Bikes Of 2023: Salsa Cycles Titanium Mukluk

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. Note; Throughout December there will be a lot of double-post days. Scroll back to make sure you haven't missed anything!

The Ti Muk 2 ready for whatever Winter throws at us.

The Salsa Cycles Titanium Mukluk, or "Ti Muk 2" as it is known as here, is in regular rotation as a commuter bike and sometimes MTB/Gravel bike around here. This is a 2015 model with a Advocate Bikes Watchman aluminum fork on it. It got the name Ti Muk 2 because it is the second titanium Mukluk I have owned. The first was a 2012 model.

Last year I upgraded the drive train and the lighting unit, so this year was basic maintenance and adding some accessories. I like the Old Man Mountain Juniper Trunk bag and the 45NRTH pogies I have on the bike now. This Winter should be a great one for getting around town with this set up. I also fashioned a new, much better looking rear "fender". More like a splash guard, I would say. I'll be interested to see if it does more than the old set up did for me. I am hopeful it will. 

There could be a gravel or off-road adventure on this bike in the coming days. Stay tuned....

Bikes Of 2023: Surly Big Dummy

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

This bike has been a real workhorse for the last couple of years.

Several years ago I had obtained an Xtra-Cycle attachment to convert my Schwinn Sierra into a cargo bike. That turned me on to cargo bike versatility and eventually that fueled the desire to get a "real" cargo bike. Then I came across a local rider at the time, Mike, who had a Surly Big Dummy, and he asked if I'd like to purchase it from him. 

The rest, as they say, is history.

The Big Dummy has found a home in my everyday cycling routine whenever I have anything pretty big to transport by bicycle. That role expanded in 2022 when I started working at the Cedar Valley Bicycle collective. Our orders from our supplier come to a local UPS Store, and I have to pick them up there. Why not do that with a bicycle? I mean, I have the perfect one for the job, right?

Well, it was made even more perfect with the addition of a Surly kickstand this past Summer. While these are expensive kickstands, they are worth every penny, as this addition makes loading and unloading the Big Dummy far easier to do. Now I can easily carry big, heavy boxes of supplies from the UPS Store to the CVBC shop and not have to have some circus act moves at the ready for the loading and unloading process.

Besides the kickstand the only future changes I can foresee here are maintenance related and at some pint I'll have to get tires, but I hope that doesn't happen for a long time. I like my XR1 whitewalls!  I could see doing a wheel set for Winter with dedicated  tires for Winter, like a studded set up. We will see....

Bikes Of 2023: Pofahl Signature Custom Single Speed

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. Note; Throughout December there will be a lot of double-post days. Scroll back to make sure you haven't missed anything!

The Pofahl Signature Custom Single Speed from earlier in 2023

This is one of my favorite bicycles I own. I designed the frame in the early 2000's and it ended up becoming a bicycle through the help of Benn Witt of Heath Creek Cycles in Northfield, Minnesota. He put me in touch with Mike Pofahl, a long-time Minnesotan and custom frame builder, who brazed this together for me back in 2007. 

It was a take on a Karate Monkey geometry with much longer chain stays. I didn't go into this with the thought that I had to have longer stays, but the lines of the design were sacrosanct, so that dictated the longer rear end. 

As far as changes go, I try not to do that with this bike. The most recent was to put on a longer stem and the Redshift Sports ShockStop stem got the call here. It has made the bike a lot nicer to ride on gravel, that's for sure! But other than that, I don't plan on changing much of anything on this bike. 

I do have a set of wheels that I need to rebuild. Those have Surly "Jim Brown" hubs and if I can get a nice set of rims, that may happen and those would be built for this bicycle. Stay tuned on that one....

Bikes Of 2023: On One Inbred

It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. Note; Throughout December there will be a lot of double-post days. Scroll back to make sure you haven't missed anything!

The old On One Inbred in yet another configuration. From Fall 2023.

Well, this bike would never have made this list had it not been for the opportunity to review the Wilde Bicycle Co. Country Bar. That handle bar really needed to go on a flat bar specific bike, and while I used to have plenty of candidates for that sort of application, now I don't. 

So, the Inbred was brought out of mothballs and back to life as a 2 X 10 speed MTB. The crank set on the bike, an Origin 8 model that came with the frame when I acquired it again several years ago, (another whole story there), has a 36T big ring which is pretty nice for gravel. The inner ring is a weird 29T size, but again, nice for winching up hills when you have a 36T cassette cog. 

