Minus Ten Review- 19

Quite possibly the worst 29"er tires ever- The Intense 2.25".

Ten years ago on this blog I had moved on from Trans Iowa v4 and gotten busy trying to get some review work done for "Twenty Nine Inches", which was the 29"er site I wrote for back then.

There were bikes, tires, wheels, grips, handle bars, and more. Some of this review work was deemed not for the big wheeler site, so we started another site dubbed "The Bike Lab" which was also a Crooked Cog Network site.

This was about the apex of all the former Tim Grahl led sites under that "Crooked Cog" banner. Later on he.....well he flaked out. Not sure why, and it was a long, slow unraveling. But that story will come later. I noticed that in my archives that it was about at this time that many of my images come up missing now. That's all due to the bad influence of Mr. Grahl and some poor advice he gave me which led to a lot of my images disappearing forever. Yes, that still kinda of bites.

Anyway, I had no idea what I was in for and it was coming very soon. The images were a minor quibble, in the end. But as I say, we will just let that sit for now.

That year of 2008 Winter lingered far too long and Spring went by in such a hurry we didn't notice it. Temperatures went straight to Summer. It was humid too. Trails were too wet to ride, and the weather was continually severe. We all were hoping for a break, but we were in for some dire times. What happened ten years ago in May will not be soon forgotten and had a big effect upon my Summer, my relationships with some people, and Trans Iowa. Stay tuned.......

Minus Ten Review- 19

Quite possibly the worst 29"er tires ever- The Intense 2.25".

Ten years ago on this blog I had moved on from Trans Iowa v4 and gotten busy trying to get some review work done for "Twenty Nine Inches", which was the 29"er site I wrote for back then.

There were bikes, tires, wheels, grips, handle bars, and more. Some of this review work was deemed not for the big wheeler site, so we started another site dubbed "The Bike Lab" which was also a Crooked Cog Network site.

This was about the apex of all the former Tim Grahl led sites under that "Crooked Cog" banner. Later on he.....well he flaked out. Not sure why, and it was a long, slow unraveling. But that story will come later. I noticed that in my archives that it was about at this time that many of my images come up missing now. That's all due to the bad influence of Mr. Grahl and some poor advice he gave me which led to a lot of my images disappearing forever. Yes, that still kinda of bites.

Anyway, I had no idea what I was in for and it was coming very soon. The images were a minor quibble, in the end. But as I say, we will just let that sit for now.

That year of 2008 Winter lingered far too long and Spring went by in such a hurry we didn't notice it. Temperatures went straight to Summer. It was humid too. Trails were too wet to ride, and the weather was continually severe. We all were hoping for a break, but we were in for some dire times. What happened ten years ago in May will not be soon forgotten and had a big effect upon my Summer, my relationships with some people, and Trans Iowa. Stay tuned.......

Minus Ten Review- 43

A bad image of a Sunrise in late October near Marengo, Iowa ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog I was bantering about a "Trans Iowa Tune Up Ride" that I had planned along with David Pals, my co-director of Trans Iowa back in those days. It was a promotion to Trans Iowa rookies that had just gotten onto the roster for Trans Iowa v4. That would have been the first Trans Iowa I had worked with David Pals on and it would be the last one we would run out of Decorah, Iowa.

Anyway, we planned this long gravel ride out of Marengo, which was David's home at the time, and the ride started in the dark, to kind of mimic the start of Trans Iowa. So, you had to have a light. I cannot emphasize enough how difficult it was to find reasonably priced, powerful, long lasting lighting back then. You either had to spend hundreds of dollars on a system that usually had an external battery or even more on a specialized dynamo hub light system. Lighting up the night back then was not easy. We have it made today. 

The ride didn't go so well for me, as I recall. My body decided it was going to have a low energy day. I cannot remember if it was a bonk, the onset of sickness, or what. I was pretty bummed out, I do recall that much. It was a mostly forgettable experience.

The light thing though. That I do remember. I was using some fancy new Blackburn battery powered unit that barely made the roads visible. Now, for the same money I bought that light for, I could get a 400 Lumen light that blazes the darkness away.

