No sooner had I regained possession of the handlebar that cored a Star Trek logo into my calf than our friend from Minnesota, Frank Stanton of Deep Woods Design, released a new product he’d been working on.
The UpCycle Bar Mount was designed to give new life to an old and cherished handlebar that’s no longer safe to ride—by mounting it to the wall for hanging things or displaying.
Since this handlebar, along with some sketchy decisions (no end plugs in the bar!), sent me to the hospital for my first encounter with 13 stitches, I figured it was worthy of this cool new product.
The story behind the stitches? During our annual ride down to the fireworks on July 3rd, someone always seemed to have a pretty serious crash. The year before, it was Greg’s turn, so I guess this year it was mine. I vaguely remember trying to wheelie off a stoplight—front wheel crossed up for extra style points—when something slipped, or maybe the chain broke. The front wheel came down in that crossed-up position, and over the bars I went!
It didn’t feel like that bad of a crash, honestly. I rolled out of it pretty well and shook it off like no big deal. But I’m pretty sure it was Greg who pointed out that something didn’t look quite right with my calf, just above the knee. I took a look and had to agree. After a short ride home, it was off to the hospital.
Fortunately, I was riding 6–7 days a week back then and had enough muscle mass to slow the impalement and keep it from hitting any bones. After three layers of stitches, I was back on the bike in no time.
Removal of the stitches. Pic is screencapped from a converted Super8 video. Yeah, this happened a few decades ago!
Turns out, I was Frank’s first customer! I originally ordered the black model—since he only offered black, gray, or white at the time. But due to a shipping snafu, there was a delay, and in that window he whipped up a version in my signature color: puck green. He also took the opportunity to tweak the design of his Wall Wheel Bracket to fit a 100mm rim, which he threw in for me to test out.
They turned out pretty cool. It’s one of those products I never knew I needed, but it’s sure nice to have them mounted up and out of the way.
I did have to move a bike to make room for them… and with another build in the stand, I’m running out of space fast!
All in all, these products do exactly what they’re supposed to. I’m happy to have the handlebar out of the parts bin and on display, and the wheel hooks bring a little order to the otherwise chaotic bike hole!
More products are on the horizon, too. Give Frank a follow on Instagram and Facebook to stay in the loop.
Have you got a product that makes your fat-biking life better? Whip up a story, take a few photos and send the goodness to [email protected] and let everyone learn of your good fortune!
