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