offtrail.guru

A small blog about offtrail riding, allroad cycling, fatbiking and singlespeeding.

Marin Gestalt X12 on new wheels
Patrick

New Wheels For My Marin Gestalt X12

Huh? Another set of hoops? Didn't the bike already get new ones in November? Yes, but they didn't work well with the tires I wanted to use on the MGX12. So, I spent a week testing between the holidays and concluded that I needed to build a new set of wheels with Light Bicycle AR25 low-profile rims. The new wheels:

  • Light Bicycle AR25 rims, paintless UD carbon, 28H, drain holes, laser engraving
  • Light Bicycle 25mm rim tape
  • Sapim CX-Ray spokes
  • Red aluminum nipples
  • Red tubeless valves
  • Hope Pro 5 Centerlock front hub, 28H, 100x12mm, red
  • Hope Pro 5 Centerlock rear hub, 28H, 142x12mm, XDR, red
  • Hope Centerlock lockrings, red
  • Bucklos RT-MT760 Centerlock rotors, 160mm
  • SRAM XPLR XG-1251 cassette, 10-44T
  • René Herse Antelope Hill 700C x 55 TC tires, standard casing, tan sidewalls
  • Orange Seal regular sealant
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The top of the Romontberg.
Patrick

 Dream Bike Or One That Does The Job

When I first got into cycling in the mid-80s, entry-, mid-level, and high-end bikes were not tremendously far apart. Mountain bikes had no suspension, and frames were made from steel or aluminum. Groupsets were the primary difference between bikes. An entry-level bike had Shimano LX, a mid-level bike was equipped with DX, and a top-of-the-line bike came with XT. I started on an entry-level bike, moved to a mid-level Specialized Stumpjumper, and soon rode a World-Cup-level Muddy Fox with a full Shimano XT groupset. Even seat posts were part of such groupsets back then. XT came with a nice black steel seat post. You read that right: a seat post made out of steel. A few years later, I spent a small fortune owning a Merlin Titanium with XTR derailleurs and many boutique components. For much of my cycling career, I bought or built nice bikes that cost a lot. They were never outrageously expensive, but more than I needed.

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The Chasseral antenna on January 21, 2024.
Patrick

Fat-Biking To Start 2024

On the weekend of January 13th and 14th, snow covered the trails almost to my house. I did a 3-hour ride across the Bözingenberg on Saturday, the 13th, and a 4-hour loop across Plagne and the Stierenberg on Sunday, the 14th. Warm weather and rain during the week pushed the snowline up several hundred meters. Luckily, the mercury dropped below zero on Friday and remained there for the weekend.

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160mm Centerlock Two-Piece Rotors.
Patrick

Centerlock Rotor Comparison

Whenever possible, I equip a bike with Centerlock rotors. I used to have rotors with the 6-bolt interface, but after experiencing some hub failures with 6-bolt rotors, particularly on road hubs, I now prefer Centerlock hubs. I have used SRAM Centerline X, TRP TR25, and Jagwire Pro LR2 rotors. I always install 160 mm rotors on the front and back of road and gravel bikes, except for my Volagi Viaje bikes, which require a 140 mm rotor on the back. Very recently, I bought a pair of Bucklos RT-MT760 rotors on AliExpress. They looked good, and you get a pair, including lockrings, for the price of one of the better-known brands.

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My minimalist home bike workshop.
Patrick

My Minimalist Home Bike Workshop

Learning how to do bike maintenance is a great way to save time and money. I have been maintaining and building my bikes for about 35 years and have always done so with very little equipment. If you are relatively new to cycling and would like to work on your bike, a Google image search for "home bike workshop" will likely scare you away from getting started. Many of the garage or basement shop setups that people share online are sometimes more spacious and better equipped than your local bike store. You don’t need that.

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