Missed Ya, Old Friend!

I am trying to wade through the last bit of bike project stuff around heere, and there is one deal in particular, that if I get it done, it will be a minor miracle, but I did get this one up and running, and I am stoked that I did.

A week ago I showed you all this picture and I now have ridden it as well. The X-C-X tires are definitely light years better as tubeless tires. Unbelievably smooth. I should have done that a long time ago.

The big thing is how "in the bike" I feel on the Gryphon. Which, when I look at it, is amazing, since I have about two miles of exposed seat post! Still, that's how it feels to me. I miss those 180mm cranks for the faster gear set up for gravel grinding too. I have a 36T X 17T on it right there. That's a good gear for the gravel for me. I think this will be great if I can get out there without any ice/snow issues.

Those wheels have Flow rims, and even those don't flatten out the X-C-X tire's profile much. Sheesh! I think I could mount these on 30mm rims and be okay. I know the tires would feel more stable on gravel, that's for sure. However; maybe just having these tubeless will help solve that issue. I'll see.

But after yesterday's commute, I must say that the bar swap and tubeless X-C-X tires really have me stoked to be back on the Gryphon again.

Missed Ya, Old Friend!

I am trying to wade through the last bit of bike project stuff around heere, and there is one deal in particular, that if I get it done, it will be a minor miracle, but I did get this one up and running, and I am stoked that I did.

A week ago I showed you all this picture and I now have ridden it as well. The X-C-X tires are definitely light years better as tubeless tires. Unbelievably smooth. I should have done that a long time ago.

The big thing is how "in the bike" I feel on the Gryphon. Which, when I look at it, is amazing, since I have about two miles of exposed seat post! Still, that's how it feels to me. I miss those 180mm cranks for the faster gear set up for gravel grinding too. I have a 36T X 17T on it right there. That's a good gear for the gravel for me. I think this will be great if I can get out there without any ice/snow issues.

Those wheels have Flow rims, and even those don't flatten out the X-C-X tire's profile much. Sheesh! I think I could mount these on 30mm rims and be okay. I know the tires would feel more stable on gravel, that's for sure. However; maybe just having these tubeless will help solve that issue. I'll see.

But after yesterday's commute, I must say that the bar swap and tubeless X-C-X tires really have me stoked to be back on the Gryphon again.

The Vaya Gets Ridden

It was too nice out not to ride...

I know I may have been pushing things a bit, but I was feeling much better yesterday afternoon than I had in many a day. Dare I say "normal"? Well, close enough at times, at any rate.

So I get off work a bit early, the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and the wind is down. The streets are fairly clear of ice and snow, but there is run-off from the remaining piles of frozen crap alongside the roadways. Big deal! I was going to finally get that Vaya out and ride it.

Now- it was really going to be a shake down ride only- mind you. Not a full on gravel assault, or a ride of any duration. That was fine, since I probably shouldn't be out flogging myself so soon after getting this sick anyway. Still, it needed to be done, and I was feeling like I just needed to pedal for a while. It's been a long time off the bike, (for my standards), and I was beyond ready to go for a ride of any length. I felt risking a short ride was okay, especially when it was so pleasant for Mid-February.

It was my first ride on Vee Rubber tires X-C-X model too. So there was a lot of things I wasn't very sure about anyway. I pumped up the rear to 40psi and the front slightly less than that. Seemed to be a reasonable starting point. Then I was off. There were more questions about the drive train, shifting, and as always, whether everything was tight and going to work right. As far as the latter, I can report that there were no failures. As for the former things, read on.....

