Single Speed Century: The Rig Is Ready

So, now that I have a modicum of a chance to physically do a century again, and now that my rig has proper tires and wheels on it, I am ready to set sail for 100 miles of single speed gravel travel. I thought I would share the details of the rig I am using before I head out on this deal.

The single speed I chose to use is the Pofahl custom bike I had made ten years ago. You long time blog readers need no introduction to this one. It has already been on a century gravel ride before, so I know it will be a comfortable, capable bike for this trip.

I did make a couple of modifications to the usual Pofahl set up here though. The wheels and tires are completely different here. While the wheels are still Industry 9 hubs and spokes, the rims are Bontrager Duster TLR rims. The rear hub is single speed specific one in black ano and a few years newer than the one I have on there usually which is kind of orangey-bronze and was a 2006 model single speed specific hub.

The tires are new Donnelly MSO 50mm with the old Clement hot patch on there. These are tubeless ready versions too, and as such, they are a beefier tire than the Sparwoods or the Cazadero 50mm tires I've tried out. In fact, they weighed a hefty 750 grams each on my Park digital scale of Doom. That's heavy.......or is it? There are "tough" tires and then there are fast, supple tires. You usually do not get both. For instance, the aforementioned Sparwoods are designed to be extra tough, they are heavier, (700-ish grams in 60TPI), and they have a puncture protection belt under the tread (60TPI versions), which makes them ride stiffer too.The Caz's, on the other hand, are light, (530 grams), and paper thin. They do not hold air as well either due to this. Fragile? Yes- likely they are. 

All set and ready to roll now.

I've got a lot more to say about all that, but that's all coming up in a tire review soon, so stay tuned. For now I am just sticking to the changes to the Pofahl. One other change was to add a partial set up of the Bar Yak system on there to hold my cues. I may try turn-by-turn directions with my Lezyne Super GPS if I can figure it out in time. Then there are lights, because, well, Late Fall, that's why!

The Lezyne light and the modified Bar Yak system for cues. I may add an accessory bar.

So, I have this Lezyne light which I mentioned a week ago or so here. It is plenty bright at the middle setting which yields 9-ish hours of light. I won't need that long a run time, but I figure on starting in the dark, at least.

The tail light will just be an ordinary Bontrager cheapo unit. Battery operated. Old school. Out on the gravel it should show up just fine. Again, I doubt that I will be in the dark all that long on this run. Hopefully I also will get done before sundown.

So, that's basically it. It's all set up and all I have to do is to get the map tweaked out to actually be 100 miles. Right now it is a little short. The route will be mostly single speed friendly and I have towns to go get things out there. It won't be the most scenic route, or the toughest, but it will be a gravel century. Hopefully I can get this knocked out yet this month. That's the plan. Then if I am successful I will look at the next century plan, a reprise of the Fat Bike Century.

Single Speed Century: The Rig Is Ready

So, now that I have a modicum of a chance to physically do a century again, and now that my rig has proper tires and wheels on it, I am ready to set sail for 100 miles of single speed gravel travel. I thought I would share the details of the rig I am using before I head out on this deal.

The single speed I chose to use is the Pofahl custom bike I had made ten years ago. You long time blog readers need no introduction to this one. It has already been on a century gravel ride before, so I know it will be a comfortable, capable bike for this trip.

I did make a couple of modifications to the usual Pofahl set up here though. The wheels and tires are completely different here. While the wheels are still Industry 9 hubs and spokes, the rims are Bontrager Duster TLR rims. The rear hub is single speed specific one in black ano and a few years newer than the one I have on there usually which is kind of orangey-bronze and was a 2006 model single speed specific hub.

The tires are new Donnelly MSO 50mm with the old Clement hot patch on there. These are tubeless ready versions too, and as such, they are a beefier tire than the Sparwoods or the Cazadero 50mm tires I've tried out. In fact, they weighed a hefty 750 grams each on my Park digital scale of Doom. That's heavy.......or is it? There are "tough" tires and then there are fast, supple tires. You usually do not get both. For instance, the aforementioned Sparwoods are designed to be extra tough, they are heavier, (700-ish grams in 60TPI), and they have a puncture protection belt under the tread (60TPI versions), which makes them ride stiffer too.The Caz's, on the other hand, are light, (530 grams), and paper thin. They do not hold air as well either due to this. Fragile? Yes- likely they are. 

