Riding the fatbike - in actual snow!!!!

So while school was out over Christmas break, we finally got a little bit of snow - enough that I could put the Mukluk to use in its intended material. (Can't have all that beautiful decal work of snow in evergreens on the down tube going to waste, can we?)  I took the big blue bike over to the local fire roads in the state forest to give it a run.  Verdict?!?! It was a blast!! Pedaling in snow is definitely a different sensation for me.  I aired the tires down to about 4-5 psi and got more than enough traction and float for what I was doing.  No problems, no issues, no slippage in the back or front.  I was pretty comfortable too - which was a happy surprise.  I had dressed heavily - maybe too much so - for the ride, and ended up stripping off a layer or two so I didn't have sweat puddling around the tires as I rode.

The day was sunny and it was a great day to putz around on the bike, just enjoying the outdoors.  I checked out some trails, briefly, that I hadn't seen previously. They were fun to try, and I didn't have to worry about ticks and insects biting and stinging me.

Overall, I had a lot of fun.  I am definitely planning to that again as soon as I get more snow to play in.  I may get the chance in the upcoming weekend - we shall see.

Stay warm - ride your bike!!!

Hi, My name is. . . . and I'm a bike-a-holic!!

Uh, yeah.  That would be me.  I so totally need to cut back on the herd, but the problem is, I like them all and I use them all.

Let me explain . . .

So the other day, I counted about 13 rigs in the shed - that included only the ones that were mine, and not the frames and pieces lying about that need building up or tearing down.  that count did not include the ones that were in the garage, smokehouse, and back porch.  I think if I count absolutely everything, I'm up to about 20 bikes, more or less.  Ridiculous is one word that comes to mind.  However, I have reasons to have most of these lovelies.

For instance -
The Trek WSD 4.7 2009 carbon wonder toy - the go-fast toy extraordinaire.
The Terry Chrom in screaming pink - go fast toy and piece of bike history.
The 2012 Giant Avail 1 - long distance go-fast toy - it and the Trek fit similarly and are very comfortable in spite of being fast.
The 2009ish Surly Long Haul Trucker - long distance touring bike - comfortable and predictable.
The2013 Surly Troll - zippy comfortable mountain/city/touring bike - use a lot on the canal
The Surly crosscheck - 2001- great on and offload - built to take on trails when I had to rebuild the Axis - fits me great and love the ride - just rebuilt from mustache bars to drop bars and redid with new VO fenders - sharp looking rig!!!
The Salsa Fargo - 2012 vintage - off road touring bike - does any more need to be said
The 201 Salsa Mukluk2 - SNOW BIKE!!!!
1985 Schwinn High Sierra - historic mountain bike - tons of fun!!! Rescued from a garbage dump.
1988 Bianchi Axis - Love this bike - versatile, comfortable, and have rearranged it into many configurations.
2003 OCR touring - the bike that always brings me home - heavy tourer that has never left me sit. 
1985/6 Centurion Pro Tour - vintage ride that I rebuilt - great ride, tons of fun, chrome frame under paint.
1983 Trek 630 - Bought with intent to convert to 650b bike, complete with repaint and everything.  Ongoing project.
Nashbar Aluminum Touring frame - dk green built as randonneur bike. 
2011 Schwinn Le Tour Legacy - bought to probably sell.
I know, I know - too many.  But, I do ride them all and enjoy them all.  I probably should sell some, but they are just too much fun.  My husband accused me of being a bike-a holic - he's probably right.
Maybe I can get some good money for one of them.  I should figure out who I don't use and sell.  Maybe I will make that a goal soon - and free up some space in the shed.  Until then -
Hi, my name is . . . and I'm a bike-a -holc.

Dreaming about building . . .

So, I've started dreaming about building this rando/road bike on a 650b platform.

First - the parts.  I think I'll go with a Sugino XD 600 (Amazon or someplace) in 165 or 170 OR a Sugino XD 2 (from Rivendell).  I like the looks and the gear spread of these two triple cranks. 

I'm interested in bar end shifters for this one - 8 or 9 speed would be fine.  Unless I can find 9 speed shifters I like.

A Tiagra long throw rear der or Alivio perhaps. Front can be whatever I have or find that works well. Accent on works well - not interested in high price/low durability idea.

Velo Orange hammered fenders, of course. Anatomic Bend Rando handlebars from Soma, or similar from Velo Orange. Perhaps a new seatpost - love the fluting on the old one, but I have the seat down far enough that it binds over the fluting and it doesn't show as well. Velo Orange would be good for this. Short stem - 60 or 70 mm - either one I have (and polish it) or one I buy.  Would like a taller stem like a technomic from Nitto. Brooks saddle. Probably Brooks handlebar tape.

