Scott’s new bar bag…
I guess my white Porcelain Rocket bikepacking bag bling was so hot Scott decided to make some for himself.
Scott’s pimped out Hunter 29er…
He works incredibly hard making bags for other cyclists so he deserves to rock some sweet gear himself. I think he’s showing some restraint by keeping his old black frame bag.
A lovely white seatbag…
Fresh bikepacking gear looks silly. Time to get that stuff dirty!
The plan…
The plan was to ride our bikepacking rigs from Lake Cowichcan along the Trans Canada Trail to an abandoned mining town called Leech Town. This is shown on the map above in green. This would allow us to jump on the Galloping Goose Trail just below Leechtown and ride home 90% on gravel/dirt. Even more importantly this would give us a critical link in an ambitious Gravel Pimp route that would ride the whole of Vancouver Island from top to bottom. The problem with our little slice of paradise is that it’s a narrow island with mountains that funnel you along certain routes whether they are going the way you want or not. So an efficient dirt route from Lake Cowichan to Victoria would be key for further exportation northwards.
What actually happened – click for larger version…
Things did not go as planned and I am sad to say we ended the day with 170kms on the GPS and no dirt route home…=-( What I can say is we tried really hard, but were denied at every turn! Don’t let anyone tell you the life of a Gravel Pimp is all professional photographers, diamond studded water bottles and bikini clad ladies. It ain’t true!
Staying toasty by the fire…
Sharon was kind enough to drive Scott and I out to the Municipal Campground at Lake Cowichan. The place was almost empty this early in the year so we grabbed a spot by the lake and lit a fire to hang out at while we drank some beer and solved all the problems in the bike industry!
Scott’s narrow room with a view…
Scott has a luxurious 1 man tent that packs up small.
Garbage bag with a view…
My bivy sack packs small, but isn’t very luxurious.
Scott’s Rick Hunter 29er…
Scott always manages to pack more gear into less space on his bike and have it all look so tight.
My Scandal 29er…
I’ve got half the stuff and my bike looks like it’s bulging everywhere it can…=-)
Excited to start the pimping…
We rode into Lake Cowichan and found the local grocery store was open early. Surprisingly it had excellent espresso which got us off on the right foot. Next up was getting on the Trans Canada Trail [known as the Cowichan Valley Trail to the locals].
This is what we came for…
The riding was sublime. Gorgeous country to ride through – easy rail grade undulations and nobody else in sight.
Pumpkin Pimping…
Several wooden bridges along the way gave us great views of fast running creeks.
Warming up…
The trail varied from dirt to gravel and back with wide open sections and narrow overgrown bits.
oh yeah!
It was so nice we let our guards down and the smack-down that happened later in the day took us by surprise.
Adding a bit of air for faster rolling…
We were on the trail early and cranking along at a good clip. So good that it seemed sure I’d be home to watch the hockey game in the early afternoon.
Kinesol Trestle…
The Kinesol Trestle is an impressive structure. The highest wooden trestle in Canada apparently. I kind of wished we had spent more time there to photograph it, but some times I feel like a slacker and sometimes I feel like I was born to ride. On this day I had ants in my pants!
Cruising the Kinesol Trestle…
South of the trestle we had another pretty chill section of gravel to pimp. Chit chatting and laughing our way along the route little did we know of our impending doom.
Stopping for a snack…
Peperoni, gummy bears, granola bars, M&M’s…you name it – we ate it!
Scott admiring his handiwork…
As we reached the end of the Trans Canada Trail we had a short 15km section of route finding we needed to do so we could link up with the north end of the Galloping Goose Trail.
WTF?
Back in Calgary Glenmore Reservoir is part of the city’s water supply. You can’t swim or let your dogs thrash around in it, but nobody cares if you walk, run or bike around it. So when we saw that the lake we needed to skirt on our connector was part of the city of Victoria’s water supply we figured they wouldn’t let you through with an oil tanker, but we didn’t think the would mind us pedalling through.
Scott assuming “the” position!
We were wrong. So wrong. Like Totally wrong. I figured even with a locked gate we could sneak past on bikes, but that was simply not going happen when we reach the DMZ.
Take no prisoners….
Scott wasn’t about to let a sniper in a guard tower and 2 dobermans stop him. He launched over the fence and asked me to throw him the Hunter. Before I could a black van rolls up and 6 masked security thugs jump out. Scott levelled 3 of them with his Porcelain Rocket Kung Fu, but the other 3 and the 2 dogs took him down in an EPIC bitch slap. At least when they threw him back over the fence I was able to catch him to stop further injury.
Happier times…
I didn’t have painkillers or a first aid kit so I treated Scott’s wound’s with gummy bears. They seemed to do the trick!
