Used Downhill Bike gets Fixed, Ridden, and Named

Kevin has been a road cyclist for most of the time I've known him, but recently things have changed. In fact, today Kevin White took this step with his knuckles to the point where he literally blew his shorts off. So, to understand how we got to this point, a little explanation is necessary. I don't remember when Kevin started riding a road

bike

, but he learned about everything from training to racing to eating donuts. He was a certified roady and called himself Steady Spin. He even had a local racing team for a time. But at some point, Kevin was introduced to mountain biking.

It was actually a little over a year ago that Alexander took Kevin to a

downhill

park, where to everyone's surprise, he turned out to be very good at not pedaling. It's worth noting that I had predicted this. Like me, Kevin has street BMX experience, so all those

bike

control circuits are deeply ingrained in his brain. We have seen this before. At some point in Kevin's journey into mountain biking, he began posting videos on YouTube documenting his progression. But unlike most roadies who hit the dirt, Kevin had all but abandoned his power meter, heart rate monitor, and cadence sensors.

His progression has been defined by bigger and bigger jumps, and I'm not sure we'll see roady Kevin again. Yesterday a

downhill

bike that he bought

used

for $500 came into my garage. $500 seems like a great deal for a downhill bike that works, but the more you learn about this bike, the less you think that. Don't get me wrong, none of these parts are bad, they're just completely random. I don't think an original Giant Glory came with cross country brakes. Or a single speed chain tensioner. Or the large ring of a two-by as a front sprocket. According to Kevin, these brakes overheat halfway through each ride and, surprisingly, he has had chain retention issues.

Whoever sold this bike may have put a bunch of random parts on it to complete it. But we had a small stack of spare parts to work with, some of which Kevin purchased and some of which I had on hand. Our goal was to use what we had to make this bike a little safer and a lot more reliable. Priority number one was to swap this front gear for a proper single speed chainring. This was designed to work with a front derailleur, so the chain shifts with any lateral force. Our replacement chainring has teeth that alternate between narrow and wide, which goes a long way to keeping the chain in place.

Also for chain retention we installed a downhill chain guide, complete with a crash guard. This one is made to protect a chainring up to 36 teeth, so it looks huge, but the price was right and its red color against the green accents made this bike look like a watermelon. So we called him Gallagher. In the absence of a rear mechanism, we decided to leave the chain tensioner. But I spent some time adjusting things and getting the chain line as straight as possible. Eventually we'll need to install a cassette and shifter on this thing, but for now it'll do.

To fix the Gallagher's overheated brakes, we replaced them with a barely

used

set of Code R's that Kevin bought from a friend. But, as expected, the hoses had been shortened to fit a different bike. I didn't have a longer hose on hand and at 10pm we didn't know anyone who did. So, we experimented a little and chose a shortcut at the top of the link. While these improvements were far from perfect or permanent, they went a long way toward making Gallagher a little more worth following. So first thing in the morning we loaded up and headed to Tennessee.

Kevin had a score to settle at one of the gnarliest places I know, Windrock Bike Park. Kevin had raced here earlier in the season and he wanted to come back on a downhill bike to tackle this step. We'd have to do a couple of tests to make sure Gallagher was up to the task. After our first few races, the chain tensioner spring failed and we had to borrow an old derailleur as a temporary solution. But overall Gallagher was running much better than before. The brakes did not overheat and the transmission practically did its job. Kevin had already

fixed

the suspension when he bought the bike, so it worked fine too.

Oh, and the guard did his job. Aside from a few small things, Kevin was acing each race without any problems to speak of. Aboard Gallagher, you'd never guess that just a year ago Kevin was a complete road cyclist. Just look at how far he has come in just one year. I'm not trying to do this about road versus dirt, but it's pretty clear that Kevin was meant for this. By the time we finished giving Gallagher a good test, Kevin was on fire. So he focused his attention on Redbull's downfall and the breakthrough that came after. Gallagher's suspension certainly did his job because Kevin's first attempt resulted in a massive case.

But he pulled away well and was ready to commit to a faster approach. Open brakes, white knuckles. It's hard to take a step too high, especially one with such a big landing. But man, we laughed when we saw this footage. Even I have to admit that a shorter travel bike might not have treated Kevin as kindly. I mean, they could have ripped his balls off. And that's why today we welcome Gallagher to Kevin's fleet. Obviously we need to fix a few things on this bike, but it's a pretty decent steed for the price. If he is trying to save money, patience and perseverance will often go a long way.

As for Kevin's road bike days, I hope we haven't seen the last of them. But Kevin follows his heart and downhill mountain biking puts a big smile on his face. One could also argue that this is safer. If you want to follow Kevin's progression and see what he does next with Gallagher, check out his channel at the link below. And if you want to see more from Windrock Bike Park, follow them on Instagram. Thanks for traveling with me today and we'll see you next time.