Other things being talked about ten years ago were the SE Racing Stout single speed bike that came in for Twenty Nine Inches testing, The first of many bicycles I would be testing throughout the next seven years. Also, related to the TNI gig, I was brought in as a contributor/editor for The Bike Lab, which was the "everything else mountain bike" besides what we were doing on TNI. Once again, I was promised help and it went away pretty much right out of the gate. So, for the almost two years that the site was up I essentially had my work doubled and with nothing to show for it in the bank. This would have been the time that the TNI gig started to unravel for me. More on that later....

Minus Ten Review- 43

A bad image of a Sunrise in late October near Marengo, Iowa ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog I was bantering about a "Trans Iowa Tune Up Ride" that I had planned along with David Pals, my co-director of Trans Iowa back in those days. It was a promotion to Trans Iowa rookies that had just gotten onto the roster for Trans Iowa v4. That would have been the first Trans Iowa I had worked with David Pals on and it would be the last one we would run out of Decorah, Iowa.

Anyway, we planned this long gravel ride out of Marengo, which was David's home at the time, and the ride started in the dark, to kind of mimic the start of Trans Iowa. So, you had to have a light. I cannot emphasize enough how difficult it was to find reasonably priced, powerful, long lasting lighting back then. You either had to spend hundreds of dollars on a system that usually had an external battery or even more on a specialized dynamo hub light system. Lighting up the night back then was not easy. We have it made today. 

The ride didn't go so well for me, as I recall. My body decided it was going to have a low energy day. I cannot remember if it was a bonk, the onset of sickness, or what. I was pretty bummed out, I do recall that much. It was a mostly forgettable experience.

The light thing though. That I do remember. I was using some fancy new Blackburn battery powered unit that barely made the roads visible. Now, for the same money I bought that light for, I could get a 400 Lumen light that blazes the darkness away.

Other things being talked about ten years ago were the SE Racing Stout single speed bike that came in for Twenty Nine Inches testing, The first of many bicycles I would be testing throughout the next seven years. Also, related to the TNI gig, I was brought in as a contributor/editor for The Bike Lab, which was the "everything else mountain bike" besides what we were doing on TNI. Once again, I was promised help and it went away pretty much right out of the gate. So, for the almost two years that the site was up I essentially had my work doubled and with nothing to show for it in the bank. This would have been the time that the TNI gig started to unravel for me. More on that later....

Friday News And Views

<===New BBB brand grips and bar ends. Rather "Ergon-like" (photo: Captain Bob)

New Product News: Captain Bob and I are going to be testing some BBB products on our rigs this summer. BBB is a very well known cycling components company in Europe. One of the first things we'll be checking out are these ergonomic grips and integrated bar ends. I'll be posting our thoughts here and in more detail on The Bike Lab. We also have some ceramic bearing derailluer jockey wheels and a trail bell to check out which I will post about later.

Will It Rain? : The forecast for our local area isn't looking the greatest. I am still hoping to get out to test a few things here later in the weekend and perhaps do a night run on the Dirty Kanza set up to test lights and how they will function for navigation needs. Otherwise I'll be futzing down in "the lab" with my bikes since Mrs. Guitar Ted is on call this weekend!

Secret Project Revisted: Hadn't ridden the Badger in a while, so I pulled it out and did my commute to work on it yesterday. It was one of the two Secret Project Bikes from last year. (the other was the Pofahl SS) Man! Having your measurements taken and having a good builder construct a frame using those measurements can not be over rated! I get on that Badger and it's as if I have been on that bike all my life. Super comfortable. If you can find the money and a reputable builder, I'd say go for it. The fit is well worth it, especially if you've always had trouble with "stock" frames. (I'm kind of a "tweener" size-wise)

Get out and ride this weekend!

Friday News And Views

<===New BBB brand grips and bar ends. Rather "Ergon-like" (photo: Captain Bob)

New Product News: Captain Bob and I are going to be testing some BBB products on our rigs this summer. BBB is a very well known cycling components company in Europe. One of the first things we'll be checking out are these ergonomic grips and integrated bar ends. I'll be posting our thoughts here and in more detail on The Bike Lab. We also have some ceramic bearing derailluer jockey wheels and a trail bell to check out which I will post about later.

