Zanconato

[zank]

I'll take the second one first.

My Klein Rascal. Maybe I'm looking back to my 140# past with rose-colored glasses, but that bike was awesome and I couldn't wait to ride it every single day.

I built a cross bike for myself back in 07 that I couldn't wait to roll up to the line on each and every weekend. That also coincided with a time that I was more fit than at other points in my life. Funny how that works.

[zank]

UCI Approved.

[DCT]

mike-

thanks for the seminar on friday and saturday. all of us at the vsalon ball got a bit smarter.

ps- your bikes kill

[Saab2000]

mike-

thanks for the seminar on friday and saturday. all of us at the vsalon ball got a bit smarter.

ps- your bikes kill

Yes. Darren caught me off guard yesterday in front of the group, asking me what I liked about my Zanconato. I didn't have my prepared text with me so I said it was 'lively'. This is correct. But later we came to the consensus that a really nice bike does nothing to bring attention to itself, and certainly not in a negative way. Yesterday I rode 81 or so miles over really tough terrain - up steep hills on pavement, down the same, up and down steep gravel hills, around corners, over potholes, over washed out dirt road sections. I never once thought about the bike. And that is a good thing.

[suspectdevice]

Hey everybody! Bikes are meant to be ridden!

[roguedog]

Hey everybody! Bikes are meant to be ridden!

Love it. Rock that, Mickey!

[zank]

Wow. That bike brings back memories!

[zetroc]

Whoa, a Zankstracycle. I'd ride that to the grocery store any day.

[suspectdevice]

Love it. Rock that, Mickey!

That's Mr. Bikereg.coms child hauler and grocery getter.
The Bikereg office is always full of a few Spookys and and a Zank or two on most days.
Smart people.

Yo Mr. Z,
Those team bikes were pretty early on in your career, right?
Were they built in Pittsfield?

[zank]

Yeah, very early. Fall of '99 or '00. I can't remember. That batch of 6 was built in Pittsfield and painted by Vicious for Adam, Steve, and Kathryn. Adam lent his to Chris Hill to race the Junior race at Worlds in Belgium. Good times.

[suspectdevice]

That would have been fall of 2000 then. Adam rode Gunnars in '99*.

*the bikes, not the Shogren.

[zank]

Remember when guys like Gunnar would come up to New England for the entire cross season back then? I wish I kept a diary. So many memories.

[suspectdevice]

Remember when guys like Gunnar would come up to New England for the entire cross season back then? I wish I kept a diary. So many memories.

One of the things on my "to blog" list is a history of the last 20 years of Pioneer Valley cycling. There are lots of bits and pieces floating out there in various peoples minds- a sort of oral history could be assembled fairly easily. There is even some written source material documenting the nascent days of our cx scene like Gunnar's Whattisupwidat column from DirtRag!

[beungood]

Nah, not really. The bikes I build are the bikes I ride and know. For instance, I've never ridden on a track, so I have no business saying I can build a track bike. Yeah, I could build one if you told me what to build, but then it wouldn't really be a bike from me, would it? I've never been afraid to say leave it to the guys who are experts in that arena. It makes the most sense for everybody.

That said, I want to do more experimenting with 29ers. I have this need for my mountain bike to feel more and more like my cross bike. So I'm not saying I don't want to keep learning, rather I want to learn more about what I am interested in.

Hi Zank,

Was admiring your handiwork at William's Ramble down in Ri a few weeks ago. A few freinds have started mountain biking to tide them over until snow flies and I am thinking I will to. But I want a better MT bike. Are a FS 29'r or 650B in any long term plans?

Jack O

[steve garro]

Hey, Zank - did you ever use those 29er tubes i sent you? - Garro.

[zank]

Hi Zank,

Was admiring your handiwork at William's Ramble down in Ri a few weeks ago. A few freinds have started mountain biking to tide them over until snow flies and I am thinking I will to. But I want a better MT bike. Are a FS 29'r or 650B in any long term plans?

Jack O

Hi Jack,
Great to hear from you! Hope you had fun at the Ramble. Thank you for your interest in a mtb frame!

A 650B bike is certainly possible. The only hesitation I have with 650B is available tire and fork selection. There are more options with 29 or 26. Was there a particular reason why you are considering 650B?

Regarding a suspension frame, I have no plans on the board at the moment. It's not really a focus for me. My main focus on the mountain side will be geared and SS rigid frames. I do have goals for a rigid fork design, but I've been swamped with road and cross fabrication. It's something I hope to work on over the winter. I'll keep you guys posted here. In the meantime, we could build a sweet hardtail for you ;-)

Thanks!
Mike

[zank]

Hey, Zank - did you ever use those 29er tubes i sent you? - Garro.

Yo Steve!
You bet. I cobbled together some frames to try out different 29er geometry and different SS tensioning systems. I really like the way those tubes ride. Very point and shoot even with the long Reba fork. None of those frames saw paint though, so the tubes are somewhat unrecognizable at this point. I really appreciate the help!
zank

[beungood]

Hi Jack,
Great to hear from you! Hope you had fun at the Ramble. Thank you for your interest in a mtb frame!

A 650B bike is certainly possible. The only hesitation I have with 650B is available tire and fork selection. There are more options with 29 or 26. Was there a particular reason why you are considering 650B?

Regarding a suspension frame, I have no plans on the board at the moment. It's not really a focus for me. My main focus on the mountain side will be geared and SS rigid frames. I do have goals for a rigid fork design, but I've been swamped with road and cross fabrication. It's something I hope to work on over the winter. I'll keep you guys posted here. In the meantime, we could build a sweet hardtail for you ;-)

Thanks!
Mike

Glad to see your doing well! Was considering 650B as I hear it's tough to fit people under 5'8" Wasn't sure how strong the 29'r wheels would be also.

Keep up the good work!

Jack O

[DrZRM]

Hey Mike,

How's the baby? Or preparations for the baby, can't remember when you guys are due.

I'll start saving my pennies for a geared HT 29er to match my CX frame. I see you have two SS frames in the pipeline, what's pricing going to look like on 29ers? I'll be in touch when the Mrs. Lets me spend money on bikes again.

What tubes are you using? What would you use for a big fella like me?

Zach

[roseyscot]

Hey Mike,

How's the baby? Or preparations for the baby, can't remember when you guys are due.

I'll start saving my pennies for a geared HT 29er to match my CX frame. I see you have two SS frames in the pipeline, what's pricing going to look like on 29ers? I'll be in touch when the Mrs. Lets me spend money on bikes again.

What tubes are you using? What would you use for a big fella like me?

Zach

Z - once I get mine back and painted, I'll let you check it out. It's set up SS now, but could be run with gears.

Hey, Zank - did you ever use those 29er tubes i sent you? - Garro.

Pretty sure those are the tubes I used for 4th place at SSWC 2011 in Ireland last week. As Z said, not painted yet, but damn he built a perfect ride!