BLOG#9: Under the Bridge: "Have you seen the bridge? Where is that confounded bridge?!" Go Fighting Okra!
Last night we were hanging out after our group ride and someone mentioned a weird mascot. I recalled a recent podcast where the same thing came up and one of the casters went to a school where the team name is the Fighting Okra! Apparently 20 odd years ago some students at Delta U in Texas didn't like the name "Statesmen" so they jokingly and unofficially changed it to Fighting Okra. And even though that isn't the official name it stuck!
Weird...
Almost as weird as a fat bike with aero bars!
WEATHER REPORT: From sweat and wet to furnace filter check!
It went from almost 90F to me scraping my car windows yesterday morning!
Because MN.
Speaking of MN....
I was recently checking out a cool blog by the name of Bike Snob NY. (https://bikesnobnyc.com/) In one of the posts the author notes phenomenon he called, "MN Humblebragging" which basically means that no matter how cold someone elsewhere reports we MNers have to or end up "1-uping" them with our crazy weather and as an MNer.
It's true and I have done it!
I brought it up to the group the other night and we all agreeingly laughed! And then we shared our near death stories and some lamenting about the next round of near death experiences.
THE RIDE: I got some good and great rides in this week! Prior to swapping the sus fork from the Giant to the Pink Panther I hopped on it for the first time in a long time and did my patented "sprint to Jail Trail" and back on Saturday. I like this small ten-ish mile ride because it's short, fast and sweet. It's a combination of urban blast and forest trail and the Giant does it best. However when I got to the trail it took a bit of time to get used to the steering. The addition of the 120mm travel Magura raised the headtube changing the steering angle, essentially making it a bit lazy. It's not so bad when you get used to it but your inputs have to come sooner than later. I moved that fork to the pink charbon where I feel, unless needed on the Giant, it's a better fit. Also, even though the Giant with the sus fork on it is still a "fast" bike I wanted it in it's lower weight form.
After some well deserved (see badly needed) maintenance I took my boy and my charbon fat bike over to Jail Trail. The fat wasn't shifting right and had terrible crank creak. On top of that I had a tire that was losing air. I've been planning on tearing the fat down so I can get started on it's custom paint job so I hadn't planned on curing it's ills but it just kind of happened and I'm glad I did as it is making me smile quite wide! It's also kind of the right bike for Jail Trail because there are a number of spots on the trail where silt has built up. These spots make for an easy wipeout, which I did on the Giant, on bikes with much less tire.
Last night's ride was the BOMB though! Essentially the second ride of what I call, the "BIBCO "D (for dirt) Group Ride" we headed south from Beaver Island Brewing for Plum Creek and River Bluffs action. These trails and areas are located at the south end of the route so there is a pretty good stretch of paved trail to get there. I elected to use the fat bike but as you may know I'm not crazy about flat bars and distance. I have an old cruddy pair of aero bars and on they went! Now as ludicrous as this sounds it worked...but more on that in a minute.
We got down to the trails and bluffs and got down too it! I kind of took the lead and took everyone on another one of my patented routes. Despite not really getting much intensity lately I was feeling on so not only was I leading but I was pulling pretty hard! Also "on" was the fat bike!!! Between the trail set of wheels, the light weight, the shifting/braking, the Lauf fork; really the whole setup, the bike was simply bang on and asking to get pushed!!! And those cheesy aero bars? When we got back to paved trail I got into the aeros and hit the after burners and did somewhere around between 18-20 mph for the next 2-3 miles!
After the ride we all settled in for a few beers at BIBCO. After closing we were still feeling it so we went to another watering hole and between both places just had a blast! There were about five of us and we had such a great time bullshitting and laughing! I also made the wise decision to bring a sweat shirt as we were outside and it was cold! So, cool in a few different ways! Looking forward to more of these and have been talking about turning it up even more with some grilling/tailgating at some of the trails!
We even got to watch a drunk man ride a bike....I hope you made it home Miguel!
