Campfire Cycling

Take it easy Toby

When you call into campfire and chat in depth with Toby about bike packing gear, there’s a solid chance he’s laying on the ground kicking his feet up, just chillin.
-Jake

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Jacob the bicycle wizard

If you haven't gathered by now, Jacob is a complete bicycle wizard. Over the years I’ve seen him solve numerous long unsolved problems with people's bikes. If you ever wonder how he does it- he does it completely with his mind.

Here he is plugged in to this Fazua system on a rad Salsa Wanderosa, fine tuning it and giving it system updates. The world of bikes is better and funner with Jacob in it!
-Toby

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Always Second Best

For our last “Breakfast by Bike,” Toby decided it was the perfect time to get a tooth infection, leaving , , and me to take over pancake duty. All morning people kept asking, “Where’s Toby?” and “How does your pancake art compare to Toby’s?” Needless to say, he was definitely missed.

That said, credit where it’s due: the team did a pretty solid job holding down the fort. Still, I think it’s safe to say Toby better be back in June… or we may have a full-on pancake revolt on our hands, with pancakes being thrown instead of eaten.
-Sarah

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Make it yours…

I’m gonna continue this make-it-mine series by mixing some repairs that come in the shop with cool Make-it-Mine bikes that we process through our configurator.

This week’s feature is our customer Doug’s Pivot. Beyond some wild mechanical mods—Doug is very into interesting DIY projects in all corners of life—he decided to give his beloved Pivot a little sparkle. It’s a fun touch that gives the bike real personality and matches Doug’s excellent shirt game.

Enjoy making your bike yours.
-Toby

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Cinnamon roll from Molly

Last Thursday, Molly surprised Elliot and me with a giant cinnamon roll from a new bakery down the street called 1989 Bake House. It was amazing—not too sweet and very fluffy. 10/10!
-Jake

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Party in the front

Mullets are supposed to be business in the front and party in the back. Our Jimmy John’s delivery person Zack has a different take on how mullets work- he sees the front as a party. Here’s his Salsa Journeyer that is heavily modified for his delivery needs.

He uses a 27.5 fatty tire up front for better cornering grip (reverse mullet) he has chopped the lower drops off his bars (he’s had a few crashes and doesn’t ride in the drops anyway), and his sweet mullet on his head (short front hair is faster) keeps him moving swiftly so he can knock out as many deliveries as possible.

Fun fact: Zack just got a sweet Confluence to add some more zip and zing to his deliveries! We’ll see what modifications he does to that baddy!

-Toby

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Bike pile

If you’ve been in the shop the last few weeks, you’ve likely seen the growing pile of bike boxes. Many of these will be built and shipped to our customers, while the rest will eventually fill our showroom. The pile includes exciting new models like the Surly Sorceress, the Kona Unity, and the Kona LBF. We can’t wait to see them all built up.

Here's Elliott and Sarah for scale.
-Jake

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Tombstone Rustlin’

This past weekend I took a day off of work, borrowed a friend of mine’s time trail bars, loaded the bike on the moto and headed to Tombstone for a solo one day effort of the Tombstone Hustle route.

I left after work and spent a night cowboy camping watching shooting stars and the Milky Way outside of Senoita, I rolled into Tombstone the next day just as the sun was rising and set off.
No gps data on my handlebars as I knew the route, I kept my phone in my jersey pocket and refused to look at it except to call my partner with an update.

Just riding by feel the whole time. I had enough water and snacks and didn’t need to stop to refuel at Sunsites. Just movement through the landscape and connection to my body. It was a very grounding experience to be alone with myself in the desert. Just under six hours later I rolled back to the moto properly thrashed from the effort, and happy to have spent the day doing what I love where I love.


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Start With Kindness

The community we build has such depth. Take care of people you do not know. You may yet get to know them and what better way than through cycling.
-Molly

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Testing the New Surly Sorceress

This week, our friend Spencer brought in the new Surly Sorceress and kindly let me borrow it for a test ride over the weekend.

I took it to my favorite proving ground, the 50 Year Trail system in Catalina. The trail is packed with slick rock, jumps, technical climbs, and fast descents. As a fan of slacked-out hardtails, I had a blast. The Sorceress reminded me of my Kona Honzo ST; the short chainstays make it snappy, while the long front end feels stable on descents. I felt incredibly confident on this bike.

I was particularly impressed by the stock tires and the SRAM Eagle Transmission spec’d on this build. On the downside, I wasn't a fan of the stock saddle or handlebars, and I noticed a lack of mounting options for bottles and racks. While it isn't designed specifically for bikepacking, I think it would perform well on demanding routes like the AZT.

Overall, I’m stoked that Surly created a hardtail that is this much fun to ride. It’s a bike that can handle just about any trail in Tucson with ease.
-Jake

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