Friday News And Views

New parts for the Tamland

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I got a few new bits for the Tamland. The deal here is that I ran the stock 11-32 cassette until now as the chain has just started to become close to being out of spec. I figured once I got to that point I would implement my plan to lower the gearing on this rig even more. The original crank was modified to a 46/36 combo from the original 50/36 combo. Key thing there was that I did not shorten the chain when I did that. This will become important later....

The cassette has the lowest cog Shimano offers on a 11 speed road cassette. That 32 wasn't even close to being low enough though. I then found out that SRAM makes a WiFli 11-36T 11 speed cassette. The Tamland Two comes with the long cage Ultegra derailleur, so heck....why not get that WiFli cassette? 

I slapped that new cassette on that Tamland wheel and using the old chain to check the set up with in the stand, I shifted very gingerly up the cassette to that big ol' 36 tooth cog while in the big ring. Whadda ya know? It was okay and the chain was the perfect length! So, that new chain will be made the same length and I may have to tweak the B tension screw on the derailluer just a tiny bit, but this will work perfectly. I then will have a lowest gear that will be a 1 to 1 ratio. That should be plenty low on a gravel road going rig.

Still not too small......

The Boy's Bike:

The son's bike is still going strong, but he's also still growing. I figured that this Summer would be the time when he'd go beyond the range for fit on this bike. So, when we went on a grocery errand the other day, I was watching him very closely to see if he was getting to the tipping point. As of now, he's still well within the limits. But I'm sure it won't last long!

So, I am plotting a new rig to accommodate for his future growth spurt, which should happen anytime now. My feeling is that we will go to a medium frame and skip over size small. Maybe.....  I will definitely be after a 170mm rear spaced frame so I can transfer everything over and make the transition as seamless as possible. There is one thing I need to change up, and that is the front hub, which I will swap to a front brake standard instead. That'll work with the new replacement fork that is coming. Oh yeah.......

The Salsa replacement fork isn't in yet, and I haven't heard diddly about the whereabouts of that, but I'm sure it's on the way. When it does come in, I'll have to get that front hub switched out, but no hurry.

Plans are somewhat hazy.......

The Weekend Plans:

Well, with the sketchy weather that has been forecast, I am not going to be able to get in the long ride I wanted, but I think I may get out to do something and that day looks to be Saturday. I would usually schedule a 3GR for Saturday, but as the DK200 is coming, I need to get in a specific sort of ride and I'll likely be doing that on my own. So, no 3GR this weekend for me.

Sunday there are supposed to be big thunderstorms in Iowa, but it also is the opening race at Iowa Speedway and I've got season tickets for myself and my son as a gift from my Mom, so I'm going to be checking that out, and hopefully seeing some action there. I'll maybe have a good image or two from the track to share, but we'll see.

So, have a great weekend, ya'all, and get outside for an adventure!