New World Order in the Bike Quiver

Lots of changes in the bike stable this year. As we've covered in this blog, I'm a tweaker. Always fine tuning until I get things just right. I started the year with five bikes in the quiver, I'm now down to four. My goal was to have fewer bikes that could do more. Every bike adds maintenance, and if I don't ride it - guilt! So here's a quick run-down on the changes. I'll write more lengthy reviews in coming months.

Seven Evergreen S
I got this sweetheart early this year. After discovering gravel on my Specialized Crux Comp, I quickly lost my interest in doing much road riding. Gravel is just pure joy for me. And I began to lust for disc brakes, a little smoother ride - just a general upgrade. I found it in a demo Seven Evergreen that a friend and local dealer had. As it turns out, this demo was just my size and the dealer was looking to get a newer one (mine had 300 miles and about 4 demos on it!). Deal scored. It helps that this dealer is also my fitter and said, "Geez, that's probably exactly what I'd have ordered for you....". I love it. Smooth. Fast. Handles like a dream. It's everything I wanted and more. Shimano Ultegra gruppo and hydraulic disc brakes. Bombproof Mavic Kysrium Allroad wheels. And, that miraculous Seven titanium ride quality.

As we entered the Summer, I began to feel like I could no longer justify owning my Giant Defy Advanced carbon road bike. I've written a lot on my concerns with significant road riding. This is a lot of bike and not using is it a shame. Sold it quickly and for a fair price online. Then I scored a half-price deal on a second set of Mavic's with road tires. Now I have a gravel bike that does double duty as a road bike (or more likely path bike - I've found that I love riding bike trails around Michigan).

Nine ONE9
You've seen my SE BM Flyer single speed in previous posts. I've had great fun building up that bike, including Profile BMX cranks, and custom wheels with White Industries fantastic ENO rear hub. It's been a blast to ride, but it's really an overgrown BMX bike. Having tasted more high-performance mountain bikes, I've wanted to upgrade it for a while, but it was a low priority. This Spring, I stumbled upon a Niner ONE9 single speed in an online forum. After pondering for a while, I scooped it up at a great price. It's a size medium (I mostly ride larges, but really kind of fall between them). A longer 110mm Thomson X4 stem gave me a little more cockpit room. And, an SQ Labs 611 Race in 140mm got me comfy. Then I swapped the wheels from the SE over. The result is a sweet, simple, fun, nimble ride. I've set Strava PRs on rolling Northern Michigan terrain, and generally had a blast on this great new bike. Sold my SE to a good friend who wanted to try single speeds. One more need met!

Salsa Bucksaw NX01
This unexpected move has proven to be my upgrade of the year. In the early Summer I started to feel like I wanted a more trail-focused full suspension ride. And the idea of 27.5+ wheels really appealed to me. As I do rather like hanging out in bike shops, this gave me the excuse to look around. I test rode a Specialized Comp6 Fattie. Not bad. But not in love. My sister had test ridden a Salsa Pony Rustler and really liked it. I stopped in to visit to Einstein Cycles in Traverse City, MI. Owner Jason was super-helpful. Really listened to what I wanted and  suggested an alternative - the Salsa Bucksaw (technically a fat bike - more on that later) with a second set of 27.5+ wheels.

Yahtzee!!!!

I've also had some issues with my Salsa Beargrease X5 fat bike. I wanted a 1X drivetrain. Having discovered hydraulic disc brakes, I found myself wanting to upgrade the Avid mechanical discs. But this would have been several hundred dollars for a bike I don't ride a ton. So, she got sold to a newbie who was thrilled to have her.

Jason's solution was perfect! If you're not familiar, the Bucksaw is a trail bike in fat bike clothing. A more nimble geometry (it handles more like a Horsethief than a Beargrease) and full suspension make it a very unique fat bike. We settled on a set of carbon wheels build around Industry 9 Torch hubs for the 27.5+ configuration.

