Curiosity made me smile

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Don’t know how many people on this site will really appreciate this but I am pretty stoked on one of our new bikes here at VooDoo.  It’s called Nakisi which means sacred medicine in Voodoo religion.  The bike is an all purpose rigid unit that takes fat 29’er tires and whatever bars you feel like.  I put an original set of WTB drops on mine with our high rise stem.  Then I decided to put my Pugsley fork and front wheel on it to see how that rode.  Then I went out and rode a new section of AZT here in Flag that I had not been on.  Answer: had a friggin’ blast!  Now I don’t like it better than my Canzo 29 but it sure does make me want to ride it again and again!  Take a look:

Super Monster Cross

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About JohnBon

Ride bikes, drink beer, love coffee, enjoy whiskey, go fuck yourself.

73 Replies to “Curiosity made me smile”

  1. dude you need a less retarded stem/bar combo. make appropriate changes and repost the pic lest you be thought of as a moron.

  2. Looks like a good time! This is the second bike I’ve seen from you guys with a crazy long stem, what’s the ideer behind all that? Comfort? Standover? Birdwatching?

  3. I love checking out project bikes. The build is half the fun.

    Curious though why y’all did not simply raise the HT a bit to help offset the need for a Hi-rise?
    Still dig it though.

  4. A few folks around Flag have been running drops on 29er setups and I’ve seen others with similar ideas out in the big world too. Running a small HT (on a mass-production frame) allows those who want a low-pro setup to have it. Then, for most, if they want to run drops, a long stem is needed to get them up high enough so that the riders hands (thus rider balance) are approximately in the same position as a set of traditional flatbars would allow.

    The setup is ideal for long tours and the drops give a rider more position options. I don’t know if ya’ll have been out there for days, but position change is a great thing.

    Drops on dirt make it good.

  5. We’re not talking about fixies, Joe. Read number 6. Gotta raise bars up a lot so that when the hands are in the drops (braking) they are at the same height as a set of flat mtb bars would have them. That keeps a rider from stink-bugging down gnarly descents. I’ve run a setup like that for about two years. It’s pretty good, especially on the long hauls.

    Besides, when was everything about setup written in stone? I mean, drop bars on dirt. Ever consider it? Oh, wait, let me answer that… “Dirt drops? Oh yea,I was riding those back when wheels were cut from stone…”

    Drop bars. Not bombs. Dude.

  6. You guys need to dig deeper. High rise shorty stems with dirt drops are nothing new. Google Steve Potts, or checkout some older offerings from Ibis.

    Tried some Salsa Woodchippers a few months ago, and yeah, you need that dorkomatic stem for it, with it? They rock!

  7. I think that with the resurgence of long off road tours & racing, as well as just touring in general (check topofusion.com, scott morris, chad brown, yadda yadda), the idea is being rehashed. After all, drop bars are nearly as old as the bicycle itself. And, I believe, dirt is much older. 6000, or 7000 years in fact, is what I’ve heard.

    Steve Potts? How about Tomac?

  8. im sure dildo underpants offer a variety of positions and are comfortable for long tours but that doesnt make them cool.

  9. I gotta say – that front end does look retarded… but probably very functional and a great set up. Gnome – I’d bet against you riding that. That is a lot of mass in the front. A lot of inertial mass. Give me foldable 1.8 tires on some good wheels any day. I like a fatter tire in the front than rear if they are not matched but damn, that’s a spread.

  10. amen littlejar. for a while there i was thinking this site was about posting content and then stroking one another about how cool it is. all im saying is that bike is, at best, 71% cool. for those of you who didnt quite make it past middle school, that is a C-.

  11. But, for those of us who made it through high school, the curve added in based on functionality puts the grade in the A range.

  12. Welcome to DC dude. All that picture is missing is a bottle of Maker’s Mark. Dig the bike.

  13. Minus the red saddle and that bike is spot on for the cluster-fuck a local fat drunk Mexican rides around on.

    So. Fat drunk Mexicans are now cool ?

    I SO did not get that memo.

  14. I dunno. I see skinny dish washing mexicans on the hoopdees you speak of Triple. The drunks however, are rolling chevy step-sides, with ground effects, window visors, mud flaps, custom grills, too-wide rims, fade paint jobs, and one or two smashed tail lights.

  15. East coast v. Left coast.

    The never ending story.

    Perhaps Big Kitchen could litigate a settlement ?

    Nah. That’s just wishful thinking.

  16. Good.

    Keeps him from showing his nads again.

    Sharpen those pencils BJ. We’re all rooting for you.

    For the love of Gawd are we rooting for you.

  17. A customer of mine — well on his way to becoming Surly Whore Of The Month (as he owns at least one of everything in their catalog) — offered free rides on his recently-built Pug. O.M.G!!! I had so much fun I giggled like a 5-year-old on Mountain Dew. I kept curb hopping and rolling over our shop’s homemade ramp like a monster truck rolling over the US Bank Tower. It was that easy, and that fun.

    Marge is the new Fat, kiddies.

