Exotic and Hot Looking

The Brodie OCHO think like the number 8, or the San Francisco 49ers Steve Young, or eternity, or like OCHO Cinco the brash, balling  NFL wide receiver. Aesthetically, the OCHO when I first laid eyes on her online, if she were a woman she wouldn’t exactly be something you’d pull out of the bar before last call. Nope the OCHO had me thinking moped, and you know what they say about riding MOPEDS. I was not impressed. Something just didn’t push me over the edge like the RONIN. The RONIN was sexy, the RONIN was well built, the OCHO hmnn kinda struck me as the geeky, butta faced, older sister.So here I was gazing at the OCHO online, and thinking to myself I’m going to have to find a  plastic pen holder for my shirts, start carrying a PC, maybe rocking some old school addidas, and changing my name to Elliot. I was literally dreading the new assignment.

As I slowly walked into the plant to see Ryan and pick up my new date I had the pace of a child hoping for a miracle on the long walk to the switch bush. Those of you who remember the switch bush, or having to get  your own switch to get spanked with know the walk. You were hoping for rain in the middle of a severe draught, a phone call from the Justice League, the Premier, or the President calling anything to stop the beat down you were about to receive. Then just like one of those tired teen flicks, or romantic comedies we are dragged into watching, the OCHO sparkled, and stood out. She was actually exotic hot looking. The OCHO was the starlet character that rocks the goofy glasses and by the end of the movie  she takes the specs off and POW she is hot and yours. Maybe the OCHO had a bad photo day, maybe she wasn’t in the mood to be shot. Maybe I am watching too much America’s Next Top Model. All I knew, I was stoked to take her home. The OCHO is like this cross between a classic beach cruiser, and a 80s,90s BMX 24 inch racing bike.Its got cool lines and even cooler styling. Its low key, its a neoclassic, whatever it was the OCHO is “hella” cool but the ride makes it so much better. You remember my last issue with being in a time machine and being thrown onto a RONIN. I was not aware that technology had changed the whole  gear shifting process and things were very different all around in cycling. The OCHO was about to hit me like  Ryan Kessler puck. The OCHO is rolling with HYDRAULICS holmes. Hydraulics not like Chuy from La Puentes  SS 63 Impala low rider, nope its got hydraulic brakes, Shimano Hydraulic 6" Disc front and rear. The kicker was the Alfine 8-speed internal hub, hydraulic of course man! Its so smooooth for changing gears. I heard Ryan talking to me about it like “Q” tells James Bond before getting a new toy, and like James I was barely listening to the white jacket. Guys this thing shifts like nothing you have ever seen. I figured since Ryan said “I can shift from a stand still,” I would take his word and try it. So one day I decided to  take the OCHO on an impromptu ride and whip up to my kids grade school and drop off  his lunch. I like hills, I always have its where I come from. In Altadena, and Pasadena we ran up and down steep hills, played football, raced bikes even “ate” it pretty good coming down a couple of bumpy hills trying to skateboard down them so I was used to hills until I hit the Kerr wall. Kerr street is a beast. I shot pass the road workers, and that is when the proverbial monkey jumped on my back and started beating my head in. I sprinted to Marine drive and thought my heart was going to explode. The skinny kid from Altadena was long gone, and so was the wind that I took for granted. Sitting at the stop light I decided to shift gears because I still had more hill to handle and it looked like it was gonna get steeper. Funny my car never has had an issue with the hill and when I sparingly walk up Kerr with the kids it just doesn’t seem that rough. Shoot! Kerr is no joke, and as the light turned green I forgot I had changed gears with my thumb and started to roll out across Marine drive. Now one thing I do remember is cool points matter, and you can lose them in an instant on a bike if you start clunking, or cha-chinging when you are shifting gears. The  OCHO was about as quiet as a fart in church on Sunday, NOT A SOUND, not a skip, NOT A CHA-CHING. I don’t know the sick mind that created this Alfine hub,  but WOW was it smooth from a dead stop going up hill with 250 lbs torquing it. According to internet speak on the Alfine, “The eight-speed gear range is more than enough for regular town and country use.” Oh I concur oh invisible web know it all. This damn hill was steeper then I thought and I shifted again and I just kept rolling I didn’t miss a beat. I think I’m falling in love with the OCHO. The rest of the ride was very tame, some gravel that the OCHO ate right up. The trip back brought me pushing it across some grass and a walking trail. I would like to try the knobby tires for a bike with wheels like this. Now as I made my way across side streets I noticed something else, the flat bar. I know what you are thinking flat bars? Am I going fixie on you? No. the flat bar I found to be very cool. I could get after it like old school BMX style, or just ride like it was cruising or use it like the around town commuter, or really hammer for a spell. Being that I am out of shape, that hammering session is a short spell. The rest of the OCHO I found fit me perfectly, it was grown up, sporty, classic looking, modern, and with the parts package it was perfect for conserving funds in my wallet. I would strongly suggest if you live in the mountains you try it with a knobby tire before you go exploring too much of a dirt trail, or something along those lines. I don’t think unless you’re “fix it guy” that you want to go snatching off the rear wheel, nope leave it to the professionals. Another thing I like about the OCHO is the weight. Its no salad eatting, fly weight, and its not  a even a tank but its solid and balanced and tips the scales at 27lbs. 27 lbs! with all the hydraulics, and parts for the price is great and the OCHO doesn’t even feel like 27 lbs. The trip down hill was something else. Point the nose and there she goes. The steering angles,  combined with  the build of this bike I felt a security and exhilaration as I dared to tuck and roll. I didn’t fly through a worm hole back in time but for the moment I thought I could hear RUN DMC in the background.

Final analysis. The OCHO is for the commuter, who wants a hybrid bike and likes to get in and out of trails, bumpy pavement and likes the ease of changing gears and wants a bike that leaves a different footprint. Go OCHO!!