Of bikes, and how they keep multiplying at the ITA97 household.

"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97)
09/20/2020 at 19:06 • Filed to: None

I’m continuing to ride almost everyday, with my rides getting longer and my road rides gaining average speed. Right now I’m averaging 100-150 miles/week in a mix of road, ditch and full trail rides between the two bikes. The Salsa is slowly getting some upgrades, and a properly light and skinny slick road wheel set are probably in its future this fall. Most recently it got a Bontrager Montroe Elite saddle that fits my ass a lot better and weighs about half what the original saddle did. The more aggressive posture its designed for has me spending a lot more time down in the drops, as the saddle is noticeably less comfortable riding up on the horns. I currently have a 650bx2.2 wheelset with some good XC tires now used for gravel/ditch/river bank rides, and the 700cx33 skinny set with more road oriented cyclocross rubber. The current skinny set is awesome for things like Zombie rides around the city at night where I jump off curbs, driveways and speedbumps and ride around like hooligan not caring about potholes and large cracks in the road, but they’re not ideal for long road rides. I’m thinking a nice, light 700c25 or 28 tubeless, slick road-only set are in the future for longer and/or faster road rides where I’m going draft up front with the fast kids and not ride like a hooligan.

Last Saturday marked my biggest riding day yet, with an El Paso-Las Cruces-El Paso ride with some folks from the El Paso Zombie group. It was a fantastic morning covering 66 miles, with a stop for brunch at the turnaround point in Mesilla before riding back to El Paso. Somewhat ironically, the only vehicles that didn’t leave us ample or better room the entire morning were motorcycles. Every last boomer on a Harley passed close, one of them less than a foot off my handle bars.

I was a bit apprehensive about doing a ride this long (my previous longest being 38ish miles) and if I could keep up. My worries ended up being unfounded, as I rode up with the two fast kids the entire time. I was astonished by how much faster we rode working together. Perhaps a byproduct of my racing days wherein I feel perfectly comfortable driving cars 100+mph speeds three inches off someone’s bumper, I also feel perfectly comfortable in the draft on a bike parking my front tire 2 inches off the guy in front of me at 20mph. My only regret was that when it was my turn to pull the pace dropped a bit. I just didn’t have the legs to hold the pace out front and always ended up dropping a gear after a minute or two. It gives me a goal to work towards as I continue to build up my legs (lungs/cardiovascular endurance is never my limiting factor, always my legs).

Because I apparently hadn’t ridden enough last Saturday, I did the regular Saturday night Las Cruces Zombie ride for 78 miles on the day. It was awesome, but my legs were tired. An unintended side effect of all this riding is that I’ve lost 20lbs since I bought the first bike in May, and done so without actually trying to lose weight. It turns out riding 1-3 hours a day, almost every evening had an effect. I also sleep like the proverbial baby and feel fantastic with more energy during the day. My cardio vascular fitness doesn’t quite feel up to my early USMC/police academy days when I was 22, but it isn’t that far off. At 35, I’ll take it.

The Stache continues to go out on trails 2-3 days/week. It is awesome damned fun, and the more I throw at the bike the better it feels mashing up climbs and bashing down mountains. Even as my mtb skills are getting better, it still feels like I barely scratch the surface of what the bike can do.

I’m really fortunate to have a good group of friends who were already really experienced riders, many of them mtb rides who happen to makeup a race team good enough to have a couple of component manufactures sponsoring them. I’m already getting recruited to start training for the team, although at this point I’ve resisted and am just out having fun pedaling. My mentor is a friend who in his younger days was a good enough roadie to get paid to ride semi-professionally. These days had just dabbles with the mtb team and rides with folks like me for fun. I’m deeply appreciative of his mentorship, and every time I ride with him he pushes me harder and/or more technical, and faster and further than I would’ve ridden on my own.

This thing has also appeared at my house as an early birthday gift for its rider. Due to some medical conditions and their limitations on exercise tolerance, my sister is never going to take up riding far, fast or seriously like I have, but I’ve got her getting out and riding around the neighborhood a bit. I picked up the 1992 Specialized Rockhop p er from a friend. I paid him $200 for a $100 bike in the local market, but it was as much about helping him out in a tough spot he’s in as getting something for my sister to pedal around a bit. This was both her favorite color, not a Walmart/Target /Department Store bike and the frame is the right sized for her. The 26" wheels are comically small compared to my bikes, and it feels like riding a kid-sized bike in comparison, but it works fine for her pedaling around the neighborhood a few miles at a time.