I decided to use my old Paul Components Thumbie mounts with some older 10spd bar end SRAM shifters. It is an "old school" way to shift that I really like. I also popped on a Cane Creek Thudbuster because, why not? I have it, so may as well use it up. 

I could have thrown on a sus fork, but again, why? I don't really need that here. I do have that option though and I can always go to that when needed. 

Since this is the frame I did the very first DK200 on, I won't be getting rid of it. But that said, now that it is a viable MTB bike, I think it will be staying in this configuration for quite some time. So now if I ever need a MTB to ride some where, this bike can do that.

Bikes Of 2023: Twin Six Standard Rando v2

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. Note; Throughout December there will be a lot of double-post days. Scroll back to make sure you haven't missed anything!

The Twin Six Standard Rando v2 from Fall this year.

The Twin Six Standard Rando v2 saw the majority of gravel miles that I put in during 2023. That was mostly due to it being a test mule for a handle bar and the WTB Gravelier saddle, (which is still on it), and a set of Pirelli tires as well. 

I also received, tested, and wrote a review for some Enduro bearings parts which were installed on this bike also. So, you can see that a LOT of stuff needed to be ridden and this is why I used this bike to the exclusion of some of my other rigs in 2023. As an example, I only ever rode my Fargo Gen I as a commuter bike because I had to do most of my gravel rides on the Standard Rando.

This years Guitar Ted Death Ride was done on the Standard Rando and ended up being my longest ride of 2023.

Not that riding this bike all the time was a bad thing, but seeing as how tire clearance is limited to a 43mm-44mm sized tire, I sometimes would have rather been on one of my other bikes that have larger tires. Or my lighter Noble GX5, for instance, on that long Guitar Ted Death Ride I did this past Summer.

Changes? They would be minimal going forward. I already swapped back to my preferred Salsa Cycles Cowchipper bar and I may swap out the Gravelier at some point for the more comfortable Silverado or the Ergon gravel saddle which I have on the Noble GX5. But the wheels, the drive train, and that sort of stuff is remaining unchanged here. I'll even probably run out those Pirelli tires on this rig until they wear out.

Bikes Of 2023: Black Mountain Cycles MCD

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. 

The Black Mountain Cycles MCD from early in 2023

Since 2018 this has been one of my favorite bikes in my stable of many bicycles. The MCD (Monster Cross Disc), is the model that was the answer to the original Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross bike "modernized' question. Modernized in terms of the brake standard, obviously, but also in terms on the geometry and frame design. 

A lot of "gravel/adventure bike" influence affected what became the short-lived MCD model. This bike is now kind of a transitional model to what is now called the Mod Zero, which is also a model that absorbed what a Black Mountain Cycles Road Plus frame did. (biggie 650B tires) You can read all the nitty gritty on the evolution to the Mod Zero HERE. 

All that to say that, well, here is another kind of rare frame/fork that I own. There aren't many of these around. And in my view, this is the bike that encompasses what a Salsa Cycles Vaya did for me without the stiffer tubing and this MCD has better tire clearances. 

From a ride in October with Jason Boucher, (Who can be seen in back ground here)

 Anyway, I rode this a fair amount during 2023 and you'll continue to see this bike throughout 2024 as well. No big changes are coming to this bike either. Not as far as I can tell at this time. "IF" I could, I'd maybe upgrade the drive train to the latest GRX stuff, but the mish-mash of Shimano stuff on here now is working fine. (10 spd cyclo-cross crank, Ultegra 11 spd levers, Ultegra front derailleur, GRX rear derilleur, TRP Spyre brakes, 11 spd SRAM cassette) 

I do miss having fork mounted bottle cages/Anything Cage mounts. The Mod Zero has those. But other than that, this bike really is a gem. And of course, it is pink! That makes it even better, despite all the side-eye looks I get out in the country!

Bikes Of 2023: Noble Bikes GX5

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. 

The current state of the Noble Bikes GX5

The Noble Bikes GX5 didn't get out as much as I'd have liked it to during 2023, but I did get the odd ride on it done here and there throughout the year. This is a bike that may be unfamiliar to those outside the Guitar Ted Productions realm, and I understand that there are not many of these out there. 