Will It Rain? : The forecast for our local area isn't looking the greatest. I am still hoping to get out to test a few things here later in the weekend and perhaps do a night run on the Dirty Kanza set up to test lights and how they will function for navigation needs. Otherwise I'll be futzing down in "the lab" with my bikes since Mrs. Guitar Ted is on call this weekend!

Secret Project Revisted: Hadn't ridden the Badger in a while, so I pulled it out and did my commute to work on it yesterday. It was one of the two Secret Project Bikes from last year. (the other was the Pofahl SS) Man! Having your measurements taken and having a good builder construct a frame using those measurements can not be over rated! I get on that Badger and it's as if I have been on that bike all my life. Super comfortable. If you can find the money and a reputable builder, I'd say go for it. The fit is well worth it, especially if you've always had trouble with "stock" frames. (I'm kind of a "tweener" size-wise)

Get out and ride this weekend!

Wrenching, Prepping, and Other Goings On

<====My ride with Matt Gersib earlier in April roached my freewheel!

I've been up to a lot of wrenching not only at work, but at home too. Getting all the testing arranged for parts and bikes. Swapping wheels, tires, and components. I'm only about halfway through the process!

One of the more frustrating things happened the other day when I pulled apart the freewheel that had frozen up as a result of my ride with Matt Gersib in mid April. The freewheel has six pawls and six springs inside which all can be removed. Well, one of the springs decided to take a flyer on me and dove into the parts washer at work. This parts washer has about six inches of nasty fluid in it with another inch and a half of dirty filthy silt at the bottom. As you can probably guess, I haven't ben able to come up with the spring yet!

There have been a lot of positives though. I got two bikes that were non-functional up and running last night, including the one with the frozen up freewheel. I swapped out wheelsets and swapped out gears on one and just wheel sets/tires on another with a saddle/seat post (or chair/chair post- right mw? Heh heh!) for good measure.



<===Tire testing requires setting up the product and choosing a bike suitable to the tire in question. Which bike will this end up on? Stay tuned!

I also made a chart of all the tires/wheels that I have to better co-ordinate the testing procedures and make sure I don't let anything slip through the cracks. I've got everything squared away now, so I should be ready when the weekend comes to start riding some stuff.

In other news around here, Captain Bob, (who is taking a short hiatus from blogging to ride) left me this link to some Trans Iowa pictures. There will be more coming, as Captain Bob isn't quite half way through his stash and my meager offerings yet. Thanks to Captain Bob for doing this! Some of the photos from T.I.V4 are pretty cool and amazing. I especially like that Captain Bob got not just the riders, but the roads, the skies, and some of the sights along the route. It gives you a teeny-weeny taste of what Trans Iowa is about, but a good one.

So, look for more T.I.V4 photos there and more reports on testing here, on Twenty Nine Inches, and on The Bike Lab real soon. I'll be busy, Captain Bob will be busy, and riding bicycles in the woods and on gravel roads will be getting done real soon here. Should be lots of fun!

Wrenching, Prepping, and Other Goings On

<====My ride with Matt Gersib earlier in April roached my freewheel!

I've been up to a lot of wrenching not only at work, but at home too. Getting all the testing arranged for parts and bikes. Swapping wheels, tires, and components. I'm only about halfway through the process!

One of the more frustrating things happened the other day when I pulled apart the freewheel that had frozen up as a result of my ride with Matt Gersib in mid April. The freewheel has six pawls and six springs inside which all can be removed. Well, one of the springs decided to take a flyer on me and dove into the parts washer at work. This parts washer has about six inches of nasty fluid in it with another inch and a half of dirty filthy silt at the bottom. As you can probably guess, I haven't ben able to come up with the spring yet!

There have been a lot of positives though. I got two bikes that were non-functional up and running last night, including the one with the frozen up freewheel. I swapped out wheelsets and swapped out gears on one and just wheel sets/tires on another with a saddle/seat post (or chair/chair post- right mw? Heh heh!) for good measure.



<===Tire testing requires setting up the product and choosing a bike suitable to the tire in question. Which bike will this end up on? Stay tuned!

I also made a chart of all the tires/wheels that I have to better co-ordinate the testing procedures and make sure I don't let anything slip through the cracks. I've got everything squared away now, so I should be ready when the weekend comes to start riding some stuff.

