Posting On A Post

Adding more Titanium to the mix.

It has been some time ago now that I added a Salsa Regulator Seatpost to my Ti Mukluk. I had heard about the nice ride imparted by titanium seat posts from close friends and acquaintances that were riding them. Everyone agreed, there was nothing like the ride quality of a titanium seat post, you gotta get one! Except that then the only ones you could get your hands on easily cost $300.00 plus dollars.

Yeah.......not happening.

Then I heard about the Salsa Regulator and since the shop was a Salsa dealer I could get one cheaper than normal. So.....what the heck! That was enough to get me to bite on a titanium post and see what the fuss was about. Well, the "fuss" was real. They do actually ride really well.

I ended up running that post on the fat bike and then on the Gen 2 Fargo. I liked it so much I decided I wanted another, but there were no more and there was no ETA for when the posts would be back in stock, if they ever would be again. Then Salsa Cycles started getting out of titanium bicycles which seemed to point to them not bringing that seat post back ever again.

Then I hear that they are back! Well, lucky for me that I just had my birthday and that my Mom gave me some money for a present. So......I got another Regulator. This one will be going on a special project at first. If it all turns out it may stay with this bike, but since those posts are essentially an heirloom component, I may move it around to other bicycles. I would get three more of these if I could afford it now, I think they are that good.

The odd thing I think people have difficulty with is that the Regulator weighs a bit more than the other titanium posts and that it is still really expensive at almost $300.00. Well, I don't really care what it weighs, it is how it rides that matters to me. That and the fact that it is really a tough post. I've come down on mine awkwardly a few times and it shrugs it off like it is nothing. I have done a similar awkward landing on a carbon post with catastrophic results.

For a "house" brand stem, these are really quite nice and fairly lightweight as well.

I also picked up a couple of these shiny Dimension stems. There are a few choices for polished stems out there, but most are pretty pricey. I've owned Thomson, Ritchey, and Salsa stems all which are very nice and do the job. However; for the money, you cannot beat the value here. Plus, they are lightweight as well.

I got two, since, as I say, they aren't expensive, and I have two places I need a shiny stem. One is to replace the stem on my Black Mountain Bikes rig which is also getting the new Cowbell Bar. The other is going on the same bike as the Regulator post. That bike will have a silver component scheme, as much as I can keep things silver.

The bicycle industry has this infatuation with black anodized stuff that is kind of old and overdone, in my opinion. Silver can be nice too, and as far as gravel riding goes, silver, polished components seem to be easier to keep looking nice. Black ano, unless it is a high polished finish, is tough to keep from looking dingy after it has been in the dust s few times. Maybe it is just me. Maybe it is my "retro-grouch" tendencies. Whatever; I just wish that there were more nice choices in silver ano for things like hubs, rims, and stems, for that matter.

Speaking of rims, I see Velocity USA has some Blunt SS rims that they do in polished. Hmm.......

Posting On A Post

Adding more Titanium to the mix.

It has been some time ago now that I added a Salsa Regulator Seatpost to my Ti Mukluk. I had heard about the nice ride imparted by titanium seat posts from close friends and acquaintances that were riding them. Everyone agreed, there was nothing like the ride quality of a titanium seat post, you gotta get one! Except that then the only ones you could get your hands on easily cost $300.00 plus dollars.

Yeah.......not happening.

Then I heard about the Salsa Regulator and since the shop was a Salsa dealer I could get one cheaper than normal. So.....what the heck! That was enough to get me to bite on a titanium post and see what the fuss was about. Well, the "fuss" was real. They do actually ride really well.

I ended up running that post on the fat bike and then on the Gen 2 Fargo. I liked it so much I decided I wanted another, but there were no more and there was no ETA for when the posts would be back in stock, if they ever would be again. Then Salsa Cycles started getting out of titanium bicycles which seemed to point to them not bringing that seat post back ever again.

Then I hear that they are back! Well, lucky for me that I just had my birthday and that my Mom gave me some money for a present. So......I got another Regulator. This one will be going on a special project at first. If it all turns out it may stay with this bike, but since those posts are essentially an heirloom component, I may move it around to other bicycles. I would get three more of these if I could afford it now, I think they are that good.

The odd thing I think people have difficulty with is that the Regulator weighs a bit more than the other titanium posts and that it is still really expensive at almost $300.00. Well, I don't really care what it weighs, it is how it rides that matters to me. That and the fact that it is really a tough post. I've come down on mine awkwardly a few times and it shrugs it off like it is nothing. I have done a similar awkward landing on a carbon post with catastrophic results.

For a "house" brand stem, these are really quite nice and fairly lightweight as well.

I also picked up a couple of these shiny Dimension stems. There are a few choices for polished stems out there, but most are pretty pricey. I've owned Thomson, Ritchey, and Salsa stems all which are very nice and do the job. However; for the money, you cannot beat the value here. Plus, they are lightweight as well.