• The BioPace ring worked fine. I was expecting something bad to happen, but it didn't. You might think similarly since the BioPace ring is from the seven speed days and I was running a 10 speed Shimano chain over it! That said, the ovality was noticeable at first as an easier down stroke, and then a sensation that maybe I might be able to suffer a bigger gear climbing than typical. We'll see about this later...
• The Winwood fork is solid. Hardly any backward leg movement at all under hard braking. However; it still felt smooth enough. More after I've been on some gravel with this thing.....
• Shifting: A big question mark going out, since I had a 9spd SRAM rear derailleur shifting over a 10speed cassette with a 10 speed SRAM TT shifter. After a not so good result after tuning in the stand, I found it was okay with a cable tension tweak out on my ride. I think it will be fine. Front shifting worked amazingly well, given the weird ring and all.
• Carbon: Yes- carbon wheels make a difference in feel, which I think is more pronounced on smoother surfaces and hidden off road. Smoothness, and "quietness" in terms of a lack of vibrations. I'm sure the tires had a part to play as well. The carbon seat post is an awesome feeling one.
• I felt too upright. Maybe a tad. A bit too short in the cockpit, perhaps. Well, there will be some tweaking until I find a good position. It isn't bad now. It just needs refining. 

Overall the Vaya feels smooth, quiet, capable, stable, (I had a bit of a run in with ice and snow which culled this out), and should be at least worth tweaking on for a better set up. I need to get it on some actual gravel and come to several conclusions before I can say anything with finality, but I like what I see for possibilities here. Obviously- I'm not the first one!

More soon......

The Vaya Gets Ridden

It was too nice out not to ride...

I know I may have been pushing things a bit, but I was feeling much better yesterday afternoon than I had in many a day. Dare I say "normal"? Well, close enough at times, at any rate.

So I get off work a bit early, the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and the wind is down. The streets are fairly clear of ice and snow, but there is run-off from the remaining piles of frozen crap alongside the roadways. Big deal! I was going to finally get that Vaya out and ride it.

Now- it was really going to be a shake down ride only- mind you. Not a full on gravel assault, or a ride of any duration. That was fine, since I probably shouldn't be out flogging myself so soon after getting this sick anyway. Still, it needed to be done, and I was feeling like I just needed to pedal for a while. It's been a long time off the bike, (for my standards), and I was beyond ready to go for a ride of any length. I felt risking a short ride was okay, especially when it was so pleasant for Mid-February.

It was my first ride on Vee Rubber tires X-C-X model too. So there was a lot of things I wasn't very sure about anyway. I pumped up the rear to 40psi and the front slightly less than that. Seemed to be a reasonable starting point. Then I was off. There were more questions about the drive train, shifting, and as always, whether everything was tight and going to work right. As far as the latter, I can report that there were no failures. As for the former things, read on.....

• The BioPace ring worked fine. I was expecting something bad to happen, but it didn't. You might think similarly since the BioPace ring is from the seven speed days and I was running a 10 speed Shimano chain over it! That said, the ovality was noticeable at first as an easier down stroke, and then a sensation that maybe I might be able to suffer a bigger gear climbing than typical. We'll see about this later...
• The Winwood fork is solid. Hardly any backward leg movement at all under hard braking. However; it still felt smooth enough. More after I've been on some gravel with this thing.....
• Shifting: A big question mark going out, since I had a 9spd SRAM rear derailleur shifting over a 10speed cassette with a 10 speed SRAM TT shifter. After a not so good result after tuning in the stand, I found it was okay with a cable tension tweak out on my ride. I think it will be fine. Front shifting worked amazingly well, given the weird ring and all.
• Carbon: Yes- carbon wheels make a difference in feel, which I think is more pronounced on smoother surfaces and hidden off road. Smoothness, and "quietness" in terms of a lack of vibrations. I'm sure the tires had a part to play as well. The carbon seat post is an awesome feeling one.
• I felt too upright. Maybe a tad. A bit too short in the cockpit, perhaps. Well, there will be some tweaking until I find a good position. It isn't bad now. It just needs refining. 

Overall the Vaya feels smooth, quiet, capable, stable, (I had a bit of a run in with ice and snow which culled this out), and should be at least worth tweaking on for a better set up. I need to get it on some actual gravel and come to several conclusions before I can say anything with finality, but I like what I see for possibilities here. Obviously- I'm not the first one!

More soon......