What is also different about this bike is that it is a kind of a "cousin" to the Raleigh Tamland Two, as one of the engineers that worked on the Tamland project designed this bike. Therefore it is a fairly close rendition of a Tamland, in terms of the geometry, done up in carbon fiber. That's a good thing, in my opinion. 

I think the only thing I changed on this bike was the handle bar tape and I added that Ergon OrthoGel stuff with that. Besides that, this bike wasn't used much as a test mule for 2023 and thus the reason I chose other bikes (the Twin Six Standard Rando, mostly) to ride instead. 

That may change coming up. (Review item incoming) If that change happens then the GX5 will start seeing a lot more action. But even if it doesn't, this is a great bike and there is not much out there new that I'd want to replace this with. I keep thinking this bike is older than it is, but it is only (barely) four years old and going on five. That may be "old" for some bikes, but this one does all the things I'd ever want or need out of a carbon frame set, with minor exceptions. So, for the price I'd have to pay to "upgrade", it hasn't seemed to be worth it yet to do so. 

Until, or if, that ever happens, expect to see more of this bike here in the future.

Bikes Of 2023: Karate Monkey

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. 

The Karate Monkey, a bike I have owned now for twenty years! That's crazy to write that! But.....it is true, and it was my first 29"er. Big changes to this rig for 2023 included going back to a flat bar, the first time the ol' KM has seen that since 2005! 

I used the Velo Orange Utility Bar and I affixed their Utility Rack to it. Then I found a used Velo Orange handle bar bag and kind of rigged that on there. A seat pack and a Revelate Designs "Jerry Can" went on it as well. That rounded out the set up and I've ridden this all over the town during 2023. 

I did do one gravel ride with the set-up to fetch a pint jar of gravel which the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame requested from me. That trip revealed that the gearing chosen for this bike is too steep! So, that may be a change for 2024, as I wouldn't mind this becoming my flat bar gravel bike, but I really have to change the gearing. 

Another change may be getting a basket instead of that randonnuering bag. Baskets. All the rage now! I'll be sooooo trendy! Ha! 

But otherwise the only thing I ever think about swapping here is the cantilever brakes for disc. And that's just because the wheel choices are so much better than rim brake rims offer. I also want better tires, and I want to run tubeless. 

I have some rad cantilever brakes and levers from Velo Orange that were going to go on this bike, but then I realized that the Karate Monkey was set up for linear pull brakes out back, so that sort of ixnayed that idea! Oh well.... 

From the gravel fetching trip back in May

 The Karate Monkey has seen some adventures and some long down times since I've owned it. My hope is that 2024 will be the year that the KM makes a big return to gravel travel. It was my first "gravel bike" as well as being my first 29"er, and this bike has been one of my sentimental favorites for many years now. I hope to write several more chapters in its story with me going forward.

Bikes Of 2023: Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3

It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. 

The Gryphon Mk3 fresh out of the Lab.

 The newest bike in the stable is my Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3. This bike represents the culmination of a dream bike that I have chased for years. I wrote a series of posts on the blog earlier this year called "Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon". That was back in July.

The Gryphon is my MTB, touring bike, and fat tire gravel bike all wrapped up into one. I have already had it all loaded out and test ridden on single track and I have done an adventure ride with it as well. I am looking forward to using it more and more during 2024. 

The only change I've made so far is to review that Tumbleweed Big Dipper bar and I put a 20mm shorter stem on it as well. Oh! And I tested out those State Bicycle Co. brakes on it, and they are still on there. In the future I may look at alternative wheels for this, but keeping in mind that this has a 15mm front through axle, those wheels would have to be non-boost MTB types, most likely. That or an end cap swappable front. But I am thinking of a set of smoother, fatty touring wheels and tires for pavement. 

I would like to spend more time doing some long gravel rides on the Gryphon in 2024

Next year I look forward to maybe, finally, getting a sub24 using this bike in the books. Maybe this long 2 day tour on gravel as well, which I have had mapped out for a year and a half at this point. But time will be found, the bike is the biggest hurdle, and this one can do these things I've been dreaming about. 

So, without the burdens of a schedule of review stuff to get through, (at least at this point), I maybe can get around to doing this stuff more often, or at all. Time is running and won't be waiting for me to find it.....

Bikes Of 2023: The Salsa Cycles Blackborow DS

It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. 

