2x9 - Because of a hill

 I did a mixed terrain (Gravel) ride on saturday to raise money and to bring awareness to clean water projects in Ethiopia for Ride for Water Fraser Valley.  It was a 40km ride and it has sectors that have 20% grade.  I thought about adding a bail out gear before setting out for the ride, but I forgot.  I had to rely on what I brought to the ride.  I was optimistic that my 1x drivetrain was good enough.  Once I started the climb,  I soon realised that the lowest gear wasn't low enough.  This set up may be good enough to climb 12% pave roads but no match for the gravel roads.   I was on my lowest gear within the first 500 metre of the climb and It was at 14%.  I knew that I will blow soon.  My heart rate was in red and the cadance was low.    At the 1km mark, I got off the bike and had to let my heat rate to recover.  For the next 2 km, I walked and pushed.  It was a tough one, and I was so happy to see ashpalt again. 

But the hill didn't get mellower.  After some false flat, It went back up at 10%.    I looked dow at my GPS, and it told me that I will be heading down soon.  So, I got out of the saddle and powered up the last sector.  Once I got over, I was rewarded by s nice downhill.  No traffic at all.

I love to climb and I would like to ride this again. I know that I need lower gears.  When I got home, I got the 22t ring out of the drawer and going to turn my rig into a 2x again.  I had no plan to use a front derailleur becasue I wanted to save weight.  Once the crankset if off, and I installed the 22, I realised this set up will not work.  The 30t ring has an offest tab that allows the use of regular chain ring bolt. The gap between the 22 and 32 is too small for the chain.

The 30t ring was swapped for a RaceFace 32t ring.  It's more traditional and It fits properly.  Now the bike has 18 gears but I needed to change setting manually.  Did a test ride around the block, felt okay,

But that isn't the end of story.

Woke up Sunday and I was still thinking about the gearing.  I dug out the shifter and Front Derailleur and weighted them.  7 ounces. so it will be a half a pound penalty if I choose to make shifting easier.  Thought about it over lunch and I even talked to my non-cyclist wife about it.  In late afternoon, after we finished some chores, I went back to the garage to add more weight to the bike.

With the plan in place, I was thinking something even more drastic.  I could just swapped the 32 NW ring for the 32t that was originally on this crankset, Insetad, I went for 36t ring from a different crankset and fortunately the chain was long enough.  Good.

I put on the Mortal Kombat Soundtrack and begin my work to transform this beast into a 2x9 monster.

Installation was straight forward.  Cutting the cable housing.  Unwrapping and wrapping the handlebar tape. Easy stuff.  

The bike is ready for another ride up to the 20% hill.

#fraservalley #gravelride #rideforwaterfv #dropbarmountainbike #mountainbike #trek #mountainbike

Death of a rear tire during the Pandemic 2021

My rear tire was destroyed.  It was  a Schwalbe Smart Sam and riding in low pressure destroyed it.  The sidewalls were not enough to support low pressure riding.  That's okay, because the thread was almost gone.  

Off to the bike shops for tires and they don't have anything tires that are smaller than 2.4 inches.  My hardtail only has enough clearance for tires that are smaller than 2.2  Desperate for replacement tires, I bought a set of gravel tires becasue I thought that they would be good enough.  

I looked at the my new gravel tires when I got home and I decided that those tires won't be mounted with the x-caliber.  The x-caliber is a mountain bike and I want her to remain to be  mountain bike.  I still want big mountain bike tires to do mountain bike stuff.  They may be heavy and don't roll as well as the gravel tires, but that's what I preferred.  I could bring those gravel tires back or save them for the Crockett.  

I went to the second hand market for the tires and I found a set of Specialized GRound Control for sale near me.  They are bascially brand new and the owner wants $80 for the set.  These are pandemic prices and I will be picking them up on Wednesday.  

I will probably selling a schwalbe smart sam 2.1 tire later.  I probably don't need that.

