Money is Money

Let's talk.

Bikes are inexpensive to maintain. And we at Salvagetti want you to be happy, so we have a short list of how to save a pretty decent amount of money while having a better running bike.

In order of the magnitude of how much money you will save:

1. Replace your chain before it is too stretched out. After a chain stretches, it acts as a hammer on your gears and derailleur. Once a chain is TOO worn out, you have to replace the whole drivetrain because the new chain will not interact nicely with your old stuff. Chains can safely stretch to about 0.75% growth before they should be changed out. Drivetrains *can* last several chains...
Money savings - $100 to a huge amount depending on how fancy of a bike you have.

2. Wipe off your chain after rides. This removes the nasty stuff that causes the chain to wear out. After you wipe your chain, look to see if it looks like in needs lube. It should look sweaty if it is lubed properly. After you lube your chain, let the chain soak in the lube before wiping it down.
Money saving potential - see above.

3. Pump up your tires - This saves your energy. This make the tire act like the experts have designed it. Tubes aren't all that expensive to replace, but wheels (which a properly inflated tire protects quite well) can get very pricy. Road tires also are going to give you more miles if they are properly inflated when in use. Pump up your road tires before each ride. Mountain tires should be checked about every 2 to 4 days.
Money saving potential - $5 to the cost of wheels.

4. Don't skimp on tires - This is one of those touchy subjects for some. Tires, like the Continental Ultra Sport ($16 MSRP) are great tires, BUT NOT FOR DENVER. Getting a slightly more thorn resistant tire will end up saving you more than the difference in price. A great Continental Tire for the money is the Ultra Gatorskin ($40 MSRP). In addition to you not visiting the bike shop for flats, you will also get more miles for the dollar and have a better riding bike the whole time. The Gatorskin is a *less expensive* option.
Money saving potential - $5 to who know how many flats you could get with one tire.

Please feel free to post other ideas for maintenance that pay you back.

Buffalo Creek vs. Dodge Ram Van

We rode in the shop's new Getting-To-The-Trails-And-That-Is-All Van to Buffalo Creek, near Pine. Pine is a community and not a city (from what I understand). The new to us van handled the trip quite well. Since it is still not quite ready for the public, we simply stuffed the 3 bikes into the back of the van and headed out.

Nick, Dave and I (Scott T.) arrived at the Ranger Station where the temp was a good bit cooler than in Denver. It hadn't rained up there for a couple days, and it appeared that we were going to have nothing but sunshine. We suited up and began our trip.

Within about a half an hour, arm warmers were too much and water was being consumed. I was in some knickers that were probably a bit too warm as well. But, soon we were in the midst of same amazing singletrack and temperature was our last concern. The trail was fantastic. Lots of fun swoopy climb/decent/climb sections. Lots of grinding climbs. By grinding, I simply mean that having a granny gear was useful. The climb to the "top" was not horrible, not techy, but all around fun.

Side note: The shop just got a GPS computer. I am new to it. And I loved messing with it during the ride, which is completely unnecessary. But, I didn't know that. So, there is a 2 mile section on this map that it appears we teleported. We might have... but I remember it as being one of the more fun, fast and oh-so-downhill sections of the trail. The teleported section appears as a perfectly straight line on the map. Very impressive. Oops. I know it wouldn't pushed the average speed up a bunch.

Down sides of Buffalo Creek would be that you pretty much have to drive there (hence, the van) and the trail gets sandy and loose in lots of places.

Was it worth it? Hell yes.
Will I go again? Hell Yes.
Did I eat a tremendous amount of food after the ride? Hell Yes.
Should you go next time we ride together? I think so.

Nick: Kona 29" SS - Green with a grinning faced rider
Dave: Vassago 29" Fixed - Orange with a crazed faced rider
Scott: Jamis Dakar XAM - Gray with a always hungry faced rider

By the way, look at this if you want to be bewildered for a few days: Buffalo times Eight

Trail Maintenance is fun!

This is a good thing that one of our customers sent us. Pass it along to people you know who ride mountain bikes.

Riding High

I went to Palmer park in Colorado Springs for a mountain bike ride at dusk last night. IT WAS FUN. So, much fun that I had to put it in CAPS. I went with one of the leaders of Ride Against The Machine, our team of fun-loving-but-not-snotty racers.

We went up and down and up and down and up and down. Then we stopped because the trail ended...



So, we turned around and had a blast going down. Palmer park is one of the most fun biking spots in all of Colorado. It is friendly enough for newbies, but can be challenging enough for the seasoned veteran. The only thing that sucks is all the High School kids smoking pot (everywhere). As a tip to the police, ride your bikes through Palmer Park at dusk if you need to bust some kids for marijuana. As a tip to cyclists, be aware that these kids have no trail etiquette. And it is okay because it is fun to scare stoners.

It is hard to leave Palmer Park without a smile on your face. We left sad that we had to leave, but the sun was gone already.

Bike Review: Jamis Dakar XAM (which we have a demo of for you to ride): Fun. Fast. Comfy. Great Climbing. Heavy (steady). Easy on the eyes. Great parts spec for the money. Faster than you would expect.

At 4 years of age

We are 4 years old on Saturday. And for our birthday, we are giving away some stuff. What stuff? Well that has to be a surprise. If you are on the mailing list, you know some of the surprises, but you don't know everything. (By the way, feel free to share the "password" with friends who aren't on the mailing list yet.)

Come by the shop and celebrate with us from 10am till 7pm!

This is a thank you to everyone who has sent a friend in; To everyone who has come and shared their Sunday morning with us; To everyone who came out to the July 4th Bicycle Swappy Swap; To people who we love and who love us back.

When this business opened, people told us that if we lasted 1 year, we would be in the upper 75% and we would have made it. When we turned 1, "they" said it would take 3 years to be a sound business that would be around for a while. At the 3rd birthday, "they" moved it right up to 10 years. What are they gonna say at 10 years?!? 25? 40? Haha...

We are honored that Denver has responded to Salvagetti in this way. We plan to continue to make Denver a better place to live.

Join us.

This is how it should be done!

This is nutty. Just keep watching. It is worth it.

French Bottom Brackets and the like

Please note that Salvagetti Bicycle Workshop is here for the greater good, not to pick fights with people who have strong opinions about weak products.

We see lots of cool old Peugeots and Motobecanes at the shop here. Some of them are rare specimens and some are run-of-the-mill-but-loved-all-the-same. The trouble with French bikes is that the French felt (and who knows if they were right?) that they knew more than the rest of the planet about bicycles. In addition to the geometry being for a select few types of people (oh wait, am I saying they may have been wrong?), the stem and bottom bracket are completely proprietary. This means that the French would have needed to keep making the correct parts and tools in order to keep their good name alive.

And.
They.
Haven't.

And those who love the old French bikes are in for a few interesting discoveries which I will list quickly:

1. The geometry is entirely too long for most folks to ride comfortably.
2. The stems and headsets work together and must be swapped for similar spec'd (and not available new) parts. This limits severely the ability to fit bicycles to their owners.
3. And lastly (for now), the bottom bracket is its own thing all together. Phil Wood does make one but...

You cannot *easily* get the tools to repair any of the French threads. If you find old tools, you are lucky, but not necessarily set up, to get things done.

We recently ran into this problem with several bikes and we are searching out alternative solutions that don't involve a RIG*.
So, the lesson here is that if you MUST get a French bike then you MUST ride it and you MUST get it checked to see if it is something that will work out for you.


*Rigs are using something that isn't made for something else for a different purpose that is gonna probably FAIL!