The "Gravel Influence"

A "gravel bike" is any bike (you want to sell)

 Long ago, when I first got involved in riding regularly on gravel roads (2004/2005) we did not have "gravel" anything specific to cycling. We used cross bikes, mountain bikes, and hybrid bikes. Converted hybrids, cruisers, and old 27 X 1 1/4" tired 70's road bikes. Anything, really, was a possibility for your gravel bike as long as you got along with it. 

This spawned the "any bike is a gravel bike' generalizing amongst cycling punters back in the day when gravel specific bikes started showing up in the early twenty-teens. "You don't need a gravel bike! Any bike is a gravel bike! They (The cycling brands) are just coming up with excuses for you to buy something. You don't need a gravel specific bike!

We all know now how that went. Now we have "gravel everything" and the cycling brands have gone gaga over the category which is about the only positive category in cycling now. Is it silly? Is it nonsense? In several ways, yes, it is completely marketing hooha and should be seen as such. Not that we don't need tires, bicycles, and some accessories geared for the gravel enthusiast. We do, but you probably know what I mean here. 

What I have seen recently are a lot of bicycles being fitted with drop bars and being offered on used sites like Facebook Marketplace where the sellers say this is a "gravel bike". I find this trend interesting to observe. Obviously what is going on here is two-fold. On the one hand you have folks tinkering around with relatively cheap, inexpensive used 90's era hard tail MTB's. Cool. I get that this might be kind of a fun past time, sort of akin to the guitar people who assemble Fender-like "partscasters" out of aftermarket parts. There is a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction in the sense that "I built this". 

But I also think that there are a certain number of these bikes that are being spiffed up with a drop bar, being tagged as a "gravel bike", and posted in the hopes that what was once a $75.00 used bike could bring in $150.00 - $250.00. Because "gravel".

In that sense it would seem that the term "gravel" has become a currency of sorts. Not only for legitimate brands in the cycling industry, but for the individual who is hoping to turn a buck on a 30 year old bicycle. Not that this is a "bad" thing. The marketplace will vote with their dollars, as always. I just find it intriguing.

Two Things

Canyon Grail v2 (Image courtesy of Canyon)

 Canyon Announces V2 of the Grail Gravel Bike:

Canyon Bikes announced the second version of their Grail gravel bike recently. Stating that they had spent hours and hours testing a prototype with adjustable geometry and with race feedback from Pro level gravel racers, they had arrived at the perfect geometry for a gravel bike. 

They needn't have gone to all that trouble though. These things were figured out many decades ago. I wrote a series (which that link is one entry of four in that series) about gravel bike geometry and why things have come to be the way that they are now. Again- these geometry issues have all been thoroughly vetted out and tested. Years and years ago. 

But Canyon did their research and ended up with geometry which is nearly identical to my 2014 Raleigh Tamland Two which was inspired by, you guessed it, geometry from the early 20th Century. I find it not so much a silly thing that we keep hitting on similar things in terms of geometry for gravel/all-road bikes, but I think it is more a validation of those ideas which early bicycle designers found which worked. Yes, the materials have changed, the way we utilize technology has changed, but the basics really have not changed. What makes a bike handle well on rough roads? It seems to be a generally accepted idea that something along the lines of a Tamland Two and a Canyon Grail is where the target is for good geometry.

Now, as for aero, features, and weight, yes- the new Grail is light years better.  I like the integrated storage, the neat frame bag, and Canyon says that bag makes the bike more aero. Cool! That's some good thinking there. Tire size is limited out at 42mm, which is probably a bit tight for many folks, but this is right at where I think most people are wanting to be in terms of tires. Racers especially aren't going to run much bigger tires typically than that.

Yes- the Grail is expensive, but what carbon flagship gravel bike isn't? I don't like to see the prices escalate as that is just another barrier to entry to a sport that needs less stuff like this and more 'not-so-sexy', halo-ish product. But racers are going to want something like this, and I think that overall, the Canyon Grail looks pretty spot-on. 

Gravel Mutt v3: Return Of The Gravel Mutt:

Some years ago now I put together two bicycles from older Trek models to demonstrate the way many riders used to cobble together a bicycle for gravel travel before the advent of "gravel specific" bikes and gear. I used a Trek 720 and an old "barn-built" Trek from 1978. 

Neither were what I would be able to put up with for long and the experiments were both short-lived. The biggest issue I had were the too-high bottom brackets, especially on the 720, which surprised me. You'd think a touring bike would have a deep bottom bracket, but apparently Trek didn't see things that way. 

The older Trek was somewhat better, but there was something weird with the layout of that bike which put your weight way out over the front of the bike. That was a deal-killer. Both Treks went to the scrap heap as a result.

I've been on the lookout for a suitable replacement for those bikes and an old Raleigh I used as a fixed gear bike. Since I have been at the Collective, several near-misses have come and gone as donations there, but none have been close enough for me to take seriously as a project, until now, that is. 

What is really cool is that this bike is a bit of an outlier in terms of its geometry and what it is capable of in terms of gravel set up. I found an old catalog scan which confirmed my quick measurements of the geometry. I decided it was worthwhile and so this bike is nearly done now and it will be ready to show soon. 

In terms of my discussion of the Canyon above, I think we will see this "gravel mutt" is another example of a hold-over from an earlier time in terms of geometry and capabilities. A bike that will point to how the Canyon's geometry isn't anything all that new. 

Stay tuned....

You Don't Know What You Got- 'Till You Look!

Faded to a light pewter, these Dura Ace hubs are old!

 There are those things which you have laying about that, you know, when you see them you say.....'you'll get to that someday' to yourself and then you don't. Get to them, that is. Well, I aimed to knock one of those items off the "I'll get to it someday" list the other day. That item would be the rebuilding of some old Dura Ace hubs from their old place in a 27" wheel set to a brand new set of rims and spokes. 

Originally the plan was to utilize some old 650B rims I had hanging in the Lab for years, They weren't tubeless ready, nor were they of any special import. Just pedestrian, old, 650B clincher rims in silver. I figured to build them onto these Dura Ace hubs and then try to convert my 1977 Trek to 650B wheels. Maybe even going single speed. 

Well, the first order of business was to retrieve the old wheels with the Dura Ace hubs from out in the garage. Once that had been done I cut out the front hub, then I cleaned that hub up a bit since it was covered in dust. I found that the black anodization had faded to a silvery pewter color. Nice! The grease is dried up, of course, but with a little TLC these hubs will work quite nicely. 

