Randomonium

  NOTE: Okay folks, if you haven't been around long enough here to know what a "Randomonium" post is, then here is the deal. I ramble, rant, and randomly moan about all things cycling in one, incohesive, bizarre post. "Randomonium", okay?

The refreshed Standard Rando v2

Standard Rando v2/Single Speed Wheel Update:

The refreshing of, and rebuilding of wheels for, the Standard Rando v2 is now complete. The final piece of the puzzle came in last week and I was able to get in a decent test ride before the cold came back again. 

To recap: I wanted a single speed specific wheel for the Standard Rando v2 since my Turkey Burn ride last November. That metric century ride proved to me beyond a doubt that I wanted to stick with single speed for this bike. 

Originally, back in 2020, when I got this bike, I was intending for it to be a geared bike, but what with the pandemic and all, I was fortunate to just get it up and running as a single speed. I left things as is and well, that is how it is going to be. 

So, instead of tying up a geared rear wheel on a single speed that would never see gears, I decided I needed a new wheel set. That prompted the purchase of a Paul rear single speed WORD hub with the through axle for the Standard Rando's 12mm through axle rear end. I inadvertently ordered a 32 spoke hole hub instead of a 28 hole drilling, as I had intended, because I had a set of 28 hole Velocity Blunt SS rims sitting in the Lab waiting to be laced to something. 

So, I ordered up a 32 hole Blunt SS rim. I had the spokes on hand and in the right colors to do my "Guitar Ted Signature" build which is black spokes on one side and silver on the other, reversed for the other wheel. So- Drive side rear = black, drive side front = silver, reversed for non-drive side. I dunno why.....I just think it looks cool! 

I am pretty sure every spoke is double butted and all have brass nipples. The front is something of an oddball. I have the original wheel set - well.....I had it, now one part is modified! Anyway, the front wheel rim, one side of the spokes, and the hub was a part of the Noble GX-5's original build. I took out the black spokes on one side and replaced them with silver, and boom! Done!

The rim is a Stan's Grail and the hub is a Stan's 'vanilla', average front hub. No big deal that they do not match because from five feet away, you cannot tell the difference. Maybe some day I'll get another Blunt SS and relace that, but I doubt I will. At any rate, I still have a good pair of Blunt SS rims waiting for hubs and spokes instead of one lone rim with no mate. 

Finally, I had to get a single speed freewheel. I really wanted to get a White Industries one, but I don't have White Industries money to spend at the moment, so I got an Origin 8 'Black Ops' 20T free wheel, (It's just s Far East free wheel, but a pretty good one) and put that on. We will see how long it hold up to Iowa gravel!  More soon.....

Testing the Redshift Sports ShockStop Pro post here.

Redshift ShockStop Pro Post Thoughts So Far...

I'm reviewing this for Riding Gravel (Standard Disclaimer applies) and while it looks like the post I reviewed previously here, it is almost nothing like that post. It is a very different experience. In that linked review I state that this post 'isolates the rider from vibrations'. This version does not seem to be the same in that manner. I'm still not sure what level of damping, if any, is going on here. 

It also does not feel 'floaty' at all. The previous ShockStop post I tried does kind of, well.....suspend you. It is a suspension seat post, after all. The coil spring sags under your weight until the spring rate supports you and you are kind of disconnected from the rest of the bike at that point. Full suspension mountain bike riders will be quite familiar with this feeling. It may be quite disconcerting for road riders or new-to-the-sport people. It does feel odd at first. 

But this post, which has one stock spring rate which is not user adjustable, does not do that. Nothing of the sort, so it feels more like a standard post. Now at that point, my mind is thinking 'why not just use a flexible standard post, like the Whiskey Carbon, or PRO Carbon Dyneema posts that I like so well?'

And there is the conundrum I am faced with sorting out at the moment. Is the Redshift Sports ShockStop Pro 'not worth it', or is it a 'bad design'? NO! It is a really well executed design and does work, but my question I have to answer is for which riders, and to what degree does this post complete its mission? I don't know the answers to those questions yet.

More ride time. That's what I need here.......

A 420mm axle to crown fork on my Blackbuck circa 2008.

More On Forks & Their Effects On Bikes:

 Last week's Ghost Grappler introduction cracked open the can-o-worms again concerning how fork length and offset can dramatically affect handling. This was because the Ghost Grappler, ("GG" from here on out), has a short (420mm) rigid fork with 50mm offset and that fork, the "Dinner Fork", is available aftermarket. 

I was asked in the comments about how such a fork would work on a 29'er. I said "Not very well", and that I had tried this. Well, today I bring you my examples.

In January of 2008 I got my OS Bikes Blackbuck and later that year I tried 8 different forks on it, all of which had different offsets and axle to crown lengths. In my testing I used the same wheels, tires, and I strove to keep the cockpit the same across all the set ups. (Which was a whole nuther story) This was to eliminate as many variables as I could. 

The Blackbuck with its stock rigid fork.

I'll spare you all the techno-mumbo-jumbo and cut to the chase. The shortest forks I tried were both 420mm axle to crown. The Black Ops was a cabon/aluminum composite fork with (if I recall correctly) 38mm offset. The Blackbuck fork, (came with the frame), had a 51mm offset. Both forks resulted in a waaaaaay steep 74° head angle. It was the offsets that were the diference maker. 

And boy! What a difference! That Black Ops fork was dead feeling and handled very weirdly. I did not like it at all. The Blackbuck fork was razor-sharp quick. You had to be on your "P's and Q's" to ride it. One moment of broken concentration and you were on your butt off the side of the trail. 

Neither was what I would call 'ideal' to ride. So, how does that relate to this GG fork- the Dinner Fork? Well, it has the same axle to crown as the two forks I tested 14 years ago. But it leans more towards the Blackbuck fork I have, with its 50mm offset than it does in regard to that old Black Ops fork. So, on most 29"er hard tails with shorter stock forks, you'd end up with 'crit bike' handling and a nervousness on technical terrain that would require maximum concentration to control. On a longer forked, 'modern-day' trail bike? No. Just no.... Those bikes are made to have LONG forks on them. Like 500mm and longer axle to crown forks, so a 420mm fork would be, almost, unrideable. 

So, unless your 29"er was made to have a 470mm or shorter fork stock, I'd forget about the GG fork as an option. That's my take.

Want more about forks? Let me know in the comments. 

That's it for today, thank you for reading!