THE ORIGIN STORY OF OUR ALLIED BC40

It’s hard to believe that the new whip landed on our front porch eight weeks ago. This was a long anticipated arrival of the new mountain bike and 2024 Leadville 100 steed. If you listen to The Bounce Forward Podcast and my tribute to my mom, or go back and read the blog, “Love, Momma,” you’ll know that she was such a big advocate of us pulling the trigger on this bike.

In a recent episode of The Bounce Forward Podcast with Jesse and Chase Smith from The Bicycle Station in Columbus, Indiana, I briefly tell the story of how this bike came to be. I saw my first BC40 in the wild at last summer’s Breck Epic and when my wife asked me on our drive home from Breckenridge, Colorado, through the desolate plains of eastern Wyoming (where my roots run deep), “What was your favorite bike at the Epic,” I didn’t pause for a second, “That’s easy. The Allied BC40.”

As fate would have it, a couple days later my daughter and I were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for a wedding officiating gig. I always arrive to town with plenty of time to spare, in case the pass from Victor, Idaho, to Jackson Hole were to close and I had to take the long way. I enjoy sitting in a parking lot or by a river, going through my script a couple times and really dialing in the intro/welcome.

With Kamiah joining me for this one, we hung out in the Target parking lot while I worked on the script and since we had some time to burn, I mosied over to a local bike shop. My Transition Spur was born in Bellingham, Washington, but was built up in Jackson Hole by the fine folks at The Hub, and thus I have some allegiance to them and rarely step foot in Fitzgerald Bikes. Seeing that they were a Pivot dealer, I decided to check out what they had and to my surprise, they didn’t have one, but multiple Allied BC40’s.

This was the first time I’d seen a BC40 at a bike shop and I was able to get close and personal. The first thing that catches your eye about any of the Allied bikes is the impeccable and crazy unique paint jobs—they shine. The second thing that stands out are the clean lines and racy feel. The shop owner walked over to see if I had any questions and within a few minutes of talking, he had some flat pedals put on and I was riding the BC40 in the parking lot—with a massive smile. Not only was this my first time pedaling an Allied and a BC40, but it was the first time I’d pedaled a bike with Sram’s new (at the time) Transmission drive train.

The combination of the new Rock Shock Sid fork, the BC40 and the Transmission kept me up that night after the wedding, laying in the back of the truck with my daughter as we slept (as I attempted to sleep) along the Gros Ventre River in the Bridger Teton National Forest.

I was back in Jackson Hole a week later for another wedding and I dropped by the shop again, just to get a look at the BC40. This time the store was closed, so I just parked outside the building and admired the BC40 hanging in the window. I was hooked.

I called my mom on the drive home from that down and back (we’re talking ten hour days of driving, 4+ hours each way) as I always did. In fact, I typically talked to my mom four or five times on my drive down to Jackson Hole and back. With her deep Wyoming roots, my mom always love Jackson Hole and she was proud of the work I did down there, writing and officiating weddings for what she believed to be the luckiest couples in the world.

My was the best my anyone could ever ask for. She could hear the enthusiasm in my voice as I spoke about the BC40. We spent over 90 minutes on the phone talking about that bike—keep in mind, my mom doesn’t bike, but she gets enthused about anything that inspired me.

She must have said a half dozen times, “You need to get that bike. Get the damn bike.” Knowing that I don’t make impulsive purchases, multiple times a week my mom would ask me if I’d purchased the bike yet and when I’d laugh and tell her, “No, mom. Not yet.” She passionately respond, “Get the damn bike, Mike.”

The only person more bullish than my mom on me getting the bike, was my bountiful bride, Amanda. What a dream team and queen.

With both of their urging me on, I decided to rekindle–or is if it was possible to rekindle a connection I made a few years prior. I had already developed a relationship with one of Allied’s Sales people, Cole Tininenko (a damn fine dude),  years before, following the tragic passing of Moriah Wilson, better known as Mo to the cycling community. We shared a thoughtful and heartfelt exchange, but this was two years prior. So, I found our old email thread and reached out.

After a few back fresh exchanges, Cole, made me an offer that was hard to pass up. Keep in mind, Allied offers custom paint jobs, I mean fully custom, like anything you want. Cole sent me a file with nearly 100 images of different color bikes (even color changing bikes known as their Harlequin paint jobs) and I spent many weeks marinating and milling it over.