Gravel adventure in Chiliwack - Tamihi challenge

Ride for Water is a charity that raises money to help Ethiopians with  getting fresh water.  The fund is raised by charity bike rides and runs.  The pandemic didn't them from raising money and they are doing it by setting up gravel ride challenges in Fraser Valley.    There are 3 challenges, and I did m first one today.  

After breakfast, I loaded my bike and gear to my car for a 85km drive to Chilliwack.  It had been a a long time since I last headed east on Hwy 1.  Morning traffic on Saturday and I let my Mazda3 loose  for 40 minutes.  It had been a while I drove on the fast lane.  I backed it down to a more manageable speed not because speeding ticket, but to save gas.  

Once I was off the highway, the windows and sunroof was open.  The early spring air was warm and mixed with manure smell.  I was in the country side after all.   I was just glad that I was able to be out riding my bike.

The ride started from the the coffee truck at Vedder Park in Chilliwack.  In the next 30km, I explored trails on the Tamihi area.  The trails are mainly used by dirt bikers and ATV, but you also see the mountain bikers in the area too.  Because this is a gravel ride, there was no technical trails.  Just fire roads climbs and descents.  It reminds me of the early mountain biking days.  We only rode fire roads as our bikes had no suspensions and had geometry similar to the road bikes. 

Before I started my ride, I was afraid that my bike may not have low enough gear to tackle the climbs. After I settled into a pace, I realised that I was able to ride all of them.  At no point that I needed to get off the bike and push.  The climb was also short and punchy.  I only had to use my lowest gear at a one spot.  I was able to settle in a steady pace for the majority of the climb.

What goes up must comes down.  My drop bar mountain bike didn't preform too badly.  My hands were on the drop, and my butt was hanging over the rear tire.  Without any suspension part, my body was loose enough to take the bumps.  I was very comfortable on the bike and I was grinning from ear to ear.    The large volume of the 29" tires had something to do with it too.  The big tires were so much better than the 26er.  More traction and more air.  They were awesome, but this down hill also killed my rear tire.  The side wall wasn't very strong and the side wall was gone.  I managed to ride back to the car without have a flat.  I must thank my lucky star.

The ride back to the car park was just on the road.  It was kind of boring because I could only go so fast on the mountain bike.  Also, the side wall is giving out and the ride wasn't very stable.  But the view was good.  country side.  Green grass.  Quiet life.  Beautiful day. Then I heard gun shots!  WTF?  That's because I was near a gun range.. lol

The rest of the ride was okay.  Before I head home, I got cheap gas in Abbotsford and a donair..Hopefully I will do another ride next week.

#upstreamchallenge #rideforwater #gravelbike #trekxcalibur #dropbar29er #dropbarmountainbike #partypace

 

Non-Technical dirt riding

I think I have been a gravel rider in disguise for many years.  I started mountain bike in southern California and rode lots of fire roads and single tracks.  It was the early 90's and the bikes in that era can only handle so much technical riding. I was a XC racer and never cared much about downhill part of the sport.  I just want to ride and stay fit.

I rode full suspension for a few years and rode trails in the North Shore mountains and Whistler, but it soon got boring.  Then I was riding more on the road and eventually got into cyclocross racing.  In some of those years, I didn't have a mountain bike.  I only have a road bike and a cross bike.  off roading was limited to only the gravel roads/

As I got more serious about cyclocross racing, I took my cross bike to more dirt paths and I enjoyed it.  With the popularity of gravel riding, I feel at home.  riding drop bar on dirt is what I like. 

#gravel #gravelrider #gravelbike #mountainbike

Lovely day in Vancouver

 It was a beautiful day in Vancouver and no clouds was in sight.  Grabbed my helmet while wearing my baggy shorts and quick dry shirt for a ride around the Tri-Cities area.  my legs felt fresh but didn't push them becasue I am saving them for the gravel adventure on Saturday.  

