Yawp! Cyclery's 2016 Gift Guide

Yup, gift guides are often pretty useless, but they're fun to make and fun to look at. Here's ours! Some of this stuff we sell and some of it we don't, but we like all of it. If one silly gift guide isn't enough, you can see last year's guide here.

TIMBER BELL

Front range trails are getting insanely crowded, especially on weekends. I have yet to use this bell without being thanked by hikers. It eliminates surprises, and helps you communicate your presence far in advance. I had to wrap the inside of the bell with tape to mute it a little, but it's brilliant for keeping all trail users safe and happy.

B is for bicycles

It's an alphabet book that's all about bikes, and there's an owl on every page! We here at the shop have now learned our alphabet up to R.

Singletrack maps

At Buffalo Creek this past season I saw six dudes all crowding around a single tiny GPS screen. Someone who was not lost was trying to explain to five people who were lost where to go, and it didn't seem to be going well. Also, paper maps never run out of batteries. Not only that, but Singletrack Maps is a Colorado company.

Frame bags by J. paks and oveja negra

 Tired of carrying a heavy pack? Yeah, there's no reason to. With a billion frame bag options out there, you can put the weight on the bike where it's more comfortable, and where it lowers your center of gravity. Both J. Paks and Oveja Negra are here in Colorado, and their bags are of a higher quality than "off the shelf" bags.

(Also, please enjoy our "prom" backdrop).

torque wrench

For folks who enjoy working on their own bikes, a torque wrench is a necessity. Both under- and over-torquing can lead to disaster, so this little tool will prolong the life of your bike as well as your body.

adventure knowledge

Salsa has been into bikepacking for a long time, and they have lots of helpful tips to offer. This is a great resource for people who are looking to get into riding with their stuff. 

tool roll 

North St. Bags are handmade in Portland, Oregon. They're lightweight and very tough. 

North st. bags backpack

Many of the cycling bags I've used are tough but don't offer options for organizing the little stuff. I've been using this bag for a few months now, and I love it. It's lightweight, exactly the right size, and holds everything I need exactly where I want it so I never have to fish around in one giant compartment for a pen or my headlight. 

ibex wool cap

Do you like cold ears? Nobody does. This merino wool hat fits under a helmet and will make your ears happy.

socks

Do you like cold feet? Nobody does. These will keep your feet warm so that maybe you won't have to put your cold feet on your poor husband when he is trying to sleep. Ahem.

Sweet Bloom makes some of the best coffee anywhere, and they roast it just down the street from us. 

handmade Cards and prints

My July is here in Denver, and makes some great greeting cards. Link to her Etsy page to get you some.

Ratchet Rocket multi-tool

This is the most versatile and efficient multi-tool I've ever carried. It's not awkward or bulky to use like other tools can be, and with the extender you can easily access any bolt on the bike. If it included a chain tool, it would be perfect.

Surly junk strap and loop strap

These straps are infinitely useful. I keep one in just about every bag I own. Here are just a few of the ways I've used them over the years: pet leash, belt, attaching stuff to bikes, attaching bikes to vehicles, bathroom stall lock, shoelace, lasso. The ingenious Loop Strap is fairly new, and you can read about it here.

The Things Pete Carried

You may or may not know that this blog occasionally features a series called "What's in Your Bag" (by occasionally I mean one other time). From this point forward, the name of the series is changed to "The Things They Carried." Anyway, the idea is that maybe you'll see something in someone else's bag that you should be carrying yourself. Before we get into Pete's description of his bike and gear, here's something you should know about Pete. There are some things I've seen him carry that he excluded from his photo. He once brought on a group ride a five-gallon ziplock bag full of dried crabapples, which were like healthy Jolly Ranchers. I ate hundreds of apples, and the next day my jaw and my digestive system wouldn't let me forget. Also, I've never seen Pete's bags without about forty beers in them, which he generously shares. Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce Pete. Everybody, this is Pete:

"Glitter Dreams Surly Straggler turned sinister commuter with Gevenalle shifters, Velo Orange fenders, Schwalbe 700c Marathons, Surly front rack, squishy Serfas saddle, flat pedals, Cygolite tail- and Niterider head-light, and some cages for water cups from Illegal Pete's. Plus a saddlebag with repair/spare items and a U-lock mounted to the seat tube...about that U-lock.

