Wednesday News And Views

 NOTE: There has been a lot of news percolating up since last week's "FN&V" post which I didn't want to hold over a week for this Friday. So, you get a rare "Wednesday News and Views"! I hope that you all enjoy it!

Did this KHS catalog entry reveal the new mechanical 105 group?

Possible Shimano Mech 12spd 105 Leak:

Last week several cycling websites were speculating over an image and spec sheet first revealed on "Bicycling" which showed a KHS road bike with what would appear as a 12 speed mechanical 105 group. 

Sleuths pointed to the brake/shift levers as evidence here and that the spec list shows a heretofore unknown Shimano part number for them. Many of the other 12 speed parts like the chain and cassette could be crossovers from other Shimano 12 speed groups currently in production. 

Comments: That Shimano would do this makes sense with current offerings and historically, as Shimano often "trickles down" range topping tech features to lower tiered group sets over time. So, as far as the existence of this, I find it completely plausible and probable. 

But the unsaid things here bear thinking about. If true, the 12 speed 105 mechanical group set completes the demise of 11 speed road based componentry from Shimano's range unless there is also a new Tiagra or equivalent new level road group in the wings. Could it be that Tiagra and Sora will be 11 and 10 speed groups? This would also make sense, and it would spell the complete demise of 9 speed from the Shimano performance range. 

It also bears watching in terms of a new GRX which also could be a 12 speed group. If GRX doesn't go to 12, then that would remain as Shimano's lone 11 speed offerings that could be purposed to the road side. 

Also, keep in mind this Shimano news (found at the bottom of that FN&V post) which could also be a part of all of this. 

Note; Image of the KHS bike is assumed to have been the one found on the KHS website that has since been redacted. 

Snip from Amprio's homepage.

SRAM Purchases German eBike Motor Company:

Also last week, it was reported that SRAM has taken ownership of a German based eBike motor company called Amprio. 

SRAM has been working on an eBike motor design as seen by this report filed last Summer in "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News". While the motor shown in that report does not appear to be similar to that image I have shown from Amprio's webpage, that really doesn't mean anything. 

Comments: Shimano has a multi-year leg up on SRAM when it comes to motorized bicycle parts and engines. It only makes sense that SRAM would push into this segment of component design and manufacture and especially so with the booming eBike/HPC market world-wide. SRAM, although off the back in terms of an offering in this segment, has the advantage of having a complete drive train/brake/wheel offering already in the range ready to go here. Other automobile and independent companies in this market cannot say that. In fact, it is rumored that when this motor is released by SRAM it will come complete with an electronically shifted and controlled group that will all run off the single battery for the motor, thus cutting down on batteries needed to run an electronic based bicycle, (moped, motorcycle.... You decide.)

Alec White of White Industries (Image courtesy of White industries)

White Industries Takes Over Rolf Prima/Astral:

White Industries, makers of US manufactured hubs, cranks, head sets and more, announced last Friday that the company had taken ownership of Rolf Prima/Astral, the wheel maker based in Oregon. 

The companies will remain as separate entities for the time being with Rolf Prima/Astral owner Brian Roddy moving on to "other ventures" for the future. 

Comments: I like White Industries hubs a lot, and I have a set of their cranks on one of my bicycles which work great as well. I've used their hubs on wheel builds and I own a set which are on my OS Bikes Blackbuck currently. I have always been pretty impressed with their goods. 

Rolf Prima has been making wheels for quite some time. Their "Paired Spoke" technology was pretty well regarded, (Bontrager's take on the design? Not so much), and Rolf Prima continues to make well regarded wheel sets. With the addition on Astral a few years ago, traditional wheel sets in aluminum were also made available. Now with White Industries, who were already making the hubs for Rolf's premium wheels, they will have a nice synergy and offerings for the future.

 That's a wrap on this Randomonium

Wednesday News And Views

 NOTE: There has been a lot of news percolating up since last week's "FN&V" post which I didn't want to hold over a week for this Friday. So, you get a rare "Wednesday News and Views"! I hope that you all enjoy it!

Did this KHS catalog entry reveal the new mechanical 105 group?

Possible Shimano Mech 12spd 105 Leak:

Last week several cycling websites were speculating over an image and spec sheet first revealed on "Bicycling" which showed a KHS road bike with what would appear as a 12 speed mechanical 105 group. 

Sleuths pointed to the brake/shift levers as evidence here and that the spec list shows a heretofore unknown Shimano part number for them. Many of the other 12 speed parts like the chain and cassette could be crossovers from other Shimano 12 speed groups currently in production. 

Comments: That Shimano would do this makes sense with current offerings and historically, as Shimano often "trickles down" range topping tech features to lower tiered group sets over time. So, as far as the existence of this, I find it completely plausible and probable. 

But the unsaid things here bear thinking about. If true, the 12 speed 105 mechanical group set completes the demise of 11 speed road based componentry from Shimano's range unless there is also a new Tiagra or equivalent new level road group in the wings. Could it be that Tiagra and Sora will be 11 and 10 speed groups? This would also make sense, and it would spell the complete demise of 9 speed from the Shimano performance range. 

It also bears watching in terms of a new GRX which also could be a 12 speed group. If GRX doesn't go to 12, then that would remain as Shimano's lone 11 speed offerings that could be purposed to the road side. 

Also, keep in mind this Shimano news (found at the bottom of that FN&V post) which could also be a part of all of this. 

Note; Image of the KHS bike is assumed to have been the one found on the KHS website that has since been redacted. 

Snip from Amprio's homepage.

SRAM Purchases German eBike Motor Company:

Also last week, it was reported that SRAM has taken ownership of a German based eBike motor company called Amprio. 

SRAM has been working on an eBike motor design as seen by this report filed last Summer in "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News". While the motor shown in that report does not appear to be similar to that image I have shown from Amprio's webpage, that really doesn't mean anything. 

Comments: Shimano has a multi-year leg up on SRAM when it comes to motorized bicycle parts and engines. It only makes sense that SRAM would push into this segment of component design and manufacture and especially so with the booming eBike/HPC market world-wide. SRAM, although off the back in terms of an offering in this segment, has the advantage of having a complete drive train/brake/wheel offering already in the range ready to go here. Other automobile and independent companies in this market cannot say that. In fact, it is rumored that when this motor is released by SRAM it will come complete with an electronically shifted and controlled group that will all run off the single battery for the motor, thus cutting down on batteries needed to run an electronic based bicycle, (moped, motorcycle.... You decide.)

Alec White of White Industries (Image courtesy of White industries)

White Industries Takes Over Rolf Prima/Astral:

White Industries, makers of US manufactured hubs, cranks, head sets and more, announced last Friday that the company had taken ownership of Rolf Prima/Astral, the wheel maker based in Oregon. 