I got two, since, as I say, they aren't expensive, and I have two places I need a shiny stem. One is to replace the stem on my Black Mountain Bikes rig which is also getting the new Cowbell Bar. The other is going on the same bike as the Regulator post. That bike will have a silver component scheme, as much as I can keep things silver.

The bicycle industry has this infatuation with black anodized stuff that is kind of old and overdone, in my opinion. Silver can be nice too, and as far as gravel riding goes, silver, polished components seem to be easier to keep looking nice. Black ano, unless it is a high polished finish, is tough to keep from looking dingy after it has been in the dust s few times. Maybe it is just me. Maybe it is my "retro-grouch" tendencies. Whatever; I just wish that there were more nice choices in silver ano for things like hubs, rims, and stems, for that matter.

Speaking of rims, I see Velocity USA has some Blunt SS rims that they do in polished. Hmm.......

Ice And Snow Ride

River ice deposited on the trail made for some technical challenges.

Saturday I had a window of time to sneak in a bit of a fat bike ride in the Green Belt. It had been quite a while since I had ridden back there due to being sick for two weeks. In the meantime it had flooded, frozen, and flooded again. It had snowed, rained, and snowed again. Sub-freezing temperatures insured that I should have no issues with mud or water, but I didn't know what the Green Belt would be like after all of the changes in weather and water levels.

I decided to roll with the Blackborow DS. I had it in "high" range to start out, but after I got off the pavement I stopped and switched to "Low" range for the duration of the ride. Good thing too.

It didn't take long to find the trail littered with river ice broken up and laying like broken bits of pottery all over. Big bits of pottery! Riding on them was a bit sketchy since they would tilt and shift in ways that eventually made me get off and walk for safety's sake. There was no way around these chunks of ice, so I had to gingerly step across the debris field and remount on the further side once I got there.

Then onward to the bridge across the Black Hawk via the steep climb up from the recycling bins. I was put to the test, but I managed to clean that climb to Ansborough. Then I stopped to calm down the heart rate! Once calmed down, I amused some drivers by hopping the curbs and snow piles to the other side. It seems fat bikes are still capable of attracting attention despite their being much more numerous in the area now days.

The trail has become a frozen river of ice in many spots.

Those geometrically shaped objects on the left are more chunks of frozen river ice deposited by flooding.

The Green Belt is a flooded out mess right now, but due to the sub-freezing temperatures, it is passable. As soon as the temperatures get above freezing for an extended period of time though, things will quickly become a quagmire and impassable by cyclist or pedestrian. I was glad I took the chance to get out there. Monday things are forecast to swing back above freezing far enough that the beauty of the white covered desolation will be lost, I am afraid, even if you could still get back in there to ride.

I love how the crystalline structure of ice and the virgin white snow contrast against the water of the creek. 

The ice glowed and sparkled in the limited amount of light there was available late in the afternoon.

The ride was fine with little fanfare. I just had to keep aware of where the trail was snow versus ice. Keeping my tires on the snow meant traction. Avoidance maneuvers were executed aplenty. Ice chunks from the river were seen, but not to the extent that they became an obstacle you couldn't ride over. In fact, one other fat biker and one skinny tire mountain biker had been through here ahead of me. I used their lines to gain the best way up and over the ice in several places.

A view of the frozen lake in the Green Belt.

When I reached the turn off for the lake loop I veered left and back up away from the creek and all the frozen ice puddles on the trail. It appeared that there had been many hikers along the trail here, and maybe a snow shoe or two, but no bicycles as far as I could tell. No more ice chunks either. Just crunchy snow under the tires and silence otherwise. It was really beautiful. There was a lone ice fisherman on the lake and when he heard my tires crunching on the icy snow he turned to look and I gave him a friendly wave which he returned in kind.

Time for the lights to be turned on.

With all the crawling around ice patches and river ice, I was not making great time. It wasn't about going fast though. I was having fun, stopping to take in the beauty where I found it, and just enjoying being outdoors again after all the time off the bike. It got darker, so I stopped and fired up the light to help me see. I made my way around the lake as the lone ice fisherman decided to call it a day. We exchanged hellos again in the parking lot where his eyes grew wide at the sight of the Blackborow's enormous tires. I bet he talked about that afterward to his friends....

Nature is brutal

 I decided to take the bike trail home. I didn't come back North very far from Martin Road when I saw the remains of a deer right in the middle of the trail. A cruel reminder of the realities of nature, or maybe it was a left over from misguided hunters? Who knows. I saw no signs of blood anywhere, so maybe it was drug up out of the woods by dogs. In any case, it was a sight to behold in the wan light of the evening.

After that I pushed onward to find my home in the dark. The lights were on and my wife and son had just returned from the grocery store. Back to civilization!