Wheels - looking at a Rivendell wheelset that I can put under this thing.  I like the tri-cross spoke arrangments these guys use.  A dynamo hub - probably a sanyo again - good hub. A light - the supernova e3pro2 is what I got last time - like it a lot.

Front and rear rack - maybe Velo Orange or Soma.  Rear - Tubus Cosmo - I think this would be a good rack for this - It's in stainless, which is always nice.

Paint job - haven't decided yet.  So many colors to choose from . . . . .

Of course, this will change as we move forward.  I will probably cheap out on some of it, just because I do that sometimes.

Finally, the bike I've been hunting . . .

Okay, I know the above statement is stretching it a bit, but there is a story to this idea.

I've been hunting, for a while, for a frame I could convert to full 650b rando/road bike status.  That means it has to have a few prerequisite qualities before I'll even consider it.
1.  It needs to be steel.  Good steel. Like Reynolds 531.
2.  Braze-ons for racks/fenders, water bottles
3.  Capacity for long-armed sidepulls or canti brakes
4.  Fairly long chain stays
5.  Lots of clearance, Clarence.

So - What I found -

Ta-Daah - a 1983 Trek 630.

              Now, mine doesn't look like this - yet.  I borrowed this from the fine folks at the bike forums. Mine has black bar tape, new gumwall tires, no fenders, a triple crank, 6 speed freewheel on the back, sun tour shifters on the down tube, and a nice old- chool handlebar bag.  

My goal with this bike is to add long-reach brakes - or cantis, a 650b wheels set with a dynamo hub and an appropriate light, front and rear racks - lightweight ones, not necessarily super heavy ones for touring. Of course it needs fenders. I would also like to have more water bottle graze-ones added, perhaps have the chainstays dimpled for more clearance, and perhaps mid-fork braze-ons too.  I am heavily considering a total repaint into some other colorway and then adding a nice Brooks saddle and leather bar tape.

            This would basically be my version of a poor man's Herse.  I have been enamored of the French constructeur style of bike since learning about them, but there's no way I can afford the money for a custom build.  The good thing is this is a fully operational bicycle and I am getting it for less than a comparable frame-only start from Soma or Velo Orange - these two fine companies were my first two choices when I started looking at this type of bike.  This also means I can work on this a bit at a time, save money for the things I want to do with it.

           Mine is a 54 cm frame.  I'm hoping it fits as well as the other ones I 've had.  It also has a Reynolds 531 main triangle and Mangalloy rear triangle and fork blades.  These frames have a great reputation as far as ride quality and versatility. 

I'll report back once I see how things go.

Latest Find . . .

      Several weeks ago, I stopped by the local dump to peruse their metal hopper.  I do this fairly regularly, ever since I worked there about 15 years ago.  I learned at that time that people will just randomly throw things away that are not trash (at least not in my book) and that I can benefit from their lack of knowledge.
      This trip was particularly good.  I was able to net a vintage mountain bike - a 1986 Schwinn High Sierra in bronze and chocolate.  When I hauled it up out of the hopper, I saw that it was missing the non-drive side crank arm and pedal, and needed two spokes on the rear wheel.  Everything else - and I mean everything else was stock original parts, right down to the cables and housings, in the original brown. I gave the nice people at the dump $5 and scampered off home, laughing all the way.

     The above is what mine looks like, sans front rack.   It even still has the original roller cam brakes on it - I knew these existed, but had only seen a few of them on bikes of this time period. (pic from mtbr.forums.com)



 

The above picture isn't the best, but you can see the basic shape and braking mechanism in the pic. Got the pic from velospace.org.  I did some digging and found out some information about tuning the brakes and basically maintaining them here  .  The nice thing about them is that they are very powerful and stop very quickly, as good as any cantilevers I've ridden, if not better than a few of them. 

 

The specs for this bike can be found here .  Mine stayed pretty true to what was published here, but that isn't always the case.

 

I took it in to be re-cabled and rehoused, had the brakes adjusted, put new tires on, ( the 28 year old tires were dry rotted - they were original too!!) added fenders, washed it up a bit, (took 3 hours to clean off all the gross disgustings) and Voila!!! I had a ride-able bike.  It rides well and is comfortable, and it also has the mid-blade front fork mounts that I find useful for front racks and other goodies.  I will, at some point, put on newer/different handlebars, but for now I will run it in this mostly-original fashion.  I plan to use this for touring, along with my Surly Troll.  I have friends who like the touring thought, but don't have a proper ride - I can loan them this one and they will be just fine. 

 

 



Welcome!!!

Welcome to the second iteration of the blog!!! I was running out of space on the WordPress account, so I thought I'd give these folks a try.  I am going to try to migrate some of my posts over here, but it will take time.  Meanwhile, get out there and ride your bike!!!  (Yes, I know it's cold, but you can still ride. And if all else fails, hop on the trainer and watch a movie!!!)