Neglected But Not Forgotten: Part 3

New-ish Soma Cazaderos on old, old wheels!

So, I don't know if many of you noticed, but 2021 did not feature much of the old Gen I Fargo here. That's because I did not ride it much at all. Maybe a few times back and forth to work earlier in the year, but then most of this Summer and Fall? Not a day. It sat near the back of the stable most of that time. 

A couple of weeks ago now I started thinking about why that was. Obviously I was busy reviewing stuff and most of that happened with other bikes. Not that I couldn't have used the Fargo, I just didn't. 

Anyway, there it sat, unused, and without any real inspiration to dig it out, I let it go for weeks. Weeks turned into months, and you know what is next, and I did not want that to happen. So I needed to consider why it was I felt like I did concerning this bike and it boiled down to the heavy wheels and tires I had on there. While the fat Extraterrestrials were fun, they are just so darn heavy, and that pedestrian wheel set I was using, while okay, was pretty heavy as well. It made for an uninspiring ride. 

That meant they needed to go, but for what? Later on, when I was clearing out some junk that had accumulated, I got inspired to do something about all the tires I had gathering and taking up space, and that led to a wheel inventory. That's when I started putting some ideas together. 

I had these almost new Soma Cazadero tires in 700 X 50mm and a set of Sun Ringle' Black Flag 29"er wheels I had tested waaaaay back for "Twentynine Inches" which they didn't want back. (Standard Disclaimer) Those are pretty lightweight aluminum rimmed wheels with a really narrow inner rim width. In fact I have to laugh because these so-called MTB rims are actually narrower than current gravel rims. 

So, I had to refresh some tape, clean up some old sealant, and I set those wheels and tires up on the old Gen I Fargo and came up with this.....

The current state of things with the Fargo Gen I

I think it looks pretty all-right with these wheels and tires. More importantly, it is much more fun to ride, and much more comfortable. You'd think that those Extraterrestrials would ride smooth, and they do, but not like the Cazaderos do. These new tires should be a lot of fun on this bike and I look forward to riding it in this configuration for quite a while. 

I also now can mount fenders to this, if I want, while the old set up did not leave room for that. So that's a bonus to these wheels and tires as well. The drive train on this bike was getting on in wear, but I won't worry about that now until next Spring as I may use this some during the Winter.

Neglected But Not Forgotten: Part 3

New-ish Soma Cazaderos on old, old wheels!

So, I don't know if many of you noticed, but 2021 did not feature much of the old Gen I Fargo here. That's because I did not ride it much at all. Maybe a few times back and forth to work earlier in the year, but then most of this Summer and Fall? Not a day. It sat near the back of the stable most of that time. 

A couple of weeks ago now I started thinking about why that was. Obviously I was busy reviewing stuff and most of that happened with other bikes. Not that I couldn't have used the Fargo, I just didn't. 

Anyway, there it sat, unused, and without any real inspiration to dig it out, I let it go for weeks. Weeks turned into months, and you know what is next, and I did not want that to happen. So I needed to consider why it was I felt like I did concerning this bike and it boiled down to the heavy wheels and tires I had on there. While the fat Extraterrestrials were fun, they are just so darn heavy, and that pedestrian wheel set I was using, while okay, was pretty heavy as well. It made for an uninspiring ride. 

That meant they needed to go, but for what? Later on, when I was clearing out some junk that had accumulated, I got inspired to do something about all the tires I had gathering and taking up space, and that led to a wheel inventory. That's when I started putting some ideas together. 

I had these almost new Soma Cazadero tires in 700 X 50mm and a set of Sun Ringle' Black Flag 29"er wheels I had tested waaaaay back for "Twentynine Inches" which they didn't want back. (Standard Disclaimer) Those are pretty lightweight aluminum rimmed wheels with a really narrow inner rim width. In fact I have to laugh because these so-called MTB rims are actually narrower than current gravel rims. 

So, I had to refresh some tape, clean up some old sealant, and I set those wheels and tires up on the old Gen I Fargo and came up with this.....