Vaya: The Full Reveal

Salsa Cycles Vaya in G-Ted Team colors. (HA!)

The Vaya is completed. Yep. And here it is, in all it's "mutt-build" glory. I'll get to all the details here in a minute, but I have a couple of "thank yous" to get on with here first off.

The first "thank you" goes out to Mike, who sold me the frame and fork. He has been gracious in dealing with the sale of his frame/fork and I appreciate this very much. I also appreciate the fact that he has become a friend as well over the last years.

The second "thanks" goes out to Dean from Illinois, who contacted me and let me know about a fork he had laying around that he wanted me to use for this project. He sent it to me at no charge, and that means a lot. Thanks Dean!

Okay, so here's the details on the bike. I can not say for certain, but this probably is a 2011 Vaya. (Mike would know for sure), and I do have the original fork, which I will talk about here in a bit. Dean's fork is a Winwood Muddy Cross which has carbon blades bonded to an aluminum steer tube. These were made at a time when "disc only" wasn't an option, so this fork does have the provisions for canti brake mounts.

The wheels are the old Edge Composites hoops laced to American Classic Disc hubs with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. These wheels have been through the mill, but are still kicking along just fine. We'll see how long they last! I do know that the hubs are so free and smooth that they rotate for a long, long time in the stand when you spin them. Of course, they are quite light for disc brake wheels at sub 1500 grams for the pair.

Mounted to those with standard tubes are a set of Vee Rubber X-C-X 1.75" wide tires. These have a folding bead, dual compound tread, and are pretty beefy feeling. I'll have a lot more to say about those tires later on GGN. The disc rotors are from a set of Quad hydraulic disc brakes, 180mm front, 160mm rear. Brake calipers are Avid Mtn BB-7's. Levers are Tektro RL520's. Those levers are mounted to an On One Midge Bar. Wrapped in Bontrager gel tape. Stem is a Salsa CroMoto stem. Headset is Cane Creek. A 40 series, I think.

Moving back and down we find one of the more interesting, (or maybe stupid),  things I did here. I am running a TruVativ Elita crank, (heavy), with a GXP bottom bracket. The Elita is a triple, but I mounted an old Shimano BioPace 42T ring to the middle position in such a way as to mimic the popular and outrageously expensive alternative from a certain Spanish outfit. I've heard a lot about this being an advantage, so I figured what the heck. I'll experiment. If I do not like it, I have a FSA 42T ring waiting in the wings to swap out to. The inner ring is the Elita's standard 30T granny. Yes- I am running a 10 speed chain which seems to be just fine with this set up. That's a Shimano 105 10 speed chain, by the way.The front derailleur is a SRAM X-Gen unit. Dual pull, high mount.

That spins a 10 speed SRAM cassette, which is an 11-36T range. This is shifted by a 9speed X-9 rear derailleur. (Seems to be okay so far, but I do have a X-9 10speed sitting around if I need to swap to it.)

A closer look at that old BioPace ring

This is all shifted by a SRAM 10 speed bar end shifter for the rear and a Shimano bar end shifter for the front. (I like the Shimano ratcheting feel on the front shifter better.) Cables are standard stainless steel, and housings are Jagwire's standard black issue stuff, nothing fancy.

The seat post, well, that's a vintage oldy. It is a Tamer carbon post with no offset. The saddle is something that closely mimics the WTB Pure V which I love and use on the Black Mountain Cycles rig. It is a Velo model of some sort that came stock on a SE Racing mountain bike. It's comfy, that's all that matters right now. The seat collar is a standard Salsa Cycles LipLoc.

Okay, I think that is it. Did I leave anything out? I don't think so. Pedals will come soon in the form of my standard choice of Shimano SPD's of some sort. I haven't gotten those yet. (Okay- so technically it isn't done yet. Bother....)

The bike had a goal- be lightweight. I think there is room to improve on weight. Certainly the saddle, seat post, (just because it is carbon doesn't mean "light"), and certainly the stem and crank set. Plenty of grams to be shaved safely and wisely here. So the weight, as you look at it here, is 23lbs on the nose. I'm not impressed, but I am not disappointed either. 

