44 HQ X February 2026
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Took the better part of the day to get dug out from this latest storm. Current builds will resume first thing in the morning. In the mean time. Hope everyone is staying warm and cozy by the fire. Here’s a few shots from around 44HQ.
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#snowisreal
Let’s Get in Close
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Welding seat tube assemblies this afternoon. These dropper ports are fun little welds. More process pics in my story. Enjoy!
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#titanium
Waiting for the snow to melt
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Is it spring yet? Have the local trail Gnomes groomed the trails yet since this last storm? I have questions that need answers…
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#singlespeed
Marauder Ti Dedicated SS
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Man, I love singlespeeds. Recently stripped down my personal rig waiting for the snow to melt and re-anodized the frame and goodies a bronze to rose fade. Swapped out cranks to my 170mm eeWings and upped the dropper from a 175 to a 200mm to add a bit of weight to the rear so the build isn’t so fork heavy.
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Nothing gives you that taste of freedom like a bicycle!
New Shoes
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Been running a purple to bronze fade on my personal singlespeed since about 2018/2019. Felt like it was time to change things up and make a few adjustments to the build kit. So stripped everything down 2 weeks ago and re-anodized everything with a bronze to rose fade. I was waiting on some small parts but those arrived this week and I was able to finish anodizing all the small goodies. Made a few tweaks to the build out late this past fall including a new SQlab 611 saddle and their 30x 12° mid-rise carbon bars.
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One of the things I’ve noticed about my singlespeed builds, especially the titanium build is they’re a tad fork heavy. They even out a bit with two full water bottles. I had an “extra” 200mm dropper here back from service. Since the build was stripped down, I had long been thinking of adding some weight to the rear of my build and a 200mm dropper cut the mustard on this: More weight and more drop. And it really evened out the weight distribution. A win-win. I also had a set of 170mm @canecreekusa eeWings kicking around from the swap to 165’s on my Snakedriver FS, so those went on this build. 170mm cranks on my SS is the ticket. I’ll never run a set of 175’s again. I’m pretty stoked on the way everything came out matching the frames ano fades with Ti bolts for the faded @ron_kingcage
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And now the long wait till the snow melts.. it was about 16° with a stiff wind when I shot these pics around 4pm. Had to take my gloves off to feel the shutter release. That will wake you up! Good thing there’s fat bikes to ride until this snow melts!