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Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
Time to make fun of me. After the success of Kickstarter, a show called Adventure Capitalists called and asked if I would be on the show. I said sure, what's the worst that could happen....

 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,194
4,419
as a crusty old mountain biker, did you ever imagine yourself sitting on a mountain in the middle of the desert negotiating with a bunch of rich turds?
The way this tantrum story continues to evolve is pretty mind-boggling. Still no full reviews from the mags yet, right?
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
The way this tantrum story continues to evolve is pretty mind-boggling. Still no full reviews from the mags yet, right?
It's boggling my mind, I guarantee you. And my body.

No full, long term reviews. Simple reason. No bikes.This first batch is gone. I'm going to taiwan next week to work out the next batch. In light of the show, a bigger batch than I originally planned. So, I hope, by next spring, I might actually have a "fleet" of demo/test bikes. Until then, user reviews aren't a bad thing. Sure, biased, but still.
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
as a crusty old mountain biker, did you ever imagine yourself sitting on a mountain in the middle of the desert negotiating with a bunch of rich turds?
You know, on my way to being a crusty old mountain biker, my path has led me to some unique negotiating sessions. Sitting in a room at Citroen with 8 cigarette smoking execs trying to chop down the price on the shocks we were providing to the Rallye/Raid team. and before the session, having the driver tell me "don't back down, they'll give you what you want." they did.

Sitting in a room with ford after we demonstrated shocks on an explorer that made it handle like a sports car instead of flipping at the slightest turn. They asked me how much it would cost to change their shocks. I scrambled, trying to come up with the lowest possible number I could imagine, knowing it would be too cheap. So I said "a dollar a shock". They said something like "that would cost us $40m", stood up and left. oops.

One of my favorites was with Chip Ganassi. He hired me to design shocks. The first race was the '93 Indy 500. With my shocks on, the car was way faster than other shocks on our car, or the competition. Arie put it on the pole. Chip hands me a big, 12 page long contract and pressures me to sign it at the track, his lawyer breathing down my neck. I baulk, saying I need to look at it. We finish second in the race, the chief engineer blames my shocks, Chip tears up the contract. I'm out the door.

But, to answer your question, hell no. I didn't even know the show existed until they called me. And really had no idea what to expect. And it's such a weird, reality TV negotiation, like "you have 5 seconds to decide". What? am I clipping the red or the blue wire??

BTW, I am not saying my above experience makes me a good negotiator. I'm not. I suck. But I do it with some grace under pressure.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,182
media blackout
You know, on my way to being a crusty old mountain biker, my path has led me to some unique negotiating sessions. Sitting in a room at Citroen with 8 cigarette smoking execs trying to chop down the price on the shocks we were providing to the Rallye/Raid team. and before the session, having the driver tell me "don't back down, they'll give you what you want." they did.

Sitting in a room with ford after we demonstrated shocks on an explorer that made it handle like a sports car instead of flipping at the slightest turn. They asked me how much it would cost to change their shocks. I scrambled, trying to come up with the lowest possible number I could imagine, knowing it would be too cheap. So I said "a dollar a shock". They said something like "that would cost us $40m", stood up and left. oops.

One of my favorites was with Chip Ganassi. He hired me to design shocks. The first race was the '93 Indy 500. With my shocks on, the car was way faster than other shocks on our car, or the competition. Arie put it on the pole. Chip hands me a big, 12 page long contract and pressures me to sign it at the track, his lawyer breathing down my neck. I baulk, saying I need to look at it. We finish second in the race, the chief engineer blames my shocks, Chip tears up the contract. I'm out the door.

But, to answer your question, hell no. I didn't even know the show existed until they called me. And really had no idea what to expect. And it's such a weird, reality TV negotiation, like "you have 5 seconds to decide". What? am I clipping the red or the blue wire??

BTW, I am not saying my above experience makes me a good negotiator. I'm not. I suck. But I do it with some grace under pressure.
any time you wanna share more crazy stories like this, go for it.
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
He hired and fired me as Chief Engineer 4 or 5 times during the '99 Indy Car season. To his eternal credit, he kept paying me during my "layoffs", even though I was moonlighting for an Indy Lights team at the same races. Totally weird. I love Robby. Balls Fucking Out

team gordon 1.jpg
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
Idiots guide to combatting road harshness on bicycles.

1. Up tyre volume by 2mm at a time while simultaneously dropping pressure by 5-10psi until cyclist quits whining.

2. Advanced option: Inform said whiney idiot of how to choose appropriate road surfaces when planning road routes.



6. Suspension.
 
Idiots guide to combatting road harshness on bicycles.