    And by the way, that stem is exactly what we’ll all see more of as we all get — um, you know — OLDER!
    My bars are totally higher than my saddle on EVERY bike I own, without shame or worry. Know what? I’m more comfortable! And that means — you guessed it — I RIDE MORE.

    It’s a beautiful thing.

    And last I checked, Grant Peterson is sending his kids to college on that concept.

  18. @ 09 Gnome-Hey, nothin’ against bars higher than stem. Got a Technomic and Noodles on the ’76 Supercourse. Uncut steerer on the Crosscheck, flatbars and a stem with alittle rise. Highrise stem and Mary bars on the (fixed) Monocog which may actually make the fucking thing rideable at long last. Good bit of spacers and risers on my old HooKoo which I ran last summer with drops and barcons. When I put my steel Fuji roadbike back together it will have a Technomic. I just snagged an old Fuji Regis with SUAB geometry. If I run out of shit to do this winter I might do sumpin’ with it. So no, there ain’t one damned thing wrong with droops or bars at a sensible height or anhy of that shit. Hell, I’ve even succumbed to the charm of an oldskool quill Nitto Dirt Drop stem and B-115s on an old Stumpjumper. But clearly that frame could have had abit more thought put into its design if ever it was intended for drops. Still looks hella fun to ride though.

  19. Hey, I’m not attaching percentages… but I’d give it a 75% cool just on the basis that the bike is a Voodoo, which are good fucking bikes. How often have I put one together based upon what I have in a box? This bike, on the surface, looks like the result of low inventory. How ‘cool’ it is depends on who is looking at it. Just, let’s keep the high stem for Portland commuters and pregnant moms, and those who build their bikes in unusual ways not because it is cool… that’s HIPSTER-ISM and let’s hope they don’t latch on to the high stem mustache bar concept like they did to the shorty handlebar. Gawd help us.

  20. Actually the stem – since that’s the issue – is being made for the specific need of dirt drop use. I’m telling you LJ, the hipsters might flock!

  21. Grant got me convinced to raise the bars on my Colnago, and now I’m on the full custom Rivendell. Man, that low bottom bracket has me doing curvy descents at 50mph riding those high bars in the drops.

  22. Hey y’all! Thanks for all the comments! This Nakisi iteration is just me fucking around – turns out I love how it rides! Potts and Bruce Gordon are just a few custom builders that have made stems like that (custom stem + custom $$). And they made them for a reason – to ride dirt roads and single track with just about any frame AND drop bars. If you don’t like it that’s cool. Hell, I don’t care if you don’t think my bike is cool. There are plenty of other bikes out there that you probably like. I care about the smile on my face when I’m done riding. This bike gives you options – an all purpose bike. Fat tires, skinny tires, cruiser bars, fenders, canti’s, v-brakes, single speed, 3×9/10, 2×9/10, 1×9/10, hydraulic disc, cable disc, fixed, internal hubs, one crank, two cranks, flat bars, drop bars, scorcher bars, albatross bars, carbon bars. And the low head tube is to give it a traditional look. You remember bikes with level top tubes? We thought it looks cool and keeps the nuts in better shape. Yeah, it looks a little silly. But sometimes silly is best! You either get it or you don’t. But it’s a bike. And I CAN ride it.

  23. “If you don’t like it that’s cool. Hell, I don’t care if you don’t think my bike is cool. There are plenty of other bikes out there that you probably like. I care about the smile on my face when I’m done riding. This bike gives you options – an all purpose bike. Fat tires, skinny tires, cruiser bars, fenders, canti’s, v-brakes, single speed, 3×9/10, 2×9/10, 1×9/10, hydraulic disc, cable disc, fixed, internal hubs, one crank, two cranks, flat bars, drop bars, scorcher bars, albatross bars, carbon bars.”

    enough/well said…thanks voodoojohn

  24. hey gnome, i think i can hear the steam pouring out of your ears. let it go man, just let it go.

  25. Good to hear from you two, Pineapple & Nik.

    Nik, I figured you in for the win on that Coconino. And so I was mildly surprised when nobody got it.

  26. So now if I was a bike-neurotic middle aged guy or well-off youngster and had a big garage with 8 rigs on hooks, and someone cool is going to come in and say:
    “Dude, where’s your DIRT DROP bike?” almost joking but there it is, a gaping whole in my bicycle collection. “Hey, fat and high is so in.”
    Road bike,
    track bike,
    time trial bike,
    cross bike,
    bike polo single-speed,
    mountain bike,
    touring bike,
    beer runner…

  27. And I stopped running rat fixies long before they were uber-cool. I think they’re gonna flock. Helium could reel ’em in.

  28. Fat & High is the new fixie. I like.

    I see a few hipsters out about in this small hole, and they rock classic shifter bikes of the 80’s. Peugeots n shit. I might hug the first one that I see who has their bars flipped upside down. Interestingly, they don’t seem to concern themselves with the fixed. No, maybe those fixie kids are the new bike geeks of the day? Certainly wouldn’t be bad that way.

