Wearing many hats here at Campfire, Jake has found great alignment for his many skills and interests working with us. Jake grew up in the Tucson area enjoying many of the outdoor adventuring opportunities from running to climbing. But more recently Jake has gone all in into the world of cycling and bikepacking.
We gladly yanked Jake away from REI where he had gotten himself established as a bicycle mechanic. Now he is wrenching for us and along with taking care of our event and product photography.
Another great bikepacking business skill that Jake brings to the table is bike bag sewing. Jake builds great bags under his brand Good Dog Packs.
A continuation of pi day – March. 17, 2025
Following up on David’s tidbit from last week about our Pi Day celebration, here’s a photo of the 3.14 pies right before we devoured them on Payday Pi Day Friday. It was truly a glorious day!
80’s heartthrob – March. 10, 2025
This week, we had the pleasure of building a bike for Justin, an avid collector of colorful vintage steel mountain bikes. He brought in an ’88 Rockhopper and a collection of classic parts, and we were all excited to get it rolling again.
We added some colorful grips, housing, and chainring bolts to give the bike a bit of pop, and polished the silver components to a brilliant shine. With new bearings installed, this Rockhopper rides like new and will make a fantastic town cruiser for Justin.
Color Explosion – March. 03, 2025
If you recall my Tidbit from December featuring Cayce’s vibrant bike build, you’ll know he’s determined to create the world’s most colorful bike. He recently visited the shop looking to add some pop to his brakes, which we easily accomplished.
Installing red anodized Equal brake calipers and Hope Tech floating rotors made a bold statement on his already eye-catching wheel build. His next goal is to bring some color to the drivetrain. Stay tuned for more overstimulating color combinations!
Toby’s birthday – February. 24, 2025
In honor of Toby’s birthday this week, I wanted to share a memory from a bike ride we took with Henley a few years ago. We were exploring a road in the Galiuro Mountains, hoping to reach an old mining town. The ride took us through Copper Creek, where we encountered remnants of the area’s mining past – old equipment, ruins, and discolored water. It was a challenging but enjoyable day, full of adventure and hot weather.
BCT on the Kona Honzo – February. 17, 2025
This last weekend we rode the gnarly BCT trail just north of Phoenix. I decided to take my raked out Kona Honzo build I built last year. I dusted off my old sewing machine to make a custom frame bag that fits this awkwardly small frame triangle. A few other accommodations, like an old man mountain rear rack and tailfin fork mounts. This bike shredded the downhills, as I struggled up the climbs and made for a great bike on this beautiful trail.
Toby and Dan’s Mountain Pancakes – February. 10, 2025
This months Breakfast by Bike was an absolute delight! Last week, we gathered to enjoy coffee and pancakes (courtesy of Toby and Dan while soaking up the morning sun. A-Mountain provided stunning views of Tucson city scapes and the surrounding mountain ranges.
Spank oozy wheel build. – February. 03, 2025
Last week was indeed a busy one for me, filled with wheel builds. One of the highlights was building a Spank Oozy wheel for my friend Gonzo. I also breathed new life into an old Crank Bros hub, lacing it up with fresh spokes, Moné Raw brass nipples, and another Spank Oozy rim. I’m confident that this wheel will handle anything the trails throw at it.
Ritchey Outback Build – January. 27, 2025
This week I had the privilege of swapping out a Specialized Diverge frame for a Ritchey Outback frame for a customer. The upgraded frame offers the comfort of steel and enhances the bike’s overall aesthetic. I’m looking forward to seeing this bike out on the road!
Sliding bike storage. – January. 20, 2025
I tackled my bike storage woes head-on. Living with two other bike lovers means we’re never short on bikes, but we are short on space. My solution: a heavy-duty, sliding, hanging system. I used a sliding winch rail and rollers, then bolted bike hooks onto the rollers. The hooks rotate 360 degrees, making it easy to hang and stack bikes. The bikes slide out like t-shirts in a closet – super accessible! I’m pretty excited about this quick project.
Fresh kicks for our friend Josh. – January. 13, 2025
This week we finished up Josh’s wheel builds. A dynamo front hub and some new Alex adventure 2 rims. This commuter is ready to go any time of the day.
Bit of riding in the white mountains. – January. 6, 2025
I was able to take my single speed mountain bike to the white mountains to enjoy some lava rocky single track, frozen over streams and some temps once the sun came out.
