passing the torch

The time has quickly come to officially pass the torch.
Jaxon now fits in the same size T-shirt as I do,
and his shoe size is only one below mine.

Jaxon Perich - 2013

More importantly both boys are riding my quiver of mountain bikes.
They'll be one of the few Millennial Generation kids
that know what thumbies or friction shifters are,
on a hardtail with tired elastomer shocks.
Lucky them!
Nothing like bombing around 23 year old bicycles!

holey chit

The old Bridgestone may have had it's original tires.
The tread was still decent but the sidewalls had ruptured.
This old bike had been attached to the kid trailer for too long,
rarely going farther than the 9 or 10 blocks to Macey's school.
Reminded me of the old beat horse attached to the water pump,
round and round in circles.

Panaracer Dart - MTB tire

Back in the day,
these tires were some of the best.
Panaracer Dart in the front,
and a Smoke in the back.
They are so good they are still making them 20 years later.

Panaracer Smoke - MTB tire

The sticker price for decent rubber was a bit of a shocker.
You can bet we searched for the best deal,
and found a pair of new tires for $10 shipped on ebay.
Gotta love that place.

ebay score

These were some fat 2.3" tires,
and the seller warned they didn't fit his rims.
Our gamble paid off and they snapped in place.

Hutchinson Piranha - MTB tire

The only bummer was the tire was too fat for the frame!
Back in the early 90's a 2.1" tire was as chunky as they got.

too tight

Well this was a bummer.
The easiest fix was too put the other tire in the back.
We were lucky in that both tires,
A Hutchinson Piranha and a Michelin Mountain Dry 2,
could be used on the front or the back.

Michelin Mountain Dry 2 - mtb tire

The Michelin tire barely cleared the rear stays.
This frame was designed with a road bike mentality,
never would they have realized this was in it's evolution.

1990 bridgestone mb-3 mountain bike

Much better with the new shoes!
Those fat tires will compensate for the lack of suspension.

grinding tires

A quick ride and there was enough rub to be annoying.
The lightly off rear rim didn't help,
I'll need to get that trued.

quickee tire mod

Good excuse to break out the grinder.
Hey I couldn't just write a yawner about "how I changed a bicycle tire"!
A bit of the sidewall knobs were flattened down.
Nothing like the smell of burning rubber.

Jakob - test monkey

My test monkey Jakob gave it a thumbs up.
Barely able to reach the pedals,
but he loves riding that bike.
Now it's ready for another 15 years!

TP