The companies will remain as separate entities for the time being with Rolf Prima/Astral owner Brian Roddy moving on to "other ventures" for the future. 

Comments: I like White Industries hubs a lot, and I have a set of their cranks on one of my bicycles which work great as well. I've used their hubs on wheel builds and I own a set which are on my OS Bikes Blackbuck currently. I have always been pretty impressed with their goods. 

Rolf Prima has been making wheels for quite some time. Their "Paired Spoke" technology was pretty well regarded, (Bontrager's take on the design? Not so much), and Rolf Prima continues to make well regarded wheel sets. With the addition on Astral a few years ago, traditional wheel sets in aluminum were also made available. Now with White Industries, who were already making the hubs for Rolf's premium wheels, they will have a nice synergy and offerings for the future.

 That's a wrap on this Randomonium

Twin Six Standard Rando v2: One Year Review

The current state of the Twin Six Standard Rando v2.

 Today marks the one year anniversary of the first running of my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 bike. So, I thought I would give a long view of owning this bike and what I think of it now. Along the way I will call out a few specific things- both good and bad- about the bike and the components I've used on it so far. 

This bike was originally intended to be a geared bike but it turned into a single speed pretty quickly once the pandemic hit and parts were scarce. Now, I could have gone geared by now, but I probably will not, and that has something to do with the frame on this bike.

The Standard Rando v2, like its predecessor, is made from CrMo steel and it does not have the lightest drawn and butted tubes in the world. Not even close! So a geared version of this bike gets a bit portly in terms of weight unless you throw your credit card at it and festoon the thing with every carbon bit you can. Which, I suppose, is pretty much exactly what I did! So, the point is, this bike has mass and it gets heavy quickly with average parts builds. I did not want that. Single speed kind of takes care of that to a degree. 

Secondly, that very fact of how much mass there is in this frame (No, I did not weigh it, so do not ask!) is actually a good thing in terms of single speed activities. It tends to not twist up and get flexy where that would be a bad thing on a single speed. For instance, no matter how much I have torqued on this frame, (mashing- if you will), I have never gotten the chain to pop off a cog tooth. I have done that on almost all my other single speed bikes. You may not quite know what I mean here, but if you are a single speed person, you know what I know......

From a year ago today and the first ride of the Standard Rando v2.

The other bit, the Wheels Manufacturing Eccentric PF30 insert, has been perfect as well. I have had zero creaks from it, and it has never slipped. Not once. As far as a single speed function goes, this one bike here is pretty much one of the best I have ever had. I did have to tighten the modular drop outs once, but otherwise? Maintenance free riding here. 

The ride is everything I expected. The low bottom bracket (75mm drop) keeps this bike planted and stable on rough gravel, fast descents, and in corners. The bike, for as stiff as it is for single speed, is uncannily comfortable. It feels like it has a longer seat post than it does. The front end is actually stiffer feeling, to me, than the back end is. I feel like the front/center maybe is a tad shorter than I'd like it to be, but that is not a big deal. 

Components were mostly what I had around at the time. I am using a Force crank set with a 1X SRAM ring. Not ideal, but it works. I've used a couple of wheel sets on this bike but the main ones have been the Irwin Cycling Carbon Aon 35 wheels. I have a 650B set and a 700c set all set up for this bike. After riding both sizes of wheels on this bike, I have come to prefer the 700c set, but there are times when that 650B set are nice too. 

The future may hold some changes for the "Gravel Buss". I would like to switch out the crank set to a White Industries one. I'd like to get a single speed specific disc, through-axle hub, so I don't have to tie up a good cassette compatible wheel set. Then I'd be set, but for one more thing.....the handlebar set up. 

The carbon Winston mustache bar may be coming off soon.

I'm almost ready to give up on the Winston Bar. I have fiddled around with it a LOT and I just cannot get 100% satisfied with it, and if I am thinking about that on almost every ride I am thinking about it too much to keep it on there. 

There are times I am in love with the bar, but there are times I really would just rather have some flared drop bars. So, I have a set of Whiskey carbon drop bars sitting idle at this point and they could just be swapped right in on this bike easily. 

Anyway, that really has nothing to do with the Standard Rando v2 in a basic way, but it affects how I feel about riding it some days, and that isn't good. So, I am probably going back to drop bars again and not looking back. Otherwise, this is a perfect bike for gravel single speed use. The extra bottle cage mounts really upped the range of use in that way for me, and having fork mounted cages is a nice thing.

About that fork..... The cage mounts are not symmetrical from one side to another. Now, I don't mind, but I find that really odd. I wonder sometimes if other Standard Rando carbon forks are that way. I would imagine it would drive some folks who are a bit more on the "OCD" side of the scale nutso. I just laugh about it. As long as they work? I'm fine. But it bears mentioning as that seems to me to be a bit of an oversight on a bike from a company with lazer sharp attention to detail. 

Okay, I guess that about wraps up my take on owning this bike for a year. It's a 'keeper', and I wouldn't be thinking of the upgrades I am thinking about if it weren't. I have plans for adventures that include this bike, so there ya go.... An endorsement of sorts. And by the way, I paid for this bike, and I was not paid, nor bribed to give this review. So there!

Twin Six Standard Rando v2: One Year Review

The current state of the Twin Six Standard Rando v2.

 Today marks the one year anniversary of the first running of my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 bike. So, I thought I would give a long view of owning this bike and what I think of it now. Along the way I will call out a few specific things- both good and bad- about the bike and the components I've used on it so far. 

This bike was originally intended to be a geared bike but it turned into a single speed pretty quickly once the pandemic hit and parts were scarce. Now, I could have gone geared by now, but I probably will not, and that has something to do with the frame on this bike.

The Standard Rando v2, like its predecessor, is made from CrMo steel and it does not have the lightest drawn and butted tubes in the world. Not even close! So a geared version of this bike gets a bit portly in terms of weight unless you throw your credit card at it and festoon the thing with every carbon bit you can. Which, I suppose, is pretty much exactly what I did! So, the point is, this bike has mass and it gets heavy quickly with average parts builds. I did not want that. Single speed kind of takes care of that to a degree. 

Secondly, that very fact of how much mass there is in this frame (No, I did not weigh it, so do not ask!) is actually a good thing in terms of single speed activities. It tends to not twist up and get flexy where that would be a bad thing on a single speed. For instance, no matter how much I have torqued on this frame, (mashing- if you will), I have never gotten the chain to pop off a cog tooth. I have done that on almost all my other single speed bikes. You may not quite know what I mean here, but if you are a single speed person, you know what I know......

