Date of birth: April 1, 2005.
Weight: about 27 pounds.
Length: 22.5" (TT, effective).
On Friday my bouncing baby Vulture was delivered at the Vulture's nest in Central Oregon. Here's my pride and joy:
Full build specs:
Fork: White Brothers BW1.0, travel adjusted to 80mm.
Bar/stem: Bontrager 620mm, Ritchey Pro bar ends, Ritchey True Grips, Ritchey 80mm adjustable stem.
Brakes/levers: Avid BB7 185mm, Deore levers.
Seating: WTB Rocket V Race, Cane Creek Thudbuster 3G.
Rolling stock: Salsa Delgado X rims / XT Disc hubs (MeanTodd built), Kenda Klaw XT tires.
Drivetrain: Time ATAC pedals, old DX cranks (w/mismatched left arm), 34t ring (Surly ring on order), PC58 chain, 22t/20t Boone/Novatec cogs.
Accessories: Cateye BC-100 cages, Cateye Enduro 2 computer, SKS Shockboard/X-Blade fenders, Specialized mini PVO pump, IncrediBell Duet.
Here's a closeup of the dropout area:
That's Wade's newest dropout design. Also note (in the previous photo) the stainless steel seatstay bridge. The derailer hanger still needs to be tapped, but I'm not in a big hurry anyway. Frame also has a 3rd set of bottle brazeons under the downtube, and a clever touch is a bottle brazeon on the left seatstay for the cable clamp, complete with a color-matched bolt (nice touch, Derrick!)
But the coolest feature of all is the 73mm (!) eccentric bottom bracket. As far as I'm aware, for the moment I own the only bicycle on the planet with this feature. According to Wade, this more easily allows for a short chainstay with good tire clearance, without having to manipulate the stays as severely as on 29"ers with 68mm EBBs. Sure enough, the stays on this bike have gentle curves, yet will easily clear 2.4-2.5" tires if we ever get them. There's just as much clearance on the right side as you see on the left side.
As always, Derrick did an incredible job with the paint. Background colors are Sunrise Pearl faded to Sunset Pearl (and these colors seem to change with the light), with Sherwood Green raindrops. Head badge detail:
First ride a night ride on Friday, around Suttle Lake, a lovely singletrack ride with a few roots and rocks, and some stretches of snow. I had been fiddling with the BW1.0's adjuster knob to dial it in, but 2/3 of the way around the lake I realized that except for that I had not given a single thought to how my bike was handling. From the first spin of the cranks, it just went where I pointed it, totally intuitive. Now part of that may be because the geometry is pretty close to my KM, but still I think that's a testament to Wade's design skills and to the value of getting a frame custom fitted to your specifications.
Here she is out on the trail yesterday:
and posing with her big sister:
and taking a break at a regroup point:
Oops, I got so wrapped up in writing about my new bike that I almost forgot to mention Barbie Camp, which as always was a great success. A bit smaller than the Fall version (maybe 35-40 people this time) but lots of good blokes who tell good jokes, not to mention some great riding. Here's Justin contemplating whether to take the infamous "wall" into the video age:
Here's Sparty giving away some schwag to "lucky" Colleen:
and getting ready to "lease" out the Barbie frame until the next Barbie Camp:
Thanks once again to sParty for hosting a great party!
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