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I’ve been working through the bike fixing it up a bit and setting it up to be an urban cruiser kind of thing. It will likely never see dirt, so the 26x1.95 trail tires had to go for something more appropriate in some 26x1.95 urban commuter type rubber. The front wheel also got a visit to the lbs for a true and bearing overhaul, and I’ve been going through cleaning, lubing and adjusting stuff. Raising the stem up for a more relaxed riding position has made her more comfortable, new grips were in order and the old saddle and steel seat post got swapped out for the original Salsa Guide aluminum post and WTB saddle from my Salsa. 1992 called and wanted its chunky-ass pedals back, so I took advantage of the race team sponsorship hookup and put some sealed bearing, nylon Deity platform pedals on it for very cheap. They are, by far, the nicest thing on the bike.

The end result so far is bike that is now starting to ride like a sorted, nice little cruiser. It will get the rear hub overhauled at some point, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the garbage front hub was. I enjoy fixing up this old bike, even if I still marvel at how so little bike can be so heavy.

DISCUSSION (20)

PyramidHat > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/20/2020 at 19:47

I love rigid MTBs! My fave ride used to be an old off bran mtb that i put commuting tires on.

Nom De Plume > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/20/2020 at 20:18

Most recently it got a Bontrager Montroe Elite saddle that fits my ass a lot better and weighs about half what the original saddle did. The more aggressive posture its designed for has me spending a lot more time down in the drops, as the saddle is noticeably less comfortable riding up on the horns .

Sure sign you need to, after confirming your saddle is level and in the correct position , do some adjustments to the bar/stem position in order to take pressure off your saddle. You have a lot of spacers and “boner” stem that should allow plenty of room for improvement. You should feel like weight is balanced between the saddle and your hands on the hoods.

Here is a stem calculator to start the process of thinking through the next move. As much as you are riding I’d personally suggest asking the bike shop if they have a pile of take off stems you can play around with or buying a stack of cheap used ones. Normally a longer stem is the answer. Expect to change things around a lot as you lose weight and get fitter/more flexible. Stem calculator will make visualizing all of this much easier.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Nom De Plume
09/20/2020 at 20:35

That’s coming up on the list. In general, these days it feels like I want a longer stem, and likely a bit lower too. However, the current setup is damned comfortable on gravel where I’m going a lot slower and generally in a more relaxed posture enjoying the water, trees and fields along irrigation ditches and river banks. I don’t want to sacrifice too much of that posture for a more ideal road position. This bike also does a second double duty (and why is has split platform/spd pedals) as casually riding to a breweries in chanclas to hangout with friends when I’m in no way going to be kitted up and clipped in or going particularly fast.

There is going to be a full-on roadie in my future at some point, but after having blown up the bank account for the mtb that might be a ways off. Buying a third (and properly light and fast) roadie wheelset for it is a more likely compromise in the nearer future that costs a lot less. Buying a fancy carbon mtb with higher end components has raised my expectations for what I’m going to want on my future road bike.

Covid restrictions still prevent the LBS from doing actual full fittings, but that will happen when it can. I’ve certainly changed things on the setup and fit as I’ve gotten faster and a few more miles under my belt.

stuckMTB > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/20/2020 at 21:36

There’s been a lot of emerging research lately that larger tires does not necessarily mean slower tires. Check out bicycling mag and google some tire reviews. You can probably get some speed by changing sidewall and tread compounds and going tubeless rather than punishing yourself with a bone-shaking ride on 23-25c tires!

VincentMalamute-Kim > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/20/2020 at 21:51

If I buy a new mtn bike, I’m going to be at seven bikes. Your post title is true. Your power level is at another level compared to me if you’re riding with a race team. Even when I was young and fit, I couldn’t keep up with race teams.

It’s amazingly easier if you’re drafting a few inches off of someone. Your minute up front may be fine depending on the group. Then peel off to the back to recover.

Your increased speed while drafting comment caught my eye because it’s something I know about from a long time ago. But the speed, risk, and attention required isn’t worth it to me or something I want to do anymore.

Thanks for posting about riding every day. I haven’t ridden much the last 6 weeks due to wildfire smoke but that’s improved so I should get back out there.

Nom De Plume > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/20/2020 at 21:54

At the risk of adding to what might already be too much (ahem) weighted information. In no particular order:

A full fit would be a waste until your level of adaptation, and weight loss, level off a bit. I’d forget about it and not remember unless a very good reason to have one done comes to light.

Road wheels worth owning are typically expensive and they will be a mixed lot on the Salsa. They would of course ride very nicely. That mix of speed and performance they can provide would be minimized. On a road bike designed around 23c tires the transformation would be incredible.