Time to work on Plan B…
We just didn’t have the firepower to break through the DMZ’s defensive perimeter. So we could either give up and go home or explore the missing map section and hope to find a route around the DMZ back to Leech Town. Battered and bleeding Scott would not give up so we headed north to loop around the DMZ [shown in pink on the maps above].
Logging road pimping…
This meant a significant amount of backtracking along the TCT, but the sun was shining and the skies were blue so our spirits were high. If you look at the map towards the top of this post showing our actual route the red line that heads south and stops is the start of the DMZ. The red line that heads west is our attempt to loop back around the DMZ, but as you can see there wasn’t much looping going on. Eventually after some brutally hot dusty climbing we realized that finding a way around was unlikely. If we had a topo map of the area our decision would have been more solid, but sadly I left that critical bit of the map book at home.
Lots of dead ends explored…
The valley we were in headed directly west towards Port Renfrew which would have got us home, but not without another night of camping. So it was time to turn back. Although that meant another round of backtracking it was beautiful country with very few encounters with other humans. Exactly what a Gravel Pimp craves.
It’s not hard to enjoy this…
As my trip computer on the GPS was climbing towards 100kms I was starting to realize that there was no way to make this a quick ride home.
Checking out a clear cut…
My bike was working well. I had added a longer stem for a stretched out position and the Porcelain Rocket bags allowed me to ride without having to accomodate my camping gear and food. So a few more hours in the saddle seemed like reasonable proposition.
Time for a soda break…
We hit 100kms as we reached pavement again. Our options now were either head for the Mill Bay Ferry and then ride down the quiet west side of the Sannich Peninsula or climb the heights of the Malahat with traffic roaring all around us and next to no shoulder.
Hmmmm?
We went with the ferry option as Plan C. On our way we stopped for a cold soda break. I gapped that the seasons were changing so my only top was a long sleeve wool zip neck. That would have been great 2 weeks ago, but on this hot day I was baking. Hence a cold sugary soda made me very happy.
Why is Scott angry?
Reaching the ferry should have been a happy time for us. We’d get a well deserved rest and the ride home along the far shore was topographically unchallenging.
But….
The fine print can be a bitch…
Neither Scott or I can be called rich, but we can afford the $9.20 ferry ride from Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay. Of course having spent our last $20 cash for coffee and food we only had credit cards and bank cards. No cash and after being beaten up at the DMZ Scott wouldn’t let me pimp him out to ferry passengers for a free ride.
So that left the Malahat. **sigh**
A little ‘schwacking…
To get to the Malahat we had to grind up a long hot steep climb from the ferry terminal and then bushwhack cross country so we could jump a concrete barrier.
Not paradise for cyclists…
All that sweat and tears got us onto a busy 4 lane highway with gnarly shoulders. The photo above is the best part and far better than most of it. Not to mention if you look at the elevation profile on the map near the top of this post that last big ass hump is what awaited us.
Did I mention it was hot and we were riding during rush hour?
**sigh**
The only good part of the Malahat was looking over and seeing some ice cold water running down the rocks next to me. I stopped and poured handful after handful of water over my head. Washed my face and gobbled everything I could find in my bar bag.
That got me psyched for the last push over the top and the uber narrow shoulder on the high speed descent down the other side.
A Gravel Pimp happy to be home…=-)
At the bottom of the Malahat we stopped for another cold soda and a couple donuts at Tim Horton’s. That gave us the energy to crank back down the Galloping Goose to home.
Ride Stats:
On the plus side we had an epic ride with great scenery and no traffic….until the Malahat! On the negative side we haven’t found a good gravel/dirt rout from up island back to Victoria.
Sharon confirming my loaded bike was indeed heavy…
A recon mission is only a failure if you don’t gather new info to plan future operations. By that standard we succeeded. We confirmed the DMZ presents an impassable obstacle and we confirmed that a reroute around isn’t’ straight forward. We also found out that if you want to ride the Mill Bay Ferry you better bring cash!
We still need a verified dirt route to Victoria so…
Until next time – live large and prosper!
Pushing Pedals Blog…
The Surly Troll is a popular 26″ bikepacking rig and some smart folks are building them up with Rohloff hubs. If you click on the images in this post you’ll be launched to other sites where you can enjoy some IGH bikepacking goodness,,,,=-)
Cass Gilbert’s Rohloff Troll…
BTW – Pushing Pedals Blog has a shout out to Porcelain Rocket that’s worth a look.
My Jonesly/Jugsley with a Jones Spaceframe...
The Jeff Jones Spaceframe mountain bike with wild truss fork is a design I’ve been keen to check out for a while. Besides the usual issues of cost and storage the Jones presents a few new problems that slow any bicycle acquisition plans:
A boy and his new bike...
