Dario's Final Sea Otter Randoms

Apr 23, 2024
by Dario DiGiulio  
I have become the otter. I float amongst the waves, bashing mollusks with my rock as the gulls circle overhead. I know not of bicycles or their constituent parts, I know only of clams, rocks, and water. Once I was a man, wandering a land known as Laguna Seca, searching for intriguing and ingenious gadgets and gizmos, but now I float.

Sea Otter round 99 folks, dig in.


Real handsome topcap.
Real handsome topcap.

I hadn t seen Throne saddles before but the shape is unique - the very uplifted back end is compelling.
I hadn't seen Throne saddles before, but the shape is unique - the very uplifted back end is compelling.

I am haunted by this creature.
I am haunted by this creature.

Apparently this case can fit an XL mountain bike so long as you remove the fork.
Apparently this case can fit an XL mountain bike, so long as you remove the fork.

Nice finish on this gravel jawn.
Nice finish on this gravel jawn.

Beach Club.
Beach Club.

Contra MC at the Digit booth.
Contra MC at the Digit booth.

Complicated but seems to work well.
Complicated, but seems to work well.


Forbidden Supernought
This Supernought was on display at the RideWrap booth, meant to showcase their new Lotus Pro film. About 70% of the Lotus film is made of recycled film of a similar sort.

Forbidden Supernought
It's a tiny bit thicker, and still comes custom fit to your special frame.
Forbidden Supernought
And you can barely see it.


Nice silver accents on this Wolf Tooth show bike.
Nice silver accents on this Wolf Tooth show bike.

Spacey paint.
Spacey paint.

Little guy peeking out at the Leatt both.
Little guy peeking out at the Leatt both.

Some thing cool in the works at the Outbound booth.
Something cool in the works at the Outbound booth.

E-bike light upgrade.
E-bike light upgrade.

The mount was printed to fit this stem perfectly.
The mount was printed to fit this stem perfectly.

Sick.
Sick.

Kit paint job coordination dialed.
Dialed kit / paint job coordination.

The KS E3.6 is an inverted prototype they ve been working on for a while.
The KS E3.6 is an inverted prototype they've been working on for a while.

The damper is still going through iterations and the lower leg guards apparently didn t make it to the show.
The damper is still going through iterations, and the lower leg guards apparently didn't make it to the show.


photo
Hudski is coming to market with a third iteration of their do-it-all bike, formerly known as the Doggler. This new ride is to be known as the Dualist.

photo
It has Boost spacing, adjustable dropouts, and a Universal Derailleur Hanger.
photo
You can also change the fork's rake, if you so please.

photo
Post mount brakes mean it'll take all the parts bin components from an old mountain bike - a pretty ideal N+1.


Sinter had their pad bedding machine on display. It s geared towards shops and completely automates the process.
Sinter had their pad bedding machine on display. It's geared towards shops, and completely automates the process.

All you do is plug in your settings and it takes care of the process.
All you do is plug in your settings, and it takes care of the process.

Pairs well with the wide array of pads they also make.
Pairs well with the wide array of pads they also make.

Confidence inspiring.
Confidence inspiring.

Hot bass boat jobber on this Helm.
Hot bass boat paint job on this Helm.

Hand guards on the e-gravel townie bike gets the people going.
Hand guards on the e-gravel townie bike really get the people going.


Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Randoms Sea Otter 2024


Author Info:
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Member since Dec 25, 2016
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91 Comments
  • 83 2
 Dario's otter poem is so Dario and I love it. Never change.
  • 12 10
 but he forgot necrophilia
  • 2 0
 is nothing sacred
TIL: otters escalate quickly
  • 2 0
 I approve whole-heartedly.
  • 46 1
 I want that outbound light!
  • 4 0
 Agreed! I’ll take one.
  • 6 0
 @BermJunky: Great lights, and that mount looks a lot cleaner than the current one...

