
<===The Space Bar. Upside down or right side up, it's a winner!
I spent some time down in "the lab" tinkering with the Pofahl last night. I made a few changes that should really make a big difference to the positive side.
All along I and Ben Witt felt that the Pofahl needed a custom bar that was a take-off of the old "bull moose" style bars popular on mtb's from the early to mid eighties. There was a plan in place to make that happen last year, but the builder that was contacted about the project never delivered and I went forward with the drop bar idea that I originally set up the bike with.
Well, the Gary Bar is a great bar, but the Pofahl wasn't really built with one in mind. The position was okay, but "okay" isn't going to cut the mustard for 200 gravely miles in Kansas. this point was driven home to me on my training ride Sunday. So, off came the Gary Bar to be replaced by the Space Bar. The Space Bar has a 25.4mm clamp diameter and takes mtb controls, which is what makes it attractive on this project, since I can run my beloved Ergon grips. They work really well with the highly swept Space Bar and are super comfy on long rides.
Okay- So far, so good. Now I had to re-configure the other necessities for this ride. The Minoura BH-60 clamp on cage holders and SG-200 "Swing Grip" for the water bottles and lights to be mounted to. The Space Bar worked well with the bottle mounts, but the Swing Grip was a challenge. With all the angles to the Space Bar, the Swing Grip was looking to be a crooked, goofy add on. Fortunately the Swing Grip comes with a long enough band clamp that it can go around my stubby Salsa Moto Ace stem and be centrally mounted to not only look good, but get my Blackburn Voyager 4.0 pointed in the right direction. Once everything was mounted up, I re-attached the brakes to my Avid SD-1 levers and futzed with the brake adjustments.
I found out that my rear disc pad was dragging on my rotor. No wonder the bike felt dead coasting! I thought it was the wind, but after the brake adjustments, I went out for a quick round the block and the bike was fantastic. It rolled like it hadn't in awhile. No doubt, that brake had been rubbing for awhile without making any noises to alert me to the problem. The rest of the set up was waaaay better than before. Everything clicked and I was super stoked. I wanted to head out on a long ride right then and there, but I do need my beauty sleep, so I decided against that!
The conclusion: The Pofahl isn't a drop bar bike, wasn't ever really designed to be one, and is far better with the upside down Space Bar and current set up than it was before. I can't wait to ride it on a long gravel grinder soon!






Labels: 29"er Big Wheeled Ballyhoo

Labels: Guitar Ted Death Ride, Snappy Caps

<===Titanium Inbred 29"er prototype. Coming soon to a trail near you.
I spend a lot of time scouring the inner-web-o-sphere for all the latest in 29"er stuff, so I've been noticing a marked uptick in titanium offerings. In some ways, I find it rather odd.
First off, these rigs all seem to be appearing at a time when the economy would seem to indicate that it's not the right time. You probably realize that titanium is a spendy frame material, (the Inbred here is rumored to be coming in at $1850.00 just for what you see there) With costs of living on the rise, a titanium frame introduction seems a bit more iffy right about now. Yet that doesn't seem to be stemming the flow of new frame offerings in the grayish metal one bit. I can think of at least four companies right off the top of my head......whoops! Make that five! ,......that have introduced, or announced plans for a new titanium frame in the last six months.
Then there is the "green" factor, which I haven't seen brought up in regards to titanium. With all of today's concerns about the environment, I am reminded of how enviromentally unfriendly refining titanium is. Titanium doesn't exist in nature as an element on it's own. It is intermingled with other elements that have to be refined out of the titanium using vast amounts of energy and some pretty nasty chemicals. Not the sort of backround any "greenies" would be proud of, I would think. But to be fair, steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber are no real gems in that regard either. Perhaps Calfee has it right and we should all be riding bamboo rigs, eh?
There are those, who over the course of the years, have touted certain "benefits" of titanium that I find amusing too. Like it's resistance to corrosion. Okay, fine. It resists corrosion. But how many of you out there have ridden the same steel bike that has rusted out from underneath you? Not many, I'm sure. Then you have to wonder, what about aluminum? Yeah, yeah....fatigue life, blah blah..... Again, I don't see mass evidence of aluminum frames breaking that would scare me into buying a titanium frame. At least not to the degree that it would overcome the cost barrier. Then you have the "it's the last frame you'll ever buy" arguement. Yeah...........right! Bikes are like Pringles, you can't just buy one!
Well, however it may be, we are going to be seeing a lot of new titanium bikes rolling out soon. And to be perfectly honest, some of them are just plain hot! I love the looks of some of these new rigs, and titanium is a great riding material. If you ever get a chance to ride one of the gray metal steeds, do it. You'll be amazed. Would I own one? You bet! And it may be sooner than later!
Labels: titanium


Labels: Guitar Ted Death Ride