A lapse in judgment turned the violet-plague into a unicycle when some Space Monkey's homework assignment required them to remind me that humanity is inherently evil. The Knights at YAWP! are cooking up a replacement wheel and I'm a firm believer that you always upgrade when replacing a bicycle part. Silver linings. 

I commute daily, around 1500 miles/year plus additional for transportation needs. Here I showcase my maximum payload--the Denver winter assault kit. Any fairer weather and I start sloughing pieces into a cardboard box where it waxes and wanes with response to the forecast.
 

Two Swift Industries Mini Short Stack Panniers rated at 46L

Surly Junk straps, essential grocery run survival

Oakley sunnies and nameless clears

Buff, headband, hat, and Smartwool watch cap

Patagonia R1 fleece and a Rab pull-over

Arc' hardshell and REI rain pants

OR gloves and hardshell glove covers

GORETEX over-the-ankle and toe-tip shoe covers

Lunch, complete with spork

Work uniform

Stethoscope and a gypsy camp of pens, shears, and forceps

Wallet, keys, phone, and phone charging equipment

Water bottle and reusable shopping bags

Give me Chapstick, or give me Death

Once the machine has returned to the stable to stand side-by-side with the other two-wheelers that have been pulling its duty, I have security plans and stainless steal zip ties.  Rest assured, the greatest improvement is time and wear."

The Highline Canal - Denver's Best Boring Ride

Hello, and welcome to this blog post. This post is going to ramble on for too long about a ride that itself rambled on for too long. A large part of what made this ride enjoyable was what I listened to along the way, so here's a sample. It makes as apt a soundtrack for this post as anything. 

The Highline Canal winds for almost seventy miles through Denver's suburbia. For some unknown reason, I recently decided to take the lightrail down to the Mineral station and follow the Canal until it intersected the Sand Creek trail. The trails are still dry and this is the best time of year to ride a mountain bike, and it's rare that I have the opportunity to do whatever I want for an entire day. Did I make a mistake? On paper, the answer is yes, but in reality it was actually a pretty good day (though you can see on the map where I became too bored to continue, just east of I-225).

There are some positive things to say about the Canal. For a city trail, it far surpasses the South Platte and Cherry Creek trails. It's prettier, less traveled, and feels fairly remote despite winding through a city of 650,000 people.

There were other trail users, but it wasn't crowded like the Cherry Creek path. It wasn't littered and industrial like the Platte path. However, both of those paths are slightly more interesting. The Highline looked almost exactly the same for fifty miles. Another small perturbation about this trail is that you have to cross a road every few miles, which you don't have to do on the other paths in town. It's a small matter, but waiting at stoplights does interrupt one's rhythm.

About half was paved and half was not. I was on 2.0 knobby tires, but a road bike would've sufficed.

It's not a ride I'm in a hurry to repeat, but there may be a sunny winter day when I want to put in some headphones and enter a trance state. However, there are so many amazing dirt roads within an hour's drive that I may spend sunny winter days elsewhere.

Once I got on the Sand Creek Greenway, I didn't get far before the trail was inexplicably closed with no detour. Martin Luther King Blvd., despite a bike lane, was less than ideal. In retrospect, I should've hopped back on the lightrail. All in all, though, it was a pleasant day.

Here are a few other things that made this ride a delight:

Bikepacking Against the Machine

In late September some of our pals from Surly spent a weekend riding bikes with us. (We did something similar last year, which you can read about here). On Friday, some folks bikepacked. Some folks biked. Others still simply packed. It was a broad event best enjoyed by open minds.

