Allan came to us after putting in some time on a 650B singlespeed.

He, like so many Siren owners, wanted a good fit & good looks. We discussed the proposed fit of his new bike, settled on the numbers and set about spec’ing the bike to suit his needs.

The frame is a 2012 John Henry, trimmed out with the good stuff. He has Paragon sliding dropouts (post mount brakes) should he ever want to convert the bike to a singlespeed. The frame fit is tailor made for his uses.

Components wise, we went with a full Shimano XT 2×10 drivetrain. I’ve come to really appreciate the finer details of Shimano drivetrains, as well as the lighter action in the shifting in recent years. We hand built the wheelset using Chris King hubs laced to the new NoTubes Arch EX rims. The new rims are a touch wider to give more volume than the original Arch rims. Additionally, they’re also a bit lighter while also being stiffer.

  

The bike comes together with a Thomson cockpit, Crank Brothers cobalt 11 bar, and a Fox Float 29 FIT fork. She stops with a set of Magura MT-6 brakes. They are light and strong, and have a great lever feel.

Scott spends time in the sand. (Too much? Probably.)

The last time he was in the sandbox, he spent his spare time pondering a new ride, in a new and altogether more fun slice of desert. The new ride, a John Henry singlespeed, complements his current Siren John Henry.

The frame is built of our blend of Columbus and True Temper tubing, finished with a superclean phosphate treatment before we shot the whole shebang with a single coat powdercoat. The result is a gorgeous translucent copper/amber (the original color was Tangelo) that shows the heat affected areas from the welding process, as well as evidence of handwork below…

 

We decked Scott’s bike out with a handbuilt pair of wheels from Hub Cyclery, featuring Chris King hubs, Crest 29 rims, and DT Swiss Revolution spokes. The drivetrain consists of a White Industries ENO crank & bottom bracket paired to a Kick Ass Cog from Endless Bike. Damping is handled by a Fox Float 29 Terralogic fork, perfect for fast singlespeeding. The stoppers are Magura’s new MT-6 brakes, which are exceptionally light and offer incredible lever feel. Scott’s is also the first Siren to sport the new post-mount sliding dropout from Paragon Machine Works. Very nice piece.

Scott took delivery of his new bike a couple weeks ago. We tweaked a few items on the bike at the shop then headed out for a ride on local trails. We were able to dial in a few things with his bike and give it a good shakedown. Smiles for miles…

 

Wayne, a local Idyllwild fixture, truly earned his new machine. 

It’s a special John Henry, not only decked out with great components, but made with a little extra love. Wayne put in his time with the City of Hemet, made a career working for the public driving a trash truck. When the big retirement day came, he decided he’d earned a new bike.
We talked over options (we own a bike shop now, btw) but he insisted, he wanted the best.

Wayne decided to go down the rabbit hole with the three things he had be opposed to in the past:
29″ wheels, singlespeed, and hardtail.
So much so, in fact, that he explicitly had me remove the “standard” cable stops on the top tube for derailleurs. Ditto for the multigear rear wheel I’d originally suggested.
We went all out with a Homebrewed Components drivetrain, NoTubes wheelset, Magura MT-4 brakes and a Fox Float 29 FIT fork. We rounded out the package with a Thomson cockpit and a set of Soma Clarence bars.

Wayne has been spending the early days of his retirement outside, playing some golf, riding his bike in unseasonably warm winter weather, and experiencing the steep learning curve of singlespeeding. He’s expressed his dedication to figuring out the way of the 1-gear ride, and I’m guessing he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Built up a custom John Henry fresh for Carter. 
For all the time he spends up here, Carter is becoming an honorary Idyllwild resident. When he’s not training the desert, he’s up here riding and hanging out with us. And the banter. Oh, the banter… the smack talk has reached a level of high art.
He used to say: “Brendan, sometimes smack talk is all I’ve got!”
Lately, he’s been backing it up.

