The Superco Experience

Getting a new bike. The first thing to note here is I SUCK at writing. I barely passed english. This entire thing is basically for me to remember the hilarious (when looking back at it) events that unfolded as I tried to get a new bike. So if you don't want to read it, skip through, check out the shitty pictures, and suck a nut.__


And for reference, its too hot to bike, too hot to build, and I'm bored as hell.


Alright, so, I have quite a story to go with my Superco Satellite.

I've been riding a Devinci Hucker for about 5 Years now. Got it in May of 2004. Didn't do much to it at all, and it has served me well, But it finally needed to be tossed. I weighed it near the end, and it came out to 36.7 pounds. Not an idea Dirt Jumping bike. Looking through all the different possibilities for a new bike I decided almost immediately I was going custom. I'm a short guy, and I like the size of a bmx, but not the feel and the rigidness, Going through different reviews and talking to people, I decided to go for a 24" wheeled bike. Much more my size. I compiled a massive table of different custom frames, looking for tight, quality builds with the specs and geometry that I needed.


There were a ton that looked good, and fit the bill for a non-trendy, unique bike.

I narrowed down my options down as much as I could. I wanted something hand-built, not made in a production factory. The USB Molly Maguire was a contender, as I knew it was built by the guys at Dobermann, and they make quality frames. The Fall Guy, well, is pretty much famous in the street / park / dirt scene. And the superco? Well, I'd honestly never seen the company before, but the guy behind the frames (Doc) had a history that definitely screamed quality build.

From there, it was a very easy switch to one. Disc brake. It was a must for me. Don't ask me why, I just prefer a nicely tuned hydraulic disc brake to any V-Brake. That and I'm not exactly the smoothest rider.

So the Superco it was. Clean Lines, Quality build, Great people, and exactly the geometry and style I was looking for. (the weight was also a nice bonus)




The only problem with my plan: I was completely, dead-end, broke. I'd been living in residence at UVIC for 8 months, paying for housing, classes, and books. (oh, can't forget the beer.) So, for the time being, I stopped in my tracks.



A month or so later, my classes were over. I headed home, and settled myself back into a full time job, waiting patiently for those paycheques to start rolling in. I communicated with Terry at Superco over email, learned a bit about the company, the frames, and figured out exactly what I was looking for. One of them Fire Red Beauties.

June 30th, 2009. I finally had enough money to begin my journey. I entrusted PayPal with my life as I hit the "submit" button on the payment. And then I had to wait more. f*cking Paypal processing. 8 days of painful waiting. At least it gave me a bit of time to go buy and sell browsing. I found myself a fork, a gold label, warranty'd so it had black lowers. Perfect, because I'd wanted a gold label, but I hated the yellowish dirty gold color.

Finally, two weeks after payment, the frame arrived. The box was a heck of a lot smaller than I expected. I carefully opened the box, and pulled the frame out of its bed. Because I was taking it over to victoria to get it built up, I left the foam and plastic wrapping on the frame, to make sure it was in perfect condition for the build.

Another week of agonizing wait, and I boarded the ferry, cradling the frame in my arms like it was my child. Quick drive to a friends place, and I fell asleep, needing to be at the shop early the next morning. 6:45am I woke. got a ride all the way down from north saanich to victoria, and eagerly waited at Oak Bay Bikes for my friend Derek (who I had entrusted to spec and build my bike) to show.

Once he did, we grabbed the frame, and the Straitline pedals and Stem I had picked up from Greg, and took it down to the tech area to get'r done!

SHIT. "You didn't tell me this was a 24 inch specific frame..." he said. "the Seatpost is WHAT? 29.8mm?". There went all my chances of getting it built that day.

"well, lets pull it out and I'll take some measurements, get this right!". I carefully pulled off the wrapping, and the foam, and we put it up on the bike stand. Derek pulled out a tape, checked some stuff, then stopped dead. "dude. its dented." My heart stopped. I ran over, and looked where he was pointing. The headtube was dented, front, top, and center. A quick inspection of the packaging found that the foam over the headtube had been compressed from the plastic, and had torn over the lip of the headtube, exposing it. I immediately picked up my phone and made a (expensive, long distance) phone call to Superco. Terry picked up immediately, cheery and alert. I told her who I was, and she asked me how the frame was doing. As I told her about the dent, she grew quite distraught. She spoke like it was her baby who had gotten hurt! We quickly figured out a plan of action. I was to package the frame back up as nice as possible, and await their instructions, as they filed a shipping insurance claim, and got all the paperwork ready so I wouldn't have to pay taxes/duties a second time around. I emailed a bunch of pictures, of the dent and of the packaging, to help them in their claim.

I talked with Derek, figured out a plan on the specs side, and left the shop, depressed, and wanting to say just screw it to the whole build.

After about a week, My sadness faded, and filled itself with the excitement of the replacement frame arriving, and a proper build going down. They got all the paperwork in order, and my dented frame got sent off, immediately followed by a shipping notice of the replacement frame on its way back to me.

Thinking it would take about the same amount of time as before, I planned another trip to Victoria, and got Derek to order all the required parts. (the right ones, this time.)

Imagine my excitement when at 10am the next morning (friday), the replacement frame arrived. I completely unpackaged this one immediately, and found it in absolutely perfect condition.

Tuesday rolled around, and I boarded the ferry yet again. I dropped off the frame with Derek. This time I was leaving it with him for a week, to make sure everything went smoothly. We planned to meet up in Vancouver the next monday to get the bike to me. The next week was nerve wracking. He sent me a couple pictures during the build, keeping me up to date.


This time around, everything went perfect. Monday rolled around and I drove my Mother's honda civic (I am car-less) out to vancouver to meet him. The bike looked AMAZING. Sadly, I didn't have time or the place to go for a ride right there, so I took it, and (very carefully) fit it into the front, and backseat, of the civic (yes, I put down an old bedsheet first...). the bike BARELY fit. The front tire was bumping my arm as I drove, and I had to lift the back wheel in order to close the back door. After a long drive home, and I pulled the bike out to take a couple of pictures.


I've gone to the skatepark with it now, feels great on park, bit nervous on it, as its so different from my old bike, but I quickly got used to it. The bike feels like it belongs under me.

First dirt jump I did on it scared the shit out of me. This bike is about 10 pounds lighter than my hucker. (Derek apparently weighed it at 27.5lbs, and we have not weight-weenied AT ALL). I overshot, but landed just at the end of the looong landing, back wheel, and managed to ride it out. A couple of tries later, and I had gotten the feel of it.

Since that ride I've been working so much that I haven't gotten a chance to take it out again. But today my friend and I finished the roll-in for our new jumps, so I'll be flying soon. (we had already finished the first jump and second launch)






As for the Bike, I love it. For those who want specs, Here are the important parts.
Fire Red Superco Satellite.
2008 Gold Label (Black Lowers) [80mm]
Straitline TI-Grey Pedals and SSC Stem (50mm)
2" Rise Gusset bar.
Kenda NPJ's on Supra MT's with Axiom hubs.
Juicy Three.