The current state of things with the Fargo Gen I

I think it looks pretty all-right with these wheels and tires. More importantly, it is much more fun to ride, and much more comfortable. You'd think that those Extraterrestrials would ride smooth, and they do, but not like the Cazaderos do. These new tires should be a lot of fun on this bike and I look forward to riding it in this configuration for quite a while. 

I also now can mount fenders to this, if I want, while the old set up did not leave room for that. So that's a bonus to these wheels and tires as well. The drive train on this bike was getting on in wear, but I won't worry about that now until next Spring as I may use this some during the Winter.

Badger Update

The new Cazaderos on the Badger

Friday I mentioned the new tires on the Badger were in and so here it is. I had already seen these treads on my friend's Ti Fargo. They aren't real wide, but the tires should be fine for gravel. The surprising things were the tire's weight and how hard they were to mount.  

As for the weight, they came in at 530 grams a piece. That's pretty crazy light when you consider that many gravel tires in the 40-42mm range weigh this much  So, there isn't much to go around for material on a bigger casing. I won't be expecting these to be very tough tires. 

They also fit my rims, which are a Stan's designed rims, super tight!  I haven't worked that hard to mount tire's in a long time! As a side note, the Teravail Sparwood's I removed came off far easier than they went on these rims, which was almost as difficult to do as these Cazaderos were to do.  I suspect that the Cazaderos will stretch quite a bit as well. Especially after I rode these new tires. They are very supple!  

In fact, they require a bit more air pressure than I would normally consider for this large a tire. I had about 40psi in the back and that was about 5 psi too low, I think. I need to do a lot more experimenting with air pressures to figure out this tire. At least it looks good,

Badger Update

The new Cazaderos on the Badger

Friday I mentioned the new tires on the Badger were in and so here it is. I had already seen these treads on my friend's Ti Fargo. They aren't real wide, but the tires should be fine for gravel. The surprising things were the tire's weight and how hard they were to mount.  

As for the weight, they came in at 530 grams a piece. That's pretty crazy light when you consider that many gravel tires in the 40-42mm range weigh this much  So, there isn't much to go around for material on a bigger casing. I won't be expecting these to be very tough tires. 

They also fit my rims, which are a Stan's designed rims, super tight!  I haven't worked that hard to mount tire's in a long time! As a side note, the Teravail Sparwood's I removed came off far easier than they went on these rims, which was almost as difficult to do as these Cazaderos were to do.  I suspect that the Cazaderos will stretch quite a bit as well. Especially after I rode these new tires. They are very supple!  

In fact, they require a bit more air pressure than I would normally consider for this large a tire. I had about 40psi in the back and that was about 5 psi too low, I think. I need to do a lot more experimenting with air pressures to figure out this tire. At least it looks good,

Friday News And Views

The Soma Fab Cazadero 42mm tire

Same Song- Different Dance Partner:

Tubeless tires. Everybody wants to know about whether or not the latest tire can be set up tubeless or not. Fat bikes and gravel road going rigs that have no real good systems in place seem to be the next field where tubeless tinkering is taking off at a breakneck pace. It reminds me totally of circa 2006 29"er tubeless experimentations. Some times it worked, and other times......not so much. 

I got the Soma Fab Cazaderos recently and started the review , (here), and although I stated that since it isn't a tubeless ready tire I wouldn't be testing it this way, I am sure someone or three will say the review isn't any good without me trying them tubeless. I know this from my past experiences reviewing tires. The thing is, I cannot fairly review a tire if I use it as it is not intended.

Just like using a 23mm road slick for a cyclo cross race and then saying the tire stinks because it doesn't handle mud well is unfair, so it is with regard to "converting" any tire I am reviewing to tubeless for gravel. The Cazadero was never intended for tubeless usage, or if it was a thought during the design, Soma isn't saying so overtly. Either way, it isn't right for me to judge a tire for tubeless use and have it fail or not do well when it wasn't meant to be tested that way in the first place. Not to mention, there is no real, approved way of doing a tubeless conversion of a non-tubeless tire industry wide. Stan's No-Tubes notwithstanding, no tire manufacturer will approve of that openly.