Okay, a break from that now, time to look at these forlorn 650B rims. They were on a hook but pushed back since I had tires hanging there which I hadn't used in years. Huh! Looky there! The pair of Challenge Gravel Grinder tires I had been running in 2014. There were a pair of Panaracer Pasela 38mm tires too, which I had reviewed for my old 'Gravel Grinder News' site. That had to have been in 2013. So, those rims had been there way before those tires got hung up. Been a while, right? Yes........

You can see how much the ano has faded by looking next to the grease zert cover.

So, I get to the rims. They have never been laced, judging by the shrink wrap still on the outer circumference of the hoops. I gently removed them from the hook, looked at the label, and then my jaw dropped. These weren't what I thought they were at all! Nope! I had completely forgotten all about having these hoops. These must have been a trade or I purchased them from a co-worker back at the old shop- or I bought them new(?), not sure. They had the old shop's stickers on them. Edit: I think I remember now! I had an old LeJuene road racer for a bit that I was going to re-lace the wheels on, but I traded the bike back to my old boss before I got that far. Here's an old post from 2013 explaining it all. So, I would have purchased these rims as new.

Oh! You are wondering what they are, no doubt. Well, they are NOS Salsa Delgado Cross rims. 36 hole drillings, just like the hubs. Not 650B at all! I don't know what happened to the old 650B rim set. Must have gifted them to someone else. Anyway...

The Delgado Cross is a rim brake design, so perfect for the old Trek. I can lace these things up and have a perfect single speed set of rim brake wheels for that bike now. Cool! Even the old school 126mm spacing will be perfect as it is a match between the hubs and frame. 

I have had wider tires on this frame before, so I know that will work out. I will strip off all the original geared stuff and just keep the brakes, which also cleared the bigger tires. The old Panaracer Pasela tires will likely go on this, as they have tan wall side walls and should look good against the green frame. Which brings me to that......the color. It isn't that I don't like the green it is painted in. No, it is just that the paint is flaking off and in bad shape. This bike could use a good powder coating. 

If I do that, I think I'd opt for a nice turquoise blue, or sky blue hue. I've always wanted a bike in that shade of blue, but going the powder coat route adds costs. We'll see..... First things first! Build the wheels! 

Stay tuned......

You Don't Know What You Got- 'Till You Look!

Faded to a light pewter, these Dura Ace hubs are old!

 There are those things which you have laying about that, you know, when you see them you say.....'you'll get to that someday' to yourself and then you don't. Get to them, that is. Well, I aimed to knock one of those items off the "I'll get to it someday" list the other day. That item would be the rebuilding of some old Dura Ace hubs from their old place in a 27" wheel set to a brand new set of rims and spokes. 

Originally the plan was to utilize some old 650B rims I had hanging in the Lab for years, They weren't tubeless ready, nor were they of any special import. Just pedestrian, old, 650B clincher rims in silver. I figured to build them onto these Dura Ace hubs and then try to convert my 1977 Trek to 650B wheels. Maybe even going single speed. 

Well, the first order of business was to retrieve the old wheels with the Dura Ace hubs from out in the garage. Once that had been done I cut out the front hub, then I cleaned that hub up a bit since it was covered in dust. I found that the black anodization had faded to a silvery pewter color. Nice! The grease is dried up, of course, but with a little TLC these hubs will work quite nicely. 

Okay, a break from that now, time to look at these forlorn 650B rims. They were on a hook but pushed back since I had tires hanging there which I hadn't used in years. Huh! Looky there! The pair of Challenge Gravel Grinder tires I had been running in 2014. There were a pair of Panaracer Pasela 38mm tires too, which I had reviewed for my old 'Gravel Grinder News' site. That had to have been in 2013. So, those rims had been there way before those tires got hung up. Been a while, right? Yes........

You can see how much the ano has faded by looking next to the grease zert cover.

So, I get to the rims. They have never been laced, judging by the shrink wrap still on the outer circumference of the hoops. I gently removed them from the hook, looked at the label, and then my jaw dropped. These weren't what I thought they were at all! Nope! I had completely forgotten all about having these hoops. These must have been a trade or I purchased them from a co-worker back at the old shop- or I bought them new(?), not sure. They had the old shop's stickers on them. Edit: I think I remember now! I had an old LeJuene road racer for a bit that I was going to re-lace the wheels on, but I traded the bike back to my old boss before I got that far. Here's an old post from 2013 explaining it all. So, I would have purchased these rims as new.

Oh! You are wondering what they are, no doubt. Well, they are NOS Salsa Delgado Cross rims. 36 hole drillings, just like the hubs. Not 650B at all! I don't know what happened to the old 650B rim set. Must have gifted them to someone else. Anyway...

The Delgado Cross is a rim brake design, so perfect for the old Trek. I can lace these things up and have a perfect single speed set of rim brake wheels for that bike now. Cool! Even the old school 126mm spacing will be perfect as it is a match between the hubs and frame. 

I have had wider tires on this frame before, so I know that will work out. I will strip off all the original geared stuff and just keep the brakes, which also cleared the bigger tires. The old Panaracer Pasela tires will likely go on this, as they have tan wall side walls and should look good against the green frame. Which brings me to that......the color. It isn't that I don't like the green it is painted in. No, it is just that the paint is flaking off and in bad shape. This bike could use a good powder coating. 

If I do that, I think I'd opt for a nice turquoise blue, or sky blue hue. I've always wanted a bike in that shade of blue, but going the powder coat route adds costs. We'll see..... First things first! Build the wheels! 

Stay tuned......

The Weekend That Was Postponed

Okay, so I want to say up front that I know there are a LOT bigger issues out there than a postponed bicycle event. I get it, but instead of droning on about the obvious I wanted to divert our collective (read: "my" ) thoughts toward something to take our minds off of things for a brief moment.

That diversion would be talking about the weather we had Saturday, and a few other things, that took place when we had the C.O.G. 100 planned to happen. N.Y. Roll told me last week it was probably for the best that it wasn't going to happen, because at that time they were saying we would have severe thunderstorms in the morning hours. Thankfully, that never happened.

What did happen was that we got a typical soaking rain with about 50°F temperatures which would have made the roads pretty much just about as nice as last year's C.O.G.100 event, just with wetness. So, yeah, take away the crazy wind, (there still was plenty of wind though), add rain, and get the same amount of "suck". Ha! Anyway, it would have been quite the slog/mud-fest and we all would have been shivering, wet, and pretty miserable. You know- typical epic Spring gravel racing. 

Oh! And later in the day we had a tornado warning here in Waterloo. May not have affected the event, but there was that too.....

So, if you've ever been in a situation like that, just close your eyes, remember it, and you'd be pretty close to what could have happened over the weekend. Or don't and be glad it never happened. Either way, a single speed would have been a perfect bike for those conditions.