Your Salsa was built using road bike geometry ( other end of the spectrum from a race bike). Adding to this is your new saddle was designed around a range of hip angles that don’t include being seated upright...

So a longer stem/lower position to improve comfort still seems counter to how a mtb is set up. It will seem to be even further out of line if you lose another 20 lbs this Fall. You need to solve the issue of too much weight on the saddle one of two ways. Second saddle, second seat post, and second stem for dirt and gravel you can quickly swap out . Or keep the new saddle on and get the stem required to fix issues with using it. Fight through some adaptation and learn how to be stable in that lower less upright position by means of shifting weight and how you give the bike input.

Last thought. Cold weather and thicker layers might make installing a less aggressive saddle for the next half a year the right choice now. Fiddle with where the bars are to make things comfortable and just go ride and have fun. The goal is to buy as small an amount as possible of stuff you won’t use or like. Avoid half steps in fiscal outlay that add up to considerably more than you needed to spend on the better item.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > stuckMTB
09/20/2020 at 22:16

Tubeless is awesome, and I’m running it across all three wheelsets on both bikes. I’m thinking some slick road tires in the 25-28 range, setup tubeless. There’s certainly speed to be picked up running both slick, and a compound a lot less sticky than a cross race tire like I’m running now. The rims themselves are also mtb rims with a lot of strength and weight I don’t need on long road rides if I’m not jumping off curbs and other shenanigan’s . This wheelset went from the OEM setup of not especially light 38c gravel tires and thorn resistant tubes to me setting them up with some really light 33c cross tires and going tubeless. That tire changed dropped 2.5lbs of mass from the wheelset, and it was an amazing difference in speed and how the bike felt. I instantly rode every road segment a gear taller than before.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Nom De Plume
09/20/2020 at 22:35

I could see losing another 10lbs or so at most , but another 20 would be problematic. I’d be clinically underweight at that point... Despite not really changing anything in my diet, at some point I might have to calorie up.

Fortunately , winter riding shouldn’t be too bad here. A normal January afternoon in Southern NM has highs in low-mid 50's, which doesn’t necessitate a crazy amount of layers (or any at all) if you’re working hard. On the odd week with a cold snap, I’m probably likely to just wait a few days until it warms up.

The other possible wrinkle in my plan would be if I go off the deep end and build a fixie. More than half the folks I ride with on pavement ride fixie. I’m not fully convinced I’m manly enough to ride fixie, but I have a lot of encouragement to do so. I’ve messed around on one for a few miles and it was interesting and strangely fun in a way . I can see the appeal, but I’d like to ride one with a brake on it first before spending money. That might be a bad idea, because something tells me one with more (any) brakes to stop with more than just my legs might make me buy one.

Nom De Plume > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/21/2020 at 00:19

You are going in quite a few directions at once as more tempt you.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Nom De Plume
09/21/2020 at 00:36

I like the way the world looks from a bike saddle.

I also have no special loyalty to any particular style of riding. I’m more interested in riding with good people and having a beer after, which means I tend to avoid anyone associated with the ZiaVelo club here in Cruces. They keep coming across as massholes whenever I interact with them, and they all seem to ride big dollar road bikes and are always kitted out in full. Even my former semi-pro mentor and most frequent riding partner won’t wear a bib or tight jersey unless he’s actually in a race. It is kind of fun to watch a guy in mtb shorts and a t-shirts on a steel fixie drop folks in bibs on $10k road bikes when they challenge him.

Nom De Plume > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/21/2020 at 10:55

The way you are going I’d hope someone points you towards an inexpensive geared road bike suitable for covering lots of miles on.

Or at least devoting yourself to wearing out/breaking some parts instead of shopping for new ones . Especially all these marginal wheelsets!

Keep working on refining your position. I could tell you exactly what change is needed just by looking at a photo of your bike. You need to figure it out and then ask what would be a few sensible options to achieve it.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Nom De Plume
09/21/2020 at 20:38

I leveled out the seat this evening and the saddle feels a lot more comfortable in both positions. A new seatpost was installed for reasons. The 3T Ionic 0 I picked up off eBay for like $40.00 back in May when I bought the bike was well used. It started developing a bit o’ play about 350-400 miles ago that turned out to be wear in splines for the angle adjustment. It didn’t heal, and by last week there was enough play to start hearing a rattle over bumps . Put a 3T zero25 carbon post on it with a cone/cup./friction paste style adjustment. I never was able to find an spline on the old post that was perfectly level, so I always opted a spline nose down instead of up . I dig the infinite adjustment on this post.