In other news around here, Captain Bob, (who is taking a short hiatus from blogging to ride) left me this link to some Trans Iowa pictures. There will be more coming, as Captain Bob isn't quite half way through his stash and my meager offerings yet. Thanks to Captain Bob for doing this! Some of the photos from T.I.V4 are pretty cool and amazing. I especially like that Captain Bob got not just the riders, but the roads, the skies, and some of the sights along the route. It gives you a teeny-weeny taste of what Trans Iowa is about, but a good one.

So, look for more T.I.V4 photos there and more reports on testing here, on Twenty Nine Inches, and on The Bike Lab real soon. I'll be busy, Captain Bob will be busy, and riding bicycles in the woods and on gravel roads will be getting done real soon here. Should be lots of fun!

Friday News and Views

Trans Iowa Tune Up Ride: Weather looks great, we've got a fair number of riders promised to show up, and the course should be in primo condition. There will be a follow up report with some pictures to see this weekend late or at the latest on Monday, so do check back in for that.

I had to make a late decision on bike selection last night. I had originally planned on riding the Pofahl but a serious creak surfaced in the saddle on Wednesday and I have not been able to rid myself of the annoyance yet. It'll require a disassemble and some cleaning/lubrication which I don't have the time for now. So, I am going geared on my trusty Raleigh XXIX+G set up with the Willits WOW fork, Ergon grips, and the surprisingly comfortable Bontrager Rhythm Pro saddle. This bike already has a computer set up on it too, so that made it a no brainer. Anyway, I'm sad I can't take the Pofahl, but oh well!

The Bike Lab: I know I mentioned this already, but it got it's "official" introduction yesterday and today it's on BRAIN's website as a press release. Guess that makes it really official! Take a look at the site sometime and let me know what you think. All suggestions are welcome!

The Big Wheeled Ballyhoo: Yes, it's coming back. Yes, it will be in Decorah, Iowa again! There really isn't a better place for it as of right now. Look, I know a lot of you think Iowa is lame, but if you do, it's because you have never ridden at Decorah recently. The trails are tough and a lot of fun. Plus, they are right near town and a quarter of a mile away from the camping area we are using for the event. Everything you need is within a mile- mile and a half. It's absolutely a great set up. Anyway, plan on coming on June 21st-22nd for a great time in North East Iowa. I'll post more details in the coming weeks and there will be an official web page coming for this too. Finally, there will be T-shirts! Stay tuned!

Dirt, Sweat, and Gears: Got another gem in the in-box the other day. Check out Dirt, Sweat, and Gears SSUSA. It's a single speed event in Tennessee on May 2nd, 2008. Sounds like a lot of fun. I'll have to eyeball this a little more closely and see if it's doable with the family, but as for you guys out there, you should look into this. Ol' Mr. 24 had some pretty high praise for the area and said the riding was stellar, so I know it is worth a look see.

Okay, that's a wrap for this week! Looking forwards to getting some gravely goodness this weekend and hope you get out to ride your bike too. Let's Ride!

Friday News and Views

Trans Iowa Tune Up Ride: Weather looks great, we've got a fair number of riders promised to show up, and the course should be in primo condition. There will be a follow up report with some pictures to see this weekend late or at the latest on Monday, so do check back in for that.

I had to make a late decision on bike selection last night. I had originally planned on riding the Pofahl but a serious creak surfaced in the saddle on Wednesday and I have not been able to rid myself of the annoyance yet. It'll require a disassemble and some cleaning/lubrication which I don't have the time for now. So, I am going geared on my trusty Raleigh XXIX+G set up with the Willits WOW fork, Ergon grips, and the surprisingly comfortable Bontrager Rhythm Pro saddle. This bike already has a computer set up on it too, so that made it a no brainer. Anyway, I'm sad I can't take the Pofahl, but oh well!

The Bike Lab: I know I mentioned this already, but it got it's "official" introduction yesterday and today it's on BRAIN's website as a press release. Guess that makes it really official! Take a look at the site sometime and let me know what you think. All suggestions are welcome!