From a year ago today and the first ride of the Standard Rando v2.

The other bit, the Wheels Manufacturing Eccentric PF30 insert, has been perfect as well. I have had zero creaks from it, and it has never slipped. Not once. As far as a single speed function goes, this one bike here is pretty much one of the best I have ever had. I did have to tighten the modular drop outs once, but otherwise? Maintenance free riding here. 

The ride is everything I expected. The low bottom bracket (75mm drop) keeps this bike planted and stable on rough gravel, fast descents, and in corners. The bike, for as stiff as it is for single speed, is uncannily comfortable. It feels like it has a longer seat post than it does. The front end is actually stiffer feeling, to me, than the back end is. I feel like the front/center maybe is a tad shorter than I'd like it to be, but that is not a big deal. 

Components were mostly what I had around at the time. I am using a Force crank set with a 1X SRAM ring. Not ideal, but it works. I've used a couple of wheel sets on this bike but the main ones have been the Irwin Cycling Carbon Aon 35 wheels. I have a 650B set and a 700c set all set up for this bike. After riding both sizes of wheels on this bike, I have come to prefer the 700c set, but there are times when that 650B set are nice too. 

The future may hold some changes for the "Gravel Buss". I would like to switch out the crank set to a White Industries one. I'd like to get a single speed specific disc, through-axle hub, so I don't have to tie up a good cassette compatible wheel set. Then I'd be set, but for one more thing.....the handlebar set up. 

The carbon Winston mustache bar may be coming off soon.

I'm almost ready to give up on the Winston Bar. I have fiddled around with it a LOT and I just cannot get 100% satisfied with it, and if I am thinking about that on almost every ride I am thinking about it too much to keep it on there. 

There are times I am in love with the bar, but there are times I really would just rather have some flared drop bars. So, I have a set of Whiskey carbon drop bars sitting idle at this point and they could just be swapped right in on this bike easily. 

Anyway, that really has nothing to do with the Standard Rando v2 in a basic way, but it affects how I feel about riding it some days, and that isn't good. So, I am probably going back to drop bars again and not looking back. Otherwise, this is a perfect bike for gravel single speed use. The extra bottle cage mounts really upped the range of use in that way for me, and having fork mounted cages is a nice thing.

About that fork..... The cage mounts are not symmetrical from one side to another. Now, I don't mind, but I find that really odd. I wonder sometimes if other Standard Rando carbon forks are that way. I would imagine it would drive some folks who are a bit more on the "OCD" side of the scale nutso. I just laugh about it. As long as they work? I'm fine. But it bears mentioning as that seems to me to be a bit of an oversight on a bike from a company with lazer sharp attention to detail. 

Okay, I guess that about wraps up my take on owning this bike for a year. It's a 'keeper', and I wouldn't be thinking of the upgrades I am thinking about if it weren't. I have plans for adventures that include this bike, so there ya go.... An endorsement of sorts. And by the way, I paid for this bike, and I was not paid, nor bribed to give this review. So there!

Spiffing Up The Blackbuck

Current state of the Blackbuck

Yawn........ another single speed on Guitar Ted Productions? Really?

Yes.

Long time readers all have seen this rare bird several times before. This is a 2006 OS Bikes Blackbuck, in case you did not know. I guess this is almost a "vintage" 29"er" now days! It's old enough a lot of people have probably never heard about "OS Bikes" and this single speed.

OS Bikes was a short-lived outside project of Mark Slate's. Mark is one of the founders of WTB, a Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member, and one of the true 'pioneers' of the modern mountain bike, and certainly a big part of why the first 29"er tire ever was made. So, to say that Mr. Slate was a highly influential man in cycling is no hyperbole. In fact, he still is pretty important at WTB, and still has a hand on what riders are doing with their MTB's and gravel bikes in the year 2020, more than 40+ years since he got started.

Mark's biggest influence was on tires and saddles, (he designed the saddle on this bike you see here) He was not particularly known for his design of bicycles, but this is one of his efforts. This particular Blackbuck comes from the first run of 500 bikes that were made. I purchased it as a frame/fork. The original rigid fork was super short, had a 51mm offset, and resulted in a ridiculous 74° head angle with a trail figure down into the upper 40's, as I recall. This resulted in a textbook example of "Twitchiness".

I tried it a couple of times but it was so nervous that I just didn't jive with it. So, I have tried a multitude of forks on this bike and finally arrived at what you see here as being the best thing I tried out of them all. That fork is a Bontrager Switchblade, a fork steeped in mystery and rumors. I'll maybe get around to writing about that fork and its history with me later sometime.

Ultra-modern bar standards- Ultra-old school 29"er vibes.

The OS Bikes name actually stands for "Of Spirit Bikes", and why a Blackbuck, well, I'm not sure. I'm betting there is a story there, I just am not sure I know what it is. Anyway, the point is that I really like the bike and my aim is to slowly bring this up to a coherent looking build versus the hodge-podge of anodized stuff I've hung off the bike in years past.

My first "spiff" was to jettison the tired Salsa Shaft seat post in favor of a Thompson lay back, which is what the build deserves from a class and era-correct viewpoint. The next spiff happened when Grannygear gifted me his White ENO front and rear hubs and the excellent White Industries freewheel. I paired all of that up with the aforementioned fork, which also features silver anodized bits, and the look is coming together well. Finally, I threw on a Bontrager 35mm bar clamp diameter stem with matching Bontrager handle bar.

I need to score some Paul Love Levers in silver, a silver 1 1/8th King head set, (or equivalent), and a silver seat collar. Finally, I have a first gen (silver, natch!) XTR 180mm crankset, courtesy of the same Grannygear, which will be paired with either a black ring or silver ring. OR- I will get a White Industries crankset in silver.

Maybe I should go all White Industries/Paul Components. Get the White Industries head set, crank set, and the Paul levers and brake calipers. Ditch the Thomson post for a Paul Components Tall and Handsome, maybe... Except those parts are priced beyond what the Gross National Product of several nations is. Yeah.......maybe not!

The point is, with some silver bottle cages, I would be all silver and black then, and the bike would finally look 'right', ya know? OR- I could just shut up and actually, ya know.......go ride some single track with it already! 

 Yeah. Going riding then........

Spiffing Up The Blackbuck

Current state of the Blackbuck

Yawn........ another single speed on Guitar Ted Productions? Really?

Yes.

Long time readers all have seen this rare bird several times before. This is a 2006 OS Bikes Blackbuck, in case you did not know. I guess this is almost a "vintage" 29"er" now days! It's old enough a lot of people have probably never heard about "OS Bikes" and this single speed.

