Black Mountain Cycles!

Hey guys,
Isshu here.

I recently went to Shizuoka for a short trip. Our main goal of the trip was to go see these Capybaras take a bath. This is the zoo that originated the Capybara hot spring.

They were so chill, it made me in a chill mood, just by looking at them. I highly recommend going to the Shaboten Zoo, if you are planning to visit Shizuoka.

Change of subject,

As a proud Mod. Zero owner, This article on The Radavist was a great read.

Thanks to this video, I had the opportunity to build up the Black Mountain Mod. Zero for many customers last year. I truly appreciate all of the customers who let me build their Mod. Zero and all the feedbacks for the video.

Mod zero (44)

Here’s one of the builds I did at the end of last year.
This was an adventure rig build for a customer who rode a vintage bike for a longtime.

Most of the people who bought this bike, were very surprised by how it rides when they take it on a test. This customer was no exception.

The vintage bike he had was heavy, compared to a modern bike. Sure, the vintage bike is made very tough and survived up until today, but the weight difference was apparently shock to them.

I surely understand the charm for old bikes, but those experiences you can get from older bikes can be more meaningful once you ride modern bikes.

Going deep into one category, is a fun way to enjoy bikes, but I personally think it’s better to try out both old and new to feel the difference and find the charm for both worlds.

The Mod. Zero is a 700C and 650B compatible frame.

I have my own Mod. Zero built with 650B wheels, which is the bike that this customer tested. He was surprised by how smooth it rides with 650B x 2.3″ tires. The owner of this build chose to go with the 650B set up with WTB 650x47B Horizon tires.

It was cool to see his friends donating bike parts to help his new build. This is the kind of friends that I would want.

Some people may wonder which wheel size is better. I think one of the big part of the choice is the smallest tire size you can fit.

For the 650B, the minimum tire size would be 650B x 47 like the WTB Horizon and the 32C for 700C.

The strong point of 650B is that you can choose a knobby MTB tire and build the bike as an off-road spec bike.

However, having skinnier tires means that you can ride faster on pavement is not a secret. If you’re riding pavement 80% of the time, I think going 700C is also a great choice.

This bike is interesting because it still feels very smooth when having a wide tire, which I had on my personal build. I built many 650B builds since I was having the customers test out my bike.

Mod zero (47)

I decided to switch up my build to a 700C set up and test it out myself!

I laced a new set of 700C wheels and switched the frame size to 47 from 44.

I traded the Go Green Mod. Zero frame that my college Max was riding with my Signal Yellow Mod. Zero

I chose the 44 since the head tube was long. I thought that I couldn’t make enough saddle to bar gap ratio on the 47, but it turned out size 47 could be better, and Max was thinking the opposite way, so it was a win win trade.

I spent the new years eve rebuilding this bike. I felt a bit sad, but I remembered I did the same thing last new years eve, so it’s all good. This is what I like to do!

ENVE gravel rims with Phil Wood hubs.

Ultradynamico Rose 700x45C JFF tires.
This is the first time using the JFF for my own bike. The suppleness of the JFF on low PSI is so nice. I didn’t think it was this good to be honest. I have it tubeless and boy, it is fun to ride gravel.

It doesn’t feel zippy with lower PSI, but I am going pretty fast. I think this is because of the ENVE rims.

SRAM wireless components for the drive train.

The SRAM wireless components are becoming popular these days. I had the chance to use them in customer builds, which made me want to use them in my personal bike, so I figured this would be a great opportunity to try them.

It’s been a while since I last had a 1x set up.

Holding the shift lever to shift rapidly is pretty fun. I think this is going to make a huge difference when riding a long distance, since it doesn’t require the force of pushing down a lever for mechanical shifters.

I wasn’t a fan of these high-tech components, but my mind changed when actually trying them. I’m enjoying these new discoveries as a bike mechanic. It never hurts to try out something new.

Most of the small bits and bobs are recycled from my previous build, but the bike feels brand new with these new wheels are drive trains.

Used frame, but feeling new. I am super happy with this build. Hoping I can ride this bike a lot this year, and I hope you enjoy yours. If you are thinking of getting one, go for it. I highly recommend it.

Here’s a video of when we visited Black Mountain Cycles,

https://bluelug.com/bike-catalog/model/black-mountain-cycles/

and our Black Mountain Cycles build archives to motivate yourself for getting their bikes!