I enjoy riding in Winter on fat bikes. I am sure glad we have that choice these days as I have always wanted to enjoy riding in Winter, but couldn't. Not with the limitations mountain bikes had up until the fat bike came around. That didn't stop me from trying, of course, and I recall thinking that a fat bike would really be great. I just never did get a Pugsley due to the fact that you had to build it up from scratch and that wasn't a very cost effective way to do things for a bike that, at the time, I thought had limited usage opportunities. Little did I understand that fat bikes were far more than just "snow bikes".

But I am glad that they are that too!

Ice And Snow Ride

River ice deposited on the trail made for some technical challenges.

Saturday I had a window of time to sneak in a bit of a fat bike ride in the Green Belt. It had been quite a while since I had ridden back there due to being sick for two weeks. In the meantime it had flooded, frozen, and flooded again. It had snowed, rained, and snowed again. Sub-freezing temperatures insured that I should have no issues with mud or water, but I didn't know what the Green Belt would be like after all of the changes in weather and water levels.

I decided to roll with the Blackborow DS. I had it in "high" range to start out, but after I got off the pavement I stopped and switched to "Low" range for the duration of the ride. Good thing too.

It didn't take long to find the trail littered with river ice broken up and laying like broken bits of pottery all over. Big bits of pottery! Riding on them was a bit sketchy since they would tilt and shift in ways that eventually made me get off and walk for safety's sake. There was no way around these chunks of ice, so I had to gingerly step across the debris field and remount on the further side once I got there.

Then onward to the bridge across the Black Hawk via the steep climb up from the recycling bins. I was put to the test, but I managed to clean that climb to Ansborough. Then I stopped to calm down the heart rate! Once calmed down, I amused some drivers by hopping the curbs and snow piles to the other side. It seems fat bikes are still capable of attracting attention despite their being much more numerous in the area now days.

The trail has become a frozen river of ice in many spots.

Those geometrically shaped objects on the left are more chunks of frozen river ice deposited by flooding.

The Green Belt is a flooded out mess right now, but due to the sub-freezing temperatures, it is passable. As soon as the temperatures get above freezing for an extended period of time though, things will quickly become a quagmire and impassable by cyclist or pedestrian. I was glad I took the chance to get out there. Monday things are forecast to swing back above freezing far enough that the beauty of the white covered desolation will be lost, I am afraid, even if you could still get back in there to ride.

I love how the crystalline structure of ice and the virgin white snow contrast against the water of the creek. 

The ice glowed and sparkled in the limited amount of light there was available late in the afternoon.

The ride was fine with little fanfare. I just had to keep aware of where the trail was snow versus ice. Keeping my tires on the snow meant traction. Avoidance maneuvers were executed aplenty. Ice chunks from the river were seen, but not to the extent that they became an obstacle you couldn't ride over. In fact, one other fat biker and one skinny tire mountain biker had been through here ahead of me. I used their lines to gain the best way up and over the ice in several places.

A view of the frozen lake in the Green Belt.

When I reached the turn off for the lake loop I veered left and back up away from the creek and all the frozen ice puddles on the trail. It appeared that there had been many hikers along the trail here, and maybe a snow shoe or two, but no bicycles as far as I could tell. No more ice chunks either. Just crunchy snow under the tires and silence otherwise. It was really beautiful. There was a lone ice fisherman on the lake and when he heard my tires crunching on the icy snow he turned to look and I gave him a friendly wave which he returned in kind.

Time for the lights to be turned on.

With all the crawling around ice patches and river ice, I was not making great time. It wasn't about going fast though. I was having fun, stopping to take in the beauty where I found it, and just enjoying being outdoors again after all the time off the bike. It got darker, so I stopped and fired up the light to help me see. I made my way around the lake as the lone ice fisherman decided to call it a day. We exchanged hellos again in the parking lot where his eyes grew wide at the sight of the Blackborow's enormous tires. I bet he talked about that afterward to his friends....

Nature is brutal

 I decided to take the bike trail home. I didn't come back North very far from Martin Road when I saw the remains of a deer right in the middle of the trail. A cruel reminder of the realities of nature, or maybe it was a left over from misguided hunters? Who knows. I saw no signs of blood anywhere, so maybe it was drug up out of the woods by dogs. In any case, it was a sight to behold in the wan light of the evening.

After that I pushed onward to find my home in the dark. The lights were on and my wife and son had just returned from the grocery store. Back to civilization!

I enjoy riding in Winter on fat bikes. I am sure glad we have that choice these days as I have always wanted to enjoy riding in Winter, but couldn't. Not with the limitations mountain bikes had up until the fat bike came around. That didn't stop me from trying, of course, and I recall thinking that a fat bike would really be great. I just never did get a Pugsley due to the fact that you had to build it up from scratch and that wasn't a very cost effective way to do things for a bike that, at the time, I thought had limited usage opportunities. Little did I understand that fat bikes were far more than just "snow bikes".

But I am glad that they are that too!

Minus Ten Review- 4

One size too small...... Meh!