From the first ride, I was in love! This bike is fast, handles very smoothly, and the combination of full suspension and fatter tires engenders comfort and confidence. I can comfortably hold lines that I would have new tried before. Boulder problems are no sweat. And, it climbs like a goat due to the added traction. I'm eager to get it out in the snow on the fat wheels. You'll be reading plenty more on this cool bike in coming posts.

Ch-ch-changes...
So the only bike in my garage that was there last year is my XC race mountain bike - a Specialized Stumpjumper World Cup Carbon Expert. It's a great ride, with a carbon frame, crank, and wheelset. Fast, light, and responsive. This one will remain my race bike. It should be perfect for the Fall's Iceman Cometh race.

I couldn't be happier with the results of this little experiment. I now have fewer bikes that do more stuff well. Stay tuned!

Time Away...

The blog and I needed a little break - it's not that I've slowed down on enjoying the outdoors - but I'd kind of lost my inspiration. I find that my best blogging happens when I'm energized. Between the Holidays, the weird Michigan Winter, and the pesky day job, it was time to channel my energies elsewhere. But now I'm back and motivated. Plenty of cool outdoor antics that I'll be writing about, including:

• The addition of a couple of new bikes, First a Seven Evergreen SL gravel bike to fuel my new location's access to exceptional dirt roads. Then just yesterday a big upgrade in the land of singlespeed mountain bikes - a Niner One 9 aluminum singlespeed which moves me to a more race-oriented singlespeed mountain bike. I'm looking forward to tweaking and tuning this one just for me. the Specialized Crux has already left the stable, and the SE BM Flyer will be next.
• A decent Michigan ski season, despite some truly weird weather. 
• My first impressions of my new Shaggy's Bootjack 115 powder skis.
• Another outstanding ski trip to Colorado.
• A new carry gun - Springfield XDS.
• Getting my new (to me) house set-up as base camp for my outdoor antics.
• Some fun hikes both near my home and in NW Michigan.

...and lots more. Stay tuned. Cool stuff coming.

-Sean-

Road Rage

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted here! My apologies to my regular visitors. Been living life and enjoying miles on the bikes. Yeah, bikes, and there are more of them than before. It's all good - more to follow in this soon.

But I digress...

It seems lately that the auto/cyclist conflict is escalating. This seems odd to me, especially in the wake of numerous well-publicized cyclist deaths, like those in Kalamazoo earlier this year. I would think these events would heighten awareness and perhaps even improve safety on the roads.



Nope, that assumption would be wrong.

Last night I did a group ride with the Ann Arbor Velo Club. Our group of rough 15 riders were all safe, courteous, and on the lookout for potential problems. We rode a single file paceline, even when there weren't cars around. We generally kept on, or near, the white line. And at the mid-point one of the organizers reminded us about the next section of road and the importance of being a good citizen of the road.

And, for our efforts, what did we get? Several full-out acceleration, way-to-close, yelling out the window passes. A person backing out of a pizza place who looked at us, and then still backed out in front of us.

Yes, I get that many cyclists SUCK at obeying the rules of the road (see the above NSFW video). And, I know we slowed down your drive ever so slightly. But really? That makes a red-faced rant, the full horn, and a double-bird thrown my way justified?

I've written on this topic before, so it's not news. What's struck me in recent weeks is how much I'm enjoying my gravel and mountain bikes. When I ride gravel, I see 10-15 cars per RIDE, as opposed to 10-15 per MILE on a road ride. And, on the mountain bike trail - ZERO cars! I flat-out feel safer when I'm not on the road.

I'll be moving to a more rural part of the area soon. I'll be near a top-notch mountain bike trail, miles of gravel, AND some good roads, too. I'm sure I'll still ride all three types, but I see the proportion of gravel and trail riding to increase.

Oh, yeah, I scored a SWEET mountain bike. More on that later!

-Sean-

Houston, We Have A Problem...

Ran into a little snag on the 'cross bike. On my first real dirt ride after my fitting, I noticed my saddle was pretty low about 3/4 through. I knew Josh had said he'd had some issues with this, so not surprising. I adjusted back to about the right height, re-tightened and finished my ride. Later I took the measurements from my fitting with FitMI and put it in the right spot. Oh, and since this is MY bike, I put a scratch in the seatpost for reference.