You could also take a hard look at the tires here. Yes, they are tubed, so going tubeless might save me something, but the tires are 620 grams each. That's a bit porky for 47mm tires here. Clement MSO's, (about 7-8mm narrower) weigh 100 grams less each, and WTB Nanoraptors weigh about 40 grams less each, as a comparison. However; you also have to weigh in cut resistance and durability into the discussion, and I think the Vee Rubber tires will shine there. We'll see. For example, the WTB Nanos feel like they are made paper thin compared to the Vee Rubber X-C-X's.

The fork, which is lighter than stock, isn't lighter by a lot, like you might think. I saved about 60 grams over the stock steel Vaya fork. I will be looking at getting a different crank set in the long run, and that is a place where I can save some significant grammage. I also will be looking at getting an Ergon saddle, swapping out disc rotors, and at some point, a different seat post as well. If I deem the cassette range to be too wide, I may also be able to swap out to a tighter, lighter range there, and get a shorter caged derailleur.

In the end, I figure that with pedals installed and two water bottle cages I should end up at 22lbs or so. That isn't bad for a steel gravel rig. It's pretty good, I think. But I needed to spend very little post frame/fork purchase on getting this up and running, so the choices here reflect that. (Almost all stuff I had already.) Down the road, if the bike warrants it, the suggested changes may be pursued.

Stay tuned, I will be back with my thoughts on the Vaya's ride later.....

Vaya: The Full Reveal

Salsa Cycles Vaya in G-Ted Team colors. (HA!)

The Vaya is completed. Yep. And here it is, in all it's "mutt-build" glory. I'll get to all the details here in a minute, but I have a couple of "thank yous" to get on with here first off.

The first "thank you" goes out to Mike, who sold me the frame and fork. He has been gracious in dealing with the sale of his frame/fork and I appreciate this very much. I also appreciate the fact that he has become a friend as well over the last years.

The second "thanks" goes out to Dean from Illinois, who contacted me and let me know about a fork he had laying around that he wanted me to use for this project. He sent it to me at no charge, and that means a lot. Thanks Dean!

Okay, so here's the details on the bike. I can not say for certain, but this probably is a 2011 Vaya. (Mike would know for sure), and I do have the original fork, which I will talk about here in a bit. Dean's fork is a Winwood Muddy Cross which has carbon blades bonded to an aluminum steer tube. These were made at a time when "disc only" wasn't an option, so this fork does have the provisions for canti brake mounts.

The wheels are the old Edge Composites hoops laced to American Classic Disc hubs with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. These wheels have been through the mill, but are still kicking along just fine. We'll see how long they last! I do know that the hubs are so free and smooth that they rotate for a long, long time in the stand when you spin them. Of course, they are quite light for disc brake wheels at sub 1500 grams for the pair.

Mounted to those with standard tubes are a set of Vee Rubber X-C-X 1.75" wide tires. These have a folding bead, dual compound tread, and are pretty beefy feeling. I'll have a lot more to say about those tires later on GGN. The disc rotors are from a set of Quad hydraulic disc brakes, 180mm front, 160mm rear. Brake calipers are Avid Mtn BB-7's. Levers are Tektro RL520's. Those levers are mounted to an On One Midge Bar. Wrapped in Bontrager gel tape. Stem is a Salsa CroMoto stem. Headset is Cane Creek. A 40 series, I think.

Moving back and down we find one of the more interesting, (or maybe stupid),  things I did here. I am running a TruVativ Elita crank, (heavy), with a GXP bottom bracket. The Elita is a triple, but I mounted an old Shimano BioPace 42T ring to the middle position in such a way as to mimic the popular and outrageously expensive alternative from a certain Spanish outfit. I've heard a lot about this being an advantage, so I figured what the heck. I'll experiment. If I do not like it, I have a FSA 42T ring waiting in the wings to swap out to. The inner ring is the Elita's standard 30T granny. Yes- I am running a 10 speed chain which seems to be just fine with this set up. That's a Shimano 105 10 speed chain, by the way.The front derailleur is a SRAM X-Gen unit. Dual pull, high mount.