His frame sports a 44mm head tube, sliding dropouts, and an internally relieved BB shell all from Paragon Machine Works. The frame comes together with a blend of Columbus and True Temper tubing. Most of the parts came off his FS bike, and look GOOD on the new Siren. A Shimano XT group, 2×10 with lots of silver bits. There’s talk of going to a 1×10 setup.

This moment brought to you by the HUB Cyclery. 

Carter tells us the bike fits like a glove, climbs and descends fast, and is responsive to his input. Since we built his bike up almost three weeks ago, I’ve missed two opportunities to ride with Carter… I might not be able to avoid the inevitable suffer fest I’m sure he’s looking for this weekend. (I’ll report back)

 

Wow!

I put this one together just for Dawne, here in Idyllwild.

A custom Siren for Dawne… built at Hub Cyclery. The FUBU of Idyllwild, sorta. 

Those of you who come up to ride in Idyllwild may likely know Dawne, or you’ve probably at least heard about her. She’s the genuine article, a fixture of the cycling community up here. I was stoked to build a bike for her.

We worked up some numbers and pulled the trigger on a versatile John Henry (Poly Ann, really) frame. I managed to squeeze enough room for large bottles inside the front triangle while maintaining maximal standover clearance. The frame sports Paragon sliding dropouts and a funky fresh two coat Mint Sparkle powdercoat finish. (I’d really like to powdercoat the rims brown and find some more brown bits for her)

 

We worked up a great build kit too. Starting with a 9spd SRAM XO group, we cherry picked some seriously nice bits with the DT Swiss/NoTubes wheelset, a Thomson/Crank Brothers cockpit, and a Fox Float 29 FIT fork with Kashima Coat stanchions.

Command central. Note the Odyssey linear housing; the hot ticket for mechanical brakes.

 

We got out last weekend for what was one of Dawne’s first rides on the new bike. A brisk, fun, bump around in the woods sorta ride. We didn’t talk much about how the new bike was treating her, but the permagrin on her face told me plenty.

 

The 2011 Enduro is in the books and embedded in the minds of those who participated.

Some dudes from LA, particularly a guy by the name of Brian Kaufman, put together this most excellent video from the ride. You must watch it. It’s good. Really good. I’ve-gotta-go-ride-now good. Check out Brian’s stuff at Whiskey Dojo.

The San Jacinto Enduro enjoyed its 3rd year, brought together by Idyllwild peeps at Siren and Hub Cyclery.
I rode my new purpose built machine The Krush and loved it. Took major time off my old personal record.
Without further adieu, here’s the video. Enjoy.

Mike’s the proud owner of the very first carbon fiber tubed Siren. 

The frame sports custom fit & geometry, and a disc-specific brake setup. The head tube is a 44mm setup to use with either a tapered steerer, or a Zero Stack 1-1/8″ setup. The carbon tubes come from Maclean Composites in Utah, here in the USA.

Frame construction is made up of 7005 Aluminum lugs, chainstays, dropouts and head tube. This allows for the aforementioned customization of the dimensions and geometry. We picked out the carbon fiber tubes by diameter and wall thickness, each tube in its place for the intended application. 

Freshness!
Weyland’s dedicated singlespeed Twinzer goes to a good home along with his John Henry. The new bike sports a 44mm head tube for tapered steerer compatibility and a custom axle-to-crown height to work with the particular Fox fork he’ll be running. It’ll be getting a Cane Creek 110, perhaps the finest headset made.

Weyland came up to our shop (The Hub Cyclery) last weekend to pick it up and get a quick 48 mile pedal in while he was here. We hope to see this bike built up and ripping trail next time he’s up this way.

Purple? Blue? Cornflower? Hard to say. It was an accident, sorta. 

Look at the size of that head tube!

The new, experimental/alternate down tube label

Weyland announced: “Who wants a ride?!” to which the crowd replied “I do, I do!!”

I don’t know what to call this bike, Krate? Krush? The bike is so much fun even “Girlfriend” applies.

This is my own bike, for personal use… though I do have intent to distribute. She’s orange, ’cause that’s the classic color of cyclocross. No, it ain’t a ‘cross bike. So what. Everybody should have at least one orange bike, so says Jon Hanson of Sabrosa bikes and I tend to agree with him.