    Longevity must have its origins too.

  29. WTF? Chill guys, isn’t just being a part of it all that matters? Riding right? I rode a drop on my MTB in he 80’s BFD. Who cares? Yes I had to use a long rise stem, I didn’t like it I thought it changend the handling but who cares? BFD, ride your bike and shut the fuck up.

  30. I guess it doesn’t matter what the fuck someone likes to ride or thinks is comfortable as long as the self-righteous, egomaniacal assholes on here think it’s cool or it falls it to “what a bike should look like.” Get fucked elitists.

    Voodoo John your bike is chill.

  31. I took that bike for a quick shred around the neighborhood last week — fun like monster truck, comfy like Cadillac, super versatile. It’s form follows its function and its function kicks ass. Way cool, John.

  32. Little Jar, I saw the “bike polo single-speed” on your list. I have heard of that shit happenin, but can’t say that I’ve seen it in my small burg of Flagstaff. Somebody did send me a link to a Milwaukee Bicycle Company and I was impressed by the array of specialty bike parts. Maybe we’ll get something going here because it seems like it would be a good time.

  33. I’ll be picking up my new Milwaukee Bicycle 29er ss tomorrow. Can’t wait! Lovingly made in Wisconsin by the good people at Waterford.

  34. @hellbelly There is a bike polo advertised in the events section on the back of the Daily Sun each Monday. they play on the hill near the NAU observatory on San Fran St.

  35. That’s just my dream sheet. I have *only* four bikes and two of them are not built all the way so if I had a garage and 8 bikes, that’s the list.
    However, more realistically, I’d probably have 3 road bikes to every one mountain, and a tandem. Sommer – GOOD ON YA – Waterford makes GREAT bikes, I went through there and met Richard Scwhinn. I haaj to frame building shops. Gunnar is the affordable Waterford, by the way.

  36. I really don’t get the Peugot fetish… really, they are not great frames. Other bike brands hipsters seem to cling to are also companies that make something else. Panasonic is a good one. I also saw a Kawasaki bike and it wasn’t high end but since it was rare… therefore cool. They dig all the French bikes, for France is a country of hip-ness.

  37. + 1 LJ,

    Ugh, Peugots are the bane of bike shops everywhere. french threads, stamped rear drop outs and tubes so heavy you swear you can still see the pipe threads at the joints.
    “Just make it rideable” is the call of the college age kids who pull up in a convertible BMW and yet can’t afford 140 for an actual fixed wheel so they just thread one on a freewheel r. wheel.

    whoa… bad memories…

    BTW, thanks Gnome for outlining the process waaaay back on #6

  38. @Michael, I’ve never noticed it in the Daily Sun. I thought the events section was just for quilting workshops & senior activities. THX, now I know. It seems right up a drunkcyclist’s alley, wonder why we have’nt seen more posts on it.

  39. who loves to parrttY? PUGZ. getn both tyres xtra fat and some big ol bars ain;t gonna hurtCha bigbabies with there 1.9’s CowboyUPcupCake

  40. Hellbelly, I’m never out there for the bike polo. Never was into it. Dunno. Just not my thing as much as a bar stool was. I think Latham and the collegiate cyclists hit it up from time to time. Prebus was really into it for a while. What is that, like ten years gone now? Yea.

    But then there was The Pineapple. He was into it.

  41. Gnome, As no stranger to the barstool, It sounded fun until I realized that Michael said it was on a hill…by the time I get up it, the action would be down it.

  42. @Arrogant Bastard

    Relax.

    DC is like a locker room. No matter what you bring it will be busted on.

    All good.

    VJ can ride what ever he wants.

    But picking on his ass is part and parcel.

  43. Make sure you don’t swing through Minneapolis with that thing, monster-cross bike season is nov-april. I’d take you down and strap that bike to the hood.

  44. hah…leif2, this is leif1
    i kindly ask you to post as another name or as leif2?
    just make something up
    i could give you several ideas…i like making up nick names

  45. Still want to know who makes that stem. I have a 94 stumpjumper that needs that stem so I can throw on my Gary bars. I think that bike is pretty damn cool. I have plenty of dirt roads in my Wisco backwoods that that bike would rock on.

  46. jesus fuckin christ….is drunk cyclist the family guy of web?
    ummh and…surly’s suck 1 2 of my nuts

  47. Ha! I don’t see why I should change my name. Maybe you could use your last initial (as long as it isn’t ‘j’, cause that’s mine) with your name?

    I think I’ve been posting longer than you (at least I can’t remember anyone posting with the name leif before I did) but you clearly post more than me (I post once every few months). Or we could just go with it as is and add to the general confusion that is dc.

  48. damn…little leif has 12 nuts and surly is sucking all of them?
    that’s part of the weird shit that happens when you have 12 little nuts
    new name….surly squirrel

  49. i just thought i’d say: what a lovely build, I bet YOU will have much FUN on YOUR bike.
    PS: I’d be willing to conjecture that your bar position may just get the Grant Peterson Seal of Approval.