That spins a 10 speed SRAM cassette, which is an 11-36T range. This is shifted by a 9speed X-9 rear derailleur. (Seems to be okay so far, but I do have a X-9 10speed sitting around if I need to swap to it.)

A closer look at that old BioPace ring

This is all shifted by a SRAM 10 speed bar end shifter for the rear and a Shimano bar end shifter for the front. (I like the Shimano ratcheting feel on the front shifter better.) Cables are standard stainless steel, and housings are Jagwire's standard black issue stuff, nothing fancy.

The seat post, well, that's a vintage oldy. It is a Tamer carbon post with no offset. The saddle is something that closely mimics the WTB Pure V which I love and use on the Black Mountain Cycles rig. It is a Velo model of some sort that came stock on a SE Racing mountain bike. It's comfy, that's all that matters right now. The seat collar is a standard Salsa Cycles LipLoc.

Okay, I think that is it. Did I leave anything out? I don't think so. Pedals will come soon in the form of my standard choice of Shimano SPD's of some sort. I haven't gotten those yet. (Okay- so technically it isn't done yet. Bother....)

The bike had a goal- be lightweight. I think there is room to improve on weight. Certainly the saddle, seat post, (just because it is carbon doesn't mean "light"), and certainly the stem and crank set. Plenty of grams to be shaved safely and wisely here. So the weight, as you look at it here, is 23lbs on the nose. I'm not impressed, but I am not disappointed either. 

You could also take a hard look at the tires here. Yes, they are tubed, so going tubeless might save me something, but the tires are 620 grams each. That's a bit porky for 47mm tires here. Clement MSO's, (about 7-8mm narrower) weigh 100 grams less each, and WTB Nanoraptors weigh about 40 grams less each, as a comparison. However; you also have to weigh in cut resistance and durability into the discussion, and I think the Vee Rubber tires will shine there. We'll see. For example, the WTB Nanos feel like they are made paper thin compared to the Vee Rubber X-C-X's.

The fork, which is lighter than stock, isn't lighter by a lot, like you might think. I saved about 60 grams over the stock steel Vaya fork. I will be looking at getting a different crank set in the long run, and that is a place where I can save some significant grammage. I also will be looking at getting an Ergon saddle, swapping out disc rotors, and at some point, a different seat post as well. If I deem the cassette range to be too wide, I may also be able to swap out to a tighter, lighter range there, and get a shorter caged derailleur.

In the end, I figure that with pedals installed and two water bottle cages I should end up at 22lbs or so. That isn't bad for a steel gravel rig. It's pretty good, I think. But I needed to spend very little post frame/fork purchase on getting this up and running, so the choices here reflect that. (Almost all stuff I had already.) Down the road, if the bike warrants it, the suggested changes may be pursued.

Stay tuned, I will be back with my thoughts on the Vaya's ride later.....

Friday News And Views

Okay, maybe I should re-name this post "Fat Bike Friday". You'll see why...

SRAM Fat bike crank?

The image here is supposedly from SRAM and supposedly depicts a 2014 component for a fat bike. This appeared on mtbr.com's fat bike forum back in December of last year. You can click to enlarge the image, look and decide for yourself what it is....

My opinion: If this is a SRAM X-9 fat bike crank, and if it is destined for production for 2014, I would say that it isn't going to be produced solely for the aftermarket. SRAM doesn't work that way, that much I do know from being around this stuff for awhile.

So, what does that mean? I would suggest that some bigger company is either fronting the tooling costs, or has ordered enough of these to make it worth SRAM's while to manufacture a fat bike crank, if it is a reality. That could  mean just one company, ( a bigger company), or several smaller companies are involved here. Either way- I do not think Surly and Salsa have enough numbers to support this on their own. Not from numbers I've seen bandied about. (But those numbers could have been all just speculation as well.)