Ten years ago on the blog I debuted another, new to me, 29"er that I got as a "payment" for working up some copy on the Haro catalog the year before. This was a well thought out bike, but I went and got the thing a size too small. I have found that I typically fit better on Larges with regard to 29"ers versus the Mediums, but I really fall in between sizes. A bit to far on the "large end" for a medium and a bit too far on the "small end" for a Large.

I think it is interesting to note that almost no one makes 29"ers like this anymore. Not the big brands, at any rate. There was a lot of 26"er influences here and almost none of that exists today. If this bike came out now it would be regarded as a "touring bike", or most probably a "bikepacking bike" with the negatives of no through axles and no "plus size tire" capabilities. And what the heck is that crank set? Triple rings?!!

Egads!!

On another note, I was to receive some 2.25" WTB WeirWolf tires to test. These would be the biggest tires for a 29"er that you could get in 2007. I remember hearing, ad nauseam, I might add, that tire companies could not make a bigger tire because the mold machines could not do anything bigger.

Imagine that today!

Minus Ten Review- 4

One size too small...... Meh!

Ten years ago on the blog I debuted another, new to me, 29"er that I got as a "payment" for working up some copy on the Haro catalog the year before. This was a well thought out bike, but I went and got the thing a size too small. I have found that I typically fit better on Larges with regard to 29"ers versus the Mediums, but I really fall in between sizes. A bit to far on the "large end" for a medium and a bit too far on the "small end" for a Large.

I think it is interesting to note that almost no one makes 29"ers like this anymore. Not the big brands, at any rate. There was a lot of 26"er influences here and almost none of that exists today. If this bike came out now it would be regarded as a "touring bike", or most probably a "bikepacking bike" with the negatives of no through axles and no "plus size tire" capabilities. And what the heck is that crank set? Triple rings?!!

Egads!!

On another note, I was to receive some 2.25" WTB WeirWolf tires to test. These would be the biggest tires for a 29"er that you could get in 2007. I remember hearing, ad nauseam, I might add, that tire companies could not make a bigger tire because the mold machines could not do anything bigger.

Imagine that today!

Riding For Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken: Image courtesy of Sam Auen's "Fowl Words" blog.

You know, I have a history of "thinking out loud" here and there that gets me into things I never dreamed of. Take for instance Trans Iowa. That totally was a spur of the moment blurt that got me hooked into 13 years of producing the nuttiest gravel event ever. Or take that time I "thought out loud" on the blog here when I was thinking about a 29"er "meet-up" in the Mid-West. That got me into a pickle that affected many folks AND Trans Iowa. Or what about that time I posted here about how "someone should put together a gravel events calendar". Yeah.......We all know what that all led to.

Suffice it to say that I probably should reconsider just  putting my spur of the moment thoughts, whatever those may be, out for public consumption. I often end up sliding down another rabbit hole and fast. In fact, that happened Wednesday evening. You know......I was just sitting around, mindlessly surfing the innergoogles, as I often do before I retire for the evening, and some twisted thought just popped into my head. It's one thing to have that happen, but for some God forsaken reason, I actually posted it on Twitter. I really should know better, but, ya know, at the time I figured, "What the heck!" It was all just done in fun, as far as I was concerned.

I have no idea where these twisted thoughts arise from. Maybe it is because I am originally from Charles City, Iowa. I know of several twisted individuals that came out of that village. Maybe it was too much loud music and beer in my 20's, or maybe I got a whiff of something I shouldn't have at that Motley Crue concert in the 80's.

Who knows?

Someone needs to stop me from Tweeting late at night!

So, I posted this, what I thought was, innocuous Tweet late in the evening and thought, "Meh! Nobody will notice that. Sam probably won't even acknowledge it."

I figured it was a stupid thing to even suggest. I mean, Sam, of Tacopocalypse and Krunkwich Ramen House fame has a lot on his platter, so to speak. He even has plans in the hopper for other restaurants and going gallivanting around chasing down fried chicken on a bicycle...... Well! Yeah, whatever dude! I thought it would probably be received like a ding-dong comment from the nerdy kid on the back of the bus.

But.....I was wrong. 

It just escalated from there......

 Sam hadn't even seen the Tweet before two other folks were all over the idea. Then in the morning, more folks jumped on the bandwagon saying this should happen. Next thing I know Sam is researching places to go. What the heck!

Now, maybe you are sitting there thinking that this sounds like a really cool idea and that I need to organize a ride to go eat fried chicken in some remote, small town restaurant. Yes.......that would be cool, but keep in mind that it is just an idea here and nothing more. Who knows if anything will ever come of it, but I do know that if it does, it will be awesome. I mean really..........fried chicken and gravel riding? 

How can it not be awesome? 

Riding For Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken: Image courtesy of Sam Auen's "Fowl Words" blog.

You know, I have a history of "thinking out loud" here and there that gets me into things I never dreamed of. Take for instance Trans Iowa. That totally was a spur of the moment blurt that got me hooked into 13 years of producing the nuttiest gravel event ever. Or take that time I "thought out loud" on the blog here when I was thinking about a 29"er "meet-up" in the Mid-West. That got me into a pickle that affected many folks AND Trans Iowa. Or what about that time I posted here about how "someone should put together a gravel events calendar". Yeah.......We all know what that all led to.