As luck would have it Scott “Porcelain Rocket” Felter is even a bigger bike geek than me. So it’s not completely shocking to me that he just built up a shinny new Jones steel Spaceframe. I was very happy to hear this both because I am stoked for a buddy to get some new wheels and because I would finally get to ride a fabled Jones mountain bike and see if everything I read online was real.
What Jeff has to say about his design...
So what’s so special about a Jones Spaceframe design?
It’s too early to confirm or deny the performance claims of the Jones design, but you can agree that Jeff has built a very unique mountain bike that’s pushing the boundaries of the industry paradigm on the trails. I can also say that it’s a beautiful bike to behold in person with lovely lines and a purposeful stance.
She's a playful steed...
Once you get over the unique design you’ll rightly ask yourself what kind of riding is this bike for? Based on the limited experience I’ve had with it so far and what I’ve read about other folks’ rides online I’d characterize it as an all mountain play bike. It’s capable of rolling along smooth XC trails just fine and when the trail gets steep and techy it has the rearward weight bias, leverage at the wide bars and stiff front end to drop down anything you have the balls to try. Now it’s fully rigid – fat front not withstanding – so you will be going slow and choosing your line with care when my Nomad’s 6″ of travel wil allow it to bomb the gnar without a second thought. I don’t think that’s a better or worse option – they are just two different ways to come at a problem.
Lazy gets a spin...
Whether or not the Jones design makes sense for you will depend on where you ride and who you ride with. I don’t ride for the fastest average speed or most miles of trail complete per session. I ride to smile!
So far the Jones has been a smile factory...
Scott set his Jones up single speed with a fat front and Jones Loop H-bars to stay true to the Jones philosophy. It looks like an ideal bike for our local riding which is slow and techy with traction issues and lots of wet dirt for munching an expensive drivetrain. Scott’s a monster so there is no doubt he’ll still crush us mere mortals no matter what he rides so I’m keen to see how normal folks like Sharon, A-Man and myself fare on the Jones.
Ponesly?, Jugsley?, Jonesly?
I couldn’t help, but notice some similarities between my Pugsley and Scott’s Jones:
With a seatback seatpost [or jamming my SA saddle all the way back] to simulate the rearward weight bias of the Jones my Pugsley gets pretty close to the same numbers. The biggest difference is the Jones has lower trail than the Pugsley plus the Pug has a fat rear tire as well.
Cousins?
Before Jeff Jones sends out a hit squad to silence my heresy…;-) I am not suggesting my Pugsley is the same as a Jones. I can’t do anything about the fork offset of the Pugsley so the handling will always be different. All I am saying is that it seems possible to replicate some of the elements of the Jones design in a Pugsley to, hopefully, end up with a fun playful bike that makes a good companion for a Jones on our local trails.
Time for some Nates...
As amazing as the Jones Spaceframe & truss fork combo is the Pugsley has some advantages of its own:
Jones Loop H-bars...
You can see in the picture above how far back your hands are using the Loop H-bars vs. a flat bar or XC riser bar. This shortens your effective top tube quite a bit so you need to either buy a larger frame if you want the typical centered XC/touring body position or you need to get a setback seatpost and push your body weight further over the rear wheel. The later option allows for using both positions depending on the mission at hand. When I get a chance I’ll try the rear biased body position in sand/snow to see if less weight on the front wheel compromises the traction at that end on flat terrain. If it doesn’t that would be awesome to not have to switch back and forth.
Ramming the SA all the way back...
Without a setback seatpost the best I could do was ramming my SA saddle all the way back…sadly this bent the rails….I’m too chicken to verify how badly….hopefully I didn’t trash and expensive saddle…=-( I’ll be getting this issue sorted as soon as possible.
Scott throwing the Jones around...
Let’s face it talk is cheap…what we need is some back to back trail riding testing. Don’t worry we are happy to oblige…=-)
Dropping into the Green Machine...
The Gravel Pimps at Oak Bay Bikes Westshore...
Scott and I have been talking about getting out and doing some bikepacking on the south end of Vancouver Island, but life has been getting in the way. So we decided to make a break for it when we saw a window of good weather Monday. With both of us busy with work our departure got pushed back until 4pm. In December that would have meant a 100% night ride our first day, but just a few weeks later we still had nearly 2hrs of daylight to enjoy from the saddle. We stopped in at the Westshore location of Oak Bay Bikes just to say hi and check out what they had on the floor.
What else would I rock for bags?
It got dark soon after we left OBB on the Galloping Goose Trail. We both had about 900 lumens of LED firepower at our disposal which we didn’t use at full-power given the easy terrain and our sedate cruising speed. We wanted to hit up the 17 Mile House Pub on Hwy 14 for beers and burgers so I stopped a few times to check my iPhone. I don’t like riding with a GPS on my bars unless absolutely necessary so I had to stop and retrieve my phone each time.
Scott warming his hands...