OS Bikes was a short-lived outside project of Mark Slate's. Mark is one of the founders of WTB, a Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member, and one of the true 'pioneers' of the modern mountain bike, and certainly a big part of why the first 29"er tire ever was made. So, to say that Mr. Slate was a highly influential man in cycling is no hyperbole. In fact, he still is pretty important at WTB, and still has a hand on what riders are doing with their MTB's and gravel bikes in the year 2020, more than 40+ years since he got started.

Mark's biggest influence was on tires and saddles, (he designed the saddle on this bike you see here) He was not particularly known for his design of bicycles, but this is one of his efforts. This particular Blackbuck comes from the first run of 500 bikes that were made. I purchased it as a frame/fork. The original rigid fork was super short, had a 51mm offset, and resulted in a ridiculous 74° head angle with a trail figure down into the upper 40's, as I recall. This resulted in a textbook example of "Twitchiness".

I tried it a couple of times but it was so nervous that I just didn't jive with it. So, I have tried a multitude of forks on this bike and finally arrived at what you see here as being the best thing I tried out of them all. That fork is a Bontrager Switchblade, a fork steeped in mystery and rumors. I'll maybe get around to writing about that fork and its history with me later sometime.

Ultra-modern bar standards- Ultra-old school 29"er vibes.

The OS Bikes name actually stands for "Of Spirit Bikes", and why a Blackbuck, well, I'm not sure. I'm betting there is a story there, I just am not sure I know what it is. Anyway, the point is that I really like the bike and my aim is to slowly bring this up to a coherent looking build versus the hodge-podge of anodized stuff I've hung off the bike in years past.

My first "spiff" was to jettison the tired Salsa Shaft seat post in favor of a Thompson lay back, which is what the build deserves from a class and era-correct viewpoint. The next spiff happened when Grannygear gifted me his White ENO front and rear hubs and the excellent White Industries freewheel. I paired all of that up with the aforementioned fork, which also features silver anodized bits, and the look is coming together well. Finally, I threw on a Bontrager 35mm bar clamp diameter stem with matching Bontrager handle bar.

I need to score some Paul Love Levers in silver, a silver 1 1/8th King head set, (or equivalent), and a silver seat collar. Finally, I have a first gen (silver, natch!) XTR 180mm crankset, courtesy of the same Grannygear, which will be paired with either a black ring or silver ring. OR- I will get a White Industries crankset in silver.

Maybe I should go all White Industries/Paul Components. Get the White Industries head set, crank set, and the Paul levers and brake calipers. Ditch the Thomson post for a Paul Components Tall and Handsome, maybe... Except those parts are priced beyond what the Gross National Product of several nations is. Yeah.......maybe not!

The point is, with some silver bottle cages, I would be all silver and black then, and the bike would finally look 'right', ya know? OR- I could just shut up and actually, ya know.......go ride some single track with it already! 

 Yeah. Going riding then........

Blackbuck Report

So back on October 1st I wrote about the upgraded Blackbuck. I mentioned that I wanted to get out and ride it after that, and well........I did. 

Once.

But knowing that bike like I do, I knew right off how good- or how bad- it was. There really are no surprises anymore with that bike. But there are things you might forget, and then be reminded of, after such a long time off the bike.

Things like how stiff that chassis is, or how a Thomson post is pretty unforgiving. I'd kind of forgotten how a steeper head angle worked with a long- for today's standards- stem. But those things came back to me and then were immediately familiar. I was just out for a cruise. I wasn't trying to rip-roar as fast as I could go. Besides, it was wet and the mud made things loose and sketchy. Wet leaves made for treacherous corners. No need to go and remind myself of what happens when you tempt fate in such conditions. Been there- done that.

I don't know what I expected. The wheels were......fine. No big deal. The White Industries bits worked. Just like they would, ya know. So, nothing Earth-shattering here, just a ramble on an old friend of a bike I've had for years. In fact, I found I missed this old thing. I was envisioning more single track rides and where I could go to test my legs on this bike. That's a good sign and I am glad that this bike is up and running again.

This was right about the time when Winter arrested Fall and held it hostage.

One thing I had forgotten about this bike. That is that it has the original style Avid BB-7's. You can tell when you get these by the calipers and the adjuster knobs. The adjusters are different. They do not have the Torx fitting in the center. The calipers are one piece. Not split and bolted together like all the ones you've probably seen all your life. These Avid BB-7's are fundamentally different than subsequent issues of this model. My calipers are vintage 2003, so you have to go pretty far back to find these. And.....you should. They are fantastic. They make newer BB-7's feel like junk.

In fact, I've heard rumors that trailsin guys seek these early BB-7's out for the one piece caliper design because of their superior clamping power. All I know is that paired with my Avid long pull levers from the mid-90's, these brakes have hydraulic power and feel. These are better than 90% of the hydraulic brakes I've ever used on flat bar MTB's. It doesn't hurt that these were the OG brakes on my 2003 Karate Monkey, which I moved to my first Inbred, and ultimately over to this bike. So, we have history.

One of these days I want to transition the off-color bits to silver or red anodized parts so I will eventually have a bike that looks like it makes sense visually. That said, this bike makes a ton of sense on trails, so I won't be making any radical component changes at all.

Blackbuck Report

So back on October 1st I wrote about the upgraded Blackbuck. I mentioned that I wanted to get out and ride it after that, and well........I did. 

Once.

But knowing that bike like I do, I knew right off how good- or how bad- it was. There really are no surprises anymore with that bike. But there are things you might forget, and then be reminded of, after such a long time off the bike.

Things like how stiff that chassis is, or how a Thomson post is pretty unforgiving. I'd kind of forgotten how a steeper head angle worked with a long- for today's standards- stem. But those things came back to me and then were immediately familiar. I was just out for a cruise. I wasn't trying to rip-roar as fast as I could go. Besides, it was wet and the mud made things loose and sketchy. Wet leaves made for treacherous corners. No need to go and remind myself of what happens when you tempt fate in such conditions. Been there- done that.

I don't know what I expected. The wheels were......fine. No big deal. The White Industries bits worked. Just like they would, ya know. So, nothing Earth-shattering here, just a ramble on an old friend of a bike I've had for years. In fact, I found I missed this old thing. I was envisioning more single track rides and where I could go to test my legs on this bike. That's a good sign and I am glad that this bike is up and running again.

This was right about the time when Winter arrested Fall and held it hostage.

