Monochrome Monterey

It's been a month since our son went under the knife. He's self-sufficient now and mostly healed, at least in a general sense (throwing a baseball again isn't happening anytime soon). Anyway, we felt like we could slip out of town for a few days. Monterey. Heard of it? It's a good place. Our happy place.

Walk along the ocean, sip your coffee, ride your bike, eat some food, drink some beer. Rinse. Repeat. What's not to like?

For whatever reason, I felt like shooting in black and white for the better part of the week.

This last one is obviously in color, but it's too good to leave out.

Another great trip in the books. I think we might go back . . .

Later.

Pugs Update

Bottom bracket, cranks and pedals.

More drivetrain parts on the way.

Later.

Break On Thru

After much consideration, I finally decided to go with a SRAM drivetrain for the new Pugsley. Unfortunately Shimano simply makes it too difficult because they don't participate in the fat bike market.

The first thing I purchased was an Eagle GX Dub crankset.

Unfortunately, I did not realize all my Shimano bottom bracket tools are not compatible with the Dub cups. To the Internet!

Tool ordered, but it won't be here for a few days. Oh well, I had one more thing I could do.

One of the things that drove me nuts about the old Pugsley was rear wheel removal. Getting the cassette past the derailleur with the horizontal dropouts was a nightmare that usually ended with greasy hands, a little blood and a lot of profanity.

The new frame alleviates this, but only if you use a thru axle. This allows the wheel to be dropped out vertically rather than horizontally.

Luckily my rear hub is a DT Swiss 350, which can be converted. The new end caps were simple to change out and I have a new appreciation for the modular design of DT Swiss hubs (although I am still a Shimano hub fan at heart).

So it was a short day in the shop, but I am ever so much closer to a running bike.

Later.

Sunrise and Evolution

If I have learned anything over the past few months, it's that even after riding bikes my whole life there is always more to learn.

The human body can be both highly specialized and yet hugely adaptable if given a little time. I am a relatively fit cyclist, and I can hold my own against most people my age or even younger. Pit me against runners at a similar fitness level, and I would fail miserably. I simply don't use the same muscle groups or have the built up capillary infrastructure to deliver energy and oxygen to those running muscles.

When I first started riding the Jones, the position changed enough to where I struggled. I felt slow, and my first rides left my muscles feeling sore for about a week. New muscles were being utilized, and my body was trying to adapt. When it did adapt, I felt as fast and sometimes faster on the Jones.

As mountain bikers our genesis and evolution is a complex one. While the origin is often traced back to guys riding old clunkers, the guys who started making the first purpose-built frames had road racing backgrounds. So it's no mystery that the early mountain bikes looked a lot like road bikes. Compare my 1987 Fisher to my LeMond below it:

Short, horizontal top tubes, short head tubes and similar angles. We were forced to use ridiculously long stems to compensate, which made early mountain bikes endo machines. We endured these horrible bikes for quite some time because we didn't know any better.

Eventually someone broke the mold and sloped a top tube. Head tubes lengthened. Top tubes lengthened. Stems shortened. Head tube angles relaxed. The world rejoiced.

Which brings me to my recent experiments, which are all being performed in an effort to relieve some stress on my bad wrist and neck. I never intended for the Surly Sunrise bars to go on a conventional mountain bike. They simply looked cool and I thought they might be fun on my 26-inch travel bike. They sat unused for years.

Pain has a funny way of motivating you, though, especially when you are experiencing that discomfort doing something you love. The success of the Jones has opened my eyes to the "might as well try it" school of thought. I eyed the bars collecting dust in the corner of my office and thought, why not? Even if they are wider, taller and have more sweep than any riser bar I have ever used, why not?

On the first couple test rides around my home, they felt strange but not bad. The cockpit was shorter and much taller, and that alone may have been a deal breaker had the Jones not already prepared me for it. The 15 degree bend was a noticeable improvement, enough to relieve some pressure on my wrist but still feel like a riser bar. They were uncomfortably wide, though.

