Jim Cielencki Bike Check

Jeff Z.

• October 20 2009
• 32,517 views
• 19 comments

Name: Jim Cielencki
Age: 36
Location: Currently Buffalo, New York, but soon to be Austin, Texas.
Sponsors: Sunday and Odyssey

Frame: 20.75″ Funday Experimental
Fork: Sunday Morning 2.1
Bars: Sunday Forumph bars
Stem: Odyssey Elementary
Grips: Odyssey Aaron Ross
Barends: Parends
Detangler: Myself, I just undo the cable when it gets twisted up.
Headset: Odyssey
Clamp: Sunday prototype
Seatpost: Odyssey prototype Pivotal
Seat: Odyssey Aitken Pivotal
Pedals: Odyssey JCPC
Cranks: Odyssey Twombolts
Sprocket: Odyssey MDS sprocket 27-tooth
Chain: KMC Dropbuster
Brakes: Odyssey Evolver 2
Cable: Odyssey Mesh Linear
Brake Lever: Odyssey Monolever Trigger style
Front Tire: Odyssey Aitken K-Lyte 2.1″
Front Wheel: Gsport Ribcage with Gsport Marmoset hub
Rear Tire: Odyssey K-Lyte Aitken 2.1″
Rear Wheel: Gsport Ribcage with Gsport Ratchet hub 9-tooth
Chain Tensioner: None
Hub Guard: None
Pegs: Gsport Plegs

Modifications/Other/Extras:
On the rear hub, I put the aluminum axle in and use 3/8″ studs with spacers instead of 14mm. I’ve been running the 3/8″ rear axle for about a year now with no problems. With Sunday dropouts being so strong and the Ratchet hub cones being really wide, I don’t think you need a 14mm axle in the rear anymore. Other than that, I don’t really modify my bike much anymore. It’s not like it was 10 years ago, bikes are way better now.

You explained to me why you put your brakes back on. I think it was
something about spontaneity while riding street, would you please explain?
Yeah, that’s basically it. I can sort of compare riding brakeless to fixed gear riding. When you are riding down the street, you really have to plan your moves. Look down the street and plan out any obstacles or issues that are coming your way. Plan the reaction. For me, that takes the fun out of riding. When I have brakes, I don’t have to think about planning ahead as much. I can just go and I have an easy way to stop. Plus it really slowed me down; I definitely slowed down in preparation for what might be coming. I just want to go fast and not worry about silly things like if I can stop in time.

As for the spontaneity part, I really enjoy rolling down the street and not having to do a trick more than one time. The ultimate goal for myself is to only have one go at a trick. If I pull it then great, but if I don’t pull it then cool too. I really like the feeling of doing a trick and just riding on like I don’t even care. Not sure why it’s this way right now, but that is the way it is. No stress, no worries, no care just a relaxed feel while riding.

Tell us a little about the new JC PC pedals?
Well, they are plastic pedals with metal pins. Sounds simple enough right? But there’s so much more to them. There are no bearings and no side access hole like on normal pedals. The pedal is split in two halves and the halves are held around the axle by the metal pins. No bearings thus no sealed and unsealed. Each plastic half is replaceable and you can modify with different colors so you can delineate a grind side by color. It’s such a neat concept. George French did so much with them. We’ve been working on them for so long and they are finally available. Albeit in very limited quantities, so you might not be able to get them right away.

You’ve been running the Million Dollar sprocket for a while now, why are you so psyched on it?
It’s the best for learning crankslides and what not. You can fall into the sprocket and not have to worry about breaking your chain. Your learning curve goes way up when you don’t have to constantly fix your bike. It’s good to not have to worry about breaking your chain when you hit your sprocket. That’s basically the reason that I run it.

So you’re on the verge of moving to Austin, Texas, what are your thoughts on moving to the unofficial BMX Mecca?
Give me a few weeks and I’ll be in the heart of it all. It will be strange being in a place where so many people ride. It hasn’t been that way for me since I was a little kid. It will be funny if there are BMXers on every corner. I’m really excited to ride new spots and just have a bunch of different choices of things to ride. Just hoping my body can keep up.