Now, as for the solo #cog100  Yeah..... I postponed that, since things are on high alert in many areas and travel is discouraged in places where stay at home orders are in place. But that didn't stop some of our European brethren, and a couple of others, from riding. So, with names withheld to protect the innocent, I have some submissions to share. One of which is my favorite bike I've seen in quite awhile as far as gravel travel is concerned. I think many of you will agree...... (Guess which one!)

From Germany- Mr. 7-speed

"E", from the U.S.A.

From Britain- "sous le bois'" All City Nature Boy

JH from Germany sent me this shot.

From the U.S. 'kinggood shared this image of his Van Dessel

"TC", a local, shared this one.

Meet "Esmeralda", a converted 80's era roadie belonging to "FJK" of Germany who sent me this.

 One of the German submissions came with a long, interesting story, which I cannot replicate here, but something he said about our current situation resonated with me. It is something that reminds us that this is a world-wide phenomenon. Not just affecting you- but all of humanity. Check it out:

"The actual situation feels like taking involuntary part in an bad b-movie written by an misanthrope and directed by a paranoid. There is no escape from the permanent announcing of danger! Time for a solo ride!"

That pretty much summed up how I have been feeling. And yes- isn't it great if you are able to 'get away' on a solo ride? 

The person who submitted the story ended it on this fine note;

"Conclusion: Cycle more, consume less and shop locally. And keep an eye
on our rights that maintain our freedom!"

So, there were folks out and about that were thinking of the C.O.G.100 and that's pretty freakin' amazing, if you ask me. I sure hope that y'all got in great rides but stayed safe and all that. Hopefully this passes soon so we can all forget about "virtual group rides" and sharing via digital means. In the meantime, I hope this brought a little relief from the heaviness of today's world.

The Weekend That Was Postponed

Okay, so I want to say up front that I know there are a LOT bigger issues out there than a postponed bicycle event. I get it, but instead of droning on about the obvious I wanted to divert our collective (read: "my" ) thoughts toward something to take our minds off of things for a brief moment.

That diversion would be talking about the weather we had Saturday, and a few other things, that took place when we had the C.O.G. 100 planned to happen. N.Y. Roll told me last week it was probably for the best that it wasn't going to happen, because at that time they were saying we would have severe thunderstorms in the morning hours. Thankfully, that never happened.

What did happen was that we got a typical soaking rain with about 50°F temperatures which would have made the roads pretty much just about as nice as last year's C.O.G.100 event, just with wetness. So, yeah, take away the crazy wind, (there still was plenty of wind though), add rain, and get the same amount of "suck". Ha! Anyway, it would have been quite the slog/mud-fest and we all would have been shivering, wet, and pretty miserable. You know- typical epic Spring gravel racing. 

Oh! And later in the day we had a tornado warning here in Waterloo. May not have affected the event, but there was that too.....

So, if you've ever been in a situation like that, just close your eyes, remember it, and you'd be pretty close to what could have happened over the weekend. Or don't and be glad it never happened. Either way, a single speed would have been a perfect bike for those conditions.

Now, as for the solo #cog100  Yeah..... I postponed that, since things are on high alert in many areas and travel is discouraged in places where stay at home orders are in place. But that didn't stop some of our European brethren, and a couple of others, from riding. So, with names withheld to protect the innocent, I have some submissions to share. One of which is my favorite bike I've seen in quite awhile as far as gravel travel is concerned. I think many of you will agree...... (Guess which one!)

From Germany- Mr. 7-speed

"E", from the U.S.A.

From Britain- "sous le bois'" All City Nature Boy

JH from Germany sent me this shot.

From the U.S. 'kinggood shared this image of his Van Dessel

"TC", a local, shared this one.

Meet "Esmeralda", a converted 80's era roadie belonging to "FJK" of Germany who sent me this.

 One of the German submissions came with a long, interesting story, which I cannot replicate here, but something he said about our current situation resonated with me. It is something that reminds us that this is a world-wide phenomenon. Not just affecting you- but all of humanity. Check it out:

"The actual situation feels like taking involuntary part in an bad b-movie written by an misanthrope and directed by a paranoid. There is no escape from the permanent announcing of danger! Time for a solo ride!"

That pretty much summed up how I have been feeling. And yes- isn't it great if you are able to 'get away' on a solo ride? 

The person who submitted the story ended it on this fine note;

"Conclusion: Cycle more, consume less and shop locally. And keep an eye
on our rights that maintain our freedom!"

So, there were folks out and about that were thinking of the C.O.G.100 and that's pretty freakin' amazing, if you ask me. I sure hope that y'all got in great rides but stayed safe and all that. Hopefully this passes soon so we can all forget about "virtual group rides" and sharing via digital means. In the meantime, I hope this brought a little relief from the heaviness of today's world.

What "They" Don't Get

My Tweet from Tuesday night. (Click to enlarge)

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Tuesday night I saw a press release about a brand new carbon fiber "gravel bike" that made me think. It made me think a lot about many things. Like most things in life, it's complicated. In the end, I Tweeted about this, but even though Twitter allows you 280 characters to express yourself, plus images these days, it really didn't, nor couldn't, impart all of what I had considered. So, I thought, since the Tweet garnered a lot of response, that I would elaborate here on some of those, (but not all) thoughts.

First let me say that I love bicycles, geeking out on bicycles, and technical stuff is cool. Angles, numbers, curves and straight lines all conspire to catch my attention. Bicycles are an art form, a utilitarian device, and a spiritual medium, and sometimes all at once. But there are things about the sport, the usage, and the lifestyle that get lost in marketing, making money, and being "relevant" that makes me sad sometimes. But that's what we humans often do- we muck up beautiful things sometimes. I guess I kind of felt that way Tuesday evening.

This was the bicycle I Tweeted an image of. It was seen at the Solstice 100.

I have to paint a bit of a picture here for you, which I hope helps you, the reader, understand where I am coming from. It has to do with a couple of gravel events I have been attending. This seems to be a Nebraska phenomenon, but I cannot say that it is limited to Nebraska folks. I'm sure good examples exist elsewhere. Anyway, I've noted an ongoing use of what I term as "gravel mutts"- bikes that have been re-purposed to gravel use that were.....something else. They may have been cheap, 1970's "bike boom" bikes, or old 26" wheeled mountain bikes, or what have you. Bicycles that, maybe, are not considered "worth anything", but find use on gravel and back roads, (or city streets, or MTB trails, I imagine), and are ridden well. You probably have seen bicycles like this. I have noted this almost anytime I have ridden an event in Nebraska. Gravel grinders using "gravel mutts".

