Gary Fisher Superfly SS - First Ride/Review

I unveiled the new ride this morning on the Friday morning executive ride. Mike M, Dave C and I met at 6:30 sharp in La Costa. I gave Mike the privilege of lifting the bike out of the back of my truck. He was in awe. He could not believe the weight (or should I say lack of weight) of the new ride. He commented on how it felt like a road bike.

Thanks to Mike W for dropping off a rear cog for me to complete the project. It was not the 20 I wanted, but a 21 proved to work just fine. I went with a White Brothers Carbon rigid fork for the front. I also added some nifty Bontrager Race-X-Lite carbon bar ends that I discovered the last time I was in Wisconsin at TREK. Shimano XTR brakes, Truvative crank and Bontrager wheels round out the package. I was very pleased with the maden voyage. No mechanical problems and no adjustments were needed. I was pleased to see how well the rear wheel held even with the horizontal dropouts. I had been concerned that it might pull sideways under a heavy load, but it was not a problem.

I think I am going to have a lot of fun on this thing. It acceclerates out of the swith back turns effortlessly. The rigid front fork is great for out of the saddle climbing and bar-ends are great for yanking on the bars.

And the best part we found out we can get a few more.... Check it out.

Wednesday Night After Party

If you have not been to one of our Wed night rides, you should come just to be served by the host. Look how I welcome our new rider Connie after she has a hard ride with the boys..

Connie wants Red wine at a Beer party and I bring it. How can the W5 boys do better than that.

So remember - If you want it, we will give it to you.

Superfly SS Still Not Ready For Prime Time

Us 29er guys have it hard. I am having a tough time finding a rear cog that will give me the correct gearing for my new ride. There are plenty of cogs out there for the 26" wheel guys, but I need something a little bigger to go with my BIG WHEELS. Some people have been asking me about the Superfly SS frame and how it works so I thought I would share a few more photos.

The frame has horizontal rear drop-outs that allow you to slide the rear wheel back and forth to get the correct chain tension without using a heavy eccentric BB or a hokey chain tensioner.
The frame also has a slick "sliding" mount for the rear brake caliper so that you can re-position the brake after moving the wheel. I have seen this on some custom made steel frames from small builders, but never on a carbon frame.
I wanted to ride this bike tomorrow night on the Wednesday Night Mt. Ride, but I am not sure it is going to happen. Stay tuned.

Superfly SS - FINALLY HERE

After 7 months of waiting the GaryFisher Superfly Single Speed frame has arrived. I ordered this frame at the TREK dealer show in Wisconsin last August. It is a limited edition "not for the public" frame based on the very popular carbon 29er Superfly from Gary Fisher.

I will be building it up over the next few days using various parts that I have picked for the occasion. What I can tell you now is that it is going to be extremely light. My Carver aluminum 96er frame was light, but this thing is silly light. I think the built bike will be around 18lbs. Oh yeah.

W5 Attitude at the Gran Fondo

Nice video from CNN of the 2009 Gran Fondo starting from Little Italy in San Diego. Check out the Swami action around 1:48 minutes into the video