I used them for a real mountain bike ride today for the first time—23 miles on rolling terrain, mostly singletrack. When I rolled away from the car I actually didn't notice the bars at all. I adapted.



On the trail they were great. The entire ride was so much fun. I was really hauling ass down some descents, probably getting in over my head a couple times. But those big bars just made me feel invincible.

Climbing is certainly more upright, but not altogether horrible. On the few occasions when I felt like going fast I simply bent my elbows a bit and attained a more familiar climbing position. But you can also sit up and take a look around if you want, an option you don't have with a low-rise bar.

In the end my takeaway is this: There are a lot of ways to skin that cat. Striving to be more comfortable doesn't necessarily mean giving up speed and handling. In this case, handling and downhill speed actually improved.

So experiment, try different things, keep an open mind (which hasn't always been the case for me) and have fun.

Later.

The Sun Also Rises

I rode the Salsa with the newly installed Surly Sunrise bars today and it was fantastic. I haven't had so much fun riding in a while.

The bars felt too wide (820mm) and way too tall (83mm), but somehow they just worked.

There are a couple rocky downhills on my local ride and I hit them hard. I really felt like I was flying.

The downside there is climbing feels a bit odd being up so high, but after a while I didn't care anymore. Going fast downhill sometimes outweighs going slow uphill.

Ultimately what I was testing was the 15-degree bend, and that was a success. It wouldn't seem like an extra five degrees would make much difference, but it did. My wrist was pretty happy and I didn't feel like handling was affected at all.

Ultimately something similar but not as wide or tall will probably be my landing spot.

Later.

Bicicleta Gorda Anaranjada

I starting building up the new Pugsley this morning. Unlike the old one, this one actually looks like a mountain bike.

Compared to my old medium Pugs, this new large frame has a shorter seat tube, longer top tube and longer head tube—all good things.

The handlebars are just a placeholder for now. I haven't decided what to use, but it may well be another pair of Jones bars.

The rear end takes either a 135mm QR (currently, with Surly adapter washers) or 142mm thru axle. I am happy to have a DT Swiss 350 hub in back so I can easily convert it to a 142mm thru axle with new end caps. This will make wheel removal much easier, which has historically been a huge hassle on Surly bikes with newer Shimano derailleurs.

Speaking of Shimano, I have not decided how to approach the drivetrain. I have an XT 11-speed setup ready to go, but an 11-42 is lacking gear range for a fat bike. You can put a tiny chainring on the front to compensate, but then obviously lose some high end. This bike will eventually have another wheelset built for it so I can use it on vacation like I did with the old Pugs. A 32-tooth chainring is the smallest I want. So maybe Sram Eagle is the way to go.

Later.

New Pugs

I just ordered a new Pugs frame. As I mentioned before, I kept the offset fat wheels and tires from the old one, so it won't take much to build up. I bought it for 25% off, which is nice.

The new model addresses the issues I didn't like about the old one. I moved up to a size large from the previous medium (they shortened seat tube lengths), so I will feel much less cramped. Should be fun.

Later.

Thinning

The Pugs is gone.

I probably hadn't used it in fat bike mode since Roger and I rode on the beach in Monterey, and that was Christmas of 2017. I enjoy riding a fat bike in certain situations, but this particular bike wasn't my favorite. The geometry is weird and outdated.

I substituted a bunch of parts I wanted to be rid of, so there wasn't anything on the bike I was in love with—narrow bars, long stem, 10-speed drivetrain, torn seat, creaky seatpost, heavy tires, really old brakes.

I kept the most expensive part of the bike, the 26x4 wheels and tires, so there is still the possibility that I build a new bike. I am looking at the new Pugsley numbers in an effort to determine if they corrected the things I hated about the old one.

Later.

