News / Fairdale Feed from FairdaleBikes.com

Leif Valin picked up one of our Weekender Frame and Fork sets and did a cool custom build. Check out how he did it below. Always cool to see how adaptable a frameset can be. Name: None Blacker (Spinal Tap influence) Fairdale XL weekender frame/fork build up Headset:Odyssey integrated campy spec Drivetrain: SRAM Rival crankset 50/34 172.5 SRAM Force shifters/ders Med cage Rear der. 11-32 cass KMC X10 chain Odyssey Twisted PC clear pedals Wheels:  DT axis CXD 32h with Specialized Roubaix pro 25/28 tires and rubber tubes(no valve caps! rebel!) Special thanks to Bruce Deppe at Specialized for all the help all the time,rad dude. Brakes: Avid BB7 Road-short pull for road levers Seat: Specialized Toupe` 143mm width (my favorite seat,boner friendly) Bars: Specialized compact expert 44cm w/basic black cork tape Stem: Specialized 90mm (perfect for me with this TT length) Seatpost & Clamp: 27.2 Aluminum something with Salsa seat clamp Lights: Blackburn Flea usb rechargeable front and rear   H2o cages: 2 specialized z cages Extra`s: -I bypassed the lower stay Br. cable stops and went with a longer piece of housing with cable boot to keep water out,good for all weather riding. -Fr. der inline cable adjuster Fenders: Planet Bike clip on-For now, full coverage for touring. Very special thanks to: Taj,Chris,Nuno,Jim,Povah,Mike,Bobby,Sandy,Seth,Wooster,all my friends and anyone that has fun on a bike and isn`t afraid to wave or jump in a dumpster.

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  A couple weeks ago I sold my house and got a Fairdale van. I left Austin and started a 2 or 3 month road trip around the country. The first part of the trip was pretty boring since I caught a flu and struggled to deliver Jim Cielencki’s stuff to Buffalo (he just moved back there from Austin). After that I cruised across the midwest to visit some family in Michigan. Today the trip started for real and I hope to have some interesting content from my adventures to post up here in the following weeks. Here’s a quick recap of things so far…         Slight color clash on the street in Buffalo.       I swung through Fairdale, KY on the way up. Lot’s of good photo-ops for the new Fairdale bus. Stoic Monty representing.  We do not sell sandwiches.  Stopped by the largest cherry pie ever because it looked like Pizza from the highway.  Monty and I will be camping our way around the country for the next few months, visiting bike shops and doing some bike rides. Good fun! Crossed the Mackinaw bridge today and made it to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. From here we will wander along the shore of Lake Superior and on in to Wisconsin.

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When I think of riding a tandem I think of laughing out loud at how goofy it feels. Whether it’s that spooky out of control feeling of being on the back seat with handlebars that don’t steer, or the silly “oh shit” feeling you have trying to steer and control a tandem from the front it is always a riot. It got me thinking that Fairdale should have a tandem… at least one for us to play on here at the office. A couple of Flyer bikes were in front of me and I realized could probably plug them together pretty easily. Brave test riders Logan and Ariel and Hershel take the tandem on it’s maiden downtown cruise.  So, with idea in hand I talked to Clint Reynolds who is never afraid to build a bicycle contraption. Clint builds Credence Bikes and is also the guy I call in to weld up Texas Toast Jam rails. With in no time Clint had a make shift jig built up, two bikes cut in half and was starting to put things together. The end result is surprisingly dialed! Actually looks like it’s supposed to be that way. Even more amazing the stock sprockets just happened to be a magic gearing that a chain fits on with no sloppiness or tensioner.                 Riding it is pretty funny… being that it’s not exactly designed from the start to be a tandem it flexes quite a lot. The flex actually makes it more fun to ride though… that out of control feeling being exaggerated by the bikes silliness and tendency to swerve when the back rider leans. I’d love to actually put a bike like this into production. Just a fun cruiser tandem. The big hurtle is how expensive shipping tandems are. Maybe I’ll find some inexpensive frame coupling system that could help fit this into a more normal bike box and keep the price to a reasonable level. Anyway, find an old tandem and go for a cruise! You’ll laugh I promise.

