Jordan's Bike Blog

  An ode to my pizza bike - the one that started it all!  Bike touring on Vancouver Island This bike has had many lives, providing countless hours of tinkering. It's been a perfect platform to try new things, explore different setups, and get a bit silly. I wanted to create a post to highlight some of the different configurations its had over the years.  As a frame, its nothing special. An older steel Norco, likely made from plumber's pipes. Really nothing to write home about. I can't find a picture of it in its original state unfortunately.  I first got this bike in the summer of 2018. I was inspired by a few of the vintage mtb drop bar conversions you could find on the internet. I found some 25.4 diameter Salsa Woodchippers, picked up some Microshift bar-end shifters, and a set of DMR SuperMoto dirt jump tires to get the build underway.   Running 21 speeds, this thing was heavy! A reliable daily commuter though. I even loaded it up for a few days of touring with my partne

I want to quickly highlight some of my exploits in cold setting vintage steel frames. This can be essential skill when resto-modding vintage steel mountain bikes. Adjusting the rear drop-out width from either 126mm or 130mm to a more standard 135mm spacing will allow you to fit an 8 speed HG freehub, which in turn can accommodate an 8, 9, 10 (and sometimes 12 - i.e. SRAM NX) speed cassette for 1x conversions. This was something I had always heard about, but always felt it to be a risky endeavor. I wasn't sure how you "measure" your effort to avoid bending your chainstays too far, and didn't really know how to ensure the right and left side would bend equally (to maintain frame alignment).  As with most things, there are numerous Youtube videos, blog posts, etc. about the topic and I would be remise if I didn't link to Sheldon Brown's method. However, it is my opinion that Youtube's RJ the Bike Guy outlines the best method for cold setting here .  Using a

Following my "failure" with the Fiori dinglespeed, I set off looking for another canvas to complete my 1x10 winter commuter build for my partner.  Oddly enough, a quick scan of local Kijiji ads and a lovely (well-priced) mid 90's Kona Fire Mountain popped up. I was quick to hop on this one given the prestige of some of these old Konas. To find one in my partner's size, and within budget felt like a real treat.  This one in particular had a lot of potential - a straight blade 1 1/8" Kona Project 2 fork, ultra thin "Race Light" chromoly steel frame tubing, and rear 135mm spacing meant that this frame offered up a lot of potential for a fun build!  Great silhouette on this one!  It didn't take me long to strip it down, throw in the rear 26" wheel with 8sp freehub, and some Surly Open bars to get things mocked up. I really loved the silhouette with the inverted Surly bars! The only downside to this one is the kooky looking stem. Short, 1 1/8"

Late summer I was looking for a project and decided I would tackle a winter commuter build for my partner. I was getting the hang of home wrenching, and had a few parts kicking around so thought I could put together something kind of cool to help her commute to the office year-round.  Luckily, my partner is of average height, so there are lots of vintage mountain bikes out there for her. We ended up settling on this Fiori Avventura for a mere 70$ Just really like the lighting in this photograph Once I got it home and stripped down, I figured I would simply apply the easy, relatively fool-proof 1x conversion equation: add a rear wheel with 8spd freehub, pop on a 10speed cassette, rear mech with clutch, and a narrow-wide chainring, add some funky alt handlebars and were done! Or so I thought...  The older, 126mm rear hub spacing threw a bit of a wrench in my plans. With little knowledge of cold-setting steel frames (at the time), or an ability to think outside the box when it came to usi

The winter of 2020/21, I finally decided to commit myself to the Alberta Rockies bikepacking race, scheduled for August 2021. The race has grown in popularity over recent years, with 2021 being the largest event to date. As with most things, there are ample resources and blogs across the web summarizing the event, the route, and the experience of participating riders. I don't plan to go into too many details about my actual experience riding, but more want to highlight some of the key considerations I made when preparing for my first event. Plus, I don't have much interest in writing "trip reports", so I wont be doing that.  This will be a deep dive into the nitty-gritty details, so if that interests you, feel free to read on.  Bike Check The real reason for drafting this post. So let's get right into it.  For the event, and all of my bikepacking/adventure riding pursuits, I opted to ride my trusty 2011 Surly Karate Monkey. This bike has been my daily driver for m