But it isn't about the 6G carbon gravel bike, or the gravel mutt. Nope. It is about the reasons a person would choose one or the other. It is the reason one company would make such an expensive rig, and why choosing the unloved bike instead kind of flies in the face of all of that. It's about why a scene grew and became popular and what conspires to ruin it all, without understanding what it is "they" are doing to effect that.

Like I said, it is complicated. 

Can a person buy a carbon wonder bike and have their heart in the right place when it comes to gravel and back road riding? Absolutely. Can a rider that chooses a gravel mutt be a total dick? Again- YES. But it goes even beyond this.....

Once again, in my opinion, a lot of the cycling industry is complicit in a game of "getting all the hay in while they can", against any reasonable notions they may have about "why the scene exists" and who they should/could be marketing to. What I see is a bent towards the "racers needs" as opposed to making bikes that just work for the Average Human. I see things implemented now that I heard product engineers and marketing guys telling me were things "racers wanted" in gravel bikes two-three years ago. It is what ruined road riding for a lot of people, but yet here we are- doing the same damn thing again. In terms of clothing, gear, and yes- bikes. 

It seems it is all about racing, it isn't "inclusive", and it isn't grassroots. So, pretty much it seems to me it isn't about "gravel grinding" as I came to understand it. Because when I see a friend on a fancy bike I am happy for him. When I see the fat bike with the non-typical female rider on it smiling, I am stoked. When I see a guy in flannel rocking an old Schwinn Collegiate converted to a single speed, I smile broadly. That's the gravel scene I know. That's real.

That's my take. For what it is worth........

 

What "They" Don't Get

My Tweet from Tuesday night. (Click to enlarge)

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Tuesday night I saw a press release about a brand new carbon fiber "gravel bike" that made me think. It made me think a lot about many things. Like most things in life, it's complicated. In the end, I Tweeted about this, but even though Twitter allows you 280 characters to express yourself, plus images these days, it really didn't, nor couldn't, impart all of what I had considered. So, I thought, since the Tweet garnered a lot of response, that I would elaborate here on some of those, (but not all) thoughts.

First let me say that I love bicycles, geeking out on bicycles, and technical stuff is cool. Angles, numbers, curves and straight lines all conspire to catch my attention. Bicycles are an art form, a utilitarian device, and a spiritual medium, and sometimes all at once. But there are things about the sport, the usage, and the lifestyle that get lost in marketing, making money, and being "relevant" that makes me sad sometimes. But that's what we humans often do- we muck up beautiful things sometimes. I guess I kind of felt that way Tuesday evening.

This was the bicycle I Tweeted an image of. It was seen at the Solstice 100.

I have to paint a bit of a picture here for you, which I hope helps you, the reader, understand where I am coming from. It has to do with a couple of gravel events I have been attending. This seems to be a Nebraska phenomenon, but I cannot say that it is limited to Nebraska folks. I'm sure good examples exist elsewhere. Anyway, I've noted an ongoing use of what I term as "gravel mutts"- bikes that have been re-purposed to gravel use that were.....something else. They may have been cheap, 1970's "bike boom" bikes, or old 26" wheeled mountain bikes, or what have you. Bicycles that, maybe, are not considered "worth anything", but find use on gravel and back roads, (or city streets, or MTB trails, I imagine), and are ridden well. You probably have seen bicycles like this. I have noted this almost anytime I have ridden an event in Nebraska. Gravel grinders using "gravel mutts".

But it isn't about the 6G carbon gravel bike, or the gravel mutt. Nope. It is about the reasons a person would choose one or the other. It is the reason one company would make such an expensive rig, and why choosing the unloved bike instead kind of flies in the face of all of that. It's about why a scene grew and became popular and what conspires to ruin it all, without understanding what it is "they" are doing to effect that.

Like I said, it is complicated. 

Can a person buy a carbon wonder bike and have their heart in the right place when it comes to gravel and back road riding? Absolutely. Can a rider that chooses a gravel mutt be a total dick? Again- YES. But it goes even beyond this.....

Once again, in my opinion, a lot of the cycling industry is complicit in a game of "getting all the hay in while they can", against any reasonable notions they may have about "why the scene exists" and who they should/could be marketing to. What I see is a bent towards the "racers needs" as opposed to making bikes that just work for the Average Human. I see things implemented now that I heard product engineers and marketing guys telling me were things "racers wanted" in gravel bikes two-three years ago. It is what ruined road riding for a lot of people, but yet here we are- doing the same damn thing again. In terms of clothing, gear, and yes- bikes. 

It seems it is all about racing, it isn't "inclusive", and it isn't grassroots. So, pretty much it seems to me it isn't about "gravel grinding" as I came to understand it. Because when I see a friend on a fancy bike I am happy for him. When I see the fat bike with the non-typical female rider on it smiling, I am stoked. When I see a guy in flannel rocking an old Schwinn Collegiate converted to a single speed, I smile broadly. That's the gravel scene I know. That's real.

That's my take. For what it is worth........

 

Gravel Mutt- A Closer Look At The Beast

Today I wanted to go over some things on my Gravel Mutt and maybe give folks an idea about why I feel certain things could be better, while certain things about this bike are pretty spot on. So, let's dive right in....

First of all, let me repeat for the skeptics out there that I feel any bike can be a gravel bike. It is just that some things will work well, some won't, and I have an opinion on that. Whatever bike you choose to gravel ride with is fine by me, but this is what I personally don't like, do like, and is based upon observations by myself, other riders, and experiences of mine and other riders I know. Your mileage may vary.....

Okay, with that non-sense out of the way, here's the deal- The Gravel Mutt rides "okay". It has some cool thing and some not so cool things. First, the good stuff....

• Steel frame: The True Temper tubes on this bike are definitely springy and that fork does a nice job on the chatter. 
• Big tire clearances. The MSO's fit well, although going much bigger wouldn't work on this rig.
• Comfortable positioning- The Gravel Mutt sits well with me in that regard, but many bikes could be that, I suppose. The main thing is that the head tube is long enough that I didn't have to resort to a funky riser stem. 
• Head angle is good. 71° as I measure it, which is good for stability. 
• Seat tube angle is 73°, which is par for the course. 

Now the not-so-good.....

• The bottom bracket height is a surprising 12". I knew it was high the minute I first mounted the bike, and in comparison to my Black Mountain Cycles rig, (a cyclo-cross inspired design), it sits 3/4's of an inch higher. In a world where cyclists demand that measurements be down to the millimeter and degree because they can feel the differences, that's a big, big difference. 

