Bike Stuff

Gravel bike. What is a 'gravel bike'? It's lots of things. And I already had a pretty great one in the Salsa Cutthroat . The Cutthroat is at the hardcore adventure end of the gravel scene, bordering on a drop bar MTB. In fact, if you look at the bottom of the down tube, you'll see a map of the Tour Divide for which it was designed. Over the couple of years I've had it, I've set it up to do anything short of full MTB riding (including an hour-long bomb run descent down at the Grizzly Gravel ). It wears mountain bike 2.25" race tires some of the time. But for other rides, I've had a set of 38m, gentle knobby tires for more champaign gravel, sporty, or touring use.  But there's the trick:. I've also evolved the setup as a whole for good performance on rugged trails with a Redshift suspension stem and an PNW Coast suspension/dropper post and those MTB tires at the expense of a more nimble configuration. It is a great setup that can be used for so...

So, the Scott Sub Speed 10 has been a great, practical bike. With one, glaring exception: The rear wheel. It just wasn't built right for heavy-duty use. It has been popping spokes over and over again. At this point, I've probably replaced at least half of them. As far as I can tell, I've had no 'repeat customers'.  So I'm assuming that the spokes were underspec'ed. And as I repaired it, I came to realize that it was probably built undertensioned to boot. So, I'm always worried another one is going to go in some inconvenient place. Yes, I know the rule that when the third one goes you rebuild. But wheelbuilding is not something in my skill set (yet at least). And when I thought about getting it rebuilt a few years ago (yeah, mid-pandemic), I was quoted $200 plus spokes AND it would probably mean having the wheel in the shop for a month. So I kept putting it off. (I do know how to replace spokes myself) Also, I've been intrigued with the Alfine 11-sp...

In nearly fully restored state (doesn't have the classic pedals on) Classic, steel-frame, Campagnolo gruppo Bianchi Nuovo Racing This is the keeper in my garage. I bought it back in 1982 to replace another 'racing' bike of mine that had been stolen from the house breezeway. At the time, I wasn't fully 'sold' on the Celeste color. I'd wanted the other colorway which was some sort of steel grey. But in hindsight, I am so very glad I did get this one. As my Mom used to joke: "The color grows on you... like mold". Celeste was and is Bianchi's brand color. But it's not as simple as that. First off, in the early 80's they were reportedly about to abandon the color. It wasn't selling well. Probably why this was the only one I could find in the Bay Area at the end of the year. But shortly thereafter, somebody at Bianchi got the idea to make a bit of a joke on themselves and promote the 'funny color' specifically. It took off. Everyb...

With the original  Shimano 105 5500 9 speed triple Aluminum-framed, 105 triple road bike  Klein was one of the original makers of aluminum frames using 'oversized' lightweight tubing. Today the proportions look totally normal. But it was avant guard 20+ years ago. In 2002, I'd been riding the Bianchi Nuovo Racing as my road bike but moving down to Menlo Park, road biking became more important than mountain biking and it was time for an upgrade. In early 2003, I found this 2002 model on closeout. In some ways, it was better than the newer ones because it was the last of the Kleins to get the trademark cool paint job. Trek had purchased Klein a few years earlier and they were about to start painting them 'normally' like other Treks.  What is cool about this paint job? It's not just "Plum Crazy" purple (and purple is kinda cool all by itself), but it is a semi-translucent paint with metallic flecks and is color-changing. Huh? Color-changing? Yeah, dependi...

As purchased used in Marin Carbon fiber frame gravel bike, 1x mixed drive train and components This one has become a bit of a Ship of Theseus . It was originally sold to a guy in Iowa as a 2019 Salsa Cutthroat Apex  who enjoyed it there before moving to Marin and selling it to me. He'd upgraded the derailleur and brifters from SRAM Apex to Force but left the TRP Spyre cable-operated brakes (more on that later). He'd also put on WTB Venture 50mm tires and set them up tubeless (a new one for me) and installed a dropper post. I bought it as a way to get riding off-road and on bikepacking adventures. Very first ride was into the Marin Headlands right after I picked it up. It immediately became my adventure bike to go wherever and everywhere short of bombing real MTB trails. Everything from cruising along the bayshore gravel trails to Marin dirt to overnight adventures. Lunch stop at Mountain View Baylands Baylands lean by Moffett Field Sunset ride at Coyote Hills Regional Park But,...