Suffice it to say that I probably should reconsider just  putting my spur of the moment thoughts, whatever those may be, out for public consumption. I often end up sliding down another rabbit hole and fast. In fact, that happened Wednesday evening. You know......I was just sitting around, mindlessly surfing the innergoogles, as I often do before I retire for the evening, and some twisted thought just popped into my head. It's one thing to have that happen, but for some God forsaken reason, I actually posted it on Twitter. I really should know better, but, ya know, at the time I figured, "What the heck!" It was all just done in fun, as far as I was concerned.

I have no idea where these twisted thoughts arise from. Maybe it is because I am originally from Charles City, Iowa. I know of several twisted individuals that came out of that village. Maybe it was too much loud music and beer in my 20's, or maybe I got a whiff of something I shouldn't have at that Motley Crue concert in the 80's.

Who knows?

Someone needs to stop me from Tweeting late at night!

So, I posted this, what I thought was, innocuous Tweet late in the evening and thought, "Meh! Nobody will notice that. Sam probably won't even acknowledge it."

I figured it was a stupid thing to even suggest. I mean, Sam, of Tacopocalypse and Krunkwich Ramen House fame has a lot on his platter, so to speak. He even has plans in the hopper for other restaurants and going gallivanting around chasing down fried chicken on a bicycle...... Well! Yeah, whatever dude! I thought it would probably be received like a ding-dong comment from the nerdy kid on the back of the bus.

But.....I was wrong. 

It just escalated from there......

 Sam hadn't even seen the Tweet before two other folks were all over the idea. Then in the morning, more folks jumped on the bandwagon saying this should happen. Next thing I know Sam is researching places to go. What the heck!

Now, maybe you are sitting there thinking that this sounds like a really cool idea and that I need to organize a ride to go eat fried chicken in some remote, small town restaurant. Yes.......that would be cool, but keep in mind that it is just an idea here and nothing more. Who knows if anything will ever come of it, but I do know that if it does, it will be awesome. I mean really..........fried chicken and gravel riding? 

How can it not be awesome? 

Non-Standard Modifications

Those dratted SRAM bits have been removed.

I spent Wednesday doing two things, mainly. One was dealing with the wet, sloppy return of Winter here. Shoveling snow which is the perfect consistency for snowman making is.......heavy work! Once in the morning, once in the evening. So, my day was sandwiched with that.

In between, I did some work down in the Lab. Not cleaning this time, although that is ongoing. No, this time I did actual work on bicycles. Yesterday's menu was all about documentation and swapping parts. Mainly that was focused on my Twin Six Standard Rando.

When I got the bike, initially as a review bike for RidingGravel.com, I liked the fizik handle bar just fine, even though it was based on a traditional road racing bar with no sweep or flare to the drops. However, after last Winter's shoulder injury, that bar was not comfortable for me at all anymore. I couldn't ride the Standard Rando for much more than a half an hour before my shoulder would get so painful I was in great discomfort. Flared and swept drop bars on my other bikes seemed to relieve me of this issue to a great enough degree that I considered swapping out the fizik bar to something else. First, I wanted to give my shoulder some time to recover. It did get better, but the fizik handle bar never did agree with me after the injury.

It had to go.

It doesn't take much flare and sweep to make my shoulder feel better, the Cowchipper has plenty of both.

Enter the Cowchipper Bar from Salsa Cycles. The Cowchipper is basically a "more of", the Cowbell Bar,  in terms of features. More flare and more sweep. I get along with my Cowbell Bar just fine with my shoulder, but I wanted to try a Cowchipper Bar on something other than a Fargo. I know I get along with a Cowchipper Bar since I use one on my Gen 2 Fargo.

So, that change was precipitated now since I had to get a bar to replace my aging Cowbell on my Black Mountain Cycles rig. (Another Cowbell Bar there, of course.) That and the Gevenalle stuff going on the Tamland made switching drive train parts and handle bars at the same time a good idea. It all came together and I made the swap of bars and bits on the drive train yesterday.

I replaced the shifters and derailleurs and also replaced the cables while I was at it. Once I get my hands on a new 11 speed chain that will be installed. Then I should be good to go on gravel rides. Well......once I get clear roads to ride on, that is. That may take a while.

In the meantime I decided to cruise up and down the snowy sidewalks yesterday afternoon to check how the Cowchipper would feel. And ya know what? I think we'll be getting along just fine.

Non-Standard Modifications

Those dratted SRAM bits have been removed.

I spent Wednesday doing two things, mainly. One was dealing with the wet, sloppy return of Winter here. Shoveling snow which is the perfect consistency for snowman making is.......heavy work! Once in the morning, once in the evening. So, my day was sandwiched with that.

