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Crappy pic, crop of the full bike….

When she and I first met, I was a different rider. A different style, a different default riding position. Maybe I was still trying to figure it all out, I don’t know. Things came to a head this year though, when, during the traditional rebuild of the Kinesis Maxlight, it just wasn’t working.

It’s a shame, we’ve been together since early 2002, discovered numerous new trails together, completed many epic rides, done a range of races from 40 min cyclocross races (in a rigid fork/1.8″ tyre mode) to Mountain Mayhem with fat tyres and 100mm Bombers up front.

She’s been a testbed for various forks that have travelled through The Garage…..vintage bombers, RS Psylos, Fox Vanillas, Fox Floats, RS Tora’s, Pace RC31′s, Exotic Alu rigids. All shape and size of bars too….skinny flat bars, wide flats, low rise, high rise, weird-shaped alt-bars courtesy of On-One. Stems between 50mm and 120mm.

She’s been geared, singlespeeded. She’s been uber-lightweight jeytastic and further up the burly scale.

Things change though and it’s time to hang her up for the last time.

So, goodbye and…….hello.

Because, life is a cycle and after death comes rebirth……..

Or, “Revenge of the Summer Tyres”.

They got me good.

Riding over a small piece of woodfall, suddenly the front wheel slides out, the bars turn in and I’m over the bars, flying…..clip the bad shoulder as I twist, then land in a heap on my back.

Ouch.

The final ride of the Maxlight ends with a bang……….