Round & Round

For the love of all modes of wheeled conveyance. Mostly, bikes, cars and skateboards. What else is there?

[jbogli]

Full write up soon. Steens/Alvord loop. Four days, 100+ degree days and lots of fun.

[jbogli]

Pre-pack for an upcoming trip through the Alvord and up Steens Mountain.

[jbogli]

Hope RS4 + Hydra & and the Raleigh Roker further thougths.

KI build up a set of H+ Son Hydra rims onto Hope RS4 centerlock hubs. They look sick, they work perfectly, the Hope hubs are a great balance between quiet and loud. They replaced the stock Raleigh Roker 105 build wheelset. I believe they are Wienmann Impulse rims on unbranded hubs. Here is the thing they aren’t blowing my mind. Between the Wheelset and tires I’ve taken my wheel weight down almost two pounds. That should be a stunning change in the way a bike behaves. When I took two lbs out of the wheels on my Focus Izalco it moved like a scalded cat! This isn’t the same.

The new set is faster - no doubt. The new set is better on mild inclines, for sure there are a few spots on my commute that I’ve noticed they roll easier, stay at speed easier, but not that stark difference. Part of me wonders if it is the spokes... I’m going to have to go back to Sugar Wheelworks and probe a bit more, maybe I’ll rebuild the stock hubs with the Hydra rims and see if building with CX-Ray spokes changes the feel. In theory the lighter gauge spokes in the current set should be pulling the same duty as the CX-Ray in terms of vertical compliance or that springy, lively feeling, but this set doesn’t have the same pop as the rim brake set build as HED Ardennes/Alchemy Hubs/CX-Ray set up. Maybe it has to do with the giant bracing angle of the Alchemy hubs + the surface area of the CX-Ray.

I don’t really know shit about wheel building or physics. I just know I expected this new set to completely change the way the bike rides.

It has been 4 months and I like the new wheels, I have ZERO complaints, everything works perfectly, they are a good light weight build for how durable they are - essentially build as a fast gravel wheel, they look fucking beautiful and the finish on the Hope hubs matches the Roker blue perfectly, the shape of the Hydra rims are amazing, the simple white typography is great. I love the wheels but I’m not blown away.

So the last bit of research I need to get after is riding the Roker with some skinny tires - ride the Roker in summer trim - sans fenders, skinny tires, full lightweight mode. I think the core of my issue may be with the Roker. The Roker is build to soak up chatter and to that end the bike MAY be doing that too much for my tastes. I’ve always had a feeling that the bottom bracket was numb. I received some validation on this after putting the FSA K-Force Light crank on both the Focus Izalco and the Raleigh Roker. On the Izalco the difference between the FSA crank and the very respectable SRAM Force crank was immediate, the FSA was lighter, spun up quicker, was smoother, quicker, and maybe it was just my perception but the FSA felt stiffer - which translated to a feeling of better power transfer. A feeling of connectedness, mash the pedals and the bike GOES!

I installed the same FSA K-Force Light crank on the Roker and did not experience that level of difference. In fact, the only way I noticed the stiffness of the new crank was under hard efforts I didn’t hear the chain rings rubbing on the front mech. There was none of that connectedness, no snappy feeling despite a significant weight savings, the new crank didn’t feel like it was quicker to spin up, smoother, just no rubbing.

That brings me back to the Roker frame. The back end and bottom bracket do an amazing job of soaking up chatter, in some ways too good a job. The catch 22 is once you put the Roker under power on gravel it is magical, just smooth, easy miles and you don’t get credit for how well it soaks it all up because you are riding rough shit faster than you normally would, you’re not picking a line you’re just in attack mode. The odd part is this is specifically through the bottom bracket back, the front of the bike transmits ample feedback, but that feedback doesn’t effect what is happening in the engine room.

BUT, that means on the road power transfer is vague and numb. Best I can tell it is still there, but you get no credit. My next test will be to run my Kelly Point Park loop on the Hutchison Sector 28 tire, I have tons of data on that route and tons of miles on that tire so I should be able to tease apart the wheels from the frame pretty easily at that point and the raw numbers should tell me how fast the Roker CAN be as a road bike - how close it can get to a quiver killer.

