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.

Kona Unit: Long Term Report

I have had my 2017 Kona Unit for about 1.5 years now. It is my "daily driver," which is used for mixed terrain rides originating from my house and the occasional commute to or from work. These rides are mostly road, but typically have long stretches of gravel and dirt roads, and rocky singletrack.

The Unit was the first bike I built with an XT 11-speed drivetrain, which to date has performed flawlessly. I have since upgraded two other bikes to 11-speed.

The XT rear derailleur features a clutch to minimize chainslap and dropped chains. The downside is the clutch adds some resistance at the shift lever and slows shifting performance a bit. I don't care for either of these trade-offs since the bike is often on smooth roads. I have yet to use the clutch on this bike, but I have never dropped the chain.

Part of the credit goes to the Race Face narrow-wide chainring. I have these on a few bikes, and they have been excellent at chain retention.

The shifters can be a little stiff and clunky at first. Fear not, they break in after a few rides and produce smooth, effortless shifts.

The TRP Spyke brakes were new to me on this bike. I think they are better at modulation and are much quieter than Avid BB7 brakes. Since both pads move, they are also easier to adjust and center. The downside is the pad adjusters tend to back out over time and require touch-up here and there. Thankfully adjustment is simple.

So far I have put over 3500 miles on this bike, enough to burn through three tires, a set of brake pads and a set of grips. The riding position couldn't be more perfect. I am really comfortable on this bike.

Somewhere along the way I replaced the narrow Mavic TN719 rims with Race Face Arc 35s. The extra width and air volume is a huge plus on a rigid bike.

The frame has three water bottle mounts, which allows me to carry enough water for long rides in the summer. There are also two mounts on the fork.

The frame is 27+ capable, but so far I have only used it in 29er mode.

I only have one complaint about the frame, and that is the ridiculous rear derailleur cable routing. It runs along the downtube, under the bottom bracket, and along the chainstay. I had to zip tie the cable to a water bottle cage to keep it from hitting the chainring. This routing wasn't used on the 2016 version and was quickly scrapped for the 2018 version.

Most bikes have some annoying characteristic that makes me yearn for something better, but the Kona has been a pleasure to ride. It will likely hang on the wall for many years.

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.