Long time, no bike post.

"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97)
08/19/2020 at 11:55 • Filed to: None

I’ve been continuing to ride my Salsa Journeyman I bought back in late May as a way to get back into biking, mostly shorter 5-10 mile road and gravel ditch bank rides. I’ve been pedaling on pavement probably 80% of the time.

With about 400/500ish miles on the bike, I decided it was time to pay a visit to the LBS of choice and have them give the bike it’s first check-up/tune up and a sealant refresh(unlimited free service for a year when you buy a bike from them) and look at some options for pedals. I had been feeling like it was time to step up (pun absolutely intended) to clipping in. $186 later I had picked out a pair of Bontrager Evoke shoes and a pair of Shimano EH500 SPD/platform pedals. The idea was to pick something with flats on one side so that I still have to option of riding in a pair of sandals to a neighborhood brewery, should that become a thing again in post-Covid times to come.

While I was there, I mentioned to the lbs owner that I was starting to play with the idea of getting a second wheelset for the bike in a more(relatively) fatty type setup to open up some additional dirt riding options on the bike. Journeymans come in two flavors of wheelsets from the factory, 700c x 37mm tall skinny gravel tires (my bike’s setup) or 650b x 2.1 gravel tires (with the frame specs saying they’re good for up to 2.2). The owners face lit up and said he knew someone with just such a wheelset with some good 2.2" XC mtb tires on them they would sell, and probably for cheap as she wasn’t using them (she had bought a mtb and converted her Journeyman to the tall/skinny setup like mine for around town riding). The next morning I get the call that my bike is ready, and the seller dropped off the wheelset and he gave them a clean bill of health, even doing a minor true on one wheel and refreshing the sealant for no charge. He also had cassette and in stock for a plug and play second wheelset.

In the end I paid $250 for a OEM Journeyman WTB 23mm wheelset with some Bontrager XR3 CC tires in 27.5 x 2.2 already setup tubeless. I gave another $50 to the LBS for a new cassette for the wheelset and a loaner of set of skewers until I order some or he gets more in stock. Considering I had priced it out to around $800ish for a new wheelset of similar to slightly better quality, I couldn’t say yes fast enough to the deal.

There is so much more rubber, and now it feels like I can ride the bike over all the things. Went out for a trail ride with one of my really, really serious mountain biking friends and had tremendous fun. It was something of a no half measures effort, being the most technical terrain I’ve ever ridden a bike on, we did it in the dark (got dark about the halfway point around mile 4-5ish) and it was the first time I’d ever ridden a bike clipped in. It was damned awesome, and I really like being clipped in.

I’m really pleased at the serendipity of happening into this second wheelset. It really opens up a whole another world of riding options for my Journeyman. I totally get why gravel bikes are so popular right now. With two wheelsets, one bike that can do many different things atleast competently. It has been a fantastic investment, and I think there maybe a full-on mtb purchase at some point in my future.

DISCUSSION (12)

benjrblant > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/19/2020 at 12:13

Good choice on the pedals and on a second wheelset. Crazy how different the same bike feels with a different tire size, right?

facw > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/19/2020 at 12:13

I have those pedals on my hybrid, they’ve worked well for me.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/19/2020 at 12:21

I’d the level of adventure just went up to 11.

Nom De Plume > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/19/2020 at 12:28

Thought about making a post few days ago asking how everyone that got the biking bug was making out.

I have those same shoes for grocery runs and anywhere else I’ll need to walk around off the bike. After the fork snapped on my beater fendered bike I’ve been reduced to riding a full suspension mtb around town.

nerd_racing > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/19/2020 at 12:29

I’m just getting into it, but I picked up a Trek Wahoo 29er Gary Fisher off marketplace. It’s the nicest bike I have ever owned. I’ve had a lot of crap bikes lol. But I love this thing. Can’t wait to hit up some trails with it over labor day weekend.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > benjrblant
08/19/2020 at 12:39

Indeed. It feels like an entirely different bike with the two wheelsets. The fatties are so much slower on pavement, but feel so good on dirt. Salsa ought to offer the option of shipping these bikes with both wheelsets so folks leave the lbs with the ability to really choose their own adventure.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/19/2020 at 12:51

I like that bike a lot. It reminds me of my own! This has 35 s mounted. If I removed the fenders, I could go a bit bigger, but nothing like what’s being shoehorned into the gravel bike frames.

Kinja'd!!!

Two wheelsets is how I was able to justify my full-suspension MTB in college . I had slicks for commuting and knobbies for the weekends. I really didn’t have room for a second bike, so it was one bike for everything.

benjrblant > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/19/2020 at 12:56

Are you running either set tubeless?

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > benjrblant
08/19/2020 at 13:07

Yes, the new fatties are tubeless. The skinnies I’m running thorn resistant tubes and sealant in. The 700c wheels are tubeless compatible, but the gravel tires it came with aren’t.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/20/2020 at 00:52

Two wheelset are cheaper than two bikes. And the fact you’ve ended up with two exactly compatible sets for such a low price is ... very excellent. My suggestion from here on in is to consider even narrower all road 700c tyres...the Pirelli Cinquecento 28mm pair I run make for an excellent compromise of speed and stability on most road types but there are many other similar tyres you could try...

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
08/20/2020 at 02:06

Thanks. That is very much on my agenda. I’ve been thinking something along the lines of a 32mm-ish tire, and more road biased than what the 37 mm WTB Riddler Comps I’m currently running on the 700c wheelset. Likely tubeless, too. My 700c rims are 19mm, and while the spec allows for down to a 28mm tire, something tells me staying off the extremes of the spec is probably better.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/20/2020 at 07:34

A 19mm internal rim will run a 28mm tyre no worries (ask me how I know). And I’ll wager your rims are like mine....not rated for road bike pressures. But since I run my 28mm tyres at 60 to 70 psi...I don't think you'll have too many dramas...