Jewelry For Your Ride

In stock now at Big Swingin' Cycles - the Chris King bottom bracket is specifically designed for Shimano-compatible external type crank/bottom bracket systems and delivers every benefit you've come to expect from King and in the wide array of colors only King can do.

An available grease injection tool allows the bearings to be purged of existing grease and debris and new grease run through. What better way to maximize the life of your bearings than to do routine maintenance? Especially when it's this easy.

Racers take note! With the Chris King bottom bracket and injection tool, you can train day-to-day with a durable high-viscosity grease and race with a light, fast-rolling low-viscosity grease or oil. Imagine your current Friday night leg-shaving ritual finishing with a few minutes in the garage to get your bike as smooth as you are. Available in 10 colors.

Demo Day This Saturday, March 21st

Big Swingin' Cycles is hosting a mountain demo day to kick off Spring, and the opening of the new Gestalt House in Fairfax. Abby and Ariel from Yeti will be on hand with their complete line of bikes, from the 20 lb. ASR Carbon and 575, to the new 7 inch travel ASR Seven and 303 DH bike. This Just in - Cannondale will also be on hand with their latest and greatest dirt rides, including the new Rize and Moto. Gestalt house's Murphy Mack (Cannondale Rize Test Pilot) will be serving up brews from 20 taps as well as tasty eats. From the launch pad at Gestalt, it's a short pedal to Camp Tamarancho, Pine Mountain and the Water District Lands, and Mt. Tam. The details: Gestalt Fairfax, 123 Bolinas Rd. 94930 Date: 3/21/09, Time 9 AM - 4 PM, hotline: 415-441-6294, e-mail: contact@bigswingincycles.com.

Yeti ASR-7 First Impressions

We recently had an opportunity to demo the long awaited Yeti ASR-7 trail bike. ASR-7 is Yeti's new platform for riders seeking a bit more travel and stability over a bike like a Blur LT, Nomad, or Yeti 575.  Tag lines might include long travel trail bike / enduro / free ride / agressive XC.  Immediately catching my eye - the 1.125 to 1.5 headtube, squared off hydro formed tubing, short, 16.9 inch chainstays,  carbon dog bone, direct mount front derailleur and relatively light weight (in the 30 lb. range) for a 7 inch travel bike.  Like the 575 and AS-R SL - the bike utilizes an elegant, but durable, single pivot attachment of swing arm to frame.  So how's it ride?

We met up with Yeti's traveling side show duo Ariel and Abby  at Skeggs for a little dirt time.  I was wary of riding such a stout bike at a place like Skeggs - I knew it would be fun going down, but climbs at Skeggs are steep, the thought of pedaling the 7 uphill was daunting, and I was curious about bike handling in tighter, switch back type trails.

Yeti's golden touch remains in tact.  We laid tracks down Manzanita trail, arguably the roughest trail Skeggs has to offer - the 7 was rock solid - you noticed the 1.5" headtube plowing over boulders and through rutted sections.  On twisty trails like Blue Bell and Steam Donkey, the bike was surprisingly nimble, probably from Yeti's decision to keep the chain stays short (a full 1/2 inch shorter than a Santa Cruz Nomad) and keep the head tube angle at a modest 67 deg.  Climbing out wasn't as painful as I expected - like the Yeti AS-R and 575, the 7 pedals exceptionally well - my only complaint was the lack of a travel adjust fork on the front (available as an option) - all that travel makes the front end pretty light - nothing a Fox 36 TALAS cranked down to 100mm can't fix!  Ultimately, the ASR-7 is a great choice for a rider who values a "do everything - anywhere" trail bike - the term "Nomad Killer" comes to mind.  Downieville and Northstar would offer great canvases for a 7, but the bike is still viable west of the Sierra.  Get more info on the ASR-7 from Yeti

Just In - Foes XCT 5

Not familiar with Brent Foes? If you like to mountain bike, you should be. He's a guru in full suspension design and has spent the last 14 years innovating and leading the industry. Designs we take for granted today, were pioneered by Foes: monocoque design, single pivot simplicity, swing links, 2:1 leverage ratio. Foes' latest innovation is the exclusive rights to Curnutt shocks for bicycle applications. Curnutt was the first to introduce innovations like stable platform, position sensitive damping, and now, 2:1 rear leverage ratio.

2:1 leverage ratio is of particular significance. Most bikes utilize a 3:1 shock leverage ratio (for every 1 inch of shock stroke, there are 3 inches of rear wheel travel). Foes bikes use a 2:1 leverage ratio to take advantage of the 2:1 ratio's inherent benefits: lower pressure, greater sensitivity, increased shaft velocity and fluid flows.

We have an XCT 5, five inch travel bike available to demo. Come on by and give it a ride. This bike rides very different from anything else we've encountered. It pedals with supreme efficiency, thanks to the Curnutt pioneered platform valving, but once you hit the rought stuff, you can feel the platform give way, and large shock piston stroke as it sucks up the bumps.

Santa's Elves Got Nothin' On Us!

We've been busy as elves assembling SF's coolest collection of kids' bikes and cruisers. If your looking for a truly unique, fun, and high quality bike for a little one, or even one of us big kids, stop by and check out our great selection of Electra cruisers and commuter bikes. These bikes are absolutely inviting. They offer a fun, stylish, and refreshing means of getting out of the car and on a bike!

Paradise Found

Yesterday's trip to Felton with the White Hill Middle School MTB club provided a great afternoon of exceptional riding on an amazing real life canvas of singletrack, Giant Redwood trees, golden orange & red leaf colored trails and rushing water. Everyone had big adrenaline smiles from riding in such an exceptional venue. I never cease to be amazed at how strong and capable these young riders can be!

Jeffrey Hutchins shot some crude video which I've uploaded - the gem is not the video, but the many Woo Hoo's shouted out by the kids.

Big Swingin' Customer Completes Non Stop 509 Mile Ride!

Big Swingin' Cycles Customer and Dolce Vita Team Rider, Jim Gordon recently completed the legendary Furnace Creek 508 ride. For those of you not familiar with "The 508", it's a 509 mile, non-stop race with 35,000 feet of climbing taking riders through Death Valley and much of the California Desert.

I have to confess I had not heard of this race, until my friend and customer, Jim Gordon started coming round the shop and telling us about it. However, until I read his race report, I really had no idea how intense this event is. We certainly see our fair share of Ironman competitors, 24 hour racers and even double century riders. But this event takes the cake.

Jim completed the 509 miles near the 40 hour mark, a bit longer than he had planned, but he started the race with a mild illness and an excruciating knee pain surfaced near the 400 mile mark. Given the exigent circumstances, this is a mind boggling accomplishment. Of course, for a guy who likes to meet up at the Marina Safeway at midnight, for a ride to Santa Barbara (non-stop, of course), what would you expect?