You think you have bike shed problems? Does your wife take the piss out of you in front of her friends about the number of bikes you need as well as the fact that you spend more time in the shed than you do in the house?
Once again therodfather can help you out. With a little help from my mate Gavin McCarthy. I've known Gav pretty much since he left school and got a job in a bikeshop. Now he builds the worlds strongest wheels at Wheelworks Handcrafted Wheels. I used to see him at the races but he was a skinny XC lad who had early nights after huge pasta meals while us super cool DH types got smashed on vodka and beer and anything else that was going before hitting the clubs and getting into fights with the locals outside the last burger bar to close (some things never change) so we didn't hang out much. But now with the death of XC and DH following closely it seems we are all doing the same thing...just riding our bikes and racing enduro so Gav and I got reacquainted and recently I accepted his invite to go check out his bike shed under his house in Upper Hutt.
Gavin McCarthy in his meticulous shed. No wonder his Flite and Maker wheels are perfect builds.
Help? Yes, The next time you get some grief from your spouse about the state of your love affair with all things wheeled just bring him/her along to this page and remind them how great your life would be if you never got married and had kids. You could be living the dream like this cunning lad Gav. Bit of spare cash? F*** buying a new washing machine...what about another bike?
There's nothing quite like a good derailleur collection
Forks through the ages.This lot will be worth a pretty penny in 2116. See that Boxxer fork there? The first ones cost $25,000USD and needed a rebuild after every DH run as the Oil cartridge would blow. All they needed was a bladder system like today. Hindsight is a great thing.
OK, so you might realise Gav has a bit of a problem. Does he need to buy a new house with a triple garage? Oh, and his internet auction addiction. Just don't mention that to your partner.
Gav found this bike on Trade Me and just had to have it. Why?..It's the exact replica of his first MTB. This was one of the best bikes in NZ shops at the time in the late 80's.
Not only did the '90's have bad hairdo's. The saddles left a bit to be desired too. We all wanted one of these at the time.Only weighed 2kgs.
GT bikes dominated the 90's. We all lusted after them.
check that high pivot on this RTS. Bump eating rearward axle path but bobbed like a toffee apple at a redneck fair when pedalling.
When the titanium rockered LTS arrived a lot of riders peed their pants. It rode exceptionally well, one of the best DH race bikes in the world with a whopping 75mm of travel.
This AMP Research bike was the ultimate dream bike. Rigs like this were about $12,000 and yet still rode like shit. Spaghetti any one.
AMP had their own linkage fork which worked really well but wore the pivot bushings very quickly and it was impossible to get parts.
It was a thing of CNC machining and gussetting beauty . Risse rear shock. About 60mm of travel front and rear from my demented memory.
You couldn't ride a bike like this today and live, but we didn't know any better than skinny CNC'd dropouts and raced rough gravel ski roads at up to 80kph. With 135mm stems I might add. Tough?..You have no idea.
I can pretty much guarantee Gav didn't have to go out and buy a kids car seat, My Little Pony and a paddling pool with this load of cash.
Smug bastard. But no really... Gavin is very quiet and unassuming but he can RIP YOUR FRICKEN LEGS OFF any day of the week. Bastard.
A bike hoarders paradise.
Gavs personal bikes. Show this pic to your nagging wife/husband. Tell them to thank their lucky stars.
UCI race liscenses for the win.
If only my workshop was this tidy. I don't understand where I went wrong? Oh yeah... that's right ...alcohol which led to kids which then led back to alcohol.
Being single means Gav can have his bike stuff in the lounge as well.
USA roadtrip collage. My wife wants me to burn my old photos, something to do with the kids getting the wrong idea?
The first proper DH bike made in NZ. Thanks Rob Metz for leading the way.
2004/2005 bikes were finally getting good enough to ride like we do today.
Check the gold Rockshox brake caliper. hydraulic but with a cable pull from the lever
The first suspension fork, the Rockshox RS-1 circa 1990. I was astounded how much quicker it made any rider who bought one (for about $900). It had about 50mm of travel.
Gav in his happy place.
Thanks for showing us what life would have been like without a family Gavin. I wish I could show you what you are missing out on and attempt to make you a little jealous in return. But somehow a negative balance in my bank account, multiple receipts from the doctors (mainly from the psychologist type), gazillions of photos that mainly show vomit, poos, fairy costumes, mother-in-laws and me asleep on the sofa at 8.30 pm probably won't do the job satisfactorily.
Bastard.