The Blackborow DS from last January.

This is my fat bike that originally was intended for commutes back and forth all Winter to the old bicycle shop I used to work at. I had become tired of replacing drive train bits on various commuter bikes I had been using due to the chemical stew that is part and pacel of Winter riding in the snow on city streets. That stuff eats metal like crazy. This Blackborow DS, with its "two-speed" single speed drive train, or "dinglespeed" as it is known as, was all made from stainless steel and rust-resistant parts. Perfect for that commute.

However; now I have an even better option with my Ti Muk 2, and so this bike has become my "extreme Winter" bike which only sees use anymore during those times when the conditions demand ultimate flotation. 

Essentially,this bike is pretty stock with only two major upgrades since I purchased it about ten years ago. That's saying a LOT for me, because usually there is nothing left stock on a bike if it's been around here that long except the frame! I have a carbon Jones H Bar for a handle bar here and over the past year, at some point, I put on a Thompson post with a WTB Volt saddle.

New to this bike soon will be a set of proper pogies. I got my Ti Muk 2 back in 2018, when a bunch of you blog readers, acquaintances, and good friends bought me most of that bike from its former owner, Sam. Well, when I went to pick it up, Sam threw in a set of super-rare Revelate pogies custom made for Jones H Bars. I set those aside when I got home, because it was Summertime, and promptly forgot all about them. 

Whilst digging through some of my squirreled away stuff looking for something else entirely I came across them. So, now they will go on there and probably won't be coming off, since I rarely, if ever, will ride this bike in any other weather but Winter snow and cold.

Bikes of 2023: The Dorado Sherpa

It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. 

This late 80's Dorado Sherpa has become one of my main commuter bikes.

Late into 2022 I picked up a rare, weird mountain bike from the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. It was from a brand known as "Dorado", which turned up in my searching as a brand sold through Costco stores in the late 1980's. 

This model, the "Sherpa", is a very good representation of mid-to late 1980's mountain bike design. Many consumer brands hadn't caught up with the leaders in the field yet and were making MTB's with much the same geometry as they had from the late 70's/early 80's. Essentially, the copy of a Schwinn "balloon" style cruiser geometry, which was the basis of the first popularized mountain bikes emanating out of California.

This bicycle also features a trendy set of brakes which represents the short time span of their popularity in 1987-88. These are "roller cam brakes", so called due to the use of a flat plate cam and rollers affixed to the ends of each cantilever arm. This design morphed into the common "U" brake, most often seen on BMX bikes these days. 

Another quirk of those times is the mounting of the U brake or roller cam brake underneath the chain stays. This was done because the U brake and roller cam have so much leverage and power that they can easily flex and twist seat stays. The beefier chain stays were a preferred mounting spot to enhance these brake's characteristics. 

I can tell you that a proper set up on a good pair of roller cams is going to out-brake about anything you can name outside of the best hydraulic disc brake set ups. They are that good. It's very ironic that this bike, and many others of its day, were set up with brake levers that get their inspiration from motorcycle brake levers. Those were used on the earliest MTB set ups back when steel rims were the norm. Longer levers meant more brake power, and you were going to need that with steel rims and typical touring cantilever brakes. But with aluminum rims, those goofy "four-finger" levers are simply not necessary with these roller cam brakes on the Dorado. 

I completely overhauled this bike with new bearings in the rear wheel and a new bottom bracket. I added a rack, fenders, bags, and my old Brooks B-17 Special. It's rolling on Bontrager 26" tires presently, but I may switch those out to studded 26" tires for Winter ice situations soon. 

I do have to do some clearancing on the fenders at the brakes to gain a bit more clearance with these fenders. Other than those things, this bike is set to roll on into 2024. I plan on using it frequently for commuting and errands. 

This is the bike that took over commute duties from my old Schwinn High Sierra. I was afraid I might miss that bike, but this bike has done well and I do not regret the switch one bit now. It rides every bit as sweetly and this set of roller cams works far better than the Schwinn's did and the drive train, a full 3 X 6 set of gears, has come in handy and works perfectly. The scratched and rusted patches of the frame add to the "urban camouflage" keeping many from wanting to lift this bike from me, but I do appreciate the bolt-on wheels and locking the bike up is easier since I can carry a decent lock in the bags.

So, a great addition to the stable and I suspect it will be used for years.