Nom De Plume > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/22/2020 at 02:07

Sorry to hear that post didn’t work out. You bought that pretty quick without asking (any) the amount of questions I would’ve. Hope the new one works out long term.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Nom De Plume
09/22/2020 at 07:47

Eh, I feel like I got my $40 out of it over the 10 00 ish miles I rode it. The most important thing was it got me forward, because I had maxed out the original Salsa offset post adjustment after only a few rides and still felt like I was reaching forward to pedal. This time I knew a lot more about what I wanted in a post before buying a new one, like with the saddle.

The original Salsa post and WTB saddle have found a second life on the urban cruiser I’ve put together for my sister from a 90s rigid mtb. The pretty much vertical seat tube on that bike actually works okay with the offset post, and they’re way nicer than the 90s parts.

Last night’s lap o’ Las Cruces wasn’t my fastest with a bunch of stops to fine tune the saddle position, but I got it dailed in fairly close to where I want it now.

Nom De Plume > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/22/2020 at 12:19

W as having regrets when you bought it that ultimately proved correct. Almost prefaced the link with a warning not to buy it. Use it as a guide to differentiate between light weight usage road components and more robust parts. I really am sorry the very thing I was trying to prevent came to pass.

You are doing very well so far. The bike for your sister is turning out quite attractive too. Don’t be afraid to ask her opinion and change up some of your hard work. Le feminine tastes often run to less chonky traditional pedals. I won’t post an example picture in case you rush out and buy that exact one, lol. Worth mentioning at least. For all I know she’ll ride it down an easy trail in the mountains wearing hiking boots where the bmx pedals will be a perfect fit.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Nom De Plume
09/22/2020 at 12:58

Eh, it was $40. In the beginning I didn’t really know what I was going to end up using the bike for, and it ended up doing a fair bit of intermediate and occasionally better mtb trails before I bought the second bike. Sans dropper, it meant I was also freqently doing the rough with the saddle jammed up my ass. This time around I looked at posts and sadd le s much more centered around the road and light gravel usage the bike sees now.

Part of the motivation for the Stache was not only how much fun I’m having on dirt and opening up the rest of the mountain, so to speak, but to also a have dedicated and tougher bike just for beating up on rocks and jumping off features and the like without feeling like I was beating up the Journeyman.

Nom De Plume > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/22/2020 at 14:16

In a hilarious twist of fate I ended up reinstalling the seatpost that came with my road bike. As is the case with basically any small outdoors brand forced to scale production . Thomson went the way of Chris King which went the way of... My nicer lighter seatpost got to the point I needed a 6" allen wrench with a towel wrapped around it and work gloves on to get the bolts tight enough seat stayed put. manufacturing processes being reduced and streamlined impacting product quality and QC found in older products. In this case oval carbon rails harder than the soft metal used in seat clamps made fitting a round ti railed saddle challenging.

Going to freeze it and attempt backing off pressure enough I can assess how many parts I should’ve bought earlier will be needed now. At which point I’m retiring it to Sunday bike duties. It has absorbed a lot of crashes and mtb like impacts. Grousing about it doesn’t change the fact it was engineered to soft fail in this manner and allow replacing all deformed parts. Only put 40K miles on it which feels a bit low to be suffering failure.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/22/2020 at 21:56

Oh man that Rockhopper takes me back to my childhood. Nice find. It’s amazing how some grips, a modern saddle, and new tires can really spruce up a tired bike. I have a Raleigh from that same era rotting in my back yard that I should give similar treatment. I have that same group set as your Trek on my Specialized. Mostly solid stuff. Heads up if those are Level brakes plan to do preventative maintenance on the levers or replace the brakes at some point. The pistons are made of some sort of plastic that swells over time and eventually starts to stick and be really slow to return. I got caught out dragging my bike with a front brake shut two miles up a trail. SRAM changed the design at least once but I’m not sure they ever fully solved it. You can buy aftermarket aluminum pistons for them. I’ve just decided to replace them with OEM pistons annually. Other riders here ditched them for Shimano or Hope. I have that same Revelate Designs bag! It’s so handy. I’m really thinking about buying some more of their gear.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
09/22/2020 at 22:13

They’re Sram Guide R brakes on the Stache. The GX Eagle drivetrain rocks on the bike. It has raised my expectations for future bikes I'll own. .

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
09/22/2020 at 22:34

From what I’ve heard the Guides don’t seem to have the issues. My wife had them on her Stumpjumper and they have been solid so far though she hasn’t put a ton of miles on it. Yeah the GX is solid. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but it has delivered. I want to hang onto it until I can afford wireless. The AXS Eagle seems like the future.