N+?:
In N+WTF news I did not get any bikes this week?! WTF! Not that I wasn't looking! And I actually managed to sell the Schwinn's fraternal twin!
As mentioned above I did some work to the fat but after last nights pounding the crank creak is back. The bottom bracket is threaded and I greased it but it may either need to be tightened again and if so maybe I will try to use some thread locker instead of grease. One thing to mention about last nights ride is that while I have done a lot of trail this year I have done almost none of it with flat bars. And while last nights ride was awesome and the bike was awesome the wide bars (700ish mm) where a draw back. There were a lot of instances where I had to slow down or do that weird maneuver to get through the slim spots.
It sucked!
I have been thinking about converting it to the same control setup as my Giant. And not just because of the width hinderence but also because that setup much better for distance as well as facing the soul crushing winds that are fast coming with Winter.
Fun fact: my trail set of wheels is 50mm wide rims with 26x4 Jumbo Jims but between the knobs the tires measure just under 3.5". 26er Plus?
The Schwinner got a new chain and some more wheel tuning. The Giant and Pink Panther got fork changes (see above).
The garage and "wall" got a revamp.
Weight watchers: For the record when it comes to weight I am kind in the middle as far as my concern level. I am not a weight weenie but I also don't give zero f's about it. If I can make a bike weigh less for not much money I will do it. I weighed a bunch of my ballers and from heavy to light here are the results (add some change to each):
1: Puchy Bear: 33lbs! Grandpas mtb weighs as much as a mid range fat bike! An update will bring the weight down quite a bit!
2: Ernest Borgnine: (charbon fat bike with Lauf and trail wheels): 28lbs. Not bad!
3: Schwinner: 27lbs. It needs to go on a diet! And better wheels will make a big difference!
4: Giant eXTC (rigid-mtb mode) 25lbs. It could be better lighter but even at 25lbs it's a great bike! Very fast and very capable!
5: Pink Panther (with sus fork): 22lbs!!! I thought it weighed 20lbs before the sus fork but it must have weighed less (I probably weighed it a couple years ago and my memory doesn't always serve me well). I also swapped out the Specialized Fast Traks (2.0) for lighter Racing Ralphs (2.35/2.25). I haven't ridden it yet but I will soon!
NUTS AND BOLTS:
Budget Rivendell/Puchy Bear: A quick preface:
Rivendell is bike company that makes stunning hand built steel bikes that stay true to bullet proof tech of old while adding some modern twists. They tend to use rim brakes, 2x or 3x drivetrains, thumb shifters and quill stems but also use 650/700 wheel sizes and more modern drivetrains. For the record the Puch is no Rivendell but since a Rivendell is at it's core a vintage mtb taking a vintage mtb and giving it some modern twists to bring it up to date for next to nothing (compared to a Rivendell) seems like a good idea?! On top of that I want to see if an old mtb may make for a great adventure/touring/gravel bike as they are very capable and durable. And it fits me!
The Puch 160: Back in the day (which was a Wednesday) the Puch would have been middle of the road or slightly higher priced mtb. It was how peeps did off road and trail and I guess mountains in the mid eighties. Typical of the time it features canti brakes (derived from tandems), triple front rings and a steel frame. I don't know what type of tubing they used (in fact, without doing any research, Puch, a brand more know for it's mopeds, probably didn't actually make it...someone else did and they put their badge on it) but like most mid range bikes back then it's main triangle is comprised 4130 chromoly while the rear stays use something lower end.
On to the build....