[jbogli]

motivation. elusive.

The list gets longer. 

The Knolly needs a chain, I have the chain, just to lazy to install today.

I should figure out why the Sector 28s aren’t sealing on that old wheel set that held other tubeless tires just

The door card for the ol’ 2002 needs to be reinstalled, but every time I try I find I’m missing a part, a screw, something doesn’t quite line up, I should replace the window seals while I’m doing this - nothing happens.

uugh.

[jbogli]

I remember walking up this sector with a flat. It was late October and I was bikepacking around Europe. I sat under that big tree by the barn changing the tube in a cold drizzle wondering if a solo roubaix ride was a good idea. Later that day I found a bike shop and stocked up on tubes, which ensured I did not flat again.

[jbogli]

Philippe Gilbert what a ride!

end of story.

[jbogli]

I owe updates:

I owe a long term review of my Raleigh Roker I owe more thoughts on the Hydra/Hope RS4 wheelset. I owe some thoughts on biking in general... been trying to ride more, but time/weather/commitments have been distracting.

[jbogli]

Early Season

55 miles is not an indicator of what a ride holds. There are easy 55 mile rides and there are “emotional” 55 mile rides. On paper this looked like an stout 55 miler. 4500ft climbing, lots of gravel, deep in the woods, no services. A proper all day affair.

We rolled out of North Plains at 10 am, warm but cloudy, no rain in the forecast not much could be better. We had 20 miles or so of flat farm roads and then up into the coastal range for some gravel. In some form or another we’d ridden most of these roads. Adrian and Alan were riding 2″ tires so I brought the Fargo, I was tempted to take the Roker, but I was afraid they had valid reason for rubber of such girth and I didn’t want to be that slow guy on the skinny tires. So the Fargo it was.

Oregon always delivers the goods when it comes to scenery. We rolled through perfect fields, flawless forest and great mountain views. Then we came upon some clear cuts and associated sloppy roads that happen when all the trees are removed. We cleared out of the clear cutting operations and were back into the forest. On cue there was a row of downed trees. It has been a serious winter in the coast range, deeper snow than usual and far more rain. We got a bit turned around and Adrian had a flat.

He had some of the tightest tires Alan and I had ever seen. It should not take two people to mount a tire. After much sweat and some serious language we got the tire mounted and our directions sorted and headed onward through some abandoned double track goodness, the kind of terrain the Fargo loves. We hit our high spot for this section and started a ripping downhill with lots of tacky corners and steep straights. When we hit the bottom Adrian had a puncture in his OTHER tire. We were in a nice sunny clearing so we started the process all over again. This time he got the tire back on, fired a CO2 into it and it went flat instantly.

I pulled the tire and found two gaping holes, not a pinched tube like I suspected. The rim tape had shifted around and exposed the spoke holes and that is what popped the tire. Alan was working on patching the less damaged tube while I worked on getting the rim tape back into a place that would cover all the holes. Eventually we got the tape, tube, and tire back together and then discovered that somehow the through axle on Adrian’s fork got crossthreaded and wouldn’t totally lock down. We decided the best course of action was to bail out as soon as we could. Naturally we were at that magical point where you are about as far from the car as you can be.

With a bit more caution we finished the descent and worked our way to the Banks-Vernonia trail to cut off the next climb. The Banks-Vernonia trail is a mixed blessing. Sure it is a flat rail trail, but on the weekends it turns into the oddest shit show of humanity, cat 6 racer types, joggers, children learning to ride bikes, strollers, walkers, just humanity exploding from all sides of the trail. I find it to be pure terror. Honestly, I may find riding on highway 26 to be less scary. We survived barely. I nearly ran over a mother who got cut off my her swerving child as I was about to slowly overtake them. I was just opening my mouth to alert them to may impending pass and BLAM, swerving child, crashing mother, skidding avoiding Jered. My riding companions were a few hundred feet back and gave me a look of deep scorn. I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!!! We got to the end of the trail and I saw my friend Molly who I hadn’t seen in years, we use to skate together, she is riding bikes now RAD. We finished up the ride back to North Plains and promptly got beers at the Rogue Pub.

