Come out and try our Santa Cruz, Knolly, Kona, Spot and Jamis demo trail bikes.

IT IS ABOUT THE BIKE
We will set you up on the bike of your dreams so you can decide if it is… well… the bike of your dreams. It is WAY easier to decide whether you love a trail bike on the trails. We know this because people have zero regrets later on. If the bike is fun on a demo, it is insanely fun once you get more acquainted with it.

It is very similar to our Ride Along Dirt Demo, but a little less specific.

WHERE
Here.

View Rooney Rd. Lot in a larger map

WHAT TO BRING
Your pedals and shoes, if you have a preference
A helmet
Your credit card and ID
Water in some form

For extra credit: Your current mountain bike

TIME AND DATE
So far:
Saturday July 24th at 9am until 2pm.
More to be announced.

To ensure you are getting the right mountain bike, you should ride it on a trail. We want to help.

We are going to ride with you in the mountains. We’ll help you to set up the bike correctly, talk you through the ins and outs of the bike and let you see whether you LOVE the bike you are LUSTING after. Sounds like fun to us, because we get to ride with you.

OUR (ever growing) DEMO FLEET:
Santa Cruz Tallboy – 29er full suspension VPP
Santa Cruz Blur LTc – Carbon All day long bike VPP
Santa Cruz Nickel – 5″ aluminum APP bike
Knolly Delirium – 6.7″ Play bike (Four by Four linkage)
Knolly Endorphin – 5.5″ Play bike (Four by Four linkage)
Jamis 650b – 27.5″ wheels with 5″ of plush travel
Kona Cadabra – Magic Link for climbing like XC, descending like a monster truck.

HOW THIS WILL WORK
1. You know you love mountain bikes.
2. You approach us to find out when we can ride together. This is only done via email.
We need to know these things:
- Which bike(s) you are interested in.
- When you are available
- Your basic measurements: Height and weight
- What trails you like
- Your level of experience
3. We’ll get back to you with a confirmation date and time
4. You show up*
5. We ride
6. You decide

*ON THE DAY OF THE RIDE
Please come ready to have a blast. We will provide the bike, you need to bring the other stuff for the ride. If you want to use your pedals, please bring them.

FEES, etc
We aren’t going to charge for the ride alongs. We will have you sign a waiver before we get going.

SUGGESTED TRAILS
Some fun and easy access trails include:
Buffalo Creek
Green Mountain
Trestle Bike Park – this will have a fee of atleast $65
Matthews Winters
Your suggestion here

Now look at this firework powered bicycle:

Unless otherwise scheduled, these classes will take place on the 1st and 2nd Thursdays of the month at 6 pm. (Please bring your bike)

When Joe got his very first full suspension trail bike, he couldn’t believe how great it was. Joe had left the factory settings on the front and rear shock, assuming that the shop or the factory knew better than him exactly how this fancy bike should feel. He POGO’d around for a while with the biggest grin ever before going to the trail to meet his friend. As they started their ride, his friend stopped him. Here is the paraphrased conversation that ensued:
Not Joe: “Nice bike”
Joe: “Thanks”
Not Joe: “Do you know what any of these knobs are for?”
Joe: “Nope”
(The miracle of knowledge about suspension occurs)
Not Joe: “See how much better your bike feels?”
Joe: “Holy Sheep Sh*t”
Not Joe: “Pass it on”

And so we are. We want to show you what is going on with your suspension frame and/or your suspension fork. All those knobs are there for a reason. And we understand how confusing setting suspension up on your bike up can be. Our solution is a hands on real world class.

SUSPENSION THEORY

Forks: We want to show you how suspension forks work. We will cover the premise behind how suspension mechanics work, so you can have a grasp on what is happening when you turn a knob and how it will change your ride. This understanding leads to seeing how different adjustments make certain aspects better/worse/indifferent.
Goal: Tune your fork properly for your ride to make you safer, faster and so you just have more fun on your bike.

Fox Fork!

Rear Shocks: Rear shocks work much the same way as front shocks, so this will be a brief review more of the differences than the similarities. The class will have you understanding what you are feeling on the trail, so that you can make adjustments to your likes and dislikes.
Goal: Tune your rear shock so that your bike handles predictably up and down.

Frame Designs: We are going to cover the basics of pivot placement and wheel path theory. We have to call it theory because in the end: you will like what you will like, despite how the marketing appeals to you. Upon having this information within your grasp, you can make informed decisions regarding future purchases (and forum debates).
Goal: To empower you with the knowledge to pick a full suspension bike that works for you, without having to listen to a bunch of marketing fluff.

TIRES

Tires make the difference between pretty fast and oh-my-god-my-eyes-are-burning-from-flying-through-that-corner fast.
We want to teach you how to read a tire. This is a pretty simple thing once you know what to look for. We want to give you a peek into the thinking behind the engineers at companies like WTB, Maxxis, Kenda and Continental. They (for the most part) aren’t just making patterns and crossing their fingers that you will buy it. Each tire has a story that it wants to tell, you just have to know how to listen. Different riders and different trails have a multitude of variable that the right tire can help. Once you get a feel for this, you will be faster.
Goal: You will be able to pick out tires that help your riding.