I have decided to go with a drivetrain similar to the Schwinn: 2/3x9. The hub on stock rear wheel won't support as it doesn't have a cassette style hub this so the plan is or was to use a set of Mavic wheels I got off a Proflex I bought a garage sale. The only problem is that the rear spacing isn't wide enough. Since it's steel I know I can widen it out but I am still thinking about this and may just see if I have a different set of wheels that will work. I will retain the left side shifter (not sure if I will keep the biggest front chain ring) but I did order a 9 speed thumb shifter for the right. I was thinking about going with 10 speeds but prices jump up a lot for that extra gear. A new chain was also ordered. For brakes I want to keep the original cantilever brakes. I have always loved old cantis and a search on Marketplace yielded a parts sale with a really nice set of compatible performance brake pads! I got those along with a 2x10 Shimano bar end shifter set for $50 shipped! I don't know where I will use those shifters yet but for the price I had to have them. Most of the rest of what I need I think I might have on hand or at least I should look so I don't spend as much. However budget wise this is shaping up to be in the $100-$200 range! Cheap!
One last thing to note is that I may take a stab at making a custom bike packing bag for it!
ILL SHOW YOU MINE:
In this weeks feature I'm showing a bike from my collection that is not only dripping with vintage steel touring fendered Nottingham awesome sauce (ok now the term awesome sauce can be officially retired) but a bike that is close to my heart and has an great score story!
Enter the Peacock....or whatever that bird with the reverse mohawk is on the old Raleigh badge: 1984 Raleigh Alyeska
A year or two ago it was on a particular Saturday morning that I was perusing Marketplace, looking into garage sales for something for the fam to do (it's a tradition) when I came across a listing, that, in it's pics showed this bike! Not as the focus but it didn't have to be as I knew what it was right away for I bought the same bike some twenty years before and my knowledge of great bikes has since grown tremendously. I sent a message but got no quick response. I didn't know if it was still there but if it was time was wasting and I HAD TO HAVE THAT BIKE!!!
Seconds were passing...!
"Honey I have to go... I have to go right now!" (Which translates to: "I need you to be stuck with the kids right now as I go and get yet another bike....but this one is important).
That wasn't the first time she has heard this "simple trick."
Quick history: The Alyeska was third from the top of a five touring bike lineup behind the Portage and Kodiak and in front of the Wyoming. From what I know it was one, if not the first bike to feature the now widely popular 650b wheel size. It is made of Reynolds 555 double butted chromoly and while it did come in different sizes those sizes were achieved by simply extending the seat and headtube. A long with the other two top bikes it also featured cantilever brakes and a triple front chain ring (sorry Wyoming owners). You can see more about the lineup here:
https://sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/catalogs/1985/pages/2.html
Meanwhile back at the chase: I bolted out the door and headed for the sale. When I arrived I was super pleased to see the bike still sitting there but I knew someone could still walk up on it!!! I made it to the bike which but for a few small exceptions was mint! It really looked like it spent way more time in the garage than it did hard touring duty! It also had period fenders and headlight! The makeshift masking tape price tag showed a pawltry $75 on it. Of course being a "shrewd negotiator" I got the bike for a bit less at $65.
What's it worth? Ummm probably more than $65!
After finishing the deal it was time to get the bike in the car and get back home but as I was figuring out how to make work I noticed something quite interesting: on one of the chainstays was a bike shop sticker for a long since defunct shop by the name of "Lundquist Cyclery." I knew of this shop because a good friend of mine not only used to work there but he did so in the mid eighties when these bikes were being sold AND (obviously) that bike was sold from that shop! I texted him some pics and not only did he remember selling them there (for he said around $1k?!) but he figured there was a good chance he built it!!! WOW!
Sorry man but I can't sell it to you....
The bike is a tad tall for me but it is such a dream to ride! It has a kind of compliance and feel similar to a modern bike. If it weren't for the (un-indexed) down tube shifters and (lack of) brakes you would think you were on a modern bike. Like most steel bikes it rides like a Caddy but at 27ish pounds it does weigh as much and not that I don't appreciate steel but I do think that there is this misnomer that frames are more comfortable when they are made of steel when this really isn't true. They just tend to feel that way because they "tend to be" naturally more heavy and the majority of comfort comes from the seat/seatpost and tires.
Anyways....
Drive train is 3x6 Which doesn't sound like much but it has a
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