55 miles turned into 46 hard and frustrating miles filled with bike repairs. You never know. At least it was warm and dry!

[jbogli]

Lazy.

Posts have not been happening.

1. Went to Malaysia and Singapore for 10 days

2. Arrived home and dove back into shit weather and tons of work.

3. Then got sick.

4. Have a 10 pass at Meadows I’m trying to use!

We were zipping around Lankawi on a motor scooter and I saw a few very little dudes in full kit on very fancy looking bikes, that struck me as weird. Turns out if our vacation was a week later we would have been there for the Tour of Lankawi.

I’ve been trying to get some miles on the new Hope RS4/Hydra/Rambler tubeless wheelset in order to give a more complete review. Same goes for the upgraded crank situation on the Focus and Raleigh. There has been lots of commuting, but not much for quality distance or big climbs

I want to build another set or two of wheels for my Fargo and rebuild the stock Roker wheels. Leaning towards doing Blunt 35 on the Fargo and the Blunt SS on the old Roker wheels, that will give me a fast set for the Fargo and a great wider set for the Fargo and give me the Blunt SS set to also run an even wider set on the Roker when I want... just coming up with the $$ to do all of this.

Tomorrow we’ve got a 55 mile ride planned, but it seems that I may want the Fargo for that ride.

[jbogli]

February and we got in a 55 mile ride. Good stuff. Great weather, one massive and brutal climb, nice casual winter pace. As a true bonus 45 miles in we stopped for burgers and beers at Helvetia Tavern. It was the first non-commute style ride on the new wheelset. I always worry after building wheels that I messed them up and they will simply explode as soon as I get to nowhere... it didn't happen. The Maxxis Ramblers are not holding air all that well. This is the first tubeless setup where I didn't get a solid POP when seating the beads... also the Ramblers can be mounted by hand, so I cornered a bit cautiously. Also this was the first big ride with the FSA SL-K crank. After fitting one to my true road bike the difference was amazing, however on the Roker there isn't much difference. The old crank flexed a ton - hard sprinting/standing climbs I would rub the rings and that doesn't happen now. On my Focus Izalco the crank makes the bike feel snappier and more alive, on the Roker I get none of that feeling, same numb dead BB feel. Interesting for sure.

[jbogli]

Hope + Hydra

Winter 2017 wheel building is getting under way. A new set for the Raleigh Roker - something lighter is the main goal.

I’ve been wanting to build some H+Son rims for a long time, but I’ve always gone with the Pacenti SL23 because it is lighter than the Archatype. When I heard legend of The Hydra I knew they would be the next build. The stars aligned when I saw the new-ish Hope RS4 centerlock hubs. Hope quality, centerlock, bling colors, reasonable price, decent weight - just what 190lb guy like myself needs out of a gravel wheel.

As always, I vetted my choices with the fine folks at Sugar Wheelworks. They were stoked on the build. I always consult with them regarding spoke selection and hole count. Jude was behind my 3x 28 hole front and rear build, we went with a double butted 14/16 gauge spoke and of course brass nipples. They got the parts ordered and after much delay from a strange snowy winter in Oregon I finally have the parts and will commence building.

I am excited to get started with the build. The hubs are my first set of BLING hubs, I always buy black hubs, but this time... Well, they match the blue of the Roker perfectly, with black rims, black spokes and the white type on the rims matches the type on the Roker - she is hooked up. If my calculations are correct I should lose around 1lb in wheel weight, which should help the Roker feel a bit more nimble. Given the swap from the Clement MSO to the Maxxis Ramblers saved me 1lb as well I should be in good shape with the Roker - saving 2lb out of rotating weight is pretty amazing.

[jbogli]

CRANK.

Today I took my first ride on my Focus in many many weeks. I added a new crank, an FSA SL-K Light evo 386. It is super light sub 600 grams, super stiff and most importantly for me a compact crank. I’d been riding the Focus with a 53-39 up front and it was killing my knees. I upgraded to the FSA because I found it for a great price. This is one of the cranks Fairwheel Bikes reviews in their crank round up and for a commodity level crank it scores quite well in terms of stiffness to weight / overall weight. I honestly didn’t think I’d notice a difference, a crank is a crank is a crank.

