I love making these videos, but I need to get my hat hair under control before the next time I film. For the third episode of this series, I wanted to take a look at mountain bikes instead of BMX bikes. In general, I feel like all bikes have tons of potential so cyclists shouldn't ignore the used market. Used bikes are the perfect way to experiment with bike repair/tuning on a budget. Working on bikes is like cooking, I think they're both important life skills that are too often overlooked. Part of my job is selling new bikes, but I still want to encourage everyone to at least play with a used bike or two before thinking about investing in an expensive new bike. Even experienced cyclists with top shelf bikes can learn a lot about bikes in general by taking apart an old used bike. Most of the tools are standard kit for the average tool box (Metric hex keys, torx keys, ratchets, wrenches, etc), and the few specialty tools you could need are well worth the investment if you consider yourself a cyclist. The Pajamis started life for me in 2017 as an old, beat up $200 used bike. It was perfectly capable of everything I wanted it to do, and it didn't need any new parts to run. I replaced things when they broke, and Dan did some major upgrades when he took it over and I got my 29er. The Pajamis went from mechanical brakes and a 3x9 drivetrain to pretty much what you see in this video, including the dropper post, 1x10 drivetrain, and Rockshox Pike fork. Avy added the Avid Juicy Carbon brakes, we fitted it to him, and now he's set to take on a year or two of trails before he can't resist a new bike. This bike has given us a ton for our dollar. After all is said and done, we've spent about what it would cost to buy a new bike that is similar to the original spec of the Jamis Durango. A new mountain bike with a 3x9 drive train from a bigger brand will cost about $700CAD or so, and that's all we've spent between three people to create the Pajamis. What we have now is a bike with a modern drivetrain, modern features, and fancy materials, and a similarly spec'd new bike could cost as much as $1500CAD or so (again, depending on brand, dealer, and other factors). And it's converted those three people (myself included) to mountain bikes! Seems to me like it's almost paid for itself.
Thursday, 7 February 2019
Project: Used Bikes episode 3 - The Cat's Pajamis
I love making these videos, but I need to get my hat hair under control before the next time I film. For the third episode of this series, I wanted to take a look at mountain bikes instead of BMX bikes. In general, I feel like all bikes have tons of potential so cyclists shouldn't ignore the used market. Used bikes are the perfect way to experiment with bike repair/tuning on a budget. Working on bikes is like cooking, I think they're both important life skills that are too often overlooked. Part of my job is selling new bikes, but I still want to encourage everyone to at least play with a used bike or two before thinking about investing in an expensive new bike. Even experienced cyclists with top shelf bikes can learn a lot about bikes in general by taking apart an old used bike. Most of the tools are standard kit for the average tool box (Metric hex keys, torx keys, ratchets, wrenches, etc), and the few specialty tools you could need are well worth the investment if you consider yourself a cyclist. The Pajamis started life for me in 2017 as an old, beat up $200 used bike. It was perfectly capable of everything I wanted it to do, and it didn't need any new parts to run. I replaced things when they broke, and Dan did some major upgrades when he took it over and I got my 29er. The Pajamis went from mechanical brakes and a 3x9 drivetrain to pretty much what you see in this video, including the dropper post, 1x10 drivetrain, and Rockshox Pike fork. Avy added the Avid Juicy Carbon brakes, we fitted it to him, and now he's set to take on a year or two of trails before he can't resist a new bike. This bike has given us a ton for our dollar. After all is said and done, we've spent about what it would cost to buy a new bike that is similar to the original spec of the Jamis Durango. A new mountain bike with a 3x9 drive train from a bigger brand will cost about $700CAD or so, and that's all we've spent between three people to create the Pajamis. What we have now is a bike with a modern drivetrain, modern features, and fancy materials, and a similarly spec'd new bike could cost as much as $1500CAD or so (again, depending on brand, dealer, and other factors). And it's converted those three people (myself included) to mountain bikes! Seems to me like it's almost paid for itself.