Really cool, non stock ano on that I9 stem, too.
  • 8 1
 I want them to release the CAD files for that mount!
  • 4 0
 @basic-ti-hardtail: shoot them an email, the guys at Outbound are stellar with the Customer Service. Unless it’s a new “tell us your stem and we’ll print you one at cost” situation, they might share the details.
  • 2 0
 @abueno: second this, outbound customer service is spot on.
Please outbound do this set up with silicon (Knog style) and onboard battery for analogue bikes.
However will it project cable shadows?
  • 1 0
 Me too man! Bummed I just bought the current version lol
  • 42 1
 Dario launched into otter space.
  • 3 0
 Clearly one of the randoms that he found was either a mushroom or some sort of paper that he ate. I am the otter Goo goo g' joob.
  • 23 0
 Hudski giving the people what they want - the actual gravel bike for mountain bikers.
  • 5 0
 After walking around the show for four days and having my eyes glaze over with bike stuff I somehow kept stopping to glance at the Hudski each time I passed by their booth; it was pretty dope looking.
  • 2 0
 There's plenty of modern geo rigid flat bar bikes out there. I have a Nordest Sardinha 2 and it's pretty sick.
  • 2 0
 All I see is a mountain bike for mountain bikers.
  • 18 1
 bring back the bass boat paint schemes! Schwinn had that dialed in on the Homegrowns back in the day...always wanted one!
  • 4 0
 THIS!
  • 3 0
 Guy I knew in a long-ago ride group had one in Rootbeer...really nifty! Here's an example: www.mtbr.com/attachments/dsc03095-jpg.491881
  • 2 0
 Check out Jibe Cycle Works, they were there. Finishes like you remember.
  • 2 0
 Agree! I have a root beer painted Sycip hard tail that is sooooo beautiful.
  • 12 0
 Anyone looking for that top cap: it’s from a manufacturer called yellowbird threadworks.
  • 2 0
 Yep! Brian is a lovely guy to work with, and hustled to get the top cap and bar ends out for this build.

Also, for anyone interested in the saddle in the photo below the top cap, it is from Form Cycling. They were started by the fine folks at 3dBikeFit in SF. So far I am really liking the saddle.

Nice to see ya in Monterey @dariodigiulio

-SJ
  • 9 0
 Can we get more bass boat level glitter paint jobs on bikes? Not every bike, just the good ones.
  • 2 0
 But there's so many good ones
  • 5 0
 Dario has slowly become the only PB content I'm consuming. It's an honorable swap for Levy, I suppose. Knowing that he's almost CERTAINLY a believer that mannequins have souls and move when you stop looking and shit... Just needs to up his alien game maybe.
  • 11 7
 I hoped letting Evan show the Contra at my booth would lead to some press photos of the Ring. You would've walked right by it to get to Hudski!

edit: I remember the Ring was off of it's stand for about 3 minutes getting photographed in the creek. You must've walked past at that time, @dariodigiulio. Kinda comical timing!
  • 5 2
 Sinter's pad bedding machine looks so useful. At $3,000, I suppose this would be for bike shops shops and pro teams. I couldn't justify the expense just for myself but bedding your brakes is super important and I hate doing it. It takes especially long to bed in my TRP DHR Evo brakes with the biggest, thickest rotors and Galfer Pro pads. It's a workout doing all that pedaling. Most bike shops I know of either don't bed the brakes in for their customers or they just do a minimal job of it. What a great service that would be to fully bed them.
  • 2 0
 When I was working in shops, I always hated having to go out in the parking lot on a 90 degree day to bed the pads in on a bike. Nothing like getting super sweaty to then go back inside to no ac. Or, if it’s dumping rain, I’m just not bedding in pads. That’s probably why you dont often see this done by shops.
  • 4 0
 Galfer claims that you don't need to bed-in their Pro pads.
  • 2 0
 @RossDiesel: yeah, my experience with those pads was a pretty quick bedding process. I only run 203 x 2.0 rotors, but full power was available almost right away.
  • 8 0
 That's what the first lap is for!
  • 3 0
 try the trick used by WC mechanics, rub the pads together under water for a couple minutes. Makes it way easier
  • 5 0
 If pads aren't bedded in when first installed, will they bed themselves in through regular use, but braking performance is reduced until that happens? Or will they not bed in naturally, and braking performance will be reduced as long as those pads are on the bike? Asking for a friend.......
  • 5 0
 Wet pads and rub together until no more black crap coming off them, into bike wet. Fire up the wife's treadmill to 15km/h or there abouts, hold bike on it one wheel at a time for bed in, pat on back, spend $3000 on some other bike related goodies, go ride with smily face
  • 5 0
 @keeweeism: ok, thanks for the tip, just bought a treadmill.
  • 1 0
 @dcaf: not for TRP!!
  • 1 0
 @RossDiesel: I'm aware that they claim this, but I personally disagree completely. They need to be bedded just like any other pad.
  • 5 0
 Buying a Hudski frame and using extra takeoff parts I had laying around was definitely one of the best purchases I’ve made recently. Such a ripper of a bike.
  • 4 1
 Pad bedding machine. I just used to remove the sanding belt from the Wintersteiger ski / board tuning machine and sit the wheel on the drum... fire it up and bingo... done... manager of the shop wasn t too stoked on it but whatever... they didn t know shit...
  • 7 0
 The Otter has spoken....
  • 5 0
 Why was that Contra at the Datum booth on a stand with a label for the Digit Datum?
  • 25 0
 I kept a stand available for other small builders because I remembered that it’s a little stressful to show a bike while walking the event (not having a meeting place, or a good photo spot, shade, or leaving one-off prototypes outside the bathroom). I had visits from Contra, Fat Chance, Ridebo, Ministry, and more.
  • 2 0
 @DirtBagTim: Cool!
  • 3 0
 That "spacey paint" reminds me so much of the custom paint job @CamMcCaul got done (on a Slash, I think) to look like a Psychedelic P*rn Crumpets album cover.
  • 2 0
 Bro, a muthafukn Psychedelic Porn Crumpets reference? Did we just become best friends??
  • 1 0
 @thustlewhumber: Haha, I hadn't heard of them until I saw Cam's video, but I'm a fan now! *fist bump*
  • 2 0
 Can’t believe there’s no comments on the Beach Club frame. Stunning, stunning, stunning….the Farah Fawcett of bike frames. Just one night please….promise I won’t bend it too much.
  • 3 0
 Do shops bed brakes on new builds? I've never received a bike with pre-bedded brakes.
  • 11 0
 Good shops and good mechanics certainly do
  • 3 0
 My local shop just bought a bedding machine. It's a really nice touch and a good way to differentiate. I hope they can get the message out and see a return on that investment.
  • 2 0
 The Shop I work at does it for some time now with the machine shown here and customers love it. I think it is a neat little service.
  • 2 0
 Wait sinter is a brand? So when we've been saying sintered brake pads, is that from the brand name, or is sintered a legit technical term too?
  • 3 0
 Sinter is a legit technical term that's been around a lot longer than the brand. From Miriam-Webster: "to cause to become a coherent mass by heating without melting."
  • 2 0
 Sintered is a technical term for pressing powder together, sometimes with heat. The process is sometimes used to manufacture brake pads: wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintering

