Novel: "Of Single Speeds, Cyclocross, and 29" wheels"

[mtnbikerfred]

A couple of you were aware of the impending acquisition. I put this on layaway at the path a couple of months ago. The Christmas bonus wasn't what I had hoped, and Tani put no pressure on me to pick it up, but I wanted to ride it this week in a bad way...



Well, my Wife came through big time, and even though things are going to be a little tighter for awhile, She made it possible for me to bring it home sooner than tax refund time....

So this morning, I swapped out the stoopid-tall 48t ring for a 34t, and made some minor adjustments and seriously considered riding Aliso in the wind with the boys. Alas our afternoon at S.Oaks was miserable enough with the wind that I did not soon forget, so I bagged it and went to the movies with my family instead.

Fast forward 3 1/2 hours. It seemed the wind had died down (more on that later), and I still had this itch to scratch. The sky was looking a bit ominous, and it was an hour before sundown, so I prepared myself accordingly.

We live about 1.6mi from the Courthouse (Fully loop) so I geared up, and "pedaled" (IF you can call it that, I'll explain later) over there thinking I just wanted to at least get the tires dirty. Here's a shot at the top of the parks.



Unfortunately, The thought of spinning down the bike path on Rosecrans with the wind at my back was outweighed by the thought of climbing back over "West Coyote Hills" with the wind in my face, so I cut it short at N.Parks Rd, did the short climb, and the downhill after it, flew around Laguna Lake, Blasted through the golf course, and back to the courthouse, where I ran into SAR Boats.

I made it home in what felt like record time, even though I know I didn't break any records.



So. Here's my take.

Chapter one: Single speeds.
I'm not sure if this has been said before, but riding a SS is just like riding any other bike, only you're always stuck in the "wrong gear". It's either too tall to climb, or too low for the flats. I chose to start with the standard 2:1, 54 gear-inch ratio. It's just a good place to start, since they all suck anyway. The real deal is the efficiency and simplicity of this drive-train, or lack thereof. No derailleurs, shifters, cables, cassettes, extra rings, or anything not directly involved in moving you forward at an acceptable range of speeds based on what you legs and lungs can handle. Another cool thing about it is that it is very quiet. Except for the pain, I almost forgot I was pedaling a couple of times.

Chapter Two: Cross-Bikes
What can I say? Purpose built to go fast in the dirt under human power (not gravity), cyclocross bike builders seem to have forgotten to add any of the bits that might allow the rider some comfort. Like their road-going cousins, there is but ONE riding position. Any attempt to change positions to alleviate pain will only bring more pain in unexpected, unique and inescapable ways. Best to get the fit right the first time and I have a few adjustments to make yet. It's close, but not perfect. Even so, every time I said "bring it", this bike delivered like Dominos™. Cross bikes, unlike their hippo-esque cousins XC bikes, spare NOTHING to translate weight on the forward pedal into forward motion. Quickly. The downsides are that every little flaw in my spin was amplified 100x. (I had to slow down because my butt was beginning to hurt from bouncing on the saddle), and You'd better pick ultra clean lines. It turns out that singletrack I thought was smooth, is actually rough enough to almost rip the bars out of my hands. Descending is best done carefully. It's very easy to go fast. Too fast. Oh well, the things we do for love...

Chapter Three: 29ers, 700c, tall boys, whatever.
Neil reminded me that 29er is nothing but a 700c wheeled mountain bike with reeally fat tires. Not in so many words, but he was talking about spooning some silly-wide tires on a cross-bike, and the light bulb went on in my head. It's a little complicated, but for a given gear ratio, and crank length, and cadence, you go faster on the taller tires. I think what I experienced was greater momentum allowed me to "freight-train" up a couple of hills I usually have to work at. Let me try to make this simple. I have a certain cadence I feel I can pedal all day long. On a taller tire, I cover more ground per revolution AT THE SAME CADENCE. What's that you ask? Why not just run a taller gear? Let's start with the average 2:1 SS gear. You'd have to go up 4 TEETH on the ring of a deuce-six to get the same distance per revolution as you get on your niner. That's a much harder gear to push up a hill than I'm comfortable with.... I'm not sure "why" we jumped from 26" to 29" when we already had a perfectly good 27" wheel. I guess if 1" more was good, 3" must be 3 times as good, right? Wrong. Diamond-Dave, Jesse and I were talking about it and the difference is only 12%.....

Ride whatever you like. We'll all get to the top, and back to the bottom eventually.

[Evel Knievel]

New bike , new experience , happy new year.

[donkey]

Originally Posted by mtnbikerfred

I'm not sure "why" we jumped from 26" to 29" when we already had a perfectly good 27" wheel. I guess if 1" more was good, 3" must be 3 times as good, right? .

Oddly enough.....27" rims are 8mm larger than 700c(29er) rims.

B

[autoduel]

Originally Posted by donkey

Oddly enough.....27" rims are 8mm larger than 700c(29er) rims.

B

Yeah, they typically measure the wheel with the tire on it to come up with the overall diameter. 26" rims only measure 22.5" across.

[ezzyride]

Do we get to see you ride the new bike tomorrow?

Congrats!

It's a very nice looking bike.
Kristen started your New Years very nicely.

[Jman]

Not meant to hijack the thread but is riding on 29 inches really that much better than 26?

[Chewyeti]

sick bike!

[Rockinthecasbah]

awsome now you can ride cross bikes with me , even though I'm never giving up my gears

[mtnbikerfred]

Originally Posted by Jman

Not meant to hijack the thread but is riding on 29 inches really that much better than 26?

No. It just feels different. Some people like, some don't.

Originally Posted by ezzyride

Do we get to see you ride the new bike tomorrow?

Congrats!

It's a very nice looking bike.
Kristen started your New Years very nicely.

Yup.