Review: Teravail Cumberland Light & Supple TR 29x2.6 Tire

As I mentioned in the previous post, I was looking to move to a tire that was less ponderous and slow than the 29x3 Maxxis Chronicles.

I had concerns that the bottom bracket would be too low on the Krampus with the smaller tires, but the 60mm bottom bracket drop is exactly the same as my Kona Unit which runs 2.35 inch tires with no issues.

Also as mentioned before, the tires were super easy to set up tubeless. The beads were tight but not ridiculously so. I needed a tire lever for the last few inches, and I am totally OK with that in exchange for ease of seating.

Mounted up, the tires measure out at 2.69 inches at the casing on 39mm ID rims. It's not often that tires measure out larger than the listed size. (I'm looking at you, WTB.) I will say the Teravail website lists the optimum rim width at 29mm, so that's likely how they measure out at 2.6 inches. At the knobs, the diameter is 2.81 inches. Clearance was very tight on the rear end of the Krampus running the Chronicles, so I didn't save a lot of room there.

The profile is decidedly round in the middle but flattens out on the sides.

I felt faster with these tires, and the bike went from "meh" to fun immediately. I can't quite put my finger on the reason, though. The weight savings over the Chronicles is only 55 grams (listed), so it can't be the weight. The raised center section LOOKS like it would help, but at the pressure these tires run at the tread flattens out on the ground anyway.

The casing is definitely more supple than the Chronicles, so I feel like even at the decreased width the tires provide more absorption and comfort.

On the trail the tires roll extremely well. Cornering traction was excellent with the large side knobs and I noticed no weird transition when leaning over. This is often the case with tires that try to be fast and corner well.

One weird feature I noticed during measurements is every third side knob is ever so slightly smaller. The website confirms this "staggering" feature. I am not sure this has any performance benefit, but I am no tire designer.

When I first built the Krampus five years ago I wrote that overall I was disappointed in the 29 Plus platform and felt that the sweet spot would be a 2.7 inch tire. This tire confirms that I was right, because the bike is now, finally, fun to ride.

Later.

Test: Effetto Mariposa Caffelatex Tubeless Strips

When I first built my Krampus in 2015, rim and tire options were limited. I went with Velocity Dually rims and Maxxis Chronicle tires. The tubeless setup was a nightmare, by far the worst I have ever encountered. It was so awful that I ran the same tires for almost five years even though I found them slow and heavy. At the time I though something in the 29x2.7 neighborhood would be the sweet spot for this bike.

The main setup issue was the rim bed diameter being a little small and/or the tires too large. I had to build up the rim bed with Gorilla tape and it was still a struggle to set the beads with the shop compressor.

Recently I finally decided to make a switch and purchased some 2.6 inch Teravail Cumberland Light & Supple tires. They sat for a while because I just didn't want to deal with the Velocity rims again.

I stumbled upon the Effetto Mariposa rim strips and thought they might be the ticket.

Out of the package the strips are dense and stiff, but somehow still very stretchy. The "M Plus" kit for 41-45 mm rims turned out to be a perfect fit on my Dually rims. Getting the strips on the rims is no easy chore; expect a pinched finger and a little cussing on your first rim. The second rim went more smoothly, but it's still like wrestling an octopus. A third hand would have helped.

Once installed both tires seated quickly and easily with a floor pump. The extra thickness was exactly what I needed.

A retail price of $38 for my kit may seem high. I have seen more than a few people compare this price to a $10 roll of Gorilla tape that can be used on many rims. But since you can easily drop twenty bucks on tubeless valves, I don't think $18 is too much to pay for an effective and reusable strip.

Later.

More Krampus

Today I took the Krampus out again on a 30-mile, 2800 foot ride. Yesterday I was left wondering whether the bike was really as slow as it felt. Today I would have to say it is. The thing is a big, fat pig. I asked myself a couple times during the ride why the hell I keep riding the damn thing.