During one of these stops I found myself at the top of a set of stairs [click here for a photo from the next day's return trip]. Scott wisely backtracked and went down the trail. I of course had to do a stupid human trick and decided to ride down the stairs. Now normally this would be no problem, but at night with a new bike loaded for the first time with gear and backpack, my weight distribution and inability to get back off the saddle because of the seatbag resulted in an over the bars endo/vault. Thankfully not very fast, but nevertheless I ended up with two sore palms and a bashed up elbow/knee on the left side of my body.
**sigh**
It’s been years since I’ve been even moderately hurt on a MTB so I don’t feel hard done by, but what a dumb way to get banged up. No heroic story of a 6′ drop off a skinny wood bridge while being chased by a cougar…just operator error!
Got gravel?
Luckily I was able to find a hand position on my bar ends that wasn’t terribly painful and we cranked along the rest of the way to the pub. Several pints of beer and many dead chicken wings later I was feeling better. I climbed back on my bike gingerly and we cruised the rest of the way to our destination for the night.
A room with a view and no doors!
I had spotted this shelter last time I was up this way biking with Aaron. Since only crazy people go camping in early February on Vancouver Island we had the place to ourselves and simply ignored the no camping signs. Yeah we are bad asses!
Low rent, hardwood floors and indoors bike parking - score!
The shelter was spacious and clean with great protection from wind and the inevitable rain that was to fall that night. Bikepacking bags only let you carry the bare essentials so we didn’t get up to much upon arrival beyond setting up our sleeping bags and munching on a few snacks. When it’s dark and cold I find myself very quickly jumping into a down cocoon! I told Scott he could yell and kick me if I was snoring too loud and with that I passed out.
Black and white On One Scandal 29er...
I woke up in the middle of the night and did a quick inventory of my aches and pains. Everything was feeling pretty good except for my left hand which was very tender and swollen. Not great, but at least I knew I could bike home with 4 out of 5 contact points on the bike feeling decent. Back to sleep I went.
Rohloff'd Hunter 29er...
I wish I had a watch in my sleeping bag as I got up at 6am [according to Scott] to pee and went back to bed because it was still dark. Had I known it was 6am I would have probably made a move to get rolling. After a certain point sleeping on a hard surface with a thin thermarest doesn’t provide much additional benefit.
It's alive!
It started to just get light at 8am so I got rolling. I fired up the stove and made a random dehydrated meal I found at home and some green tea. It was less than gourmet, but it hit the spot.
Minimal, but effective...
Water is plentiful in the rainforest so dehydrated meals are very handy if not the most delicious thing you can eat…=-)
Clean well stocked toilets...
Although we didn’t make much use of the campsite infrastructure there were lots of tables, water and clean toilets close at hand. Nice to see tax payer $$ going towards something I cared about instead of fighter jets!
Sooke Potholes Regional Park...
There was an old mining town a few KMs north from us and I had hoped to spin up there and check it out, but my hand was really sore and I decided it was best to make tracks for home, painkillers, ice and beer!
Scott loading my bike bags...
With one bum hand I was having issues loading my gear back into my bike bags. Scott was kind enough to help me out. Lucky for him I hurt my left hand otherwise I would have needed some assistance in the toilet as well….hahaha! =)
One last look back at our hut...
The scenery up this far along the Galloping Goose Trail is stunning something you can’t appreciate riding it at night.
Pointing our bikes down the map back towards home...
I was sad to miss the mining town, but it will be there next trip. This run up the Goose is our entry pass into a vast network of forest service roads. So unless we drive our bikes to a different starting point all our bikepacking rides will pass this way.
One of the many wooden bridges on the Goose...
My left hand wasn’t terribly happy, but as long as I lifted it off the bars before any major bump was encountered I was able to tolerate light pressure as I gripped the bar end.
Scott keeps it in first gear...
We rode down the Goose slowly in a light rain. Scott kept his back brake on the whole time just to get a better workout…=-)
Yo - check the Pimp rig...
Happily the wide 29er tires rolled well over the gravel/dirt trail surface making it an easy task to spin back towards Victoria.
Another killer view...
The spectacular views helped me keep my mind off my aches and pains!
My bike not looking so clean...
I was happy to roll into my yard and pop a couple Tylenol as I took a swig from an ice cold Corona! Despite my stupidity it was still great to be out on the bike on the South Shore of Vancouver Island. This ride let me figure out some things about my bike and how to best pack it for future adventures.
Nothing a quick hose down can't fix...
The Alfine 11 IGH and the 29er hardtail bike is proving to be a fun versatile machine that’s ideal for lots of different adventures. I’m going to take a few days off the bike to let my left hand rest and then I’ll be back hard at work wearing out parts…=-)
BTW – in case you are wondering about the title of this post we decided that “Gravel Grinding” sounded too boring for a couple wild and crazy guys like us – hence we coined the new term “Gravel Pimping”. You have our permission to use it as you wish!