This machine doesn't do sintering as I understand it. In the same way as Forge and Bond neither forge or bond.
  • 7 0
 @mikekazimer: That's mostly how I cook
  • 3 0
 Oru case does fit an XL MTB and I did have to take off the fork! It even stayed under 50lb with a coil shock!
  • 1 0
 Sick, glad there's some confirmation.
  • 2 0
 It's funny that you point out the "post mount" on the Hudski fork, when in fact the fork is flat mount with a flat-to-post adapter.
  • 1 0
 Yeah, I did a double take at that one.
  • 6 3
 Ride Wrap - Should be an OEM option from every brand.
  • 1 3
 Everyone will complain that the frames are to heavy. Can't win.
  • 8 0
 @fabwizard: keyword: option
  • 1 4
 @southshorepirate: so the shop will have to carry two of each bike so option is available.

Best would be a good deal when you buy or even include install in price.
  • 3 0
 That's what bike shops are for.
  • 1 0
 @ihsik: Some shops don't want to apply wraps. It isn't nearly the same margin as having a mech crank out tune-ups with upsells on parts. My shop was nice and let one of their employees do it for me for cash on the side before they built the bike.
  • 2 0
 @ihsik: Except some shops don't want to deal with applying wraps. It's pretty low margin work compared to traditional services.
  • 4 1
 I just let my bikes get scratched, going to happen eventually.
  • 3 0
 You change that bikes' name back to Doggler, right now!
  • 2 0
 Love the Seeming-Good Vehicles banner. Adventures in language translation!
  • 2 0
 "I don't always design a brake setup, but when I do I make sure to put the bleeder in the wrong spot."
-Shimano, probably.
  • 1 0
 Is it too late to still call it the Doggler? I can't imagine saying "thanks, it's a Dualist".
  • 4 0
 Just don't call it Shirley. It hates that.
  • 1 0
 @noapathy: surely you can’t be serious.
  • 3 1
 Looks like another Pond Beaver done and dusted.
  • 1 0
 Is it just me,or the dropouts on that KS fork in the middle look really flimsy?
  • 1 0
 Is that Ben Frederick whose face is mostly cropped out of that photo with the Mosaic?
  • 1 0
 "Hand guards on the e-gravel townie bike really get the people going." ---He's wearing an S&M hat, so he gets a pass.
  • 2 0
 Can anyone tell me, what bike that spacey paintjob was on?
  • 1 0
 My dream bike is a Contra MC XXL with 26 inch wheels lol they should come out with a enduro hardtail
  • 1 0
 Leatt suckerhead technology
  • 1 0
 KS dropper fork is keen....
  • 1 0
 dropper... fork? You mean the suspension fork?
  • 1 0
 That Contra looks like many solutions to many problems that don't exist.
  • 1 1
 Mtb going through a bit of a snooze.
  • 2 1
 Otters are evil
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