Pedal Room: What's your name, where do you live, and what do you do ?
My name is Kieron. Most people just call me K because they can never pronounce my name right. I live in Los Angeles and I'm a recording engineer/mixer in the music biz. I also ride my bike a lot. I write a blog called Ride The Black Line about track racing and I volunteer at the Encino Velodrome.
Pedal Room: How long have you been riding, and how often do you ride?
K: I've been riding since I was a kid. Racing BMX in Vancouver once I got my training wheels off. Then I started mountain biking because that's just what you do in the Northwest. Mountain biking became bike touring/camping on the Vancouver Islands. When I moved to Los Angeles, mountain biking and riding to school became a lot tougher. The trails here are packed hard and the streets are packed even harder. I stopped biking when I got my driver's license but then I started again when I ran out of gas. That was about 2003. Been riding almost every day since then (except for when I was injured for a year). Making tons of friends. Having tons of fun. Still riding strong.
Pedal Room: Nice! What's your favorite thing about riding?
K: Pedaling.
Pedal Room: Your Mino Denti is beautiful...how'd you end up owning this bike?
K: Thank you. I bought it from Larry Black at Mt. Airy Bicycles in Maryland. How it got there is a funny story. The Denti originally belonged to Jay Walsh in the early 90's who was racing it down at San Diego Velodrome (see the last photo on the bike's page). At some point, Jay sustained a serious injury and decided to move back to Massachusetts. He stopped track cycling for a while and the Denti just sat in his basement. In 2002, Jay went on a vacation and his brother -- who was housesitting -- decided to clean out the basement and sold the Denti to someone at Major Taylor Velodrome. When Jay returned, he was furious that his old track bike was gone. Somehow that bike got to Mt. Airy Bicycles and then to me a few years later. It wasn't until earlier this year, when the Denti was used for a photo shoot on a semi-popular girls+bikes website, that Jay was able to trace it back to me. I was shocked when he e-mailed me his story, saying he's been looking for this bike for over 7 years. Of course the pictures he sent me proved that this was indeed his bike. I'll be selling it back to him in the next few weeks and Jay will be back on his trusty track steed racing at the New England Velodrome next season.
Pedal Room: That's cool. How's it ride? And how often do you ride it compared with your other bikes?
K: This Denti has a very aggressive sprint-specific geometry. Extremely steep angles and very tight clearances for a short wheelbase. The top tube has a three-degree downslope which trips you out because you don't notice it at first. The frame is fast, light and responsive and great for short sprint events. Riding it for longer events was not so comfy. My lungs were struggling for oxygen, hunched over in the sprint position while trying to keep up in a points race. I've only ridden this bike in the street once and I'll never do that again -- way too aggressive for street riding.
Pedal Room: What do you love/hate about your current bike setup?
K: To be honest, the Denti never really fit me right. The downsloped top tube created an optical illusion and the bike appeared to be bigger than it actually is. So I upgraded to a larger frame, my Masi 3Volumetrica track bike and I couldn't be happier. However I will definitely miss the Denti, truly a beautiful bike and still really fun to ride.
Pedal Room: Do you have any future plans as far as bikes go? New parts for your Mino Denti, new bikes, etc.?
K: Well the Denti is going back to Jay, the original owner. My new race bike is the Masi 3V Montgomery/Subaru Team Bike which has been treating me well. I just finished building a new road bike -- a Chesini which will be going up on Pedal Room soon. My next bike is going to be another roadie. I'm just looking for a frame for these components I got. But first I need to sell a few bikes because I'm running out of room in my apartment.
Pedal Room: Anything else you'd like to say?
K: I dunno, maybe a shameless self-plug? Anyone who is interested in getting into track racing should check out my site Ride The Black Line!
Pedal Room: Thanks for joining and talking with us! Keep up the great work with your bikes and ride safe!