One thing I had forgotten about this bike. That is that it has the original style Avid BB-7's. You can tell when you get these by the calipers and the adjuster knobs. The adjusters are different. They do not have the Torx fitting in the center. The calipers are one piece. Not split and bolted together like all the ones you've probably seen all your life. These Avid BB-7's are fundamentally different than subsequent issues of this model. My calipers are vintage 2003, so you have to go pretty far back to find these. And.....you should. They are fantastic. They make newer BB-7's feel like junk.

In fact, I've heard rumors that trailsin guys seek these early BB-7's out for the one piece caliper design because of their superior clamping power. All I know is that paired with my Avid long pull levers from the mid-90's, these brakes have hydraulic power and feel. These are better than 90% of the hydraulic brakes I've ever used on flat bar MTB's. It doesn't hurt that these were the OG brakes on my 2003 Karate Monkey, which I moved to my first Inbred, and ultimately over to this bike. So, we have history.

One of these days I want to transition the off-color bits to silver or red anodized parts so I will eventually have a bike that looks like it makes sense visually. That said, this bike makes a ton of sense on trails, so I won't be making any radical component changes at all.

Wide Gliders Part 2

The OS Bikes Blackbuck with the "new" wheels.

Well, this has been a crazy beginning to the week. I had plumbing issues (resolved) and a car to get serviced, plus I had to commute by bike after the car was dropped off and to go get it. Then.....well, you get the picture. It was one of those busy days which left very little time for bicycle stuff.

This did leave me time to finish the wheels and get rotors, tires, and a freewheel mounted to the rear wheel. So, the Blackbuck is up and functional again. The Blackbuck may not be familiar to you, so let me give you the background on it, if you are not familiar with this model.

The Blackbuck is an OS Bikes model. The "OS" stands for "Of Spirit", for whatever that is worth to you. I think it is significant. Anyway.... The brand only had one model, the Blackbuck, and the brand only made two production runs of the Blackbuck. Mine is from the first run produced in late 2006, which came out in 2007, and that is when I got mine. OS Bikes was the brand belonging to one of Wilderness Trail Bike's founders, (WTB) Mark Slate, a Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member, designer of many famous tires and saddles, and is still working as a designer of tires and saddles to this day for WTB.

The first run of Blackbucks, as I was told, was 500 pieces. These were CroMoly steel, and were sold as either a frame set with a special, very short, very long offset fork, or as a complete with the OG Reba, which was a bit unfortunate, since by 2007 everyone was all buzzing about longer offset forks, and the original Reba still had the old 38mm offset. So, the original Blackbucks were hard to sell.

Slate made another run of these under the OS Bikes moniker around about 2010, in a different factory, with a different paint scheme from the originals. These were slightly different, had a tiny bit less tire clearance, and for whatever reason weren't quite as well liked, which I suppose had something to do with OS Bikes still running "Gen I" 29"er geometry.

The freewheel is a White Industries one as well as the hub.

So, take a look at that head angle! This looks impossibly steep these days, but let me tell you, this bike slices up twisty single track like nothing out there on today's market. The head angle is nominally 72° with a fork suspension corrected for 80mm of travel. The rigid Blackbuck fork was even more radical! With an axle to crown measurement of something like 430-ish millimeters, and an offset of 51mm, this made the head angle of the Blackbuck a super-steep 74°!

Amazingly, this was how Mark Slate liked to ride his personal Blackbuck on the super steep trails around his home in Marin County. I tried it around here- the super steep set up- and while it was blazing quick in terms of handling, it required such attention to riding that it was no fun. You had to be on your game or you were crashing. So, I ended up letting my co-worker, Joe, have the fork for his Xtra-Cycle conversion.

The Blackbuck was the bike I did my "Fork Tests" on where I ran forks from 420mm AC to 510mm AC both rigid and full suspension. My favorite fork on the bike was the one I have on it now- a Bontrager Switchblade fork with 470mm AC and 38mm offset. Another odd thing about this bike is the crank set. It is square taper, (of course), and vintage Sugino from the late 90's. I had it anodized by some local guy that was doing this back over a decade ago around here and it turned out really nice. Perfect antifreeze green! I had these little chi-chi caps made from alloy that screwed over the crank bolts from back in the 90's and I used those on there as well. Now for the weird part- they are 170mm long. Something about short cranks, 29"ers, and single speed.

So, this bike has been in and out of rotation in the stable for years. I haven't been riding it a lot over the last several years, since I have been focusing on gravel, but I love this bike. I have always just really liked how it handles single track around here. Of course, another thing I really like about it is that it is a dedicated single speed. No derailleur hangar here! Although, you could get a pinned hangar from OS Bikes and make the bike into a geared bike. I never did any of that malarkey!

One other thing this bike has, and which was a foreshadowing of the "three pack boss" idea, is the triple bosses on the down tube which were meant for a Blackburn Bomber Cage. I happen to have a Bomber Cage too. The thing is, it's tough to find a water bottle that'll fit the dang thing these days! But that is a neat feature of this bike too.

So, anyway, there are the wheels. The rear Kenda Honey Badger 2.4" tires barely clears, so I may look for a 2.25"er to put on these wider rims. If I keep this for drier rides, it'd be alright, but we'll see. I'd probably be best to switch out the rear tire. Oh! I taped these for tubeless but I stuck tubes in there for now. I need tires that are easy to get up and running after long periods of no usage. So, tubes it is.

That's a wrap on this project for now. Hopefully I can get into the woods soon and ride it.

Wide Gliders Part 2

The OS Bikes Blackbuck with the "new" wheels.

Well, this has been a crazy beginning to the week. I had plumbing issues (resolved) and a car to get serviced, plus I had to commute by bike after the car was dropped off and to go get it. Then.....well, you get the picture. It was one of those busy days which left very little time for bicycle stuff.

This did leave me time to finish the wheels and get rotors, tires, and a freewheel mounted to the rear wheel. So, the Blackbuck is up and functional again. The Blackbuck may not be familiar to you, so let me give you the background on it, if you are not familiar with this model.

The Blackbuck is an OS Bikes model. The "OS" stands for "Of Spirit", for whatever that is worth to you. I think it is significant. Anyway.... The brand only had one model, the Blackbuck, and the brand only made two production runs of the Blackbuck. Mine is from the first run produced in late 2006, which came out in 2007, and that is when I got mine. OS Bikes was the brand belonging to one of Wilderness Trail Bike's founders, (WTB) Mark Slate, a Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member, designer of many famous tires and saddles, and is still working as a designer of tires and saddles to this day for WTB.

The first run of Blackbucks, as I was told, was 500 pieces. These were CroMoly steel, and were sold as either a frame set with a special, very short, very long offset fork, or as a complete with the OG Reba, which was a bit unfortunate, since by 2007 everyone was all buzzing about longer offset forks, and the original Reba still had the old 38mm offset. So, the original Blackbucks were hard to sell.

