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Hours:
Monday-Friday: 11am–7pm
Saturday: 10am–5pm
Sunday: Closed

Ph: 773.654-3419

3259 W Lawrence Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
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Custom Santa Cruz Tallboy CC Featuring Sram XX1 AXS

March 25, 2019

It’s always a pleasure bringing a customer’s custom dream bike to life, especially when budget isn’t the main concern. It gets even better when the customer is eager to incorporate the latest technology into the build and we get some hands-on time with the best components on the market. Here is what we came up with: The concept for this bike was to start with a Santa Cruz Tallboy CC carbon frame and build up a mountain bike which would be light and snappy enough to feel at home in a cross-country or endurance mountain bike race, but at the same time be capable enough to handle rugged, back-country trails. We went with the top of the line CC carbon version of the Tallboy frame in Forest Green with Baby Blue logos. The Tallboy is the perfect frame for this project with it’s 110mm of VPP suspension, 68 degree headtube angle, and boost spacing, placing it firmly at the trail end of the cross-country category.

A Fox Step-cast 34 120mm fork is the highlight of the suspension package. The Step-cast version saves a half a pound of weight over a regular Fox 34 fork while retaining the same stiffness. The fork is paired to a custom-tuned Fox Float Factory shock at 110mm to handle the suspension duties at the rear of the bike. We also went with a Fox Transfer dropper post at 125mm.

You can buy Santa Cruz Reserve x Chris King wheels straight from the Santa Cruz factory, but we decided to source the parts and build the wheels in-house. We mated Chris King ISO B hubs in turquoise to Reserve 27 rims using Sapim Race spokes.  The carbon rims carry a lifetime warranty through Santa Cruz, and Chris King hubs have one of the best reputations in the industry for durability and longevity, so we are confident these wheels will be able to handle many miles and years of hard riding. We covered the wheels with Maxxis tubeless tires; a Minion DHF on the front and an Aggressor on the rear.

A Santa Cruz 760 carbon riser bar with ESI Extra Chunky grips will control the bike. We also used a Chris King Dropset that matches the hubs.

The most exciting part of the build is the Sram XX1 Eagle AXS electronic drivetrain. Like their previous road groups, the AXS wireless shifting was easy to set up and shifts flawlessly.

The rainbow coating on the chain and cassette is stunning in person.

The shift button is very ergonomic, and feels natural to use if you have been using Sram mountain bike shifters in the past.

One of the coolest features of the new AXS system is the ability to customize the system through the companion app. You just pair the system to your phone and you can adjust the shift functions, check for firmware updates, and check your battery levels.

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/TAILWINDCYCLES

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Thanks to everyone who came out for Lisa's (@yo_uterus ) Shookie ride today! Keep an eye out for another one in June. 
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#bikergram #bikeride #groupride #bikes #wemakeyourrideeasy
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We've been down in Calumet Park supporting the Half Acre Cycling Skyway beginner Criterium series this week. We are extremely happy to be given the opportunity to help out with this series. The importance of Half Acre Cycling's commitment to inclusivity and effort to bring new bike racers into the Chicago racing scene is huge! 

This year is a special one for @boxwrenchben , as 2023 marks the ten-year anniversary of his journey into being a race mechanic. Ben went to the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to obtain a professional mechanic's license in the fall of 2012, and worked Neutral Support professionally for the first time for NRS and Events in the Spring of 2013. He has worked as a neutral support race mechanic or pro team mechanic at races every year since 2013.

The Skyway Crit Series is great for new racers because the course is beginner friendly and the focus is on the lower categories, rather than some of the bigger race series in the area. One part of crit racing that is often overlooked by new racers is how the race pit, technical assistance, and free laps during the race all work. The foundation of providing neutral support at a race is being able to provide technical assistance to the racers while at the same time adhering to the rules of the race, and also helping racers re-enter the race safely after taking a free lap. One of the requirements of obtaining a USA Cycling mechanics license is to take and pass the USA Cycling Officials license test. This ensures that the mechanic can work with the race officials to make sure everyone can race safely and fairly.   

A lot of bike racers (new and experienced) don't actually have a great understanding of how neutral support, the race pit, and free laps work at a race. We'll go over some of the fundamentals here, and don't be afraid to ask the mechanic(s) in the pit (whenever they aren't busy) or any race official (same) if you have any questions. You can also go to the USA Cycling website and download a pdf of the official 2023 rulebook. Criterium racing rules are covered in chapter 3. 

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Here it is! We finished up the facade improvement project on the shop. We had the talented @cantarella.ink come by and hand paint our signs and lower window murals.
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#newsign #newsignday #facade #improvement #mural #streetart #handpainted #wemakeyourrideeasy
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We had another great employee bike maintenance day at @halfacrebeer yesterday! @alscorch and @boxwrenchben were able to service almost 30 employees bikes. Setting up our portable workshop amongst all the Bourbon barrels they use to barrel-age some of their beers was a perfect setting. We even got to sample some delicious beers after we finished up in the evening. 
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#beer #mobilebikeshop #bikemechanic #bikemaintenance #halfacre #wemakeyourrideeasy
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