I am part of a charity ride to rasie money for people to have more access to clean water in Ethopia.  I have never done a charity ride before as my focus was has been racing.  The pandemic has changed my view on cycling.  I signed up and will be doing  one of the rides tomorrow.  I will be relying my GPS to guide me and Mrs. Cee.

#trek #rideforwater #gravelride #gravelrider

I love Mrs. Batty Cee!

I love this bike and I can't get enough it.  I have lighter and faster bikes but this drop bar mountain bike is getting a lot of my attention lately.  She is 27 lbs with mountain bike tires.  I litterally made this bike to fit me.  I am doing a lot of exploring with her.  I am also planning a to do a ride to explore Chiliwack this weekend!

This bike is 30 years in the making.  I have had a few drop bar mountain bike but none of them feel like this.  the 29er wheels were perfect for this application.  They are heavy but they have momentum when they are up to speed. I also feel the big wheels absorb the road shock better.  Even this bike isn't suspended but I don't feel that I need it.  Then again, I am a slow rider.

#trek #dropbarMTB #29er #vancouver #vancouvercycling #coquitlam

 

The Evolution of Mrs. Batty Cee ( What is it?)

Because of the drop bar and rigid fork, lots of people think she is a cyclocross or a gravel bike.  

It's true that I thought about getting some gravel tires for her, but I still prefer mountain bike tires.  That's because Mrs. Batty Cee is a mountain  bike with drop bar.   She will always be a mountain bike. She is a homage to the golden days of mountain bike of the 90's.  She is an All Terrain Bicycle.  All Terrain Bicycle is a throw back and that's what these bikes were called in the late 80's..  since I will be riding this bike on road and dirt, I am going to call her ATB

It's true that she isn't going to handle the gnarly trails but she handles old school mountain bike trails very well.  I have fun riding it and I love the position.  I can go for a 3+ hours ride and not have any comfort concerns. 

The gearing is 1x9 and is geared for the lower end.  It doesn't have a high gear but riding on dirt never demands high gearing like my road bike.  A fast enough gear is good enough for me.  She may be slow but I will be doing  Ride for Water with her.  It's because my single speed cross bike isn't the best bike for riding that.  However, I may attempt it with a single speed in the future.  

She is also longer than my cross bike and I think that smooth out a lot of bump for me.

Many people will think the lack of a suspension fork, the bike will not preform as well.  It's true, but I am not a good descender. .Suspended or not, I am still slow.

 

Evolution of Mrs Batty Cee (On One Midge)

I always knew that the Jones Bar was only going to be a temporary set up. Although I love it but it still was a drop bar.

As  I mentioned on a previous post, the Kona P2 fork changed the bike's geometry.  Not only the head angle is steeper, but the effective top tube is about 2 cm shorter.  The changes made the bike perfect for the drop bar conversion.

OnOne Midge is my top choice for off road drop bar.  I tried a few, but none feels as good as this one.  The reach is 65mm and the drop is shallow and short.  The 560mm  width is perfect for this application.  Also with the short and high rise stem, this bar offers 3 different positions and they all help during the ride. 

Because of the drop section is short, it also the perfect bar to run barcon shifters.  I have fast access to them as I spend lots of time in the drops and I can shift through the cassette in one action.  It is also not a complicated like the STI shifters.  

For a while, I took Shiggy's advice on drop bar set up, but I realised that his advice didn't suit my need. I want my drop bar to offers me multiple positions and I want to ride on the hood.  He didn't think mountain bikers should ride in the hood and he thinks people should just ride in the drop exclusively.  It makes sense but I feels like it is a waste of the bar if I am not going to use other positions.  Also, this bike won't be riding lots of technical trails, as Mrs. Batty Cee will be the All Terrain Bike.

During a ride, I would spending my time on the 3 different positions.  It depends if I am going up, going down or cruising on the flats. I am comfortable on the drop and it is my go to position