spilling the beans

It's really no secret, I'm not good at keeping quiet when it comes to new bikes. I'm like a little kid at Christmas all giddy with excitement.

 

A few weeks back, at a ride I missed out on or some sort of adventure in the woods probably involving a couple of beers and idea was spawned to have a klunker build off and ride by this spring. An announcement was made of sort via the Facebox and I immediately jumped on the bandwagon.

 

About this same time Transition bikes debuted a new bike the "Klunker" an ode to the pioneers of mountain biking. 26" wheels, steel retro look frame, singlespeed, coaster brake and no suspension. All the newest, latest and greatest technology was throw out the window for a straight in your face good time the old school way.

 

Originally I had planned to build up a klunker like everyone else in the build off with a real old school frame salvaged from where ever you could find one. The more I thought about it the more I was leaning toward buying the Transition, even though I knew I would take some heat for it.

 

As I weighed out the pros and cons of the 2 different routes I realized I would probably spend on the higher end of the $200-$400 spectrum of building an old school bike. A bike I knew would only be ridden a handful of times and would likely break by the years end due to off-road riding it wasn't designed for. This happened back in the original klunker days hence the start of some of the most famous bike companies in history.

 

Enough of the history lesson, basically I decided to go ahead and buy the Transition because I knew it would last and in all honesty get ridden more. I don't fully expect to ride it every week but hey the complete bike it cost less than some wheelsets I've purchased in the past.

 

 

 

 

I almost missed the boat in scoring this one, I looked vigorously online for one and ended up grabbing one at the Hub in Brevard NC. The entire first run of these sold out before they hit the bike shops, I got very lucky.

 

 

 

I guess I'm a member now.

 

 

 

 

Buying a bike with 26" wheels was something I thought I would never do again. I've heard the argument made that 29" wheels make mountain biking too easy. The same argument could be said for gears, big suspension travel, hydraulic brakes, carbon fiber, seatpost droppers etc....

 

I know this bike won't quiet the naysayers, I didn't buy it too. I bought it because it's gonna be fun as hell to ride. I'm really not the anti 26er person everyone thinks I am. I might lead a few to believe that online but that's mainly for my own amusement. Call me an instigator if you want, I know I am.

 

Where will I ride it? I've got a few ideas, I doubt I'll be doing any big xc rides on it. Most of the rides this bike will see will consist of pushing up hill and riding down and a handful of urban assaults, CRAWL anyone?

 

It came with a 44x18 drivetrain but I knew that was silly for my taste and ability so I swapped the front chainring to a 36, still a bit steep for anything with much incline but I'll manage or push it.

 

For now my plans are to rock it with flat pedals and my old school bmx helmet, I never rode bmx but it made for a great snowboard helmet. Anything else just seems silly.

 

Oh yeah, I wasn't alone when I made this purchase, there might be another Tranny Klunker lurking in the Tri-Cities but I'll let that individual spill their own beans.