 On the next my next ride, I noticed it slipping again. Re-adjusted and this time put a little brute force on the bolt. Like until I heard a solid creak. And, yes, I know that isn't "tourqued to specifications...". A few miles later, I'm low-riding. Another stop, another adjustment, only this time, the second creak turns to a loud, "SNAP". F@CK!!!! I'm 8-1/2 miles in to a 24 mile ride and at a pretty good distance from my truck. I limp back as directly as possible in a combination of standing and riding on an all-the-way-down seat that fully swivels. Fun.

At first, I'm blaming the non-stock Zipp seatpost. Figuring maybe it's not quite a true 27.2mm size. But after I get home and start doing some research, I find that this problem is a known issue with the Specialized Crux Comp. A wide range of fixes are suggested (including shimming with a cut-out from an aluminum beer can), but most center on the seat clamp. The general consensus is that the Thomson seat clamp is the ticket.

OK, cool, but the Specialized clamp also has an integrated cable hanger for the rear cantilever brake. No problem. I like an engineering challenge. A little more time with The Google and I find the Problem Solvers Cross Cable Hanger. OK, I can put this on the seatpost just above the clamp. Good enough. Oh, wait, the hanger is 1-1/8" ID and the post is 27.2mm. D@mmit! Ah, but there's a shim available. Click. Click. Credit card. Order complete.

As I'm waiting for delivery, I realize that this rig - while functional - is going to look full-on hillbilly. Not acceptable. A little more research leads me to the IRD Long Drop Cable Hanger. Better still I can order locally and have it in a couple of days. Sweet!

On Monday night I finally have all the needed parts. I'm sweating if the cable and housing will be long enough, but I dive in. Installation goes smoothly and the cable and housing just fit. With the clamp properly torqued, seat can't be twisted when tugging (it could before). And, the installation looks nice and clean. Perfect.

Planning the first ride on Saturday; fingers crossed! Somehow I have an odd love for this sort of problem-solving.

-Sean-


FOLLOW-UP
Good news! Did a nice 23 miler on gravel today and everything held fast. Didn't slip a millimeter! Kudos to Thomson for a top-notch seat clamp that does it's job. Ride was a blast and felt great! I love that bike.

Simple Pleasures

The new-to-me Specialized Crux has helped me re-discover the simple pleasures of an earlier time. Of riding dirt roads just for the sheer thrill of riding. Of not seeing a car for an hour. Of the feeling that there's no place I have to be now. I'm not riding to hit a pace, or complete a road loop and beat a particular time. In short, it's like being a kid on Summer Break all over again.

I picked up a copy of Dirt Road Washtenaw over the Winter. This excellent book has lots of good advice about bikes, gear, techniques, etc. But most importantly it has an AWESOME collection of routes that really take advantage of the prettiest parts of the area. I've ridden the Liberty Loop a couple of times now and just enjoyed myself silly. Now I've got a bunch of others to explore - including the forboding Dirt Hammer route...

Thus far, I'm loving the Crux - it was a great first gravel bike. Sure, I love the idea of a Seven Cycles Evergreen built just for me, but until I hit the lottery, it ain't happening. The Crux is stable, handles great, and is very efficient. It took me a little bit to make the mental transition for the world of Shimano shifters to the SRAM Double Tap system, but I've got it now.

Yesterday I rode most of this route, though cut short by a mechanical failure that forced me to limp back to the truck (more on that in an upcoming post). I just couldn't keep the stupid grin off my face. Dirt roads are pure, simple pleasures. The scenery of Western Washtenaw is really quite stunning. And for some reason, I look up and around more when I'm on gravel -- maybe because I'm not constantly on the lookout for distracted drivers and potential road rage.

As we transition into Fall, I'm really looking forward to moving from more time on the road to more gravel. Who knows, might become a year 'round obsession!

-Sean-