So, I am not saying that a "big company is coming in to make a fat bike". I have heard that though......a lot lately. In fact, a certain company's rep came into a shop I am very familiar with and told the buyer that "Trek and Specialized" are both going to make fat bikes for 2014, and that Specialized is going to introduce theirs this Spring. I have heard rumors mostly about Specialized from other sources. I do know a fat bike was spotted in Specialized's compound during a media tour last Spring, and that a certain well known Trek mountain bike tester has been riding fat bikes quite a bit of late from that tester's Twitter feed. Read into that what you may.......

Of course, all of this could be complete rubbish. It may never happen, but if it does, here is more of my opinion. Trek and Specialized are looking to get dealers to push the competition for floor space on local bike shop floors out the door. Meaning- they want more of the local bike shop owners dollars, and are being very aggressive about it. With fat bikes selling like hot cakes in Winter, this maybe has raised some eyebrows with the big companies. But maybe the only way they can leverage dealers carrying fat bikes is to make their own fat bike models, and get the sales the other smaller companies are getting now. Maybe. Maybe not......

This irks some folks out there...

No Love Here: 

Obviously, not everyone is going to like fat bikes, nor should they. However; I found a pretty brazen rant on-line yesterday from a certain small brand's owner that, well......you can go read it here and make up your own mind.  Apparently, the posting of the carbon fat bike from On One was part of the pebbles that set off that avalanche of screed. (Judging by a reaction to said post on Twitter yesterday.)

It's interesting to read from the standpoint of a dissenting opinion, but obvious holes in the logic do jump out at me. For instance, you could insert "29 inch wheeled bikes", (something that company sells), and insert it in the place of "fat bikes", or as he erroneously calls them, "snow bikes", and the story fits as well.

Oh well, as I say, just an interesting viewpoint, if nothing else, and as always, it is good to consider from the standpoint of someone that may not get it, or agree with it, or like the idea at all. That's okay with me.

New shoes for the Vaya

Vaya Update:

Well, first off, the bike is built and ready to be ridden. No images yet, as it is too flippin' cold out to take images just yet. Soon! I will have a full post on the build.

I did get these Vee Rubber tires on suggestion from a reader that thought I should try them and review them for Gravel Grinder News. That I will do, but for this post, I just wanted to point out the hot patch which says "29 X 1.75".

I find that amusing, as anything sub-2 inch is almost always not 29" in diameter mounted to a 700c rim. It's stuff like this that the bicycle industry does that confuses the heck out of consumers. However; it isn't as easy to market a 28"er tire, and you know- "twenty nine inches" is much better from that standpoint. Who cares that it isn't even close to reality.

Then there is a certain German based tire company that marks their 700c X 28mm-30mm tires as "28 inches". Again- not even close. Plus, it mixes two measuring standards up. It gets customers of the shop where I work tripped up all the time. They ask for a "28 inch tube" and we hand them a 700 X 28mm tube and they tell us that we're crazy. We need to carry 28" tubes.

Okay, well, I digress.... The Vaya- yeah. It is done and these new tires, set up tubed for now, will be the shoes it wears for awhile at least. I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. Not floored, but pleased. It does barely cut the mustard for the goal I set which was to be a lighter rig. I'll get into detail on that, but for now I will say it weighs 23lbs less pedals. I could shave some more off it, but again- this had to be a "mutt build" for now.  More soon....

Have a great weekend, and remember, fat bikes are stupid, so ride something else, right? (<====HA!)

Friday News And Views

Okay, maybe I should re-name this post "Fat Bike Friday". You'll see why...

SRAM Fat bike crank?

The image here is supposedly from SRAM and supposedly depicts a 2014 component for a fat bike. This appeared on mtbr.com's fat bike forum back in December of last year. You can click to enlarge the image, look and decide for yourself what it is....

My opinion: If this is a SRAM X-9 fat bike crank, and if it is destined for production for 2014, I would say that it isn't going to be produced solely for the aftermarket. SRAM doesn't work that way, that much I do know from being around this stuff for awhile.

