A brief introduction
Welcome to Run What Ya Brung dot bike, a blog that will probably be read by very few but hopefully deeply enjoyed by those who find their way here. Inspired by Mike C / Lacemine29, Andrew Major / Meat Engines / NSMB, RJ The Bike Guy, The Radavist, Grant Petersen’s Blahg, and The Cave Of Bad Ideas at Path Less Pedaled, I look forward to using this blog as a slow-paced place to host bicycle shenanigans and tom-foolery. Namely, how to save money while making your bike feel top dollar, an extreme commitment to silver parts, trying friction shifting on damned near everything, trying to convince you to run Cushcore, and documenting drivetrain hacks and bodges through the eventual #WillItShift? Series.
About the “editor”: I’m based in the Rust Belt / Upper Midwest, I prefer riding off-road as much as possible despite living in a city, I work in the music industry, and before getting really into bicycles I was really into downhill skateboarding. When I’m not staying up too late to play music for people I prefer to ride my bicycles off-road-- putting together notorious "ramble scramble coffee rides" that involve a little bit of slow meandering on poorly maintained dirt roads, a little bit of underbiking on primitive trails, a little bit of hike-a-bike, and a couple super acidic espresso shots. I prefer Trail Riding™ to all-and-out XC or Enduro, people say my gravel routes are more like MTB routes (some call it ATB), and I have a penchant for plus tires simply due to the nature of northern Michigan existing on glacial kames. I believe that urban off-road bicycling is the future, that steel is [possibly] real, that everyone should have a bike with fenders and a basket, and that friction shifting will save us all. Despite living in the Motor City I prefer to drop record shipments off via my cargo bike.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for hacks, bodges, trail reviews, routes, bike checks, music recommendations, and more.
all photos by Graham Bewley