If there's something finer than getting a leisurely start and riding bikes all day in the fall, I don't know what it might be. 

Thirteen hearty folks set out from the east end of Section Two of the Colorado Trail. Of those thirteen, two had never really ridden singletrack before. That's incredible.

If you've not ridden this trail before, you should know that the first 3/4 of a mile is very steep. There are no pictures of this section because letting go of the rock face to take a picture means certain death. Remember the movie Cliffhanger? (I hope you don't). It's just like that.

Finally, at the top of that heinous section, you break out of the trees and the grade relaxes and you can more or less continue about your day. The word "top" in this case is misleading, because you aren't at the top of anything. You've gained about 1/1,000,000th of your total elevation for the day. A navigator should be careful about using the word "top" in a group, especially repeatedly, as others will begin to look at that navigator fist with distrust, and later, hostility.

Here we came upon a fantastic resting place near a large, pink rock. The view was fantastic, but upon review I didn't get a single picture of this rest spot that didn't feature someone peeing, so you'll just have to imagine a Rocky Mountain valley. Trees, river, rocks, aspens, pee, etc.

In fact, one could probably best describe this entire trip by listing things I did not photograph. Our pal Ryan from Totem Cyclery was there, but you'd never know it from looking at these photos. Our friend Kevin from Huckleberry Roasters sent some coffee with us, but based on this photolog you might think we had to wake ourselves up by clacking pots together. 

Karate Monkey yellow.

Then it was time for: climbing! About five miles worth. It was steep and loose in a couple of places, but not technical. According to me, we were continually "almost there" and "just about at the end of the bad part." According to several sources, this information was wrong.

Finally, yes, right here, I was correct. This was the top of the climb. Except for just one tiny little bit of climbing that came after this.

Krampus!

We stopped at Chair Rocks because it's one of the best views in Buffalo Creek.

Here's a little slideshow about how to sneak up on Trevor. Step #1: Make him ride bikes until he is tired. Step #2: Sneak up on him. Fun!

The trail between Chair Rocks and the end of Section Two are about as pleasant as can be. It's a bit like being adrift at sea. Most of us were low on water, which was also a bit like being adrift at sea.

Fortunately, we were soon able to rehydrate: 

Some beer from our pals at Call to Arms, Trve Brewing, and Prost.

There's something to be said about riding hard all day and finally sitting down for a beer. It's a rare opportunity to be completely unwound. Even better if there are stars and fires involved. 

On Saturday we rode bikes n' stuff. We road road, we crushed gravel, we schralped berms, we sent jumps. We bombed, enduroed, downhilled, uphilled, crossed country, and styled freely. We lunch rode. I didn't get pictures of any of that. Instead, here's a good one of everybody standing around:

Is the new Karate Monkey rad? Nate thinks so.

On Sunday, a few of us rode back down Section Two to where our vehicles were parked. Bogie impressed us all with his trials skills:

There were actually several people on this ride, but I sure didn't take pictures of any of them. 

View fullsize

Finally, many thanks to Trevor and Aaron and Surly Bikes for helping us make this weekend happen. Y'all are the black hoodies we wear around our hearts.

Salsa Cycles are Coming to Yawp!

Yes, Salsa bikes are on their way to Yawp!

We're stoked to be carrying these bikes, and though you may be familiar with Salsa bikes already, we've already talked our own ears off about them so we might as well write a blog.

First of all, if you're a huge fan of Surly you may be feeling a little bit strange about this. You may be thinking, "Hey, I bought a Surly from Yawp! because you said they were rad, and now you're bringing in this other brand. Did you really mean what you said?"

Well, Surlys are rad, and we'll keep saying how rad they are. We meant it and mean it. You'll probably see us riding Salsa bikes some of the time, but does that mean we like Surly any less? No way! Are we going to get our Surly face tattoos removed? Never. Are all three of the people who work here in the middle of building up new Surly bikes for themselves? Yes! That's basically a constant.