Everything started off fine because the beginning of every ride from my house is mostly downhill. Even the first big climb was fine because I was still fresh and feeling strong.

When I hit the dirt the bike was mostly good. On one stretch of tight, twisty singletrack I actually thought the bike handled really well. I felt like I was going pretty fast. Just as I was feeling good about the bike, I hit another section where I bounced around like superball.

I have read a number of complaints online about the same bouncing issue with the Maxis Chronicle tires. Apparently there is a very narrow tire pressure range where the tires are effective. I have yet to find this mythical pressure.

The climb home was rough. I was a bit tired from all the riding this week, and it felt like I was towing an anchor behind me. When I finally rolled up the driveway, my legs definitely felt like I had dragged a really heavy bike over almost 3000 feet of hills.

After a number of rides on the Krampus, I feel like I have enough information to form an opinion: I'm not sold on the 29+ platform. I realize I have only been on one bike and used one tire, so I will move forward with an open mind. For me, I think the sweet spot would be a tire in the 2.7" range with a fast tread. Nothing like that currently exists, but maybe as the platform matures more size options will appear.

For now I definitely need to make some adjustments to make this bike more useful for how I ride. As currently built, the Krampus really isn't good at anything. First, the tires need to go. Switching to something like a Panaracer Fat B Nimble (765 grams) would shed almost 1.5 pounds. Going tubeless would help with the weight, too.

Where's that credit card . . .

Later.

War Pig

I have been doing a fair amount of riding lately, enough to shed seven pounds in the last few weeks. I don't look like a bike racer just yet, but it's a start.

Most of the rides have been over two hours long, and all have been mixed terrain using the Niner EMD. I really like that bike—the position, the handling, the rim/tire combo, everything.

As I prepared to go out for another ride this morning, I eyed the Krampus, a bike that isn't getting much use. For some reason I decided to take it out on a mixed terrain ride to see how it would do. I trued the rear wheel, which was pretty wobbly for a new wheel. I'm not hard on wheels, so this was disappointing. I also added a second water bottle cage, pump and a spare tube. Ready.

I decided to ride the same route I used for my last ride to see just how much slower the 29+ bike would be versus the Niner EMD. On Sunday I rode nonstop at a good tempo, even riding briefly with a pack of roadies, but I would try to match the perceived effort as best I could.

Rolling out of the driveway, the Krampus felt fine. I had more air in the tires than I would for a trail ride, so the bike rolled well. Down the first few hills, I ran out of gear due to the 1x10 setup. I found you can comfortably hit 28 miles per hour in the hardest gear, maybe 32 spinning your brains out. There are a number of places where you can get up around 40 miles per hour, so I did a little more coasting than I would riding a bike equipped with a triple crank.

Climbing was slower in most situations, which is to be expected. The tires are 1070 grams with an aggressive tread, at least compared to other plus tires. The only time I felt an advantage was on short climbs where it felt like the bike rolled up with minimal effort due to the momentum of the big, heavy wheels.

When I hit the first dirt section, I thought the Krampus would be in its element. However, it felt slower than the Niner. Uphill, downhill, rocky terrain or smooth, it felt lethargic in the dirt. It made me seriously wonder what this bike is good for.

The ride progressed in much the same way: observing different situations and being disappointed with the outcome. Over and over I kept thinking, man, this thing is slow. I completed the last tough climb and was glad it was over.

I rolled up the driveway and looked down at my GPS. Less than two hours. I said aloud, "That can't be right." I had to have missed a turn or something. I immediately took the Garmin upstairs to my office and downloaded the info. I was shocked to see that the ride on the Krampus was faster. Not only was it faster than Sunday's ride, it was faster than any other time I had done that route. Scoreboard don't lie. Here's the Sunday ride on the Niner and today's ride on the Krampus.

So did I just have a good day? Did I subconsciously ride harder to compensate for the bike? Can a particular bike change the way speed is perceived? I don't know the answer to any of those questions, but it will be interesting to see how the next ride goes.