All set and ready to roll now.

I've got a lot more to say about all that, but that's all coming up in a tire review soon, so stay tuned. For now I am just sticking to the changes to the Pofahl. One other change was to add a partial set up of the Bar Yak system on there to hold my cues. I may try turn-by-turn directions with my Lezyne Super GPS if I can figure it out in time. Then there are lights, because, well, Late Fall, that's why!

The Lezyne light and the modified Bar Yak system for cues. I may add an accessory bar.

So, I have this Lezyne light which I mentioned a week ago or so here. It is plenty bright at the middle setting which yields 9-ish hours of light. I won't need that long a run time, but I figure on starting in the dark, at least.

The tail light will just be an ordinary Bontrager cheapo unit. Battery operated. Old school. Out on the gravel it should show up just fine. Again, I doubt that I will be in the dark all that long on this run. Hopefully I also will get done before sundown.

So, that's basically it. It's all set up and all I have to do is to get the map tweaked out to actually be 100 miles. Right now it is a little short. The route will be mostly single speed friendly and I have towns to go get things out there. It won't be the most scenic route, or the toughest, but it will be a gravel century. Hopefully I can get this knocked out yet this month. That's the plan. Then if I am successful I will look at the next century plan, a reprise of the Fat Bike Century.

WW4M: Planet Bike Grateful Red

Clever name- Bang for the buck

WW4M stands for "What Works For Me". This is a review of a product I found extremely useful, that lives up to its billing, and provides a good value. Your mileage may vary.

 The cycling world is full of red blinky devices that are designed to warn of your presence on bike paths, roads, and on trails whether it is dark or not. So, when another light hits the market, it gets a "ho-hum" response. I mean.....how many different models of blinky tail lights do we really need? 

The red blinker market has some pretty heavy hitters that have the latest in LED emitters, high Lumen out put, and recharge via USB ports, since, ya know, everybody lives and rides near a computer, right? You'd think so anyway.

The Planet Bike company doesn't seem to think so, and felt that maybe not everybody would pony up for $25.00-$60.00 rear blinkies. So, they introduced the "Grateful Red" tail light. Planet Bike has always had some pretty decent rear blinkies all along, so I had big expectations for this cleverly named light. Here's the spew from their site:

• PB power array™ and reflector provide visibility for up to 1 mile
• Steady, Superflash™ and Courtesy™ flash modes
• Ultra compact case is weatherproof, lightweight, and durable
• Rear rack and seat post mounts included
• Up to 150 hours of run time on 2 AAA batteries (included)
• 85 grams 

Okay, so what are these three trademarked "modes" all about? Steady is self explanatory, and may seem useless, but here's something I've found that may make you think twice about that. I have found that at night, many times if I use a steady light, vehicles coming from behind give you a wider berth, because they don't know if you are a vehicle with a tail light out, a motorcycle, or a cyclist until they get closer to you. By then, they've committed to giving me more room. Try it out....

The Grateful Red comes with a nice mount, or you can clip it on a strap

The "Superflash" mode is a blinkie on meth, crazy pattern, that makes me go nuts just looking at it. Want to tick off your riding buddies? This is your mode. I'm not into it, but it may be just what you are looking for.

The "Courtesy Mode" is what I ended up using almost all the time. It is a mode that melds a steady light with an "on-off", slow, soft glowing that I found pleasant, and resulted in much more courteous passing by motorists during my Winter commutes. It was definitely a noticeable thing, as I found out if I left it off, the cars were passing me much closer, as usual without a light, than if I had the light on Courtesy Mode".

Okay, so what else? It's a replaceable battery powered light, isn't that a bad thing? I don't know.......is it? Get some rechargeable AAA's and go with that then. My take is that if the light goes dim or quits, I probably will not be around a computer, or I won't have time to sit and wait for however many minutes or hours that an LED light that recharges via USB would take to recharge. Batteries? A few minutes or less, swap out two batteries, done for another 150 hours of use. Sounds good to me. Plus, if you ride any all-nighters or do lots of long distance, "out there" type of stuff, packing two triple "A"'s isn't  a big deal, and you don't have to try to find a computer to recharge your "device light".

