Series of events...
I've made a few changes to what I've been riding so I thought I should take the time to share.
In the beginning of May I decided to try and find a Barcode that was slightly longer than the one I had been riding. I did this because I felt like the geometry of the Rickard frame I had been riding was a little more suiting. The Rickard frame had a 21.5" toptube length and was designed specifically for racing and light trail use. I somehow managed to ovalize the head tube riding it at the skate parks so I had to get it repaired before it would be race worthy again. I created a post in the T1 group on Facebook looking for a trade and it didn't take long before a few people reached out. Paul Robertson out in Australia happen to be looking for a 21" frame and had a 21.25" of the same year model and similar color as mine, so it was a no brainer for a trade. We exchanged info and made the transaction, which went very smoothly. While our frames were on their journey around the world, I came across a 21.25" SFA located in Colorado that I thought would be nice to have in the collection as well, so I picked it up while I was waiting. The Barcode showed up on May 6th and the SFA showed up on the 8th.
The Barcode has always been my frame of choice. I've ridden one since 2002, so when it arrived, I built it up using all of the parts that were on the Rickard frame.
The SFA was designed slightly different than the Barcode but had very similar geometry. The main differences between the SFA and the Barcode frames are the seatstay and chainstay junctions. The Barcode has the legendary wishbone connections that were originally introduced on the first model in 1998. These junctions were a carry over from the the Hoffman Taj frame when Taj and Joe decided to start T1. The SFA was originally introduced in 2003 as the signature frame for Garrett Byrnes. Both frames have undergone several technical design changes over the year but have managed to stay true to their roots in many ways.
After building up both bikes, I decided to take them out and ride them to see how they differed. I set the Barcode up "long" by using a fork with a 32 mm offset and running the chain to provide a 14.25" axle to spindle length in the chainstay. I set the SFA "short" by using a fork with 25 mm offset and adjusting the chain to give it a 13.8" axle to spindle length. Even though both frames are amazingly versatile and capable of handling nearly anything you expose them to, I did this to potentially have the Barcode as a more stable and trail worthy rig while using the SFA for park and street activities. I'll probably change it up again in the future but this is how they are for now.
After a few outings, I realized that I enjoyed the shorter set up of the SFA a little more, especially since most of my explorations led to skateparks and bowls. I began fine tuning the setup by swapping out a few parts and removing all of the skickers, with the exception of a few. During my reallocation of components, I found a set of Ruben 9.2" bars in the UK which were quickly imported and used as the bars of choice. I had also been running an Aitken 2.25" tire on the front on both bikes, which is a great tire, but decided to go with something a little more bowl, park and street friendly on the SFA. I wound up with an Odyssey Path Pro 2.4" that I picked up from ORP yesterday. I was eager to give it a run so I headed out to Bear Branch last night and rode for a bit. The new 2.4" tire actually made a significant difference in handling and feel while navigating through the bowls and transitions of the full concrete park.
While I was there, I ran into a few other guys that were close to my age and also riding BMX bikes. After a few introductions, I discovered that one of them was Chad Treanor who created the Landmark BMX page. He did so as a means to give back and document his journey of BMX. It was very interesting to hear this as we shared our stories of BMX, because they held a very similar direction and cause.
As of today, I think I have the SFA where I want it for a while.
Here's the breakdown:
Frame: Terrible One SFA 21.25"
Forks: Odyssey R25
Bars: Terrible One Ruben 9.2"
Grips: Terrible One
Bar Ends: DK Anti-Throttle
Stem: S&M Race XLT 53mm
Headset: Sunday
Brake Lever: Odyssey Springfield
Brake Caliper: Odyssey Springfield
Brake Cable: Odyssey
Front Hub: Chris King 36H w/ titanium bolts
Rear Hub: Chris King 36H Cassette w/ 12T Cog & titanium bolts
Rims: Odyssey Aerospace 36 H
Cranks: Profile Race 180mm w/ titanium spindle
Bottom Bracket: Terrible One Spanish
Sprocket: Profile Imperial 33 T
Pedals: Wellgo Magnesium
Chain: MCS Hollow Pin
Seat: S&M Fat Pivotal
Post: S&M Long Johnson Pivotal
Front Tire: Odyssey Path Pro 2.4"
Rear Tire: S&M Trackmark 2.10"
Thanks for taking the time to read this...
-Mark