Slate made another run of these under the OS Bikes moniker around about 2010, in a different factory, with a different paint scheme from the originals. These were slightly different, had a tiny bit less tire clearance, and for whatever reason weren't quite as well liked, which I suppose had something to do with OS Bikes still running "Gen I" 29"er geometry.

The freewheel is a White Industries one as well as the hub.

So, take a look at that head angle! This looks impossibly steep these days, but let me tell you, this bike slices up twisty single track like nothing out there on today's market. The head angle is nominally 72° with a fork suspension corrected for 80mm of travel. The rigid Blackbuck fork was even more radical! With an axle to crown measurement of something like 430-ish millimeters, and an offset of 51mm, this made the head angle of the Blackbuck a super-steep 74°!

Amazingly, this was how Mark Slate liked to ride his personal Blackbuck on the super steep trails around his home in Marin County. I tried it around here- the super steep set up- and while it was blazing quick in terms of handling, it required such attention to riding that it was no fun. You had to be on your game or you were crashing. So, I ended up letting my co-worker, Joe, have the fork for his Xtra-Cycle conversion.

The Blackbuck was the bike I did my "Fork Tests" on where I ran forks from 420mm AC to 510mm AC both rigid and full suspension. My favorite fork on the bike was the one I have on it now- a Bontrager Switchblade fork with 470mm AC and 38mm offset. Another odd thing about this bike is the crank set. It is square taper, (of course), and vintage Sugino from the late 90's. I had it anodized by some local guy that was doing this back over a decade ago around here and it turned out really nice. Perfect antifreeze green! I had these little chi-chi caps made from alloy that screwed over the crank bolts from back in the 90's and I used those on there as well. Now for the weird part- they are 170mm long. Something about short cranks, 29"ers, and single speed.

So, this bike has been in and out of rotation in the stable for years. I haven't been riding it a lot over the last several years, since I have been focusing on gravel, but I love this bike. I have always just really liked how it handles single track around here. Of course, another thing I really like about it is that it is a dedicated single speed. No derailleur hangar here! Although, you could get a pinned hangar from OS Bikes and make the bike into a geared bike. I never did any of that malarkey!

One other thing this bike has, and which was a foreshadowing of the "three pack boss" idea, is the triple bosses on the down tube which were meant for a Blackburn Bomber Cage. I happen to have a Bomber Cage too. The thing is, it's tough to find a water bottle that'll fit the dang thing these days! But that is a neat feature of this bike too.

So, anyway, there are the wheels. The rear Kenda Honey Badger 2.4" tires barely clears, so I may look for a 2.25"er to put on these wider rims. If I keep this for drier rides, it'd be alright, but we'll see. I'd probably be best to switch out the rear tire. Oh! I taped these for tubeless but I stuck tubes in there for now. I need tires that are easy to get up and running after long periods of no usage. So, tubes it is.

That's a wrap on this project for now. Hopefully I can get into the woods soon and ride it.

Wide Gliders

Apparently it is time I vacuumed the floor again.....

Lacing wheels is one of my favorite pastimes. I know....weird, huh? But I find the process to be immensely satisfying and oddly calming. There is also something really cool about taking some stainless steel wires, some aluminum nuts, and an extruded piece of aluminum and assembling those components into a nice wheel set suitable for cycling.

I know several people that have told me that they have always wanted to learn how to lace up a wheel. Well.......get to it! It isn't as intimidating a process as you might think at first glance. But I get it. I was once on the other side and had similar thoughts until my first bike shop boss walked me through the process. Once I got the hang of it, I never stopped.

There are a lot of great resources available these days to get your feet wet and try out wheel building. I highly recommend giving it a go.

Now, back to these wheels. These are the ones I've been posting about lately, and now they are all laced up and ready to be tensioned and trued up. I don't expect them to be perfect, they are made up of all used parts, for the most part. I wouldn't recommend anyone use used parts, by the way. Always use new stuff, but in this case, I wanted what I wanted and you cannot get this stuff anymore. Plus, it was all paid for. All I had to do was recycle it into something usable.

You may recall that I said I had something special up my sleeve for this wheel set. Well, this hearkens back to my White Industries XMR wheel set I built up a few years back. There I decided to lace one side of a wheel in black spokes and silver nipples, and the other side with silver spokes and black nipples, then reverse on the rear wheel. This idea turned out pretty cool, and I haven't seen anyone else doing this. There probably is something out there like it, so I don't claim to be an innovator, but I liked it so much I decided that it is my "signature build".

Well, for this particular build I did the disc side of the rear silver and the disc side of the front in black, with the non-disc side front in silver and the drive side rear in black. Black spokes got silver nipples. Since the OS Bikes Blackbuck has a hint of red in its paint scheme, I used red nipples on the silver spokes. It's hard to see in the image here, but that turned out pretty well, I think.

Next up will be finishing up the build, taping the rims for tubeless, and installing rotors, a White Industries free wheel, and a set of tires. Then I'll get the Blackbuck down and get it set up with these wheels and it'll be all good to go. Stay tuned......

Wide Gliders

Apparently it is time I vacuumed the floor again.....

Lacing wheels is one of my favorite pastimes. I know....weird, huh? But I find the process to be immensely satisfying and oddly calming. There is also something really cool about taking some stainless steel wires, some aluminum nuts, and an extruded piece of aluminum and assembling those components into a nice wheel set suitable for cycling.

I know several people that have told me that they have always wanted to learn how to lace up a wheel. Well.......get to it! It isn't as intimidating a process as you might think at first glance. But I get it. I was once on the other side and had similar thoughts until my first bike shop boss walked me through the process. Once I got the hang of it, I never stopped.

There are a lot of great resources available these days to get your feet wet and try out wheel building. I highly recommend giving it a go.

Now, back to these wheels. These are the ones I've been posting about lately, and now they are all laced up and ready to be tensioned and trued up. I don't expect them to be perfect, they are made up of all used parts, for the most part. I wouldn't recommend anyone use used parts, by the way. Always use new stuff, but in this case, I wanted what I wanted and you cannot get this stuff anymore. Plus, it was all paid for. All I had to do was recycle it into something usable.

You may recall that I said I had something special up my sleeve for this wheel set. Well, this hearkens back to my White Industries XMR wheel set I built up a few years back. There I decided to lace one side of a wheel in black spokes and silver nipples, and the other side with silver spokes and black nipples, then reverse on the rear wheel. This idea turned out pretty cool, and I haven't seen anyone else doing this. There probably is something out there like it, so I don't claim to be an innovator, but I liked it so much I decided that it is my "signature build".