In between, I did some work down in the Lab. Not cleaning this time, although that is ongoing. No, this time I did actual work on bicycles. Yesterday's menu was all about documentation and swapping parts. Mainly that was focused on my Twin Six Standard Rando.

When I got the bike, initially as a review bike for RidingGravel.com, I liked the fizik handle bar just fine, even though it was based on a traditional road racing bar with no sweep or flare to the drops. However, after last Winter's shoulder injury, that bar was not comfortable for me at all anymore. I couldn't ride the Standard Rando for much more than a half an hour before my shoulder would get so painful I was in great discomfort. Flared and swept drop bars on my other bikes seemed to relieve me of this issue to a great enough degree that I considered swapping out the fizik bar to something else. First, I wanted to give my shoulder some time to recover. It did get better, but the fizik handle bar never did agree with me after the injury.

It had to go.

It doesn't take much flare and sweep to make my shoulder feel better, the Cowchipper has plenty of both.

Enter the Cowchipper Bar from Salsa Cycles. The Cowchipper is basically a "more of", the Cowbell Bar,  in terms of features. More flare and more sweep. I get along with my Cowbell Bar just fine with my shoulder, but I wanted to try a Cowchipper Bar on something other than a Fargo. I know I get along with a Cowchipper Bar since I use one on my Gen 2 Fargo.

So, that change was precipitated now since I had to get a bar to replace my aging Cowbell on my Black Mountain Cycles rig. (Another Cowbell Bar there, of course.) That and the Gevenalle stuff going on the Tamland made switching drive train parts and handle bars at the same time a good idea. It all came together and I made the swap of bars and bits on the drive train yesterday.

I replaced the shifters and derailleurs and also replaced the cables while I was at it. Once I get my hands on a new 11 speed chain that will be installed. Then I should be good to go on gravel rides. Well......once I get clear roads to ride on, that is. That may take a while.

In the meantime I decided to cruise up and down the snowy sidewalks yesterday afternoon to check how the Cowchipper would feel. And ya know what? I think we'll be getting along just fine.

Alternative Ride Plan: GRAVEL-BRAI

The Trans Iowa Masters Program route = the PERFECT antidote to RAGBRAI madness.

That "big ride across Iowa" that happens every last full week of July just announced its 2017 overnight towns. As I considered the more Northerly plot of these points on the map, it occurred to me that I had already devised a near perfect gravel alternative to the late July madness that takes place on pavement. And that happened over ten years ago.

I put the route out as the tenth year of Trans Iowa was passing as the "TIMP" ride. I won't get into all the back ground on that. If you want to know more, click the Trans Iowa Masters Program link in the right column.  All that needs to be said about it here is that the route is 380 miles of gravel that actually traverses the entire state of Iowa, unlike that famous, other ride this year.

So, as I said, the overnight towns are Orange City, Spencer, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Cresco, Waukon, and Lansing. Out of those the TIMP route passes through four of them and comes close enough to two others that you could easily make alternative plans to ride gravel instead of getting caught in the traffic jam of bicycles on the "official" 2017 route.

Ride the serene, beautiful gravel roads of Iowa, taking in the pastoral beauty and peace that is in abundance out there. Get away from the crowds and find an Iowa that is fast disappearing and one that is quickly emerging. Do it all without being pestered by thousands of other cyclists. Then crash the party in town in the evening.

Just thought I'd throw that out there..........

Alternative Ride Plan: GRAVEL-BRAI

The Trans Iowa Masters Program route = the PERFECT antidote to RAGBRAI madness.

That "big ride across Iowa" that happens every last full week of July just announced its 2017 overnight towns. As I considered the more Northerly plot of these points on the map, it occurred to me that I had already devised a near perfect gravel alternative to the late July madness that takes place on pavement. And that happened over ten years ago.

I put the route out as the tenth year of Trans Iowa was passing as the "TIMP" ride. I won't get into all the back ground on that. If you want to know more, click the Trans Iowa Masters Program link in the right column.  All that needs to be said about it here is that the route is 380 miles of gravel that actually traverses the entire state of Iowa, unlike that famous, other ride this year.

So, as I said, the overnight towns are Orange City, Spencer, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Cresco, Waukon, and Lansing. Out of those the TIMP route passes through four of them and comes close enough to two others that you could easily make alternative plans to ride gravel instead of getting caught in the traffic jam of bicycles on the "official" 2017 route.

Ride the serene, beautiful gravel roads of Iowa, taking in the pastoral beauty and peace that is in abundance out there. Get away from the crowds and find an Iowa that is fast disappearing and one that is quickly emerging. Do it all without being pestered by thousands of other cyclists. Then crash the party in town in the evening.

Just thought I'd throw that out there..........

The Heart Of The Bicycle

For me, it's all about the head set.

Whenever I build up a bicycle from the frame and fork, I find that there is one thing that is vital to the process going forward. There is one singular component, that in my opinion, if you don't have this, you don't have a bicycle.