1. Up tyre volume by 2mm at a time while simultaneously dropping pressure by 5-10psi until cyclist quits whining.

2. Advanced option: Inform said whiney idiot of how to choose appropriate road surfaces when planning road routes.



6. Suspension.
I know this won't help, but please stop being an arrogant asshat. That is all.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,194
4,419
Short travel suspension for road is coming no doubt... dunno about missing link being the approach to that, but sure... spend someone else’s money to find out. By track bikes are we talking velodrome fixies?
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
Short travel suspension for road is coming no doubt... dunno about missing link being the approach to that, but sure... spend someone else’s money to find out. By track bikes are we talking velodrome fixies?
the track bike may not be the target......
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
But it's wonderful fun, especially in cities.
I'm a crazy old MXer. I raced the Kamakazi before disc brakes, real suspension or real tires and wheels existed. I grew up with big V-8's, drum brakes, no seatbelts and bias ply retreads.

The craziest thing I've ever done on the street? a couple years ago, I rode my mtb from Taipei exhibition hall to my hotel. For an hour. In Friday nite rush hour traffic. Doing battle with 1000 cars, 4000 buses and 10,000 scooters.

I didn't die
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
Below is one of the first comprehensive customer ride review posted in empty beer:

Note, these guys did their own custom paint jobs

I feel bad for not posting sooner, Brian really went above and beyond getting the frames out to us just in time for our trip. Starting from Southern California our trip took us to Moab, UT, Fruita, CO and Salida, CO. Having ridden the same trails last year on my old bike (Pivot Mach 5.7 Carbon w/ 150mm Pike) it was really exciting to see how the tantrum compared. For reference both bikes are the “Shinedown” configuration, 160mm fox 36, 29” front, 27.5” rear.

After riding the bike HARD for nearly 2 weeks straight in some extremely challenging terrain the improvement over my old Pivot is staggering. I'm shocked at just how much better the tantrum is. This feels like the next generation of mountain bike. In Moab we rode 4 straight days (Navajo Rocks, Klondike Bluffs/North Klondike, The Whole Enchilada, and Hymasa/Capt. Ahab).

Climbing performance is a major factor for me and as advertised the bike really excelled here. On the steep, technical, punchy climbs in Moab being able to get out of the saddle and stand up to power over obstacles really impressed me. The dw-link on my pivot pedals pretty well and is a fine climber while seated but i've never been able to stand and really push the bike without it squishing down and as a result I run remote lockout on that bike. Under these conditions the tantrum totally stomps the pivot by eliminating the "squish" and providing active suspension in areas the locked out bike would often struggle. I successfully conquered obstacles on the tantrum that have beaten me every single trip to moab for the past 9 years and had a grin I couldn’t shake due to the almost disbelief of the terrain this bike was enabling me to ascend.

I was extremely skeptical of the staggered wheel setup going into this build and was worried the investment in wheelset alone was a huge gamble. Luckily that gamble paid off and I’ve been rewarded with the best bike I’ve ever ridden (and I’ve been on a lot of high end equipment over the years). While I’m curious how a complete long travel 29” tantrum will perform in the future I’m extremely pleased with what I have now and wouldn’t hesitate for a second to recommend it to anyone on the fence.

When you set the bike side by side with my old Mach 5.7c it absolutely dwarfs it in every dimension, but this thing is still incredibly nimble, something I was unable to find in other long travel 29" bikes leading up to this one. The pivot switchblade I demo'd multiple times felt numb and sluggish, resisting turning into corners far more than my old 26" 5.7c. The tantrum turns into corners effortlessly, handles tight awkward switchbacks with ease, and remains predictable and confidence inspiring at high speed. It obliterated the toughest rock gardens on the whole enchilada and survived the biggest hits and drops that trail has to offer. I was towed into some of the gnarliest terrain by pro level riders on this trip I wouldn’t have even attempted on my old bike and came out alive and well. I don't mean for this to sound like a commercial and I do have some complaints with minor things such as rear derailleur and brake cable routing and dropper post compatibility (man the 150mm KS Lev CI barely squeaked by as compatible for me, and an awful lot of fixed post is exposed). I also REALLY want a light weight carbon version of this frame, but I understand the challenge that poses and am very pleased I didn't skip an amazing bike just because it's aluminum.

Below are a few pictures of both our bikes from the trip, mine is red, my buddies blue:

Click the images for full size.