Surly Karate Monkey...
Update: added a bunch of new frames in this post based on readers’ comments. Read the comments section for even more options. I’m too lazy to post ‘em all!
I’ve been looking at 29er hardtail mountain bike frames that would accept an IGH without using a chain tensioner. That means either an eccentric bottom bracket [EBB], sliding dropouts or horizontal dropouts. Since I’ve gone to the trouble to root out some interesting options I figured I’d share it so the other 4 guys on the planet who are interested so they can find this post with Google and perhaps find something they’d like…=-)
My Criteria:
BTW – if you click on any image in this post you can jump to the info page for the frame shown.
Surly Ogre...
Surly Karate Monkey/Ogre
The Ogre is just a a Karate Monkey with touring attitude so I lumped them together.
Canfield Nimble 9...
Canfield Nimble 9
Voodoo Bokor 29...
Voodoo Bokor 29
Voodoo Soukri 29er...
Voodoo Soukri
Niner SIR...
Niner SIR
Niner One...
Niner One
Kona Unit...
Kona Unit
Kona Honzo...
Kona Honzo
On One Scandal
On One Scandal
On One Inbred...
On One Inbred
Photo: Shiggy
On One Lurcher
Jeff Jones diamond frame 29er stock frame & fork...
Jeff Jones Diamond Frame
Soma Juice 29er...
Soma Juice
Salsa El Mariachi...
Salsa El Mariachi
Singular Swift...
Singular Swift
Vassago Jabber Wocky...
Vassago Jaber Wocky
Redline Monocog 29er...
Redline Monocog
This is how I was feeling!
You can mountain bike all year round in Victoria [without a Pugsley!] if you take advantage of the nice weather when it arrives. Now keep in mind “nice” is relative and for this past week Sunday was a “nice” day with sunny skies and +1 deg C temperatures. Given the 90% humidity on the coast it felt a heck of a lot colder than the same temperature back in Calgary, but since we don’t live in Calgary we can’t dwell on such details. I got up early to have my ritual 3 cups of hot tea and blog a bit before Scott aka Porcelain Rocket-man aka Bag Man showed up to go mountain biking.
I never get tired of riding on these amazing leaves...
We headed to Partridge Hills hoping that some riding would warm us up.
Note the snow...
I didn’t bring my new camera along figuring 1) we wouldn’t stop that often in the cold and 2) I’d be falling a lot and didn’t want to smash it. Turns out we took a decent number of snaps as the snow and leaves made the trails very pretty.
Scott following what he thinks is a trail...
Scott is a better mountain biker than I am…hmmm…I guess that’s true of most people! So I saw a lot of him disappearing up a crazy climb or hunting down the gnarliest trail. That’s okay – I ride better when someone else is cleaning everything as I get inspired to throw my old decrepit body at techy section with less caution than normal.
Scott loves to bushwack...
I also learned that Scott’s idea of what to look for in a trail is more….ummm….flexible than mine! At one point after hike a biking for a while down a mountain side I asked him if there was a plan other than to scramble downwards carrying our bikes? His puzzled look told me that he didn’t understand what the problem was. The crazy part is does this in hard soled SPD MTB shoes and I was struggling in my 5.10′s with their climbing rubber soles!!
Eventually we found a way back to the trails...
On the bright side hike a biking is great for warming you up and I got to experience a whole different kind of being lost at Partridge Hills than normal!
Leaf porn...
I was surprised how well we were getting traction on the leaves this ride. In the past the leaves were the slippery zone – not this time. The challenging parts were the rocks, roots and muddy sections. I basically would plot a line down and techy sections guesstimating where my bike was likely to slide to and trying to bounce of obstacles on either side of the trail to keep me from crashing. I was mostly successful..=-)
The dark side?
Scott rides a sweet Hunter 29er hardtail with Rohloff and he rides it well. I got him to try my full-suspension Santa Cruz Nomad so he could see how the other half lived. He did talk a bit about getting a FS MTB so maybe my cunning plan worked…=-)
Man and Machine...
Watching Scott ride all day from my position panting like a porn star in the rear of the dirt paceline I started jonesing for a Rohloff MTB. Having a spare Rohloff built up into a nice 26″ MTB rim makes that plan reasonably easy. I may rebuild the Surly 1×1 as a Rohloff rigid MTB and see what I think. In the tight trails around Victoria my XL Santa Cruz is hard to throw around – especially going uphill so the medium frame 1×1 could be the ticket!
The Snowman rips...
Between the leaves on the ground, the green moss and white snow – it was a spectacular visual feast on this ride.
We actually met other riders!
Strangely we met more riders on today’s cold damp ride than I’ve ever met at noon on a sunny warm summer weekend…go figure!
