Bike Stuff

Installation and first impressions Updates: 6/10/24, 7/4/24, 9/26/24, 10/3/24, 11/8/24, Spring 2025 Note: I've left the early text more or less as written. But there have been updates. So do scan through the updates below Background I was interested in the LTWOO eGR groupset to use on my 2019 Salsa Cutthroat . It was running SRAM Force 1 HRD (Mechanical shifting, hydraulic brakes) with a Garbaruk 10-50 cassette and their cage extender to allow for that range on Force.  The setup worked, but I never had the reliable, crisp shifting I would have liked. Usually ended up 'finessing' each shift with partial presses etc. It was nearly impossible to find the right tension setting to get perfect indexing.  As my first 11s rig, I tolerated it as semi-normal for a while. Some of this is understandable given that it was modified outside of OEM spec. So I'm not badmouthing the Force itself based on that (for the badmouth, see this YouTube: SRAM Force 1 HRD (any DoubleTap) Shift...

  As first built in winter guise with fenders Carbon fiber endurance road bike with 2x12 SRAM Force AXS One of the things about getting to ride a bunch of very different bikes of different eras is you start to get an idea of what improvements have evolved over the years. In particular, the idea that a ' road bike ' doesn't have to be a ' race bike ' to still be sporty.  This is where the current idea of an ' endurance bike' comes in. It is a bike that is designed to be nimble, light and fast, while having a slightly more upright and comfort-oriented position. Oh, and in the 2020s, accept wider tires. Wait, wide tires? Aren't they slow? Well... it turns out not so much. A bit wider, run at correspondingly lower pressures, they ride both more comfortably and actually faster in the real world (where roads are not smooth and hysteresis takes away energy). So a nimble, fast setup that is also comfortable on long rides. Winner concept. And not in my inventor...

 This bike started out with a story. Back in 2010 I was looking for a used tandem for family adventures. After a bit of searching, I found a nice-looking candidate at a good price on Craigslist and made an appointment to see it up in Marin. I took the kids with me and they got to see one of the strangest deals ever. We arrived and took it for a quick test spin to check fit and function. We decided this would be a great bike and began the required gentle haggle because one must at least ask.  As we were doing it, we discovered that another buyer had an appointment scheduled also and he arrived. We both wanted the bike. You could see the seller getting excited about the bidding war to come.  But no. Buyer #2 did want it, but was unwilling to raise the bid nor was I. Apparently, we both felt it was the right price and not one to bid up. So Buyer #2 and I agreed to flip a coin for it 🤷. The seller was clearly not thrilled but what can he say? We were both offering to pay the...

2002 Ventana El Saltamones as delivered So, what do you see when you look at this picture? Well, some dude up on Mt. Tam recently thought it looked nice but "totally obsolete" and I should get a new bike. (Of course, he was riding a 10k eMTB and his young daughter only a slightly cheaper one.)  Vintage rides get no respect in the MTB world. 😏 So what is it? It's a custom-built Ventana El Saltamontes that I gave myself as a reward gift years ago when I was living in the City and there were lots of MTB rides easy to access from the house. And yes, mountain biking has gotten more aggressive in the intervening years. This was a 'trail bike' bordering on an 'all mountain' bike as distinct from the 'downhill' or 'freeride' bikes at the more aggro end back then. But still full suspension with a generous (for the time) 100mm of travel front and back. The frame itself was built by Sherwood Gibson of Ventana out in Rancho Cordova. In theory, it was ...