Wrapping up the year with a chain. – December. 30, 2024
Today we are looking at the craziest cassette grab I have ever seen. Due to an oversight a previous mechanic had on this bike, this DT swiss rear hub was not put back together correctly causing the free-hub to lock up. Nobody knew this bike was accidentally made into a fixie due to the Bosch mid drive motor’s “free wheeling crank” a redundant function on these machines that help prevent catastrophic failure during a motor lock up. Once the cassette grabbed at speed the chain was gobbled up by the cassette, causing a frightening experience for the rider. This was a fun bike to diagnose for me and I learned a little along the way.
Burger’s first Campfire custom – December. 16, 2024
Today we are looking at a photo of Burger taking a photo of bike build parts they assembled for a customer. This is their first custom build for a customer and they have put all the parts together perfectly. I can’t wait to put this bike together and get it rolling.
Cayce’s colorful wheels – December. 9, 2024
This last week I got the privilege to build one of the craziest and most colorful wheelsets to ever roll this world. Cayce got some powder coated spokes, anodized hubs and rims from Onyx and Son, limited edition Gravel King tires and a custom Sinewave Beacon. I can’t wait to see where these funky wheels take Cayce.
Gustavo’s purple Univega – December. 2, 2024
Yesterday I got the opportunity to overhaul our friend Gustavo’s beautiful purple Univega superstrada. All new bearings on every moving part, fresh grease, a wax and polish, new tape and chain. This bike rides like new! These are always fun projects and satisfying to finish up.
Black Friday deal in the shop! – November. 25, 2024
Free selfies with Jojo! (our temporary celebrity employee) while supplies last. Jojo has been hanging out in the shop this week while his trusted human has been on vacation. Come by the shop and see Jojo’s glory in person this holiday shopping season.
A cool car, at a bike shop? – November. 18, 2024
Working downtown Tucson we get to see a lot of fun people and cars. Yesterday walking to my favorite burrito shop, The Little One, just a block away from the shop I see this amazing Ford model A from the 1920’s drives by me. I’m more of a bike nut than a car nut but it’s a cool sight to see!
Split belt Rohloff Ogre – November. 11, 2024
This week we got to put together this slick split belt Rohloff Ogre build. Wrenching in the desert we don’t see belt drive bikes often. Pinning together a split belt is an exciting thing to experience. This belt and bike will travel many hard miles before needing service.
The New SRAM’s Apex12 Groupset – November. 04, 2024
I got to install the new Apex 12 speed X-actuation last week on a monster-cross build. I installed these brifters on a carbon hard tail with a Sram Gx eagle rear derailleur. For the brake calipers, I installed some Sram Guide ultimate post mount calipers to adapt it on the mountain bike frame.
I have to admit, I am very impressed by the new brake feel and crisp MTB shifting and compatibility of this group set. I wish I took a picture of the full build, but I got this image of the brand new levers. This upgrade would be fantastic on a Salsa Fargo or cutthroat build if some one wanted the massive range of mountain bike gearing and hydraulic brakes and drop bars.
The mysteries of dropper posts – October. 28, 2024
Everyone’s first experience with a dropper post is nothing short of a mystical experience. How does it work? What’s the secret? Why would I need this? Where does the post go?
Dropper posts have to be one my favorite bike components and after taking many dropper posts apart and learning their secrets they still amaze me. Here’s a picture of the guts of a dropper post before being reassembled, an amazing feat of bicycle engineering.
David working on bikes – October. 21, 2024
Today we have a AI generated photo of David wrenching on a bike. I’d like to think that this worthy of a tidbit. I hope you enjoy this image
Sonoran Summertime Campfire – October. 14, 2024
When the sun goes down in the Sonoran desert, and the temperature drops to a brisk 89 degrees campers, bike packers and thru-hikers quickly scramble to find a source of warmth and light. There is no such thing as a perfect Sonoran Summertime Campfire but I’ll share with you some tips on how to create one.
Step one: Grab a headlamp or some sort of light source, a bottle of some sort and something orange and transparent (in this case I used a headlamp, a small bottle of fireball and a Nalgene water bottle).
Step two: Defuse the light through the orange item to recreate the signature campfire orange color and place it on top of the water bottle
If these two steps are preformed correctly people will gather around, kick their feet up and start to tell stories. In addition: this fire is a smokeless fire.
Bonus tip: Add something in the bottle to draw attention and give people something to stare at, just like a real fire! For this I used 6 Tangerines to get this desired effect.
Matt’s Mash build – October. 07, 2024
This week, I got to do a frame swap—taking parts parts off a Canyon Grizl and putting them on this sweet Mash frame. The color combo on this bike is sure to turn some heads. This bike rips around the city with ease. All in all, a fun build indeed!