February 14
It's been less than two weeks since the untimely death of my old friend SSundance (sniff!), but I'm moving on.Only a couple hundred dollars later, I've got a new ride! Ken Nakajo (IDM) happened to have a frame he wanted to sell that had about the geometry I wanted. Bought the frameset for $50 and took it into my LBS to have them do the stuff I can't: headset, BB and cranks. I got it back this afternoon and built it up tonight. It is ssaaweet! Here's some pics:
Frame is freshly painted, British Racing Green with a bit of metallic in it. (Not far off from the color of the Karate Monkey I'd buy if I had the money!) A few red bits thrown in here and there for color. Hard to see what it looks like with these nite pics, but trust me this is a really nice looking bike (looks much better than the old one ever did). I'll be doing some rides this weekend and will post daylight pics.
I just moved most of the parts over from my old bike, replacing a few components with lighter pieces along the way, and I'm back in business. I've only been around the block a couple times with it so far, but it rides REAL nice, and fits me pretty well. Weighs in somewhere between 24 and 24 1/2 pounds. That's including burly Alligator tires, heavy old Mavic wheels and DX cranks, a Thudbuster seatpost, and two chainrings and cogs. Not bad, I'd say. My wife picked it up and said, "WOW, that's really light!" Wouldn't be that hard to knock a couple more pounds off if I were so inclined.
And something else really cool: the fork has clearance for a truly MASSIVE tire. A 2.0 Alligator is a pretty big tire, but I've still got a full HALF INCH of room on each side, and plenty of room on top. Pretty much any tire that can squeeze past the brake pads will fit. Who needs suspension when you can run a 2.6 Gazzi! Woo hoo!
Drivetrain wise, the bike has vertical dropouts, but a 34x20 gear fits with PERFECT chain tension (i.e., a little tight, but that'll pedal out quickly). I've got it set up with two gear choices: 34x20 for mountain biking or 38x16 for pavement duty. I might ditch the 38x16 and replace it with a 36x18 (classic 2:1 gear) ... we'll see. With me, the experimenting never ends.
Now I gotta get out and ride this weekend. The forecast calls for mud. It's an early to mid 90s KHS frame, made from True Temper OX II.
I just finished adding up the total cost of the project: just $248 ...
- $50 for the Frameset
- $105 for LBS work, including: removal of BB and cranks from old bike and installation into new bike; installation of Weigle Frame Saver; machining of fork race from JIS to standard size; purchase and installation of LX headset
- $40 for new saddle
- $53 for new handlebar grips, 34t chainring, bottle cages, brake cables and seatpost binder bolt
That's it. I owned everything else already.
February 15
Took my new SS out to introduce it into the wild ... OK, really not that wild. Just Portland's Forest Park, our little 5000 acre MTB playground. But still kind of wild ... I did the "Buddha loop" in the north end of the park, which has rougher and steeper trails than the other end.On the way there I stopped by the LBS to show them now nicely the bike built up, and also to throw it on the scale. The result: 24 pounds, zero ounces. The LBS guys were actually pretty impressed, since they're used to dealing with 30 pound FS bikes.
Anyway, the ride immediately starts out with a 400 foot descent. Whee! Bike is intact at the bottom:
Forest Park is VERY heavily used, sometimes resulting in some rather entertaining user conflicts:
Most of the legal MTB trails are doubletrack. In the north end they're surfaced with big railroad ballast rocks, but still nothing you'd call technical exactly. Except for parts of the descent down Newton "Road", which boasts this lovely creek crossing
(which I did not ride):
And this one (which I did):
This is at the shrine of the Buddha, whose location I will not disclose:
Yes, by this point the bike appears to be adapting well to its newfound habitat, and the green color blends right in with the trees, the moss on the rocks, the ferns, the shrubs, the ... well, you get the idea:
And of course by this point there's plenty of mud all over the bike, making it a a nice brown to match the other predominant color in the park.
Forest Park is not old-growth, but there are a few big trees. After snapping this photo, I noticed that the bike is already trying to imitate its surroundings:
Yep, I think the introduction of this bike into the wild will be a success. I still need to dial in the fit - the 120mm stem on it right now is way too long, but that's easily fixed. And no mechanical problems other than brake cables stretching and requiring readjustment (several times). Drivetrain ran flawlessly, and I was grateful for that 34x20 gear for this 11 mile ride with over 2000 feet of climbing. And I just have to say one more time ... DAMN I love those Alligator tires. Even in Forest Park mud, they just do not let go.
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