Pushing Mammoth

29 Sunday Mar 2015

Tags

chriscross, Clement, Hetres, Hunqapillar, mso, Oregon Outback, rivendell, schwalbe, Stan's, thunder burt, Toussaint, tubeless, wtb

After a thousand miles using the Clement MSO tires, and an unfortunate rim shredding with forgotten brake pads, it was time to rebuild my wheels. I really like the Clements, so they will likely go back on after the Oregon Outback, but the bike is built for bigger tires, and I have a couple bikes that are lighter and more roadish. This is a mountain bike at heart.

I did a bit of research and decided to try out WTB ChrisCross rims. They seemed to be a good combination of strength and weight, and had the requisite black look I was wanting for this bike. They luckily happened to be the same ERD (604mm) as the outgoing Velocity Synergies, so I was able to try out the rim swap trick re-using the old, perfectly good spokes.

Rim swap – tape, loosen, and start switching rims!

As I’ve had good luck with tubeless Hetres on my Toussaint, and I definitely want to avoid flats with the bigger tires on the long trips, I built these up sans-tube. I only had the thin Stans tape that just covered the spoke holes. The tires I picked for these guys are the Schwalbe Thunder Burts. They are tubeless-ready tires, but fit the rims rather loosely. I knew I would need extra tape, but it took two additional layers. I used one round of Gorilla tape on one rim, but I had to trim it to fit in the well. I went over it with a round of vinyl tape that worked so well, I just used the vinyl twice round on the other wheel.

Finished Wheel

Once I had a few layers built up, the tires popped in with the air compressor, and I added Stans for a fully loaded tubeless wheel. I had to re-adjust the fenders back out 10mm to take into account the expanded diameter of the new wheel. Until I got the tires on, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to run with fenders over these giant tires. I’m still wary, as new knobbies tend to pick up lots of debris, but the first ride was uneventful.

Mammoth Mode

The new tires are definitely beefy. Reminds me of that big off-road mountain bike feel I fell in love with in ’91 when I re-discovered off-road riding. They appear to ride really smoothly on asphalt, and they soak up the bumps even better than the Hetres on my other bike. In the tubeless config, they likely weigh in the same neighborhood, too! Hetres: 412g + tube (150g) compared to Thunder Burts: 435g.

First ride with Burts

Now I just need a few more long dirt rides to sort this guy out. The bars feel pretty far out – this guy has a long top-tube, and drops accentuate the reach. Once I get it dialed in, the tape will go on and the mammoth will be ready for new adventure.

Big Rides

13 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling, Northwest, Randonneuring

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Tags

100k, 200k, bicycle, brevet, Oregon Outback

I’m going into 2015 with an open mind. I would love to ride more brevets this year, but I’m leaving mileage goals wide open. I did a few “permanents” last year (solo brevets that you schedule yourself), and I really enjoyed them. There are 200ks around Whidbey Island that I’d like to do regularly, and I even set up some rides in the Ride with GPS app, including one populaire (100k) that I may ride and submit for permanent status if it turns out to be good. It’s quite a hillfest, however!

I would still love to see how far I can make it in 24 hours (or if I can even ride that long) and then maybe try a longer ride at some point. I am pretty sure I’m not up for the PBP or any 1200k quite yet – I haven’t the will power for that much time in the saddle in a short amount of time. I’m not leaving it off the table, however.

One thing is for sure: I want to bike into old age, and continue to enjoy my rides.

I’ve been out about once a week since mid December. I guess this is my yearly break. I’ve been focusing more on diet and basic Pilates exercise to keep in shape, but I’m giving my knee a rest to get my adductors stretched back out. I also just tried out kayaking, and this will be added to my weekend relaxation/exercise plans for 2015. I really enjoy paddling around, and have a lot to learn about cruising about in the cold water of the Sound. I also need some cross training so I don’t continue the descent into a biker physique combined with a tech slouch.

One interesting ride I plan to try this year is the Oregon Outback. This is a 360 mile, mostly gravel journey that crosses the state south to north from Klamath Falls to Deschutes. There was much written about it last year, with some like Ira Ryan and Jan Heine “racing” the route and finishing in under 30 hours, and others taking a leisurely multi-day tour to the finish. I will be likely doing the latter with a friend and my Hunqapillar. I don’t get enough chances to really ride that bike under load in it’s primary capacity. The last time it wasn’t just a commuter was the Rivendell Entmoot, and that’s just sad and wrong!

This ride will be a benchmark for my spring riding season. I would still like to visit Babyshoe Pass, and Stehekin, as well. Perhaps more exploring in WA is in order…