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    Biking

    I bought my girlfriend a Stumpjumper

    Lauren and I met on the internet. Before we ever saw each other in person, she knew bicycles were about to become a part of her life. I hoped we would be able to do some coffee shop rides, small grocery runs, or picnic rides—and she hoped for it too. The signs were all there. She is a big fan of walking every day for dopamine, clarity, and exercise. I was hoping the bike could add some range to those walks. A bike puts good coffee, sourdough, and amazing sandwiches within reach on a human-powered morning.

    I really wanted to build a bike that would feel like her. I wanted her to like it—a lot. I spent a few weeks sending Lauren Instagram posts with different bikes. I sent a pretty wide range, just trying to see what she really liked and what she didn’t. It didn’t take long for HER to start sending me BLUE LUG and Rivendell pics. There’s some guy out there on a yellow Rivendell that I now have to be bike-jealous of. LOL. From sending all the IG posts back and forth, we figured out she wanted a yellow frame with swept-back bars, a basket, and a Brooks saddle.

    The first Reddit post I made about moving to St. Louis led me to Matt at Hobo Hub Works. Lauren and I went up to his new space to look at frames. He had a yellow 1993 StumpJumper frame. We knew from the Rivendell IG love that we really needed a yellow frame. I told Matt that we wanted it. I requested silver everything, a dynamo, index shifting, and the coolest 2x whatever group he had. Lauren requested swept-back bars, a basket, and a Brooks saddle. One night, I told her we needed to know what grip tape she wanted. She went digging in the Bible of BLUE LUG and found that blocked-out pattern. I’ve honestly never seen a wrap like that. She picked out her own colors but riffed on the block pattern. The flower on the stem is from Matt. Lauren uses flowers a lot for emojis, but it's also kind of an icon for her. Matt picked up on that pretty quickly. It's a super nice touch that really makes the bike hers.

    I’m pretty stoked to say she’s already riding it without me. Today, she went and got lost for a while. She stopped by a local coffee place and got to experience strangers complimenting her bike. Just a straight ass brag — my girlfriend even made a video about how much she loves her new bike.

    I love bikes and I’m just a big bike dork. Thanks for reading.

    ☕️ brett☕️

    by Blurthr33

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    26 Comments

    4. privatekeyes on

      What a beautiful bike

      Me and Matt go way back to when he used to run a bike shop in Sanford, FL. He always had this great attitude about old bikes and would rip an old Kona Unit on mountain bike trails where most people rode full suspension.

      Love to see what he’s doing now and I’m glad he could help you with this bike 🙂

    7. randing on

      You guys are cute shit. The bike turned out rad. How do you like those tires? Have a set sitting in the corner that I’ve yet to put on, was one of the few stupid-big slick-ish 650b sizes I could find.

    8. steeleverything on

      A beautiful bike with no Paul, White or King parts on it. What’s happening to this place?

    11. pleasantBeThynature on

      It’s too long/low for her. Judging by both the tiny amount of seatpost for the frame’s intended fit, as well as her nearly locked out straight arms despite forward leaning position in the first picture.

       

      Note the angle of her left wrist. Those bars need to be jacked up wayyyy higher for her to be able to cruise. Also tilted down rather than the handles of the bars coming more or less horizontally back, this too will help with the bend in her wrist. The way the bike is currently set up she has to be almost in the mtb ‘attack position’ in order to flatten the bend in her wrist. Wrist bend + time + bumps = pain.

       

      I say all this not to discourage you, but to be ready when you two are biking for more than 5 miles and she starts to notice that she’d much rather have a bit less reach to the bars and for them to be higher up.

       

      These bikes are very difficult to set up for an average women’s body dimensions (long legs, short upper body, shorter) for even just regular/slightly more aggressive riding, let alone for a more casual commuter setup.

       

      Great build, however!

    13. babyilik3itraw on

      this is awesome! so happy for you both! you seem like the type of people i would love to ride with.

    20. cinemaraptor on

      I’m obsessed with the mismatched bar tape, might have to steal that idea for myself

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