Maxxis Ignitor

COST (IT IS FREE, BUT NOT REALLY)
Signing up for our Suspension and Tire Class is free. We ask that if you sign up, you show up, because seats are limited.
Contact Joe at Salvagetti dot com to sign up.

FULL DISCLOSURE
In the grand scheme of things, we want you to enjoy cycling. That is why this class is free. We are only charging to ensure that you make it to the class.

And by taking this class (for free), you will absolutely learn something that will make your cycling experience better. But our plan does not stop with you taking our class and having more fun. Oh no no no. We want you to spread your knowledge like wild fire. Get everyone to set up their suspension correctly. Make everyone realize that tires make a HUGE difference on the trail. Give the gift of knowledge to anyone who will listen, so the good times keep on coming. And if they need more info than you can throw at them, send them down for a class. JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN, DAMMIT!

For the last few years, Salvagetti Bicycle Workshop has provided Denver the opportunity to swap, haggle, buy, trade and barter their way to a better bike. Well, we are doing it again. Only this will be better… it will be better because we have a parking lot that has lots of shade. We also have a better location, better vendors and way better coffee. Come down and see what happens, it should be a blast.

WHERE

It will be in OUR parking lot. It is not the lot under the “We Heart Bikes” mural.

WHEN

It is on July 10th at 9am. If you are setting up a table, we would encourage you to get there around 8:45am. No one is getting in early. The swap will come to a close at 2pm.

WHERE DO I PARK

If you use your KONA UTE, you can simply park next to your table. Those of you who are driving will need to drop your stuff off and park on Platte St closer to the skate park. Otherwise, you will either be risking a ticket or a tow.

WHY

Because everyone has extra bike stuff in their garage. And bike stuff is for riding, not for storing. Unless you are this guy…

Full Garage

WHAT SHOULD I BRING?

Money, shoes, jerseys, forks, frames, cranks, new socks that your uncle gave you that are too small, that 1 1/4″ threaded Chris King headset that is useless, your worn (but not worn out) cyclocross tires, etc etc etc etc.

FROM THIS:

A miracle occurs at Vital Industries…

TO THIS:

Thank you.

Its been a good few weeks for mtn biking around the Front Range. After a month of early Spring pilgrimages north to Devil’s Backbone and south to Pueblo for dry dirt fixes, the JeffCo trails have finally started opening up and things are beginning to feel normal again. Loops in Apex, White Ranch and the entirety of Buff Creek are good to go. My recommendation: Take advantage of the late sunsets and get out and enjoy some prime-time, early spring dirt.

Although its been great to get back out on the local favorites (I always seem to appreciate Apex more in April than August. (Is that wrong?)), there are also a few incredible opportunities to get involved and help create some new spots to ride.

After months of hard work and the mandatory sprinkles of mayhem, the Golden Bike Park is coming together. The first Flow Trail is cut and the jumps and berms are there, but there’s plenty of tweaking and shaping to be done. One of the bonuses in such an effort is the sampling of your own dirt sculpting handiwork. Check http://goldenbikepark.com/ for information and volunteer opportunities. The sooner its done, the sooner we all get to ride it.

If the smooth berms and beats of the GBP aren’t quite your flavor, then channel your inner (or outer) mullet sporting, Camaro-tire-smoking Hessian and join the Colorado Mountain Bike Association (CoMBA) and the Front Range Mountain Bike Patrol (FRMBP) in building a face melting, guitar shredding homage to Mastadon and Dragon Force out in Buffalo Creek. http://comba.org/content/comba-begins-new-build-season-buffalo-creek-black-diamond-trail-april-17th

I know, you might be thinking “Joe. Buff Creek? Not quite face melting.” But trust me, the lines, variety and technical problems this trail will be the closest you can get to Math-Prog Rock shredding, possibly including Vikings, wizards, and broadswords.

SPEAKING OF BUFF CREEK

Spot Longboard 1×9, Santa Cruz Blur LT Carbon (with bonus Joplin and Easton Haven wheels) and Knolly Endorphin….these bikes were part of the “Royal Sampler” ride undertaken by myself, Brian and Biggety Barnes. Over the course of the ride we swapped bikes twice in a coordinated pedal-tacular assault, followed by a quick suspension setup session. The results were as expected:

Knolly Endorphin: “The most capable 140mm bike in existence”

Blur LTC: “This bike is everything.”

Spot 1×9 : “I think that’s the fastest I’ve hit some of those turns…and I’ve gotten loose in there”

An interesting tangent of the Royal Sampler ride was the speculation of some sort of LTC/Longboard lovechild…the Tallboy. I absolutely cannot wait to get our Tallboy demo frame put together. Stay tuned.

Scott has ordered one for himself and we can expect him to be stubborn about sharing.

Then, we will excuse ourselves to go and run a bike shop. Sometimes, we just go ride…

You will get home by noon (unless you live far away), so plan a great afternoon to match your great morning.