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williswall poser
Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 1963 | TRs | Pics Location: Redmond |
I've done more biking these past few years, but my bikes are like me: old. My mountain bike is a steel framed Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo, which I bought in 2000. My road bike I bought from a friend of mine in 2000, but it was already a few years old, a Trek 5500 Carbon; top components at the time but now about 20 years old. Nearing retirement, I decided it was time to get a new bike, one that suited my needs with an eye towards bike packing. The shakedown ride was, big surprise, Mt. Rainier where I rode some climbs to Paradise and Sunrise but also did the entire West Side Road, all together 83 miles and 10,200' of climb. So far I'm pretty impressed.
initial observations here
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Schenk Off Leash Man
Joined: 16 Apr 2012 Posts: 2372 | TRs | Pics Location: Traveling, with the bear, to the other side of the Mountain |
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Schenk
Off Leash Man
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Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:45 am
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I used to have Hoo Koo E Koo...until some scum stole it. It was a great bike!
I ride a Giant Trance now...also good.
Nature exists with a stark indifference to humans' situation.
Nature exists with a stark indifference to humans' situation.
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trestle Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 2093 | TRs | Pics Location: the Oly Pen |
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trestle
Member
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Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:59 am
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That's quite an upgrade from your Fisher and Trek. I love the gravel bike genre and hope to acquire a new one myself in the next few years. I appreciated your review and the distinctions between the ride quality on different surfaces. I've never ridden with a cowchipper bar and I've read a lot of good reviews but they sure look different. I'll be curious to hear more about the front brake after you get it adjusted. Thanks for posting.
"Life favors the prepared." - Edna Mode
"Life favors the prepared." - Edna Mode
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DigitalJanitor Dirt hippie
Joined: 20 May 2012 Posts: 792 | TRs | Pics
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Husby recently picked up a Specialized Sequoia gravel grinder and absolutely loves it. Haven't been able to do the bikepacking thing this season (yet?) but he's got a bead on that for the future if nothing else.
I've bikepacked w/ my Ibis Mojo... not ideal in the sense of not having any room for a frame bag, but I just pumped up the fork and the main shock and it rode like a champ on singletrack fully loaded.
Now if I only had more time for all the toys...
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DIYSteve seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Thu Aug 17, 2017 12:21 pm
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Looks like a fun bike (so long as you don't mind the lack of a big gear for downhills ).
I finished building the frame for this "gravel bike" -- which 20 years ago would have been called a "touring bike" -- a couple months ago. I just built some fast wheels (not in pic) for road. Second pic is frame in jig, ready for brazing.
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williswall poser
Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 1963 | TRs | Pics Location: Redmond |
That's a sweet looking shop! You can build bikes from scratch, I can barely change a flat, kinda sums it up. Your frame looks like the Gunnar bikes. I was told I can put a bigger crank on for faster pedaling but for now I'm good....however, were I going cross country I would probably regear the bike. Don't have to worry about that for a few years yet.
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DIYSteve seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:27 pm
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williswall wrote: | You can build bikes from scratch, I can barely change a flat, kinda sums it up. |
I've been building frames off and on for 40 years. My original partner, Doug Curtiss, has been a custom framebuilder for decades under the Curtlo brand. (He's the Curt and I'm the Lo, although I haven't been involved in the business for many years.) He is in the Methow Valley and builds excellent custom frames for a great price. He also sells build kits at a good price, so it's possible to get a custom bicycle at a mass-produced price.
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Gregory Member
Joined: 08 Mar 2014 Posts: 386 | TRs | Pics
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Gregory
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Sun Sep 10, 2017 7:06 am
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I just got word from a friend that Chris chance is back at it.I still have a black 18" Wicked Fat Chance.Fun looking bike for sure looks like it will turn on a dime.
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InFlight coated in DEET
Joined: 20 May 2015 Posts: 847 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle area |
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InFlight
coated in DEET
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Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:08 am
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Steve,
What milling machine is that? Looks similar to a J-head Bridgeport. With the dark green paint I was thinking it might be a Grizzly machine.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...” ― Henry David Thoreau
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...” ― Henry David Thoreau
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Cyclopath Faster than light
Joined: 20 Mar 2012 Posts: 7697 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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Cyclopath
Faster than light
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Mon Sep 11, 2017 4:08 pm
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That's a beautiful bike, and I've only ever heard good things about Salsas. Looks like a fantastic shakedown ride, too! Great scenery, I bet it made your legs burn.
I've been having a lot of fun in the modern "gravel" category, too. I agree that light gearing can be annoying when you spin out, but that it's a great trade off for climbing, especially on steep dirt pitches. Other than that, how do you like SRAM road? Rival is a pretty nice group.
I just got a new gravel bike, too! Mine is a little differently oriented than yours. I had a very hard time choosing between a Santa Cruz Stigmata, which I think is a lot like your Salsa, and a Cervelo C3. I wound up going for the latter, it's more of a fondo bike, but I've been enjoying taking it on a lot of the roads leading to trailheads I used to hike from.
I rode up to the Phelps Creek TH, it was a lovely ride and I enjoyed solitude for most of it. The hiking trails are getting so crowded, but you can get a similar experience to the old days on a bike if you choose your route carefully. Being able to take unpaved roads helps a lot with that.
Mind if I post a couple pics of mine? Probably like you, this is my first internally routed bike, which is neat. I'm in love with mine, and I hope you are with yours - I get the sense you are. Everybody should love their bike.
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Cyclopath Faster than light
Joined: 20 Mar 2012 Posts: 7697 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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Cyclopath
Faster than light
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Mon Sep 11, 2017 4:11 pm
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DIYSteve wrote: | I just built some fast wheels (not in pic) for road. |
Do you plan to swap them back and forth regularly? Are the brakes hydraulic or mech?
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DIYSteve seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:07 am
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InFlight wrote: | Steve,
What milling machine is that? Looks similar to a J-head Bridgeport. With the dark green paint I was thinking it might be a Grizzly machine. |
Yeah, it's a Grizzly Bridgeport J-head clone, c. 2001. It's a better Grizzly, Taiwanese (not mainland China) with mehanite castings. It's been a good solid troublefree mill.
Cyclopath wrote: | Do you plan to swap them back and forth regularly? Are the brakes hydraulic or mech? |
As often as necessary. So far that's a couple times a week. Quick swap, a couple minutes. Mechanical brakes, TRP Spyre with big 200mm rotors. Per my experience years ago as a long-distance tourist, the bike is set up for reliability/durability, e.g., high spoke count wheels, and ability to repair in the field, e.g., Paul Thumbie shifters, which have fewer moving parts than brifters and can be switched to friction shifters on the fly. Now that my running days are over I've been putting lots of miles on the new bike as my new daily aerobic workout routine.
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Cyclopath Faster than light
Joined: 20 Mar 2012 Posts: 7697 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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Cyclopath
Faster than light
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Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:00 am
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Ok, that makes sense. Swapping wheels isn't really a common practice with hydraulic brakes because for all their goodness, the self-centering, self-adjusting nature actually gets in the way of this. I figured if anyone was going to make it work, it'd be you.
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