Okay, the balance sheet looks mostly positive, right? Well, that bottom bracket height is something that does make a difference in handling. When you get in the marbles, the bike's, (and subsequently the rider's),  higher center of gravity pivots around an axis laterally that is unnerving at speed. The tires start dancing around and it has a very different attitude than my BMC does in similar situations. In fact, I can run smaller tires on the BMC and get a more secure feeling than the Mutt doles out. The Gravel Mutt tends to want to push the front tire off line in these situations as well, only adding to the feeling of instability.

I don't know what speeds a cyclo cross bike reaches on courses those bikes are designed for, but regularly going 25-35mph on loose gravel? (Or faster many times.) I would be surprised if that was in the gene pool for a cyclo cross design. Those bikes have higher bottom brackets for a reason, and road racing bikes have lower bottom brackets for a reason. I would submit that a gravel road calls out for a more road bike-like geometry, and the Gravel Mutt points that way, from my viewpoint.

In fact, knowing what I know now, I would not have taken the Mutt to the GTDRI. Those hills were steep, fast, curvy, and the really high bottom bracket on the Mutt would have been a bigger handful than they were on the BMC. It's good for the flats and tamer hills, but give me a lower bottom bracket for the fast, steep hills any day.

Gravel Mutt- A Closer Look At The Beast

Today I wanted to go over some things on my Gravel Mutt and maybe give folks an idea about why I feel certain things could be better, while certain things about this bike are pretty spot on. So, let's dive right in....

First of all, let me repeat for the skeptics out there that I feel any bike can be a gravel bike. It is just that some things will work well, some won't, and I have an opinion on that. Whatever bike you choose to gravel ride with is fine by me, but this is what I personally don't like, do like, and is based upon observations by myself, other riders, and experiences of mine and other riders I know. Your mileage may vary.....

Okay, with that non-sense out of the way, here's the deal- The Gravel Mutt rides "okay". It has some cool thing and some not so cool things. First, the good stuff....

• Steel frame: The True Temper tubes on this bike are definitely springy and that fork does a nice job on the chatter. 
• Big tire clearances. The MSO's fit well, although going much bigger wouldn't work on this rig.
• Comfortable positioning- The Gravel Mutt sits well with me in that regard, but many bikes could be that, I suppose. The main thing is that the head tube is long enough that I didn't have to resort to a funky riser stem. 
• Head angle is good. 71° as I measure it, which is good for stability. 
• Seat tube angle is 73°, which is par for the course. 

Now the not-so-good.....

• The bottom bracket height is a surprising 12". I knew it was high the minute I first mounted the bike, and in comparison to my Black Mountain Cycles rig, (a cyclo-cross inspired design), it sits 3/4's of an inch higher. In a world where cyclists demand that measurements be down to the millimeter and degree because they can feel the differences, that's a big, big difference. 

Okay, the balance sheet looks mostly positive, right? Well, that bottom bracket height is something that does make a difference in handling. When you get in the marbles, the bike's, (and subsequently the rider's),  higher center of gravity pivots around an axis laterally that is unnerving at speed. The tires start dancing around and it has a very different attitude than my BMC does in similar situations. In fact, I can run smaller tires on the BMC and get a more secure feeling than the Mutt doles out. The Gravel Mutt tends to want to push the front tire off line in these situations as well, only adding to the feeling of instability.

I don't know what speeds a cyclo cross bike reaches on courses those bikes are designed for, but regularly going 25-35mph on loose gravel? (Or faster many times.) I would be surprised if that was in the gene pool for a cyclo cross design. Those bikes have higher bottom brackets for a reason, and road racing bikes have lower bottom brackets for a reason. I would submit that a gravel road calls out for a more road bike-like geometry, and the Gravel Mutt points that way, from my viewpoint.

In fact, knowing what I know now, I would not have taken the Mutt to the GTDRI. Those hills were steep, fast, curvy, and the really high bottom bracket on the Mutt would have been a bigger handful than they were on the BMC. It's good for the flats and tamer hills, but give me a lower bottom bracket for the fast, steep hills any day.

3GR Report: Gravel Mutt Debuts

Michael was a 1st timer on the ride.

Okay, the bike was dialed in and the big question was would I be ready? This- whatever it is-  that I have that is dragging me down was hitting me hard on Friday. The legs felt like cement and later on they were in an achy state of pain. I strayed from drinking anything but water all day, and I hit the hay earlier than usual, just to insure I would be in the best condition I could be in. All things considered.

A decent breakfast was consumed and I set out for the start feeling "okay". No real big aches or pains and I felt alright pedaling. I got a text from Jeremy saying he would be there, so I knew at least one rider would be showing up. As I sped along downtown Waterloo's streets, I became aware of another kitted out rider approaching. Odd.....usually seeing another cyclist in the downtown area means a person in civies on a ratted out rig or a mart bike. But this individual was obviously on a nice rig. Then I suddenly realized it was Michael, one of my, (sometimes), coworkers at the shop.  We exchanged greetings and off we went to get to the start.

We weren't there long before being joined by recent Tour Divide finisher, Mike Johnson. Then a few minutes later, Jeremy rolled up, out of breath, since he was pinning it to make the start time. Great googly-moogly! A foursome!

Jeremy out front

The day was cooler, with less humidity than we had experienced in the previous days, but it wasn't what I would call "cool" weather either. It was really about perfect. The roads were dusty, and we hit many patches of fresh gravel. The early pace set by Jeremy was blazingly fast for a 3GR. I figured he was in a hurry to get back home for some reason or another. Mike stated at this point that his "go" button had been disabled! Well, 2700+ miles in three weeks will do that to you!

Eventually Jeremy came back to us and as he engaged Mike in conversation about Mike's Tour Divide experience, the pace eased a bit back to "normal" 3GR speeds, which eased my mind a bit. I wasn't too worried about the bike, but I was concerned about myself and how I would respond to a big push like that out of the gate. So far, so good on all accounts.

The bike was doing well, as I said. It had a big ring that I figured would be too big, (48T), and a middle ring I figured would be too small, (34T), so I was concerned about how this would play out on the ride. I pretty much stuck it in the big ring the entire ride, besides one steep hill where I tested out all three selections. The ride of the bike is smoother, by a little bit, than the Black Mountain Cycles bike, but I can tell the bottom bracket is higher and there is something about the way the rear triangle works that makes you pin your weight on the front wheel more, which sometimes resulted in a push on the looser sections. Overall it is good. Just a wee bit "off" in a few areas. More riding time will set in more impressions to be shared later.

A rare one of me, by Jeremy.

Okay, enough about the bike. I was going along pretty well once past Denver as we took the left toward Ivanhoe Road. I seemed to be getting settled in, and was actually feeling okay on the bike. The legs were holding up, and even Jeremy noted that as we were riding.