It’s my first drop-bar mountain bike, and packs some other Siren “firsts” into one package:
- internal cable routing 
I silver brazed a length of stainless steel tube through the down tube. It enters on the top side of the DT near the head tube junction, in what I figured should be a lower stress area, and exits on the underside of the DT a couple inches above the bottom bracket. This keeps everything clean and extra awesome. Ditto for the internal brake line, which runs inside the left top tube/seat stay. I didn’t plumb a length of stainless here, but I’d like to do it in the near future on another bike.
Why stainless tubing instead of brass? Because stainless is tough, not brittle, and awesome. That’s why.

-drop bar mountain bike geometry
She sports a 55cm top tube to play nicely with the drop bars, a load of BB drop (75mm thereabouts) which absolutely positively rails the fire roads, my fairly standard 17.5″ CS length, and a taller head tube (5.75″) to go a bit easier on the back without need for a fredular stem. The geometry is 73/70.5.
I built this one in particular around a 445mm a/c White Brothers Rock Solid fork. Nice fork, it’s light and looks cool. In the future we’ll have our very own SIREN rigid forks, dedicated to this model. The main advantage is we’ll be able to tinker with the offset and go with something that might not come off the shelf otherwise.

 

Component highlights
The whole shebang is pretty much a rolling display case for all things Highway Two. They have recently become our pals and I thought I’d return the favor by decking out my bike with their stuff.
It’s my first time rolling on Crank Brothers Cobalt Wheels, which not only have some really smart features in their newly redesigned hubsets, but look sick as all get out on this bike. They’re set up tubeless with Continental Race King tires. (you’re supposed to use only “tubeless” tires on them but I cheated it). These tires rule, by the way. Fairly durable, fast, light-ish.

Next up the Cobalt cockpit, the unsung hero of the Crank Brothers line. The stem and seatpost are both forged, light, and totally awesome looking. Check the Level 3 stem here.
I used a Fizik Gobi saddle. This thing is awesome. Seriously awesome.
Even pulled my beloved Time pedals off and swapped in a set of Egg Beaters… time will tell how this goes.
I used an Iodine headset we had in the shop. It looks cool.
The Split Lock skewers are pretty darned smart, good looking too.

Non-H2 stuff that kinda rocks:
1×9 drivetrain, Ultegra/XTR STI shifting. Coming from a singlespeed-only lifestyle this setup feels good and hauls the mail. I’m using a 34T ring up front mated to a 12×27 SRAM cassette (also orange). Yesterday my Homebrewed Components chainring came in. (not pictured) It eliminates the spider on the Middleburn cranks. Totally dope. And totally cool that it was made here in California. And doubly cool that I’m using my lovely lady‘s old Middleburns, too. She rode the Divide and a bunch of solo 24′s with them.

BB-7 road calipers. I might swap the housing to some of that linear stuff the BMX crowd uses. Still pretty decent compared to cantilevers.

Salsa Woodchipper bars. I’d be remiss not mention them. They’re nice. But the extensions are too damn long. Thankfully I know a guy with a hacksaw.

The ride
I could explain pretty much everything about the ride if only I had one of these stickers on it.
Alas, I do not have that sticker. Yet.
I took the bike out for her first spin a couple weeks ago on a “social paced” ride highlighting a portion of the San Jacinto Enduro course. A bunch of superhumans showed up and I was glad to have a “race bike” for the ride. It carves (CARVES!) doubletrack turns at ridiculously high speeds. Hauls the mail on the flats. Feels fun & frisky in the singletrack.

She’s primarily intended to haul the mail on doubletrack, with secondary applications on singletrack and asphalt… much like the style of bikepacking I’ve been moving toward lately. Seems you can get anywhere you want to go out here in California by lacing fire roads together.

Since I built up this bike, I’ve been out with my mountain bike zero times. The fling with my road bike came to an abrupt end. It’s so much fun it’s just a bit hard to imagine trail with any other bike at the moment.