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| The sled for this weekend's Solstice 100 gravel race. |
Friday I got a couple of wheel sets in and one of them I bought for the pink MCD project I have coming up. More on that in a minute, but there is another wheel set here for review on RidingGravel.com which is pretty cool. It is the Industry Nine Torch Road Ultralite CX 235 TRA wheels. I already own two sets of older I-9 single speed specific wheels and I have ridden on a couple of others. All have been spectacular in two ways- performance and looks. Well, this set that came in on Friday is no different- so far- in terms of those things. The looks are killer. Well, as long as you like anodized orange hubs and spokes! Of course, you could get other colors too.
I was really hoping that wheel set would get here in time for my attempt at the Solstice 100 this coming weekend in Nebraska. That wheel set went on the Jamis Renegade Elite, also on test at RidingGravel.com. What better way to test things out than at a 100 miler on unfamiliar gravel roads, eh?
Well, I got these set up tubeless with some tires I had and went on a brief test ride Saturday. Things should work out just fine here! The distinct I-9 "buzz" is there, and it is pretty loud. If you don't like a loud hub, than this ain't for you. But these wheels should help make the Nebraska hills a little less painful since they come in at a little over 1400 grams with tape and valve stems installed.
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| Irwin Cycles Aon GX 700c wheels |
These should be pretty tough wheels and I already know they set up really well tubeless. That would be because I tested the 650B version earlier and it worked great. My initial plan is to run these new wheels with the WTB Resolute tires.
The really interesting thing about the new MCD frame is that it is supposed to handle a 650B X 2.25 tire, and a 2.1 29"er Nano will barely fit, so lots of ways to go here. I should have a set of Compass Antelope Hill tires coming too, but I think those will be too much for the MCD. We will see.
Next up on the docket for parts acquisition is a crankset. I spent some time on the phone with my old friend Ben Witt on Sunday talking about this. I really like the White Industries VBC crank set, but that is waaaay expensive. I just don't see anything else right now that competes with it on looks though. Especially on a pink steel frame. In my opinion, Ultegra is just too weird and "heavy" looking.
The rest of the weekend was pretty chill as far as activity went. I guess I did mow the lawn! Otherwise I was chillin' with the family on Sunday as it was Father's Day and they were wanting to spend some quality time with their Dad and of course, my wife wanted to spend some time with me as well.
So, that was my weekend. Hopefully it isn't this blazing hot this coming weekend in Nebraska.
2 comments:
Did you ever try the Antelope Hills on your MCD? Wondering if they're worth a shot.
@Will Morris- No. After hearing from my good friend, MG, about his troubles getting his Compass tires to mount tubeless I decided to not bother. In this day and age, if a tire is trouble, I take a hard pass. There are just way too many better ways to go which don't cause headaches and anxiety.
After I decided to sell the pair I had, I heard from several friends and acquaintances about their negative experiences with Compass Tires. So, I was very happy to let the pair go I had. When they sold, I advised the buyer to only use tubes after hearing the stories I had heard.
You won't see me trying Compass Tires anytime soon unless I feel that they have done something about the issues folks are having out there. And just to be heading off any follow up questions- No, I am not going to comment further on the stories and issues I was made aware of. Let's just say that in my opinion, these tires are tube only, and I am not interested in running tubes for my gravel bike set ups. I understand Compass has its fans,and that there are good experience stories out there,and I'm not interested in hearing those stories at this point.
Like I say, there are so many great, easy to use, high performing options out there now that anything with any hint of the issues I have been made aware of is not of interest to me.
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