Blog | Boo Bicycles

Tyler Wren 6th and 10th at UCI LA Cyclocross weekend!

January

Posted by Nick Frey

This post has been a long time coming, mostly because I didn’t want to do it without the incredible video from Shelby Smith. (If it’s running slowly, simply click HERE to watch the video straight on YouTube)

The races were held in the “heart” of LA, if there is one, on December 3rd and 4th. While not USGPs, they attracted a good number of heavy hitters (Tim Johnson, Ben Berden, Chris Jones, etc.) and the extremely windy conditions made for interesting racing.

Tyler and I flew into LA from Salt Lake City and Denver, respectively, and were excited to spend the weekend with our good friend and former teammate Ivan “the Cuban Missile” Dominguez. If you haven’t met him, he’s one of the nicest, funniest, most gregarious people I’ve ever met–any time with him is a good time.

I got Tyler’s Boo cross bikes set up and picked him up the day of the race. We scouted the course, did some fine tuning of tire pressures and derailleurs, and prayed to the God of Cyclocross (Sven Nys) for good luck.

You’ll see from the video that Tyler was in the front group or leading the front group throughout most of the two days. The Enve 1.25/King wheels with Challenge Fangos (26-28psi for the bumpy, dry conditions) simply ripped, and Tyler’s mentioned to me just how much improved the frames are with the FAT 1.5″ straight head tubes, Enve tapered Cross forks, and huge Press Fit 30 BB shells. I felt like a proud father.

Sven came through for us on Day One, when Tyler fought for all 60 minutes to take 6th place, just behind the front group of five. The windy conditions meant the racing looked like a circuit race more than a cyclocross race, and Tyler couldn’t hold onto the train through the tight corners…and fighting a headwind while closing gaps throughout the entire race takes a toll!

I guess Sven punished us on Day Two for not paying him sufficient respect: Tyler had a front tire roll halfway through the race, while he was leading the front group. The legs were there, the luck was not. He came in to pit and raced the second half on the B bike, which is identical to the A bike except for one key piece: wheels/tires. We didn’t have time to get another set of Challenge tubulars glued onto the other set of Enve wheels, so we had been using tubeless Hutchinson Bulldog tires with cheap Ultegra training wheels on the B bike. And, while excellent for training, they are horrible for UCI-level racing. Tyler had no hope of catching the charging front group, which was shattered by Ben Berden shortly after Tyler got onto the B bike.

It was a painful sight, a sad fall from grace, but I got video and photo evidence of the excellent ride he was having before Nys took his pound of flesh.

There are many, MANY more photos from Chris See to post…these will go up later this weekend. There are some great close-up shots of the bikes, and after a full season of ‘cross racing we have them totally dialed and I’m sure you will be interested to see the details.

Until then, enjoy the video!

MTN Flyer TEST: Boo 29er

October

Posted by Nick Frey

Jordan Carr, Brian Riepe, and the rest of the boys at Mountain Flyer Magazine have just finished putting the Boo 29er through its paces. I’m happy to report, “this bike is truly a rocket.”

MOUNTAIN FLYER MAGAZINE TEST REVIEW: BOO 29ER

While the Boo 29er is getting some great recognition, the Boo Cross–specifically, Tyler Wren’s Boos–are in for a serious spanking this weekend in Boulder. The Boulder Cup (Sunday, in the new Valmont Park) is a perennial favorite on the cyclocross circuit, and it’s a veritable who’s-who of professional ‘crossers.

If you’re on the Front Range, come by the Boo tent out on course for one of the best beers you’ll put to your lips (New Belgium) and to check out other customers’ rigs. Beer, bamboo bikes, music, mud, and mayhem.

Tyler 7th at Providence C1!

October

Posted by Nick Frey

For those who’ve not heard from me for a while, there’s a good reason: we’ve been scrambling to get Tyler Wren’s A and B race bikes dialed in! Cyclocross season snuck up on us after a long, hard road season, but some awesome sponsors have come through to help us create what I’m proud to say are the fastest, most refined Boo Cross bikes to date.

Check out the Facebook gallery from both of their races. As you can see, we’ve lined up a list of the best sponsors in the entire industry to make sure the Boo bikes drop jaws as quickly as they’re pedaled! Every company we work with makes products which I buy myself, because they’re the best designed and performing pieces available–I’m happy to preach the gospel because I’m a believer

Cane Creek
Clif Bar
Challenge Tires
Chris King
Enve Composites
Fizik
Giro
Pactimo
Ritchey
Shimano
Smith
TRP

Corey Collier and Lara Kroepsch are joining Tyler as the newest Boo Crossers, and while Tyler was shredding Providence, Corey was blowing out the cobwebs at Fort Collins’ own New Belgium Cup. After driving from GRAND JUNCTION on Friday, gluing tubulars and building bikes Friday evening and Saturday, he raced for the first time in over a year on Sunday. In a USGP ‘cross race. At altitude.