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  Leif Valin took our new Terra-Cotta Coaster out for a spin and sent us some nice photos. Took a little ride out to Morrison Colorado on my Fairdale Coaster with my friend Mia on a nice sunny day. Rode up some hills, coasted down some hills, did some woollies, had some fun on my coaster, some times the simplest is the best! No fart rate monitors or Strava recordings, no brake levers, (more aero?) just simple bike riding fun. We had some ice cream and coffee in Morrison,hiked around a bit for some great views generally took it easy. Mia almost got eaten by a prehistoric bird while taking care of business on the phone while riding! Luckily I snapped a pic before it flew off or you might not believe me. Watched some Prairie Dogs playing and talking to each other,cool buddies. They have a good warning system for all their neighbors, they start chirping and squeaking like mad when perceived danger is around,run,run,run,it translates.

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The Spin Bicycle Show will be happening in London on May 4th-5th. Check out Fairdale’s on display and their UK launch through Triton Imports.  

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Monty and I took a drive from Austin out to Denver to visit Fairdale rider Leif Valin and check out the NAHBBS. The drive was extremely peaceful since a lot of it is through the desert in West Texas. Took my time and stopped a lot to wander around. Monty got to check out some sweet sites and new smells. I saw a pretty kick ass Fairdale rabbit in the sky… stoked on that! Also passed the driving time by brainstorming new more efficient E-bikes. I brought my new Weekender that I customized with some drop bars and a front derailleur. The frame sets come with cable routing for a front shifter in case anyone wanted to add one. Pretty sure that next year we’ll have a bike with that option for sale too. When I got there Leif and I went for a ride. It was crazy because we rode about 30 minutes and it was perfectly dry and then all of a sudden it started snowing like crazy. I absolutely loved it because I never get to see snow in Texas. Disc brakes work in all weather…. tested and proved! Monty was seriously digging the snow too. he just charged around everywhere like a mad man. Stayed at Leif’s house that was full of rad and funny art. We rode from Littleton into Denver for the bike show. There’s 100’s of miles of bike roads in Denver that are really amazing. They are plowed by the city, they don’t cross car roads and are full of beautiful scenery and animals. I really fell in love with that part of Denver. Being able to get around a busy city without having to deal with cars at all is a dream come true! Cold or wet weather is really not an issue if you have the right gear. I still get freaked out by all the fancy tech fabrics in cycling clothes, but they really are amazing. You can stay dry, warm and not sweat in almost any situation with the right gear. Once we got the bike show we checked out the usual group  of both kooky and amazing hand built bikes. I especially like this massive off road trail building bike by Moots. There’s always something extra special about titanium bikes too.   There is a lot wood bikes too. Not sure what a wood bike would be like but I would like to try it (ha ha). I did a terrible job of taking pictures of all the beautiful bikes there. Hit up ProllyIsNotProbably if you want to see how amazing some of the work was.   After the show I drove the sun up with a bit of a marathon drive back to Texas. Again it was a very pleasant drive. Thanks to Leif for putting me up and showing me the city.          

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  Taj got a little interview over on the Rapha website about Fairdale. Check it out here: http://www.rapha.cc/taj-mihelich Thanks to George Marshall of the Albion for the photo.

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  The new Bicycle Times magazine  has a review of the Fairdale Flyer. We’re really honored by their words and feel like they captured the intent of the Flyer perfectly. “I fell in love with the bike on the first pedal stroke,” and, “…the bike put a smile on my face every time I mounted it.” Aside from all the obvious stroking and mounting jokes we truly appreciate the love from BT. Check out the full review below and pick up an issue too!

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  Team rider Sandy Carson scored a really great interview over at the Full Frame Collective. Check it out!

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Our team rider Ryan Worcester  is one of the masters of adventure. And he’s a damn fine photographer. Here’s a few snaps from recent days that show you a bit of what we mean. From BMX to mountain climbing in Hawaii to skiing the Northwest. What a ride! Weekender cruise. Be sure to check out Ryan’s One Day In Maui video. Look at that happy spec on the very top! What a place!  

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