Sure, you have to have the obvious. Two wheels, because, well......that's how the dang thing got its name. But beyond the obvious, there is one component, that if I don't have this in hand, I almost cannot do anything else on the build until I obtain it.

That would be the head set.

Think about it- if you you do not have the head set, you cannot have two wheels, and what you are working on is two bad unicycles until you get that part installed and mount the fork. I have to have a head set or, in my mind, there is just no use to doing anything else. You cannot string up your cables, (or in a Di2 scenario, your wires), you cannot mount your brakes with their levers, unless you don't care that they dangle without purpose. You pretty much cannot effectively do anything but mount your crank set and derailleurs.

But what's the point of that without a head set?

So, in my case it was my old Badger that I wanted to rebuild, but I had no head set. Guess what? I didn't do anything with that idea until yesterday when I got a hold of a used Velo Orange Grand Cru head set. By the way, what the heck is with that name? "Grand Cru? seems like there should be an umlaut over the "u" in Cru and a back catalog of hair metal music to go with that name. Hmm...... Didn't I see those guys in '88?

Ah...... Sorry! 

More on the Badger soon.......

The Heart Of The Bicycle

For me, it's all about the head set.

Whenever I build up a bicycle from the frame and fork, I find that there is one thing that is vital to the process going forward. There is one singular component, that in my opinion, if you don't have this, you don't have a bicycle.

Sure, you have to have the obvious. Two wheels, because, well......that's how the dang thing got its name. But beyond the obvious, there is one component, that if I don't have this in hand, I almost cannot do anything else on the build until I obtain it.

That would be the head set.

Think about it- if you you do not have the head set, you cannot have two wheels, and what you are working on is two bad unicycles until you get that part installed and mount the fork. I have to have a head set or, in my mind, there is just no use to doing anything else. You cannot string up your cables, (or in a Di2 scenario, your wires), you cannot mount your brakes with their levers, unless you don't care that they dangle without purpose. You pretty much cannot effectively do anything but mount your crank set and derailleurs.

But what's the point of that without a head set?

So, in my case it was my old Badger that I wanted to rebuild, but I had no head set. Guess what? I didn't do anything with that idea until yesterday when I got a hold of a used Velo Orange Grand Cru head set. By the way, what the heck is with that name? "Grand Cru? seems like there should be an umlaut over the "u" in Cru and a back catalog of hair metal music to go with that name. Hmm...... Didn't I see those guys in '88?

Ah...... Sorry! 

More on the Badger soon.......

Happenings Of Late

January.....no snow, no ice, and lots of mud and water!

This is a period of time now where Winter has gone AWOL and we are left with foggy, drippy, cool weather which has depleted the snow. We are now back to the "Brown Phase" and everything looks sullen and dreary.

The ice storm from last week has also had all of its effects melted away, creating another issue- flooding. Since the water that melted and the rain that fell had no where to go in to the soil, due to frozen ground, it ran into all the rivers and streams instead. That has caused ice jams and flooding that is more akin to early March weather than mid-January fare. Hey, at least it isn't below zero!

So, I've been back to riding just recently since being sick. I have been spending most of my time on fat bikes and will continue to do so until I feel better and especially if it snows again. It might do so Tuesday. Anyway, with the water sitting around, and with what little ice there is, it all dictates that I ride the fat bike, which is more sure-footed. It doesn't have a tendency to sink in the mire in a couple of places where I have that on my commute.

I felt good enough to spend Saturday going down to see what was up at the Iowa Bike Expo in Des Moines. Plus, I got to eat lunch at Krunkwich Ramen House, which I highly recommend if you find yourself in Iowa's capital city. Anyway, following are a few of the highlights of the show from my viewpoint. I'll add a bit of commentary as we go here.

Bombtrack Bikes are from Germany, but distributed out of Ames Iowa.

I first came across a Bombtrack Bikes "Beyond" model that caught my eye. It is pretty much a take on a Gen I Fargo, so I was happy to actually get to take a look at one up close. The frame tubing is Columbus CroMor double butted, and seems to be a good thinner walled spec. The bike nails the vibe of a Gen I Fargo, but every time I check out the Bombtrack geo chart on this bike I kind of shake my head. A 72.5° degree head tube angle and a 38mm offset seems really weird. But.......if you load the thing down on the front wheel with gear? Maybe that is what Bombtrack had in mind.

Possibly a gravel rig here?

The Bombtrack Hook-2 model was also present. The "all-road" offering looks the part of a gravel rig, but once again, the geo chart leaves me scratching my head. The Hook has a head angle that is a half degree slacker than the Beyond, which is weird in itself, and the bottom bracket drop is merely 60mm. Way too high for my tastes. Crazy high, I would say. I took a peek at the 36mm Clements and they had just enough mud clearance to get by, but a bigger tire would be a no-go. I'm thinking this is an off the peg cyclo cross frameset here. Sure looks that way at any rate.

