The Bauer Family

The build is complete so I will give you a rundown of the process. The frame and fork went together well. The internal cabling on this bike is full cable through the top tube.  This is nice, but the routing is a little odd.  The front port is open and smaller than the rear.  The rear came with an attachment that bolted in the opening after running the cable housing.  The internal cable routing was also very simple! Given some stories I had heard about internal routing installment I was a little concerned. The drive train installment went well.  The Sram X5 crank fit with around 8mm of clearance on both chain stays.  The only snag I ran into was the derailleur mount. I wanted to use the Wolf Tooth mount that I had.  Unfortunately this mount is designed for 120mm bottom bracket spacing.  Fortunately the frame came with a derailleur mount that included adapters for both 100mm and 120mm BB.  After making this change we were back in business. ...

So it is the day after Christmas and we are cleaning up and recovering.  It was a very busy week with work and the holiday.  We had to do some last minute shopping on Wednesday and Mom came out on Christmas Eve. We were up early on Christmas Eve to clean the house and so I could get mom.  I had to stop at Meijer to get mom's short grocery list and then it was off to Auburn.  We left her house before 12pm and on our way to our house.  We had a very good visit and mom for the most part was in a good mood.  She even seemed to like the kittens.  She went our of her way to say goodbye to them and give them a kiss.  We also sent her home with a lot of leftovers! Christmas Fun! Christmas Love! Mom wanted to leave just before it got dark so Michelle and I took her home while the boys stayed home and played video games. Michelle and I got home and we had a little snack. We then retreated to the basement to finish up our Christmas D...

On the left here is the Vortex frame by Sarma.  USPS tried to deliver it on Saturday.  Unfortunately no one was home to sign for it.  So I went to the post office and picked it up today.  There is something special about building a bike from the frame up.  This is the second time I have done that.  I tore down many bikes and rebuilt them, upgraded and it is just not the same.  I have been sourcing parts for this build for some time.  Some are new and some are lightly used.  In this post I will give a run down of the parts that will be going on this bike.  My target is a sub 30 pound fat bike. Sarma Vortex Frame:  The frame is made in China and with Sarma's new business model it is shipped directly from the manufacturer.  The frame is 6061 hydro formed aluminum.  The welds are all very clean and sanded down. The frame has nice curves and because of the hydro forming resembles a carbon frame.  I put it on the park...

Today was Global Fat Bike Day so I went to Sleepy Hollow Recreation Area again this year.  It was a great event!  Raymond and Don Stange joined me for the event. Around 50 people participated. The route was around 12 miles. Don and Raymond did an extra 4 miles after.  There was brats, dogs and burgers as well as many sweets and other things. Regrouping Some of the bikes I saw today here: My Farley Salsa Cycles Blackborrow Charge Cooker 27.5+ Raymond and his FatBoy Salsa Cycles Carbon Beargrease Borealis Trek Farley 5 Another Borealis Motobecane Several people returned from last year to join in the festivities: Thanks to all who put together this event.  See you next year. Fat Bike Build Update: Almost all the parts have arrived for the bike build.  The frame is at the post office.  I will try to pick it up on Monday.  I will be posting soon with the build announcement. ...

November is almost over and I just wanted to do a review of the month.  A lot of things have happened! New Family Members: We got a couple of new kittens to join the household.  They are really cute.  One male (Luna) and one female (Esther).  We got them from Michelle's friend Lanette.  They are growing really fast. Luna Esther Michelle's Birthday: We had a couple nice birthday celebrations for Michelle.  Her birthday was on Saturday this year.  We started the morning off with coffee and I presented her with her birthday card.  I made a video for her.  She then opened her present, a wet saw for her rock hobby.  We then went and had dinner at Bagger Dave's and Jay Jay was able to join us after his shift was over.  We also celebrated again at Genji's about 10 days later. Thanksgiving: We did our annual Turkey Eve Mountain Bike ride on Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  There was four of us this year.  Raym...