Later.

Ride Report: Surly Krampus

I have been having a tough time with my motivation lately. I never feel like driving anywhere to ride, and after 12 years of living in the same place, I am sick of the same boring rides around my house. I needed something new to get me excited. Fortunately it was sitting right in my garage.

I started building my Surly Krampus months ago. During the build process I sold my 17-year-old Toyota truck to my stepson without really thinking things through. From a cycling perspective I replaced the bike transport duties the truck provided with a Yakima hitch rack for the Acura. It works really well, but unfortunately I found that neither the Pugsley nor the Krampus fit. In the case of the Pugs, the tires were simply too fat. The Krampus didn't fit because the tires were too tall; the hook that retains the front tire would not go high enough. I was disgusted with myself, missing my old truck, and suffering from buyer's remorse. Without a way to transport the damn thing, and the fact that it's not really a bike you want to take on the road, the Krampus sat.

A few days ago it occurred to me that I might be able to take off the stop that prevents the hook from going higher. It looked like everything was held together by a simple C-clip. I popped off the clip, pushed out the pin, removed the end cap, and I was in business. The three-inch tires fit in both wheel trays (barely) and I could now lock down the front wheel. Time to ride.

On the trail the first thing I noticed was how perfectly the bike fit. I usually struggle a bit with every new bike to find the sweet spot, but not this time. I went with the medium frame, which has a 24-inch top tube. Paired with a 90mm stem, I felt right at home immediately. The seating position with a layback Thomson post was also perfect.

The steering was in a word unremarkable. I leaned the bike into the first few corners and the bike tracked right through the middle of each turn without much rider input. I expected at least a little of the weird counter-steering you experience with a fat bike. The three-inch tires track more like regular mountain bike tires, only with seemingly unlimited traction. The 69.5 degree head angle seems perfect for this bike.

Acceleration was a little slower than a 29er, which I would expect. The tires and rims are quite a bit heavier. However, after a few pedal strokes the bike rolls really, really well. To me this is also to be expected since the tire diameter is about 30.5 inches. Remember the difference going from 26 inches to 29? This jump is not as dramatic as far as rolling resistance goes, but close.

The bike's front end comes up readily. Given the diameter of the tires I didn't think the chainstays could possibly be short enough to allow this. Once the front wheel is up, you can easily keep it there. This thing is a wheelie machine. The ease at which you can balance was amazing. I haven't had a bike that wheelies like this one since my Redline BMX bike when I was a kid. I found myself riding long ones whenever the uphill grade was right.

I attacked some short, smooth uphills hard early in the ride and really didn't feel like the bike was all that slow. However, this changed when I hit the first longer climb. When the big wheels' momentum runs out, things can get . . . slow. The bike is a bit of a pig. Granted, I didn't go for light weight with the wheels—14 gauge spokes, brass nipples, heavier rims, inner tubes. I am not going to beat many people to the top of a long climb with this bike.

On technical climbs the bike really shined. The traction, tire diameter and the ease at which you can balance made picking my way up rocky climbs a lot of fun. I skipped over gaps between rocks that would swallow even a 29er tire.

Downhilling was a lot of fun for the most part. Cornering and braking traction were excellent, so I was able to enter turns at a higher speed and maintain it through the turn. It took me a few tries before I could really trust the tires, but once I did my cornering improved.

While the tires provide a bit of suspension, it is undamped suspension. If the frequency of the bumps matches up with the rebound of the front tire (think braking bumps), you can find yourself holding onto a runaway pogo stick. This happened to me twice on the ride and it really sucked. I have never experienced this behavior with a normal sized tire on any rigid bike. Ever. It happens to a much lesser extent on a fat bike, but it's a softer, mellower bounce. This was awful. There must be something special about the plus size tire. Even trying a few different tire pressures didn't help. I hated it enough that I immediately started thinking about getting a suspension fork.