As you may know, Salsa's motto is "adventure by bike." What does that mean? It can be difficult to describe, because adventure means different things to different people. Some people consider adventure to be spending months on their bikes, traversing a country. For others, adventure is a full day at Buff Creek. Saying "adventure by bike" is a little bit like saying "adventure by pants." You can adventure in almost any kind of pants (save perhaps pants on fire). Obviously, some pants are better than others if adventuring in pants is your thing. And that's where Salsa comes in.

We like adventures. As a shop, we've been fortunate to have some grand adventures both big and small. We're excited to add Salsa to our lineup because they'll nicely compliment what we already carry, and help support the part of the shop that is oriented toward adventure.

Adventure! (There happens to be a Salsa in this picture).

Adventure! (He happens to be riding a Salsa, too).

Adventure!

Adventure!

In many ways, Surly is an industry leader. We have them to thank for production fat bikes, plus-size wheel platforms, and a host of other innovations that are now being used by many other manufacturers. Because they make only steel bikes, many people associate the brand with retro-grouches and maybe even hippies, but in many ways they are at the front of the industry. In contrast, Salsa makes a majority of their bikes out of aluminum and carbon. They design bikes that are more appropriate for racing. They make full-suspension mountain bikes. In these ways, they are more in line with current trends.

There are flashy bikes that don't ride well, and we won't carry those. There are innovative bikes that ride poorly, and we don't want anything to do with those, either. For example, here's another bike designed around adventure:

Maybe these are rad. Certainly a few folks out there will buy them and love them. Great! They won't buy them here because they appear gimmicky to us, and we have concerns about that chainring gnarling a face here and there. While Salsa is flashier and faster to hop on trends than Surly, they ride exceptionally well. And that's what the whole darn thing is about, right? Salsa's Redpoint is a full suspension bike with 150mm of travel, and it climbs like a total champ (this is coming from a rigid bike and hardtail fanatic, mind you). 

Salsa is a brand of considerable renown, so you may be familiar with their bikes already. If you're not, we're going to talk about a few that we're excited about.

The Timberjack

his aluminum hardtail comes with either 29er wheels for $999 or with 27.5+ wheels for $1399. This thing is going to rip. A good friend Bobby from District Cycles in Oklahoma says about this bike, "If you have $700 to spend on a bike, you owe it to yourself to have a garage sale and spend $999."

The Horsethief/Pony Rustler

The Horsethief (named after the popular Fruita trail) has been a favorite for years, and it's one of the most capable, all-around trail bikes. It has 120mm travel in the rear and 130mm up front. The Pony Rustler is the same frame but with 27.5+ wheels. Both models come in aluminum and carbon. If bike rides were mornings, this bike would be fuzzy bunny slippers.

The Redpoint

This is a 150mm travel bike that, as I mentioned, climbs so well that a hardtail fanatic will be all sorts of giggly about it. Judging from the length of its travel, it should be in the "enduro" bike category, but it sure doesn't climb like one. The bike was designed for exploring the backcountry, for getting into and out of places that are unknown. It comes in carbon and aluminum. 

The Woodsmoke

This bike can run many different wheel sizes, which makes it difficult to talk about concisely. It's a rippin' hardtail and a bikepacking phenomenon. There's room for a "yhuge" frame bag. The chainstays are about as long as your finger. If you've ridden 29+ before, this is wholly unlike whatever you rode. 

Hey, does the Woodsmoke make anybody else think of these:

Salsa bikes will start showing up in the store in a few weeks, and more models will appear later this year and early in the spring. Yeah!

That's a pretty brief introduction, but there are about a million places on the internet already with good information about these bikes. For starters, you can look over Salsa's website here. Remember, follow the steps and hang in there. Salsa is easy to learn!