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First Prep Ride

05 Sunday Apr 2015

Tags

bikes, Gravel Touring, Oregon Outback, Rivendell Hunqapillar, Schwalbe Thunder Burt, Surly Troll, Whidbey Island


I’ve been planning to do the Oregon Outback ride this year with a friend, and yesterday was our first trial ride with our camp bikes.  We did the 26-mile mostly paved ride I had done on my rando bike a few weeks ago.  There is a short stretch of gravel, so it allowed us a bit of feel for the twisty dirt roads, but this was mainly an equipment shakedown.

Testing the OO setups

We loaded up his Troll and my Mammoth with some bulk, but not a full level of kit. I had the hammock, sleeping bag, and stove, and John had a front bag, frame bag, and a full Ortlieb dry bag. All in, my bike was probably 10+ lbs heavier than my last ride on this loop.

John's Troll

Observations:

  • The Thunder Burts are nice pavement tires – minimal buzz, and great float, and the tubeless setup is holding air nicely
  • I will likely need to put my rear rack back on to support the bag – it rests on the fender, and there will be more weight out back when I add food, clothes, etc…
  • I’m going to put a triple on the front for the extreme climbs with weight – the 48/34 compact double is good, but I want more granny
  • John is checking his chain rings – threw the chain a few times
  • Flat pedals rock
  • Ready to tape the bars – they felt fine on the ride
  • Both bikes had a bit of shimmy at ~20mph – attributed to more weight high up in the back – we should be able to sort it by adding weight in the front, and lower down
  • Our speed was not too different then my solo ride of the reverse loop;  12.3 mph ave vs. 13.7 mph ave – only took an additional 12 mins over the course of 2 hrs
  • The bikes are plenty comfortable
  • I can’t wait for this trip!

 

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Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Cycling, Enduro Offroad, Northwest, Randonneuring

≈ 2 Comments

January Morning

24 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

bikes, birds, boats, boeing, morning commute, Seattle, Waterfront


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January Morning, a set on Flickr.

Photos from one of my cloudy morning commutes this week. Bikes, birds, Boeings, boats, etc…

Low Trail Rides

21 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

650b, bicycles, bikes, Boulder Bicycles, Cycles Toussaint, cycling, FreeRange Cycles, Grand Randonneur, Grant Petersen, low-trail, Mike Kone, randonneur, rivendell, Seattle, Soma, Velo Routier


Having the good fortune to live and ride in Seattle near good local bike shops has its blessings.  I stopped in FreeRange Cycles on Tuesday and tried out a couple of new rides that sport a low trail geometry with a bent towards the randonneuring crowd (me).  Both are a bit of a departure for me in that they are TIG welded steel frames.

Soma Grand Randonneur

The Soma Grand Randonneur was recently shipped, and is a very compelling deal.  It is a $500 frame/fork combo that was designed by Mike Kone of Boulder Bicycle and Rene Herse fame.  Note: Soma is doing some great combo design deals lately.  First Grant Petersen‘s design on the San Marcos, and now a low-trail guru’s take on a commodity frame.  You’d be hard pressed to not want both!

The bike I rode is a 55cm (small for me) with a large porteur rack on the front.  Good to add some weight and see how it feels with a bit of front load.  In my short ride, I felt immediately at home on the bike, and really felt some of the benefits of the different front-end geometry.  It was quick handling, but forgiving – not twitchy.  As I slowed to a stop, I noticed there was none of the flopping I have on my higher trail bikes if I let go of the handlebars.  OK – that’s kind of nice.  But the thing I liked more is that on a slow climb, I didn’t have the bars slightly twisting back and forth with my pedal strokes.  It tracked well at low speeds.  Hmmm – I may like this sort of thing.

On turns, at medium and higher speeds, there was no uncertainty of where I was going.  Perhaps it didn’t feel like it was “on rails” like my Rivendells, but there was no bad effects I could ascertain.  As for riding no-handed, it was about like my Miyata.  Not great, but doable, and I wonder if it’s not due to the high saddle, low bars on this slightly too small frame for me.

Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier

On to the other bike – a new effort out of Canada. Cycles Toussaint is a Calgary company recently formed (2012) with two bike models.  The version I rode was a demo Velo Routier sent to Kathleen at FreeRange to see if there is interest in the area.  It’s a smart-looking white frame that was nicely built up in a traditional rando effort.  It was slightly bigger at 57cm, so more in line with my size (I would probably go with a 59-60cm frame).

The only real difference in ride character this bike had in comparison with the Soma GR is that it tracked better for me no-handed.  I won’t guess why other than perhaps the lack of a rack, the size being more in line with what I normally ride, or some build difference (tires?).  Other than that, the bike handled much like the Soma.  Deliberate, comfortable, and non-eventful.  At $500, this bike is at the same price point, and it may come down to looks for you if you are in the market.  To my eye, the Toussaint is prettier, and I liked the additional seat-stay peg so you can choose to mount a top-tube frame pump, or a smaller seat-stay pump.  Overkill?  Maybe, but I like pump-pegs – call me nuts…

Similarities:

  1. Steel
  2. 650b
  3. Low 30mm trail
  4. Integrated fender mounts
  5. $500!
  6. Threaded 1″ steerer tube for threaded headset (yeah!)
  7. Room for fenders and 42mm tires
  8. Tubing – both are double-butted with .8/.5/.8 on small sizes, and .9/.6/.9 on larger frames

Differences:

  1. Color
  2. Tube diameters – thinner seat-stays on the Toussaint
  3. Fork bend – prettier curve on the Toussaint
  4. Bottle bosses – 2 on Toussaint, 3 on Soma
  5. Front rack mounts – Soma has rack and low-rider mounts, Toussaint has rack mounts
  6. Sizes – Toussaint comes in 4 sizes – 51-60cm, Soma fits more riders with 6 sizes from 49.5-65cm
  7. Rear hub spacing – 130mm for Toussaint, and 132.5 for Soma

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