Float like a Butterfly and Sting like a Bee

My back log of posts is turning into an Everest like mountain of ideas. Lost in the shuffle was a post about the Hup Honey. So for my loyal followers I give you the Hup Honey! I am going to do a proper interview with Rob, Mike and Zac as I want to get their story behind the bike. But my story is one of sheer and utter mind blowing devotion. I alluded in my last post about how quickly this bike was made. It not only went through the production at Seven in what to me is some kind of record for bicycle fabrication it came out spot on. The paint is gorgeous, the curves are sexy and it just feels so good on my shoulder. All the pictures except my blurry Iphone stripped down frame shots are by Double Hop. Enjoy!

Those are some sexy curves....you can't see it so well but on the inside of the drive side chainstay is painted in Hup bleu Baal Belgium. Yeah that would be Sven Nys's hometown. Those chainstays by the way are ginormous! Try flexing those bad boys...

Pedro's tools being put to good use! Ok another shout out in an endless stream of shout outs. Joe and Rob both built the bike in like two hours while getting ready for the party at the Ride Studio Cafe. See if your bike shop would do that. They wouldn't but what do you think their reaction would be when you asked them to build your bike in two hours so you could go on a ride? Hmmm either laughter or something not so nice. Joe and Rob I owe you big time!
Another great shot by Doublehop. I always love black and white. The new Seven Cross fork is really nice. The expander bolt is one of the most simple ones I have ever dealt with. Wayyy easier than that damn Reynolds expander that used to cause me fits! The fork itself is super stiff with zero brake shudder. Clearance is a little tight for the pads but not so tight you can't remove the tire out of the fork quickly. I've been very impressed by the fork to say the least
The Lion will be roaring quite a bit this Fall. I love the color scheme that they came up with. It is such a great change of pace from all the bleu and black bikes that are out there right now.
Joe hard at work...I've been riding the bike hard for about two weeks. The first ride was on our crazy team scramble all over the hills of Lexington. I have put it through a bunch of race simulations on cross courses and have to say it is so nice to be back on steel. I hate the first question that always comes up with steel but I will answer it. Is it heavy? Not for a steel bike. Not for a cross bike. At 4 pounds for the frame it weighs a pound more than my full bore aluminum Rocklobster cross frame. Built up my bike weighs 18 lbs. I use reasonable parts nothing crazy. You could (if you had the cash and that was what you are into) build it up to be 17 pounds easily.

But and here is the big but, light is not always right. A cross bike has to survive 45 minutes of brutal torture or you lose. It has to be stiff and handle well or you lose. A light flexy bike sucks at cross trust me I have had those. The Hup Honey has so much cross pedigree running through its beefy chainstays and swoopy rear end you can just feel it. At Weds Worlds this week the bike just blew me away. Part of it was the SBZ fit that dialed it in...with a little help carried over from Adam Myerson's set up help from last year. This week I worked (ie., obsessed!) on the bike til I had everything in the sweet spot. But still fit and set up only gets you so far. The bike has to be able to drive around a cross course.

It hit me as we were doing barrel drills how well this bike handles. I had chopped the guys wheel in front of me in the apex of a corner because he went too wide. But he closed the door on me before I could pass. I though oops I am crashing. But no I was able to pull the wheel back and move around him to the outside. That is worth its weight in gold right there...I'll get that interview up asap and give a full report as the season unfolds! Hup! Hup!