I have a true soft spot in my heart for custom steel frame builders. The amount of care and craftsmanship that goes into every single one of their frames is unlike any other build in the industry. These guys have a true love for the sport, and most of the time…they make next to nothing on their works of art.

I’ll admit it…after taking a look at Chocolate Girl’s (mama) blog…I am extremely jealous. A few of our local riding friends took another trip to the Moab riding scene and came back with their best pictures to date. Not only does she take incredible pictures, but a great story goes along with them.

MTB by 198 picked up our first full time advertiser today…T2 Bikes. Check out their website, T2Bikes.com, for loads of great bike parts with incredible customer service.

Blackberry themes by Zach.

How about this for some late Sunday night stoke?! We got our hands on some of the new prototype Ardents from Maxxis…specfically the 2.6 (3c compound) and 2.4 (60a compound). They are going on the Terremoto for some testing running the 2.6 in the front and the 2.4 in the rear.

Had a very interesting morning yesterday. It all started with a bright-and-early 7 A.M. breakfast with a representative of SRAM (which was super fun to wake up for after the premiere of and party for Kranked 7: The Cackle Factor held Sea Otter in Monterey over the weekend).

One of the great things about this blog is that I get to cover industry news, parts and personal experiences. When it comes down to it, my greatest joy is getting out on the trail, and now I get to share it with the woman that I am going to spend my life with. Things couldn’t be any better.

Some time ago, on our local board we had a “discussion” on the pros and cons of square taper bottom brackets vs. external bearing bottom brackets. The mountain biking crowd has basically split into two camps.

1. Square Taper Devotees
2. External Bearing (X-Type) Riders

In my attempt to populate the world with more mountain bikers, I thought I would start at home! Most of you have probably already seen the thread on Johnny’s girlfriend aka. my future wife’s new bike. Yesterday we got the change to get it dirty for the first time at Blankets Creek in Woodstock, GA. Blankets Creek is probably the best beginner trail that I am aware of.