New Season- New Look

Ditched the green bar tape for black.

This past weekend was interrupted by some volunteer work, so I didn't get a big ride in, nor would I have anyhow. I've been nursing along a low-level could and I am sure I could manage to make it worse with a nice long ride in the country. So, instead, I did some maintenance on the fleet. Mostly involving tubeless tire things. Inflating, doing short rides on each bike, inspecting the valves, and just making sure everything was in tip-top shape.

I shifted, braked, and checked for rattles. I double checked the Black Mountain Cycles bike, as that one got the new Cowbell and Dimension stem. I also ditched the green tape I've used almost since the bike was new and went with black. A new era? Call it "The Black Tape Era" of the Orange Crush.

The Dimension stem is really quite nice. I am impressed with the way it is made made and I hope it holds up as well as the Ritchey one that came off of the bike. I will say that the finish on the Dimension stem is actually better than the Ritchey's ever was. That is a surprise. The black bar tape is fizik. It is about the only thing they make I can endorse fully. It is really nice bar tape. It is like that wrap we used to put on our steering wheels in the 70's to mimic leather driving tape. It has contour and give, but not too much, so the grip is good, but your hands don't get fatigued holding on to it. Plus, it dampens vibrations on gravel better than most tape does, and you can clean it.

Well, the bottom line is whether or not the BMC feels at least as good as before and hopefully better. I can say from my short test ride that it seems at least as good. That's a success so far then. Now for the season to turn. that won't be long now........