Eventually we reached a point where it made sense for Mike to peel off and head back to his home in Cedar Falls. He was obviously still feeling the effects of TD on his system, as I caught glimpses of him yawning on his bike a few times during our ride. I imagine it takes a while to recover from something like TD.

Eastward and then south on Burton Avenue and back into the city. I was still going well and thought maybe this was a sign I was recovering from the sickness. Jeremy peeled off at a street where it made sense to him to head home and Michael and I finished out the ride. 40-ish miles and done in 2 and a half hours. Not bad! As I sat at home,I suddenly felt very tired. Well, maybe I wasn't recovered after all!

I ended up getting cleaned up and then taking a nap for a bit. Pretty zapped the rest of the day too. Maybe the "Power Of The Mutt" got me through, or I was just lucky enough to ride exactly as long as I could have before falling apart. I don't know, but the bike- that was a success.

3GR Report: Gravel Mutt Debuts

Michael was a 1st timer on the ride.

Okay, the bike was dialed in and the big question was would I be ready? This- whatever it is-  that I have that is dragging me down was hitting me hard on Friday. The legs felt like cement and later on they were in an achy state of pain. I strayed from drinking anything but water all day, and I hit the hay earlier than usual, just to insure I would be in the best condition I could be in. All things considered.

A decent breakfast was consumed and I set out for the start feeling "okay". No real big aches or pains and I felt alright pedaling. I got a text from Jeremy saying he would be there, so I knew at least one rider would be showing up. As I sped along downtown Waterloo's streets, I became aware of another kitted out rider approaching. Odd.....usually seeing another cyclist in the downtown area means a person in civies on a ratted out rig or a mart bike. But this individual was obviously on a nice rig. Then I suddenly realized it was Michael, one of my, (sometimes), coworkers at the shop.  We exchanged greetings and off we went to get to the start.

We weren't there long before being joined by recent Tour Divide finisher, Mike Johnson. Then a few minutes later, Jeremy rolled up, out of breath, since he was pinning it to make the start time. Great googly-moogly! A foursome!

Jeremy out front

The day was cooler, with less humidity than we had experienced in the previous days, but it wasn't what I would call "cool" weather either. It was really about perfect. The roads were dusty, and we hit many patches of fresh gravel. The early pace set by Jeremy was blazingly fast for a 3GR. I figured he was in a hurry to get back home for some reason or another. Mike stated at this point that his "go" button had been disabled! Well, 2700+ miles in three weeks will do that to you!

Eventually Jeremy came back to us and as he engaged Mike in conversation about Mike's Tour Divide experience, the pace eased a bit back to "normal" 3GR speeds, which eased my mind a bit. I wasn't too worried about the bike, but I was concerned about myself and how I would respond to a big push like that out of the gate. So far, so good on all accounts.

The bike was doing well, as I said. It had a big ring that I figured would be too big, (48T), and a middle ring I figured would be too small, (34T), so I was concerned about how this would play out on the ride. I pretty much stuck it in the big ring the entire ride, besides one steep hill where I tested out all three selections. The ride of the bike is smoother, by a little bit, than the Black Mountain Cycles bike, but I can tell the bottom bracket is higher and there is something about the way the rear triangle works that makes you pin your weight on the front wheel more, which sometimes resulted in a push on the looser sections. Overall it is good. Just a wee bit "off" in a few areas. More riding time will set in more impressions to be shared later.

A rare one of me, by Jeremy.

Okay, enough about the bike. I was going along pretty well once past Denver as we took the left toward Ivanhoe Road. I seemed to be getting settled in, and was actually feeling okay on the bike. The legs were holding up, and even Jeremy noted that as we were riding.

Eventually we reached a point where it made sense for Mike to peel off and head back to his home in Cedar Falls. He was obviously still feeling the effects of TD on his system, as I caught glimpses of him yawning on his bike a few times during our ride. I imagine it takes a while to recover from something like TD.

Eastward and then south on Burton Avenue and back into the city. I was still going well and thought maybe this was a sign I was recovering from the sickness. Jeremy peeled off at a street where it made sense to him to head home and Michael and I finished out the ride. 40-ish miles and done in 2 and a half hours. Not bad! As I sat at home,I suddenly felt very tired. Well, maybe I wasn't recovered after all!

I ended up getting cleaned up and then taking a nap for a bit. Pretty zapped the rest of the day too. Maybe the "Power Of The Mutt" got me through, or I was just lucky enough to ride exactly as long as I could have before falling apart. I don't know, but the bike- that was a success.

Gravel Mutt: Update On Head Set

In my last post on the Gravel Mutt yesterday, I said I was going to have to swap out the head set. I fully intended on getting that swap completed Friday afternoon after I got off duty at the bike shop.

As I undid the fork and what not to get at the head set, I was thinking about how odd it was that the head set did not work. It was just fine when I used it a long time ago in an older road bike I had. Why should this bike be any different? I aimed to do a bit of investigative work as I tore down the front end of the Mutt.

The crown race was tight, the cups were tight, so where was I getting movement from? I knew the upper race was moving in the upper cup, so if the cup was solid in the frame, then it had to be the race and bearing. I figured maybe the bearings were shot, but they seemed okay. I put the bearings in the cup and could recreate the knock. Hmm.......maybe the cups were not symmetrical. Maybe I had the upper cup in the lower position. I tested my theory by putting the fork in the frame upside down. The crown race set into the cup, (which was in the upper position), like a glove. Yep! I screwed that up! Out came "The Rocket Tool".

The "head set cup removal tool" looks like a Russian space rocket to me, so I always call it "The Rocket Tool", and after a few easy taps, and another hand press fitting followed by a rubber mallet for good measure, I had the cups installed correctly. Everything was assembled again, and then a test ride to verify that everything was good.

More soon. I will be doing 3GR on the Gravel Mutt today. A report will follow.....

Gravel Mutt: Update On Head Set

In my last post on the Gravel Mutt yesterday, I said I was going to have to swap out the head set. I fully intended on getting that swap completed Friday afternoon after I got off duty at the bike shop.

As I undid the fork and what not to get at the head set, I was thinking about how odd it was that the head set did not work. It was just fine when I used it a long time ago in an older road bike I had. Why should this bike be any different? I aimed to do a bit of investigative work as I tore down the front end of the Mutt.

The crown race was tight, the cups were tight, so where was I getting movement from? I knew the upper race was moving in the upper cup, so if the cup was solid in the frame, then it had to be the race and bearing. I figured maybe the bearings were shot, but they seemed okay. I put the bearings in the cup and could recreate the knock. Hmm.......maybe the cups were not symmetrical. Maybe I had the upper cup in the lower position. I tested my theory by putting the fork in the frame upside down. The crown race set into the cup, (which was in the upper position), like a glove. Yep! I screwed that up! Out came "The Rocket Tool".

