March Blows Outta Here!

<===From white to shades of brown. March changed the color of the landscape.

Wow! March went from "slow to go!" in about a weeks time. From not riding much but roads packed with ice and snow to back riding at The Camp already, it has been pretty amazing.

Add in T.I.V6 madness, and things really leaped into hyper-drive for me! Recon started again, and there still is a ways to go with that. In fact, I'll be out doing some of that today.

Warm weather is back already too. 70's and sunshine where three weeks ago we were getting "treated" to our first days with highs in the upper 30's. Things changed in a big hurry, that's for sure.

It seems that this spring is bringing lots of changes all over. I am noticing that anyway. People, things, and events seem to be in a state of flux more so than I can remember in the recent past, or maybe it's just me. I don't know. Anyway............

Seeing as how I get hits about drop bar mountain biking all the time, let's talk about the Gryphon from Singular Cycles a bit, shall we? Singular was developing the Gryphon along about the same time as Salsa Cycles developed the Fargo. So no one copied the other here. The designs were done separately and that's that. Having said this, it is amazing how similar these two bikes are to each other. At least in terms of handling and to a great degree, fit.

I have the luxury of having a Fargo in a size large and a Gryphon in a size large which I have measured side by side. The differences are pretty minimal in terms of geometry. The details are hugely different, of course, but basically, these two bikes could be very complimentary stablemates in either companies line up, or better yet, in your stable! They handle very similarly. They fit very similarly, and in terms of function, they are different enough to warrant having both. Quite frankly, I was surprised by this.

You see, I figured since the Fargo fit me like a glove, and had the versatility of a Swiss Army knife down pat, I figured the Singular couldn't possibly hope to have anything but the novelty of single speed-ness on its side in comparison. Boy! Was I wrong about that. The Singular has the fit, as I said, down to a "T" and does drop bar mtb "right proper-like". It doesn't pretend to be anything other than a drop bar, rigid specific mountain bike that does single speed very well. The Fargo doesn't pretend to be a single speed, and doesn't pidgeon hole itself as "just a trail bike". That's why I say both bikes fit into any drop bar mtb aficianados stable. (Well, as long as you like 29"ers. )

I am doing a proper side by side comparo for Twenty Nine Inches later. So, please wait for that and your specific questions will be answered there, I hope. Suffice it to say that since I really like the Fargo, you'll probably be able to guess what I think of the Gryphon. It's good stuff, that's what it is.