The Big Wheeled Ballyhoo: Yes, it's coming back. Yes, it will be in Decorah, Iowa again! There really isn't a better place for it as of right now. Look, I know a lot of you think Iowa is lame, but if you do, it's because you have never ridden at Decorah recently. The trails are tough and a lot of fun. Plus, they are right near town and a quarter of a mile away from the camping area we are using for the event. Everything you need is within a mile- mile and a half. It's absolutely a great set up. Anyway, plan on coming on June 21st-22nd for a great time in North East Iowa. I'll post more details in the coming weeks and there will be an official web page coming for this too. Finally, there will be T-shirts! Stay tuned!

Dirt, Sweat, and Gears: Got another gem in the in-box the other day. Check out Dirt, Sweat, and Gears SSUSA. It's a single speed event in Tennessee on May 2nd, 2008. Sounds like a lot of fun. I'll have to eyeball this a little more closely and see if it's doable with the family, but as for you guys out there, you should look into this. Ol' Mr. 24 had some pretty high praise for the area and said the riding was stellar, so I know it is worth a look see.

Okay, that's a wrap for this week! Looking forwards to getting some gravely goodness this weekend and hope you get out to ride your bike too. Let's Ride!

Wednesday News And Views

Trans Iowa Tune Up Ride: An update for ya'all that might be coming. (What......all five or six of us. Heh heh!) Anyway, the course is draining well, road repairs are in full swing, and with little to no rain for the week the "B" roads should firm up rather well. We'll be just past a full moon, so the earliest part of the ride might be pretty fun with that and a rising sun. This should be fun and I'm excited. See ya early Saturday!

SE Racing Stout: I'm going to hang it up on the peg until after the ride mentioned above, but so far I'm impressed. Keeping in mind it's a $470.00 retail rig, this bike has been performing above my expectations. Would I change some stuff if I owned one? Absolutely. Is their some stuff on it that stinks? No, I just have high expectations of my equipment and some certain peccadilloes that I indulge myself in that would necessitate some parts swappage, that's all. In fact, I did change a couple of things I just couldn't do without. A longer seat post and clipless pedals, but then I think most riders getting this rig would agree with those minor changes. More soon on this surprising rig at Twenty Nine Inches.

The Bike Lab: I've mentioned this before but the newest addition to the Crooked Cog Network
is up and running with it's final look and layout. Check it out.

What a Blog! Okay, here is another one I previously mentioned, but with only four posts under his belt, Mike Curiak has really impressed, (as I fully expected he would) with his blog. Get in on the ground floor here and then don't miss a post. Really. You will find some pretty cool stuff there that you won't see anywhere else. His latest post on Alaska is worth a thousand of my posts alone. (Okay, so I'm a fan! Sue me!) But tell me, where else are you going to go to get pictures and words like that, huh?

Wednesday News And Views

Trans Iowa Tune Up Ride: An update for ya'all that might be coming. (What......all five or six of us. Heh heh!) Anyway, the course is draining well, road repairs are in full swing, and with little to no rain for the week the "B" roads should firm up rather well. We'll be just past a full moon, so the earliest part of the ride might be pretty fun with that and a rising sun. This should be fun and I'm excited. See ya early Saturday!

SE Racing Stout: I'm going to hang it up on the peg until after the ride mentioned above, but so far I'm impressed. Keeping in mind it's a $470.00 retail rig, this bike has been performing above my expectations. Would I change some stuff if I owned one? Absolutely. Is their some stuff on it that stinks? No, I just have high expectations of my equipment and some certain peccadilloes that I indulge myself in that would necessitate some parts swappage, that's all. In fact, I did change a couple of things I just couldn't do without. A longer seat post and clipless pedals, but then I think most riders getting this rig would agree with those minor changes. More soon on this surprising rig at Twenty Nine Inches.

The Bike Lab: I've mentioned this before but the newest addition to the Crooked Cog Network
is up and running with it's final look and layout. Check it out.

What a Blog! Okay, here is another one I previously mentioned, but with only four posts under his belt, Mike Curiak has really impressed, (as I fully expected he would) with his blog. Get in on the ground floor here and then don't miss a post. Really. You will find some pretty cool stuff there that you won't see anywhere else. His latest post on Alaska is worth a thousand of my posts alone. (Okay, so I'm a fan! Sue me!) But tell me, where else are you going to go to get pictures and words like that, huh?