bike ⁽²⁵⁾

Patrick November 11, 2023

Marin Gestalt X12 On New Wheels

How wide is too wide? My wide tire journey for road cycling started on Compass Barlow Pass (700x38) tires back in 2016. WTB Horizon (650x47) followed in 2018. When I put 650B wheels on my Nordest Albarda, René Herse Switchback Hill (650x48) and Panaracer GravelKing (650x48, 52mm actual) tires took me a big step further on that journey. My Marin Gestalt X12 started rolling on René Herse Snoqualmie Pass (700x44) tubeless “shoes.” This bike has room for much more, so much, in fact, that 44mm looks skinny.

Patrick October 29, 2023

Volagi Viaje 2024 Update

Following in the footsteps of the 1x12 conversion of my Nordest Albarda, the Volagi Viaje naturally has to be taken there, too. Volagi brought this bike to market in a Kickstarter campaign in August 2012. It was designed for the bike components of that time. Whenever new stuff comes out, message boards and comment sections fill up with cyclists moaning and groaning about the bike industry, forcing new standards upon us. I’m not one of them. I love seeing bike technology advance. I don’t adopt everything. In fact, a lot that’s supposedly “forced” on us isn’t my cup of tea. I’ll never buy a bike with fully internally-routed cables, for instance. I just won’t. But I love options. And options we have. Besides, when you can take an 11-year-old Volagi Viaje and throw the very newest components on it, where’s the reason to moan and groan? Standards haven’t changed all that much. You just need to be smart about the bikes and components you’re choosing.

Patrick October 7, 2023

Nordest Albarda 2023 Update

My Nordest Albarda was built on a budget in the fall of 2019. I used a Nox Composites wheelset that had previously been on my red Volagi Viaje. The braking system and 2x11-speed SRAM Red eTap HRD drivetrain were borrowed from my Ritte.  In 2020, I purchased a SRAM Red AXS groupset for the Nordest and moved the eTap HRD parts back to the Ritte. In the spring of 2021, I asked 47° Nord to lace a pair of Chris King R45D hubs to a set of Light Bicycle 650B WR35 carbon rims. That’s how I’ve ridden the bike for the last two and a half years, sometimes swapping out the wheels using the Nox with grippier tires during the winter months.

Patrick July 29, 2023

Marin Gestalt X12

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it - If something is reasonably successful or effective, there is no need to change it. German speakers would say “Bewährtes soll man nicht verändern.” When it comes to cycling, most of us often stick to that. We ride something, like it, and we’re therefore rarely willing to change it. I have for a long time ridden the same type of road bike. There were incremental changes such as more gears and lighter and more aero frames, but in the grand scheme of things, these improvements weren’t all that world-shattering. That changed with my first Volagi Viaje. I started exploring things outside what is considered a “road bike.”

Patrick October 30, 2022

Homework Done

Whenever you switch a part on your bike, it’s important to do your homework. A coworker of mine once wanted to change the stem on his bike. He got one, went on the put it on the bike, only to realize that his handlebar wouldn’t fit. He had purchased a stem with a 31.8mm clamp. Unfortunately, his bike was equipped with a 35mm handlebar. It’d be easy to laugh and say what a noob. But we can’t all be experts in everything. I’m certainly not. After several winters of riding my fat bike, the axle of my crankset has worn where the bearings are seated. Without tightening the pre-load adjuster, there was noticeable play. A tightened pre-load adjuster doesn’t remove that play; it only hides it while the bike is in the work stand. The play is still there under every pedal stroke and will only worsen over time. It will also lead to premature bottom bracket failure. It was therefore time to replace the axle. Because I chose a SRAM XX1 carbon crankset at the time, a simple axle change isn’t possible. The axle and the non-drive side crank arm form an inseparable unit.