![]() ![]() There are kids on sweet dirt jump rigs, on department store bikes, on Striders. The park is full of kids and families exploring the trails. on a summer weekday at Valmont, far past my usual sesh time. Lindsey faces down his nemesis at the Valmont bike park in Boulder, Colorado. As I’d said to myself at many other points in my life: “Son, you need professional help.” I began to wonder: Was I, in my middle age, just too old to learn this? Was my brain too trapped in its fears, borne out of past crashes and other painful brushes with mortality? But before I gave up, I had to explore one more avenue. After months of frustrating attempts, I admitted I was stuck. My lizard brain-primitive, purely instinctual, and solely focused on survival-was the problem. Without enough speed, I’d come down short, landing the bike hard on the flattened top rather than the sloped landing on the other side. I would roll in every time, all steely-eyed focus…and promptly freak out and tap the brakes before the takeoff. (In reality, chickens probably have bigger lips than this thing.) And I still couldn’t do anything in Valmont’s dedicated dirt jump area-starting with that first tabletop on the small line with the steep, intimidating, wave-like takeoff. I could roll the smaller slopestyle courses-flowing, slightly downhill trails interspersed with jumps that have gentle takeoff ramps-and get the wheels a few millimeters off the ground. I could ride the pump track properly, without pedaling, by using my arms and legs to maneuver the bike through the whoop-de-doos and bermed corners. I started going to Valmont weekly, mostly in the early morning when no one was there to witness my level of suck. (Know a cyclist who lives to send it? Check out our Periodic Table of Cycling Gravity T-Shirt!) I’m not sure about that last part, actually, but the jumps are bitchen. Valmont, however, is a city-run facility with a full-time maintenance crew that doubtlessly performs its work under ISO Best Practices and Six Sigma Quality Control. Most dirt jumps are ad hoc creations on odd lots built by odd kids who enjoy shaping earth into mounds with shovels and then hucking bicycles over them. I live in Boulder, Colorado, home to Valmont Bike Park. That’s why, when one of my best friends decided to “store” his Transition PBJ dirt-jump bike at my house last summer, I saw it as an opportunity to try to fill this gap in my skill set. RELATED: You’ve Got to See This Bloodied, Tough-As-Nails Junior Racing After a Nasty Crashīut I’ve always envied the smooth steez of more skilled and daring riders as they flowed over lines and roosted off stuff I avoided. My MO on bikes has always been to keep the rubber pretty solidly attached to the earth. I even found trampolines a little freaky in my youth. I never raced BMX as a kid, never skied freestyle. In my quarter century of riding, I’ve been mostly a roadie and XC nerd. Acutely aware that a devastating injury could keep you from earning a living. Acutely aware of being self-employed and purchasing your own health insurance. The consequences of said crashing aren’t exactly the same, but it feels close enough when you’re in your mid-40s and acutely aware of gravity and your lack of mastery of it. But there’s a twist: It doesn’t crash down on you. Would you like to see some custom built T.F.’s? Click Here.The jump is fearsome, a steep wall of soil, frozen in a curl like a wave at Cortes Bank, motionless outside of geologic time. This titanium dirt jumper is one of the most durable, fun bikes to jump in, off, and around anything you might see in your path, and we know you’ll love it just as much as we will. The end result is fantastically improved handling and cornering ability, and it is immediately noticeable. The biggest benefit to the larger wheels is the ability to run a larger bottom bracket drop and keep the pedals at the same height off the ground. Yes yes, dirt jump bikes are traditionally designed around 26” wheels, but we wanted to try this out. ![]() The real kicker about the WTF? 27.5” wheels. Run the bike belt driven, single speed, or geared, and we dare you to not hop on this bike and get a giant, cheesy grin on your face. The WTF, for short, is simply the best dirt jump bike we have ever ridden. (Ok, maybe we can leave the tri bike out of that statement…) So we decided that we wanted to ride a dirt jumper that was incredibly modern, that was designed to fly over jump lines with ease and comfort and stability and, most importantly, with fly looks to make everyone else jealous.Įnter the Why T.F., the Take Flight. There is something incredibly special about each different type of bicycle, and each one provides a new perspective on why bikes are so incredibly fulfilling. Our founders ride everything from ultra aero triathlon bikes to downhill bikes to dirt bikes, and really just about everything in between. At Why, we all like to ride a lot of different two wheeled vehicles. ![]()
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