Scott trying to find the trail out to the car...
As per usual we got lost trying to find the parking lot – even with a rider stopping to point us in the right direction! At least we are consistent…=-)
He loves to push...
I was puzzled when Scott started pushing my bike on rideable terrain, but he informed me he loved to push so no test ride was complete without seeing how a rig would hike a bike.
Bird's eye view...
Although I’ve known Scott for a few years now we’ve never lived in the same city and never ridden bikes together. So it was nice to actually ride with him instead of just talking about bikes! Scott works at home making Porcelain Rocket bike bags so he’s got a flexible schedule like I do and with Victoria winter MTBing being an opportunistic affair during windows of decent weather I predict lots more riding together…=-)
Salsa Ti Mukluk with 170mm rear dropout spacing...
Wide tires/rims mean that in order to use a derailleur at the back end of a Fat Bike you need to either offset the drivetrain to the right [ie. Surly Pugsley & Moonlander] or use a very wide 170mm rear hub [ie. Fatback & Salsa Mukluk]. To me the obvious solution for a bike that will be used in the snow/sand/mud is an IGH where the shifting is internal and not exposed to the elements which also means the chain doesn’t have to move side to side so clearance with the tire is not as much of a problem.
Offset Fat Bikes like the Pugsley use a 135mm dropout spacing so an IGH works just fine. However, bikes like the Mukluk shown above that use a 170mm dropout spacing don’t allow for an IGH since nobody is making 170mm IGHs.
Salsa 170mm to 135mm adapter...
Salsa and Fatback are offering adapters that reduce the rear spacing of their frames from 170mm to a standard MTB 135mm. That gives you the option to use an IGH and if you want to run a 170mm derailleur hub you can do that as well.
170mm to 135mm Salsa adapter...
Fatback is talking about offering a 170mm frame with sliding dropouts. Currently their adapter will only work with the aluminum Fatback frames. Those frames are available without sliding dropouts, but they are prototyping an aluminum sliding dropout Fatback. I’m not sure when that will be available.
A few notes:
Taken together I don’t think a 170mm wide fatbike and an IGH make much sense. You lose so much of the benefits and there are so many hassles unknowns that if you really want an IGH in a fatbike you should stick to a 135mm offset build.
How she looks now...
How she looked new...
When things get this rusty it's time for some love...
We've had a lot of fun, but a price has been paid!
Crunchy?
Steel is real, but rust never sleeps!
Ouch...=-(
Yup...flatness....
Stripped down and cleaned a bit...
Apparently just in time...
Loaded up for the trip to the powder coaters...
Sharon checking out the new control setup...
Sharon has really been enjoying the Titec H-bars on her Surly Cross Check daily commuter. The only point of dissatisfaction was the Nexus 8 twist-shifter took up too much room on the bar necessitating a hacked Ergon Grip that was too short to be comfortable. The solution was either a Jeff Jones Loop H-bar [with a longer grip area] for $120+ shipping or a Alfine 8 speed trigger shifter for ~$50. In the interests of cost we went with the later.
The problem is that hacked right Ergon Grip...
The comfort issue is pretty obvious looking at the photo above.
The new setup with Alfine 8 trigger shifter and a decent sized Ergon Grip...
Swapping out the Nexus 8 twist shifter was a breeze. I love how easy the Shimano IGHs are to work on…=-) I still had to hack a small bit off a stock Ergon Grip to make it fit, but this time that left a reasonable amount of hand space on the grip and a smooth transition to the controls.
Sharon tries the new grip/control setup...
Sharon’s initial reaction was positive to the new configuration. I’ll let her commute on it a few days and then we’ll tweak the position of the components as needed.
The blue beast ready for more commuter action...
Since I had the bike in my work stand I took the opportunity to check the brakes, chain tension and fenders. I lubed the chain and added some air to the rear tire. Because of the IGH and quality parts this bike sees daily use and doesn’t need much maintenance.
Sharon is really enjoying the Donkey Boxx and it’s performed solidly for her. She gets lots of positive comments on it and questions about how she built it…lol…she has to let people know it’s a manufactured product not a DIY project.
Sharon hearts her Bike Wrappers...
We have so much daylight at the moment in Canada that Sharon hasn’t had a chance to use the reflective side of her Bike Wrappers yet. However, she’s digging the heart print on the “fashion” side and would be happy with them even if they didn’t have a reflective option underneath.
Gett'n Surly with my Big Dummy...
A long load...
Heading to the LBS for some suspension maintenance...
Big Dummy surfing...
Loving the Dummy Life...
Getting loaded...
Torture testing the BD...
A loaded Big Dummy on tour...
Hauling a new bike for my friend Ursula...
Loading the Big Dummy....
Designed for versatility...
