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| The son's bike has gone 1X11. |
The "sans front derailleur" movement is almost like a religion. To play the game you must "convert". Evangelists of the movement seem convinced that the front derailleur is on the way out. I don't believe that for a second. However; I can see why and how a 1X set up is a valid choice for cycling. To that end, my son, who is having issues realizing how he can use a front derailleur and multiple chain rings, is now going to be front derailleur free.
No spiritual epiphanies here, just plain practicality. I want to break down any barriers for him toward getting some enjoyment out of riding and so that front derailleur had to go. It was frustrating him to the point that he wouldn't use it. Not an issue now!
I got an NX Grip Shift, since my son prefers twisters, and an NX rear derailleur. A SRAM 1 X 11 chain and a Race Face "narrow-wide" ring in green ano also went on with a GX1 cassette. I matched the front Beargrease take-off wheel with its rear mate finally. All good to go.
With school about to take a Christmas recess and with the Sun making a longer visitation in the afternoon in January, I look forward to riding along side him as he pilots this new rig.
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| More gab about USAC trying to get into the gravel racing scene. |
More Kerfuffle Concerning The Gravel Scene and USAC:
Recently this Velo News article was posted online which stated that USAC was eyeballing the gran fondo and gravel racing scenes. They don't want to, "sit idly by and not be a part of that."
Translation: "We don't want to sit and not get any money out of that."
A link posted to the RidingGravel.com Facebook page and other sites and individuals that linked to that article revealed a very large percentage of negative feelings toward USAC. Besides a lot of rage against USAC concerning the possible ruination of gravel events, I think what we are seeing in the reactions are that many folks distrust USAC. And make no mistake- this is all about money.
USAC and the UCI have rattled this cage before. I wrote the following in 2013 regarding the possibility of the UCI and USAC looking at gravel events for revenue because you, the riders, may not attend their events. Here's what I wrote then......"They might be afraid you won't choose their events to ride in though, and with the slew of "free, grassroots" gravel races cropping up and getting a lot of attention with big numbers now, the UCI and USAC may just start taking notice here."
Of course, those numbers of riders in free, grassroots events need to have the event be insured, right? (This is actually a serious question) That's what USAC is going to pry their way in with. Or at least try to do that. I've written what I think about all of this before and here is an excellent example to check out, if you have a mind to. Bottom line: USAC just doesn't get it.
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| It's coming back..........again! |
If you've been here reading since 2011, you might remember the Snow Dog, my first fat bike. I had to strip it down once for my son's first fat bike in 2013. Then it made a brief reappearance when the Ti Muk became the "MukTruck" for a bit. Then when that experiment failed, I had to swap the wheels back to the Ti Muk and the Snow Dog has been grounded ever since.
Okay, if you don't know, the Snow Dog was a special 50th birthday gift from several friends. It was a super crazy surprise that blew me away. I will never be able to sell this frame and fork because of that generous gift.
So, anyway, with the completion of my son's latest rig, I have an extra set of wheels now. That means that the next project is to revive the Snow Dog, for the third time, and get it back out and riding again. I may even go super old school and use a front derailleur with three chain rings! That's how it was originally set up. The thing I am thinking about with this bike now is that it will be sort of an all-year touring type bike that happens to have 4.0" tires on it. We'll see, but that is my thought currently.
Stay tuned for more on that.......
And stay warm! That's it for this week.
Isn't it funny. I set up my Moonlander as a 1x. Two years later I'm in the middle of building a second fatbike and am EXCITED by the fact that I will be adding front gearing to this one. I intend to stuff on as many gears as I can, just to experience the other side of the fence. (nothing ala Frank Berto, mind you) We seem to automatically remove front shifting on so many of our customers bikes, and I honestly believe that it isn't for everyone. It certainly does seem to be the "gotta" thing to do among most that come to our shop.
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