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The New All City JYD Defies All Categories Except Fun

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The New All City JYD Defies All Categories Except Fun

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…

All City JYD Junk Yard Dog (1)

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.”

All City JYD Junk Yard Dog (4) All City JYD Junk Yard Dog (3)

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.

JYD geometry

allcitycycles.com

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26 Comments
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Ryan
Ryan
9 years ago

This needs a 130mm adapter so I can throw on an old set of road wheels. 135mm rears with brake tracks are hard to come by.

Alex
Alex
9 years ago

Tall people weren’t really interested anyhow.

Jim
Jim
9 years ago

This description is exactly how I use my Karate Monkey. Fun. This seems like a fancy version, which is not a bad thing at all.

MB
MB
9 years ago

I’ll never understand a single water bottle mount. Especially on a “do anything” bike. Looks like plenty of room but I wouldn’t buy it for that reason alone.

R0b0tAt0ms
R0b0tAt0ms
9 years ago

Limited sizing and lack of disc tabs is a huge letdown. To say V-brakes are more hassle-free than a mechanical disc is just silly.

And who the hell buys a $500+ FS to use as a ‘bar bike’?

R0b0tAt0ms
R0b0tAt0ms
9 years ago

And no rack-mounts?

evolvo13
evolvo13
9 years ago

Junk yard dogs are fun bikes… to build from existing parts and frames. Ebay, LBCs, and our buddy’s basements are overflowing with the parts to build ten of thousands of these things for a couple hundred dollars. Or less. I just don’t understand the logic behind a brand new one. Seems like half the fun for 5 times the money.

PS – I’m building one now from an old Fat Chance frame.

grind
grind
9 years ago

@evolvo13, the next time you see a Fat Chance for 100-200 $$, LET ME KNOW!
So where was your logic?

James S
James S
9 years ago

Yeah, I have to wonder about the brake choice. Avid BB7s are inexpensive and low maintenance and it’s getting harder to find 29er rims that are rim brake compatible. It’s hard to believe that the All City folk don’t notice what the Surly guys are building given that they share a parent company (QBP) – Surly Troll, anyone? And now that I brought it up, what does this bike do that the Troll doesn’t? The Troll does single speed, gears, multiple water bottles, racks, rim brakes, disc brakes, touring, commuting, mountain biking, bar hopping…

James S
James S
9 years ago

Correction – Surly Ogre would be the direct comparison, since it has 29er wheels.

pmurf
pmurf
9 years ago

Reminds me of the Handsome Cycles “shop bike” http://handsomecycles.com/product/shop-bike – which is disc-only, although it only does wide 26″ and narrow 650b. Guess it depends on what your intentions are with a bar bike – surely everyone has a different idea of what the perfect one would be. Should have had a bottle opener integrated tho – missed a trick there 🙂

evolvo13
evolvo13
9 years ago

@grind: You must have missed where I wrote about buddy’s basements. Friendships and bartering? I’ll give you these wheels for that frame. This beer for that handlebar?

Ralphy
Ralphy
9 years ago

This is more Surly 1×1 than Surly Troll. lmbo if you look at this and your first response is ‘why aren’t there rack mounts and a bunch of bottle mounts for me to do a loaded tour with’.

Seraph
Seraph
9 years ago

I would be all over one if it had a 30.9 or 31.6 seat tube. Would love to break out the drill and throw a stealth Reverb on one.

R0b0tAt0ms
R0b0tAt0ms
9 years ago

@Ralphy You do realize that the Surly 1×1 has 2 cage mounts, rack mounts and disc tabs right? Dont get me wrong, this is a cool frameset, but it is far more niche than their marketing strategy would lead us to believe.

Quinn
Quinn
9 years ago

Very cool to see, a company disregarding the new hype and getting back to basics. This is basically a copy of my 2008 SE Stout.

Quinn
Quinn
9 years ago

another reason for No disc brakes- they can be difficult to deal with when coupled with track dropouts.

dontcoast
dontcoast
9 years ago

It’s for MountainPolo. Duh.

thatonedude
thatonedude
9 years ago

Did the price of tattoo ink and sh#t beer go up in and around the Bloomington Area…

Very much a “what’s the most expensive bike we can make… that’s just like other bikes on the market…” Guess All city has hit the big time and chosen to compete with the rest of cycling… Congrats, you’ve arrived…

Fairdale Bikes all the way if you’re interested in something like this: Taj’s has cycling chops, can spell tailwhip, and has no cat-fish mustache.

Ralphy
Ralphy
9 years ago

@R0b0tAt0ms I do, and the point stands. lmbo if you look at the 1×1 and your first response is ‘it better have rack mounts, oh good it does’.

I’m not sure what they are marketing it as besides a fun bike to shag around on (which is why I made the comparison to the 1×1).

joe
joe
9 years ago

I would buy this frame if they made it in a larger size, but I ain’t mad because it doesn’t make business sense to plan on 6’6″ buying even an entry level hybrid. It took a 140mm stem and a long reach bar just to make my 61cm Space Horse frame fit.

EvanT
EvanT
9 years ago

@Alex;

After owning two different All-City bike’s I can tell you that sizing down may not be that big of a problem. While I ride a 54cm or 56cm Specialized in road (Tarmac SL-4), I have found that my 52cm All-City in road (Mr. Pink) and track (Thunderdrome) to be very comfortable. I stand 5-11 w/ a 32in inseam and would describe my flexibility as rather terrible.

Depending on how tall you are, a large might actually work. If you’re a heck of a lot over 6ft, when then pardon the pun, but their economies of scale to consider.

Wookie
Wookie
9 years ago

Fail. Should have been 26″ wheels. We’ve been doing this for a few years now in the North East. Save a few hundo, get an old Rock Hopper, and put an ENO hub on the rear wheel.

Wookie
Wookie
9 years ago

Also, bring back tha Def Star.

Smokestack
Smokestack
9 years ago

Personally I dig the concept. Maybe not something many people will be into, but I’ve spent a few years on an All City Dropout as my favorite go to work and winter bike, and I can see the design intent. Ever ride fixed? Ever ride a fixed freestyle? Ever ride a fixed freestyle rig off road on the way home from work? Niche product for sure, almost as niche as FGFS bikes are, but a bit more open ended in the riding surface relationship dept. I’ve seen a few converted FGFS bikes with canti mounts added for this kind of set up. Road and trail ripper, depending on where you take your commute to. This is a redesign of the Def Wish/Dropout (serious, look at the geo) made to fit a bit more people’s wants, and I hardly think that’s a bad thing. Will I get one? Maybe. Too bad they didn’t keep the Campy 45/45 headtube though. That makes so much sense for straight 1.125 steerers.

Andy
Andy
9 years ago

All these people moaning about niche market and what not… they are making 150. They already sold all 150. Its a cool bike, too cool for you.

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