Shot down in flames |
At any rate, when "Freeze-Thaw Cycling" occurs, we generally stay off the trails for a few days. maybe a week, and then it is over. However; this has been going on now for weeks, with no end in sight, so we are hitting the trails and discovering what "Freeze-Thaw Cycling" can do to you. It ain't pretty, let me tell ya!
Take for instance my story about the first image here. I came round a slight left hander. The Larry 3.8"er hits a bit of an off camber bump. That in turn just so happened to be right where the bright sun had been beaming down those little bits o radiation, and made the surface down to about a quarter of an inch all wet and greasy. This sent my front tire into a five yard skid, where- at the bitter end- I ate dirt.
I left the bike right where it landed and took that picture. Click on it and see the skid mark, if you care to.
Even the Black Hawk is freezing/thawing! |
Off Just A Little Makes A Big Diffrence: The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. I did discover, pre-ride, that I had miscalculated the length between my handle bar and saddle by one inch. That doesn't sound like a very big deal to some folks, but if you are an avid cyclist, one inch is as good as being off one mile!
Well, obviously I corrected for my mistake, and out on the ride, I could really tell the difference. The bike used to feel odd up front, but with my slight weight re-distribution, it took on more of the feel of the Snow Dog in the handling department. Closer, but still uniquely different. I did some measuring, and the chain stays are a half of an inch longer on the titanium bike. Yes, the Altenators are all the way forward. It definitely can be felt. I don't think it is bad, but it is different.
One other very interesting thing to note was that with the slight re-positioning, the front end torsional flex was not felt as dramatically. In fact, it was a lot better from my view, and with that slight saddle shift, the whole bike just became that much better.
Funny how something so seemingly insignificant can alter the way a bike feels so dramatically. I'll have more to say about By-Tor the Titanium Mukluk later, but for now, I am happy about the way the bike is turning out.
1 comment:
Yes, the freeze thaw cycle is really messing with the DDD route. I think the frost is into the ground a foot or more so when it warms up in sunny spots on sunny days only the top thaws. So it stays greasy with no drainage. However I see colder temps coming after the weekend and should harden things up.
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