The "head set cup removal tool" looks like a Russian space rocket to me, so I always call it "The Rocket Tool", and after a few easy taps, and another hand press fitting followed by a rubber mallet for good measure, I had the cups installed correctly. Everything was assembled again, and then a test ride to verify that everything was good.

More soon. I will be doing 3GR on the Gravel Mutt today. A report will follow.....

Friday News And Views

New shoes on Project White

Tubeless Tire Technology For The Road: Not Quite There Yet-

I've been going through a round of swapping out tubeless tires on several of my off road rigs lately. It is a pretty dialed in process now days. You either have a Stan's, or Stan's-like type rim that you put a non-tubeless tire on and convert it to tubeless, or you have a UST based, or UST-like type rim which you put just about everything else tubeless ready onto. At least things are shaking out that way, if they are not quite there yet.

For example, I set up some WTB Nineline tires on Deore XT wheels, and all of this is UST based product. You mount the tire, add your sealant, and pump it up with a floor pump. Pop-pop! Go for a ride, you're done. No "shakey-shake", no special goo on the rims, nuthin'. That's "pretty dialed", if you ask me.

Of course, some set ups are still a bit more fussy than that, but not a lot. With a few exceptions, tubeless systems for 29"ers have come a long, long way in the last few years. This isn't the case with road tubeless. Not at all.

The Bontrager system looked promising. TLR rim strip, new sealant, and tires that were purportedly dialed in and I figured the system was a no-brainer. I know the TLR system in and out from having used it since 2007 on 29"ers. It works great on that side of things. However; a customer came into the shop, asked if we could see why his rear tire kept leaking down. I saw sealant all over his spokes. Weird! I aired up the tire, checked for leakage with soapy water, and what do ya know! Thousands of tiny pin hole leaks on the sides of the casing. Double weird! If the tire had enough sealant, and the tire is indeed a TLR design, (which it was), there is no way it should have pin hole leakage. A non-tubeless conversion, yes- but not a tire meant to be tubeless. I dinked around some more with it, but quickly came to realize that this tire needed warranty action.

Come to find out that Trek has asked that all TLR road tires be warranted, and you can not get them from Trek as of now. So nice of them to let us know that. So now you know, and road tubeless goes back to the drawing board again.

Component change...

Gravel Mutt: Not Quite There Yet-

Well, the Gravel Mutt is going to take a small step backward, unfortunately, and get its head set changed. The purple anodized American Classic head set is just not fitting correctly and won't tighten up. Bummer....

So, I am going to go with the Campy head set I have , I guess. The original head set would work if I  still had the upper bearing/race! I don't know where that got to in all of the hullabaloo when I tore apart the 520, and I have not seen it around.

So, barring any crown race sizing discrepancies, the Gravel Mutt should soon be sporting a nice, shiny new Athena head set. If, for some reason that does not work, then I will probably source some cheapo steel head set to just get the thing out there and ridden. That Brooks saddle is begging to be broken in! I don't know if I will get this done in time for this weekend's 3GR, but I am going to try. I have ridden it a bit and it should be an "okay" rig at the least. We'll see after a good, proper long gravel ride happens.

Surprisingly, this bike seems to have a taller bottom bracket than my Black Mountain Cycles bike! However, the head angle seems slacker. I haven't measured anything yet. I will get around to it soon. My iPhone 4s has one of them fancy angle finder ap doodads. Guess I'll be putting it to use!

(L-R) G. Foster & GT -Image by M.Lemberger.

Guitar Ted's Health: Not Quite There Yet-

My wife, who is an RN and works in the medical field says that I have/had a viral sickness the last week or so. Okay- she isn't a doctor, but she usually knows her stuff. I described my malaise over the past couple weeks and what happened at GTDRI and she flatly stated, "Well- you've got a virus!" 

I know I haven't been "right" in a while, but last weekend and the first few days of this week were downright tough. Of course, this heat isn't doing me any favors either. So, I've been taking extra rest, only commuting on the bikes, and Saturday will actually be the first "big" ride I've had since last weekend. Hopefully I will do okay.

So, there will be a 3GR  Saturday, and we'll go from Gates Swimming Pool parking lot again, if anyone else is interested. may as well just keep riding from there since I've been doing that all year anyway. 8:30am is the time, and route from Gates rounds out to about 30 miles. More if you ride to and from, so you could get a decent mileage day if you want.

That's all. Hope everyone has a great weekend of riding.   

Friday News And Views

New shoes on Project White

Tubeless Tire Technology For The Road: Not Quite There Yet-

I've been going through a round of swapping out tubeless tires on several of my off road rigs lately. It is a pretty dialed in process now days. You either have a Stan's, or Stan's-like type rim that you put a non-tubeless tire on and convert it to tubeless, or you have a UST based, or UST-like type rim which you put just about everything else tubeless ready onto. At least things are shaking out that way, if they are not quite there yet.

For example, I set up some WTB Nineline tires on Deore XT wheels, and all of this is UST based product. You mount the tire, add your sealant, and pump it up with a floor pump. Pop-pop! Go for a ride, you're done. No "shakey-shake", no special goo on the rims, nuthin'. That's "pretty dialed", if you ask me.

Of course, some set ups are still a bit more fussy than that, but not a lot. With a few exceptions, tubeless systems for 29"ers have come a long, long way in the last few years. This isn't the case with road tubeless. Not at all.

The Bontrager system looked promising. TLR rim strip, new sealant, and tires that were purportedly dialed in and I figured the system was a no-brainer. I know the TLR system in and out from having used it since 2007 on 29"ers. It works great on that side of things. However; a customer came into the shop, asked if we could see why his rear tire kept leaking down. I saw sealant all over his spokes. Weird! I aired up the tire, checked for leakage with soapy water, and what do ya know! Thousands of tiny pin hole leaks on the sides of the casing. Double weird! If the tire had enough sealant, and the tire is indeed a TLR design, (which it was), there is no way it should have pin hole leakage. A non-tubeless conversion, yes- but not a tire meant to be tubeless. I dinked around some more with it, but quickly came to realize that this tire needed warranty action.

Come to find out that Trek has asked that all TLR road tires be warranted, and you can not get them from Trek as of now. So nice of them to let us know that. So now you know, and road tubeless goes back to the drawing board again.

Component change...

Gravel Mutt: Not Quite There Yet-

Well, the Gravel Mutt is going to take a small step backward, unfortunately, and get its head set changed. The purple anodized American Classic head set is just not fitting correctly and won't tighten up. Bummer....

