the hole shot from my fire escape

IMG_0974
Originally uploaded by HunterPinnell

oh my god i blogged

I really hate updating a blog. it's way too much commitment for a twenty two year old. But I will bite the bullet and go through with it.
I was talking with my friend at the bar about music and he suggested I listen to The Black Keys. So far so good. I'm digging the heavy blues and classic rock influence. I grew up listening to classic rock and The Black Keys are tapping into my heritage.
Work has been...work, but occasionally i get to do something that gets me really excited. Like this repair. He got charged a creative convenience fee for removing the seat post he turned upside down and hammered in. I got to spend about 20 minutes drilling it and hammering it back out. But the good news is his vintage mountain bike is undamaged and the shop made a few extra bucks off of his handy work.
I've been mountain biking about 4-5 times a week and have been having a great time. I'm getting used to the rigid fork and its quick steering. It really is time for a lighter bike though. I'm torn between the major brands of XC 29ers or saving money for a lifetime investment into titanium.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

America was founded passive aggressively. We had a “tea party”. What the fuck? A tea party, why is that so monumental? In other countries revolutions start when a Molotov cocktail shatters the windshield of the dictator’s car. We turned a harbor into a salty british afternoon treat because of taxes. I guess it was the right thing to do back then, but how pretentiously ignorant is it to have one today? We seriously do not care about the taxes on tea anymore. And you might say its a symbolic gesture, but so is giving the finger. It doesn't really do anything it just pisses people off. There’s a bumper sticker that I see around Richmond that says “stop bitching start a revolution.” well I am not afraid to say that the most ignorant and patriotic people in America do not want a revolution, they want to bitch and have someone else do things for them, just like they remember it...you know slaves and what not.

Gorgeous

Vintage Advertisement
Originally uploaded by Lee Sutton

what a nice looking ad

Miguel Indurain's bicycle

Miguel Indurain's bicycle
Originally uploaded by joehendrix

if i could find one of these i'm pretty sure it would fit me

The Salsa

I bought a chili con crosso frameset for two reasons. Number one its scandium...sweet. Number two, it came with an alpha Q CX20 fork that was painted to match...double sweet. The bike is light, real light and thank god it isn't carbon. The fork is also really light. To be honest it is kind of scary how light this fork because the fork on my redline was a steel Tange fork that i got for 65 bucks. The frame is stiff because of the flattened stays and the material but it is not as stiff as aluminum so I wouldn't put it in the same category as a CX9 from cannondale. Here it is built up with Sram rival and some decent parts.

i love bikes

I know it is really cliche and lame for people in the city of Richmond VA to love bikes. but fuck those losers I love bikes. seriously. Four years ago I owned a trek 820 then I bought a specialized hard rock then I bought a fuji newest. then I bought an IRO jamie roy. then I bought a motobecane singlespeed mountain bike. then I bought a scattante xrl then I bought a surly karate monkey then I bought a cannondale caad 9 then I bought a surly steamroller then I bought redline conquest then I bought a salsa chili con crosso. While I was buying and selling all of these machines I was maintaining them and working on them myself. Now I get paid to work on bikes and I love it. It is serious thing in my life, I work on bikes for 9 hours a day and when I get home I work on my own bikes. I can make cyclocross wheels tubeless and set crown races with a heatgun and a freezer. (you might think its a good idea to just use a piece of PVC pipe but when you crack your race and have to buy a new headset you'll be calling me for my heat gun.) I only own three bikes currently...and one frame that I am debating selling. None of my bikes can be bought as is from a store. They are bikes that get bike people excited and I will probably sell them to buy something cooler next year. I don't like to race, I like to have fun and work on nice things. I have had jobs teaching music, making cabinets setting up fireworks and driving a pedicab. I know how to work efficiently with my hands so being a bicycle mechanic is second nature.