Bigfoot is real ?!?!? – September. 30, 2024
I searched far and wide and looked my hardest. It was to no avail until….
This Bigfoot was real, really fake. Here I am posed with an exact scale replica of the mysterious Bigfoot! Feast your eyes on that creature!
Bigfoot is waiting – September. 23, 2024
I’m not sure if I have divulged before how much I love cryptids. Wether it be the elusive Yucca man in the desert, or a chupacabra running by just out of the corner of your eye. As we set foot (and wheels) into the forests of the white mountains for the lobo Lupe’s upper lollipop loop, I kept a keen watch for the seldom seen Bigfoot. I kept my neck on a swivel, I kept my ears sharp, and I looked for signs; we saw some, but did we find Bigfoot? Find out next time…
Make it yours – September. 16, 2024
Check out this make it mine from today! I love when people take advantage of our make it mine system and do some fun colors, make it reliable with a tubeless setup and add a dropper to give the bike a little more pizzaz in the scary stuff!
Bikers Beware! – September. 9, 2024
Check out this sign someone posted outside the UofA. Don’t worry it’s a low traffic stop sign at the edge of campus, so usually most people roll it to keep momentum as they travel through to their destination. I’m actually also a big fan of the Idaho stop (when no cars are present a stop sign is a yield and a stop light is a stop sign) it creates aware riders that pay attention to their surroundings and make safe choices to move forward. Statistically you are much more likely to be hit while you have the right of way of a green light (the old left hook or someone turning right through you. So get to your destination safely and aware- however that may be.
Gas can flipper do-dad – September. 2, 2024
Throughout the year after trips I always end up with some iso-butane gas containers from my cooking setup that have like maybe a boil left in them. I don’t really want to carry an extra can with me so I end up piling up the empties on my shelf with my camping gear. I finally got around to ordering one of the gas can flipper refilled thingy mabobbers. I haven’t used it yet- but look forward to trying it. I guess the secret is to heat one can and cool the other and keep a scale on hand to mark weights and figure out when one is full? Anyone have any tips? I haven’t used mine yet.
Traipsing through the wilderness – August. 26, 2024
It’s about that time as the weather slowly changes and works its way towards third summer then slowly coming towards fall. You can feel it in the breeze, in the evenings that are slowly cooling off and we start to ride our bikes more again. As that time approaches I slowly stretch out of my summer slumber and am ready to do a trip. I’m super excited for our fall trip to do a small piece of Forrest Radarian’s route El Lobo Lupes. Here’s a shot of our last forestry trip to the Lincoln national forest when we did the Rollin and Tumblin route.
Night Moves – August. 19, 2024
Lately I’ve been enjoying some fun night rides, whether it’s by myself, with a friend (or friends) and my family. Here’s a shot from a recent ride this last week, it’s from a long exposure at 10pm at the historic San Pedro Chapel in the El Fuerte community. I leave you with these words from Bob Seger: “ Workin’ on our night moves. Tryna make some front page drive-in news. Workin’ on our night moves In the summertime …Mm-mm…. In the sweet summertime.”
Popsicles for all! – August. 12, 2024
Our friend, amazing artist, and bike whisperer extraordinaire Sean T Randolph has been bringing us popsicles whenever he pops in to help us battle the heat with Tucson Summers. They have been amazing and a tasty variety of refreshing fruit to cool you down on a hot day. To make it even better we’ve been sharing them with friends and delivery drivers who have been braving the heat and to deliver us bikes and parts to keep the shop running smoothly. Check out our amazing FedEx Driver Carlos enjoying a tasty treat!
Clickstand – August. 5, 2024
Recently I was gifted a Clickstand by one of our rad customers Justin who we’ve done some really cool bike builds for. These have been on my radar (as someone who has forever been never kickstand (I have no idea why, maybe I’m just super stubborn) and have peaked my interest for the possibility of multi use. 1: it props your bike up (even when loaded) so it is easy to unpack, grab gear or just protect your bike. 2: it could replace a hiking pole or tent pole for a tarp/emergency shelter kit. Generally on camping trips I sleep sans tent (cowboy camping in colloquial terms), unless a storm is known to be coming and I’ll bring a tent. As effective as they are, I don’t love sleeping in tents- I sleep hot and prefer fresh air running through. In steps the Clickstand, I have a bike holder and a tarp holder! The cool thing about tarp shelters is they can be ultralight and pack very small, meaning I wouldn’t think twice of bringing it on a trip as a just in case! Because the thing is, on a few trips I risked it and paid the price by having to improvise and jump in with someone else, thanks to Henley Phillips, Nate Garcia and Josh Lipton for putting up with me!
Wheel Building – July. 26, 2024
Wheel building for some people can be either an extremely frustrating experience or this beautifully meditative process. Here at campfire we all fortunately love wheel building because we get to build quite a few. We are extremely lucky to have super wheel builder Ellie here at the shop who also spent years teaching the art of wheel building. Pictured here is Jake and Ellie in a build off to build a couple epic wheels for some customers. The other cool thing about wheels is they can be really simple and classic or really wild, with different colored spokes, nipples or even weird lacing patterns.
Bxbxbx is back! – July. 19, 2024
Breakfast by bike has been a fun evolution and a cool community event that we do here at the shop. Bxbxbx is a hosted offshoot of the fantastic #coffeeoutside movement sweeping the world. Breakfast by bike started off with a donut ride, than evolved into making pancakes for folks, than coffee than basic pancake art and has now evolved into multi color pancake art, sometimes our buddy Dan from lowball bikes comes out and makes eggs and salsa as well! It also has the hot month evolution (may,June, August and sometimes September) of making cold brew and picking up some donuts! I’m stoked to announce I just finished putting together our calendar for breakfast by bike for the rest of the year. Come out and hang!
Wolf Tooth Flat-Mount to Post-Mount Adaptor – July. 12, 2024
The other day I got the joy of installing a new Sram Apex 12 speed eagle groupset for a customers drop bar mountain build. I’m super stoked on this new gruppo because it can run a 10-52 cassette without modification. Don’t get me wrong I like the ratio kit, but the brakes are soooooo much better on the 12 speed apex kit. That leads to the next isssue- the kit is designed for a gravel bike so it comes with flat mount brakes. On a mountain bike it comes with post or is mount brakes- the calipers can be swapped for a cleaner setup (at a cost $$$) or in steps Wolf Tooth with these awesome adaptors: problem solved, money saved and the setup works flawlessly!
Recovering Tim’s Stolen Bike – July. 5, 2024
I had a pretty exciting start of the week this week. Woke up in the morning on Monday and saw that a friends bike was stolen the night before on fourth avenue near the shop. On Monday mornings we start a little later because we close late and i usually do my favorite thing, a meandering ramble around town with no destination or agenda except to get back to work in time.
So I meandered and cruised around keeping an eye peeled for Tim’s bike- I looked in all the usual spots to no avail, but made a double back to look at some cool architecture near downtown. I came back through our historic courthouse (where Dillinger was held in court) and lo and behold, someone was riding Tim’s bike! I rolled up on them and stopped and talked for a bit and let them know they were riding a stolen bike. They were chill so we talked for a bit and got them reimbursed.
Now Tim has his beloved, special, custom built, sentimental ride. The key takeaway is not to judge, it sucks and is violating when a bike gets stolen, buts it’s really just a symptom of sad times. And I’m stoked the individual(who was houseless) has some cash back in his pocket to get a new ride (we sent him to Bicas to get an affordable refurbished bike)