And then, on my birthday, the same day we found out that I’d been selected by First Descents to ride on their 2024 Leadville 100 team, we tragically and suddenly lost my mom.

We were all gutted. For the next several days and weeks, I lost myself in long dirt rides, big hill repeats and threshold sessions on the bike. I also spent countless hours dreaming about that bike and my mom telling me, “Get the damn bike, Mike.”

Later in October I connected with Jesse and Chase Smith from The Bicycle Station. They have a brilliant YouTube Channel where they feature bike builds and from what I could tell from the outside looking in, is that they had more experience riding and building BC40’s than any other shop in the country—perhaps anyone outside of Allied, headquartered in Rogers, Arkansas.

Let me step back for a moment. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m all about where products are from—hence the Transition Spur, born in Bellingham and built in Jackson Hole. So, why on earth would a western boy, with deep Wyoming roots and a passion for keeping things local, want to team up with a bike manufacturer from Arkansas? Southerners are descending upon Montana in droves, changing the landscape of the Gallatin Valley, something that’s not lost on me. But here’s the catch.

My Transition Spur, like almost every mountain bike, is made in Asia, most often Taiwan. This isn’t something that bothers me terribly by any means, but the bikes built by Allied, including their first mountain bike, the BC40 (a sporty, racy, XC style mountain bike) are build in the USA—hence their whole, “Made Here” campaign. And this appeals to me.

Out of the gate, I was so impressed by my email and text exchanges with Jesse and Chase. When they offered to get on the phone, I jumped at the opportunity. By the time we were done talking (I mean an hour+ into the call), I brought up the idea of teaming up with The Bicycle Station for the bike build.

At first, I pitched having Cole and Allied send him the frame, with my custom paint color (which I had narrowed down to two colors, a harlequin and a green—British racing green to be exact). With that said, I was getting a strong deal from Allied and needed to know if Jesse and Chase would match it for the parts and rest of the build, which they were happy to do.

Then, as we were getting off the phone, Jesse asked me what size frame I needed, “A large,” I told him. He responded, “Well, I actually have one large frame in house right now. You wouldn’t have to wait to have Allied custom paint one, and it’s pretty sweet.”

I thanked him for the offer, but told him I was so particular about the color and had it down to two, and then asked him what color he had on hand. I’m not going to share the exact color, because it’s one of one, but it was a racy green that he described and I asked him to send me some pics.

Jesse and Chase, being Jesse and Chase, didn’t just send a picture. They laid down a white sheet in the shop and put the frame on it—so it truly popped and then sent three or four pictures from different angles. The minute I saw the frame (no shock, no fork, just the naked, raw frame), I knew it was THE bike. It was THE dream bike. THE bike of all bikes.

I had really fallen hard for the Blue Crush fork (the new, navy blue color) on the new RockShox Sid Ultimate Fork and they just so happened to have a fork and shock on hand and laid it by the racy green bike and that was that. I gave them a deposit there on the spot and we began the build.

For the next several days and weeks I was in close contact with Jesse as he hit every detail of the build. I let him know that I was in no rush, knowing I wouldn’t be able to ride it through our rough and rugged Montana winters, so I encouraged him to take his time.

In early March I began receiving pictures from Jesse as he started the build and then I received the video. Bouncing Forward into Another’ Allied BC40 Build. How many people are lucky enough to ride, race and spy (early and often) on their dream bike?! To have a build video of the bike, takes the entire project to another level.

Adding to the mystique of the build, following the build video, I had Jesse and Chase on The Bounce Forward Podcast (give their episode a listen, it’s a good one)  and following the recording of our conversation, Jesse and I jumped on the phone and spoke for another two hours.

In a recent blog post you’ll see that we launched a new show, A Joe and a Pro Cycling Podcast this month and I’m thrilled and excited to be on Team Bicycle Station as a sponsored rider for 2024—not only did they build a beautiful bike and produce an exquisite film of the build, but they are supporting and sponsoring the 2024 race efforts and Leadville 100 endeavor.

Here’s the link to the bike build. We hope you’ll check it out. We call the color, Silvery Sage. It you don’t have interest in a nineteen minute bike build video, I’d encourage you to scroll to the last three or four minutes to see the finished product, it’s a beautiful whip.

 

 

 

That’s a wrap. Until next time, keep pedaling, keep smiling, keep grinding–but please, listen to your body and take rest days and recovery weeks, train smart to get and stay strong, remember, it’s about consistency.

With nothin’ but love, mwl