So, what does that mean? I would suggest that some bigger company is either fronting the tooling costs, or has ordered enough of these to make it worth SRAM's while to manufacture a fat bike crank, if it is a reality. That could  mean just one company, ( a bigger company), or several smaller companies are involved here. Either way- I do not think Surly and Salsa have enough numbers to support this on their own. Not from numbers I've seen bandied about. (But those numbers could have been all just speculation as well.)

So, I am not saying that a "big company is coming in to make a fat bike". I have heard that though......a lot lately. In fact, a certain company's rep came into a shop I am very familiar with and told the buyer that "Trek and Specialized" are both going to make fat bikes for 2014, and that Specialized is going to introduce theirs this Spring. I have heard rumors mostly about Specialized from other sources. I do know a fat bike was spotted in Specialized's compound during a media tour last Spring, and that a certain well known Trek mountain bike tester has been riding fat bikes quite a bit of late from that tester's Twitter feed. Read into that what you may.......

Of course, all of this could be complete rubbish. It may never happen, but if it does, here is more of my opinion. Trek and Specialized are looking to get dealers to push the competition for floor space on local bike shop floors out the door. Meaning- they want more of the local bike shop owners dollars, and are being very aggressive about it. With fat bikes selling like hot cakes in Winter, this maybe has raised some eyebrows with the big companies. But maybe the only way they can leverage dealers carrying fat bikes is to make their own fat bike models, and get the sales the other smaller companies are getting now. Maybe. Maybe not......

This irks some folks out there...

No Love Here: 

Obviously, not everyone is going to like fat bikes, nor should they. However; I found a pretty brazen rant on-line yesterday from a certain small brand's owner that, well......you can go read it here and make up your own mind.  Apparently, the posting of the carbon fat bike from On One was part of the pebbles that set off that avalanche of screed. (Judging by a reaction to said post on Twitter yesterday.)

It's interesting to read from the standpoint of a dissenting opinion, but obvious holes in the logic do jump out at me. For instance, you could insert "29 inch wheeled bikes", (something that company sells), and insert it in the place of "fat bikes", or as he erroneously calls them, "snow bikes", and the story fits as well.

Oh well, as I say, just an interesting viewpoint, if nothing else, and as always, it is good to consider from the standpoint of someone that may not get it, or agree with it, or like the idea at all. That's okay with me.

New shoes for the Vaya

Vaya Update:

Well, first off, the bike is built and ready to be ridden. No images yet, as it is too flippin' cold out to take images just yet. Soon! I will have a full post on the build.

I did get these Vee Rubber tires on suggestion from a reader that thought I should try them and review them for Gravel Grinder News. That I will do, but for this post, I just wanted to point out the hot patch which says "29 X 1.75".

I find that amusing, as anything sub-2 inch is almost always not 29" in diameter mounted to a 700c rim. It's stuff like this that the bicycle industry does that confuses the heck out of consumers. However; it isn't as easy to market a 28"er tire, and you know- "twenty nine inches" is much better from that standpoint. Who cares that it isn't even close to reality.

Then there is a certain German based tire company that marks their 700c X 28mm-30mm tires as "28 inches". Again- not even close. Plus, it mixes two measuring standards up. It gets customers of the shop where I work tripped up all the time. They ask for a "28 inch tube" and we hand them a 700 X 28mm tube and they tell us that we're crazy. We need to carry 28" tubes.

Okay, well, I digress.... The Vaya- yeah. It is done and these new tires, set up tubed for now, will be the shoes it wears for awhile at least. I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. Not floored, but pleased. It does barely cut the mustard for the goal I set which was to be a lighter rig. I'll get into detail on that, but for now I will say it weighs 23lbs less pedals. I could shave some more off it, but again- this had to be a "mutt build" for now.  More soon....

Have a great weekend, and remember, fat bikes are stupid, so ride something else, right? (<====HA!)