The Kind has been with me since 2001! Wow, time flies. Here’s a photo with me with my brand new bike.
It was born a geared 24″ wheel custom aluminum mountain bike, designed by Brandi Fabian of Kind.Cycles, built by Brian Caulfield of Kavic Cycles. It was the bike that really fit, finally!
I loved this bike, but found that the 24″ wheels slowed me down. It was about this time that the Santa Cruz Juliana came into play and the Kind was given a short break. But not for too long.
I completely fell in love with this bike when it became a singlespeed. I think Brandi knew this is what the bike was supposed to be. I rode this as a 46er…24″ wheel in back, 26″ wheel in front. For a while, I ran the bike with a mullet because the front wheel I was using wasn’t disc ready. I eventually switched to full v-brakes, but yearned for two 26″ wheels with front and rear disc brakes.
Along comes Brandi and Brian to the rescue! Brandi got me in contact with Brian, and Brian hooked me up with this beautiful prototype dropout.
Last time as a 46er…right before I start taking the bike apart. A fitting way to leave the 46er? I won $230 with this baby on its last ride!!
Matt adding my new dropout from Brian Caufield. Thanks, Matt for putting my bike together and getting me rolling!!
New part in place. This is super light weight, and it fit the bike like a glove. 8 years later, and Brian sends me a prototype part that fits like a glove. That’s craftsmanship. The slots for the disk brakes are awesome. It allows for easy adjustment.
Complete Kind with 26″ wheels, front and back!
Beautiful!!
Disc brakes…to think I used to think they were overrated!
Thanks, Brian, for the prototype part. I’ve ridden the bike twice. I currently have a quick release skewer in the back that’s slipping a bit, so Matt is going to get me a bolt-on skewer. That should do the trick! So far I love the new geometry with the 2 “big” wheels. Big for me, that is. This is by far my favorite bike. There was good karma in the creation of this work of art, and the karma keeps coming my way.
Wow! What a history, and it makes for such a great recount of memories. The wheels look so small in that first pic; it almost looks like a kids bike. Congratulations on your great win
[...] Here’s it’s story… [...]
Your blog is so epic Jeni. You have always been so thoughtful and your words so kind. Lets hook up in Flag some time and ride. It’s time I let elevation kick my ass again. Your bike looks amazing! Let me know how you like those 69ers, I’ve heard a lot of good things.