As bicycles get more advanced, they also seem to be focusing more on a single discipline whether it be enduro, or gravel grinding. All City’s new Junk Yard Dog, or JYD for short, is the antithesis of that idea. Some might consider it the jack of all trades, master of none, when it comes to new bikes, but you better believe Jack is having a hell of a time on his new JYD.
It’s a bike that defies categorization. It’s a mountain bike, street crusher, bar bike, commuter, it’s all of those things and more. Built to accommodate big 29” wheels and tires and one gear, the JYD is ready for your next bicycle adventure – whatever that may be…
As the first bike in the “Dirt” category, the JYD came together initially as a concept bike that All City Engineer Anna Schwinn and Brand Manager Jeff Frane thought would be a really cool bike. The problem was they weren’t sure anyone would buy one. Soon after, prototypes arrived and the team instantly fell in love. Anna says after having it a year and a half, it is her go-to bike all summer long (even though it also makes a great winter bike). Many rides were had on the prototypes and after exposing Minneapolis to the JYD prototypes, they realized that maybe people would buy one after all.
Even so, the JYD will certainly be a limited run with only 150 framesets that will be available in September for $550. No completes, and once the framesets are gone, they’re not really sure they’ll make any more. At least not of the JYD. When asked what the future held in store for All City specifically in the Dirt category, Jeff said, “We are planning on doing more with the category. We love and ride everything, and ripping the singletrack close to the city is near and dear to our hearts. We just need to figure out what makes sense for the brand and our constituency.”
As for the frame itself, the JYD starts with 612 Select ChroMoly steel with double butted down, top, and seat tubes. Designed as single speed or fixed gear only, the JYD features All City’s Hennepin Bridge Dropouts with built in chain tensioners. Other details include a brazed on fancy seat collar, hidden fender mounts, a single bottle mount, a 73mm threaded bottom bracket, 135mm rear spacing, a 27.2 seat post, and gusseted top and down tubes. All of that wrapped in a beautiful tri-color paint scheme designed by All City’s Art Director, Saisha Harris.
While Anna didn’t have retro mountain bikes in mind when she designed the JYD, it does somehow invoke nostalgic feelings for the days when the Fat Chance Yo Eddy ruled the trails. The frames will include a 5 piece fork that is custom built for the JYD in the fact that it is not suspension corrected and has a 420 axle to crown measurement. While the JYD might draw some parallels to those old mountain bikes, the geometry is more street than old mountain.
Why not disc brakes? An important design feature of the JYD was that it had to be as simple and maintenance free as possible. Other than being simple, rim brakes help keep the cost of the build down and let’s be honest – if you’re using the JYD as a bar bike, Rim brakes might be better all the way around. When it comes to tires, you can run whatever you want though the frame was designed for 29×2.35 to be the limit.
If you’re still trying to figure out what the JYD is for, it’s probably not for you and that’s ok. However, if you’re already planning how to build one up from the pile of parts in your garage, you had better act quick – pre-booking has started, so get to your local shop with a QBP account and tell ’em to order you a JYD.