The Bianchi "Allroad"

I spied a patch of celeste blue and knew immediately that I was coming up on some Bianchis. That brand's signature color is their calling card. Fortunately, besides a bunch of road rockets, I found the Allroad, Bianchi's take on what would be good on gravel roads. The geometry is a bit too cyclo-cross-ish still, with a bottom bracket drop of 68mm and the head tube angle is 72°, which is acceptable, but not pushing any boundaries. Okay, so how's that tire clearance?

Ha! Not good. 35mm tires were mounted and that's all you are squeezing in between those chain stays. Moving on now........

My daughter liked the Cannondale 27.5+ bike on display, the Beast Of The East.

The Salsa Cycles Timberjack was in the house.

Specialized's Sequoia

Later into my walk around the expo area I found the Specialized Sequoia, a bike that is getting a lot of press as a bike-packing/touring/adventure vehicle on two wheels. I was pretty curious on this one so I took a much closer look.

It is quite evident once you get up close and personal that the Sequoia was meant to be a beast of burden. Big, beefy chain stays, stout tubing, and that massive front fork are obviously made to be stiff under load and track straight while carrying you on down the road. That said, a carbon fiber touring fork?

We had a good time there, saw a few friends, and zipped on to other business that had to do with the rest of the family.

Happenings Of Late

January.....no snow, no ice, and lots of mud and water!

This is a period of time now where Winter has gone AWOL and we are left with foggy, drippy, cool weather which has depleted the snow. We are now back to the "Brown Phase" and everything looks sullen and dreary.

The ice storm from last week has also had all of its effects melted away, creating another issue- flooding. Since the water that melted and the rain that fell had no where to go in to the soil, due to frozen ground, it ran into all the rivers and streams instead. That has caused ice jams and flooding that is more akin to early March weather than mid-January fare. Hey, at least it isn't below zero!

So, I've been back to riding just recently since being sick. I have been spending most of my time on fat bikes and will continue to do so until I feel better and especially if it snows again. It might do so Tuesday. Anyway, with the water sitting around, and with what little ice there is, it all dictates that I ride the fat bike, which is more sure-footed. It doesn't have a tendency to sink in the mire in a couple of places where I have that on my commute.

I felt good enough to spend Saturday going down to see what was up at the Iowa Bike Expo in Des Moines. Plus, I got to eat lunch at Krunkwich Ramen House, which I highly recommend if you find yourself in Iowa's capital city. Anyway, following are a few of the highlights of the show from my viewpoint. I'll add a bit of commentary as we go here.

Bombtrack Bikes are from Germany, but distributed out of Ames Iowa.

I first came across a Bombtrack Bikes "Beyond" model that caught my eye. It is pretty much a take on a Gen I Fargo, so I was happy to actually get to take a look at one up close. The frame tubing is Columbus CroMor double butted, and seems to be a good thinner walled spec. The bike nails the vibe of a Gen I Fargo, but every time I check out the Bombtrack geo chart on this bike I kind of shake my head. A 72.5° degree head tube angle and a 38mm offset seems really weird. But.......if you load the thing down on the front wheel with gear? Maybe that is what Bombtrack had in mind.

Possibly a gravel rig here?

The Bombtrack Hook-2 model was also present. The "all-road" offering looks the part of a gravel rig, but once again, the geo chart leaves me scratching my head. The Hook has a head angle that is a half degree slacker than the Beyond, which is weird in itself, and the bottom bracket drop is merely 60mm. Way too high for my tastes. Crazy high, I would say. I took a peek at the 36mm Clements and they had just enough mud clearance to get by, but a bigger tire would be a no-go. I'm thinking this is an off the peg cyclo cross frameset here. Sure looks that way at any rate.

The Bianchi "Allroad"

I spied a patch of celeste blue and knew immediately that I was coming up on some Bianchis. That brand's signature color is their calling card. Fortunately, besides a bunch of road rockets, I found the Allroad, Bianchi's take on what would be good on gravel roads. The geometry is a bit too cyclo-cross-ish still, with a bottom bracket drop of 68mm and the head tube angle is 72°, which is acceptable, but not pushing any boundaries. Okay, so how's that tire clearance?

Ha! Not good. 35mm tires were mounted and that's all you are squeezing in between those chain stays. Moving on now........

My daughter liked the Cannondale 27.5+ bike on display, the Beast Of The East.

The Salsa Cycles Timberjack was in the house.

Specialized's Sequoia

Later into my walk around the expo area I found the Specialized Sequoia, a bike that is getting a lot of press as a bike-packing/touring/adventure vehicle on two wheels. I was pretty curious on this one so I took a much closer look.

It is quite evident once you get up close and personal that the Sequoia was meant to be a beast of burden. Big, beefy chain stays, stout tubing, and that massive front fork are obviously made to be stiff under load and track straight while carrying you on down the road. That said, a carbon fiber touring fork?

We had a good time there, saw a few friends, and zipped on to other business that had to do with the rest of the family.