UPDATE: A friend gently reminded me about rechargeable power packs and that those could be used as a way to extend a USB rechargeable blinky's battery in a pinch. Okay, but that's really not much different than swapping batteries, only batteries work right away. Plus, batteries, and the Grateful Red light, cost a lot less. Still, that's a great point and a viable way to go.

My only quibble is that the clip, like so many LED blinky light clips, isn't very "clampy", and I ended up losing my Grateful Red just yesterday somewhere. The thing is, the MSRP is $19.99, so I'm not out a lot for replacing it.

And trust me, I am replacing this one. It's a good little blinky for not a lot of cabbage.

Planet Bike provided the Grateful Red used in this review at no charge. I was not paid nor bribed for this review, and I really am going to buy another one to replace the one I lost. So there!

WW4M: Planet Bike Grateful Red

Clever name- Bang for the buck

WW4M stands for "What Works For Me". This is a review of a product I found extremely useful, that lives up to its billing, and provides a good value. Your mileage may vary.

 The cycling world is full of red blinky devices that are designed to warn of your presence on bike paths, roads, and on trails whether it is dark or not. So, when another light hits the market, it gets a "ho-hum" response. I mean.....how many different models of blinky tail lights do we really need? 

The red blinker market has some pretty heavy hitters that have the latest in LED emitters, high Lumen out put, and recharge via USB ports, since, ya know, everybody lives and rides near a computer, right? You'd think so anyway.

The Planet Bike company doesn't seem to think so, and felt that maybe not everybody would pony up for $25.00-$60.00 rear blinkies. So, they introduced the "Grateful Red" tail light. Planet Bike has always had some pretty decent rear blinkies all along, so I had big expectations for this cleverly named light. Here's the spew from their site:

• PB power array™ and reflector provide visibility for up to 1 mile
• Steady, Superflash™ and Courtesy™ flash modes
• Ultra compact case is weatherproof, lightweight, and durable
• Rear rack and seat post mounts included
• Up to 150 hours of run time on 2 AAA batteries (included)
• 85 grams 

Okay, so what are these three trademarked "modes" all about? Steady is self explanatory, and may seem useless, but here's something I've found that may make you think twice about that. I have found that at night, many times if I use a steady light, vehicles coming from behind give you a wider berth, because they don't know if you are a vehicle with a tail light out, a motorcycle, or a cyclist until they get closer to you. By then, they've committed to giving me more room. Try it out....

The Grateful Red comes with a nice mount, or you can clip it on a strap

The "Superflash" mode is a blinkie on meth, crazy pattern, that makes me go nuts just looking at it. Want to tick off your riding buddies? This is your mode. I'm not into it, but it may be just what you are looking for.

The "Courtesy Mode" is what I ended up using almost all the time. It is a mode that melds a steady light with an "on-off", slow, soft glowing that I found pleasant, and resulted in much more courteous passing by motorists during my Winter commutes. It was definitely a noticeable thing, as I found out if I left it off, the cars were passing me much closer, as usual without a light, than if I had the light on Courtesy Mode".

Okay, so what else? It's a replaceable battery powered light, isn't that a bad thing? I don't know.......is it? Get some rechargeable AAA's and go with that then. My take is that if the light goes dim or quits, I probably will not be around a computer, or I won't have time to sit and wait for however many minutes or hours that an LED light that recharges via USB would take to recharge. Batteries? A few minutes or less, swap out two batteries, done for another 150 hours of use. Sounds good to me. Plus, if you ride any all-nighters or do lots of long distance, "out there" type of stuff, packing two triple "A"'s isn't  a big deal, and you don't have to try to find a computer to recharge your "device light".

UPDATE: A friend gently reminded me about rechargeable power packs and that those could be used as a way to extend a USB rechargeable blinky's battery in a pinch. Okay, but that's really not much different than swapping batteries, only batteries work right away. Plus, batteries, and the Grateful Red light, cost a lot less. Still, that's a great point and a viable way to go.

My only quibble is that the clip, like so many LED blinky light clips, isn't very "clampy", and I ended up losing my Grateful Red just yesterday somewhere. The thing is, the MSRP is $19.99, so I'm not out a lot for replacing it.

And trust me, I am replacing this one. It's a good little blinky for not a lot of cabbage.

Planet Bike provided the Grateful Red used in this review at no charge. I was not paid nor bribed for this review, and I really am going to buy another one to replace the one I lost. So there!