So, I am going to go with the Campy head set I have , I guess. The original head set would work if I  still had the upper bearing/race! I don't know where that got to in all of the hullabaloo when I tore apart the 520, and I have not seen it around.

So, barring any crown race sizing discrepancies, the Gravel Mutt should soon be sporting a nice, shiny new Athena head set. If, for some reason that does not work, then I will probably source some cheapo steel head set to just get the thing out there and ridden. That Brooks saddle is begging to be broken in! I don't know if I will get this done in time for this weekend's 3GR, but I am going to try. I have ridden it a bit and it should be an "okay" rig at the least. We'll see after a good, proper long gravel ride happens.

Surprisingly, this bike seems to have a taller bottom bracket than my Black Mountain Cycles bike! However, the head angle seems slacker. I haven't measured anything yet. I will get around to it soon. My iPhone 4s has one of them fancy angle finder ap doodads. Guess I'll be putting it to use!

(L-R) G. Foster & GT -Image by M.Lemberger.

Guitar Ted's Health: Not Quite There Yet-

My wife, who is an RN and works in the medical field says that I have/had a viral sickness the last week or so. Okay- she isn't a doctor, but she usually knows her stuff. I described my malaise over the past couple weeks and what happened at GTDRI and she flatly stated, "Well- you've got a virus!" 

I know I haven't been "right" in a while, but last weekend and the first few days of this week were downright tough. Of course, this heat isn't doing me any favors either. So, I've been taking extra rest, only commuting on the bikes, and Saturday will actually be the first "big" ride I've had since last weekend. Hopefully I will do okay.

So, there will be a 3GR  Saturday, and we'll go from Gates Swimming Pool parking lot again, if anyone else is interested. may as well just keep riding from there since I've been doing that all year anyway. 8:30am is the time, and route from Gates rounds out to about 30 miles. More if you ride to and from, so you could get a decent mileage day if you want.

That's all. Hope everyone has a great weekend of riding.   

The Gravel Mutt Project: Completed

The Gravel Mutt

Well, on Wednesday evening, in the dark, without a helmet, (but with a head light and tail light!), I had my first ride on the Gravel Mutt.

There have been a lot of curve balls and left turns since my last update, but I feel that they are all either better choices, or just plain good fudges for the situation I found myself in at the time of assembling this.

The overall goal was to always either use a parts bin find, a free part, or to use original equipment. I am glad to say that the only thing I purchased specifically for this bike was the Brooks saddle. Now- that doesn't mean I won't be buying new parts for this bike. The idea is that if I like the bike well enough, I may adorn it with upgrades as I go along, but the goal I set for trying to limit purchases was for a specific reason. That will come out in the Gravel Grinder News series soon. For now, I'll just detail where I made "left turns" and other off-beat choices in order to get this bicycle up and running sooner than later.

 Brakes were always kind of an "up in the air", last minute type of decision, and it did come down to the night before I finished the bike before I decided. I had a set of blue anodized, Grafton knock-offs that were prevalent on many late 90's hard tail LBS bikes, but they didn't fit right on the brake bosses.

Digging around in my parts some more, I found the XT linear pull brakes, but only one of the Travel Agents that would be necessary to use them with STI brifters. I tabled that idea and dug around some more. Then I found a set of SunTour XC cantilevers. They look like DiaCompe 985 knock offs, but at least they were all there. I tried them out and they fit perfectly. I also had the matching cable straddles and hangars too, so everything is a match on the brakes. Kool Stop Eagle Claw pads that were on there looked to be in great, albeit very dirty, shape.

Funny story: I set these up and when I test rode the bike, the first few stops were quiet, but then a horrible squeal developed in the front brake. Upon inspection later, I found that the hardware that affixes the pads in place had come very loose. Whoops! A 10mm wrench and a 5mm Allen key later and I was golden.

Yeah.....gears!

Where I made the biggest divergence from the original story was in terms of the crank set and gearing. Now you never would have known, but I was going round and round for days on the geraing for this bike. Odin's Revenge pretty much cured me from wanting a 1X drive train, as originally planned. So, what to do?

Well, oddly enough, the crank set from my Karate Monkey ended up becoming the crank set for the Gravel Mutt. I found a 48T big ring, (I really wanted a 46T, but...), and the Surly ring from the KM is a 34T. I also popped on a 28T granny I had sitting around for, well.......I figured "why not"? There was a fresh 11-34T 9speed cassette on my bench, and I looked at that and thought, "Why use the seven speed cassette when I could do 9 speed and then be able to swap wheels with the BMC?" I could not figure out a good reason not to do that, so seven speed rings up front, 9 speed cogs out back. Perfect!

Now all this gearing non-sense precipitated a debate within my noggin' about shifters. I could use the bar end shifters in friction mode, or.....the old Ultegra 9spd brifters from the BMC! Of course, those were take-offs when the Retroshifters came around. Great! Then a customer at the shop replaced a decent, good to go, 9 speed SRAM chain with a new one, and didn't want the old one. A few links of extra added in from my stash and there was my 9 speed chain. (Yes...it works perfectly with the seven speed rings. Really.)  Oh....and I used the original serviceable, cup and cone bottom bracket.

Okay, in regards to the head set area, there is a lot going on that may not meet the eye. I did note in an earlier up date that I needed to get an adapter for a 1" steer tube to be able to use a 1 1/8th threadless stem and that was not a big deal. But I had forgotten all about a cable hangar.

Typically, one would have to use a 1 1/8th threadless hangar, but I could not locate the one I thought I had anywhere. After giving up on that, I realized that the quill adapter had to taper down to a 22.2mm diameter, which might just work with a threaded 1" type cable hangar. I had to knock off the keyway with a file on the hangar and a couple of spacers, but it all worked and fits snugly once I jam the quill adapter down to capture the hangar and spacers against the top of the head set and the taper on the quill adapter. The hangar even has a quick release. Bonus!

Finally, the American Classic head set does not have wrench flats, but I knew that there was a "trick" to adjusting it. I just could not recall what it was. I was lying in bed and it suddenly came to me and I sat straight up. A pin spanner! The three Allen head screws that hold the adjustment are also the sockets the pin spanner fits into to properly adjust the head set.

The sad thing is that I am not sure the head set will end up working well. It fit kind of loosely on the crown race and head tube, and if looseness in the head set persists, I may have to fall back on a silver anodized Campy Athena head set I have that is NOS. Yeah......that wouldn't be too bad, would it? It's just that I would like to save that for a special touring bike build some day. We'll see.....

So- there she is! I'll be riding it more after the GTDRI, and will report back again after that. Stay tuned for that and the new series on Gravel Grinder News.