Well, for this particular build I did the disc side of the rear silver and the disc side of the front in black, with the non-disc side front in silver and the drive side rear in black. Black spokes got silver nipples. Since the OS Bikes Blackbuck has a hint of red in its paint scheme, I used red nipples on the silver spokes. It's hard to see in the image here, but that turned out pretty well, I think.

Next up will be finishing up the build, taping the rims for tubeless, and installing rotors, a White Industries free wheel, and a set of tires. Then I'll get the Blackbuck down and get it set up with these wheels and it'll be all good to go. Stay tuned......

Washed Out

The old nipples must go!

Well........that sucked! I woke up at 5:00am Saturday morning, checked the radar, and the bad news was plain to see. The Geezer Ride wasn't going to be in the cards for me. Heavy rain, lightning, and cool temperatures are not a mix that makes for a fun ride.

It rained here till around 11:00am and then it spit, spewed.....showered? Whatever you want to call it. It did that for a few more hours on top of it all. That was Saturday. I did not deign to throw a leg over a bike. Then Sunday was perfect.....of course, as I had other obligations.

So, once past a minor plumbing issue on Sunday afternoon, (Have I mentioned I hate plumbing issues?), I sat myself down and finished unlacing an old wheel and then lacing that rim back up with the old White Industries ENO hub I mentioned here last week. I managed to scare up enough spare bits and bobbins to get the job done. Well......the rear wheel. The front I haven't started on yet.

Fall weather looks to have settled in here and the next few days should provide opportunities to get out on the bike. I am very hopeful of that, as missing riding this weekend was tough on me. Not only that, but the end of season reviewing game is ramping up once again. Playing against what the weather may do in late October and early November is dicey. The whole season may shut down in mid-November or I may be riding into December.

And I have wheels to finish building.

Washed Out

The old nipples must go!

Well........that sucked! I woke up at 5:00am Saturday morning, checked the radar, and the bad news was plain to see. The Geezer Ride wasn't going to be in the cards for me. Heavy rain, lightning, and cool temperatures are not a mix that makes for a fun ride.

It rained here till around 11:00am and then it spit, spewed.....showered? Whatever you want to call it. It did that for a few more hours on top of it all. That was Saturday. I did not deign to throw a leg over a bike. Then Sunday was perfect.....of course, as I had other obligations.

So, once past a minor plumbing issue on Sunday afternoon, (Have I mentioned I hate plumbing issues?), I sat myself down and finished unlacing an old wheel and then lacing that rim back up with the old White Industries ENO hub I mentioned here last week. I managed to scare up enough spare bits and bobbins to get the job done. Well......the rear wheel. The front I haven't started on yet.

Fall weather looks to have settled in here and the next few days should provide opportunities to get out on the bike. I am very hopeful of that, as missing riding this weekend was tough on me. Not only that, but the end of season reviewing game is ramping up once again. Playing against what the weather may do in late October and early November is dicey. The whole season may shut down in mid-November or I may be riding into December.

And I have wheels to finish building.

Friday News And Views

Spotted Horse This Weekend:

The big event on gravel for Iowa in Fall is now the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra. It is slated to go off this weekend. The event is put on by Sarah Cooper with help from some fine Iowa gravel folks like Steve Fuller and others. Basically the same bunch that do Iowa Wind & Rock in April.

The events are pretty much take-offs on the Trans Iowa model with self-navigation, self-support, and long distances the main features. Sarah is based in Madison County so most of what they do is West and South of there. (Read: very hilly and remote for Iowa)

This weekend may prove to be pretty challenging with rain in the forecast for Saturday and what with the several days of soaking rains we've had previously to this weekend. Sarah likes her dirt roads down there, so I am thinking it is going to prove to be a big bite to chew on for all involved.

It's been fun to follow along on Facebook as far as folks getting wigged out about the weather and seeing the things Sarah has been juggling in regard to directing things. Ah!......the memories! On one hand I can certainly sympathize, on the other, I am blessed not to have to go through that anymore. Hopefully the weather folk are all wrong about the rain and things go off unhindered by weather. But if not, I hope everyone stays safe and good times are had. Those times when things aren't according to plan are usually the best memories later, but also may be the most stressful when they are being made too!

Geezer Ride: Cresco-

And.......yeah! It's supposed to rain up in the Cresco area as well. I don't know what will happen for certain, but the plan is for me to make my way up there regardless, and if it looks bad, I suppose there will be a call made.

This one isn't being organized by me, so my best advice would be to pay attention to the Facebook Page for the event and monitor that for any announcements that may or may not be made there. Cresco Bikes is this Geezer Ride's official host, so they get to make the call, not I. So, being that I am the instigator of these Geezer Rides, I gotta go there, but you should keep an eye out on the weather.

As I wrote yesterday, it seems that this Fall is quickly becoming one that will be dominated by rains, wet grounds, and some flooding. Great..... The best season to ride and it looks to be getting squashed for the second year in a row now. I sure hope this pattern breaks down soon and that we can get into another dry stretch, because I am sick and tired of all the wet weather now. If you are from the Southeast, you probably are hoping for a change as well, only it isn't due to rain. No......they are getting roasted down that way. 

Old single speed stuff about to be reborn.

Two Old Hubs, Two Old Rims, 64 New Spokes = New Wheels:

Earlier this year, (I think it was), I posted here that my friend Grannygear had bequeathed to me a bunch of single speed stuff he had no use for anymore. Part of that treasure was a set of White Industries ENO hubs. They used to be on Granny's old Karate Monkey back in the day.  

These hubs had seen a lot of grinding in SoCal dust over the years, so when I got them they were dingy, dull, and the rear bearings were ......ah....less than smooth, shall we say? Yeah. They needed replacement.  With gravel season coming on I sat these aside and gave it some time to simmer on the brain. Then I came across my old set of Hope Pro 3/Salsa Gordo wheels. The free hub pawls shelled out on that hub and I had zero luck here in the US getting a replacement free hub body. So, those went on the back burner long ago. Well, when I found them languishing in the corner of the Lab, I had a thought. Let's unlace those Hope hubs, clean up and freshen up the White Industries hubs, and lace up a killer set of QR single speed wheels.

I looked up how to service the White Industries ENO rear hub, and it looked easy enough. The bearings would have to be ordered, and then I could pop those back in. But then I discovered something under a pile of crap in the bottom of my work tool cabinet. It was a tandem specific rear White Industries hub which had a defect. Seems the hub shell was polished just a wee bit too much and there was a crack in the middle of the hub shell which when the hub was torqued, it distorted the hub shell, revealing the crack. The wheel was warranted, I cut the old hub out, since no one wanted it, and saved it for.......