Here are links to Surly Big Dummy content I’ve posted online:
Off road Dummies...
Nice fender line on my BD...
Hebie Chainglider...
The belt drive is the bicycle industry’s latest darling. I can’t blame anyone for that. They look slick and they are so high tech it catches everyone’s attention. The cycling press needs fuel and anything new that can be sold is fodder for that appetite. I haven’t seen a belt drive on a bike yet in the wild. I think they’ll eventually reach the same people that will spend $1.5K on a Rohloff – which is to say a few folks, but not that many. The hold up in my opinion will be the cost and the specialized frame that’s required. Unless you sell a ton of a particular component the cost can’t be reduced beyond a certain point. This is why you can get a car tire for less than the cost of a decent bike tire. It’s why a mid-grade derailleur drivetrain will always cost so little compared to any IGH setup. And it’s why a belt drive will always command a premium over a chain drive – all other things being equal.
The main advantages advanced for the belt drive are:
SRAM 8spd chain on my Pugsley...
My Pugsley sees the worst riding conditions of any of my bikes:
Norco Corsa ST...
Chain guard and derailleur...
So is there a slam dunk reason to buy a belt drive bike? For most people I would say no. If you want low maintenance just get an IGH and you are good. If you want to stay clean add a chaincase or chain guard to your ride. A couple applications where I can see the benefit of a belt drive over a chain would be for folks that travel with their bikes that pack/unpack their rides frequently and folding bikes that don’t put the chain on the inside of the fold.
Ultimately I think the lack of market penetration from belt drives won’t be because they aren’t great. It will be because chains just work so well for the cost that they are nearly impossible to displace.
A Big Dummy love a Rohloff!
This is is a repost from an old blog. I figured it would be useful to have here in case someone was searching for Surly Big Dummy Rohloff information.
Colour:
To make your life easier here are the part numbers you can use to ensure you are getting exactly what you need when you order your Rohloff hub:
Sharon's Cross Check with Titec H-bars...
Update: Sharon really likes the Titec H-bars – especially the forward aero position. Although she found out the hard way that unlike drop bars the H-bars don’t have brakes close at hand when you are all stretched out and hammering. After nearly blasting through an intended stop she’ll get out of the aero tuck next time and be ready to squeeze some brake.
On a funny note she was stopped by a fellow cycle commuter at the hospital she works at and asked if she was a randonneur. When she said no and asked why they thought she was the other cyclist responded that her bike looks like something a randonneur would ride. We had a laugh about that!…=-)
I posted a bunch of photos on my Bow Cycle Blog about upgrades to Sharon’s Surly Cross Check commuter rig. The biggest issue she was having was some discomfort in her hands. We tweaked the drop bar position and double wrapped it for extra padding, but she wasn’t happy with the result so I swapped in a Titec H-bar for a more upright MTB position that she is used to while still providing some lower/more forward hand positions to battle a head wind.
Sharon heading out on her first commute with the new bars...
I love a fatty!
My Surly LHT upgrade is still on going, but I’m waiting on rust proofing to arrive so I’ve started to look ahead to the next bike that needs love. It was a toss up between the Pugsley and the Big Dummy. The Pug needs more love, but the BD sees more action. In the end I went with the Pugsley because I feel guilty about how rusty she is.
Here is my plan:
Kurt adjusting his Pugsley...
Jacking up the CETMA to install a rear fender...
My CETMA cargo rig needed some fenders. I had a set of Planet Bike Cascadia ATB fenders that were not being used. The rear went on with no issue. These fenders are ~60mm wide with loads of room for a 26″ x 50mm Schwalbe Marathon Supreme. The fenders didn’t fit the outline of the tire well, but they bent easily to get a reasonable fit. I won’t be using this bike for a ton of rain riding so fender perfection isn’t important here.
I also added a Brook B17 saddle as I stole the Selle Anatomica Titanico for my rando bike. I don’t need 15hrs+ saddle comfort on a cargo bike. I’ll probably replace this Brooks with a decent plastic saddle by the summer as even the Brooks is overkill for the length of rides I’ll be doing.
Rohloff off!
I took the opportunity to wipe the old girl down and adjust the brakes. I’ve got a front disc brake wheel and Shimano SLX caliper/lever I’ll put on soon. I’ve decided not to bother with a disc on the rear.
Not perfection, but good enough!
The back end of the CETMA is pretty standard so you don’t need anything unusual to get a fender mounted.
Coroplast DIY attempt...
The front of the CETMA Cargo Bike is not standard at all and needs a customized approach. With a Schwalbe Big Apple 20 x 2.35″ tire on there clearances are tight. I figured a DIY coroplast fender in memories of Kent Peterson style might do the trick.
Amazing what you can do with zipties and electrical tape...=-)
My DIY project wasn’t very satisfactory and rubbed on both the tire and the steering stop so I scrapped it.