Yes, I’m actively searching for a motivated psychiatrist.

Corey is now on a crazy journey to Brazil for a mountain bike stage race, where he’ll be working to raise awareness for Light Gives Heat, a charity very near and dear to him and his fiance Lara. They’re racing for more than results, and I’m proud to have them on Boo.

While I’m working on getting a few words from him on Sunday’s New Belgium Cup, Tyler has a bit to say about his Providence trip:

As usual during the labor-intensive ‘cross season, it was a whirlwind of assembly and prep getting all our sponsors’ equipment built up on the two new Boo frames. It all came together just in time for my trip to the UCI C1 & C2 weekend in Providence, and the bikes debuted flawlessly. I was battling for the podium both days, and, despite some crashes caused by pilot error, still managed a great top ten result in the more prestigious C1 event. The Boo ‘cross rigs are evolving phenomenally well. The new head tubes and bottom bracket areas are as stiff and track as well as an oversized aluminum frame, but the bikes retain that amazing bamboo compliance over the rough terrain. The weekend gave me enormous confidence in this year’s bikes and, with the cobwebs blown out, I’m looking forward to battling again for the podiums in Boulder at the end of the month.

The next big race weekend on tap for Boo is October 29/30 in Boulder. Tyler’s flying in, photog-extraordinair Chris See is flying in, and Corey and Lara and I will be the local yocals. It’s going to be real! So stay tuned–same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

Tyler Wren’s custom Boo cyclocross frames for ’11 season

September

Posted by Nick Frey

Watch end enjoy as James Wolf, around the world in Vietnam, gives you a sneak peek of Tyler Wren’s new A and B frames for ‘cross this season.

I’ll be posting a race schedule soon, and of course a full bike review as soon as possible–likely the end of October, after the Boos have been raced a few times.

Custom details to note on Tyler’s rigs:

1) we’ve moved to the Press Fit 30 bottom bracket standard, utilizing a 46mm ID carbon tube as an internal sleeve. Around this sleeve, we wrap with unidirectional T700 carbon fiber in our proprietary (i.e. sorry, no pics of that step!) layup. The PF30 setup shaves almost 100 grams from the frame alone–but the stiffness increase is significant. We can use larger OD tubing and have a great wrapping area for the carbon fiber. The crank and BB themselves are stiffer and a cleaner design (without ugly bearing cups sticking from the gorgeous Boo BB), but the best part is the increased heal clearance–in extremely muddy conditions, it’s quite common to see both normal (non-BB30) crankarms completely worn by the inside of the racer’s shoes. It mars the finish, is quite uncomfortable or even painful, and surely can’t help transfer those watts to the rear wheel.

2) we’ve also used a FULL 1.5″ head tube on Tyler’s Boos. Yes folks, not a curvy, tapered HT…it’s a full freaking 49.61mm ID from bottom to top! This means ridiculous stiffness, lots less weight, and lots more fork/headset options. We’ll run Enve Composites tapered Cross fork, which from our experience is the stiffest, most precise ‘cross fork on the market. Then a Cane Creek headset composed of a normal external-bearing lower cup and a trick ZeroStack internal top cup. The headset stack height is reduced, allowing us to run a slightly longer HT–you want that for the stiffest front-end possible–and the top cup disappears into the frame for a very slick look but without the generally crappy feel of “integrated” headsets. If you’re curious why Chris King has never, and will never, make an “integrated” headset, read it from the horse’s mouth.

3) the stuff you cannot see…James has almost 200 Boo frames under his belt now, and every single one is better than the next. As we work together to improve the integration of various components into the overall bike design, we’ve also optimized our tube sizes (both outside diameter and wall thickness) and our joint-specific carbon layups. These details are ours to see and to know, but for our customers and racers to feel–the newest batch of Boo bikes has been getting rave reviews from customers, which I’ll be posting as soon as I get some good looking pictures to go along with!

So check in as we ramp up for a great 2011 cyclocross season and show what Boos are capable of!

Interbike 2011

September

Posted by Nick Frey

Come see Boo at Interbike and try a Boo for yourself at Outdoor Demo!

Bikes at Outdoor Demo will be in the TRP booth, right across from the Shimano and Trek booths. There will be a Boo CX on display, and a 29er available for test ride, both with carbon belt drives!

At the indoor show, Brad Cole’s bike will be on display at Challenge Tires (booth 9084). Troy Evans’ will be on display at Tektro Technology (parent corp of TRP) at booth 12073.

Tyler Wren 6th and 10th at UCI LA Cyclocross weekend!