And so it goes with the bicycle industry. We can make ridiculously light, mega-expensive bikes out of carbon fiber but we cannot have a true, standardized tubeless tire system for bicycles across the board? That's just weird. What other vehicle in existence suffers such disarray when it comes to their tires and rims? I believe a standardized tubeless system can be done, but the industry is so disconnected from what user experience is that it cannot find a way to make it happen. If the industry would come together and just make UST happen on every tire and rim, (for instance), and manufacture every tire to work tubeless, (you could always sub in a tube when you had to), then this whole dancing around with ghetto solutions to tubeless conversions and the roulette wheel riders have to negotiate to find success would not exist. But apparently what riders are doing is cheap R&D or something.........

This is just a random pic of our recently departed James in a cargo box.

End Of The Year Madness:

I'll be posting my annual "Rear View" series shortly and this has been a doozy of a year. I'll probably have to do this year in thirds, but however it comes out, look for that to start next week sometime and of course, the Holidays will bust that up some.

At the end of it all, I will make a special announcement and a few predictions for 2015. Looking ahead, there could be a lot of changes next year, or it could all just go "poof" and it could end up just being a regular year. We'll see....

Okay, that's all for today. Have a great weekend and get outside!

Friday News And Views

The Soma Fab Cazadero 42mm tire

Same Song- Different Dance Partner:

Tubeless tires. Everybody wants to know about whether or not the latest tire can be set up tubeless or not. Fat bikes and gravel road going rigs that have no real good systems in place seem to be the next field where tubeless tinkering is taking off at a breakneck pace. It reminds me totally of circa 2006 29"er tubeless experimentations. Some times it worked, and other times......not so much. 

I got the Soma Fab Cazaderos recently and started the review , (here), and although I stated that since it isn't a tubeless ready tire I wouldn't be testing it this way, I am sure someone or three will say the review isn't any good without me trying them tubeless. I know this from my past experiences reviewing tires. The thing is, I cannot fairly review a tire if I use it as it is not intended.

Just like using a 23mm road slick for a cyclo cross race and then saying the tire stinks because it doesn't handle mud well is unfair, so it is with regard to "converting" any tire I am reviewing to tubeless for gravel. The Cazadero was never intended for tubeless usage, or if it was a thought during the design, Soma isn't saying so overtly. Either way, it isn't right for me to judge a tire for tubeless use and have it fail or not do well when it wasn't meant to be tested that way in the first place. Not to mention, there is no real, approved way of doing a tubeless conversion of a non-tubeless tire industry wide. Stan's No-Tubes notwithstanding, no tire manufacturer will approve of that openly.

And so it goes with the bicycle industry. We can make ridiculously light, mega-expensive bikes out of carbon fiber but we cannot have a true, standardized tubeless tire system for bicycles across the board? That's just weird. What other vehicle in existence suffers such disarray when it comes to their tires and rims? I believe a standardized tubeless system can be done, but the industry is so disconnected from what user experience is that it cannot find a way to make it happen. If the industry would come together and just make UST happen on every tire and rim, (for instance), and manufacture every tire to work tubeless, (you could always sub in a tube when you had to), then this whole dancing around with ghetto solutions to tubeless conversions and the roulette wheel riders have to negotiate to find success would not exist. But apparently what riders are doing is cheap R&D or something.........

This is just a random pic of our recently departed James in a cargo box.

End Of The Year Madness:

I'll be posting my annual "Rear View" series shortly and this has been a doozy of a year. I'll probably have to do this year in thirds, but however it comes out, look for that to start next week sometime and of course, the Holidays will bust that up some.

At the end of it all, I will make a special announcement and a few predictions for 2015. Looking ahead, there could be a lot of changes next year, or it could all just go "poof" and it could end up just being a regular year. We'll see....

Okay, that's all for today. Have a great weekend and get outside!