testing.

In their "product testing"...I'm sure they didn't...

I returned the 385 gm models and got the 405 gm Downhill arms. They lasted 4 months. Too bad really, as they sure were pretty.

EWR - Moving Right Along...

I know, I know...I said I wasn't going to build up the orange EWR, and I swear I'm not going any further than this, yet. But I did put the parts that came with the frame (headset, fork and seat post) on the bike, and then I also had the Race Face turbines, bottom bracket and Race Face System stem. There's also a M901 XTR rear derailleur on there too, but I'm not convinced I'm going in that direction drive train wise yet.

The Race Face cranks, bash ring, bottom bracket and a fresh Salsa chain ring. There will be no front derailleur on the bike. Don't need one in Florida, thanks...

Race Face stem, Rock Shox Hydra-Coil Psylo fork with a 20mm thru-axle fork and the Mango Orange Chris King headset. I've never had a 20mm axle fork before, so that will be a neat experience to try. The Psylo fork is very similar to the Revelation on my blue EWR, (oil-bath spring...AKA Hydra-Coil, and adjustable travel, AKA U-Turn, in Rock Shox speak), although it is a 2002 model. The Psylo is even old enough to be pre-Sram and therefore built in Colorado and not Taiwan like the Revelation. Good.

-

I was a little iffy on using the Mango King headset on an orange frame, but what the hell...it came with the frame, and it does match the top cap of the fork, so I'll put it to use. Never waste a King.

Race Face System. 5 degree and 130mm should fit this frame well. This is NOS, and while I paid only 10 bucks for it on the old flea-bay, the box said $90. Score!

A sunny picture.

I'm not going any further with it right now, so like the Zaskar it will sit until I'm ready to play with it. But unlike the Zaskar, which I admittedly only picked up for the fun of it, I am very interested in riding the EWR. We'll see how long I can hold out before I snap and drop a grand on parts at Pricepoint. Weeee!

RTS Update - Part Deux (that's French!)

Refund sent by seller this morning, so the frame ships by buyer (that's me!) tonight. I'll invite the goober to request cancellation of the auction on his end also, and then when I agree, he'll be eligible for a eBay fee refund too. See, I'm not always a heartless bastard.

Solved.

RTS update

Been doing a little research, before I go blasting off half cocked and beat the boogers out of somebody with my monitor muscles. Here's what I got...

The RTS auction lists the frame clearly as an 18", with an 18" seat tube and a 22.5" top tube. My understanding of GTs says that's an 18, like my Zaskar. Those measurements listed on the auction match my Zaskar perfectly. An 18" RTS has the measurements that the seller advertised, a 16 does not. A 16, measures up as 16" and 21.5". SO...I hit up the seller to do the right thing and accept my request for a refund.

I got sass instead...I don't know how to measure a bike, I don't know how to measure a GT, He thinks I should enjoy my new tiny bicycle. Have a nice day.

Not so fast, princess...

I sent him a response telling him he's wrong and I expect him to do the right thing when the frame, that leaves my house tomorrow, gets to him. Refund buddy. Do it.

I opened a dispute to start the clock, but I hope it doesn't get that far. The only thing I can figure is that seller either, 1) measured the thing wrong, or 2) 'optimized' his measurements to get the size up to 18, a more common size.

We'll see what happens.

Graffiti and Bikes

My brother has an unnatural addiction to documenting graffiti art. He will stagger in a contemplative fog all around the boroughs of New York powered only by bean curd and whey, snapping thousands of odd little pictures of space-man paste-ups bills, or gang tags or whatever bizarre shape happens to be slathered in a shadow enough to strike his fancy.

OK, I'm only partly kidding. He actually takes wonderfully contemplative and peaceful pictures of street scenes in New York, which typically feature graffiti and light in composition. His blog, Shadows and Light, is linked to the right there...so check it out!

This bike/graffiti combo was recently posted on Retrobike, and I thought the association between the subject matter of my brothers blog and mine made for an interesting photo.

97 EWR E-Motion!

WOOHOO!

-
All EWRs should have Fresh Frame logos. There should be a law. OK a local law...like a State of PA law, not like a constitutional amendment or anything.
-
-
Joe Breeze hooded dropouts.
-

-

Reinforced head tube, top and bottom. Faced smooth and ready for a King headset.

-

-

Head tube again. Yum.

-

-

Ovalized seat tube strut.

-

Smooth.

-

-

Seat stay bridge.

-

-

Like all first gen EWRs, she has a nice fat ass. No taper to the stays at all. FAT!

-

-

Oversized down tube, ovalized laterally at the bottom bracket shell. The BB is 68mm, so that down tube is swagged out to almost 60 mm in width! STIFF! FAT!

This is turning into a bike porno!

-

-

-

OK, I'll spill it.

-

I picked up this EWR E-Motion on a BIN auction, and I couldn't be happier. EWR introduced the E-Motion as a follow up to the Original Woods OWB bike a few years after. The E came in 2 variants, the B2 which was a lighter weight tube set frame, and the normal E, seen here. This 1997 has been back to the shop for a little tuck and lift, and a disk brake conversion.

-

When I got my white EWR, These two frames..the OWB and the E-Motion, (and the Mettle trials bike), were the only frames in the catalog, and I spent many nights sitting on the toilet with a big malt liquor waffling between the two before placing my order for the white OWB. Now, 15 years later, I have them both. And I'm no longer sitting on the toilet with malt liquor! WOOHOO!

-

Just LOOK at that monster, steel, FAT down tube! Have you ever seen such a big bloated truck of a down tube in your life? It's ovalized at the bottom bracket to the point where it's nearly as wide as the bottom bracket shell! I love it!!!

-

Now, to build it up and beat the poo out of it! Yeah!