Install: Super easy. My Focus is BB30 so I had to order some adapter sleeves (see image below), but everything popped right into place - didn’t even need to adjust my front mech - NICE. While in there I noticed my BB bearings are a bit notchy - add that to the parts list. The weight savings wasn’t that much over the Force 10 speed crank that was on the bike sub 100 gram savings - whatever, I have a compact and my knees will be happy.

First ride: Well I was wrong. A crank upgrade can be nice. I can’t say the weight is something I notice, but I can say the stiffness is very apparent. There is a very pronounced increase in power transfer. You mash the pedals and you notice the stiffness. Standing efforts are even better. I would guess that the decrease in weight helps out with the feeling of efficient power transfer as well, but the stiffness is impressive.

Shifting: Traditionally I haven’t been impressed with shift quality out of FSA cranks. They work. That is all I’ve ever been able to say. The FSA SL-K Light is actually a better shifting crank than the stock Force crank. Smoother shifting and quieter shifting - again - impressed.

I had toyed with the idea of picking up another one for my ROKER, but the crank on there is already a CX crank and while an OEM crank it is impressively light. However, given my learning about cranks and stiffness I may re-think my plan and buy another crank. Competitive Cyclist has the crank for 53% off right now. I will officially say - money well spent.

[jbogli]

New build coming. Function + bling.

[jbogli]

Yes, it took two cups of coffee to get me to work this morning. That is FULL WINTER COMMUTER set up pro level.

Yes, I took this photo from the wrong side - it took another cup of coffee to realize my mistake, but by that time I’d recycled one of the cups.

[jbogli]

New Commuter

The situation is Portland Oregon is one of much snow. The 1/17/17 forecast calls for up to .5″ of ice before it turns to rain tomorrow on the way to a high of 50 degrees. In other words the commute could be a full shit show.

Given work has been canceled 5 days already this winter I decided I should have a back up plan in case work is on.

The Knolly Warden Commuter rig. 2.3″ tires with 20lbs of air, dropper post for those icy spots where you want your feet as extra stabilizers, wide bars to keep her tracking in a straight line, a clip on rear fender in case things truly get sloppy tomorrow and flat pedals for easy eject!

I took her for a short spin and she did quite well all things considered. If I had bigger tires I’d be running them, but overall - not bad.

I will say if we end up with .5″ of ice the bike will be completely useless, even if I do find my bag of zip ties...

[jbogli]

Maxxis Rambler first ride

Weather has been a mess here in Oregon. I commuted with the Ramblers for 1 day, then we got 12″ of snow and while I don’t have a problem riding in the snow my one of my Mt. bikes suits that task better with 2.3″ tires and ultra low pressure is a better choice.

Anyway. INITIAL RIDE IMPRESSIONS. They feel faster than the Clement MSO tires, a touch more road feel/comfort and a touch quicker on spin up. My initial impression is - not as impressed as I had hoped. I thought losing 1lb in tire/tube weight would result in a revolutionary change in ride quality. That is turning out to not be true on paved roads. When the snow melts I’ll get out on some dirt/gravel and really see what they can do. I need to do some work on optimal air pressure for my road commute vs. gravel rides.

Last note, I mounted them without any sealant and they are holding air amazingly well. Super impressed with the ease of mounting and how well they hold air.

More to come.

[jbogli]

Not as bad as I thought

I’ve trash talked the Weinnmann Impulse rims that came stock on my Roker. I want to say I was pleased to see a 20mm inner width on these. Decent for what they are. I popped on the Ramblers using the rim tape that came stock on the wheels and a week after mounting the tires are holding air just fine. I literally put the tires on and aired them up with a compressor - popped right into place and sealed tight. So turns out the Weinnmann Impulse rims work great for tubeless and have a decent inner width.

That being said the good folks at Sugar Wheel works have ordered some new bling for me. My winter wheel build project will be 28 hole Hope RS4 centerlock hubs, H+ Son Hydra rims and Sapim D Light spokes. Excited to get the parts in and build these up.