Well, I had no idea why I saved it, but guess what? It had the exact bearings I needed. Boom! Swap-a-roonie, and I had a freshened ENO rear hub ready to roll. Now I have one rim freed from its grip to the Hope hub it was laced to and one more to free up. Then it's build wheels time. Hopefully that will happen this weekend.

This new wheel set will go on my OS Bikes Blackbuck, a bike I have to get up and running again. The Gordo rims are the forerunners of the "wider-is-better" trend in the MTB world and are 35mm outer rim width. I had these on the Blackbuck once before and it made for a stellar combination of rigid bike and cushy wheels. I have something special in mind when I lace these hubs up, so stay tuned.....

That's a wrap for this week. As always- Thank You For Reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

Spotted Horse This Weekend:

The big event on gravel for Iowa in Fall is now the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra. It is slated to go off this weekend. The event is put on by Sarah Cooper with help from some fine Iowa gravel folks like Steve Fuller and others. Basically the same bunch that do Iowa Wind & Rock in April.

The events are pretty much take-offs on the Trans Iowa model with self-navigation, self-support, and long distances the main features. Sarah is based in Madison County so most of what they do is West and South of there. (Read: very hilly and remote for Iowa)

This weekend may prove to be pretty challenging with rain in the forecast for Saturday and what with the several days of soaking rains we've had previously to this weekend. Sarah likes her dirt roads down there, so I am thinking it is going to prove to be a big bite to chew on for all involved.

It's been fun to follow along on Facebook as far as folks getting wigged out about the weather and seeing the things Sarah has been juggling in regard to directing things. Ah!......the memories! On one hand I can certainly sympathize, on the other, I am blessed not to have to go through that anymore. Hopefully the weather folk are all wrong about the rain and things go off unhindered by weather. But if not, I hope everyone stays safe and good times are had. Those times when things aren't according to plan are usually the best memories later, but also may be the most stressful when they are being made too!

Geezer Ride: Cresco-

And.......yeah! It's supposed to rain up in the Cresco area as well. I don't know what will happen for certain, but the plan is for me to make my way up there regardless, and if it looks bad, I suppose there will be a call made.

This one isn't being organized by me, so my best advice would be to pay attention to the Facebook Page for the event and monitor that for any announcements that may or may not be made there. Cresco Bikes is this Geezer Ride's official host, so they get to make the call, not I. So, being that I am the instigator of these Geezer Rides, I gotta go there, but you should keep an eye out on the weather.

As I wrote yesterday, it seems that this Fall is quickly becoming one that will be dominated by rains, wet grounds, and some flooding. Great..... The best season to ride and it looks to be getting squashed for the second year in a row now. I sure hope this pattern breaks down soon and that we can get into another dry stretch, because I am sick and tired of all the wet weather now. If you are from the Southeast, you probably are hoping for a change as well, only it isn't due to rain. No......they are getting roasted down that way. 

Old single speed stuff about to be reborn.

Two Old Hubs, Two Old Rims, 64 New Spokes = New Wheels:

Earlier this year, (I think it was), I posted here that my friend Grannygear had bequeathed to me a bunch of single speed stuff he had no use for anymore. Part of that treasure was a set of White Industries ENO hubs. They used to be on Granny's old Karate Monkey back in the day.  

These hubs had seen a lot of grinding in SoCal dust over the years, so when I got them they were dingy, dull, and the rear bearings were ......ah....less than smooth, shall we say? Yeah. They needed replacement.  With gravel season coming on I sat these aside and gave it some time to simmer on the brain. Then I came across my old set of Hope Pro 3/Salsa Gordo wheels. The free hub pawls shelled out on that hub and I had zero luck here in the US getting a replacement free hub body. So, those went on the back burner long ago. Well, when I found them languishing in the corner of the Lab, I had a thought. Let's unlace those Hope hubs, clean up and freshen up the White Industries hubs, and lace up a killer set of QR single speed wheels.

I looked up how to service the White Industries ENO rear hub, and it looked easy enough. The bearings would have to be ordered, and then I could pop those back in. But then I discovered something under a pile of crap in the bottom of my work tool cabinet. It was a tandem specific rear White Industries hub which had a defect. Seems the hub shell was polished just a wee bit too much and there was a crack in the middle of the hub shell which when the hub was torqued, it distorted the hub shell, revealing the crack. The wheel was warranted, I cut the old hub out, since no one wanted it, and saved it for.......

Well, I had no idea why I saved it, but guess what? It had the exact bearings I needed. Boom! Swap-a-roonie, and I had a freshened ENO rear hub ready to roll. Now I have one rim freed from its grip to the Hope hub it was laced to and one more to free up. Then it's build wheels time. Hopefully that will happen this weekend.

This new wheel set will go on my OS Bikes Blackbuck, a bike I have to get up and running again. The Gordo rims are the forerunners of the "wider-is-better" trend in the MTB world and are 35mm outer rim width. I had these on the Blackbuck once before and it made for a stellar combination of rigid bike and cushy wheels. I have something special in mind when I lace these hubs up, so stay tuned.....

That's a wrap for this week. As always- Thank You For Reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Bikes Of 2017: Raleigh Tamland 2

It is that time of year when I start reviewing the bikes that got me through 2017. Many of these bikes have been tweaked and changed so I will talk about that and why they were important to me this past year.

Yep, another familiar face here. The Raleigh Tamland 2 has been a good rig for me over the years. I was amused recently when one of you commented here that the only thing original to the bike anymore is the frame and fork. Well, you could be forgiven for thinking as much, but while that is close, it isn't quite the case.

Just for the record, the frame, fork, head set, bottom bracket, crankset, seat post, and rear derailleur are still stock on this bike. That's not much, granted, but it is a fair amount of the original build! I still have the wheels and I still have the original brakes. I still have the original saddle also.

Speaking of saddles....I finally got what I needed on there after fiddling around with other saddles for a couple of years. The WTB Pure, (Pure V originally), is the bomb for my behind. Love that saddle. Now that this conundrum has been solved, I don't really need anything else different here.

Changes recently have been the Gevenalle HYDRAULIC brake system and the Ritchey Venturemax bar. These items were added as test items for review on RidingGravel.com and have been so good they are staying on long term. The brakes also changed up my shifting to the excellent Gevenalle system which also includes the Burd front derailleur. The shifting is so light and precise it is uncanny, and that system is nearly indestructible.

Finally the tires and wheels. I built up these White Industries/WTB i25 KOM wheels last year and these have been awesome wheels. I should build up another set just because. Anyway, I got to test these Trans Iowa inspired treads from WTB, the Resolutes, and they are fantastic on this bike.