Power tool upgrade!
For the last 3 or 4 years I’ve been using a battery powered dremel rotary tool to do jobs like cutting off excess metal fenders. It was a pain since the low capacity battery would barely make it through a single fender strut and a recharge was 60mins. That made a simple fender install an all day procedure. So I finally coughed up $20 and got a plug in version. Had I known they were that cheap I would have done so much earlier! It was nice to cut 4 fender struts in under 6mins…=-)
Beggars can't be choosers...
My next move was to try the front PB 26″ fender on the CETMA. It works – sort of. Looks a bit fugly, but at this point I don’t have a better option at hand. I hope Lane at CETMA scopes out a fender for the front end of these that will work with a 2.0″ and/or 2.35″ Big Apple plus disc brakes. It’s one part that is specialized that every owner could use.
Ok for now...
I’m going to live with this for now. I’d have to refit it with a disc caliper so I’ll come up with a better plan by that time.
Time for a test ride...
My GF’s mother is in town so I loaded her up for a ride to Swan Lake for a short hike. We are calling the CETMA the Fox Box to make it sound more appealing to my lady passengers. I gave her the option of the CETMA or the Big Dummy and she said Fox Box all the way…=-)
Hike it up!
The visit to Swan Lake was a success. It’s quite nice there. I think I’ll pack a lunch on less busy days and bike over when summer comes.
Maybe it should be called Duck Lake?
We didn’t see any Swans!
Bikes taking a rest...
Biking to a hike is much more fun than driving.
I wore my high visibility gray bike gear...
Riding with an adult passenger is no problem on the CETMA. The frame is plenty strong and the Rohloff provides a wide range of easily accessed gears.
Cruising back home on the MUP...
Want a Bike Friday Tikit that's fixed gear, but have some hills to contend with?
Wished you didn't have to choose?
With the new Sturmey Archer 3 speed fixed IGH you don't have to...
I've tried it and it works like a charm...
With these dropouts you can run a regular IGH or add a derailleur later...
Bike Friday being seductive....lol...=-)
These H-bars could be a future upgrade for my Tikit...
I like all the hand positions...
My Bike Friday NWT ready to roll...
Coming back to Canada from Mexico I was stoked to have so many choices of bikes to ride. Sharon and I had a number of errands to do in town so naturally we decided to ride our bikes. I rode my Bike Friday New World Tourist. With a fleet of awesome bikes why ride the NWT?
Some of these things are specific to a high quality folding bike like the NWT, but a lot of them are additions/upgrades you can make to any bike to make it more practical.
Yellow Bike Friday Season Tikit seen during my recent visit...
Of all the Bike Fridays in the showroom this colour jumped out by a mile...
It looks much nicer in person - the day was dreary when I took these photos...
Shimano Nexus 8 IGH - nice fit for the Tikit...
Fenders, v-brakes and an IGH...my kind of bike...=-)
Ring guard and metal folding pedals...
The view from the rubber side of the beast...
Up high at the control end of things...lovely...=-)
When in doubt let some air out of those fatties!
Every year in La Ventana there is a party called Burning Bush. It’s held in mid-January and my description would be – kinda like Burning Man, but 500 times smaller, 50 times more dangerous and no dust!
I had to keep swerving to avoid the odd rogue wave...=-)
The night of the event I took a nap and got up after dark. I wasn’t sure where it was being held or how to get there as this was my first time attending. I walked from my tent to the beach and could see flames 5kms away at the bottom of the bay, but I didn’t know how to get there by road and given it was a “party” night I didn’t really want to be on the road.
Eventually I could see the flames clearly and knew I was almost there...
Since I had a Surly Pugsley with me and the party was on the beach I just aired down the tires for beach riding and started pedaling - well not until I had filled my Ortlieb pannier with beer, ice and limes!
Fire + beer + music = Burning Bush
The tide was headed out so the sand near the water’s edge was relatively firm and easy to ride on. I cruised right into the party and checked out a few bonfires before figuring out where to stash my Pugsley.
I didn't realize right away I had locked my Pugsley to a structure they planned on burning!
I locked up my Pugsley to a wooden structure with a screen they were projecting videos onto. I found out later it was going to be burned so I kept my eye on it so I could rescue my bike in time, but that particular structure didn’t get burned till much later.
More fire and people...
There were many burning installations. Lots of people and music.
Balloons with LED lights inside floating in the sky with the moon...
Lot’s of clever art installations – some that didn’t even burn…=-)
Danger!
Did I mention the fire and danger?
KIds and fire!
and the kids?
Dr.Danger...=-)
I ran out of beer a bit early [poor planning], but I was ready to ride back to my tent and hop in my sleeping bag before I caught fire! The Pugsley ride there and back were super fun and made attending the event uber easy.
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