After one ride I think I like the bike, but I'm not sure. I need to ride it a couple more times in case I was just having a bad day.

Speaking of a bad day, this guy almost had one:

I missed his head by a half inch. It scared me more than him, though. He never moved. I finally had to chase him off so nobody else smashed him.

I have to wonder at what point we stop calling our local reservoir Folsom Lake and revert back to the American River:

Later.

Update

Time has been difficult to come by lately. Whenever I find myself with a window of free time, I typically use it to ride a bike, not build one.

Anyway, today I cut the steerer tube, installed the cranks and hung a saddle on the bike. Getting there.

Later.

It Lives

It's been almost three years since I first laid eyes on the monster that is the Surly Krampus, and I finally have mine.

All the parts have been collected over the past few months, and I have now started the build. Here's the little I have assembled so far.

I am setting it up as a 1x10. Except for the King headset, nothing terribly exotic: Shimano Zee rear derailleur and shifter, XT hubs and cassette, SLX cranks. I went with Velocity rims and Maxxis tires over the Surly Rabbit Hole/Knard combo. It was a money saving move on the rims, and I wanted a more aggressive tire. I'm not a huge fan of the obnoxious tire graphics, though.

Hopefully I will get some time here and there to finish it up soon.

Later.

Moving On

I sold my Surly Cross-Check a few weeks ago.

I sell a lot of bikes, but usually I scrounge around in the parts bin to make some substitutions, saving the parts I want for the next project. This one was different because I left all the good stuff on it.

The components were mostly Dura Ace 7700 9-speed. Remember when Lance won the Tour in 1999? He was using 7700. (Check out the quill stem!)

So I figured it was time to let the "good stuff" go. The components started on a Specialized road frame I built up in 1997 and have been moved from frame to frame for 18 years now. The parts have seen lots of miles and many battles—road races, criteriums and many cyclocross races. And they still worked great, a testament to Shimano quality. Newer Shimano road components are 11-speed, however, and 9-speed parts are getting tough to find. Time to move on.

A lot of my history rolled away with that bike, and it was kind of sad to watch the new owner drive off. Luckily there is always something new and fun on the horizon, and the proceeds from the Cross-Check will help with that.

Later.

MD6+7

Yesterday Jenn needed a recovery day between rides, so I went out for a quick 20 before dinner. It was foggy and cool.

This is a guy we have seen a number of times who we call Sockman. Yes, those are socks on his hands. I fear if asked, he would give you a really creepy puppet show. In his pants.

There is an ocean out there somewhere. And probably a guy with dirty socks on his hands.

The breeze picked up near the end and helped blow the fog out.

Today we decided to ride around 17 Mile Drive. You can see the route here. Along the way we saw some baitfish boiling on the surface of the sea. This is usually because predatory fish are hunting from below. We stopped to watch the birds hunt from the sky for a while. Very cool to see.

A breeze and the king tide made for some spectacular views.

The king tide occurs in January when the Earth's orbit passes closest to the sun and the moon is either full or new. The January new moon occurs tomorrow, so the water is higher than we have ever seen it.

Even though I have done it a number of times now, I still have a tough time believing I get to ride along this beautiful ocean.

Taking a short break at Bird Rock.

As we wound around the route and headed inland, the terrain became more hilly. After a while we popped back out near Pebble Beach.

Here we are stopped at the Lone Cypress, which is said to be the most photographed tree in North America. Therefore, I refused to take a picture of it. I am not a follower. So you get yet another ocean shot.

As we reached the outskirts of Carmel, we turned inland and took on a tough 2.5 mile climb. After that we descended into Monterey and finished our ride.

For dinner we ate at Peter B's again. The food was great, the portions huge, the beer awesome, and once again the waiter very nice. Highly recommended.

Tomorrow morning we head home. It was a wonderful and much needed vacation, but I am looking forward to getting home and seeing the family. I am not looking forward to work . . .

Later.